New Metro Based Look

Hooray! Windows 8 is out at long last.  I know its been sometime, but to play fair, got to spend some time to look at it, to see how it goes.

Well it seems to go pretty well for touch screen devices.  If you've got desktop or laptops running Windows 7 I don't think there's too great a reason for changing.  Unless that is, you like the Metro UI (user interface for those not in the know) and I do.  It's especially great for touch screens.

In fact I like it so much, I've re-designed our Science Courses menu around it.

So what do you think?  Let us know what you like about it and what you don't.  What you want to see in it and what you want to drop.  We want your FEEDBACK!

The future's bright, the future's orange!

In the beginning, you could have any colour computer you liked, as long it was beige! I've no idea why why. It may be designers wanted computer's to blend into the background and offices being bland soulless places meant that computer's had to be beige. Or, it may have been something to do with chemistry - the only colour they could get to work with plastics, or more likely they simply weren't concerned with what computers looked like:  they were too busy trying to get them to work.

To think the world used to be this beige!

With the reliability of computer parts improving, laptops appeared on the scene and lo', a whole new world of colour was opened up - not!. Now you could have any laptop you like as long it was black, or various shades of dark gray.

At the same time Apple was falling into economic trouble while it was trying to launch the ill fated Newton hand held.  But then a saviour appeared.  Not Steve Jobs, but a true British hero Jonathan Ive, now head of design at Apple.  He looked around him and saw all was dark and he walked upon the face of the dark, and said 'let there be light' and the coloured see through IMAC was born.

Imac computers in their various colours

Known by some, as ladies' computers, because they chose them by the colour, they could have heralded a new age of colour, but then Jonathan Ive gave up on colour.  Now everything Apple, has to be abattoir white. But there is a rebellion under-way   Some computer manufacturers  are beginning to produce laptops in different colours and with lots of coloured covers for tablet computers appearing, we could be moving into a bright coloured future.

Which colour would you choose?

The thing is, what colour would you like for your device(s)?  Do you prefer the binary world of black or white or do you want a different future?  If you could design a cover for a tablet or computer what would it be like?  Produce it in Fireworks or a similar program, and have it featured on this blog.  Can you be the next Jonathan Ive?

Phones 4 Us

It’s not like I’m affected by advertising or anything, but the future’s bright, the future’s orange!  Things are changing!  Thank God 4 EE!  OK I admit it.  The last one I made up, but there really is a Kevin Bacon game called ‘Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon’.  Fun for all the family.  Go on ... Look it up!  Not now obviously.

There’s lot of new phones about, with new models appearing every six months or so.  What I want to know is what’s the best phone for teachers to have.  Mine’s an old, old  HTC  - An HTC Diamond I think.  The one with the big screen - running Windows 6 mobile.  Mr McGivern’s an old iphone which thanks to his action man lifestyle is looking a bit frayed around the edges.  So what phones should we have.

I was thinking about the new iPhone, but then I came across this ad.

I quite like the Samsung S3 apart from the outrageous cost.  Then there is Nokia Lumia running on Windows and HTC One X running Android.  And last but not least there are always Blackberry’s.


So which phone do you recommend and why?

What's Yours Called?

Browsers! Love them or loath them.  All computers have them.  Without them we couldn't do even half of what makes computers useful; from watching catch up TV, films or ‘dogs do the silliest things’ on you tube; from internet shopping to catching up on gossip; from mixing with friends on social networks to researching for projects.  All of these need internet browsers.

Fortunately these programs are free and easily available.  Unfortunately not all browsers have been created the same and opinions vary as to which are ‘good’ and which are ‘bad’.  Luckily there are lots of people out there on the 'inter web' with many, many hours of experience keen to share their thoughts and save us a lot of pain and grief discovering all the problems they've worked out for us.

They are also very creative people and try to get across their experience by using info-graphics comparing programs with common familiar things.  Like the one that compares browsers to guns.  And yep! You might as well shoot yourself, if you use Internet Explorer, or repeatedly slam a car door on your hand.  Both cause extreme pain and achieve nothing

The other graphic compares browsers to celebrities.  You may not know who all the people are, but you can get a general impression. FireFox good, Chrome better, Internet Explorer very bad, everything else in-between.

Anyway which browser do you use and why?  What’s it good at, that the others aren't   Can you achieve world wide fame by creating a info-graphic comparing browsers to something, perhaps to cars or tv programs?  Ask yourself, which Browser would Sheldon Cooper use?

Naked Computing

Nothing to do with using computers in the nude.- nothing against it, but it’s not for me - Instead it has everything to do with motorbiking.  I shall explain.

The term ‘naked computing’ occurred to me the other day as I looked about me in that excellent computing shop, Creative Computing in Shawlands, and I was reminded of why I got my particular motorbike; a Triumph Street Triple.

Back in the days of black and white TV, motorcycling was pretty dangerous thing to do:  it still is, but compared to those days, riding a motorbike is as risky as a walk in the park.  With drum brakes that had the stopping power of a wet sponge, suspension so primitive it made a penny farthing look sophisticated, zero protection and engines so leaky, bikes left behind a slick of oil that the Captain of the Exon Valdez would be proud of.  Respect must go to those ‘Ton Up’ guys who burst through 100mph (the ton)  limit on these machines.

Honda Goldwing

Gradually technology improved and more and more bits were added to the basic bike.  First hydraulic brakes, then disk brakes, improved suspensions, better engines: anything really that made bikes faster, corner better, stop quicker.  Then came extras which  focussed on comfort: fairing’s to give improved weather protection, electric windshields, heated grips and saddles. Finally, other extras developed like ‘on bike communications’, entertainment centres and soon before you could say Triumph Bonneville, overblown monstrosities like the Honda Goldwing emerged.

Triumph Speed Triple

Then those smart chaps at Triumph realised that perhaps everything had gone too far.   It was time to go back to basics.  They stripped everything away that didn’t contribute to speed or better handling and produced the Triumph Speed Triple, the big brother to the Street Triple.  Essentially the Speed Triple is a big engine with wheels, horrendously fast and agile and so was born the craze for ‘Naked Bikes’ where hard core bikers wanted to get back to the original danger and less complicated, raw riding of the ‘Ton Up’ guys.

Liquid Cooled 'Beast' Desktop

It was this, that I was thinking of as I stood in Creative Computing, looking around at extreme machines like Alienware gaming desktops, complete with every single hardware  device you could imagine, including neon lights and transparent cases. There were even computers with processors cooled by huge cooling fans and mineral oil.  Perhaps its time to get back to the raw essentials of computing.

Lets go ‘naked’! Lets junk the over the top cases; get rid of the hair dresser colours, loose the unnecessary keyboards and put to sleep the rabid mice with more buttons than a TK Max fashion store.

Raspberry Pi Computer

Lets go back in time and join in spirit those original pioneers of computing who led the way in changing the way we live by thinking of new things and not bother with messing around with mere style.  Let’s create new content.  And what better way to begin, than with Raspberry Pi.  What do think?  Do you want to go naked?

Move Over Nick Park

Everyone has got a talent.  For most mortals it takes time to find out what you have a talent for.  It might be for music, running, throwing the javelin or even doing maths or writing. Occasionally though, every once in while someone comes along whose talent is obvious and outstanding.

In this case the talent is Morgan Spenny who specialises in Stop Motion lego films.  Have a look at the film below.  In the words of the great Bruce Willis.  It has all the action you need: helicopters, car chases; man hunts and gun fights. Despite having no romance, nobody could reasonably ask for anything more.



From a technical perspective, the short film reveals a rich understanding of the film making process.  At its heart is a strong story that everyone can understand. It features tracking shots, over head shots and shots from different camera angles to re-enforce the impression of movement and add a dynamic feel to the film.  The film is further improved by the use of clever shifts in focus to give a feeling of depth, changes in perspective and by giving different points of view from each character to help develop the story.  A classic moment is when the villain escapes from the mail van and the camera moves to look over the shoulder of a member of the public half hidden by the building and  ringing the police.  The camera suddenly changes focus to give the impression of the villain moving off into the distance.  The film is brilliant.

More of Morgan's films can be viewed at his own website at http://morgspenny.host56.com/.  Its well worth a visit and it shows how he made it.  I'm sure, time allowing,  Morgan will only be too pleased to help others out and share his secrets with everyone.

His films also reveal personal qualities beyond just a technical understanding of how to make films.  I should imagine they require perseverance, a degree of patience, which I ashamed to say escapes me, almost obsessive attention to detail and a high degree of problem solving ability to get the effects he needs with just lego.

Anyway watch the film - it's well worth it.  What do you think?  What's your favorite moment?

Do you have a hidden talent that you want to show off.  Have you created a power-point, taken a photograph, sailed a boat, run or done absolutely anything at all that you want to show off.  If you have let us know.  After all, this page is dedicated to you and all of us have got something to show off.

Apples Are Not the Only Fruit

In an earlier post, the cheap and cheerful Sinclair Spectrum was mentioned as one of the  triggers for the rapid growth in popularity for home computing in the late 70's and early 80's; at least in the UK. A simple box with a built in keyboard, it came without a monitor and had to be plugged into a TV.  With only a few commercial programs about, most programs had to be written by users.

The lead that Britain had in home computing was quickly lost, as companies like Apple led the way in making easy to use, powerful, but expensive computers.  Putting companies like Sinclair and Apricot - another fruit - out of business.

Now though, those sunny upland days may be here again with the new Raspberry Pi  computer which costs only a measley £15 to £25!  Yes folks! You’ve read correctly: they really are that cheap.  Admittedly a screen and a keyboard is needed, but everyone has a TV and keyboards can be had for under £.5.  Compared to hundreds of pounds needed for smart phones, tablets and laptops, they’re cheap as chips. And Raspberry Pi’s only weigh 1.5oz (42.5 in new fangled grams ) so they’re light on your pocket in every sense of the word. See here for more specs http://gdgt.com/raspberry-pi/a/specs/

Linux provides the operating system which makes the Raspberry Pi work.  Some see this as a disadvantage, but I prefer to see it as an opportunity. Linux is, in my humble opinion, the best operating system around and free too.  But it does mean that  many programs and apps  have to be created by users.  An excellent way of mastering programming skills and as the country is short of programmers, becoming one, represents one the of best ways of guaranteeing a job as you can possibly get.

It strikes me then, that we have travelled a full circle. Moving from the Sinclair Spectrum through expensive bigger boxes running overpriced programs created by multinational corporations, back to cheap, small but still powerful computers - they work at around  the same speed as an IPAD - which have to be programmed by their owners.  So the future is Raspberry flavoured and the question is: If you were to invent a computer, what fruit would you name it after?