Category Archives: blog

Sony VAIO UX1XN as a conference tool

I have always liked the Sony VAIO UX1XN.

I have always been disappointed with the battery life. My original intention was to use the UX1XN as my main conference computer, my first attempt was at the JISC digitisation conference in Cardiff back in 2007.

Here Brian Kelly is presenting…

Sony VAIO UX1XN as a conference tool

It’s small enough to be unintrusive, unlike a laptop which can be a bit of a barrier, it has two cameras which enable me to send images to Flickr or take short video clips, and the keyboard is usable unlike the fiddly mobile phone type split keyboard of the Q1 Ultra. You can also use it without needing to put it on the table or on your lap which makes it ideal in the conference hall or break-out room environment.

However as I said at the beginning the battery life is the downer, I only really get about an hour and half from it, and this means that it won’t last the day at a conference.

So recently I ordered the extended battery for it, which should make it usable and hopefully last the day at a meeting or a conference.

I have therefore been practicing using the keyboard, which is quite thumbs orientated, and have managed to get a reasonable speed using it.

I wouldn’t want to write a long blog entry (like this one) on it, but for entering URLs or posting tweets or jaiku postings, I think it will work just fine.

Now of course what works well in the conference means that it would work equally well in the classroom or lecture theatre or workshop as a communication tool for learners.

Alas Sony no longer produce the UX1XN in the UK and though available from some suppliers still, generally you would need to get another UMPC if you were going to provide them to learners.

A decade of blogging

Well 17th December 1997 saw the first use of the term, weblog, from which blog, blogging and blogosphere all arise from. The BBC reports on the history of the blog:

The word was created by Jorn Barger to describe what he was doing with his pioneering Robot Wisdom web page.

The word was an abbreviation for the “logging” of interesting “web” sites that Mr Barger featured on his regularly updated journal.

A decade on and blog-watching firm Technorati reports it is tracking more than 70 million web logs.

So this is one of these 70 million and here’s to the next ten years.

A decade of blogging

Google buys out Jaiku

Those of you who follow me online (or just plain bump into me online) or have read this
blog before will know that I am a fan of micro-blogging and specifically Jaiku.

So I read with interest today that Google has bought out Jaiku.

Exciting news: Google has bought Jaiku today. What does that mean? First and foremost, we’re of course continuing to support our existing users. So fear not: your Jaiku phone, the Web site, IM, SMS, and API will continue to work normally.

Interesting that Google went for Jaiku and not Twitter. Twitter has certainly had a lot more press than Jaiku, maybe it was a price thing, maybe it wasn’t.

What is also interesting is that Google already own a similar service, Dodgeball!

I do feel that micro-blogging has real educational potential, if not for learning, certainly for administration or even marketing.

Alas one of the side effects of this purchase is that…

That said, new user sign-ups have been limited for the time being.

But…

Existing users will still be able to invite their friends 

So if you know me and have been thinking about joining Jaiku, fear not, want an invite let me know.

Eight ways to use Twitter (or Jaiku)

Earlier, back in July, I blogged about Web Worker Daily which had a nice article on how Facebook could be used to support your work. Well they’ve just published another excellent article on how you can use Twitter in the workplace.

For those of you who still wonder whether it’s anything more than inane stream-of-consciousness, consider these ways in which Twitter can help you professionally.

Though I do have a Twitter account, I much prefer using Jaiku which is a similar micro-blogging site, and all eight ways can also be used with Jaiku. Jaiku also allows you to add RSS feeds which makes it even more useful and you can create channels which will make it very easy to add micro-blogging to an event or a conference.

I can be found on both Jaiku and Twitter, why not give it a try.

Nice selection of animated “how to” guides

Russell Stannard has posted a range of online animated guides that demonstrate various ways in which you can incorporate learning technologies into teaching.

These videos were created for teachers to help them to incorporate technology into their teaching. My own background is in teaching English, so some of the sites are specific to ELT and are grouped separately. The rest are for all teachers and there is also a section for those interested in more difficult multimedia products like Flash and Director.

The cover how to use iTunes, PowerPoint tips, creating blogs and many other things.

He has used Camtasia to produce the video guides. Personally I am a fan of Captivate which does a similar job, for those looking for a free tool, Wink is certainly one option which does work quite well.

Well worth a look.

Caught in the act…

It seems I am not the only one who was entertained by David Bryson’s piece on A blog about bloggers blogging others also enjoyed it, including Steve and Haydn.

I was caught on camera, and yes I was blogging (and eating at the same time).

Blogging and eating

I did also talk to the person sitting next to me…

One thing that I have found blogging about stuff at ALT-C is how it can be used to create and stimulate verbal communication. I doubt I would have spoken to Steve Wheeler if he hadn’t blogged about a session we both attended and on his blog he mentioned my blog.

Other delegates have come up to me and mentiond my blog. Others have mentioned the photographs I have uploaded to Flickr.

Yes everyone  focusing on their computers can be seen to be rude (here I am typing this during a session), but I know I have talked and discussed more during this conference as a result of blogging then I have at previous ALT conferences.

I reflected during the refreshment break this morning that though there were some people using laptops, many, many more were talking.

Personally I think blogging has improved the verbal discussion not replaced it.