From our world football correspondent...

The Unofficial World Football Championship.

Not only have Scotland been World Champions more than anyone else, if Georgia beat or draw with Turkey next week, we'll be playing to regain the championship next month (who cares about a little thing like the European).
Wha's like us !!!

Check this out for yourself @ http://www.ufwc.co.uk/

Source: Yankee

It was 20 years ago today...

1987. Strathcyde Education Library Staffs' Strike. Neil Kinnock at the SECC (Rock on Neil). Thatcher wins again...*
...and this. The Fool's Errand. A game for the Mac which caught the collective imagination. And, yes, we did have computers in 1987. And, no, Doom it ain't. Still 20 years on it still kicks ass. Better still, it's now free, along with 2 other games and a Mac emulator to run them on. With the promise of a follow-up to Fool in April.
Download now!
http://www.fools-errand.com/
*In retrospect this is probably all I can remember about the 80s. Thankfully.

techXtra

techXtra is a search engine which allows you to search for (& find) articles, key websites, books, the latest industry news, job announcements, ejournals, eprints, technical reports,the latest research, thesis & dissertations (and more!) in engineering, mathematics, and computing. For Higher Education really but might be of some use to you high flyers out there...
http://www.techxtra.ac.uk/

Source: Tips & Advice Internet, 11:2

The Public Whip

The Public Whip is an independent non-governmental project that enables you to see what your MP is doing. It’s a record of each MP’s voting record based on the pages of the Parliamentary transcript. The site lets you find out how any MP or member of the House of Lords has voted and search for votes in Parliament on any subject of interest. The details for each MP include their attendance and “rebellions”, external links, interesting votes, policy comparisons, etc. The database goes back to the late nineties. It’s fascinating stuff, and provides an insight into how Parliament works.
http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/

Source: Tips & Advice Internet, Year 11, Issue 2

Nothing but repeats?

No. Another chance to hear.
Matthew Fitt reading Kate o Shanter's Tale @ The Scottish Poetry Library.
Parental Advisory: Explicit Content (sic).
http://www.spl.org.uk/best-poems_2004/fitt.htm

Thought for the day

No wan in fifty kens a wurd Burns wrote
But misapplied is aabody's property,
And gin there was his like alive the day
They's be the last a kennin haund to gie -

Croose London Scotties wi their braw shirt fronts
And aa their fancy freens rejoicin
That similah gatherings in Timbuctoo,
Bagdad - and Hell, nae doot - are voicin

Burns' sentiments o universal love,
In pidgin English or in wild-fowl Scots,
And toastin ane wha's nocht to them but an
Excuse for faitherin Genius wi their thochts.

Aa they've to say was aften said afore,
A lad was born in Kyle to blaw aboot.
What unco fate maks him the dumpin-grun
For aa the sloppy rubbish they jaw oot?

Mair nonsense has been uttered in his name
Than in ony's barrin liberty and Christ.
If this keeps spreedin as the drink declines,
Syne turns to tea, wae's me for the Zietgeist!

Rabbie, wad'st thou were here - the warld hath need,
And Scotland mair sae, o the likes o thee!
The whisky that aince moved your lyre's become
A laxative for aa loquacity.

O gin they'd stegh their guts and haud their wheesht
I'd thole it, for 'a man's a man' I ken
But though the feck hae plenty o the 'aa that'.
They're nocht but zoologically men.

Extract from Hugh MacDiarmid - A Drunk Man Looks At The Thistle (1926)

wfiTV

More online TV I'm afraid. Have a look. See if there's anything useful / educational. Write a 50 page report.
Then we get the techies to unblock the stream.

http://www.wfitv.com/

(This is really just an excuse to try out the new Blogger.)

Source: Internet Resources Newsletter, 147, February 2007

TeLearn

Technology-enhanced learning? Suppose it's a bit broader than the old ICLT?
Still the TeLearn site seems a useful source of information / research on the Futures we've been pondering. (Hello, IT Group!)
TeLearn is the first international Open Archive in Technology Enhanced Learning.
Submitting your research publications or videos to Kaleidoscope TeLearn guarantees best possible exposure. Your work will be found, read and used by more researchers and you will be making a valuable contribution to Kaleidoscope’s mission - to shape the scientific evolution of technology enhanced learning.
http://www.telearn.eu/

Source: Internet Resources Newsletter, 147, February 2007

Librarians blogging librarians

When asked how to improve the Google Librarian Newsletter, the cry was "Make it a blog!" or "Send more up-to-date information." Google has taken this feedback to heart, and starting on the 17th January, the Librarian Center made its home at http://librariancentral.blogspot.com, where you'll find the latest Google news, updates, and tips relevant to the librarian community. The blog includes links to the Newsletter Archive, the Your Stories page, and the Tools and Videos sections.

Source: Google Librarian Newsletter

Scotland on TV

No apologies for blogging this. Content is, erm, entertaining, eclectic, educational? Probably.
Content?

• Bing Hitler (sorry, Craig) & the drains of Paisley Abbey;
• Tom Weir in Glen Affric;
• Liz Lochhead & Edwin Morgan discussing their work;
• The buildings of Alexander "Greek" Thomson;
• The Horseshoe Bar in Glasgow;
• The opening of the Scottish Parliament 2004;
• The first episodes of Take The High Road...

From SMG, so mostly Scottish & Grampian programming. Worth a look.

http://www.scotlandontv.tv/

Source: Internet Resources Newsletter, 147, February 2007

We've mentioned this before but...

Catalyst magazine (from the CRE) is at the forefront of new thinking on race relations and racial equality today, both in Britain and abroad. They chose the name to reflect the magazine's role: to kickstart debates, discussions, new ideas and arguments - about where we are now, and where we might be going in the future.
This week religion & education with some interesting stuff on the Big Brother crapola.
Why not subscribe to the print edition - it's free!

http://www.catalystmagazine.org

We're spoiling you!

A new Athens-moderated service has just been added to the college resources list.

The British Library's Archival Sound Recordings website will eventually give UK Higher and Further Education staff and students free access to over 12,000 recordings including:

• 400 popular music tracks (mostly British bands from the 1930s to 1990s)
• African Writers' Club (250 hours on art, literature, music and politics)
• Art and design interviews (e.g. Denys Lasdun, Eduardo Paolozzi, Paula Rego)
• Oral history of jazz in Britain (with musicians, promoters and label-owners)
• Records and record players (developments in recording technology)
• Sony Radio Awards - drama (every short-listed play 1986-1997)
• Soundscapes (evocative environmental sounds from Great Britain and Canada)
• St Mary-le-Bow public debates (e.g. John Betjeman, Jonathan Miller, Diana Rigg)

Easiest way in is through MyAthens.

Source: JISC Collections

Brightening up a winter Monday?

Well, it brightened up my day anyway...

The Guardian + The Observer will shortly be available in the Gale Group's InfoTrac Custom Newspapers.
Access to The Guardian from 1995 and The Observer from 1998 will be made available in the next few weeks. In addition, a further five years backfile was negotiated as part of the agreement. This should be available by Easter, providing coverage from 1990 for The Guardian and 1993 for The Observer.

Of course you know how to access this database via MyAthens, don't you. Thought so. Hint: there's a menu to the right.

Source: Thomson Gale

Gotta Serve Somebody

So it would appear that Bob Dylan has bought Aultmore House near Nethybridge. Well, a wee bit too near Aviemore for my tastes but at least it's in Grant country. So to speak.
Check out the local news in The Nethy community newsletter. Should be something in the next issue.
And he should be able to get a decent pint in the Heatherbrae Hotel in the village. Cairngorm Brewery? Try the Trade Winds. Gilly to entertain you every Friday evening. The photographs are none too clear but, grey-haired chap, guitar, dressed in black...
Gilly? Maybe we misheard the song all those years (dearie me, 27) ago.

You may call me Terry, you may call me Timmy,
You may call me Bobby, you may call me Zimmy,
You may call me R.J., you may call me Ray,
You may call me anything but no matter what you say

You gotta serve somebody...

Bob Dylan. Welcome to civilisation!

Watch this space...

Benelux aujourd'hui, demain le monde

Are you somewhat gauche in the more sophisticated company of our European colleagues? Visiting the land that produced Hergé and Georges Simenon and...that guy what used to play for Celtic.

Then get a free interactive guide to Brussels at http://www.schmap.com/guides/brussels

The Schmap Brussels Guide comes with dynamic Brussels maps, useful links, playable tours, top picks, plus photos and reviews for hundreds of Brussels hotels, restaurants, bars, sights and attractions, Brussels shops, cinemas, theaters, museums... It's FREE to download!

Go on. Be a sophisticate fae Kinning Park!

ah blend therefore ah um

EDINA has just announced that Film & Sound Online, that excellent service brought to you by JISC Collections & EDINA will continue to be a free service for another two years after the present licence period end in June this year.
For the mathematically challenged this means you can ignore this service or be barred from downloading the video materials until 2009.
Is it not time that we stormed the Winter Palace?

http://www.filmandsound.ac.uk/

Source: EDINA

The end of an auld sang

Wondering what all the lack of fuss is about? These sites may help.

Scottish Parliament
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/history/treatyofunion/index.htm

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/themes/96/96282.html

All on the day that England won a cricket match.

Source: Darien Skene

iStream, uStream, we all stream for iStream

The Innovation Stream (iStream) provided by the League for Innovation in the Community College is now available in the college. This tool is an online resource bank and learning community. As a subscriber, you can use iStream as a professional development tool, listen to League Radio, dialogue with colleagues, or access publications and presentations.

If you would like access to this site please go to http://istream.league.org and follow the directions under 'Create a New iStream User Account.' (Reid Kerr is listed under SFEU@). Once you have pressed the submit button, you will be sent an activation email. Upon activating the account you will have full access to the iStream portal.

Source: SFEU

Skills For Life In Context

From Teachers' TV.
Life skills are essential in most professions. Without them we are unable to engage effectively with the world around us. This series of eight TV programmes gives students an insight into the working practices and job skills of four vocational areas: Social Care, Engineering, Construction, and Health and Beauty (two programmes for each vocational area).

All programmes can be downloaded & edited into your own e-learning materials. (With a bit of luck all relevant materials, including these, will be coming soon (sic) to a server near you).

There's also an interactive element (requires Flash 7 player or above) to this which can be found here.

http://www.teachers.tv/video/4979

Social networking for lecturers anyone?

Look on this as a sort of online Hamishes Hoose...

Are you feeling left out by the MySpace generation? Puzzled by YouTube? Then you should visit ELGG.
If mySpace is a big turn off for you, but you would like to join a growing community of educationalists from around the world, you should take a good hard look at ELGG.
An online social network works best when you share interests with others in that community. ELGG is focused at educationalists and is all the better for that. As a matter of design it's an attractive collection of pastels and easy on the eye: better decorated than the average college staff room.

http://elgg.net/

Source: ScotFEICT

Atlantis Rising - Harry Horse

It's called Current Awareness...

Presumably, if you're reading this, you want to be informed of, well, whatever you want to informed about. As the Valiant Ones make it difficult to use a local news aggregator on your PC, why not try a web-based one. There are a few of these about, but new kid on the block, Premium RSS Dashboard seems to offer an excellent service without even having to register, log-in or whatever.
It’s an online service for browsing, searching, subscribing to and sharing RSS news feeds, blogs and rich Web content. Your page consists of a number of preset tabs (Top Stories, Business, Technology, Sports, Entertainment, Science and Health) containing a selection of relevant feeds. These can be changed, deleted, added to, etc. Recommended.
Get informed.

http://www.24eyes.co.uk/

Aye Write!

The Aye Write! Glasgow Book Festival celebrates the rich variety of Glaswegian writing and also brings the best of Scottish and international writers to the city. The programme includes a fascinating mix of fiction and non-fiction, poetry and prose.
The first festival took place in 2005 and now, thanks to sponsorship from the Bank of Scotland, becomes an annual event from 2007.
Among over 100 acclaimed authors appearing are: Will Hutton, Alasdair Gray, Andrea Levy, Sandi Toksvig, Charles Handy, Jake Arnott, William Boyd, A.L. Kennedy, Denise Mina, David Blunkett, Don Paterson, Simon Armitage, Iain Banks, Andrew Motion, Lynne Truss, John Burnside, Diana Melly, Jenny Colgan, John Banville & Howard Jacobson.
Aye Right! runs from 16-25 February 2007.
Further details & the complete programme of events can be found at http://www.ayewrite.com

For Alex Cathcart

Hawk Roosting

I sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed.
Inaction, no falsifying dream
Between my hooked head and hooked feet:
Or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat.

The convenience of the high trees!
The air's buoyancy and the sun's ray
Are of advantage to me;
And the earth's face upward for my inspection.

My feet are locked upon the rough bark.
It took the whole of Creation
To produce my foot, my each feather:
Now I hold Creation in my foot

Or fly up, and revolve it all slowly -
I kill where I please because it is all mine.
There is no sophistry in my body:
My manners are tearing off heads -

The allotment of death.
For the one path of my flight is direct
Through the bones of the living.
No arguments assert my right:

The sun is behind me.
Nothing has changed since I began.
My eye has permitted no change.
I am going to keep things like this.

Ted Hughes

The Green College

I suppose that this is a bit pointless given the numbers of PCs left on on a permanent basis or shut down with the monitor still on...

LocalCooling is a 100% Free power management tool from Uniblue Labs that allows users to optimize their energy savings in minutes and as a result reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions.
Download the 100% Free LocalCooling Application and it automatically optimizes your PC's power consumption by using a more effective power save mode. You will be able to see your savings in real-time translated to more evironmental terms such as how many trees and gallons of oil you have saved. And remember fiscally-minded chums in Finance, every tree & gallon of oil saves your masters £££.

http://www.localcooling.com/

Source: BootCamp

BootCamp

I know too much about computers. More than is good for me around here. When somebody else's computer goes wrong - a program locks up or the broadband stops working - you can guess who they call first.
Read the manual? It's easier to pick up the phone. Try switching the computer off and on to clear the fault? Far too simple when they can pester me instead. Take regular backups? You can bet your failing disk drive that nobody ever does that. - Michael Pollitt, Guardian Technobile, 2 November 2006.

Michael. Help is at hand. Get the lazy sods to go to Rick Maybury's Bootcamp website where they should find the answers to all their problems succinctly explained. Yeah, I know it's from the Telegraph, but what the hell? Not that we're forgetting Jack Schofield's excellent Guardian blog.

Go techies, go.

http://www.rickmaybury.com/
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/askjack/

Film & Sound Online

You all know about the Edina service Sound & Film Online of course. Have you been experiencing difficulties in downloading films & segments to use in your exemplary blended learning packages? If the answer is Yes!, help is at hand. Don't use Internet Explorer, use Firefox instead. Works perfectly every time!

http://www.filmandsound.ac.uk
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/

One for the Counsellors

Two Open Source journals which may be of some use to anyone with an interest in staff development.

The Coaching Psychologist (TCP) publishes articles on all aspects of research, theory, practice and case studies in the arena of coaching psychology. Contributions from related disciplines are welcome.
International Coaching Psychology Review (ICPR) is an international publication focusing on the theory, practice and research in the field of coaching psychology.

Issues of both from 2005 onwards are available at http://www.sgcp.org.uk/coachingpsy/publications.cfm

Source: DOAJ

Intelligent Design? Take a look around

The complete works of Charles Darwin have been made available by Cambridge University. The collection brings Darwin's breathtaking range of writing together for the first time, with 50,000 pages of searchable text, and tens of thousands of images, many from previously unpublished manuscripts, together with notebooks, diaries and original publications such as The Origin of Species, The Voyage of the Beagle (the Journal of Researches) and The Descent of Man.
Audio versions of key works will be free to download at the project website.

http://darwin-online.org.uk/

Source: Guardian Unlimited

The Study Skills Guide for Students

Developing effective study skills, improving reading comprehension, discovering your own personal study style, learning to manage your time more efficiently and learning the best way to prepare for exams are just a few of the topics covered in "The Study Skills Guide for Students", a free guide from EducationAtlas.com (They say "Education Atlas®, the World's most comprehensive guide to the best education sites on the Web".)
Definately worth a look. For sure.

http://www.educationatlas.com/study-skills.html

Source: JISC RSC

The road to Damascus

Okay, it's not that sort of conversion but Zamzar allows you to upload a file which you can't open & have it converted to an appropriate format which you can. Covers graphics, music, video & office formats. Up to 100Mb. For free. Resulting file is emailed to you.

http://zamzar.com/

AjaxTrans

Ich bin ein Europäer.
Soy un europeo.
Je suis un Européen.
Sono un europeo.
Eu sou um europeu.

Simple. Two text boxes. Start typing any text you want to be translated in one. The words should be automatically translated into the language of your choice and appear in the bluish box. To switch languages, simply click on the language you would like to translate from and then proceed to select the language you would like to translate into.

http://ajax.parish.ath.cx/translator/

Source: JISC RSC

Back on the chain gang...

Good to be back after the triple-irony bypass.

BestTechVideos is a directory of the best technical videos on the internet. No funny cats, dogs, or G-list celebs here. Just IT tutorials.

Might be useful for some of us?

http://bestechvideos.com/

Source: Guardian Unlimited Technology