Fire and Knowledge

Great idea:

Victor Pauca will have plenty of presents to unwrap on Christmas, but the 5-year-old Winston-Salem boy has already received the best gift he’ll get this year: the ability to communicate.
Victor has a rare genetic disorder that delays development of a number of skills, including speech. To help him and others with disabilities, his father, Paul, and some of his students at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem have created an application for the iPhone and iPad that turns their touch screens into communications tools.

The VerbalVictor app allows parents and caregivers to take pictures and record phrases to go with them. These become “buttons” on the screen that Victor touches when he wants to communicate. A picture of the backyard, for example, can be accompanied by a recording of a sentence like “I want to go outside and play.” When Victor touches it, his parents or teachers know what he wants to do.
“The user records the voice, so it’s something the child’s familiar with. It’s not robotic,” Paul Pauca said.

The app, which should be for sale for $10 in Apple Inc.’s iTunes store by early next week, is one of dozens of new software products designed to make life easier for people with a range of disabilities.

People hated Facebook’s News Feed when it was introduced in 2006. They thought it was creepy and intrusive. Zuckerberg stood his ground, and now Facebook is unimaginable without it. He moved the chains, and we went with him, setting up our defense that much farther toward the end zone. “The world is changing,” Cox says. “When caller ID came out, people went psycho. You know, because, Oh my God, now people are going to know I’m calling them! This is terrible! I’m going to end up being tracked, and Big Brother and Orwell and all that! The reality is now you won’t pick up a call unless you know who’s calling you.”

—Lev Grossman, “Person of the Year 2010: Mark Zuckerberg“

It’s the iBand, and they’re actually not too bad:

Ouch. As a frustrated AT&T user, I agree, but wish I didn’t:

The nation’s second largest wireless network received the worst possible rating in eight of the nine categories the magazine studied, including overall value, voice service, data service, phone support, staff knowledge, and resolution of issues, among others. Readers gave AT&T an overall score of just 60 out of 100, which is six points below its score a year ago and nine points below its nearest-ranked competitor, T-Mobile.

The report noted that AT&T “is now the worst carrier,” and is the only wireless network with scores that dropped “significantly” over last year.

The iPhone is the only thing keeping me on AT&T, and I’m sure I’m not alone.

(Well, okay, so there’s also this 2 year contract…)

Here’s a really interesting history (at least if you’re into tech) of Apple tablets.