Before

After

Just completed an iChat with Westley Field. He is a much traveled chap. He is in London doing this and that. Anyway, here he is, having breakfast with Richard Millward, an educator delving into learning, technology and its development through his research and development work with Core Education UK and the IDIBL project in the Institute for Educational Cybernetics at the University of Bolton.

Good morning gentlemen

Richard and I laughed about our foreheads. I then sent Westley, via iChat, the link to my previous post about QR Codes and asked Westley and Richard to check out my forehead replete with my blog’s QR Code.

I explianed QR Codes to Westley and to my surprise Richard grabbed his phone which had software capable of reading QR Codes. He pointed his mobile phone at the QR code on my blog and, on cue, my blog appeared on Richard’s mobile phone. Now, I think that is quite neat.

Proof of concept ~ the QR Code pointed to my blog

We chatted a bit and I provided Westley with some pointers for a presentation he must be doing later. I have a knack at being in the right place at the right time when it comes to Westley. And vice versa.

How did I create this post? I took the screen shots of the iChat session using SharpShooter. I imported the images into Comic Life and added the word balloons, etc. I exported the Comic as a jpeg image and then resized each image it in Adobe Photoshop Elements and exported it using the Save For Web… option which allows you to fine tune file size and quality. I used CyberDuck to upload the two images.

This evening I was multi-tasking a little, watching TV and keeping an eye on Twitter. Mark Pesce popped up on Twitter and coincidentally I was watching the New Inventors on the ABC here in Australia. Mark acts as a panellist on this television programme from time to time. Not tonight.

Exchanged a tweet or two with Mark [something that still amazes me as I think about it] and asked if he had recently presented in the USA as his name had been mentioned in a couple of tweets over the weekend. He mentioned he had and moments later he linked to this video of his presentation at the Personal Democracy Forum, Lincoln Center, New York City, 24 June 2008.

I highly recommend that you watch Mark’s presentation. His introduction will intrigue you. I guarantee you will learn something new every few minutes. He examines the impact that mediums such as the printing press, mobile phones and networks have had on civilisation in disseminating ideas and giving individuals empowerment. He speaks of hyperconnevtivity and the power of individuals to harness networks to seek and seize change. These forces have the capability to bypass those in power, those in government. A powerful presentation, an excellent argument, a cogent message.

The text of his presentation is available on his blog, the human network. Enjoy. Learn. Adapt. Be ready.

How did I create this post? I took the two screenshots using SharpShooter.  I resized each to 400 pixels in width to a dpi of 72 in Adobe Photoshop Elements and exported them using the Save For Web… option which allows you to fine tune file size and quality. I used CyberDuck to upload each image to my host. I used Worpdress to create this blog post.

Liberation

One of the best decisions I have made recently was to follow my gut feeelings and rename my blog. Formally it was called TeachTech but as you can see I renamed the blog Watershed, last Sunday.

It is a liberating feeling as I now no longer feel constrained by the TeachTech title and technology tips tag line. Sure, there will be technology and teaching notes in the future yet there will also be additional posts that reflect on day to day life, often with an education bent. I shall endeavour to include the addendum at the conclusion of each post where I briefly outline how I created the post and its contents. I feel that readers may find that useful.

Some sage advice from a couple of curious Corellas

So, if you have ever thought about renaming your blog, particularly if you feel it will more accurately reflect how you feel and write, then do so now.

How did I create this post? I took each photograph using a Nikon D-70 several years back. I uploaded the images to my Mac using a USB 2.0 card reader. This is much faster than using the USB cable that came with the camera. I imported the second image into Comic Life and added the word balloons, etc. I exported the Comic as a jpeg image and then resized it in Adobe Photoshop Elements. I resized each image down to a width of 400 pixels and 72dpi for inclusion in this blog and exported each using the Save For Web… option which allows you to fine tune file size and quality. I used CyberDuck to upload each image to my host site. I have also linked to the galleries that contain other photographs taken at the same time as those displayed in this post.

This morning I received an email from Intute in the UK with the advice that they had listed the web site that I had created about my father’s experiences as a prisoner of war during the Second World War within their catalogue.

The listing is detailed with a synopsis and an excellent set of key words and key terms. I may use these terms in the meta tags of the site.

I am quite humbled by and proud of the addition of the site to Intute. Check out their blog.