Anyone for Wiff-Waf

It's the rise of the machines!

If you didn't know, Wiff-Waff was the original name for table tennis, and is, surprise surprise, another sport invented by Great Britain as far back as the 1880's. Made popular as Ping-Pong, table tennis requires incredible hand eye co-ordination, tremendously fast reflexes, the ability to predict where the ball will be from a millisecond's worth of seeing where the ball is in relation to the table, fantastic athleticism and flexibility to be able to stretch and reach for those apparently impossible to reach for balls, and finally unbelievable sense of touch, knowing when to hit the ball hard or change the pace by hitting it softly so it just falls over the net.  In short not something you would associate with robots.  But you'd be wrong!

The video shows an epic match between Timo Boll, the best player in Germany, and a Kuka robot. Apparently the fastest robot around. While Timo is pretty good - I'm sure you could all give him a good game - what the robot does is amazing.  It must have motion detectors (cameras) to give it vision, incredibly fast processing power to handle all the calculations necessary to predict where the ball will be, fantastically quick motors to get the bat into the right position in time and sensitive touch sensors to be able to control the ball.

While Timo wins, just, what sport or activity do you think you can do better than robots? Chess, Snooker perhaps.  When do you think robots will take over the world?

One Direction Stripped Naked

Ssshh! Don't tell anyone, but rumour has it, today's music stars can't play music and even worse, can't sing: that what we hear on shows like the X factor bears no relationship to how contestants really sound.  Stories have apparently been circulating that what you hear is the result of auto tune. Auto-tune is piece of clever software that takes sound waves from the microphone and transforms them to sounds that are in tune no matter how badly out of tune the singer is.

For the first time we now have evidence.  During a recent One Direction concert, the computer running the auto-tune program crashed. Being a live show they had to continue: as they say, the show must go on. So if you are feeling brave enough, watch the video to see how Harry Styles and the others really sound.

Thanks for Sam Rick who managed to get hold of this rare footage.

So, now you know the truth, what do you think? Who else do you think uses auto-tune to sound good or perhaps do you know of band who would be improved by auto-tune: Justin Bieber perhaps?

Remember, the truth is out there.  Keep watching  the skies!

Loads of Wonga

I've always admired people who could play musical instruments.  As my father said to me, if you can play the guitar, you'll always be invited to parties. Unfortunately, I started to play the violin and not, it has to be admitted, terribly well. Nevertheless, I clearly remember being in the Student's Union bar.  A Music student played the piano and he had the ability to play by ear.  With a few hummed notes he could reproduce any tune requested by the remains of  a late night audience.  To this day, I remain impressed by the casual confidence with which he did something truly well.

I was reminded of this recently by one of the Wonga adverts, featuring a highly talented guitarist - Ben Lapps - playing against a CGI  (computer generated imagery) old man character. Initially, I was struck by the musical talent on display and especially by the apparent lack of effort it took to produce such a bravura performance.  Later on reflection, it was the quality of the CGI and the skill taken to reproduce the old man playing the guitar that surpasses the musical ability on display.

It was computer science that made it all possible and it was with the support of  computer technology that helped CGI artists to produce such a misleadingly simple advert.  I mean, how would you go about producing such a high quality CGI character that apparently plays a real guitar with such skill?

So there are plenty of creative as well as technical jobs in computing, but what skills do you admire and what would you like to do really well?

Man, Machine in Perfect Harmony

Forget 'One Direction', forget the latest X factor favourite, Justin Bieber or any other talentless wannabee.  Do yourself a favour and watch the movie below.

It may seem humdrum at first, but watch how it develops.  It shows true creativity and technology in action.  All you need is coupla' of robots, cameras, a computer, fancy software, shed loads of talent, together with that extra something that makes all the difference: Imagination.

So don't bother with ridiculous haircuts, throw away those Voi Jeans - they're so last year -, dump the Ugg boots, if you want to be sub-zero COOL, grab yourself a computer, embrace your inner nerd and start creatin'.

What you you make?

I've got nothing to wear!

It's been a long time since the last post.  Time's arrow has moved on with the passing of  the summer holidays and now it's the beginning of a new academic year.  So welcome back to school.

Hey! Good lookin'

It seems that the latest hot thing in gadget land is wearable tech: computerised technology that you can wear.
The latest craze seems to have begun with Google Glass: specs that include a video camera and a voice controlled computer  that responds to voice commands.  It also includes a small mouse control button in one of the arms to save you the embarrassment of having to shout OK GLASS in noisy situation while everyone wonders why you are talking to yourself.

What the time?

Samsung and Apple are thinking about similar head based wear.  But in the meantime they've produced or about to produce wrist based watch/phone/mp3 player type computers.  It is even possible to view movies on these wrist based devices.  Some come with a stylus so you can use them to browse the internet and send messages.

Light up the catwalk with an LED Dress

Wearable tech is finding its way into clothing.  It is possible to get LED dresses to wear.  This is the same technology that goes into flat screen TV's and computer monitors, but flexible.  As a result the dresses can change colour as the wearer moves around. Maybe in the future high quality pictures or adverts can be displayed on the dress.  There is also clothing available, that changes colour according to how hot or cold the person is, adding another meaning to "Your're Hot! Today."

Wearable tech is also making its presence felt in the field of medicine, with clothes available that contain monitors for temperature, heart rate, motion detectors and hydration of whether you need a drink or not. Shoes can even contain step counters measuring force and well as the number of steps.  As you walk the shoes can even generate power for charging other devices.

It's a smart bone cast

Rather than use old plaster casts to set bones, technology has found its way into helping people to recover from broken bones.  Monitors are included that tracks muscle activity and then suggests exercises to keep affected muscles active to speed up recovery.   The down side is of course, you can't get people to write 'get well soon' messages on your cast.  Ho Hum!

One ring to bind them all!

And those smart people at MIT in the states, have developed a ring that works like a credit card.  Instead using chip and pin to pay for things, customers would place a ring against a reader for money to rapidly change hands.  Quick payment for sure, but does it given muggers an incentive to go around chopping off fingers to get their jewelry?

Technology is only skin deep!

So far we've done eye wear, we've done clothes, we've covered health and we've done jewelry. What's left?  Well some people are having their personal information embedded on their skin in tattoo's in the form of a circuit board.  The information in tattoo's can be read by special readers without you even having to into contact with anything.  They can provide name, financial and health information and even your location.  Spooky!

So technology is moving away from the desktop pc, the phone and tablet, into what we wear.  What kinds of devices would you like to see in clothes.  Wi-Fi hot spots embedded in hats possibly?  What about a keyboard printed on your shirt sleeve?  What about clothes that are free but are sponsored by companies who can change their adverts on the front  using wireless technology. How do you feel about tattoos being used to track your movements?  Have your say.

What is it with lego?

With the success of Morgan Spence, there emerges a new star: James Weir in first year.  It appears James has on the quiet been making his own epic films.  Although neither can afford to hire Brad and Angelina, it hasn't stopped them from making great films using that most common and ubiquitous toys, Lego.

James  film style is little different from Morgan's.His  'Princess in Tower' film shows a greater use of narrative commentary in combination with film. Morgan in contrast, aims to complete the entire story in film.  There's nothing wrong with the approach taken by James: many famous directors - George Lucas (Star Wars) - and playwrights, Shakespeare amongst them make use of this technique.

A big advantage in using the narrative technique is that it shortens time and the film.  Long periods of travel, for example can be indicated through captions combined with other techniques.  James for example indicates days and nights of travel by switching between light and dark.  James and his brother in their other film,  'Batman & The Bank Job' adopt the more common approach as used by Morgan Spence.

A couple of stand out moments for me in the film include the transformation of Batman into his costume, how he transfers into the Bat mobile, the handcuffs.  And finally a nice touch is the two part vertical gate in Arkham.  These all show good problem solving skills of how to tell a story through film with limited resources.  Well done James!

What do you think?

Your teachers are past it?

Everyone who's made it big, did it while they were young.  Richard Branson (Virgin), Albert Einstein (Theory of Relativity - don't be misled by the famous picture of him as an old man), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Bill Gates (Microsoft),  Steves' Wozniak & Jobs (Apple), Hewlett & Packard (guess what they did!), the list goes on and on. Well they've just been joined by one of the newest and youngest internet millionaires, Nick D'Aloisio.

Nick D'Alosio

Young Nick at 17 has just been given more than £20 million by Yahoo for a phone app he developed when he was even younger at 15.  Developed at home, the app he called Summly uses clever programming to produce a daily digest of all the main news stories on a phone, providing users with quick links to more detailed articles.

It was only released in the Apple Store four months ago, but since then its gathered over one million downloads.  Amazing stuff.

Nick's success, again proves that it's the young, the one's closest to new developing trends, that have the coolest ideas: age is not a barrier to success.  And with technology, armed with a simple computer, any one can produce world beating apps in their bedroom.

So what's stopping you?  What ideas have you got for a phone app?  What would you like to see on your phone?

Ignorance is no longer a barrier. You'll find out to develop phone apps  in a new upcoming unit on android programming.  All that's missing is the starting idea, so get your thinking hats on!

How would you spend £20 million smackers?

Neon Rocks

Fresh from the cutting room floor, another ABSOLUTELY STUNNING, MUST WATCH film by Morgan Spence  Give yourself a treat and watch it.

Be able to tell your grand kids, that you knew Morgan, before he was world famous, because you can be sure, we are witnessing the birth of a great talent.

What are your favourite moments?

Among many a few stand out scenes for me, include the security film footage where the viewing perspective changes to that of  security camera and the film switches into grainy black and white: then the fabulous detail of the animate screen on the laptop: the scene at the bar with the glasses filling up, and finally the fireworks at the end. The music is good, but the film is better.

What you think?

What's your poison?

There are literally thousands of different programs.  They range from little apps or widgets you might use on a phone - something like Angry Birds. perhaps - to full blown monster application suites. Microsoft Office. is one example.

Each of us probably have their own favourite programs which we love and use as often as we can.  For many, these are probably games.  For others it might be software that help us communicate or internet apps such web based e-mail or for social networking sites like Facebook.  But for a few, they include programs that can be used for more creative purposes.  It might be Photoshop for creating unusual images,  Auto-cad for design or Adobe After Effects for adding in special effects or title sequences to films. 

Christopher Douglas shows us how this can be done in an appeal for the Water Aid Charity during our Focus on Business course.  Good work Christopher, though I'm not sure about the sound track.

What are your favourite programs? What can you not bear to be without?  What do use them for? We want to know.

Are there any programs that you would like to be available in school?  Come on here's you chance to have a  say.

Social Networks: Saint or Sinner

Social Networks.  Everybody has some idea of what they are.   Well dear reader, you do, or more than likely, you wouldn't be here.  Social networking is all about being a member of a group that shares some common interest and believes in sharing information.  In the past this has meant belonging to an extended group of friends or people in clubs that you personally know and talk to.  Nowadays this means using computing technology hosted by companies like Facebook, Twitter or Google to maintain contact with your social group.  Because you don't have to meet face to face, you can have a much larger social group, where one post can be read by thousands and your friends can be spread around the world.  Something that just couldn't be done before Social Networks arrived on the scene.

As they say, its good to share and keep up to date with your mates.  And we can all think of positive benefits to social networking.  But is there a dark side?

We've all heard of stories along the lines of "Facebook lost me my job", mostly because people have included pictures of themselves doing something inappropriate or because they've said things about their work mates or their boss.  In which case, don't blame Facebook, Twitter or any other site, its down to being an IDIOT!  Plain and simple.  What is said on Facebook, stays on Facebook ...  and there will be consequences, perhaps not to day, not tomorrow, but when you least expect it.  Like when applying for a job and increasingly colleges, employers are scanning social network sites for what job applicants have said or done.  No!  We can't blame technology or social networking sites for allowing us to be idiots. Being able to use a computer is no protection against stupidity.

Some experts believe social networking is evil because of the way it allows companies to track and record so called private data like where we go, what we we see and what we read.  To an extent they have a point, but perhaps the real danger of social networking is its main strength:  the ability to recruit others to a common cause.  While this is can be a benefit, it can as the video above shows, be a force for bad where people can join together to oppress others in what's become known as cyber-bullying.

Some liken this to a virus spreading desiese between groups.  It starts slowly through a marginally offensive remarks.  These slowly becomes worse, as friends try and outdo each other in being rude about another and these as the video below shows, generally tend to be girls.

Then there are the 'Trolls'.  These tend to be individuals who 'troll about' the internet to make hate filled comments, such as taking delight in someone's else misfortune.  Why? Know one really knows.  Perhaps its because they are sad and insecure loners who want everyone else to be as miserable as they are.  Or perhaps its because, with technology available, they can.

So what do you think are social networks good or bad?  Have you been bullied in this way?  What do you think about 'trolls'?  Why do they do it?  Do you think social networking should be allowed in school?  Come on let us  know?

The End of the World is Nigh!

No its not Armageddon, nor the end of the Mayan calender.  Rather, could it be the end of the desktop computer as we've come to know it and love.

Back before the tablet, further back before the notebook, and even further back before the relative cheapness of laptops, most people's first contact with computers, was through the tower and screen of the typical desktop computer.  While not mobile, the desktop computer retained lots of advantages when compared to the developing laptop market.  To begin with, they were a lot cheaper.  With more space in the tower, they could have bigger hard disks giving them greater backing storage.  They had more powerful graphics cards giving them greater game playing ability and with more input and output sockets they could connect to almost every type of device, from joysticks through full sized keyboards to the ability to output to multiple monitors. More memory could be packed in and with space for big cooling fans and heat sinks faster processors could be used.  In almost every way, apart from portability, desktops had the advantage over laptops.

More Poowwwwerrrrr!!

For Power Users

For Steam Punk Fans

For Motorbike enthusiasts

And best of all.  Desktop PC's could be fully customised and be easily built at home according to your own needs or specifications. They could be game orientated or built especially for web or program development. Or for video editing or for business needs.  For example I know someone whose desktop computer has 24 Gb (shed loads) of RAM memory and backing storage of 48 Terabytes (48,000 Gigabytes, more than all the school desktop computers put together)

Nowadays, the key aim is for mobile computing and so development is focused around small laptops, tablets, 4G smart phones etc.  And manufacturers - Samsung, HTC, Lenovo and Apple in particular etc - don't like people messing with the innards of their machines and anyway, there isn't any room for custom bits and pieces.  So more mobility means being less fixed to desktop machines which means less need for for desktops which means an end to customisation and so fewer people building their own computers.   So it's not so much video killed the radio star, its more mobility killed the desktop!

Is this true!  Are we at the beginning of the death of the desktop?  Or if you have a desktop, how would like to see it customised?  What would you add or remove to make it your own?  It has to be more than a sticker!

Computers. Huh! What are they good for? Absolutely nothin'!

Has Santa been kind to you this Christmas? Did you get the gadgets that you wished for?

Nowadays, thanks to scientists, computer engineers and programmers, you can get truly amazing mind 'fizz-boggling' tech. From robotic pets with artificial intelligence, through cameras with inbuilt GPS that can tag your pictures with the exact position you took them from, to tiny phones with the same processing power of 5 year old desktop computers. But the question has to be asked what is all this tech used for?

Surely, given the heavy duty expense of developing all this tech and the real cleverness of the people involved in making it all work - they are a cut above the usual Big Brother, reality game show fodder desperate for their 15 minutes of fame. - it has to be used for more than watching yet another 'You Tube' vid of tipsy Granny's attempting to POGO to Firestarter by The Prodigy

And while its sometimes good to play games and blow up stuff.  There has to be more to making use of this life changing technology than using it to blow up even more stuff.  Skype, incidentally developed in Estonia by Ahti Heinla, Priit Kasesalu and Jaan Tallinn showing that the web isn't all about the Americans and the British (although Skype is now owned by Microsoft.) is great for keeping in touch with friends and the 'rellies' over long distances.  But really, do you need to 'skype' your friends who you've been talking to and text messaging all day and are seeing later the same evening.

Everyone knows that 'it's good to share'.  It's this principal that's made social networking popular.  People like sharing: sharing their knowledge, helping others, showing off and keeping in touch. Sometimes though you can 'overshare' as the recent program "Don't Blame it on Facebook" demonstrated.  People can be arrested and loose their jobs as a result of comments made through social networking.  And there is such thing as 'too much information'.  Believe it or not, not everyone cares about your latest bowel movements or that your chances of getting a girl friend is listed as 'mission impossible' unless you want everyone's pity or your status is listed as the 'original wild child' - no you're not.

So what do you use your computer for?  Are there any creative's out there?

Does anyone use their computer or tablets for photo-shopping pictures, composing music, creating 'mash ups', building websites, writing essays, books or poetry, solving maths problems, analysing data, research or finding out how to do things.

Come on: tell us what you do with all this tech!

Nominate your best tech or gadget!

Santa is just around the corner.  He knows where you live, and like stealthy ninja, is checking out best entrances and exits to your home!

We want your nominations for what you think is the best tech of the year and what you would like to see most under the Christmas tree.  It can be any kind of gadget you like, phone, camera, tablet, gaming machine etc. But you have to say why you think is so cool and briefly describe what it does so much better than any other kind of its class.

Or if you don't think anything worthwhile has been produced in 2012, offer suggestions for the kind of gadget you would like to see in 2013.  For example, I'm pretty keen to see what the Surface Pro can do.  And I would nominate the Surface RT for the gadget of the year in 2012.  Its a big departure for Microsoft and I think the new interface is very quick to use.  Plus, I think the keyboard in the cover lifts the tablet from just a fancy internet browsing and emailing device into a proper computing alternative to a laptop or desktop.

So come on.  Give us your nominations!

I love it when a plan comes together!

so said Col 'Hannibal' Smith of the A team.  Or, as its described in tech circles: Convergence.

Convergence is all about the tendency of different  tech systems to come together in one device because they share some common characteristic. The smart phone is an excellent example of this.  Which because they all rely on digital data brings together telephony, email, still photography, video photography, music player and game players in a single device.

On the face of it, this seems a really good idea.  Just think of it:  all that stuff you can do on one piece of tech.    No more multiple cameras, music players, wrestling with all those cables, accumulated old junk or struggling to find that elusive adapter which only fits that old I POD.  All these things replaced by one small device which you can carry around in your pocket.  Talk about Star Trek tech: buckets more computing power in your hand, than that which put man on the moon. Its amazing!

Or is it?

By giving up all that other 'old'  tech and relying on that latest smart phone suggests that everything it can do, approaches the quality of what each piece of technology can do separately. But does it: does it really?

Was Skyfall filmed using an I phone 5.  Do you think the new Spidey was made using a Samsung Galaxy?  No I think not.  Judging by most of the content on You tube, your average phone video camera just about manages to film dogs saying 'sausages' or your least favourite Aunt doing the splits while getting out of that boat.  Funny it may be, but James Cameron and Avatar it is not.  At its very best, it might get you £250 on Who's Been Framed!, but it won't get you that Oscar.

David Bailey

What about the digital camera then?  Ha! that's just as risible.  I don't see world renowned photographers  David Bailey, Ansel Adams or Annie Leibovitz using the Motorola RAZR or the HTC One:  though David Bailey was quite a fan of pocket cameras for those candid party pictures.  Despite increases in resolution (number of mega-pixels) phone camera's still seem to be only good for pictures of yourself with mates at arms length.  Anything else becomes tiny dots in the far distance.  And if the new ads are anything to go by, the trend is for quality, faster DLSR's (digital single lens reflex) cameras with changeable lenses that offer more control and flexibility to the user:  Think of the Nikon 1 or the Canon EOS 600.

DSLR Canon 600D

Yes using them for email can be good but the emphasis is on the word 'can'.  Nearly everyone I know, including myself use 'smart' phones for reading emails.  But few use phones for actually writing emails.  They prefer to use larger screen devices like tablets, or proper keyboards for faster typing, than pecking around a tiny screen with two thumbs at the very best.

Phones as a music player would appear to offer a distinct advantage.  Speech, music its all sound isn't it?  True, but think of the storage.  My music collection, which is not that large is about 35Gb.  Not many phones have that amount of storage.  Anything less would require me to add, delete or edit the content of music on a continuous basis.  With a music player with a capacity of 140 Gb, I'm not going to have to worry about storage capacity for music for years, if ever.  Just load and play.

Call of Duty

OK, forget about cameras, emails and music.  What about game play?  Doesn't that bring home the Kevin Bacon for smart phones?  Yeah right!  Smart phones might be all right for Tetris or for that lunatic plumber Super Mario, but do you really want to play Halo 4, Bioshock 2, Medal of Honour or Farcry 3 on a tiny screen and loose all that amazing explode off the screen, graphic detail.  No, I didn't think so.  'Yes but', you may say, you can play while waiting for the bus or when you're out an' about.  But why put up with tiny screen and tiny experience just because you're out.  What's wrong with waiting until you're back home.  If you're really stuck for something to do: READ a book.

And mentioning books, what's wrong with with using phones as an e-reader?  Plenty, when compared to dedicated e-readers like Kindle.  For a start with Kindle, you get a bigger screens to save all that scrolling.  Then you save thousands of books without worry and you get clearer and easier print to read together with chance to change the font size.  And perhaps most importantly, the battery life is for days if not weeks when compared to only hours for a phone.

What about apps.  OK you got me.  But really how many of these apps are any good? Maps possibly, but the only app I've wanted is the whip sound from the Big Bang but only so I can annoy my friends in the same way as Sheldon Cooper.  Of limited usefulness and entertaining in their own way they're all so much froth.  You can live without them and when you can use a laptop of a tablet, the importance of those apps falls even further away.

Become a Master?

Even as a phone, smart phones aren't that good.  OK but not great.  Coverage isn't always 100% and signal strength comes and goes.  At Crinan, its always entertaining watching people wander up and down the canal side, arms stretched out,  straining to hold their phone up to the sun like an ancient Druid performing a bizarre ritual.  All in a vain attempt to catch a fragment of signal strength while a phone mast is positioned barely 600 yards away around a headland, and as if that extra 2 feet closer to sun is going to make the difference.  Of course what is needed for true coverage, is a SAT Phone.  100% coverage, all around the world.  A bit expensive maybe, especially when all you've got to say is 'WHAAAAATS UUUUUPPPP!'

So it appears, smart phones aren't that smart after all:  they can do some stuff OK, but they're a bit of a jack of all trades and master of none.  What you have to decide, is whether you want to be like a smart phone. Spread yourself about and do lots of things moderately OK, or become a master:  pick a few things to do really really well.

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.