Posted by on 8 Feb, 2010 in My Stream | 0 comments

http://www.bitcurrent.com/why-you-should-let-your-computer-spy-on-you

Discussing how we can help computers to help us if we share more information with them

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Travel Bite #3: Tulum, Mexico

Posted by on 7 Feb, 2010 in Articles | 0 comments

Over the Christmas 2005 / New Year 2006 period, we spent three weeks in Central America. One of the highlights was Tulum,  about 80 miles south of the not-worth-visiting tourist metropolis of Cancun on the Yucatan peninsula.

 

From the main hostel area in Tulum Pueblo (the village of Tulum) it’s only 70 pesos for a short taxi ride to the entrance of Tulum Ruinas, the Mayan walled city (or a long dusty walk which was the option we chose unfortunately!). The site, also known as Zama (City of Dawn) was one of the last outposts of Mayan civilization, being occupied from around 1200AD all the way through to the Spanish colonization in the 16th century which marked the end of this 3,500 year old empire.

 

As we walked down the dusty track we saw stalls and traders selling colourful ponchos, rugs and sombreros as well as faded postcards and tacky replica Mayan ruins. 

I bought a fresh coconut and enjoyed the juice, something I hadn’t done since my last trip to Malaysia in 2004. One trader beckoned me over and starting bargaining with me; he literally wanted the shirt off my back – as it was a genuine Premiership Southampton shirt.

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A different take on Apple iPad and the Apple Ecosystem

Posted by on 1 Feb, 2010 in My Stream | 0 comments

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via digg.com

.. Thought-provoking. The downside of buying into the Apple ecosystem. More discussion on digg. More info about the Defective By Design organisation here.

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What on earth is wrong with the BBC News website?

Posted by on 31 Jan, 2010 in My Stream | 2 comments

I just logged onto BBC News and this is what I got… Character encoding problem? Hackers? Bizarre.

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Picture_2

See the full gallery on Posterous
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Thumbthing – A brilliant new invention for reading books

Posted by on 22 Jan, 2010 in My Stream | 0 comments

Media_httpwwwthumbthi_uihkj
via thumbthing.com

The most innovative products are often the simplest!

The thumbthing lets you hold a book open with one hand.. perfect for reading while standing and holding the pole with your other hand on a crowded tube/metro for example.

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And now for something completely different… a bit of science fiction

Posted by on 22 Jan, 2010 in Writers' Corner | 0 comments

This month I have started attending a creative writing course at Thomas More Institute.

The second week’s assignment was a 500 word dramatic monologue based on the character we’d developed the week before – in my case, 44-year-old Jack Duffy, who makes a living as a taxi pilot in 2258.

I did post it here but Blogger is playing silly buggers with the formatting, so you can read it on Scribd here. It’s also on my posterous. Feedback is always welcome.

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Awesome video explaining the importance of critical thinking (via @venessamiemis)

Posted by on 18 Jan, 2010 in My Stream | 0 comments

via emergentbydesign.com

This video explains in simple terms how we need to think more critically and carefully assess the information the world throws at us, not resort to thinking in black and white terms. I think this is going to be more and more important as traditional media authorities and new social media sources blur together to give us our daily information. Critical thinking will be a vital skill for our children’s generation (especially if we want the the wisdom of crowds to be realised).

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