Clipmarks | PatParslow's clips

People offering to let us use avatars and reasons for choice for #thisisme

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:03:06 GMT

clipped by: PatParslow
clipper's remarks: These were sitting waiting for me to fill in this bit - thought I had done them, but obviously got called away at a critical moment!

Thanks all!

Clip Source: twitter.com

timbuckteeth@PatParslow Certainly - my explanation is at http://bit.ly/AvcDQ Feel free to use it4 minutes ago from TweetDeck in reply to PatParslow

scottbw@PatParslow sure, no worries3 minutes ago from web in reply to PatParslow

loumcgill@PatParslow my avatar is a self portrait repeated on a diminishing diagonal and was about multiple identities #thisisme1 minute ago from TwitterFox

moodlefairy@PatParslow #thisisme a hint of moodle magic set in my "signature" colourless than a minute ago from web

Tags: avatar, reasons, thisisme, twitter

Tweeps still volunteering and discussing #thisisme Digital Identity and Avatars

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:25:33 GMT

clipped by: PatParslow
clipper's remarks: Many thanks to everyone who has contributed so far. I think this will make a great piece to include in the new ThisIsMe workbook

Clip Source: twitter.com

Eingang@PatParslow #thisisme Just as my WoW character isn't me, I'm not my avatar. We're, however, linked through a shared characteristic: helpful.35 minutes ago from twhirl in reply to PatParslow

Eingang@josiefraser @patparslow People might like smiling faces, but some of us abhor pictures of ourselves, even if we are 32 flavours & then some33 minutes ago from twhirl in reply to josiefraser

NeilAdam@josiefraser @PatParslow avatars are strange and depend on context - different on Facebook and Twitter for me. #thisisme4 minutes ago from TweetDeck in reply to josiefraser

JimAnning@PatParslow chose mine as it looks reasonably professional, but those who look closely will spot a large glass of wine in front of me.3 minutes ago from TweetDeck in reply to PatParslow

NeilAdam@josiefraser @PatParslow Some peeps never change, others nearly every day. Mine is here as quirky idea that works with Tweetdeck #thisisme3 minutes ago from TweetDeck

Tags: avatar, di.tim, thisisme, twitter

Less HE students likely over next 15 years

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 02:42:32 GMT

clipped by: PatParslow
clipper's remarks: Of course, that is not necessarily true, as it depends on immigration and emigration. But if we assume for the moment that those will balance each other out, the 18-21yr old band is set to shrink dramatically over the next 15 years in the UK.

Of course, there is also the issue of all those pensioners - life expectancies are rising fairly rapidly, so there is a good chance that we will have increasing numbers of pensioners, in good health, kicking their heels looking for something to do. As their pensions will probably allow them to afford, say, a nice pack of rich tea biscuits once a fortnight, they may well want to go to university to cross skill so they can get some sort of exciting and stimulating job to help them afford the ever rising energy bills. If they are allowed to retire, that is.

Clip Source: www.statistics.gov.uk

Population Estimates
UK population grows to 60,975,000

Tags: age, demographic, population

Age expectancy - or when am I scheduled to die?

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 02:32:01 GMT

clipped by: PatParslow
clipper's remarks: Not today, it seems. Bit cheeky amplifying my own post, but a clip from @egoldstein reminded me about it

Clip Source: brains.parslow.net

Age expectancy

The National Statistics Office publish this information, but something has always intrigued me - their figures don't take account of the future trends - so what happens if you try to model future performance based on the past?

This looks like a fairly straight line, and indeed we can fit it with y=0.2648x+67.871 (R^2 = 0.9944) which means I am actually due to peg it at around 92 years of age. Ignoring things like medical history and lifestyle, of course, as these are averages from the population we are dealing with here.

Tags: model, mortality

A nice idea, art and the genome

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 11:58:11 GMT

clipped by: PatParslow
clipper's remarks: 'nuff said really. Worth visiting The Human Genre Project site, even though there aren't many contributions yet.

Clip Source: kelleyswain.wordpress.com

The Human Genre Project and a Darwin Song July 20, 2009

The excellent website for The Human Genre Project is live! This takes pieces of short writing (poetry, fiction, etc,) and links them to a particular chromosome on the human genome. It is deeply clever; for example, I submitted a poem (‘jargon’) about my father’s heart attack, and Ken linked it to Chromosome 11, on which there is a gene, KCNQ1, which regulates heartbeat.

I love the site’s deceptively simple design, and for you writers out there, contributions are welcome, so have a look. Thanks to Ken MacLeod, writer-in-residence at the Genomics Forum, for such a lovely website.

Tags: art, genome, poetry

The trouble with radio...

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 23:54:08 GMT

clipped by: PatParslow
clipper's remarks: The trouble with radio, the instantness of it - too many politicians make themselves twits.

Instantness... I assume he means immediacy?

The good thing about Twitter, as opposed to, say, a live interview on the radio, is that you can think about a tweet before you make it, without anyone really noticing. This is true of all the non-voice, non-video means of communication available on the net (unless I am missing something which forces you to write before you are ready?). Indeed, the fact it allows for considered communication is what places it far and away above the old media (including f2f) in my view.

And it was nice of David Cameron to illustrate that point so, ahem, eloquently.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

When Absolute Radio host Christian O'Connell asked him about his views on Twitter, the Tory leader said: "The trouble with Twitter, the instantness of it – too many twits might make a twat."

Tags: cameron, politician, slip, twit

Should Unis avoid Freshers gatherings?

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:00:09 GMT

clipped by: PatParslow
clipper's remarks: So, the RCGP don't think so - because if sick people follow the advice, they won't go to the gatherings.

But there is a serious flaw in the logic here (as there seems to be with many of the RCGP views which I see on the BBC news site) - in this case it is ignoring the asymptomatic flu sufferers who, although less infectious, are still able to pass the disease on. So they won't know they have it, unless they are psychic, and so the large gatherings would appear to be rather foolish.

Coupled with the point that Freshers events "are an important induction into university life" - and the chances are any border line cases will want to enjoy their first week of freedom just like the healthy ones.

So - the RCGP advice is, as far as I can see "risk spreading the influenza". Nice one.

Fortunately, it does appear to be remaining mild at the moment - let us hope it stays that way.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Universities may cancel freshers' week over swine flu

Prof Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said it was "certainly sensible" of universities to plan ahead for swine flu, but there was no need to postpone any freshers' week events.

"I think they have got that wrong. There wouldn't be any case for cancelling freshers' weeks anywhere. Large groups mixing together isn't unsafe and freshers' weeks are an important induction into university life.

"But if students who are infected decide to ignore health advice and turn up anyway, that would risk spreading the influenza," Field said.

Tags: advice, flu, freshers, h1n1, rcgp, swine, uni

eLearning videos help learners learn

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:37:24 GMT

clipped by: PatParslow
clipper's remarks: Empirical evidence that video can help learners acquire new skills.

Now, if only we could teach students to be able to do this too...

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Chimpanzees learn from video demo

Constructing a longer stick enabled the chimps to reach a food reward

Reporting in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B, scientists say this demonstrates what a "potent effect" social learning has in the primates.

"Those that had been shown the full demonstration, and had socially learned to make the longer tool, continued to make it even when the grape was so close that it was more awkward to use," said Dr Price.

"It could be that social learning is such a strong force for the chimps that they apply a blanket rule of 'go with what you've seen' (rather than work out what's most appropriate for the task)."

Tags: elearning, social

Course notes available under FoI

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:56:48 GMT

clipped by: PatParslow
clipper's remarks: Personally, I am rather pleased to see this FoI ruling. It looks as though the Uni in question tried all the expected wrigglings to try to get out of providing the information, but the Commissioner has been very clear in his decision.

One thing I suspect universities will try to challenge is the conclusion that they do not have a commercial interest in Higher Education. I would certainly argue that they shouldn't have, but university managements across the country seem, to me, to be firmly entrenched in the idea that they are progressing towards being commercial providers of education. It is good to see an official ruling pointing out that this is not the case, but I fear that there may be a lot of rumbling before it really gets finally decided one way or another.

So - wouldn't it just be so much easier to publish all your course materials (which don't involve breaches of confidentiality) as electronic resources? Preferably as Creative Commons so that other people can build

Clip Source: www.timeshighereducation.co.uk

FoI case could set precedent for universities

"In future, they will not be able to refuse requests for teaching materials ... people will be able to get hold of whole courses if they want to."

"The course that prompted the request is no longer the point," he said. "What matters is that all the usual exemptions claimed by universities have been ruled invalid.

Despite Uclan's protests, Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, ruled that none of the exemptions that organisations can rely upon to withhold information applied in this case.

He said that the university could not be considered a commercial organisation for FoI purposes, and must now release the course materials, bar any case notes that refer to patients.

Teaching materials used on a BSc degree in homoeopathy must be released to a campaigner against "pseudo-scientific" courses, the Information Commissioner has ruled.

A spokesman for Uclan said it would appeal the decision.

Tags: available, foi, notes, policy

Council bans Twitter

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:34:31 GMT

clipped by: PatParslow
clipper's remarks: I am stuck for words. Read the full article...

Clip Source: www.thisisplymouth.co.uk

Plymouth councillors banned from Twitter

PLYMOUTH City councillors and staff have been banned from using council PCs and mobile phones to access social networking site such Twitter.

Last week Labour Leader Tudor Evans found himself in trouble over insults to a fellow politician he made on Twitter.

Will search become redundant?

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:34:01 GMT

clipped by: PatParslow
clipper's remarks: First answer: Wrong (imho) - you need search when you want to be able to stay up to date, rather than relying on outdated resources or single sources of information with vested interests.

If you did know where to find eveything? Well, that would be called being omnipotent, and, as a God you probably wouldn't waste time on the internet.

Social networks - yes, but which one will you look on? Or will you go through them one by one? Why do market comparison sites work again? Ah yes, convenience.

Almost all the other examples are trivially answered with - no, no I wouldn't. I would use my search engine du jour (currently Google) and it would tend to put the same answers as the slow manual way suggested here near the top, but also give me alternative perspectives.

Now, I am not saying we should rely on Google (or any other search engine), and I do make use of crowd-sourced search via the lovely people I know and follow on Twitter. But this article seems, to me, to lack under

Clip Source: thenextweb.com

The Web will be the Death of Google

To answer that question we first have to find out what Search actually is. What solution does Search offer and when do you need Search?

The question: When exactly do you need search?
The answer: When you don’t know where to find something

So what if you did actually know where to find everything?

If you are looking for People, yes, you might start at Google. But there is a pretty good chance you will Find those people on Facebook, LinkedIn or any other Social Network. When it comes to searching for friends Google is NOT the preferred search solution. Social Networks are.

If you are looking for a book you will probably visit Amazon before Google.

Second hand stuff? You Search for and find it at eBay.
A cheap flight? You would use Expedia or another travel website.
Words or definitions? Answers.com and WikiPedia.org, of course.
Music and movies? iTunes, BitTorrent and Amazon.

BBC shows education still in great demand

Fri, 29 May 2009 21:42:15 GMT

clipped by: PatParslow
clipper's remarks: OK, I know I could make some useful comments about the age changes, the increase in part time academics or the gender gap, but I couldn't really base them on this piece of reporting...

Given the figures for the number of male and female employees in academia, dear BBC, I think you will find there are 35% more men than women 100*(100,355-74,590)/74,590 was the sum you were looking for. There are 25% fewer women than men in academia.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

UK academic staff 'getting older'

One in five UK academics is now aged 55 or over and the average age of university staff is increasing, figures show.

Male academics still considerably outnumber their female counterparts - there are approximately 25% more men in academia than women.

This equates to 100,355 men and 74,590 women.

Tags: bbc

UK days found to be 1hr 23 mins long

Thu, 07 May 2009 22:47:58 GMT

clipped by: PatParslow
clipper's remarks: Or thereabouts...

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Cabinet expenses to be published

A spokesman for Ms Blears said she had done nothing wrong and the furnishings she had bought were "reasonable".

"Hazel is honest as the day is long," he said.

Tags: expense, government, mp, ripoff

ID cards... still

Wed, 06 May 2009 20:37:23 GMT

clipped by: PatParslow
clipper's remarks: It continues to amaze me that the government even thinks this is still a good idea. The idea of getting high street retailers involved just makes it all the more ridiculous in my opinion. Still, at least it should make it much less tiresome for people who want to get hold of somebody else's ID or who want a fake one for themselves, so that's a plus. Right?

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Retailers reject ID security fear

High Street retailers have rejected security fears about giving them the job of fingerprinting and photographing people applying for identity cards.

The Home Office has axed plans to set up ID card enrolment centres and instead wants pharmacies, post offices and photographic shops to do the work.

Trade bodies representing chains such as Boots and Snappy Snaps told the BBC they can be trusted with the data.

Shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling, for the Conservatives, said:

"They should abandon this farce and scrap the whole scheme."

Tags: government, id, insane, scheme

Which which is which in Windows?

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 12:44:07 GMT

clipped by: PatParslow
clipper's remarks: Like Pankaj, I have always missed having 'which' in Windows. I have a feeling I found something before which (sorry) worked, but his implementation is dead simple, and works beautifully.

Thanks Pankaj!

Clip Source: www.pankaj-k.net

Equivalent of "which" in Windows Command Shell

I have always missed the which utility of Unix under Windows, which doesn't seem to have built-in equivalent. So, when I came across batch script parameter modifiers while browsing Windows shell scripting, I decided to write a Windows equivalent of which:

Tags: equivalent, linux, tool, whic, windows