Ben's personal timeline, a place to collect and share things from Ben's life.
Created by firefoxx74 on Jul 25, 2008
Last updated: 09/03/10 at 08:56 AM
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 6
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/4871751161
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 19
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/4695852713
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 12
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/4695835977
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 9
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/4349924548
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 3
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/4233291793
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 4
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/4234033690
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/4076784257
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 7
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/4076789345
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 8
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/4077541634
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 6
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/4077541246
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 2
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/4076785741
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 3
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/4077540054
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 3
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/4019412050
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 15
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3956264820
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 13
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3955458019
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3908695935
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3909476940
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3869664591
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3869654925
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3869620591
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3870392410
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3869080576
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3867954857
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3867851019
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 4
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3868574026
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3836739864
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3836738780
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 4
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3779087452
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3779007612
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 2
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3766478970
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 22
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3766461132
Ok, I am shit. I promised that I'd update this site on a semi-regular basis, and my last worthwhile contribution to this site was over two months ago.
Just to give a recap on what I've been upto:
I am now 29.
I now know a little bit more about SQL Server and Windows Server, and a fair bit more about IIS6.
I went to Bovington Tank Museum
I had a drive about in a Rally Car at Silverstone.
I saw Blur play in Hyde Park
http://www.projectwhite.com/2009/07/24/has-it-really-been-that-long-i-hadnt-noticed/
Ok, I am shit. I promised that I'd update this site on a semi-regular basis, and my last worthwhile contribution to this site was over two months ago.
Just to give a recap on what I've been upto:
I am now 29.
I now know a little bit more about SQL Server and Windows Server, and a fair bit more about IIS6.
I went to Bovington Tank Museum
I had a drive about in a Rally Car at Silverstone.
I saw Blur play in Hyde Park
http://www.projectwhite.com/?p=111
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 2
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3710082076
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3757218817
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3757214973
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3758008800
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3757162389
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 2
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3757955988
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3757894962
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3757844752
I recently attended an iLab workshop in order to discuss information technology's role in learning and teaching for the next five years. The hook for this particular workshop was that in the year 2014 we would be dealing with Generation Y students, born between 1978 and 1988.
This struck me as odd.
Anyone born between those years would now be between 21 and 31, in five year's time they'll be between 26 and 36. So, by the point that our 'five year plan' has been realised, the student's we're aiming the strategy at will have graduated. Ok, there's still the 30% of students who are postgraduates, plus those who are mature students (and hence over 21, and old enough to know better). But still, I can't help but thinking we've already missed the boat.
The group we actually need to be focussing on are our digital natives, those born between 1988 and 1998 (and beyond). Looking at our plan, they're now between 11 and 21, but in five year's time that'd be 16 and 25. 16 is the age at which you start planning your future education, first with GCSE's, and then with A-Levels two years later.
On top of this, you have to consider what it means to be a digital native. I was born firmly within the Generation Y era, and my wife is only just outside of it, but we are still left behind in some of today's digital world (bebo anyone?). We can both remember getting on the internet in the early 90's, but more importantly the 'dark ages' before that, when the idea of a schoolkid having the internet and a mobile phone was up there with moon bases and flying cars.
Someone now born in the era of the digital native, even at it's lowest ebb of 1988, would have experienced the internet in some form or another by the time they started secondary school in 1999 (gonna party like it's). And now we're seeing that over 50% of 10 year olds have a mobile phone, rising to 95% of 16 year olds.
The landscape of the digital native is very different to that of Generation Y, and we should recognise that. We should start to plan for Gernation N.
http://www.projectwhite.com/2009/04/24/generation-n/
I recently attended an iLab workshop in order to discuss information technology's role in learning and teaching for the next five years. The hook for this particular workshop was that in the year 2014 we would be dealing with Generation Y users, born between 1978 and 1988.
This struck me as odd.
Anyone born between those years would now be between 21 and 31, in five year's time they'll be between 26 and 36. So, by the point that our 'five year plan' has been realised, the student's we're aiming the strategy at will have graduated.
By my napkin math, that means that any discussion we had about Generation Y was already out of date, 70% of our students are undergraduate, and the vast majority are in the 18-21 age bracket.
http://www.projectwhite.com/?p=109
Uploaded by: mindfieldz - Views: 2
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90021863@N00/3453807272
I'm in the midst of load testing our rather poorly Moodle installation. I'll probably blog about it in a week or so, once my analysis is complete. But at the moment I am
http://www.projectwhite.com/?p=107
I found out today that Google Maps now has street view for Koyoto (I should have realised this when I posted the map the other day).
Anyway, the aforementioned teahouse can be found in this view. You'll want to stand at this point, to catch geisha entering/exiting the teahouse, geisha coming from the alleyway, and geisha coming from behind.
http://www.projectwhite.com/2009/03/19/geisha-maps/
There's a new season on BBC4, regarding Japanese Culture.
Check it out.
http://www.projectwhite.com/2009/03/17/turning-japanese/
Geiko (Geisha)
Originally uploaded by mindfieldz
I was recently looking over my most popular Flickr photographs, and I came accross this one, shown to the right.
I visited Japan in May 2008, and one of the biggest highlights was seeing a real geisha in Kyoto (not to be confused with normal Japanese women in nice kimono's). Lonely Planet, and Rough Guide don't really give you an indication of where to find geisha, only that they're "in Gion".
After some frantic goggling, in a ryokan in Kyoto, I eventually found hints tucked away in a photography blog. Matching against a Japanese google maps, I convinced my wife to follow me to a side street in Gion.
Success! I'd managed to find the Ichiriki-tei Teahouse, the most prestigious teahouse in Gion.
[flickr style="border: 1px solid #5A5A5A"]set:72157615254849529[/flickr]
So, if you want to get awesome photos of geisha, follow the instructions below.
Get yourself to Gion, in Kyoto.
Locate the Ichiriki-tei Teahouse, this can be found just off the main street in Gion. On google maps, it's the C-shaped grey building.
Wait until about 5:30pm-7:30pm local time. Don't get too close to the entrance of the teahouse, else someone will come out and ask you to move away from the entrance. Taxi's and other vehicles pull up to the etrance, so be careful if you are attached to a camera lens.
You will know if you are in the right place at the right time, as a fairly large crowd will gather.
Best place to position yourself is at the corner of the teahouse, looking down the alleyway behind the building. Geisha will come from all directions!
That's it. In about an hour I saw 7 geisha, which is not bad considering it was a random tip-off from another blog (whose address I've long forgotten).
In terms of the kit used to get the shots above:
Canon EOS 400D
18-55mm f3.6-5.0 Tamron lens.
55-200mm f3.6-5.0 Tamron lens.
Mostly 1/60 to 1/200 shots, handheld.
Be prepared to do a lot of running with a camera.
http://www.projectwhite.com/2009/03/15/geiko-geisha/
I was home from work slightly later than usual today. Normally this is down to managers bursting in at the last minute demanding that I look into something, sometimes it's due to me getting carried away in the moment and not realising the time. Today it was because there was an online assessment snafu.
It's an event I knew about, it's an event I'd planned for, it's an event that I'd added to my calendar. It's an event I completely forgot about because:
I added it to my, and my colleagues', calendars a day late. Call this a moment of insanity if you will.
I forgot to set a reminder.
Anyway, at quarter-past-four, a rather anxious member of a department's admin staff comes into the office, asking where I've been for the past fifteen minutes. Cue a hurried rush downstairs, to see the academic who fired off the original enquiry coming to the end of her introductory slides, and a room full of student's at computers.
A silence descends on the room. Everyone in the room turns to look at me. No idea why. I'm here purely to see what's going on.
http://www.projectwhite.com/2009/03/09/on-the-sticky-subject-of-summative-online-assessment/
So yeah. I lied. I'm not posting as often as I had promised.
There's a good reason, seriously...
Anyway, I have made some tweaks to the site.
The site now defaults to 75% width, up from 70%. I had aimed/hoped for 80-85%, but my header images aren't wide enough, expect that to change at some point.
My code boxes now word wrap, so you'll be able to see my code in all it's glory.
Not much, but a start. And some content.
http://www.projectwhite.com/2009/03/09/an-unexpected-update/
Update Sources