Filed under: Internet, Kids, Utilities
ZAC: web browser for autistic children
ZAC (Zone for Autistic Children) is a Windows-only web browser designed specifically for children with autism (and other developmental disorders). The browser acts like a sandbox to isolate the children from things like Youtube, lolcats, and NSFW content, while providing access to educational games and resources that are particularly helpful.ZAC has 5 main sections. It opens with a comforting, screensaver-like aquarium complete with fish, coral, and bubbles. There is a television section that lets the child select from video clips that come from Disney, Sesame Street, Pink Panther, etc.
The games section has a wide array of interactive (and mostly educational) games like Artbot Jr. where we were able to make a dazzling colored picture of a princess. A music area allows children to do things like play virtual instruments and listen to Wiggles songs. A story section rounds out the browser where children can listen to a birdie read nursery rhymes (with interaction) or make a lemonade stand with Elmo.
The ZAC browser is available as a Windows installer or a Windows .exe that requires no install (good for a portable drive).
[Via NPR Bryant Park Project]
So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
