http://userzen.edublogs.org Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:44:50 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I want these instead of those lame wooden letter blocks for my daughter. Toy blocks that think! http://userzen.edublogs.org/2009/06/29/digital-blocks/ MIT has created a guitar that utilizes wood and electronic sensors to imitate nearly any guitar sound. These are the same amazing researchers that have created The Sixth Sense, & Siftables Acoustic instruments with their wood-grain patterns produce unique sounds, but a prototype guitar built by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology ... http://userzen.edublogs.org/2009/06/29/chameleon-guitar/ The SCS.3M is an amazing touch sensitive DJ controller that works with many music software programs. You can check out their site for more information. Stanton Richard Devine puts it through its paces here and describes why he likes it. http://userzen.edublogs.org/2009/06/23/touch-interface-dj/ Organ virtuoso Qi Zhang plays her electric rendering of "Ridiculous Fellows" from Prokofiev's "The Love for Three Oranges" orchestral suite. This exhilarating performance from TEDx USC features the Yamaha Electone Stagea, a rare, imported instrument specially programmed by Qi herself. About Qi Zhang Qi Zhang is a Master's candidate at University of ... http://userzen.edublogs.org/2009/06/19/qi-zhang-plays-electric-organ-at-ted/ These new skins can be cut and placed on any device. Most people, I imagine, will put them on a phone. But couldn't you see it being on your door and changing color when it is locked? Or how about on your iPod and change when you put on different ... http://userzen.edublogs.org/2009/06/12/lcd-reflex-skin/ As a researcher and professional working with accessibility, special needs, education, usability and interaction design, I am constantly searching for better ways to present information. Especially complex and dynamic information. Web 2.0 has introduced cloud sourced information that defies traditional representations (graphs and pie charts). We as an industry of information ... http://userzen.edublogs.org/2009/06/09/data-visualization/ There were not too many surprises at for the announcements today at the opening of WWDC 2009. The release date continues to be the same for the iPhone 3.0 update and there newest iPhone. There are some Snow Leopard announcements and some hardware changes for the year. This is a ... http://userzen.edublogs.org/2009/06/08/apple-wwdc-2009-highlights/ All these new tools coming out of Adobe Labs! It is making it easier and easier for designers and developers to communicate easily with each other. My hope is that it will lead to better collaboration which brings better products for humans. More information can be found on the Adobe Site ... http://userzen.edublogs.org/2009/06/04/flash-catalyst-video-tour/ So you think you're computer-illiterate? Check out the following excerpts from a Wall Street Journal article by Jim Carlton -- 1. Compaq is considering changing the command "Press Any Key" to "Press Return Key" because of the flood of calls asking where the "Any" key is. 2. AST technical support had a ... http://userzen.edublogs.org/2009/06/04/funny-tech-support-questions/ As a technology consultant at Achieve Kids, I am often the GO-TO Guy for technology outside the scope of the workplace. Sometimes this can be annoying, but when its about mobile phones, touch and gestural interfaces like the exciting Microsoft Xbox Natal gaming idea, and Apple products, I am happy to ... http://userzen.edublogs.org/2009/06/04/itunes-82-and-iphone-30-updates/