Things I Learned This Week – #44
SFW this week. Promise.
Offline this week I learned that exercise is a good preventer of illness, that charity workers and trick-or-treaters are glorified beggars, and that toddlers don’t get clocks going back to GMT. At all. :p
http://delicious.com/dajbelshaw/TILTW44
Tech.
- I wouldn’t be accessing Facebook or Twitter accounts on public wifi networks for a while. Why? Firesheep.
- You know Livescribe, the paper-based system that allows you to create digital notes? You can now connect it with Evernote.
- Concerned about, or need to bypass fingerprint scanners? Buy some sweets.
- Life Macs but want to roll your own? Lifehacker’s got an 8-step guide.
- There is no excuse not to be a film director now (apart from talent). This was shot entirely on a Nokia N8 mobile phone:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9ME5_ZzeKI?rel=0&w=640&h=390]
Productivity & Inspiration
- Ah, I knew there was a posh-sounding reason I find using an iPhone makes me more productive. It’s for ‘social scaffolding’ and ‘outsourcing my brain’!
- Seth Godin on how ideas spread.
- You need to be touched to be happy. In appropriate places. By appropriate people.
- Are you allowing too much ‘inspiration’ kill your creativity?
- Great post by Scott Berkun on the creative process U2 and Brian Eno went through with the album The Joshua Tree. Ruthlessness and a quest for perfection personified.
Education & Academic
- The Open University are now providing free, high-quality, interactive eBooks via iTunesU.
- Clarence Fisher, a Canadian educator whose blog I’ve read for years, is now mayor of his town. Not because of political ambition but because of duty. Awesome.
- I love these creatively-named research papers. My favourite? “Dreamboys, Meatmen and Werewolves: Visualizing Erotic Identities in All-Male Comic Strips”. LOL.
- The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and iNet have a free, online conference starting tomorrow (1st November – registration required) on the topic of digital literacy. Well, they say that, but the actual topic is Digital literacy: To what extent should new technology allow 21st century learning to take place when, where and how students choose? which seems to conflate at least three different things, as far as I’m concerned…
- Khan Academy, if you’re not aware, is a not-for-profit educational charity providing ‘free, world-class’ tuition through YouTube videos. They’ve got a huge amount of resources, which is why Khan Instant, a new search engine is handy!
Data, Design & Infographics
- Thematic is “a free, open-source, highly extensible, search-engine optimized WordPress Theme Framework featuring 13 widget-ready areas, grid-based layout samples, styling for popular plugins, and a whole community behind it.”
- Cennydd Bowles is a user experience designer. His post on ending hover abuse is great.
- Lorizzle is a lorum ipsum generator generator, gangsta-style. Sample:
Lorizzle ipsum da bomb sizzle amizzle, consectetuer adipiscing elizzle. Shiz sapien velizzle, tellivizzle ghetto, suscipit , get down get down vel, fo shizzle. Pellentesque eget tortizzle. Sed erizzle. Cool izzle dolizzle fo shizzle daahng dawg tempizzle bizzle. Maurizzle i saw beyonces tizzles and my pizzle went crizzle nibh izzle turpizzle. Stuff izzle tortizzle. Mammasay mammasa mamma oo sa shizznit rhoncizzle ghetto. In hizzle izzle platea dictumst. Bizzle dapibus. Curabitur tellus urna, pretizzle ma nizzle, mattizzle ac, eleifend check it out, nunc. Shizznit suscipit. Gangsta sempizzle velit sizzle .
- Freelensing sounds, erm, either pointless, dangerous or fun. You decide.
- Being able to explain the internet to your grandmother is all very well, but could you explain it to a 19th-century street urchin?
Misc.
- I have to hold back sometimes when people point pointless comments on this blog. I only really delete them when they’re self or company-promoting (or blatantly spam). TechCrunch had a great post entitled Ten Comments You Think Are Cool And Insightful But Aren’t. Worth a read!
- “My whole world collapsed.” Death of partner? Life savings gone? Nope, ham and pease pudding stotties no longer on the shelves at Greggs.
- Stay in touch with mainstream culture with When It Drops.
- Not only might this be the first photo of a man, but I really like the design of the website.
- As a touchtypist, I’ve noticed this ‘autopilot’ feature of my hands too!
Quotations
Sometimes the little times you don’t think are anything while they’re happening turn out to be what marks a whole period of your life. (Andy Warhol)
Sometimes it is not enough to do our best; we must do what is required. (Sir Winston Churchill)
Remember people will judge you by your actions, not your intentions. You may have a heart of gold; but so does a hard-boiled egg. (Unknown)
Every man makes a god of his own desire. (Virgil)
The best work is not what is most difficult for you; it is what you do best. (Sartre)
(more quotations at my quotabl.es page)
Main image by me of The Sage in Gateshead
