Coursework, looking back and the new web

A section of my coursework

Now the deadline for the IT coursework has finally passed, many are trying to forget it as quickly as possible – after all there is nothing we can do now so it is about time to start focusing on other things. On the other hand sometimes it is worth looking back at what we have done and considering the technologies we used over the duration of a project and what how the technological landscape has changes.

Just think about it, since we first started the project:

• The first email using US presedent has been elected.
• After everyone predicted Vista would crash and burn, it did exactly that (but in a profitable way).
• The biggest anti-piracy case ever has taken place (and there is still no justice).
• Facebook has been redesigned twice (strangely everyone hated it both times).
• The economy has gone Kaboom (this was worrying profitable as well).
• Everyone has started talking about ‘the cloud’.
• Scientists have decided we are all doomed thanks to swine flue/bird flue/meteorites/black holes/the end of the universe/global warming/our own stupidity.
• Netbooks have taken 1% of the computer market.
• So has Linux.

In short everything is different yet everything is fundermentally the same, we don’t all have hover cars and computers certainly don’t feel faster than they did this time in 2005. Whilst we may have better hardware out demands have increased even more and the man who predicted noone would ever need more than 20MB of RAM masterminded the release of an opperating system which requires 2GB of the stuff . My point is not to point the finger but rather to highlight how rapidly everything can change, without anyone noticing at all. Although we might get there differently we are fundementally heading in the same direction.

The internet can be considered as a case in point for this, for its humble conception as a tool used by scientists to exchange info complicated concepts which noone understood it has evolved into the universal method of communication through by anyone can send picture of cats speaking uninteligably. Currently the very technologies which shape the internet as we perceive it are being shaped with new draft specifications for (X)HTML5, CSS3 and XHTML2. In a decades time when Internet Explorer finally gets arround to supporting them we can truely expect the next generation of websites, intergrating beautiful design which complete semantic accessibility reaching toward an internet which can been understood as well by computers as by humans. This point may be pivotal in the future of technology as we will be able to find anything; as good as Google is now, it is only scratching the iceburg. I have no idea how far this will streach but one thing is for sure it will change everything… and still noone will notice.

A load of old waffle

Created using Wordle.net

Ever get the fealing that you are repeating yourself? Now you can know for sure with wordle.net, a cool java based service which can analyse a text or a blog and make very nice word clouds sizing words based on how frequently they appear.

Tom’s revision podcast – episode 2

After episode 1 of my podcast, told myself that it was probably the last as well as the first, but never the less here I am, intrepidly typing the prefix into another attempt to make something which will hopefully be of some use. The focus of this episode is pretty much the same as the last, what revision resources can you use to improve your absorption and retention of knowledge whilst briefly coming back to the much beloved mindmap.

This episode I have elected not to bother editing it, just record then publish the first take as to err is human and I can’t be bothered to spend half an hour getting everything into place. This episode was created on my eeePC once again but this time using cheese, the simple webcam program which comes with Ubuntu.

Enjoy…

Pivot, fame and glory

A sample animation in pivot

Recently the proliferation of pivot, a free application for creating stick-figure animations, has created quite a buzz throughout the school, with increasingly ambitiously ingenious  work being created by students.

Now, finally, you have the chance to submit your work to the first Langtree Pivot competition in which everyone can get their master pieces recognized (and at the end of it you could get the prestigious title of ‘King (or Queen) of pivot’). So what are you waiting for? – Check out Alistair’s blog to enter:

http://igglepiggle.langtreeshout.org/2009/04/27/pivot-competition/

Tom’s Revision Podcast

I have attempted to create a basic video podcast containing revision tips and information about mindmaps, here it is:

Right, now that you have (I hope) watched it I just want to go into a little detail about how I made it and how you can do the same using Langtree Shout, video upload sites (YouTube is often considered ubiquitous in this field but there are many alternatives which often have unique features and moreover are not blocked in UK schools).

Firstly, for making the video I used the built in Webcam and stereo mic on my laptop – whilst alone the mic provides good sound quality, when recording video at the same time this is degraded as noise creeps in and video and audio go out of sync. In short if you have to option use a stand alone video recorder or if your camera is good enough use that – I will probably be using my camera if I make any more. I did not do much editing for the video but what I did was with Kdenlive, an excellent video editor for Linux (if you are using Windows you will have to make do with Movie Maker). The music is a free track from the Smashing Pumpkins, you can find loads of free (and thus redistributable) music on jamendo.org; sadly due to the state of copyright law you are not just able to use any old track ripped off CD.

Next need to export it into a web ready format (not .wmv or .dv, .mp4, or .mov ) you can upload it to any video sharing site such as vimeo or blip.tv (this is the one I used) – they are both great services and will allow you to easily upload and share you video. The upload may take a while depending on your connection speed.

Now your video is uploaded and viewable by the world (depending on the sharing settings you determine), you just need to copy & paste the embedding code into the HTML view the post editor your blog or type {{vimeo>Video ID}} for vimeo and {{blip.tv>Video ID}} for blip.tv on the Wiki.

Happy recording

Creating first class learning resources with online apps

Recently there has been quite a lot of buzz around online apps such as Google Docs and Zoho which allow you to do things with just an internet connection and a web browser which would have previously required installing desktop software – something which is simply not an option on many school networks.

In this post I want to focus on 3 in particular, SlideRocket, Buzzword and MindMeister which I have found useful in my revision homework and preparing my speaking and listening as they not only allow could to do the same stuff which you would normally do but online; they allow you to create work more uniquely, more stylishly and more efficiently than has ever been possible before. And of course they are also all free (although some do have premium versions).

SlideRocket

SlideRocket is a presentation app with a difference, it comes with a wide variety of stunning effects, a beautiful interface, some really spiffy templates and basically everything you need to make an outstanding, interactive presentation.

SlideRocket provides so many tools whilst being extremely easy to use, it is the perfect program for creating a presentation which truly unique; not just another tired PowerPoint. SlideRocket also allows you to just send a link to let people view your presentations and embed them in your own websites, making a process which would be cumbersome with traditonal software absolutly effortless.

You can signup at http://sliderocket.com or see it in action below via their sample presentation:

Buzzword

My Tessay plan in Buzzword

Adobe is a company synonymous with style, this is something which is really apparent in Buzzword and all of their acrobat.com products. Buzzword is a online word processor which is designed to look beautify whilst producing beautiful documents, something it not only succeeds at but does so without sacrificing any functionality in the process.

With Buzzword you get a selection of stunning fonts, styles and useful collaboration features within a great interface to make whatever you are writing a pleasure to look at.

MindMeister

As is probably evident from the name, MindMeister specialises in producing mindmaps – probably the most useful tools for revision ever invented. MindMeister simply makes it really easy for you to create complex mindmaps and for multiple students to collaborate on one mindmap, just like in a Wiki.

You can access it at mindmeister.com

My English work in MindMeister

Poetry from other cultures notes

For my one of my English  speaking and listenings I worked with Jonathan on a presentation explaining the techniques used in Island Man and Vultures. Here is the presentation which we used:

I have also been working on some notes for all of the poems in the form of a mindmap, it is not yet complete so I will continue add ideas going into the future.
Poems from other cultures

‘To kill a mocking bird’ revision notes

For all those studying ‘To kill a mocking bird’, I have compiled some brief notes in mindmap / brainstorm thought shower form which should help outline the key concepts in the novel. They are by no means comprehensive, but if they have been of any use to you please comment and let me know. The mindmap is published as a wikimap so if you want to add to it you should be able to.

To kill a mocking bird mindmap