Doughnut go gently…
Vavolo is a Hong Kong company filling a major industry niche: production of USB drives that look like various food items. Their latest model resembles a pair of doughnuts, complete with holes that look big enough to insert a finger, providing leverage to facilitate drive removal–and maybe even insertion–for folks with limited dexterity.
String theorum
OK, we usually have a moratorium on do-it-yourself products, but this one was just too right to resist: it’s a motion-activated silly string dispenser. The video demonstrates that it takes just the merest wave of the hand to thoroughly slime your favorite target. Goes great with the range of creative costumes that have been developed over the years for wheelchair users–our fave is a friend who dressed up one year as the Energizer Bunny, which fits not only her chair but also her personality.
A deeper web
Thanks to good search engines, the web is working pretty well right now to provide top-level information on any topic. But what if you get to that target page and realize you don’t know what certain words mean, or want to see pictures instead of text? We’ve already got some solutions. One is AnswerTips, from Answers.com. On sites that use AnswerTips (it’s free), just double-click any word and a small window opens up, complete with definitions, more links, and a recording of the word being spoken. Another approach is to add a browser plug-in; Hyperwords (Firefox only so far) pops up a menu when you select any word or phrase, and offers all kinds of search options: definitions, images, shopping, mapping, etc. The plug-in comes with an astounding array of configuration features.
These solutions point the way to a more usable, accessible web. We wonder about a Simple Language option, so people with cognitive disabilities can get the kind of explanatory support they need.
Some light gaming
While we continue to sit forlorn by the CPU waiting for the Optimus Maximus keyboard to call, we’ve found a partial substitute. The Ideazon Merc Stealth Illuminate Gaming Keyboard lights up in red, blue, and purple, and allows the user four brightness options. The keys are rubberized, which we’ll guess gives it the nice “mushy” feel that lots of our clients like. It has a somewhat non-standard layout, but it also comes with software that lets you reconfigure the key assignments using a large number of pre-defined layouts; you can even create your own macros. Available now, for 1/20th the price of the Optimus.
Wanna do launch?
The Electronic Paper Plane Launcher will fling your folded creation into the air to reach speeds over 30 mph. Great for anyone who can do the folding but can’t do the hefting.
Gizmodo: Electric Paper Plane Launcher; Stocking Filler For the One You Love
Thelma and loo-ease
While researching accommodations, we occasionally run across a-commode-ations such as Kaneko Sangyo Co.’s portable toilet. Designed for drivers, it consists of a cardboard “bowl,” an absorbent sheet, a plastic bag, and a curtain. Hmmm…will this become the must-have accessory for wheelchair users who’ve encountered one too many bathrooms that don’t meet ADA guidelines?
You electrify me
NTT DoCoMo (based in ToKyO, not KoKoMo) is working on a way to electronically transmit payment or data signals from a cell phone in your pocket to vending systems, using an established conduit system known as Your Arm. Should Your Arm be temporarily or permanently inoperable, apparently Your Leg can be used as backup.