Hopscotch is an app built by those who want to create things that they themselves wished existed when they were kids. The free beta release of the app teaches kids aged 8-12 the beginnings of simple coding. The iPad app uses bright, fun and highly visual cues to keep interest to foster inheriting programming concepts. Instead of the boring line by line tutorials and creating a “Hello World” type of page, Jocelyn Leavitt and Samantha John (Hopscotch founders) are hoping boys and especially girls will join the forces of programming at a young age with a youthful focused approach to teaching.
Boys seem to gravitate toward coding much more easily then girls possibly because of their devotion to video games, while girls get to play with dolls and fashion essentials. With Hopscotch’s bright and colorful interface the app attracts girls to use their building blocks of learning, without it being overly feminine to turn boys away. The interactive program lets kids drag blocks of code into a scripting area to develop their own projects. The female programming movement has been amazing over the past year at the same time childhood learning of circuits and programming has also been a topic with much news. A movement that we hope continues and possibly one day the number of female programmers is equal to that of their gender counterpart.
In North America and many parts of other established nations dental hygiene is a staple in everyday life. However, over the totality of our world there are too few dentists, moreover in poor communities the problem is even more pronounced. Our communities face significant oral health challenges and even in those living in situations where dental care is easily found, those that are poor simply can’t afford the care that’s available.
“Our health is connected in important ways to our systemic health, and when people go without the dental care they need, the effects ripple through their body and also affect their families and communities.” That wisdom from Joe Brennan of Smiles for the People accentuates how a simple act of buying a toothbrush can turn into an extraordinary act of generosity if companies provided for greater good instead of just for-profit.
What do your employees think of you? That’s a question that at best gets a tip-toed answer when asked face-to-face. So how do you learn what’s really on their minds so you as a founder can do better? Morale.me helps companies assess employee satisfaction as a free app to learn exactly that.
The iPhone app uses LinkedIn credentials and monthly anonymous feedback to track results and report back what state morale is at. Instead of reviewing feedback on sites like Glassdoor after an employee leaves for new possibilities, Morale.me gives an overall sense of how your organization is really doing right now. Founded by internet recruiting veteran Joel Cheesman the app uses simple smiley faces for employees to answer “are you happy working with us”. The data then is compiled to bring a company together for the ultimate goal of a happy workplace.
Over the past few weeks we’ve uncovered and fallen in love with new music discovery sites that let you stream tunes based on another’s playlist. Already this year we’ve played with Spotify, Earport and Songaz to name a few; now we’ve also jumped on Soundsupply for an absolutely different reason. While the aforementioned platforms let you stream your favorites along with those of others, Soundsupply curates what will be your new favorite brands, bundles them up, and digitally “drops” them to you at a sweet-low price to own in your own music catalogue.
Every other month Soundsupply releases their newest bundle of 10 albums for download at the mere price of $15. Launched in 2012 by brothers Tim and Eric Mortensen, the hand-picked albums called “Drops” are compiled with up-and-coming and well known artists. But while waiting for the bi-monthly release of new music those that need a fix right now can jump on board with “Mini Drops” that comprise of 5 albums for just $10 that come out every Monday (at least so far for April).
Mgadget.net cuts through the noise of finding relevant information to make an educated decision when buying accessories for the iPhone, iPad; video, audio photography and other popular categories. Products are categorized and one can search and filter on a wide criteria of relevance. This all occurs in a minimalistic playground without the clutter of ads and useless tools.
We are suffering from information overload and websites do not make it easy to access information. This site is an attempt to simplify the process by providing a curated selection of electronic accessories for buyers. Mgadget aggregates information from YouTube, Amazon and other sources to let you view reviews and read specs with as much or little detail as you like.
“Inspired by nature, providing you a coolness factor along the road.” Bamboobee is a Singapore-based bicycle company that combines raw materials with modern technology, offering the world’s first nature and technology-based handcrafted bicycle.
The company’s founder, Sunny Chuah, first built a bamboo-based bicycle three years ago and through the experiences of riding a solo cycling expedition around Asia realized the effectiveness of the organic material. “Riding on tough terrains during the expedition taught him a lot about riding comfort, bamboo as a raw material and bicycle design principles. I was also pleasantly surprised at how a natural material like bamboo can break language barriers to create conversations and bring people together.”
When I launched this daily showcase of startups back in 2009 the idea came about because as a designer and entrepreneur I wanted to share the inspirations that affected me everyday. I noticed a commonality between CSS galleries and those with new business ideas looking to share their incredible designs. Back then the focus on UX and UI wasn’t as paramount as it is today, and only a few standout startups grabbed my attention. As a result New-Startups.com was born, a place to share new businesses that I believed in but also inspired me as a creative as well. Today those elements still impact every decision we make, from which startups we think everyone should be aware of but also imprint design that leaves a lasting impression amongst our growing team.
Airwalk Design is a new platform that I have begun to cling to everyday since it was submitted by 22-year-old founder Daniel Schwarz, from London, as a new source of creative enlightenment. As a designer I constantly look for articles and new platforms that capture my wonderment, curiosity and attention – upon first visiting this “Pinterest for designers” I was submerged into a visual wonderland that has me coming back for more and hoping for a growing community. Created to be a place to inspire, and be inspired, the site also has begun to harvest an educational corner to help those not quite there yet better themselves through articles and tutorials released every week. I asked Daniel: why did you create Airwalk Design?
Those under 30 don’t turn their heads when hearing about the recent “activity trackers” for a quite simple reason: step counting means squat. To the youth of today walking isn’t an activity; that’s for the senior citizens, moms pushing grocery carts or their retired fathers. Those born in the 90’s are full of energy and spirit while worrying about how many steps they took never crosses their mind especially if they are jumping, paddling or participating in every other high-energy activity.
Lit is a new kind of activity tracker, designed for those living in action sports. It measures distance, paddles, rotations, airtime, turns, jumps, G-forces, duration, intensity and more. In addition it connects to a social-sharing app to create challenges, take on others or to share activity achievements. Whether you surf, ride, skate or move every action is captured with the rugged and versatile design of Lit from NZN Labs.
