Phonak
Phonak, Stäfa, Switzerland, introduces its newly redesigned website, www.phonak.com. The new site is designed to meet the needs of a wide range of users, including hearing professionals, consumers and members of the general public who are seeking information and advice on general hearing issues. The site also contains a new section devoted exclusively to hearing professionals that provides services such as a searchable product database and an interactive glossary and site search. There is also a special section on pediatrics with information for hearing care professionals and interested parents. The architect of the redesign was Jonathan Möller, a 26-year-old user of the company’s hearing instruments.

Messaging Network
National Physicians DataSource LLC, Avon, CT, introduces MDhub.com, a new internet network that connects physicians and patients online. Patients can email their physicians a message, which will then be sent directly to the physician’s fax machine. Additional features include a bulletin board where information such as a physician’s office hours can be posted, and an “about our practice” section, in which physicians can exchange information. For further information, visit www.MDhub.com.

Beltone
Beltone Electronics, Chicago, has unveiled its newly designed website, www.beltone.com.  The site has been overhauled to create an easy-to-navigate, audience-driven site with enhanced product and service information. The site includes an office locater, which allows users to find Beltone offices in the U.S. and Canada, and offers the company’s hearing care practitioners the ability to link their own sites to the company’s.

Conventions and Seminars

Audiology-Amplification V
The University of California, San Francisco, will present a program titled “Audiology-Amplification V” on October 12-13, 2001 at the Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. The speakers include David Fabry, PhD, Linda Hood, PhD, Jannine Larky, MA, H. Gustav Mueller, PhD, Catherine Palmer, PhD, Robert Sweetow, PhD, Toni Will, MSPA and Steven Cheung, MD. For more information, contact the UCSF Office of Continuing Medical Education at (415) 476-4251.

International Tinnitus Seminar
The Auditory Laboratory of the Univ. of Western Australia’s Physiology Department will be hosting the Seventh International Tinnitus Seminar on March 5-9, 2002, in Fremantle, Australia. The major areas of focus will be pain management, hearing instruments, tinnitus instrumentation, medical management, medication, cortical plasticity and psychological management. A new concept of exhibitor partnership has been designed to allow companies the opportunity to participate in the technical sessions. For more information contact Janie Binet at +61 8 9384 1249; email: jcsbinet@hotlinks.net.au.

Publications

Monograph
The Alexander Graham Bell Assn. for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Washington, DC, announces the release of Classroom Acoustics: Understanding Barriers to Learning, edited by Carl C. Crandell, PhD, and Joseph J. Smaldino, PhD. This monograph is intended as a resource for anyone interested in enhancing the educational environment of students, whether or not they have a hearing loss. Topics covered include the effects of background noise and reverberation, specific acoustical modifications, the demographics of classrooms and how this can affect the need for good acoustics, legal issues and assistive technology. To order, contact AG Bell Publication Sales, 2000 M Street, NW, Suite 310, Washington, DC 20036, or email: publications@agbell.org

Sign Language Instruction Book
Prima Communications, Roseville, CA, introduces Learn to Sign the Fun Way by Penny Warner. Intended to provide a way to learn sign language that is not dry or repetitive, the heavily illustrated book makes use of games, puzzles and activities that facilitate teaching and practicing. For more information, contact Prima Communications at (916) 787-7000.

Captioning

Spanish Closed Captioning
The National Captioning Institute (NCI), Washington, DC, has begun providing live captioning in Spanish for the benefit of deaf, hard-of-hearing and other viewers of CNN en Español, a service available in over 1.1 million households in the U.S. and 11 million throughout Latin America. The foundation on which the captioning is built is a new Spanish stenotype theory and dictionary. It consists of a system for captioners to use in transcribing spoken Spanish into a phonetic code while maintaining proper spelling and grammar.

Video

Oral Deaf Education
For parents and educators interested in the oral deaf education process, Oral Deaf Education offers Dreams Spoken Here, a 60-minute closed-captioned film that explores oral deaf education from infancy through adolescence and adulthood. Focusing on the early years, the film includes information on educational techniques, as well as technological advances in hearing instruments and cochlear implants. A 20-minute version of the film is also available. For further information, visit www.oraldeafed.org.