Angry Birds Now Available In Creamy And Not-So-Deadly Moon Pie Form

And...............

Angry Birds Costumes Arrive Just In Time For Halloween


Angry Birds Movie Begins To Take Shape


SWAMPY IN WHERE’S MY WATER?

Disney’s Appmates Turn The iPad Into An Interactive Playmat

I wasn’t much for playing with toy cars as a kid — you’d have found me parked in front of a Sega Genesis, if anything — but I suspect Disney Mobile’s new line of Appmate iPad peripherals would have been just the thing to change my mind.

The Appmates and the iPad work in tandem to create a pretty novel play experience. Featuring the likenesses of characters from Cars 2, the Appmates are miniature figures with special sensors mounted on the bottom.

Those sensors (patent pending, naturally) identify each particular figure to the iPad, so it will know the difference between Tow Mater and and Lightning McQueen even if you don’t.

By gently pressing the figure down on the screen, the corresponding app essentially turns the iPad into an interactive playmat. Since the iPad can differentiate between characters, players will hear different bits of narration and dialogue depending on the figure they’re using.

The app itself takes a sandbox approach to the Cars world: players can engage in races with other characters, complete missions to pick up some virtual cash, or just tool around scenic Radiator Springs. It’s an incredibly cool concept, and one that you can believe Disney will milk in coming months.

The last time we heard from Disney Mobile was during the launch of “Where’s My Water?”, an iOS game starring a brand new character who they hoped would hit an Angry Birds level of ubiquity. The plan seems to be working so far, as Where’s My Water? has since overtaken Angry Birds in the Top Paid Apps chart. If the Appmates gain the same kind of traction, expect to see them everywhere just in time for the holidays.

Sunni Brown: Doodlers, unite!

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Sunni Brown
In her book "Gamestorming," Sunni Brown shows how using art and games can empower serious problem-solving.

ABOUT THIS TALK

Studies show that sketching and doodling improve our comprehension -- and our creative thinking. So why do we still feel embarrassed when we're caught doodling in a meeting? Sunni Brown says: Doodlers, unite! She makes the case for unlocking your brain via pad and pen.



TRANSCRIPT

So I just want to tell you my story. I spend a lot of time teaching adults how to use visual language and doodling in the workplace. And naturally, I encounter a lot of resistance, because it's considered to be anti-intellectual and counter to serious learning. But I have a problem with that belief, because I know that doodling has a profound impact on the way that we can process information and the way that we can solve problems.

So I was curious about why there was a disconnect between the way our society perceives doodling and the way that the reality is. So I discovered some very interesting things. For example, there's no such thing as a flattering definition of a doodle. In the 17th century, a doodle was a simpleton or a fool -- as in Yankee Doodle. In the 18th century, it became a verb, and it meant to swindle or ridicule or to make fun of someone. In the 19th century, it was a corrupt politician. And today, we have what is perhaps our most offensive definition, at least to me, which is the following: To doodle officially means to dawdle, to dilly dally, to monkey around, to make meaningless marks, to do something of little value, substance or import, and -- my personal favorite -- to do nothing. No wonder people are averse to doodling at work. Doing nothing at work is akin to masturbating at work; it's totally inappropriate.

(Laughter)

Additionally, I've heard horror stories from people whose teachers scolded them, of course, for doodling in classrooms. And they have bosses who scold them for doodling in the boardroom. There is a powerful cultural norm against doodling in settings in which we are supposed to learn something. And unfortunately, the press tends to reinforce this norm when they're reporting on a doodling scene -- of an important person at a confirmation hearing and the like -- they typically use words like "discovered" or "caught" or "found out," as if there's some sort of criminal act being committed.

And additionally, there is a psychological aversion to doodling -- thank you, Freud. In the 1930s, Freud told us all that you could analyze people's psyches based on their doodles. This is not accurate, but it did happen to Tony Blair at the Davos Forum in 2005, when his doodles were, of course, "discovered" and he was labeled the following things. Now it turned out to be Bill Gates' doodle. (Laughter) And Bill, if you're here, nobody thinks you're megalomaniacal. But that does contribute to people not wanting to share their doodles.

And here is the real deal. Here's what I believe. I think that our culture is so intensely focused on verbal information that we're almost blinded to the value of doodling. And I'm not comfortable with that. And so because of that belief that I think needs to be burst, I'm here to send us all hurtling back to the truth. And here's the truth: doodling is an incredibly powerful tool, and it is a tool that we need to remember and to re-learn.

So here's a new definition for doodling. And I hope there's someone in here from The Oxford English Dictionary, because I want to talk to you later. Here's the real definition: Doodling is really to make spontaneous marks to help yourself think. That is why millions of people doodle. Here's another interesting truth about the doodle: People who doodle when they're exposed to verbal information retain more of that information than their non-doodling counterparts. We think doodling is something you do when you lose focus, but in reality, it is a preemptive measure to stop you from losing focus. Additionally, it has a profound effect on creative problem-solving and deep information processing.

There are four ways that learners intake information so that they can make decisions. They are visual, auditory, reading and writing and kinesthetic. Now in order for us to really chew on information and do something with it, we have to engage at least two of those modalities, or we have to engage one of those modalities coupled with an emotional experience. The incredible contribution of the doodle is that it engages all four learning modalities simultaneously with the possibility of an emotional experience. That is a pretty solid contribution for a behavior equated with doing nothing.

This is so nerdy, but this made me cry when I discovered this. So they did anthropological research into the unfolding of artistic activity in children, and they found that, across space and time, all children exhibit the same evolution in visual logic as they grow. In other words, they have a shared and growing complexity in visual language that happens in a predictable order. And I think that is incredible. I think that means doodling is native to us and we simply are denying ourselves that instinct. And finally, a lot a people aren't privy to this, but the doodle is a precursor to some of our greatest cultural assets. This is but one: this is Frank Gehry the architect's precursor to the Guggenheim in Abu Dhabi.

So here is my point: Under no circumstances should doodling be eradicated from a classroom or a boardroom or even the war room. On the contrary, doodling should be leveraged in precisely those situations where information density is very high and the need for processing that information is very high. And I will go you one further. Because doodling is so universally accessible and it is not intimidating as an art form, it can be leveraged as a portal through which we move people into higher levels of visual literacy. My friends, the doodle has never been the nemesis of intellectual thought. In reality, it is one of its greatest allies.

Thank you. (Applause)

Abraham Verghese: A doctor's touch

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Abraham Verghese
In our era of the patient-as-data-point, Abraham Verghese believes in the old-fashioned physical exam, the bedside chat, the power of informed observation.

Geoff Mulgan: A short intro to the Studio School

Project based learning is hardly a new concept!

It is a cornerstone to progressive education in many places. It is certainly relevant and engaging for many students, but there are some it does not suit so every school program needs a balance (or choices) to be able to cater for the needs of all students.

"On the beginning of a journey"...my goodness, look to other examples in the world where this has been tried and tested for decades and decades!

Are they really that far behind in the UK and USA?






ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Geoff Mulgan
Geoff Mulgan is director of the Young Foundation, a center for social innovation, social enterprise and public policy that pioneers ideas in fields such as aging, education and poverty reduction.…

Awesome Dutch Design Duo Scholten & Baijings & Their Philosophy [Video]

Dutch Design Fashion Architecture from Scholten & Baijings on Vimeo.

From Everybody Sing Along with Mitch!

"A time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted."

An analogy: You can talk about love, which certainly is fun, or you can make love, which also is good.

As Pete Seeger sang: "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."

We may swing back around, with enough new rebooting under our belts, with a need to talk about it some more.




“
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.