Notes on December

December was a weird month, not very fun in some respects. Early in the month my grandmother died, leaving me granparent-less. My wife and I managed to make it to Arizona for the funeral, a sad affair though it was nice to see all the family. Upon return I proceed to get sick for two weeks. So much for fun time off.

Last night I though of a nice little writing project: document my history with computers. It will be done in stages, with each stage being linked to the blog. Some “real” content

Funny little thing at work: all Internet and Intranet related developed is placed on hold until further notice. So much for the fun I had the last two years. There are some quite valid reasons: lack of focus, unfamiliarity with web development on the part of most of the developers and a search into outsourcing. We’ll see what happens.

What it means to be colour-blind

This is in response to a comment on the entry Colour-blindness and its effects

Colour-blind for the most part is a misnomer. A more accurate description is colour weakness or colour impaired. While there is a small portion of the colour-blind population that can see only in black, white and shades of gray, the majority do see colours. However, what we see is not what you (non colour-blind populace) see.

There are two major forms of colour-blindness: red-green and blue-orange. What does this mean? Simply put a red-green colour-blind person has difficulties discerning reds and greens (and likewise with a blue-orange colour-blind person). “Pure” red and green are perceptible but as the colours move into the various tints and shades it becomes more difficult to perceive their “true” colour.

An example seems appropriate: light-green (graviating toward white) colours appear gray to me. I drive a Ford Contour. When asked what colour it is painted I respond gray, however according to other people it is teal (green).

This leads to much confusion, especially when I describe something to people, or provide directions. Because I cannot rely on colour perception being the same I often need be more observant to relay the information accurately, without the use of colours. This is not always successful

To get a sense of what it feels to be colour-blind find a colour-blind test. Specifically one that details what a colour-blind person sees or does not see. It can be quite enlightening.

While none of this information is scientifically accurate, it hopefully helps non colour-blind people understand.