Just got a call from Rich Gleaves about Lisbon ;-))

[Antonio Carlos da Rocha Costa]

Valerie,

> You know, both
> Rich and I are not a part of academia in the same way as others
> are...we did our SignWriter DOS development out of our homes, and
> posted it for free on the web, as our gift to signers everywhere...not
> a part of any academic institution...but hoping it would service
> everyday signers who need a visual writing system...
>
> So the fact that our work is now used in academia is a true honor,

   From my point of view, the fact that SignWriting was not developed in the
academic world, and that most of its users are out of academia if of
exceeding importance. Academic people tend to be analytic: they tend to
freeze things, in order to understand them. Being out of academia, means for
SignWriting that it can always be alive, growing, spreading, supporting
people in their needs, and not only be a subject, or tool, of study. I think
the academic world should look at SignWriting, understand it, use it, but
should let it live in the outer world, as it has lived and grown up to now.

  In fact, to me, the true world of SignWriting is the Internet, and should
stay open and wide as the Internet is.

  All the best,

  Antonio Carlos