Blog posts from March 2007
Stop Cyberbullying Day
Earlier this month Kathy Sierra, who is a programmer, internet blogger and educator, recieved "graphic and sexual messages that made her afraid to leave her house" (Wikipedia). This has affected many events in the past month causing presenters and events to be cancelled. As a result of this many of the internet's bloggers have decided to declare today, March 30th, Stop Cyberbullying Day.
Andy Carvin has written more about the events of the past month and some of his thoughts on the matter. What do you think?
# Permalink Posted on Fri 30th March, 2007 in with no comments
Mac OS X - Startup Sound be gone!
A collegue showed me this handy little pref pane for OS X earlier.. When you turn on a Mac it makes a loud, trademark "Dung" noise; this prefPane allows you to set the volume of the startup sound and even to mute it. No longer will I have to remember to mute my computer before I turn it off. 
Link: Arcana Research - StartupSound.prefPane (Download link on the left side)
# Permalink Posted on Wed 28th March, 2007 in with no comments
Computer Games are like Drugs
Did you know that computer games are like drugs? According to Boris Johnson MP they are. Last December he wrote a rather lengthy article comparing computer games to drugs and blaming computer games for the increasing illiteracy of our Nation.
Boris wrote:
It is a shock, arriving at university, and being asked to compose an essay of a couple of thousand words, and then discovering that you can't do it; and this demoralisation is a major cause of dropping-out. It's not that the students lack the brains; the raw circuitry is better than ever. It's the software that's the problem. They have not been properly programmed, because they have not read enough.
It sounds now as though young people are units on a production line through school being programmed to suit the needs of the nation. If the MPs have this view on schooling no wonder illiteracy is increasing. Could it just be that schools are not engaging children and young people, or perhaps that some parents believe that it is the school's job to educate their children and that they should have no need to help them (my parents are not like this).
Link: Boris Johnson MP: Computer Games
# Permalink Posted on Wed 28th March, 2007 in with 1 comment
Apple iRack
Watched this and found it quite funny.. Clearly a parody once you get into it.. What do you think?
You need a newer version of the Flash player to view this content, please download and install it.
# Permalink Posted on Tue 27th March, 2007 in with no comments
Frets On Fire
dotwaffle showed me this game last night and it's brilliant. I can't seem to move both of my hands in the right patterns to go much beyond the easy settings but still great fun. It's a bit like guitar hero for the PS2, though you use your keyboard rather than a custom guitar.
Their website says:
Frets on Fire is a game of musical skill and fast fingers. The aim of the game is to play guitar with the keyboard as accurately as possible.
Have a look: Frets On Fire
You can also download more frets from Keyboards On Fire (the link is on the left of the Frets On Fire homepage).
# Permalink Posted on Sat 17th March, 2007 in with no comments
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