Holiday's are a wonderful time to relax, to put your mind at rest and concentrate on the fun things that you do not get to do normally. Silence can help from the everyday hustle and bustle.
Last Thursday, I purchased a copy of Rail Simulator, and became addicted - hence not so many recent updates! Really additive. I am not a train spotter! Just enjoy all things transport based.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Moodle is the new 'black'.
Remember when the saying 'is the new black' refers to when a colour comes into fashion? Well, I have moved my school into using Moodle as its Virtual Learning Environment (VLE - or whatever Three Letter Acronym (TLA) is in fashion), and now everybody else I seem to know is also moving in the same direction.
I did a test install on my own PC the other day, turning it into a WAMP server, only took less than thirty minutes for the whole thing - now I can test out ideas and more importantly addons (modules) with out affecting the main system.
It is really flexible and easy to use - well for most people. I have been struggling teaching older teachers as they come to terms with another 'technology' whilst still attempting to keep up with improving their own IT Skills - ultimately - this is the real hurdle. However, the VLE we were going to be with (no names mentioned to protect the not so innocent) is absolutely 'pants'. I can accomplish in five minutes with Moodle that took me forty five with the other - and at least there is regular bug fixes and releases with improvements. This is not because it is buggy, it is just because with any piece of software there are bugs. There is a software engineering saying along the lines of 'There is not enough time left in the Universe to test all but the simplest programs to the point where you would be 100% certain that they would never fail'.
Still, back to the point, Moodle is Open Source, which in this case makes it flexible and powerful. And in case you are wondering, Moodle stands for 'Modular Object Orientated Distributed Learning Environment' - say that after a night on the town.
I did a test install on my own PC the other day, turning it into a WAMP server, only took less than thirty minutes for the whole thing - now I can test out ideas and more importantly addons (modules) with out affecting the main system.
It is really flexible and easy to use - well for most people. I have been struggling teaching older teachers as they come to terms with another 'technology' whilst still attempting to keep up with improving their own IT Skills - ultimately - this is the real hurdle. However, the VLE we were going to be with (no names mentioned to protect the not so innocent) is absolutely 'pants'. I can accomplish in five minutes with Moodle that took me forty five with the other - and at least there is regular bug fixes and releases with improvements. This is not because it is buggy, it is just because with any piece of software there are bugs. There is a software engineering saying along the lines of 'There is not enough time left in the Universe to test all but the simplest programs to the point where you would be 100% certain that they would never fail'.
Still, back to the point, Moodle is Open Source, which in this case makes it flexible and powerful. And in case you are wondering, Moodle stands for 'Modular Object Orientated Distributed Learning Environment' - say that after a night on the town.
Something old into something new.
Quiet day today. Fixed(ish) the car's exhaust with the putty stuff I bought, only to find more rust! Urgh. I think that I am going to face up to the fact that I have to replace the car in the medium term, even though I love it so much.
Watched the Colditz Story (again but for a long while), good as I could not remember what happened, but the Jamaica joke is still going strong. I tell it to my students and they look confused.
Almost finished rebuilding my old PC so that I can give it to a mate's daughter, even though he does not know it yet - a surprise. The one she has at the moment is really pants, so this one should help with her school work. If only all students could have access to a computer, it would really help them to attain the skills for life.
Whilst doing this, recorded 'Up Periscope' off the telly to watch later - the old films are really good for a proper feel good feeling.
Flash book did not arrive, I hope it does tomorrow. Only six more weeks left of the holidays. One week down and still thinking about work. Lots of preparation to do between now and then. Lots of people think that working in a school with lots of holidays is a walk in the park. It is most definitely not - it has taken me the best part of a week to recover from my exhaustion - and this year I have not had a cold at the end of term (yet). I worked it out once, that with all the hours I work in term time and the holidays (yes, them too) - I get about four weeks off in total, and only 2 - 3 will actually be without doing anything work related at all. And even though at this point in time I have six'ish weeks to go, I still have that 'list' in my head of the things that need doing.
Watched the Colditz Story (again but for a long while), good as I could not remember what happened, but the Jamaica joke is still going strong. I tell it to my students and they look confused.
Almost finished rebuilding my old PC so that I can give it to a mate's daughter, even though he does not know it yet - a surprise. The one she has at the moment is really pants, so this one should help with her school work. If only all students could have access to a computer, it would really help them to attain the skills for life.
Whilst doing this, recorded 'Up Periscope' off the telly to watch later - the old films are really good for a proper feel good feeling.
Flash book did not arrive, I hope it does tomorrow. Only six more weeks left of the holidays. One week down and still thinking about work. Lots of preparation to do between now and then. Lots of people think that working in a school with lots of holidays is a walk in the park. It is most definitely not - it has taken me the best part of a week to recover from my exhaustion - and this year I have not had a cold at the end of term (yet). I worked it out once, that with all the hours I work in term time and the holidays (yes, them too) - I get about four weeks off in total, and only 2 - 3 will actually be without doing anything work related at all. And even though at this point in time I have six'ish weeks to go, I still have that 'list' in my head of the things that need doing.
Another quiet night
As the immersion heater gurgles away and the road is quiet, I try to keep awake to write this. Not such an expensive day. Car exhaust repair kit £14.95ish, hair cut £8, PC Game £20 - cycled instead of taking the car, so saved on petrol and money. Book came on Alan Turing, hope Flash book arrives later this morning.
Zzzzzz.....
Zzzzzz.....
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Ouch
Finally got the car in (Yesterday) as another early morning posting. Just heard one car go by, still nice and quiet though. A new catalitic converter - 225 quid, only to find that there is a small hole in the exhaust quoted at 190 quid. So down to Halfords to get some exhaust tape to seal it until its MOT, if really bad, then I will have to give it up and get something new - I cannot keep spending more and more money - I simply do not have it.
Still, I was able to read a Dreamweaver book I have bought whilst waiting - really good, so have ordered the Flash CS3 version too. Along with a book on Alan Turing, I have always wanted to know this initial foundation ever since understanding the Fetch, Decode, Execute, Store process of a CPU - from "The MOTOROLA MC68000. An Introduction to Processor Memory and Interfacing. Jean Bacon". The MC68000 has a really good instruction set that is easy to understand and an architecture that is simpler to address than the Intel 8086+ type series. In Uni, I once wrote a Fruit Machine program, but got called up for cheating when a friend at the time used the same 'mulu' operand (multiply unassigned) to solve a problem in the program - I had done the work and she had copied me. I am now writing this blog on an Intel Dual Core E4600 CPU - how things have moved on in fifteen years. The younger generation cannot seem to understand a World without Mobile Phones, CD's and the Internet. Still, it is the same for all generations as technology progresses, so do new sets of humans appear to embrace it.
Still, I was able to read a Dreamweaver book I have bought whilst waiting - really good, so have ordered the Flash CS3 version too. Along with a book on Alan Turing, I have always wanted to know this initial foundation ever since understanding the Fetch, Decode, Execute, Store process of a CPU - from "The MOTOROLA MC68000. An Introduction to Processor Memory and Interfacing. Jean Bacon". The MC68000 has a really good instruction set that is easy to understand and an architecture that is simpler to address than the Intel 8086+ type series. In Uni, I once wrote a Fruit Machine program, but got called up for cheating when a friend at the time used the same 'mulu' operand (multiply unassigned) to solve a problem in the program - I had done the work and she had copied me. I am now writing this blog on an Intel Dual Core E4600 CPU - how things have moved on in fifteen years. The younger generation cannot seem to understand a World without Mobile Phones, CD's and the Internet. Still, it is the same for all generations as technology progresses, so do new sets of humans appear to embrace it.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Early Morning Posting
Its early in the morning and I am still online thinking. It is almost quiet outside, most of the road noise has gone, sometimes there is the odd vehicle.
I love this time of day. You can think to yourself. Contemplate the world and the life that you live in it. Wondering what is going to happen next. Life is so stressful - can I get my car fixed, will my boss ever know I really exist, will I ever get any answers to the questions I pose or will there just be unending silence because the answers do not want to be told to me. Will I ever find somebody who understands me? I keep searching - but it has been and continues to be a very long search. Sometimes I feel as if I am shouting but nobody can hear me, oblivious to the words spoken in frustration. The Sam Lowry in the film 'Brazil' had the same problem.
Time to redefine myself and look beyond the now. Time to put the past to bed and look to the future.
I love this time of day. You can think to yourself. Contemplate the world and the life that you live in it. Wondering what is going to happen next. Life is so stressful - can I get my car fixed, will my boss ever know I really exist, will I ever get any answers to the questions I pose or will there just be unending silence because the answers do not want to be told to me. Will I ever find somebody who understands me? I keep searching - but it has been and continues to be a very long search. Sometimes I feel as if I am shouting but nobody can hear me, oblivious to the words spoken in frustration. The Sam Lowry in the film 'Brazil' had the same problem.
Time to redefine myself and look beyond the now. Time to put the past to bed and look to the future.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Would you have ever believed
When I was growing up as a Child (English is so silly as you would never grow up as an Adult) and spent many an afternoon pondering over all of the contraptions bought by Wile E. Coyote in order to catch the illusive Road Runner, I never would have imagined that you could sit at a computer and watch the same cartoon as I was on the Telly - see this YouTube search. In those days, I started of with a 16K ZX Spectrum with a Z80 8 bit microprocessor - the 48K was too expensive for my Mum to purchase.
Or indeed, I never imagined that I could write about it for anybody in the world to read and comment on.
Or indeed, I never imagined that I could write about it for anybody in the world to read and comment on.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Longbow Shoot
I performed the scoring at a Longbow Shoot yeasterday. As you can see, the arrows pack quite a punch. The ones shown were fired from a distance of 60 yards away. I normally shoot Recurve, but would like to try Longbow at some point in my life.
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