There's a hoarding just next to the entrance to M&S in the Castle Quay shopping centre, advertising that AT Computers are opening up on 7th July.

Really interesting mix of a Kool & The Gang smooth jazz track with Marvin's vocal of Ain't That Peculiar. Made by Soul Persona.

This pupil has profound and multiple learning difficulties and is totally blind. He can be seen here using the Numark DJ decks as a very successful access device to control and scratch music tracks via the connection of the decks with the iPad, using the DJay app. You can see how responsive he is to the different types of music he is using with heavy rock at the start changing to blues in the 2nd part.
It would appear that the tactile cues of the decks and central bank of physical switches and knobs have helped him to find the areas which do what he wants. So far we've just been using music tracks, but it will be fascinating to see if he responds with as much interest to audio such as voices of friends and family, sound effects and everyday sounds etc.
Many thanks to his parents for permission to post this clip.

Great find by David Murphy, ADE at University College in Cork. A video from 1971, demonstrating developments in drawing and animating visuals on a computer screen, using a mouse that appears to be a rectangular wooden box.

4th UK Record Store Day takes place tomorrow, 21st April 2012.
If you're in the Teeside area you ought to take a look at Sound It Out, the shop behind a great 2011 documentary by Jeanie Finlay, or in the Leamington area drop into Head, in the shopping mall off the Parade.

A YouTube video giving an overview of how this school in Czechoslovakia is using iPads with their pupils, who have learning difficulties.

Great, jazz tinged instrumental. Punching saxophone with a driving beat.
This comes from 1972, written by Eddie himself and produced by Eddie along with Marvin Laganoff.
I was lucky enough to pick this demo copy up for just $1 in New York in 2010. Towards the last third of the track a guitar comes more to the fore, then the sax grabs the lead again, and it all comes to a crisp ending at 3 minutes and 14 seconds.

News that the ACE Centre Advisory Trust Oxford is to close (copied from SENIT posting from Terry Waller):

Crucial support for people who are given the right to communicate is scheduled to come to an end on 30th June this year when The ACE Centre in Oxford closes its doors for the last time a casualty of the Government's slow response to ensuring that vital services are sustained in the current economic climate. The Government is still planning how it intends to support the 260,000 children and adults in the UK who require Augmentative and Alternative Communication provision and the centre has become a casualty of the lack of urgent action and commitment.

Since it opened in 1984, The ACE Centre has provided support for over 5000 people by carefully assessing their needs and recommending the right technology that literally enables them speak, write, access education and
reach their full potential.  The Centre also provides essential training and free information services for parents, carers and professionals within education and health services and this has indirectly improved the lives of over 20,000 people since the centre started.

Bill Nimmo, Chair of Trustees of The ACE Centre, Oxford, said, "Vital services like ours that provide so much support through high levels of expert knowledge and understanding of people's needs cannot be allowed to close and we ask the Government to urgently  review the sustainability of these essential  services.

"The ACE Centre Advisory Trust staff and Trustees are deeply saddened that the Centre is scheduled to close at the end of June 2012.  Despite significant efforts to ensure the sustainability and future of our Centre, we are unable to continue to operate in the current financial climate. The ACE Centre leaves a considerable legacy for children, young people and adults with complex communication needs, of which we are immensely proud."

For further details see the ACE Centre Advisory Trust website -
http://www.ace-centre.org.uk / and the article on MJO -
http://www.agent4change.net/inclusion/inclusion/1545-cutbacks-hit-sen-oxford-ace-centre-to-close.html