Category: Technology

Categories
Life Random thoughts Technology

What am I worth?

From time to time, I google my name. Being probably the only ‘Ceridwyn Bloxham’ that’s alive on the face of this entire planet, I’m pretty sure that all search results on the first couple of pages are actually going to relate to me in some way. (And that’s pretty cool…!) But it hit me the other day that I’d never googled “KRidwyn” – my new(ish) twitter handle, and what I’m going by more and more recently, because it’s just easier, phonetically speaking.

SoI did. I ran a google search on KRidwyn – and again, most of the first page or so related to me (again, that’s pretty cool!) and seeing as I mainly use KRidwyn on twitter, most of the search results were for twitter analytics tools. ‘That’s fine with me,’ I thought. But then one caught my eye. It put a price on my account. Finally, a monetary value on my worth as a digital citizen! (Yes, there’s always Klout – where I’m hovering around a 48 – and I’ve played with, and given up on, 20ft as a way of measuring my influence… but this was a MONETARY value! And it was for $116.95!!!)

Here is a screenshot of the relevant section of the webpage. And yes, my value’s gone down in the last two or so days. I’d be sad if I wasn’t so bemused by it all!

Also interesting: you can input other people’s @twitter handles, and get their results. So I did. Apparently @PeteCashmore (at Mashable) is worth a shade under $40K US, @JeffBullas (a digital marketer in Sydney) is worth over $41K, and @JasonYormark (a marketing VP in Seattle) is worth over $62K! (And Jason Yormark has sent less than 4,000 tweets! I’m pretty jealous of that…! But I’ve tweeted more than @PeteCashmore… hmmm…)

So – want to try it? The site’s called “SNPros” (short for “Social Networking Professionals) and the image credit for today’s piece is at http://www.snpros.com/twitter/KRidwyn

Have a lovely day, all!

Categories
Bloxham Marketing family anecdotes Technology

Inspirations

Earlier this year, I waited, impatiently, for a week while Pinterest processed my request to join them. Once accepted, I was an avid user. Several times daily I would hop on and browse. I loved the embedding feature, and used it both here on Hmmm… and on my work blog. But the growing number of tweets regarding Pinterest’s dodgy Terms of Service concerned me, and I finally made the decision to cancel my account after reading this blog post. It was a very sad day.

On the upside though, I was inspired by many images I saw in my time there. One such image inspired me to experiment in the kitchen. My kids were delighted with their dessert the other night, as it ‘drove’ out of the fridge and ‘parked’ next to their plates! Here was my first attempt…

20120421-114217.jpg

… and, in case you’re interested, they’re not that difficult to make – even for #notagoodcook like me!

Have a great day, dear readers!

Categories
Technology

Favourite “Speech” Apps

I was asked in a tweet the other day about the Apps I have. And I realized that I couldn’t reply in a tweet, as I have far too many! So I’ve decided to dedicate a few blog posts to the topic. The question related specifically to apps that help with speech development, so I have categorized this first list into ‘word recognition’ and ‘encouraging speech through interaction’. Hope it might be helpful!

Word / Sound recognition (simplest to most complex)

1. I Hear Ewe – three pages of common sounds with very clear, short explanations

2. My Preschool Word – my kids love unlocking jewels by listening to the song of the word they just met – and then putting the image onto crazy photos!

3. Dot to Dot Numbers & Letters – simple dot to dot, with clear number pronunciation

4. Baby Cloud Apps First Words Free – clear pictures with spoken object names

5. Melvin’s Marvellous Words – a memory game using words

6. Little Speller… Three letter words – learn to spell with large pictures and clear word / letter pronunication

7. My First Words; Flashcards – categories with large pictures and clearly spoken words

8. A1 Spelling App – eight categories, with the words spoken by a child instead of an adult.

9. Phonics Genius – clearly spoken words in word families. No pictures, though.

10. Articulation Station – divided into sounds, and the sound placement within the word. Examples are given in words, sentences, and stories. A very thorough app!

 

Encouraging speech through interaction

  1. VidRhythm (pictured) – this app really encouraged my youngest to copy the sounds and words, to make the music video. Of this entire list today, this App would be my favourite.
  2. Puppet Pals HD – make your own puppet show using up to 8 characters and 3 backgrounds
  3. Play School Art Maker – theme-based, choose which characters and objects you want to play, and record videos of your play.
  4. Talking Gina the Giraffe / Talking Tom Cat and similar ‘Talking” apps.
Categories
Random thoughts Technology

On Reality TV

If you’ve ever taken a quick peek at my Facebook profile information, you’ll see that I’m a fan of Survivor. I’ve been one since Season One, when the whole concept of ‘alliances’ was created by that guy who used to walk around the camp naked, just to annoy his fellow competitors. And he won, too – the first ever Reality TV millionaire, wasn’t he?

Anyway, I got my Mum hooked too. We used to discuss the different personalities, the different strategies, and how the variety of challenges and the pressures intrinsic to the game would mean that, even though they might not want to, the competitors would fail to truly mask the side of their personality that they would normally hide. We would debate the role of the TV producers, and their choices in what footage to show, and what to cut, and all-in-all have a very pleasant time of it.

I guess we weren’t the only ones who enjoyed the format, as Reality TV took off in a major way. And Mum and I followed – more regularly than I’d like to admit to myself now! I wasn’t into the ‘Big Brother’ side of things (although I liked the romance of ‘The Farmer wants a Wife’ and I sat through an episode or two of ‘The Bachelor’,) I was more into the ‘improvement’ ones, such as ‘The Block’, ‘The Renovators’, and ‘Top Design’ – and I guess ‘The Biggest Loser’ could also fall into that category, too… And I also tried taking up dance again after the second season of ‘So you think you can dance’. Then I realised that I was pregnant with Mr 3, so stopped. Plus I realised that I’d probably never be as good again as I was in my memories…

Now I have to point out that I was NOT a religious watcher of these. (Except perhaps The Renovators.) I laughed through some episodes of ‘The Apprentice’, ‘America’s Next Top Model’, ‘Wife Swap’ and ‘Super-Nanny’ whenever I happened to watch them, but never bothered with any of the kitchen / cooking ones (although I watched ‘My Restaurant Rules’ – the Brisbane girl was an ex-student) and I never watched ‘Dancing with the Stars’, ‘Australia’s Got Talent’, or ‘The X Factor’. That being said, I’m not sure about this ‘The Voice’ that’s being so heavily promoted on Channel 9. I like that it seems more ‘real’ than the media-image-heavy other talent shows. (Funny, now that I’m a marketer myself!) But still…

So anyway, Mum’s still an avid fan. She monopolised the 7pm timeslot for Biggest Loser a few weeks back, when she stayed with us while I taught for the week, and The Big Bang Theory had to be taped (which is what I do anyway, to watch it sans ads) but I feel as though I’m kinda over it now. As is everyone else, it seems. The shows are getting trashier and trashier -‘Please Marry my Boy’ – SERIOUSLY??!!! and I’m over that style of TV. I wonder what will be next? If I review my TV habits in a decade, what will I have watched? Interesting to ponder…

Have a lovely day, all!

Categories
Random thoughts Technology

Milestones

I’m about to celebrate my 2,000th tweet. And I’m pretty stoked about that. I love twitter. I miss my tweeps when enforced absences keep me from checking my tweetstream. I know that I can’t write as fluently, coherently or beautifully as fionawb did in her post about her use of twitter, but I can and do echo her sentiments. And I’m pretty stoked to be hitting this 2,000th milestone!

Tweet on!

:p

Categories
Life More about me Random thoughts Technology University studies

Why I study…

I’ve decided that I really like studying for my Masters. From taxonomies to organizational structures and hierarchy in the informational architecture of websites, from database design to the uses of twitter for professional networking – it’s been a true stretch of the mind for me! And that’s what’s been really enjoyable.

So why a Masters in Information Technology? What’s IT got to do with becoming a Librarian?

Well, I’m a trained teacher. Since I started in classrooms, back in (cough) 1996, I’ve taught in State, Catholic, Independent, Lutheran, and Christian schools. I’ve taught Preppies through to Year 12. In Uni, I majored in English and Music, but I’ve also taught Drama, Dance, Film and TV, SOSE, QCS Test classes, Christian Studies, Independent Studies, and Sex Ed. I’ve been a Music Coordinator (x 2), a Head of English, and a Head of Middle School.

But I like challenges. I don’t like remaining in a position that I’ve been in before. Maybe it’s something to do with my claustrophobia, but I particularly dislike being ‘stuck in a rut’ – which, in my opinion, is remaining in a situation where there is little to challenge me. I love new experiences, and have never yet racked up enough time in any one position to earn ‘Long Service Leave’. But that’s okay for me. I’ve only got one life – I want to live it.

So 9 weeks after Mr 3 was born, I met with some web developers about my ideas for a social network for Seniors – and GoodOldTalk.com became a reality. Less than six months after its launch, I was thinking about my eventual return to teaching, and decided that it didn’t really interest me. But as a bookworm, the thought of returning to the classroom from within the four walls of the School Library made a great deal of sense. Step One was to look into how I could get qualified. A few phonecalls and I had a decision to make. To become a School Librarian, I could study a Masters in Education, which would qualify me for a School Library – or I could study a Masters in IT (within a Science faculty) and I would be qualified for School, Public, Academic and Special libraries. And seeing as I’d never studied a ‘Science’ degree before, I thought “why not?” And I’m very glad I did.

The Science faculty at QUT does the ‘student experience’ pretty well. Blended learning options, and podcasts made of all lectures, makes study-around-kids possible. (Believe me! I swapped to the Business faculty for an elective last semester and was NOT impressed with the resulting experience…)

So although study has its ups and downs, I’ve been ecstatic at (the majority of) my results, and the brain challenge has also been excellent. And I’m learning to code in html this semester, so that’s pretty cool (?!!) too… I think!

The plan, when I commenced, was to graduate as quickly as possible and then to be a Teacher Librarian. Graduating quickly isn’t an option for me any more, and my scope has broadened. Having friends on twitter who are Youth Librarians, Electronic Services Librarians, Medical Librarians, Academic Librarians, Information Managers, Historical Archivists and Library students, I now can see that my interests may be broader than the High School library.

So I wonder where my studies will take me! And I’m excited by the possibilities.

CC image courtesy cseeman at http://www.flickr.com/photos/cseeman/5938716870/

Categories
Bloxham Marketing GoodOldTalk Life teaching Technology Work

The calm before the storm…

Today is the *last* day of the working week. Ha! I can’t recall when the last weekend that I didn’t work. Months ago? Years, more like.  I think, prior to conceiving the idea for GoodOldTalk.com – back when Mr 3 was 9 weeks old – I had some weekends where I wasn’t in front of the computer screen. I would have been busy with young children though. Is that just work of a different kind? Anyway, straying off topic here…

I love my job. Which is why I don’t keep regular hours. I often send emails between the hours of 9pm and midnight, or will blog in the early hours of the morning (I’m currently writing this at 3.54am) because that’s when it’s quiet and I can get stuff done. And if a kid wakes me in the middle of the night, as Mr 3 did just an hour or so ago, I’ll generally just stay up and work. And that’s okay with me. Truly. Being self-employed, if I don’t put in the hours and get the work done, I’ll lose my client’s respect – and then their business. Which is not good. So I work, and am happy to do so.

When it gets tricky though, is managing when I’m offered relief teaching. Since teaching means good money, and we need that, I only pass up these opportunities when I’m ill, or one of my children is. So missing a good 8 working hours out of a day while I teach means that I inevitably have to catch up that time elsewhere. And that’s where my organisation, of necessity, goes into overdrive.

Take next week, for example. I’ll be the St Paul’s Prep C teacher Monday through Thursday. I’ve also organised a branding photo event next Monday for the school – so the brilliant Greg Parsons will be shooting some additions to the St Paul’s library of branding photos. And normally I would assist in this event – but I can’t, because I’ll be in the classroom. I’ll also be in the classroom on Tuesday when I would normally be updating websites, on Wednesday during my Skype appointment with Hervey Bay, and on Thursday when I’d be interviewing sources for my weekly news stories that I submit on Fridays. See my problem? I need to re-schedule all my marketing activities for non-school hours… and not forget my mum / wife duties too (swimming lessons, shopping, cooking, washing clothes, helping with homework etc etc etc).

Sometimes life can be tricky to sort out. Lucky I’ve got this weekend to prepare it all! (Oh – and I apologise in advance. I doubt very much that I’ll be posting anything over the next several days!)

CC Image courtesy CC Chapman at http://www.flickr.com/photos/cc_chapman/480188435/

 

Categories
Life Technology

My flickr account – waiting, waiting, waiting…

I’m not a great photographer. If I take a half-decent photo, it’s generally a fluke. Plus, as regular readers of my blog would know, I’m not too keen on plastering pictures of my kids all over the web – and let’s face it, they’re the ones I spend most of my time with!

This would be the main reason why my flickr account doesn’t get a whole lot of use. Which is something that I’d like to change. But I’m waiting for multiple accounts to be enabled in ifttt, and then I’m planning on automating my flickr posts – which hopefully will encourage me to take more photos in the first place!

Be that as it may, I’m pretty proud of a photo I took recently. A storm had just gone through, and the colours of the sunset over the Glasshouse Mountains were just stunning. The view looking out over my front gate. Heavenly, no?

Categories
Life Random thoughts Technology University studies

Big Bang. Times two.

For the past few weeks now, I’ve looked forward to Monday nights. As a “Big Bang Theory” enthusiast, the idea of new episodes each week has been exciting. In fact, I’m so hooked on BBT that I’ve even blogged about it for work!

I started my Masters in IT in July 2010. The majority of my classes have been on a Tuesday  evening, and since I teach violin Tuesday evenings, I have been unable to (virtually) attend classes, and so instead I generally listen to the podcasts, later in the week. This semester however, my INN530 unit has been on a Monday. And it took me until after I had missed three classes, to realise that I had a clash between the two. (Whoops!!! Sorry, Kate! “Confession via blog?” That must be akin to “Death by misadventure”?!!)

So – last Monday, I was DETERMINED that I would not be distracted by the latest BBT, and that I would DEFINITELY attend class. Especially seeing as this lecture was the biggie for me. Coding. And I’ve never written any code in my life! So I teed up Hubby to feed, bathe, and put the kids to bed, bought a headset, and went. And I’m so glad (cough) I did. Kate, in her usual incredible manner, simplified the basics for dummies like me, to such an extent  that I – almost! – managed to keep up with her pace. And I was also able to keep my brain from exploding until after I had left BlackBoard Collaborate.

So. Ceridwyn the coder? I hardly think so! Rather, I think that learning to code at the ripe old age of 37 is going to do my head in. Oh well. At least I’m going to go down trying…!

CC Image courtesy calixto at http://www.flickr.com/photos/calixto/6005872093/

Categories
Bloxham Marketing Random thoughts Technology Work

Working differently, working smarter…

I was working on my iPad early this morning, then I was called away to attend to my children. Upon returning to the iPad, my first thought was that for some strange reason, it hadn’t put itself to sleep. Then I got closer and realized that it wasn’t that I could still see the keyboard on the screen, but that the screen was black and I could see the reflection of my fingerprint smudges. LOL!
So I’ve been thinking quite a bit about my iPad this morning. I use it a lot, and couldn’t live without it’s calendar – and I absolutely adore the iPad version of HootSuite, but I want to use it more. Currently, I’m using my MacBook for around 90% of my workload, I’d say, and I’m still using it in meetings / presentations etc etc. but it’s cumbersome, and I now have an iPad, so I want to do things differently. Work smarter, not harder (Well, I can’t fit any more into my life, so I need to work smarter anyway!) and this change might work for me.
So, I’ll keep on thinking about it… And let you know what I come up with!
(and yes, I’m guessing that for this move, from Mac to iPad, to be more successful, I will also need to figure out the problem with my Pages not syncing between the two, so that I can transfer my word processing over to the cloud rather than relying so heavily on my Word for Mac…)

20120319-063648.jpg