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What the hell have the BBC done to their news and sport pages? The front page was altered recently, and that worked because of mainly one thing - it has the ability to be personalised by the user.
Not so the sports or news pages. They just spill across the screen, with what seems like a random blocks of text and images that the user has no control over. It's abysmal. I know it's a work in progress, but it sucks. BBC, you've got it very wrong.
Posted on Mar 31, 2008 in WebTools | Permalink
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First rant of the day!
The school website is currently showing a cached page from three weeks ago. Why is this? Because out Local Authority has just completed a move from one service provider to another, and as a result our site is no longer showing as live.
I went to a meeting about the migration a few weeks back and actually asked the question "Will our website be affected - it's held externally and we point the domain to it". The techie boys answer was "No - it's fine"
Well, today I've been trying to get through to IT support (as it seems every other person in the county has as well) because of numerous problems coming to light on the first day back at school since the changeover.
Posted on Mar 31, 2008 in RANTing on | Permalink
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I've finally manged to get the music in the whole house digitized into iTunes, and synced onto my iPod.
That's just under 5,000 tracks all available at the click of a button now.
The whole thing didn't take long - just over 5 weeks from putting the first disc into the computer and hitting the "import" button. And it only took that long because I had to dig through the daughters room searching for lost and forgotten CD's within her 'Pit of No Return'.
So now I'm busy playing with the iPod - seeing what it can do, and I love the additional features that this new one has (so much better than the older version that was stolen before Christmas). Cover flow options for looking through the hundreds of albums on there for start. The music based iquiz game is awesome. Take the idea of a music trivia game, then personalize it with your own musical taste automatically (as stored on your iPod) and you actually get questions that you have a chance to get right.
And if that wasn't enough, I can even watch Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes on it too. Is there anything the iPod won't do?
Posted on Mar 31, 2008 in WebTools | Permalink
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Well we're back at work today. We've had our two week Easter break. We're ready to start the long slog of the 15 week summer term (!!)
At the same as we go back others are getting ready to do their final week of the spring term, and start their Easter break this Friday. They'll go back to do a much more sensible 12 week summer term.
I have no idea how this came about, as it has always seemed before that schools around the UK generally take their breaks at the same time (just look at the price of holidays - they go up as soon as the countries schools close for summer). However, with the way it's fallen this year there are going to be some red faced holiday companies, and some very happy familes, because the cheap season has fallen IN the holiday for some people. I imagine that next year there will be a 4 week price rise for Easter breaks so that the holiday firms don't let any family slip through!
Posted on Mar 31, 2008 in General articles | Permalink
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"Schools should consider "lock-ins" at lunchtime to stop pupils from buying junk food, the School Food Trust said today, but school leaders called the proposals unworkable."
So starts an article in the guardian newspaper.
I know that the Government is very keen to make sure that children eat healthier, but come on; locking the secondary school gates at lunchtime to prevent the children heading to the local chipshop. Surely that's over the top. Does no one remember what happened at one school when new healthier menus were introduced in canteens?
What will happen if a child does 'escape' at lunchtime? Will they have to pass a special breath test when they return? ('I'm sorry, you're over the chip limit. It's detention for you sonny').
It won't be long before the watchtowers will be installed, ditches dug, dogs patrolling and the no-mans land minefield installed to keep those nasty vicious junk foods away from children. Oh, what a glorious future we're heading towards.
Posted on Mar 30, 2008 in Education News | Permalink
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Remember watching a programme on the TV a while ago called "Little Angels" in which unruly children were 'trained' to behave correctly thanks to clinical psychologist Dr Tanya Byron?
Well, she has been busy recently looking into the impact of new technology on children. Her report; "The Byron Review" sets out an ambitious action plan for Government, industry and families to work together to support children's safety online and to reduce access to adult video games.
You can download the full report from the Byron Review website.
Posted on Mar 29, 2008 in Education News | Permalink
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I often get asked where I find all the links, widgets and applications that I mention and use on this site and others. Well, I used to rely on dumb luck as I scoured the web, but that all changed with the launch of the Go2Web2.0 website.
This website is heaven for anyone looking for the latest ideas. Two of the most useful I've found on there have been animoto (photo slideshow maker with music) and Simplify Media (play your iTunes collection on any PC anywhere).
I'm using Animoto frequently on the school website - it's perfect for showing off the class trip / special day etc, and the children think it's amazing that we can get the photos taken, and within 10 - 15 minutes there is a new article on the school website with the slideshow available.
Simplifymedia blew my mind the first time I tried it when I was able to access my home iTunes collection at work, and listen to my music streaming over the web.
There are others of course - the latest idea that I like is mippin. It takes an ordinary website with an RSS feed (like Digital-teacher) and converts it into a mobile phone friendly website. What's even more impressive, is the ability it has to create a Nokia 'barcode' that Nokia phones can scan and drop the URL straight into a phone. If you want the mobile version of this site - click here or else scan the following image;
Posted on Mar 28, 2008 in WebTools | Permalink
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Oh dear! I didn't hear this when it happened, but I was fortunate enough to hear a replay later on.
Hundreds of listeners have contacted BBC Radio 4 after newsreader Charlotte Green dissolved into giggles while reading a bulletin on Today.
She lost control after playing a clip of the oldest known recording of the human voice.
"I'm afraid I just lost it, I was completely ambushed by the giggles," said Green.
I heard that recorded clip too, and I was reduced to hysterics too. What a garbled, incomprehensible sound it was. It could have been anything that you wanted it to have been! Listen to her reporting.
Posted on Mar 28, 2008 in Funnies | Permalink
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Well, following the usual Easter conferences for teachers, it seems like for the first time in many years there is a serious threat of strike action taking place within the classrooms.
Now, I'm not one for walking out of the door and closing the school because it only means the children lose out. I'd much rather down tools when it comes to reporting data back to the DCFS and let them go without some of the [unneccessary] data they love to receive.
However, most staff in school are from the union calling for strikes. I am not. My union allows me to take a moral choice. I have a worry that I'm going to end up with a class of around 120 pupils if strike days do return.
Not a thought that fills me with glee :-(
Posted on Mar 27, 2008 in Education News | Permalink
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The school website has been generating a lot of interest recently. The kids love leaving comments on the articles, and more and more of them are asking to become "junior authors" so they can write their own content for the site.
The technology that we are now using for the site is becoming increasingly complex, and this page on the website lists all the little widgets, applications and features that we are currently using.
The newest - Mippin - has me really interested because it will take the website feed and generate a mobile version of the website that works superbly well on mobile phones, listing only the article titles with an option "read more". Images, video and audio will also be carried across into a mobile (I'll be testing this once we start the new term with the introduction of a class based podcasting reporters.
Posted on Mar 27, 2008 in WebTools | Permalink
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