Who on Amiga.org have you met in real life?

[odin]

A couple of local folks, nj_72, Speelgoedmannetje; met a few folks at an os4 presentation a long time ago, ofcourse the benelux amiga show thingy where Amiga.org magazine was presented where I met Kees, Ryu, Oli_hd and probably some other folks as well. Then there's the #amiganl people of which only rvo still frequents amiga.org I think.

[nicholas]

People freak out when they encounter a person with disabilities. My wife was born disabled (No forearms, half a leg, partial tongue) You wouldn't believe some of the stuff people say to her just because she makes them nervous.

She just published a book about disability in contemporary art. You can see it here:
http://www.amazon.com/Disabled-Body-Contemporary-Art/dp/0230104061/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1

The same sort of things happen to my wife too, she has MS and severe dystonia.

I'll be sure to check out the book.

[Karlos]

Being born completely deaf and never having the chance to learn language and social skills is very different to losing some of the volume in one of your ears. It also affects the way people act towards you. You may tell people you have trouble hearing and they can raise their voice for you to hear. I tell people I'm deaf and that's the end of the conversation. They get uncomfortable and walk away to find someone else to talk to.

That sucks. Still, such people probably have little worthwhile to say and despite being able to hear, never listen anyway. There's no reason why their social inadequacies should be any barrier to your going out and meeting up with interesting people.

I was on a course with a guy that was profoundly deaf from birth. I couldn't (and still can't) sign for toffee but thankfully he could lip read very well. I won't lie that understanding his speech was difficult at first, but having an at times strong regional accent I get that myself He was a great laugh and his perspective on life lived in complete silence was very interesting.

[haywirepc]

I met novacoder once when he came to my house with an amiga 1200.
 
The rest of you, I think are all just figments of my imagination.
 
Steven

[inoel]

Being born completely deaf and never having the chance to learn language and social skills is very different to losing some of the volume in one of your ears. It also affects the way people act towards you. You may tell people you have trouble hearing and they can raise their voice for you to hear. I tell people I'm deaf and that's the end of the conversation. They get uncomfortable and walk away to find someone else to talk to.

Thats a shame Cammy! shame on them!

I am proud to have you on my face book

as for amiga users that i have meet the top one from back in the day this guy called mat
was always helping me . am not sure was a long time ago  think its mat from amgakit they do look the same LOL

[inoel]

Thats a shame Cammy! shame on them!

I am proud to have you on my face book

as for amiga users that i have meet the top one from back in the day this guy called mat
was always helping me . am not sure was a long time ago  think its mat from amgakit they do look the same LOL

someone just told me its not mat from amigakit LOL

[Cammy]

So do you use BSL or Macaton or does Oz have it's own sign language system?

We use Auslan and Australian Sign English here, but I don't know anyone else who signs apart from my parents who live on the other side of the continent.

I'd go to an Amiga club if there was one locally, or some sort of retro gaming/alternative computing convention. I go to the science fiction/comic/games/anime/pop culture convention in Brisbane every year and I've met fellow internerds from other forums there, but again the same thing happened that always happens, they got all weirded out and walked off.

It's not just being deaf that makes me weird and antisocial though. Plenty of deaf people are outgoing and seem to have no problems making friends, I'm just an oddball.

[basman74]

Hi All,

Since I am based in Melbourne Australia, I've only met CaptainChaos at our local Amiga user group. There are other members in that local group (of course), though none of the others seem to be on a.org as well?

never having the chance to learn language and social skills

This is probably about the last thing I'd have guessed about you! My social skills only started to improve once I broke out of what could only be described some really weird kind of autism..

Cheers,
Valentin

[Kesa]

My social skills only started to improve once I broke out of what could only be described some really weird kind of autism..

  Around the same time you stopped using Winblows? :roflmao:

[motorollin]

So do you use BSL or Macaton or does Oz have it's own sign language system?

Funny and true story, I once tried learning sign language however after two lessons the teacher told me that due to my short, stubby fingers it was like I was speaking with a lisp.

FYI, Makaton is a sigh support system for people with difficulties understanding or using verbal language. It's not capable of replacing language due to the fact that it only really contains nouns, verbs and adjectives. So, you can sign "big yellow cup" or "more" to help a child to understand (or help themselves to express their needs) but you can't express more complex semantic or syntactic language.

@Cammy
Unfortunately I work with people all the time who don't understand how to communicate with people whose communication is different to their own. It's usually due to embarrassment at their own inability to adapt their own communication, or fear of making a mess of it. It's a shame because it reduces opportunities for both parties

[motorollin]

My social skills only started to improve once I broke out of what could only be described some really weird kind of autism..

Cheers,
Valentin

I would be very interested to hear more about that!

[basman74]

Around the same time you stopped using Winblows? :roflmao:

:lol:

Nahh, I reckon Winbloats has mind-numbing effects similar to alcohol, though without the initial 'high'..

[adonay]

All this talk of past meetings has gotten me feeling a little nostagic, so much so that I've ressurected my old show reports website. I've stuck it all up on http://www.bambi-amiga.co.uk which for those of you who are interested is an A1200 running AOS3.0 as a webserver.

the reports can be accessed via http://www.bambi-amiga.co.uk/reports/

HAHA i met the guys at SCAG gathering including you, the_leander and a few others . Kind of funny when i think of it i just went to UK with out much of a plan but it was worth the tripp

[Bodie]

I haven't :-( (how are ya mate? :-))

From AO I've met me brother :-P

hmm... your name sounds familiar... now go grab me a beer :argue:

[Selles]

Well, I did have the pleasure of meeting the DoomMaster at a Commodore User Group meeting in Beaverton, Oregon.  He is a very nice person, and he does know a lot about computers.  Right now he is in the process of re-doing the 2-hour movie about the golden years of home computers, with better camera equipment and lighting.  If it is like what he has up on You Tube, it is going to be a great movie.  He told the group that he will mail a master copy to OPB and to Washington DC for the archives.
 
I must say, with all the negative talk about Doomy here on Amiga Org, I did not expect that I would actually like the guy, but I do.  Come to find out, the man actually has a long history with Commodore, and he was the one that originally came up with the idea of a first-person style game.  It was going to be a first-person role playing game based on the Ultima RPGs.  His idea was stolen before he could get a patent on it.
 
I took my Amiga 4000 to Doomy's shop and he repaired it and cleaned it while I waited.  Afterwards, he showed me the actual old PC and CAD program that he used to create maps for Doom, Doom 2, Duke Nukem, Shadow Warrior, Blood, and Serious Sam.  He also showed me his N-Scale trains, his modded and painted XBOX consoles, his modded PS2s, his classic GI Joe collection, his TV shows on DVD collection, his rotty, and of course his vintage computer collection.

[4pLaY]

I dont think im the only one that realizes that you are in fact Doomy after reading some of your posts.... so enough with the self loving please.

Well, I did have the pleasure of meeting the DoomMaster at a Commodore User Group meeting in Beaverton, Oregon.  He is a very nice person, and he does know a lot about computers.  Right now he is in the process of re-doing the 2-hour movie about the golden years of home computers, with better camera equipment and lighting.  If it is like what he has up on You Tube, it is going to be a great movie.  He told the group that he will mail a master copy to OPB and to Washington DC for the archives.
 
I must say, with all the negative talk about Doomy here on Amiga Org, I did not expect that I would actually like the guy, but I do.  Come to find out, the man actually has a long history with Commodore, and he was the one that originally came up with the idea of a first-person style game.  It was going to be a first-person role playing game based on the Ultima RPGs.  His idea was stolen before he could get a patent on it.
 
I took my Amiga 4000 to Doomy's shop and he repaired it and cleaned it while I waited.  Afterwards, he showed me the actual old PC and CAD program that he used to create maps for Doom, Doom 2, Duke Nukem, Shadow Warrior, Blood, and Serious Sam.  He also showed me his N-Scale trains, his modded and painted XBOX consoles, his modded PS2s, his classic GI Joe collection, his TV shows on DVD collection, his rotty, and of course his vintage computer collection.