NOTABILITY

One of the apps I use most and has become utterly indispensible is NOTABILITY. A note taking application that is maxed out.

It works on mac/pc and iOS devices, can import just about anything from photos, sounds, links, pdfs, graphs, shapes etc. and, most important for me, works perfectly with an Apple pencil on iPad. Everything is automatically synced across all platforms and every sketch I make is in 'vector' format so it can be zoomed into infinitely. Essentially it makes all sketches analogue rather than digital.

The reason I bring it up is the the newest update will take all handwritten notes (I have 100's) and make them searchable. It can even convert notes to speech. I've been playing with the new version all morning and it's amazing. All my notes are written in calligraphy or my own hand writing and being able to search through these now is something I wasn't expecting. Even without an iPad it's well worth a look. It is very suitable for young 'uns too as it is incredibly simple yet is capable of super advanced functionality if needed. Another reason it's good is that a child can practice handwriting because the program will read it correctly if it can be read and does this at a near human level.

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AI AND DARK PHOTOS

Badly lit jpeg photos repaired with nothing more than machine learning.. Jab

Watch how machine learning can enhance low-light images

Boing Boing · by Andrea James · May 22, 2018

At this year's Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, researcher Chen Chen presented a cool project that vastly improves the quality of images captured in low-light conditions.

Via his presentation:

Imaging in low light is challenging due to low photon count and low SNR. Short-exposure images suffer from noise, while long exposure can induce blur and is often impractical. A variety of denoising, deblurring, and enhancement techniques have been proposed, but their effectiveness is limited in extreme conditions, such as video-rate imaging at night. To support the development of learning-based pipelines for low-light image processing, we introduce a dataset of raw short-exposure low-light images, with corresponding long-exposure reference images. Using the presented dataset, we develop a pipeline for processing low-light images, based on end-to-end training of a fully-convolutional network. The network operates directly on raw sensor data and replaces much of the traditional image processing pipeline, which tends to perform poorly on such data. We report promising results on the new dataset, analyze factors that affect performance, and highlight opportunities for future work.

Here's the full project page for more information.

RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY

When I get the VIDEOS module added to the Screens app these are the type of videos you could play at random at any time of the day. Could be a class feature: one random video pops up at a certain time. Jab

QUILLBOT

Not sure if this is useful (yet) but I'm keeping my eye on it. It seems like a thesaurus for phrases. Jab

QUILLBOT

CIRCUIT GAME

Might be a bit fiddly to use and not as good as Minecraft for circuits but thought I'd add it as a maybe. Jab

Circuit Maze Logic Game

When I was a child my favorite game was Mousetrap because the experience wasn't simply about rolling dice and moving around a board. Rather, it was an invitation to construct environments with the reward of something special happening.

I still enjoy games where you build but I especially love it when they offer clever, valuable lessons as well. Circuit Maze teaches spacial reasoning and electrical engineering with simple to understand concepts. As you play, the levels naturally get more difficult and are challenging even to adults.

If your child is interested in games at even higher tech levels, there's also a game series called CODE that teaches the valuable superpower of computer coding concepts. I only wish I had access to these games when I was young.

MACHINE LEARNING FOR KIDS

Check out this site. Some great starting points for AI/Machine learning and all aimed at kids n' classrooms. Works in Scratch. Jab

Machine learning for kids.

'MINI YOU's

I do love these. Simple idea, 720 pieces to make any one you know. Bought some for myself. Jab

BrickHeadz: Go Brick Me LEGO Review (DIY x2!)

slashgear.com · April 10, 2018

There’s a new sort of LEGO set in town, and it’s all about the brand’s new label: BrickHeadz. This is the “Go Brick Me” box set, and it’s as entertaining as it is challenging to wrap one’s mind around. What on earth is such a strange collection of odd pieces doing presenting itself as a LEGO make-it-your-own set? And why didn’t LEGO think of this a long, long time ago?

In the first Go Brick Me set, the user gets one massive number of bricks compiled in order to give you a variety of options. These options apply to the LEGO BrickHeadz universe of custom-made collectable figurines. You might recognize the scale of these figures as sort-of similar to that of Funko POP.

ARDUINO SIMULATOR

A full Arduino simulator from simplest circuits to maximum mental. I think we can tie in the Minecraft projects using this as a buffer to the real world. Jab

Donald Bell of Maker Project Lab interviewed Becky Stern about Tinkercad's new and very cool Arduino simulator. It's a good way to teach a bunch of people Arduino in a classroom setting.

THEREMINI

It's a Theremin. It's smaller. It's a Theremini.

It also has a MOOG modulator built in!! It also comes in black...

Why are you still reading this?!?!!

MOOG THEREMINI LINK

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MIND-NUMBING 8K VIDEO - Watch fullscreen/full res on youtube

Travel through Japanese festivals and tourist sites with this stunning 8K highlight reel 【Video】

soranews24.com · May 17, 2018

You’ll want to watch this astounding video more than once to soak in all the beauty they’ve packed into two-and-a-half minutes.

We’re no strangers to the power of a good camera. Last year’s 4K introductory video to San’in prefecture, with its gorgeous foliage and eerily perfect beaches, set an incredibly high standard. Now, Akita-based cinematics company Armadas is here to push that standard doubly high, with eye-searing, gorgeous shots from a number of locales around Japan – in 8K resolution!

THEY'RE COMING...

The last couple of frighteners from Boston Dynamics. Jab

I WANT ONE

The bendy spider with tangled legs is the best thing. If I can't source the original puzzle we can 3D print or even make as an in school app. Jab

A puzzle expert shows off some of his favorites

Boing Boing · by Andrea James · May 25, 2018

Tim at Grand Illusions chose several of his favorite "photogenic" puzzles to share. Some of them he has not solved yet, and even some that he's solved are still quite challenging to replicate.

SOUND EXPLAINER

Interactive tool showing how sound waves work

Boing Boing · by Clive Thompson

Josh Comeau, a software developer at the Khan Academy, has created a superb interactive tutorial showing how sound-waves work.

POCKET WHITEBOARD

Out of stock at the moment but it opens up to a wipeable size of just under 1 metre. Popular with D&D heads and mad scientists. Jab

The Noteboard

kk.org · January 6, 2016

Pocket-size dry erase board

The Noteboard is a pocket whiteboard. I’ve been using it since version 1 and it has earned a permanent place in my work backpack. It’s as compact as a small paperback but folds out to cover a generous area (35” x 15”). One side is white, the other has various grids to make more precise drawings. It comes in a small cloth bag that holds a dry erase pen and doubles as an eraser.

Some of the things I’ve used it for over the years:

1. Impromptu white boarding (obviously!)
2. Boardgaming: My boys and I once invented a game while waiting for a delayed flight. Each Noteboard rectangles had different effects when you landed on them
3. Role Playing Games: Useful for drawing maps, dungeons, etc. not to mention players writing quick notes too
4. Conferences: I’ve been to many conferences with insufficient space to draw & explain things. Noteboard to the rescue!
5. Storyboards: Each rectangle is the perfect size for a storyboard

One of the nicest features of the Noteboard is the reaction you get from people. It’s almost always attracted interest and, more often than not, sold another one!

More information here.

NIMBUS

Road tested for over a month now the Nimbus is the best controller I've used for iOS control (works on Mac too). Charged with a standard iphone cable and working with every game I tested it with, it's a solid alternative to the Xbox and PS4 controllers. 

I'll make all the games work with it from now on. At the moment the cheapest is shipping it from Amazon US for about $45.

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