A link from a very nice autism blog. “My son Leo’s life was transformed when a five-dollar raffle ticket turned into a brand-new iPad. I’m not exaggerating. Before the iPad, Leo’s autism made him dependent on others for entertainment, play, learning, and communication. With the iPad, Leo electrifies the air around him with independence and daily new skills. People who know Leo are amazed when they see this new boy rocking that iPad. I’m impressed, too, especially when our aggressively food-obsessed boy chooses to play with his iPad rather than eat. I don’t usually dabble in miracle-speak, but I may erect a tiny altar to Steve Jobs in the corner of our living room.”
link to her amazing story
Author Archives: David Berkowitz, Editor in Chief.
Autism and iPads: amazing things happen
James Kendrick passes along a story of an autistic boy, an iPad acquired by chance, and amazing interactivity between the two. Makes me think of Grace and something I saw on Friday.
The upside of living with Asperger’s!!!
New Jersey, Separate schools for autism?
Our You Tube Launch Video
check it out and share it with friends:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmyWN7SRldY
World Autism Community like Facebook for Autism
Adept Alternative Aldec Turns up the Simulation Heat by Kevin Morris
Adept Alternative
Aldec Turns up the Simulation Heat
by Kevin Morris
In many markets, there is what marketers call a “gorilla” – a company with a commanding market share that controls the way the ball rolls in that particular segment. In HDL simulation for FPGAs, one could argue that ModelSim from Mentor Graphics has historically been the gorilla – with a dominant market share and OEM deals with most of the major FPGA vendors that allow them to be the first simulator out of the box when new designers start working on an FPGA design.
Aldec, Inc. has always played the role of spoiler to ModelSim’s gorilla. From the sidelines, it appeared that Aldec generally employed the “fast follower” strategy – running close behind with new features and innovations and working to win on price. The strategy worked relatively well for Aldec, who has kept a strong market share for over a decade.
Tesla Motors’ Model S to Feature NVIDIA Tegra Processors
Tesla Motors’ Model S to Feature NVIDIA Tegra Processors
Power-Stingy Tegra to Run All-Electric Sedan’s Infotainment, Navigation, Instrument-Cluster Systems
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
LAS VEGAS, NV — 01/04/2011 – NVIDIA announced today that NVIDIA® Tegra™ processors will power the infotainment, navigation and instrument-cluster systems in the Tesla Model S, the first sedan built from the ground up as an electric vehicle. Built around the driver, the Model S is the premium sedan, evolved. Its infotainment system features a 17-inch touch-screen center console — the largest display ever in a car — providing vivid 3D graphics.
In addition to its unrivaled graphics capability, the Tegra processor provides exceptional energy efficiency, a critically important feature for electric cars. One processor will be used to power the infotainment and navigation systems, and another for the instrument cluster.
The infotainment and navigation systems feature:
17-inch high resolution display, the largest display ever in a car
Responsive touchscreen with a fully intuitive user interface
Connected navigation with live traffic, points of interest and weather
Touchscreen-based climate-control system
The all-digital instrument cluster features:
Ultra high-resolution, driver-friendly 12.3″ LCD display
Advanced 3D graphics providing data about the vehicle
CES 2011 attendees will be able to view the Model S outside the Las Vegas Convention Center in the Central Plaza, booth # CP7.
Visit NVIDIA’s booth in South Hall 3, booth # 31431 to learn about how NVIDIA is working with Tesla Motors to bring visual computing to tomorrow’s cars.
Quotes:
“Model S is designed for performance-oriented efficiency. NVIDIA allows us to use the highest graphics with the lowest energy use.”
– JB Straubel, chief technology officer at Tesla Motors
“The Model S is a modern marvel — a blend of beauty, performance and efficiency. Tegra’s combination of graphics power and energy efficiency make it a perfect match for the Model S.”
– Dan Vivoli, senior vice president at NVIDIA
About Tegra
NVIDIA Tegra is the world’s first mobile superchip, with eight dedicated computing cores. These include the ARM Cortex-A9 CPU, the world’s only ultra-low power NVIDIA GeForce® GPU and the world’s first mobile 1080p HD video processor.
These features enable it to offer extremely realistic 3D graphics and advanced multimedia functionality and premium-quality accelerated user interfaces. Its auto-grade version has undergone specific testing for the automotive market and passed the industry-standard AEC-100 qualification for reliability, adhering to certain operating temperature ranges. It also offers a complete toolset for engineers to quickly build visually-appealing user interfaces.
Useful Links:
www.nvidia.com
http://www.nvidia.com/object/tegra_automotive.html
About NVIDIA
NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) awakened the world to the power of computer graphics when it invented the GPU in 1999. Since then, it has consistently set new standards in visual computing with breathtaking, interactive graphics available on devices ranging from tablets and portable media players to notebooks and workstations. NVIDIA’s expertise in programmable GPUs has led to breakthroughs in parallel processing which make supercomputing inexpensive and widely accessible. The Company holds more than 1,600 patents worldwide, including ones covering designs and insights that are essential to modern computing. For more information, see www.nvidia.com.
About Tesla
Tesla’s goal is to produce increasingly affordable electric cars to mainstream buyers – relentlessly driving down the cost of EVs. Palo Alto, California-based Tesla has delivered more than 1,500 Roadsters to customers in North America, Europe and Asia. Tesla designs, develops, manufactures and sells EVs and EV powertrain components. The Tesla Roadster accelerates faster than most sports cars yet produces no pollution……. 
Free Ebooks, First Google now others
http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/kindle_adds_millions_of_free_project_gutenberg_books/
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CCAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgoogle.about.com%2Fod%2Fexperimentalgoogletools%2Fht%2Fhow2dwnloadbook.htm&rct=j&q=google%20free%20ebooks&ei=D9stTebrDJP4sAPGhb3KBg&usg=AFQjCNF2Ue7yfnwg_T5w23unIK7RErEB8A&cad=rja
An Article-No author from the web
Faces Of Autism
An Approach to Educating Child with Autism: Just Believe
It is in the manner of perception that we can either work our way out of a problem or say that our trip just ended. We often experienced giving up and say in the end that if we only held tight to the rope then we could have risen to victory.
Autism is just the same. We may perceive that we cannot find our way to work the problem of our child out. But there are endless possibilities, if only you believe.
It is the way we think that will affect our actions to things. It is the approach we use in determining what will work for us and what will not. It all lies in patience and faith in whatever we do. Just be patient in waiting what truly awaits your child and you. Just be patient and you will find what truly troubles your son or your daughter. Just be patient and your child will be the one to tell you the cure for his or her condition.
Educating a child with autism is deemed next to impossible. If you as a parent believe in that too, you will find that your child’s case is an impossible to handle problem. A child with autism can learn, only in different manners. Your trip cant be over when he cant understand a word you say or he doesn’t get the meaning of what is an a or b. Somehow, your role is to find the ways by which he may easily catch up with things.
He learns at his own pace and at his own time. You can’t hasten him to ripen when his time hasn’t come yet. You have to be patient and really take him to the step-by-step manner of educating him. You can’t expect that they already have registered in his mind if you just say to him things at one time. If ìpractice makes perfect idea is trueî then this time, believe in it. Your methods on educating your child may not be perfect or the results may not yield out perfectly but at least, the little things you have done to help him learn will make his life a bit more meaningful.
If it is behavior that you are dealing with, then it is best that you modify your behavior too. It takes courage to do just that since we are already oriented with the world of reason. Helping your child would mean defying what is normal. Act childish if you must. That way, you can better communicate with your child.
There is no standard approach to educating children with autism. After all, each child with autism displays a behavior different from that, which is shown by another. The autism range is too wide that is why there is no way to categorize children displaying autistic features. Nonetheless, it is you who know your child best. You may not know the nature of his sufferings exactly but the compassion you have and your commitment to love will spar you to take your child to newer heights of learning.
He can’t forever stay with learning ABC’s or 123s. Somehow, he has to learn better. But this certainly doesn’t mean that you have to force him to learn.
As you might have concluded by now, a child with autism does not learn in ways similar to that of normal children. This is inevitable since their brain works in ways dissimilar with the normal brain. Add to this the fact that they are impaired with certain behaviors that are crucial in proper learning. Before you can truly go deep to their brain, you have to eliminate barriers such as compulsive and repetitive behaviors that often go beyond hurting their own bodies.
