Down Syndrome User Friendly UIs

My 40 yr old down syndrome brother knows how to use YouTube on the iPad to watch an old anime series. he tends to watch stuff he was more cognizant of in his younger years. Revolving around old memories seems to be an important part of his world. Youtube's 'Other videos like this' feature allows him to just tap with one finger and always get to another episode. I've heard parents tell me their 2 year old knows how to use YouTube on the iPad, but seeing it first hand with my brother is so much more moving. With an ipad, the world is open to my brother. He can discover things where previously he might just rock himself in the dark or sleep all the time from boredom.

Ideal Corporate UX Structure - A mix of a Central UX team And Partner Large UX teams

As I sit and listen to the annual All Hands, there are a lot of small teams who want to hire ux talent. The corporate goal is to hire global top talent. I can see it difficult for these small teams having difficulty attracting top UX talent.

So, what if the company developed a central UX group in conjunction with large sister ux teams dedicated to the company's top products.
The designers in the central ux team would divide their time 70 or 20% on the smaller product teams while dedicating the rest of their time supporting and developing the corporate ux brand and design standards.

The separate ux groups would be for product specified teams that require a larger and fully dedicated team of designers.

By having a central ux team, we can attract top talent to work on the central brand yet also can support the smaller teams.

The responsibility, egos, and power could be better balanced.

So instead of debating whether a company should have a central ux group or disparate ux groups, have both structures. There are pros and cons of both strategies; if we support both, we can have the best of both methods and hopefully cancel out the cons the silo-ing of the 2 structures caused.

From Up on Poppy Hill

good ghibili movie (from last year). ;_; so sweet, peaceful, and good to watch with older generation. My mom said that's how they use to cook rice, or to print tests, ...

http://studioghibli.wikia.com/wiki/From_Up_on_Poppy_Hill

Taller on Mondays

I think I'm taller on Mondays, requiring me to adjust the driver seat back from the steering wheel, and as the week progresses, I get shorter and have been noticing myself nudging the seat forward again. I think this is because I lay around in bed all weekend -- web surfing, gaming, napping -- and gravity lengthens me, making me taller by Monday morning. 

Clones

We don't need clones anymore that live in a separate island to be personal donors ;-P

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/10/08/162496684/nobel-winners-unlocked-cells-unlimited-potential?sc=tw

Nobel Winners Unlocked Cells' Unlimited Potential
"John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka discovered that every cell in our body — from skin and heart to brain and lung — can reinvent itself and become any other cell type. These stem cells have vast potential ..."

Cribbing

Here we were learning how to crib -- make a stack of support gradually in case anyone is stuck under something heavy and needs help getting out. The plastic tub has a box of 4x4s and 2x4s. This was super educational. Our neighborhood's community clib house/center would be a good place to prep 2 tubs of this 

The Happy Movie

interesting research. doing things bigger than oneself, community roles, we're wired to get happier/dopamine release from those actions.

www.thehappymovie.com