What do you think of Facebook in school?

I thought this was a great question that should be teased out.

In her post, she says that her school has banned access to Facebook, Youtube, Flickr etc. Yet these sites have kids excited about learning & excited about technology.

What I thought was interesting, is that Jaqui included a link to two youtube videos on what Social Media / Networking is.  But more on that in a moment.

My first reaction was to identify what would be banned in a school and should be banned.  There is no doubt that even soft porn has no place in school.  Even sites like Break (which has scantly dressed women and guys being kicked in the nuts) should be removed.

So what is the purpose of banning sites?  I can understand the argument that Facebook and Twitter offer limited (if any) educational value.  They are “fun”, but do they offer anything more meaningful?

But have a look at the two youtube video’s Jacqui linked to.  CommonCraft describe themselves as a creator of three-minute videos to help educators and influencers
introduce complex subjects.  (RSA have also done something similar).

To say the study of a businesses (and industry) that  just did not exist 5 years ago has no value in our schools is just crazy.  I think that if you are involved in media studies, art or even an english teacher and you are not using this medium, then you are doing your students a disservice.

Then again, there always will be someone willing to get kicked in the nuts!

During this adventure, I found author Justine Lee Musk.

Maybe it’s just me, but more than once I’ve found articles from totally separate worlds that seem to talk to each other.  Recently, Justine wrote about the concept of using Facebook or Twitter to get up close and personal with her audience.

As soon as I read this, Seth Godin’s Tribes sprang to mind.  I’ve joined a few networks and found them to be fantastic.

I think Justine is trying to get a balance of accessibility vs friction.  Facebook / Twitter have a low barrier to entry, but (as was suggested in the comments) has far too much noise.

Brilliant cartoonist Scott Meyer recently had a “ask me anything” Q & A on Reddit.

So there are multiple ways of connecting with your audience.

Personally, I prefer the Networks (or Tribes!) over Facebook or Twitter specifically because they have a higher amount of friction for entry.

The one question Justine didn’t answer was why?  Are you looking for a forum to push more product? To connect with your audience?  To better understand who out there is paying you attention?

One of the interesting things I’ve learnt from reading blogs, is how the right person can easily influenced what I buy.  It doesn’t take much for me to buy Seth’s next book, or to try out a new razor.

If someone at work suggested either, I would tell them to bugger off and stop wasting my time.

Who do you trust?

Some book publishers don’t like the Kindle. Either they’re afraid of it or they’ve crunched the numbers and they don’t like what they see.

Worried about the medium, they hold back, delay or even refuse to support it.

Which is fine if you have market power, but you likely don’t. No publisher does, certainly. The Beatles couldn’t stop iTunes from changing the record business by sitting out the platform, and there’s no book publisher who can stop the Kindle alone.

I like the idea of even  The Beatles can’t stop iTunes from changing the way we purchase music.  But I think Seth is being a little short sighted.  The Kindle isn’t available (yet) in Australia – actually it is only available in the US.  Compare this to another product that has international reach (iPhone!)

I think the Kindle is a game changer, but I can understand if Publishers haven’t jumped in just yet…

I once read that $30 was the upper limit price point for what people will pay without too much thought.  That makes sense when you think of CDs, DVDs or other items.

Would I pay more??  I don’t know.  Maybe if it came out in a week or so.

But if this takes much longer my attention span will disappear and he will have gone from a $40 sale to nothing…

Well on a whim, I decided to pre-order the game. This allows me to be part of the beta program.

First impression? This game is brilliant! I wrote previously that I would have paid $40 (rrp $20).

It is hard to describe how well done it is. The game is well polished, the music is brilliant and the concept (drawing on a screen) is very very well done.

If you remember back to the good ol’ Commodre 64 days, it’s like seeing Summer Games or Impossible Mission for the first time.  Or playing Doom on a PC.

That being said, the “beta” version is restricted and only has the first 18 levels.  That might sound a lot, but this includes the tutorial.  If you took longer than half an hour to do all 18 then there is something wrong with you.

I am disappointed that the game was completed so quick.  This smells more like a marketing / promotion exercise than a beta program.

Regardless, the game is very well done and I think it is the beginning of a genre of games.

Rock on!

Managed Services Search Result in Google

I thought I’d had an upgrade to one of my Firefox plugins.  Aparently not!

I read a post by Sebastian who couldn’t make heads or tails of it.  That inspired me to post this – thanks Sebastian!

Search for something on Google then you can vote up or comment wiki style.  I’ve used the Managed Services example above because our Company pays a hefty amount for that term.

Like Seth suggests, I believe the primary users of Adwords will jump in to game the system.

Who knows where it will go!?

Rock on!

Their market is background music for weddings and corporate functions.

One of the challenges when putting together something like this is what to include and what to leave out.

Apart from what you look like, the Repertoire List is the main focus of the site. The problem is, while everyone has heard it before, you may not know the difference between The Four Seasons (Vivaldi), Hallelujah Chorus (Handel) and Overture to Marriage of Figaro (Mozart).

I found this Pachelbel Canon on youtube:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bmFsUeO464]

Rock on!

FOUR-FOOT DIAL SHOWS PHONES MYSTERIES

The intricacies of using the dial telephone come easily to students at a western secretarial school, where a four-foot dial was recently rigged up to explain its mysteries.

Not a dummy, the big dial actually works. It is connected with two telephones, an amplifying apparatus, and a loudspeaker. When the instructor dials a number, the loudspeaker reproduces, so that all may hear them, the typical sounds that will be heard; and the instructor explains to the pupils what they mean.

I love it!

Everything new for a while…

In particular, Gen Y.

Seth Goddin did a post on Getting vs Taking

Most people spend a lot of time to get an education.
They wait for the teacher (hopefully a great one) to give them something of value.

Many employees do the same thing at work. They wait for a boss (hopefully a great one) to give them responsibility or authority or experiences that add up to a career.

A few people, not many, but a few, take. They take the best education they can get, pushing teachers for more, finding things to do, exploring non-defined niches. They take more courses than the minimum, they invent new projects and they show up with questions.

A few people, not many, take opportunities at work

I think then the better questions to ask is:  (As your Manager) What do I need to ask for you to take?

Why wouldn’t you take?

What do you think?

Read about it here

I saw this game in early Dec 07.  Right from the start this looks brilliant but I’ve found it frustrating how long this has taken.

I can understand the delayed release strategy though.   In early December, it would have been a great free game.

As time passed on, I still would have happily paid US$10 – $20 for it.

Now that it has won first prize???  Who knows how much he Petri will charge for it.

I once read that $30 was the upper limit price point for what people will pay without too much thought.  That makes sense when you think of CDs, DVDs or other items.

Would I pay more??  I don’t know.  Maybe if it came out in a week or so.

But if this takes much longer my attention span will disappear and he will have gone from a $40 sale to nothing…

Rock on!

He thinks that the “Designed in California” is a good thing.

A good thing??  I guess it might to someone from California.  It just sounds tacky to me.

I will agree with him on one point.  Guess what’s on the back of the Zune?

Hello from Seattle??  WTF is with that!

I think the Blue Monster has  a long way to go…