Other Interests: pursuing your passion

Internet, libraries and education

As I've mentioned elsewhere my teenage son and his friends are frequent users of MSN instant text messaging.

But rather than panic I'd like to think that they're just exploring.

So I've been comforted by these recent posts about teenagers exploring the internet and learning in their own way:

In Monitoring your children online? Gotham Gal says that you have to give the kids the information, then trust them rather than snoop on them:
My thoughts on this matter are no different than sex, drugs and rock and roll. Have an open dialog with your kids about what are the do's and don'ts of online behavior. Know who you are talking to. Do you recognize that IM address? What type of conversations are you having?  Don't decide to meet with someone you meet on line no matter what. The basic essentials.

In What a difference a decade makes and  DJ BrentBoy The Shifted Librarian compares how her son uses the internet today for VOIP compared with her efforts 10 years ago.

In The Read/Write Web Dog and Pony Show  Will Richardson talks about a parent computer education night, safety and blogging and IM.

Finally in another successful DDR night Walking Paper discusses a video gaming night (including a dance game) at the library and its results.

The Sith Sense

Test out the force: in this twist on the traditional 20 questions, Darth Vader will guess what you are thinking using the Sith Sense. Well done!

Amazon.com's new book features

Wired has this story on Amazon's new features including Statistically Improbable Phrases, or "SIPs", which are the most distinctive phrases in the text of a book.

There is also the 100 most common words in a book and, for fun, stats on how many words a book delivers per dollar or per ounce.

Personalised postage stamps

Australia Post is now offering an online system for designing your own personal real postage stamps.

You simply choose your photo, upload it, choose your design and position your photo. You pay online. For a minimum order of 20 domestic stamps the cost is $23. That's more than double the normal cost but there may be occasions when the indulgence is worthwhile.

Animation Site

Via ABC's Deep End comes this link to the frantic 30 second bunnies animated re-enactment of The Shining.

They do other movies if you like their style.

Trapped by elevator messages

This story from Replevin about elevator messages reminds me of a favourite Woody Allen sketch.

He tells the story of how his kitchen equipment won't work one morning and trashes his toaster. As he goes to work that day, the elevator recognises him as the person who committed equipment abuse and rapidly takes him up and down in punishment.

Ever since, I've been cautious of talking elevators.

How to do powerpoint

Like John Quiggin, I've needed some time to analyse Lawrence Lessig's presentation on Free Culture last week.

Inchoate's post has prompted me to try and record some "take home messages" for the future. (Even though he saw the Supreme Court presentation on Eldred v Ashcroft which I couldn't attend, it seems Lessig's presentation style was the same for both.)

The presentation was the best use of powerpoint by anyone (let alone a law lecturer/academic) that I've ever seen. (In fact my immediate reaction at the end was more like "Whoaaa!!!") Yes, even awesome.

Putting aside disagreements people had about the subject matter (in that room of creators, academics and lawyers, there were a few), Lessig managed to combine the visuals perfectly with his oral argument.

The slides themselves were high impact (black background with red and white text, usually only one word a slide, slides changing every 2 or 3 seconds, all timed perfectly with his speech and in places broken up with an appropriate multi media clip).

He has obviously given similar presentations before (based on other reviews, see here) but I can only admire the amount of preparation required to get a 1 hour plus lecture to that level and am thankful as a member of the audience that he spent such time.

Donald Norman has commented that the best speech is one where no powerpoint is used at all except for pictures. He believes that a darkened room interferes with communication between speaker and audience. He believes that bullet points should be used only as speaker's aids, not visible to the audience.

As a participant in Lessig's audience, I felt that the powerpoint added to and did not detract from the message.

For my part, I will work a lot harder on my future powerpoints (if I use them). I want my audience to react the way I did (and now I know it can be achieved even on a legal topic!).

Public Library Access to Databases

I had a great conversation with a law firm librarian during a break at the Open Content Licensing Conference.

We covered knowledge management, IT, litigation support and training in big law firms.

We complained about subscription practices by some online newspapers.

We then spoke about public libraries and the advances they are making. I praised my own BCC library and she then observed that I should have access to the databases it subscribed to.  I didn't know.

Lo and behold: I checked the BCC online library catalogue and there is a huge range of databases I can access FREE (click on online references). Great for a solo!

20 Questions

The classic guessing game Twenty Questions is now on the internet and it's heaps of fun. The computer, by asking simple questions, tries to determine what object you're thinking of; it's able to guess some obscure objects, and if you win it checks your answers to see whether you mislead it!

Gefiltefish TV

Bob has introduced me to gefiltefish...not the food but a series of short cartoons based on a Brisbane Jewish doctor and family. Different...a slice of life with enough wry humour to occasionally bring out a smile.