Monday, 6 July 2009

Trial and error

I've just published a short post on ADSET's business info blog about the ADSET stand at the Association for Careers Education and Guidance's conference and exhibition.

Having discovered just how easy it is (or not as the case might be) here, for those who couldn't get to Cambridge on Thursday or Friday, is a snapshot of what you missed of the exhibition.

Well, that I wrote some time ago and found that one picture is not too difficult but that positioning more than one is a pain. Maybe I need a training course!

So, to save the hassle I've uploaded to my Picasa web album. A couple of things went obviously wrong in this my first serious foray into using my new(ish) camera.
  1. Not all the pictures I thought I'd taken were actually there when I downloaded them. Did I simply not take a picture of a stand, did I delete it by mistake, or are there gremlins in the works.

I did not attend the conference programme itself so can't comment on that but I have no doubt that something will be available on the ACEG website before too much longer.

Friday, 3 July 2009

The Edgeless University: ...

... why higher education must embrace technology

This new report from the thinktank Demos has attracted a lot of comment in the blogosphere. The post that, to my mind, captures the essentials and explains the essentials of what this report covers is that from Brian Kelly (UK Web Focus).

Brian admits that he hadn't absorbed everything from the 90-page report when he wrote the post on the launch day and I have no doubt that the conversations will continue for quite a long time.

Thursday, 2 July 2009

Managing your social network addiction

via Stepcase Lifehack by Ibrahim Husain

Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, Friendster, Tumblr, Xanga… the list goes on and on. Stunning stuff, read it for yourself.

Go through the steps:
  • Rehabilitation
  • Track your time online
  • Remember the telephone
  • Go outside
  • Limit your memberships
  • Use your networks productively
  • Prioritise
  • Stop procrastinating
  • Remove the cellphone apps
  • Spend more time with close friends and family



Wednesday, 1 July 2009

Should you avoid tweeting that you've been laid off?

via TechRepublic Blogs

Should you avoid tweeting about the fact that you were just fired? Should you refrain from mentioning your recent layoff in Facebook? Toni Bowers weighs in on these questions.

Hazel’s comment:
Written for IT folks but with relevance to everyone caught up in the recession.



Tuesday, 30 June 2009

The latest non-work-related items

Friday Fun: Frantic via the How-To Geek by Mysticgeek
Frantic may be a good adjective to describe how your work week was and it is the name of the game we look at this Friday to help take the edge off. Frantic is an old school space shooter type game that is a lot of fun.
NB: You may want to turn the sound off so the pointy-haired bosses don't catch you.
Play Frantic at the How-To Geek Arcade

Six Once-Forbidden Foods that Aren’t so Bad for Us
via Gimundo.com on 23/06/09Researchers have found that these foods are less sinful than we thought, and in some cases, can actually provide health benefits. Find out what makes these “bad” foods not so bad after all.

Friday fun via Science, Engineering & Technology Blog by Anne
As we reach the end of the first week of Wimbledon, find out more about the science behind the sport of tennis at the following sites:
Physics of tennis
Tennis sport science
Physics of ball spin in tennis, topspin and backspin
Racquet research

via Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate
Obsession can be genuinely agonizing and disruptive. It can also be highly valued in an artist, a lover, or a doctor... more

Friday Fun: Cargo Bridge via the How-To Geek by mysticgeek
  • You need to build a bridge between the valleys so the workers can finish their jobs. So the first thing to do is survey the terrain, move the mouse cursor to the left side of the screen to scroll further over.
  • Go back into design mode to start sketching your bridge design using wood blocks and connectors. Keep an eye on the funds in the bank while building.
  • During the design process you can go back and test the design with your workers.
    If the test doesn't work you can go back to the design board and start again.
  • A successful design allows you progress to more challenging levels and adds funds to the bank for better materials.
  • Progress is saved automatically which makes it easy to start where you left off.
  • There are a few setting you can change such as the image quality and sound.
Copyright © HowToGeek.com. All Rights Reserved.

Tetris: an excellent treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder? via Technology blog guardian.co.uk by Charles Arthur
Tetris is good for easing the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), scientists have found. Yes, you read that correctly: the infuriating, mind-swallowing piece-twiddling row-building game actually has a medical value. The research, which was conducted at the department of psychiatry at the University of Oxford, suggests using Tetris as a "cognitive vaccine" against flashbacks from traumatic events. It's published on the open-source science research Public Library of Science (PLoS) website.

via Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate
Setting achievements of Mesopotamia and Greece side by side is a useful exercise, says Roger Sandall. What do we learn from the comparison?... more

via Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate
The beauty, intelligence, grace, complexity, and wit that make Lolita a work of art deepen our well of compassion and sympathy, says Francine Prose, whether we like it or not... more

via Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate
Most of what scholars need for research these days is on the Internet. Oh yeah? So you're trying to trace a judicial duel held before the French King in 1386... more

via Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate
Is religion innate? Would children raised in isolation spontaneously create their own religious beliefs? Paul Bloom says yes.... more

Toward understanding the Middle East
via Doc Searls Weblog by Doc Searls on 5 February
I don't write much about war, mostly because I'd rather write about stuff I can do something about. As a young man I opposed the Vietnam war, wrote about it, protested against it. If I hadn't lucked into a medical deferment, I would have been a conscientious objector, like some of my good friends.
Stephen Lewis was a fellow student at the same Quaker college, a good friend and a fellow protestor. We met when we crashed the same Ku Klux Klan rally, near the ironically named Liberty, NC. I believe we even joined the same picket lines outside one of Ed Cone's family's textile plants. (I'm not sure if Ed was even born back then. We're talking about the '60s here.)
With A Gingerly Step Middle-East-Wards, Steve treads lightly on territory I've been reluctant to write about — but about which I've been glad to learn more. At that Steve helps a lot. The post is short, sobering, and linkful.
There are no easy answers. But we can improve on the questions. This post does that.

Hunch – a decision search engine that works

“Hunch works” according to Phil Bradley.

Trust me, Phil knows what he's talking about when it comes to information searching, finding and retrieval.

Read all about it here – and learn.

Equally prepared for life? How 15-year-old boys and girls perform in school

via OECD Directorate for Education


This book aims to provide important insights for policy makers reponsible for endorsing gender equity by exploring the educational performance and attitudes of 15-year-old girls and boys in reading, mathematics, problems solving and science.

Full details from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment