Data & Stuff // Neil Houston

As I mentioned in my first, and second pieces on hearing. I’ve finally got around to ‘getting fixed’. Which was the general theme of 2010.

It may have involved some tears, some nasal surgery, and a couple of oticon hearing aids; though now I am fixed. To some degree of normality.

Hearing things is still odd. The fact that I can’t bear my favourite coffee shop, as it now seems too loud. The fact that I can hear 8 different conversations going on around me, when I just want to read the paper. Luckily there’s a volume control, but with time I’ll get used to that.

Overall with hearing, it’s all been great. The only things I don’t like are
- The fact that I have hearing aids (yes I know you lot don’t care, but I do).
- I can’t easily listen to my iPod with them in.
- The way it makes my tinnitus seem much more profound when I don’t have them in. So waking up in bed, and getting to sleep can drive me mad!

The good things though:
- I can hear.
- I don’t need to blag conversations.
- I’m more aware of my surroundings.
- I don’t feel broken.

Spotted: December 14th – December 30th:

• UK UX Freelancers Rate Review 2010 – The Inaugural Report | disambiguity –
• The Political Power of Social Media | Foreign Affairs – Clay Shirky on The Political Power of Social Media – Technology, the Public Sphere, and Political Change
• http://mashable.com/2010/12/13/facebook-members-visualization/ – Facebook Intern Paul Butler was interested in the locations of friendships, so he decided to create a visualization of Facebook connections around the globe. How local are our friends? Where are the highest concentration of friendships? How do political and geological boundaries affect them?