OK, this may have some potential. I have a prototype of CIRead up and running here. Jennifer and Meryl voted “yes” so they are my test subjects. As you can see, excerpts from their posts show up on my front page and under the CIRead menu option. The authors on the post are set to the author in the RSS feed (them, not me). The post titles link directly to their blog posts. So, they should see some advantage in driving traffic to their sites since I am only posting teasers here. The teasers are not fully automated (yet).
If you are interested in joining the CIRead experiment, just leave me a comment somewhere. It is “opt in” only — you have to ask to be included. It is also “opt-out” — you can bail out for any reason at any time.
Thanks. Comments appreciated.
Mark
Someone emailed me and asked if I would be interested/and or willing to set up a Cochlear Implant “planet site.” A “planet site” is a site that collects descriptions of posts on other sites and refers the reader to them. In our case, a CI planet site would be a place on CochlearWorld.com that would semi-automatically aggregate blog post descriptions (not the entire post) and provide a link back to the original post. It would be opt-in (the blog author would have to ask to be included). Not all posts from a particular blog would be included (CI content would be required; post must be family friendly, etc).
This is really similar to what DeafRead does for the wider deaf community. Admittedly, the CI Planet site at CochlearWorld would be pro-CI. I am not very interested in posting some of the mean stuff that see written about the evils of cochlear implants.
EDIT: I should be more clear. I am very interested in fact-based discussion about the merits, problems and moral issues around cochlear implantation. I respect and value the opinions of thoughtful members of the deaf community that are against cochlear implantation.
What I am not interested is some of the angry hateful spew that I see. I will be trying to avoid posting those sorts of writings from both points of view.
Anyway, let me know what you think. I’d be willing to give it a try if several bloggers are interested in having their sites included. Leave a comment and let me know what you think (or what else you need to know).
Thanks! Mark
Good evening ladies and gentlemen and all the ships at sea… I was able to somewhat successfully get converted from my old blogging software to WordPress tonight. WordPress is certainly not perfect, but there are tons of users and developers working on it, and I needed to standardize on one platform across several sites.
One problem that I ran into is that there was not a good way to export the comments from my old blog software. So, I will be re-entering some of them by hand over the weekend. If you had a favorite comment that you were sad to lose, please feel free to enter it again.
If you have comments about the site (especially stuff you find to be missing or broken), please let me know. I’ve decided to put off the server move for now until I get things the way I want them here.
You’ll probably also notice that the top graphic has changed. I am curious to hear what you think about it.
Good luck with this! Wordpress is rather a pain sometimes 
I’ve been busy the last couple of days planning for a server move (yuck) and a change in software. For those computer geeks among you, I can tell you that CochlearWorld.com currently runs on a shared server with a bunch of other stuff. I am moving the other stuff, so CochlearWorld has to move as well. Our new home will be on a brand new shiny virtual private server with lots of room to grow! The address won’t change (http://www.cochlearworld.com), and if I do it correctly, you won’t even notice. 
While I am doing that, I will also be changing blogging software. You will notice that, as the look and feel of the site will change (hopefully for the better).
So, stay tuned. Once all this backend work is complete, I plan to get back to the focus of building a great resource for people interested in cochlear implants.
I get questions from time to time asking why I started a blog about cochlear implants. There are probably several answers, but chief among them is a desire to help people who went through what we went through. So, you can only imagine how pleased I was to get this email yesterday:
Hi Mark! I was visiting the website tonight and ran across Alley’s post. I did not realize until I read it that your daughter also lost her hearing to meningitis (just like my son). I would really be interested in visiting with you about your experience…we “meningitis families” are a bit different from many of the other CI families since our children were hearing prior to getting the implants. Alley also mentioned in her post that she had some balance issues…we are experiencing these issues as well and I am just curious if there is anything you have found particularly helpful/not helpful in helping Alley with her balance. We do PT/OT once a week and have seen a LOT of progress (especially considering he had to re-learn how to sit up, walk, etc.), but he is still wobbly at times. We are still fairly new in our journey…January 29th will be our one year anniversary date of getting sick…so any thoughts/suggestions, etc. from a parent who has been there would be greatly appreciated.
This is why Alley and I started this site. This is also why I want to start to catalog all the great success stories that people have had with cochlear implant technology. Remember, you can tell your story in our Success Story Forum.
I saw on CIHear that the San Diego Cochlear Implant Group (SDCIG) is meeting Saturday January 12th, 2008 from 10 am – 12 pm. That motivated me to create another “area specific” cochlear implant forum for San Diego. I hope they get some use out of it.
Hi, I’m Alley, and I’d like to tell you a little bit about me.
I am ten years old, and my best friends are Hannah and Lydia. The important part is that I got a cochlear implant in my right ear when I was three.
I remember some about it, and it was downright scary. I got meningitis, and I was rushed to the hospital with the prediction that I might die. I can tell you this - I was not happy. To me, the world was a haze. To me, scary people in masks stuck tubes in my arm, and long needles, too. The drugs they put me on made me as angry as a wasp. But, I survived with my hearing lost and my balance a little off.
Send a comment or letter, and I’ll have a new entry soon!!
-Alley
Whoo Hoo!
Thanks to Mom To Toes for making the first post on the Cochlear World Forum. Mom To Toes writes an excellent blog that you can find at http://www.momtotoes.blogspot.com/.
So, cruise on over to the forum and say hello!
Direct link is http://www.cochlearworld.com/forum
Thanks,
Mark
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