NEARLY HALF OF THE SPACE on our Apple portable media players is filled with applications that appeal to those under the age of five. Many of the apps got loaded by Mia the app tester but some came as advised by parents who know what we like. That's the case with Baby Sign ASL, the sign language application by iDev2.com that Mia is using to learn how to communicate with her baby brother. I paid around two euro for the video-enhanced version and enjoy running "All Signs Quiz" with the video prompts. Before she finished university, ASL tutor Misty recommended that Ruth and I teach our kids to sign before they spoke. During the 12-week programme that Tipperary Institute ran with ex-Dell employees, I watched Irish Sign Language deliver higher education in real-time alongside my lectures and practical sessions. So now I consider myself deficient in another form of communication and I will learn at least 30 ASL words before next month's Limerick OpenCoffee. I expect to be tested there.