Confused by why you can’t use your mobile phone on a plane? Especially when some airlines insist that it stay turned off whilst others allow use as soon as the plane has landed. If it is so dangerous then why are airlines now offering this facility (for a fee) during flights. Many reasons have been offered for this but all lack substance as noted in this Wikipedia article.
Below is an interesting YouTube clip that debunks the myths one by one then presents the real reason.
10 November 2011
QR codes
QR (Quick Response) codes are everywhere now. They are another type of barcode and they are useful – they link you to extra information and save you from tediously typing URLs into your smartphone or iPod Touch. You can store the information and read it now or later. Smartphone users open their QR reader app and it scans the code and delivers the information to you. It might be a web link with lots of information, a YouTube video or just some text to read.
QR code generators
There are lots of free QR code generators. Teachers and students can make their own QR codes to use in lessons, tasks and presentations. QR codes can be placed on information posters, Glogsters, scientific models, on signs near artworks and photos, on book covers, points of interest…
Bitly http://bitly.com/
The excellent URL shortener Bitly allows you to shorten, share, track and analyse your URL links. It also creates QR codes for these links. Copy the URL into the box on the home page and click “Shorten” . Underneath your shortened URL, click “Info page”. You will see the QR code that has been generated for this shortened URL. You will also see analytics for the URL eg. who has clicked on the link (countries) and when; how it was shared (Twitter etc).
Google http://goo.gl/
Google has a URL shortener & QR code creator. Copy in the URL, click “Shorten” and then click “Details” to access the QR code (you have to be logged into your iGoogle account to get the QR code).
Kaywa http://qrcode.kaywa.com/
Copy in a URL, text, phone number or SMS and click “Generate”. Then you can save the code, embed it, print it, etc.
Quikqr http://quikqr.com/ Email your QR code.
QRpedia http://qrpedia.org/
Officially launched in Sept 2011, it uses QR codes to deliver Wikipedia articles to users in their preferred language (usually the language on their phone). Used in various museums etc mainly in the US, UK and Spain. Paste a Wikipedia URL into the box to create a language-detecting QR code. Put the code wherever you want it to be read (eg. on an exhibit or poster). People can use the QR reader app on their smartphones to scan the code and be directed to the Wikipedia article. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QRpedia
37 examples of using QR codes (fun) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGYqxVrJN-s&feature=related
QR codes – solutions for maths problems http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X2AYmcoOkI&feature=related
Primary students use QR codes to get to websites easily….cute! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSA3YsBy_pU&feature=related
QR code Info from Chris Smith (Shamblesguru) http://shambles.net/pages/learning/ict/qrcode/
15 September 2011
YouTube Creative Commons
YouTube allows users to mark their videos with a Creative Commons CC BY license [attribution – reuse allowed]. These videos are then accessible to other YouTube users for use in their own videos via the YouTube Video Editor http://www.youtube.com/editor. The goal is to make it easy for users to identify videos they can share, edit & remix, as long as they attribute the source of the original clip. YouTube is teaming up with other organisations to create a library of 10 000 CC videos for others to experiment with.http://www.youtube.com/t/creative_commons
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/06/youtube-creative-commons/
Google’s official YouTube channel
Some cool & useful stuff here. Includes videos about Google+ project; Talks at Google (guest speakers); 15 second search tip series. Many useful videos have been uploaded by Google users. And if you missed out on the awesome Freddie Mercury Google Doodle to celebrate his 65th birthday on 2 Sept, it’s here: http://www.youtube.com/user/Google#p/u/0/KX2BQM0D01M .…Don’t stop me now.…
The electric guitar pioneer Les Paul playable guitar Google Doodle of 2 June had 740 million visitors & possibly $268 million in lost productivity! It now has a permanent home here:http://www.google.com/logos/2011/lespaul.html
Google Search Education Evangelism
Aimed at high school to adults. Includes basic and master lesson plans and Powerpoints for teaching search. All lessons are under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike license so you can change & adapt them. Also has access to webinars.http://sites.google.com/site/gwebsearcheducation/
SBS On Demand
This month SBS launched their On Demand free video service – full episodes, feature length films, clips & live streaming. It has over 90% of their current prime time content as well as previously screened titles. Some have expiry dates for watching them. You can set up an account and make a favourites playlist, subscribe to a series, receive notifications about new videos, videos about to expire etc.http://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/
New national free-to-air indigenous TV channel
Last week the federal government announced a proposal for this new channel. SBS and the National Indigenous TV network (NITV) will work together to launch this channel, dedicated to Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander content. Up till now, NITV has been confined to pay TV, making it unavailable to most remote viewers. Senator Conroy said the new channel’s aim would be to increase the amount & quality of original indigenous content on free-to-air TV.http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/proposal-sbs-to-launch-indigenous-channel/story-e6frg996-1226127415063
The hamster wheel: the return of The Chaser
The comedy team will return later this year on ABC1 in a satirical news analysis show. They will examine “the contemporary media landscape, where everyone from journalists to political fixers is perpetually at risk of spinning out of control”. The 8 x 30 min. episodes begin production this week.http://www.thevine.com.au/entertainment/tv/the-chaser-team-returning-to-abc-with-the-hamster-wheel20110831.aspx
The future is mobile
“40% of the world’s population will have access to the Internet by 2015, according to a new forecast released this week by market research firm IDC<http://www.idc.com>. But the way they access it is shifting drastically, particularly in the US, western Europe, and Japan, as media tablets and smartphones begin to take the place of the traditional PC…this will make the internet a very different place”. For schools…1-to-1 learning will skyrocket; teaching & learning for K-12 will fundamentally change due to mobile technologies.http://thejournal.com/articles/2011/09/12/mobile-to-surpass-wired-internet-connections.aspx
Happy 30th birthday to mobile phone calls in Australia – 9/8/11
The Telecom call was made in Melbourne in 1981 on an in-car phone that weighed 14kg & was 45cm long & cost $5000. The network covered the greater Melb. area….now we are heading for the Telstra 4G network with higher data speeds & better video quality. Trials have started.
http://www.itwire.com/your-it-news/mobility/49034-30-years-ago-today-australias-first-mobile-call
Facebook to have an executive in Aust. this week
Mia Garlick, a senior bureaucrat from Stephen Conroy’s Dept of Broadband, Communications & the Digital Economy, will have responsibility for Aust. operations & will hopefully be able to act quickly on complaints about Facebook postings & cyberbullying.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers Aust. Entertainment & Media Outlook 2011-2015
The report on Australia’s media & entertainment industry was issued 1/8/11. The fastest moving sector is the gamer market (9.5% growth by 2015), with gamers using consoles, phones, tablets & social media. Australians will own 5.5 million tablet devices by 2015. Empowered consumers often expect content for free – what incentives can be offered to encourage consumers to pay? Subscription TV revenue will grow by 5.1%. Films will grow by 4%. The internet as an industry will see a slowing of growth (7.4% by 2015). Newspapers will remain stagnant (0.1% growth). Consumer magazines & recorded music will be the only sectors to shrink. Live entertainment will see growth. And as for the book industry…..despite the closure of many A&R stores & Borders, the report predicts the industry will recover with annualised growth of 2.5% over the next 5 years.
http://www.pwcoutlook.com.au/outlook11.nsf/Pages/Press+Materials
Plagiarism!
Andrew Denton’s company Zapruder’s Other Films is looking at legal action over a pilot British TV program with the same format as The Gruen Transfer. Meanwhile, the BBC has aired a satirical series about preparations for the London Olympics, that is very similar to John Clarke’s The Games. The concept had been pitched to the BBC by Clarke in 2008.
Scarecrow and the army of thieves – Matthew Reilly
Available in October; the 4th book in the series starring Scarecrow, the heroic guy who was introduced in Ice station.
Inheritance – Christopher Paolini
Available 8/11/11. Book 4 & the conclusion to the series that began with Eragon. Can Eragon & his dragon topple the evil king and restore justice to Alagaesia?
http://www.randomhouse.com.au/Kids/Default/Page/General/Section/inheritance/
Jane Eyre
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,2058367,00.html
Yay for Canberra’s Mia Wasikowska in the new film directed by Cary Fukunaga, based on the book by Charlotte Bronte. Also starring Michael Fassbender as Rochester. Some say she is the best Jane ever J Opens 11 August.
Batavia by Peter FitzSimons: the miniseries.
Screentime (makers of Underbelly & Cloudstreet) will make the 6 part series based on the 1629 Dutch shipwreck & the battle of good vs evil. FitzSimons describes the tale as an “adults-only version of Lord of the flies meets Nightmare on Elm Street”.
The white mouse – directed by Bruce Beresford
New bio-pic about the life of war heroine Nancy Wake, the highest decorated woman of WW2. Begins filming end of 2012.
http://www.encoremagazine.com.au/beresford-directs-nancy-wake-story-9830