Digital Signposts

5X5 Observations

5X5 Observations

Here on 5x5, my new weekly feature, I'll post 5 stuff from the last week's web, in 5 categories, (though some may change, depending on what's about that week).

                    

1. After recent forays into play and cooking; HM Govs. latest brainchild is 'high quality culture'.  Some wonder how they will carve up the time;
   There'll be thousands of Year 6 children - 10 or 11-year-olds - going to school today to rehearse for their Sats [national curriculum tests in May,"
   as expressed by Mick Brookes, of the National Association Of Head Teachers. Not to say that I would agree with that as a valid argument against a culturally based curriculum. I may be wrong, but this initiative seems to hark back to outdated concepts, rather than develop and build on a real living culture. Whilst appreciation of the arts and involvement in creative and artistic practice for children is highly desirable, you don't seed this by a diktat of statutory 'hours per week' The arts are much deeper than that. 
2. Bring in the troops to keep discipline?  I am sure that many ex servicemen and women will have a a great deal to offer children to help them learn.  Many of my teachers, in Scotland, would have fought in the war or done their National Service,  some were indeed great and influential teachers. But methinks the motives here have more to do with control and subjugation, as references to "raw physical power" and the context of "deprived backgrounds"  might suggest?
3. Sorry to read this post on US State Funding for educational technology from David Warlick, especially after some of the good thinking coming out of the States at the moment, wonder what we can do to support from over here?
4. So things things just get daft.
5. And dafter

5X5 Useful Things

5X5 Useful Things

                    

Here on 5x5, my new weekly feature, I'll post 5 stuff from the last week's web, in 5 categories, (though some may change, depending on what's about that week).

1. At the risk of being recursive, I recommend makeuseof.com for the latest news on web tools and services, use the RSS feed or follow on Twitter for immediate updates.
2. Yahoo Newsglobe, more global visualisation that following in the footsteps of Flickrvision
   
3. Tweetscan aggregates info from those I am not following (at this moment).  Simply enter up to 5 search queries for daily updates, or search on any subject at any time for immediate updates.
4. Twitpic Tweet your pics from your desktop.
   
5. Twixtr Tweet more pics from mobile; now instant visual networking is with us.

5x5 Things Learnt

5X5 Things Learnt

Here on 5x5, my new weekly feature, I'll post 5 stuff from the last week's web, in 5 categories, (though some may change, depending on what's about that week).

       

1. That if you Right (or Ctrl) click on an image in the, (now free), NetNewswire RSS browser for Mac, you can save it to your iPhoto Library.
2. That Google Docs  Spreadsheets now lets you to build online forms. In an excellent post, Tom Barrett shows us how; and suggests ways they can be used. You can participate here.
3. Why TV shows will not accept unsolicited scripts.
   
4. Not to jump to conclusions without hearing both sides of the story; I was never completely convinced,  her suspecting Yoko had better things to do than block, up and coming, artists careers.
5. "Saturn's orange moon Titan has hundreds of times more liquid hydrocarbons than all the
   known oil and natural gas reserves on Earth" Thanks to David Warlick for pointer. Stunning video animation as per usual from NASA.

5x5 Videos

5x5  GREAT VIDEOS

                    

Here on 5x5, my new weekly post, I'll post 5 things from the last week's web, in 5 categories, (though some may change, depending on what's about that week).  So here's a bunch of videos; one or two are are older than a week, but I have just come across them.

1. Some remarkable findings on the impact of Google Sketchup being used by autistic children.
2. Yes We Can I'm Probably a week or so behind, so you may have found this already, but I will post anyway as it has a lot going for it; including Will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas contribution and that it is directed by Jesse Dylan. The more you watch it the better it gets.
   
3. "Oh wad some power the giftie gie us, To see oursel's as ithers see us"; draw your own conclusions here.
4. And following on from that, The Martian Reports. Love this first episode where Howard Rheingold begins to learn about Earthlings, I believe episode 2 is on its way soon.
5. Well this last one certainly isn't from last week, its much older, but still one of my favourites 'The Numa Numa Guy' adds a poignant counterpoint to the breathtaking scope of the video.

5x5 Choice Picks

5 x 5 Choice Picks

       
spell with Flickr           

Here on 5x5, my new weekly post, I'll post 5 things from the last week's web, in 5 categories, (though some may change, depending on what's about that week). Choices, is exactly that, my best finds online; so anything can make it here. To here get the ball rolling:

1. Songza,  described as an "Internet Jukebox with a Human interface";  Songza takes away some of the pain of the forced closure of Pandora in the UK. It has a simple intuitive interface that includes discographies, video and artist interviews etc,  but the knockout factor is that you can Twitter your music; now if they added saving and sharing playlists, that would be the killer touch; meanwhile, here's my Americana set.
2. Issuu, turn the pages of interactive online books created from pdf files, so geeks can breathe life into manuals, or kids can upload their work in pdf format, for example Comic Life stuff would look great.
   
3. At last I managed to take a serious look at  Project Gutenberg, as I needed some historical children's book Illustrations, for a course I am leading in London, later this week. Suffice to say I was not disappointed.
   
4. Raising the bar; although I've been a great fan of Picnik for a long time, (with a premium account to prove it),  I suspect PhotoFlexr may give it a good run for its money.  Adobe's free 'online' Photoshop better be good when it finally arrives to compete against those 2.
5. Finally, to bring back some great film memories, a selection of scans from Vanity Fair's Hitchcock Issue,