Open Thinkering

Menu

Tag: links

Stuff I continually reference.

Jigsaw piece

I don’t know about you, but there’s a few selected articles and other stuff on the web that I reference on a regular basis.

Whether it’s via social networks like Twitter and Google+ or face-to-face, there’s plenty of resources that I need to find quickly and show people. I’ve tried a number of tools for doing this. I used delicious for years but, for one reason or another (mainly when it left the Yahoo! stable) I no longer really use it. And yes, I’ve got Thought Shrapnel but nowhere for the best of the best.

So I need somewhere I can go to find things that I want to show other people, and FAST. And where better than my own site?

http://dougbelshaw.com/blog/quick-reference/

The above page has a few links to get me started. You might want to bookmark it (I’m going to!)

Better yet, why not create your own and share? 🙂

Image CC BY-NC-SA droetker0912

Weeknote #28

Weeknote #28This week I have been mostly…

Writing

Well, typing, but we tend to look at the future through the rearview mirror (to slightly misquote Marshall McLuhan). I’m almost finished the draft of my JISC Mobile & Wireless Technologies Review. I’ll share it, of course, when it’s finished! (16,500 words and counting…)

Spending time with my Dad

He goes back to the UAE today, but it’s been good to have my Dad around for a week due to Second Eid.

Buying a Sony Vaio P Series

You know that stuff I sold via #twebay? I used it to fund an 8″ Sony Vaio P Series ultraportable. I found one for £350 on eBay with the extended battery and in immaculate condition. I love the fact that it’s got 3G and it’s lighter than an iPad yet has a keyboard that’s almost full-size. Tip: when deleting things ready for sale, remember to remove your media player history. :-p

Starting some consultancy work

Those who have read my blog for a while – certainly when I was working in schools – will know how I’ve railed against consultants in the past. The trouble was that I’d only come across the shiny-suited types, those that are parachuted in, say nothing much and then you never see again.

Working with consultants on JISC projects couldn’t be more different. They’re often the most dedicated, hard-working and passionate people you’ll ever meet. Which is why I’ve started doing some consulting for a consultant. If you think I might be able to help you in #uppingyourgame (in a productivity-related way or otherwise) click on the Work with Doug link.

Top 10 links I’ve shared this week

The following links were those most clicked on (according to bit.ly Pro‘s stats) when I shared them via   Twitter this week. I don’t include links back to this blog and the numbers this week show that I haven’t been as active on there as usual due to writing #jiscmobilereview!

Links given with number of clicks given in brackets:

  1. Daddy O (187 Lockdown Club Mix) [Spotify] (22)
  2. Interesting North – Doug’s Conference Blog (22)
  3. Skype Education (19)
  4. Justice with Michael Sandel (13)
  5. WordPress theme – Typograph (13)
  6. Pontydysgu – Research on Mobile Learning (10)
  7. Rypple (9)
  8. Telegraph: Fix the workplace, not the workers (9)
  9. New York Times: Building a Better Teacher (7)
  10. J Biebz – U Smile (800% slower) (5)

Weeknote #27

This week I have been mostly…

Working on my thesis

Although working from home this week didn’t produce quite the number of words towards my Ed.D. thesis as I’d hoped, it nevertheless did result in a bit of a breakthrough. I now know why we’re not all talking about ‘digital literacy’ in the UK.

Selling stuff via #twebay

I’ll explain how I went about doing this in a separate post but, having already sold one or two things to Twitter followers this year, I had a go at selling a bunch of stuff using nothing more than Google Docs and TweetDeck. Check out http://dajb.eu/twebay – there’s still some stuff available!

Buying a car

I think quite possibly I have got the bargain of the year: a 1.7-litre Ford Puma (with the ‘luxury pack’) for £350:

Doug's Ford Puma

There’s a large chance I was swayed in my love of Puma’s by the advert for them featuring Steve McQueen (which was on TV in 1997/8 just before I learned to drive):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGoj2dpoTIY&w=425&h=344]

Awesome.

Top 10 links I shared this week

As I explained earlier this week, it makes sense to combine my new ‘Top 10 Links I Shared This Week’ series with these weeknotes. The following links were those most clicked on (according to bit.ly Pro‘s stats) when I shared them via  Twitter this week. I don’t include links back to this blog.

Links given with number of clicks given in brackets:

  1. Futurelab – Digital Participation, Digital Literacy and School Subjects (61)
  2. Gumtree listing of the Ford Puma I bought (51)
  3. What Matters Most: Evidence-based findings of key factors affecting the educational experiences and outcomes for girls and boys throughout their primary and secondary schooling (39)
  4. Alumni magazines: Bah! (38)
  5. Barack Obama – LinkedIn (19)
  6. Digital Britain: Final Report (2009) (17)
  7. Firesheep (16)
  8. BBC News: Large Hadron Collider creates a ‘mini black hole’ (14)
  9. Feedly Mini: Redesigned (11)
  10. Demonstrating JISC’s value and impact (9)
css.php