Christmas Special: Free Stuff From Microsoft - TechNet UK - Site Home - TechNet Blogs #yam

Christmas comes but once a year, which is similar to the frequency in which I blog.  I thought as it’s the season of good will, I would write a blog that details some of the free stuff we have to offer.  

via blogs.technet.com

Why Averages Are Inadequate, and Percentiles Are Great | Cloud Computing Journal #yam

Anyone who ever monitored or analyzed an application uses or has used averages. They are simple to understand and calculate. We tend to ignore just how wrong the picture is that averages paint of the world. To emphasis the point let me give you a real-world example outside of the performance space that I read recently in a newspaper.

The article was explaining that the average salary in a certain region in Europe was 1900 Euro's (to be clear this would be quite good in that region!). However when looking closer they found out that the majority, namely 9 out of 10 people, only earned around 1000 Euros and one would earn 10.000 (I over simplified this of course, but you get the idea). If you do the math you will see that the average of this is indeed 1900, but we can all agree that this does not represent the "average" salary as we would use the word in day to day live. So now let's apply this thinking to application performance.

via cloudcomputing.sys-con.com

Computational Fairy Tales: Book: Proper CompSci concepts in improper contexts. #yam

Have you ever thought that computer science should include more dragons and wizards? Computational Fairy Tales introduces principles of computational thinking, illustrating high-level computer science concepts, the motivation behind them, and their application in a non-computer—fairy tale—domain. It’s a quest that will take you from learning the basics of programming in a blacksmith’s forge to fighting curses with recursion.

 Fifteen seers delivered the same prophecy, without so much as a single minstrel to lighten the mood: an unknown darkness threatens the kingdom. Suddenly, Princess Ann finds herself sent forth alone to save the kingdom. Leaving behind her home, family, and pet turtle Fido, Princess Ann must face goblin attacks, magical curses, arrogant scholars, an unpleasant oracle, and rude Boolean waiters. Along the way she must build a war chest of computational knowledge to survive the coming challenge.

The Computational Fairy Tales book includes ~30 rewritten or revised stories from the online collection and 15 all new chapters.  Each story serves to illustrate a computational concept, supplementing official instruction or motivating computer science concepts.  The stories have also be set up to provide a natural progression both within the computer science concepts and within the fairy tale quest.

via computationaltales.blogspot.co.uk

How four Microsoft engineers proved copy protection would fail | Ars Technica

Can digital rights management technology stop the unauthorized spread of copyrighted content? Ten years ago this month, four engineers argued that it can't, forever changing how the world thinks about piracy. Their paper, "The Darknet and the Future of Content Distribution" (available as a .doc here) was presented at a security conference in Washington, DC, on November 18, 2002.

By itself, the paper's clever and provocative argument likely would have earned it a broad readership. But the really remarkable thing about the paper is who wrote it: four engineers at Microsoft whose work many expected to be at the foundation of Microsoft's future DRM schemes. The paper's lead author told Ars that the paper's pessimistic view of Hollywood's beloved copy protection schemes almost got him fired. But ten years later, its predictions have proved impressively accurate.

via arstechnica.com

25 Ways Software Startups can use BizSpark, Day 3: Upgrade your PC (or macbook using bootcamp) to Windows 8 | Taylor Cowan (Online)

BizSpark, via MSDN, comes with a generous supply of Windows operating system licenses, including the recently released Windows 8 OS.  Upgrading from Windows 7 is easy and will allow you to keep your files and settings.  If you or your teammates have MacBooks you may use the preinstalled “bootcamp” software to run Windows 8 on a partition.  Here’s are the steps I used to get Windows 8 up and running on my MacBook:

via taylorcowanonline.com

25 Ways Software Startups can use BizSpark, Day 2: Run your blog, a wiki, and a marketing site | Taylor Cowan (Online)

Most startup companies will want to run at least one, and often several websites.  A wiki for technical documentation, a blog for the team to keep customers informed, and a marketing site can be had free for three years using the benefits provided by BizSpark.  How so?  All BizSparks are eligible for up to $3700 in free Azure utilization each year they are in the program.  Under that program your startup could run 3 custom websites, with ample storage and bandwidth included.  Azure’s web site product makes it easy to run custom asp.net, php, or node.js sites.  Code and content can be updated using TFS, FTP, or GIT publishing.  You may also quickly create sites from a gallery of blog, wiki, and CMS engines.

via taylorcowanonline.com

How Writers Use Evernote, Google Drive, Dropbox and CloudHQ - cloudHQ Blog #yam

There are many individuals and companies that use the cloud to help improve their business activities. We were curious how writers use cloud services in their line of work so we contacted a few of our customers that are freelance writers and asked them how they use the cloud.

Based on these interviews, we found that the majority of writers use multiple cloud services- Google Drive, Evernote, Dropbox and cloudHQ. Google Drive, Evernote and Dropbox are not instantly compatible with each other so the writers use cloudHQ to sync them all together for the ultimate writing package.

via blog.cloudhq.net

9 Tools to Create E-magazines and Newspapers for Your Class #yam

So you want to create a digital magazine for your students but still did not find the right web tools to do so. Well now you can .  we have just finished reviewing some great web services that you can use with your students to create and publish highly customizable magazines and newspapers  for  your class.

via educatorstechnology.com

Minecraft In Education: How Video Games Are Teaching Kids - GameSpot.com #yam

If we're to believe much of the mainstream press, then video games are little more than a plague upon our youth, a disease that turns delightful, law-abiding young citizens into diabetes-ridden, sociopathic adolescents without a firm grip on reality. That's not to make light of such issues, but to lay the blame solely on games is to be as ignorant as those who claimed rock-and-roll would be the downfall of society, or that TV would result in a generation of brain dead morons; the Stones are still rocking, and Jersey Shore is classed as entertainment, but we've not reached Ayn Rand levels of dystopia just yet.

via uk.gamespot.com

Top 10 Google Docs Annoyances (and How to Fix Them) | PCWorld #yam

Google Docs is convenient, cheap, and compatible with just about any platform, making collaboration incredibly simple. It’s also infuriating, incomplete, and limited. Google Docs wafts in the cloud, just beyond your tinkering fingertips, and you’re at the whim of the Google engineers who control the tweaks, fixes, and enhancements.

Since launching Google Spreadsheets in 2006, Google has steadily improved Docs to support complex text documents, worksheets, tables, forms, and presentations. You might have to wait for its software wizards to make the big changes, but you can still apply a few workarounds and hidden features. Want to trim the number of Google Docs browser tabs? Compensate for the lack of a guided spelling checker? Create shortcuts for frequently used text? To make your overall editing experience a bit better, read on; we also offer some tips that you can use with Google’s spreadsheet and presentation applications.

via pcworld.com

21 Proofreading and Editing Tips for Writers :Writing Forward #yam

The human mind is a funny thing; it likes to play tricks on us.

For example, when we proofread and edit our own writing, we tend to read it as we think it should be, which means we misread our own typos and other spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes as well as problems with word choice and sentence structure, context, and overall readability.

If you have a friend or family member who has good grammar skills, maybe they can help you out by proofreading and editing your work before you send it out or publish it.

For special submissions and publications, hiring a professional proofreader or editor is the best way to make sure your writing is free of errors.

But for most of us, it’s not likely that anyone’s going to proofread and edit every single piece of writing that we create. That’s especially true for writers who put out a lot of material — like bloggers, copywriters, and freelancers. Proofreading and editing services can get expensive and friends and family probably don’t want to spend all their evenings checking your work.

via writingforward.com

Who does higher education work for? | Higher Education Network | Guardian Professional #yam

Recent education headlines express the dilemma currently facing UK higher education. The Council for the Defence of British Universities launched last week promoting a vision of education for education's sake, with universities as centres of learning in danger of being shackled by short-term performance measures and funding models. On the same day, the Engineers Employers' Federation (EEF) called for a closer alignment of the education and training system – including higher education – with the needs of the labour market and employers.

Are universities a key pipeline in the nation's skills supply route? Should they be pursuing academic excellence and scholarly enquiry, or fulfilling more prosaic but economically valuable goals? Could they do both? These questions will be at the heart of next week's Institute for Employment Studies (IES) conference as part of a discussion of the wider role of higher education and the ways it might meet employer demand for high-level skills.

via guardian.co.uk

5 Useful iPad Apps For Any Classroom - Edudemic #yam

Tablets are poised to become one of the most revolutionary education tools in a generation. They have streamlined various aspects of education in such a way that we couldn’t imagine just ten years ago, causing many parents and educators to reevaluate the old textbook and notepad standards.

Children and college students alike respond to the interactivity of learning material on tablets in the form of free and modestly priced educational apps. The iPad in particular has many engaging and informative apps for those who want to incorporate tablet usage into their lesson plan. Here are 5 of my favorites.

via edudemic.com

BBC News - Viewpoint: What dangers may lie ahead for libellous tweeters #yam

On 2 November, Newsnight broadcast what are now known to be mistaken claims by former care home resident Steve Messham that he had been sexually abused by a prominent 1980s Conservative politician.

Following the broadcast, there was much speculation as to who that politician was. Some of this discussion was via Twitter, with individuals linking Lord McAlpine to the Newsnight report - causing his name to appear as a "trending topic".

Media reports suggest that Lord McAlpine may be considering suing at least some of those thousands of people for libel.

The legal position of an individual who posts content online, be it on Facebook, Twitter, or on comment sections of online news pages, is clear: He or she is responsible for that content. Ignorance of the law is not a defence.

via bbc.co.uk

OllieBray.com: Social Media in Education [Free eBook] - supported by #Bloxx #yam

So much is written in the press about the negative use of technology (in particular social media) and young people. Yet technology and social media has become such an integrated and important part of our lives. We see ‘tweets’ on the television, read facts on Facebook and gather information on Google+.

In the past 24 months social media has toppled governments, helped us rescue flood victims and delivered us both localised and international news in almost real-time.

Social media is both powerful and purposeful yet its full potential is still to be realised in education. How can it be used to transform our classrooms in the same ways that it has transformed many other aspects of our lives?

via olliebray.typepad.com

Want a Security Pro? For Starters, Get Politically Incorrect and Understand Geek Culture CIO.com

While complaints can be heard far and wide that it's hard to find the right IT security experts to defend the nation's cyberspace, the real problem in hiring security professionals is the roadblocks put up by lawyers and human resources personnel and a complete lack of understanding of geek culture, says security consultant Winn Schwartau.

via cio.com

Thanks to 'Truth Goggles', internet lies are about to get busted (Wired UK) #yam

The internet is peppered with factually incorrect news stories. To help sort through it, Dan Schultz, a masters student at the MIT Media Lab's Information Ecology Group, has built Truth Goggles. The web software runs on your browser like a bookmark, scanning internet content and highlighting fact-based sentences. These lines are sourced from PolitiFact, a fact-checking database that evaluates public statements by US Congress members, the White House, lobbyists and political interest groups.

via wired.co.uk

100 Simple Ways To Effectively Use Twitter - Edudemic #yam

Twitter is too big to ignore. You see hashtags in commercials, sponsored tweets, posts, news broken on Twitter, etc. It’s quickly become an indispensable tool for teachers, admins, parents, and students too. Right now, there are still many (MANY) in education not using Twitter. They may think it’s tough to start using, difficult to monitor, and even a waste of time.

But what if they had a categorized list of the top tips to help you use Twitter? Our content partners at Online College have shared an incredibly useful set of tips that are too good to not share.

via edudemic.com

Windows Phone 8.0 SDK is here … now where do I start? | Eric Nelson #yam

I have previously spent all of …hmmm… maybe 3 hours developing for Windows Phone. The result was BMI Stones and Pounds which to my surprise has had nearly 1000 downloads.

From next week I switch from “Windows 8 Evangelist” to “Windows 8 and (a little) Windows Phone 8 Evangelist”. Which is awesome as Windows Phone 8 devices look amazing to me (Had a chance this week to try out Nokia, Samsung and HTC devices) and the skills I have been learning on Windows 8 should transition over nicely. However I have a lot to absorb over the upcoming weeks.

I think my path will be roughly this…

via ericnelson.wordpress.com

IBM - Colleges Help Improve Student Performance with IBM Smarter Education Solution #yam

IBM (NYSE:IBM) today announced Smarter Education projects with the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) and Gwinnett County Public Schools to apply predictive analytics and Web-based software technologies to help improve student performance and achievement.

All schools, from K-12 to colleges and universities, are under increased pressure to ensure that students not only graduate, but possess the workforce skills to succeed in a globally competitive world. Both CCRI and Gwinnett County are digitally transforming their learning environments to help improve student achievement.

Now in its 48th year, CCRI is the largest community college in New England, offering nearly 90 degree and certificate programs to its approximately 18,000 students. ConnectEDU is working with CCRI on their Connect to College (C2C) project, designed to centralize critical student services and offer a unique way for students to manage their academic life. By adding IBM’s predictive analytics software, they gain the ability to see data patterns to determine where intervention might be needed.

With the combined solution, CCRI will be able to both capture and convey student data, gaining real-time perspective into how a student or school is doing and where intervention is needed. They will have the tools to determine which students are at risk of not completing the steps to achieve their intended goals and implement the interventions to get them back on track.

via www-03.ibm.com

Mainframe Watch Belgium: IBM Linux on System z Cloud Test Drive #yam

I could tell you a lot about Cloud on System z. When I walk through some IBM presentations, they tell me that a U.S. Bank reduced provisioning time from 45 days to 20 minutes or that there's 79% less TCA vs. leading public cloud or that IBM System z represents both the lowest TCO coupled with industry leading Qualities of Service for deploying private and/or hybrid clouds. Conclusion : "with solutions from Tivoli to automate provisioning and provide broad spectrum of key cloud capabilities, the time is now to start deploying your cloud on System z".

via mainframe-watch-belgium.blogspot.co.uk

Updated - Free Windows 8 programming ebook - Education - MSDN Blogs #yam

Those nice people at Microsoft Press released an update in August to their free ebook – it’s a preview version of “Programming Windows 8 Apps with HTML, CSS and JavaScript”. And it seems perfect timing to highlight it (being absolutely transparent, I didn't read it when it came out, but I've started to read it this week, as I'm spending more time talking to people about building Windows 8 apps for education)

It’s the perfect guide to Windows 8 applications programming, and gives you the whole story for creating Windows 8 apps. As it’s only a second preview version, the whole thing isn’t yet there – so far there's 12 of a planned 17 chapters, along with a download of companion content (code samples etc)

If you’re interested in getting started, or you’ve got students that you know will want to have a go, then this is a great book to download and to share.

via blogs.msdn.com

Windows 8 in Education eBook - Now Available - Microsoft UK Schools blog #yam

Our new Windows 8 in Education eBook is hot off the press. Written by leading practitioners, the eBook can get you started and inspire you about many of the great features of Windows 8 from an education perspective.

via blogs.msdn.com

50 Little-Known Ways Google Docs Can Help In Education | Edudemic #yam

Google Docs is such an incredible tool for college students, offering collaboration, portability, ease of use, and widespread acceptance. But there are so many options, both hidden and obvious, that there’s a good chance you’re not using Google Docs to its fullest capability.

We’ve discovered 50+ great tips for getting the most out of Google Docs as a student, with awesome ideas and tricks for collaboration, sharing, and staying productive.

via edudemic.com

Games programming resources - MSDN Blogs #yam

Thought I’d pull together a few resources for people interested in gaming….its not a definitive list but its a great place to start

via blogs.msdn.com

Pay-what-you-want eBook bundle makes $1.1m in two weeks | ITProPortal.com

An experiment which allows readers to pay what they like for a collection of eBooks has unexpectedly reached sales of more than $1.1 million (£700,000) in under two weeks, it was revealed today.

The Humble eBook Bundle went live on 9 October, offering customers a selection of novels and comics by award-winning science fiction and fantasy writers including Neil Gaiman and Cory Doctorow.

Since then, it has sold more than 80 thousand bundles of eBook receiving an average price of $14 (£9). The promotion is due to close later today and has so far pulled in more than $1.1 million (£700,000) with one user paying a whopping $1,238 (£773) for the 13 books.

via itproportal.com

Guest Post: 5 Fun Ways to Get Your Students to Cooperate « The Creative Education Blog #yam

Not enough effort is spent truly promoting teamwork in school, considering the amount of time all of us will spend working with others once we graduate. Finding ways to get your students to work together to accomplish a goal is one of the best ways to encourage critical thinking, raise their self esteem, involve them actively in learning, and improve camaraderie. Try any one of these fun activities with students of all ages.

via creativeeducation.co.uk

35 Ways To Build Your Personal Learning Network Online | Edudemic #yam

Personal learning networks are a great way for educators to get connected with learning opportunities, access professional development resources, and to build camaraderie with other education professionals.

Although PLNs have been around for years, in recent years social media has made it possible for these networks to grow exponentially.

Now, it’s possible to expand and connect your network around the world anytime, anywhere. But how exactly do you go about doing that?

Check out our guide to growing your personal learning network with social media, full of more than 30 different tips, ideas, useful resources, and social media tools that can make it all possible.

via edudemic.com

How Education Technology Is Like Betamax | Edudemic #yam

Are you a Betamax?

Source: TopTenz.net

Now that we are all excited about integrating iPads into the classroom, what’s next? What are we all going to do in 18.. 24.. 36.. months when the next great device comes along? Are we all going to just start over? How do we, as educators, avoid being the next Betamax: that flash in the pan that couldn’t scale up and adjust to a rapidly changing market?

While Betamax may be gone, the idea behind it – that people wanted to easily access videos and then store them to watch later –  lives on in every DVD player, and mobile device, that exists today. If you were someone who looked and saw the big picture idea of Beta as the sharing and storing of videos (or of information, images, video,  and data), you may not have been upset by its demise and would probably not be surprised by the popularity of today’s technologies that perform the same functions. Similarly, you would neither be shocked by the popularity of the Blu-Ray format that delivers an ever higher quality product, nor by web sites such as YouTube or Vimeo.

However, the person who found comfort in the familiarity of the small cassettes and argued against VHS on principle, as well as out of loyalty, would have seen the demise of Betamax as a tragedy and their investment in it as a useless waste of time. So how does this apply to education?

via edudemic.com

The War For the Web - O'Reilly Radar #yam

On Friday, my latest tweet was automatically posted to my Facebook news feed, as always. But this time, Tom Scoville noticed a difference: the link in the posting was no longer active.

It turns out that a lot of other people had noticed this too. Mashable wrote about the problem on Saturday morning: Facebook Unlinks Your Twitter Links.

if you’re posting web links (Bit.ly, TinyURL) to your Twitter feed and using the Twitter Facebook app to share those updates on Facebook too, none of those links are hyperlinked. Your friends will need to copy and paste the links into a browser to make them work.

If this is a design decision on Facebook’s part, it’s an extremely odd one: we’d like to think it’s an inconvenient bug, and we have a mail in to Facebook to check. Suffice to say, the issue is site-wide: it’s not just you.

As it turns out, it wasn’t just links imported from Twitter. All outbound links were temporarily disabled, unless users explicitly added them as links via an “attach” dialogue. I went to Facebook, and tried posting a link to this blog directly in my status feed, and saw the same behavior: links were no longer automatically made clickable. You can see that in the image that is the destination of the first link in this piece.

via radar.oreilly.com

In Technology Wars, Using the Patent as a Sword - NYTimes.com #yam

When Apple announced last year that all iPhones would come with a voice-activated assistant named Siri, capable of answering spoken questions, Michael Phillips’s heart sank.

THE iECONOMY

A series examining challenges posed by increasingly globalized high-tech industries.

• More in This Series »

Interactive Feature

For Software, Cracks in the Patent System

• Graphic: Fighters in a Patent War

• Video: Tech Companies in Patent Wars

Related in Opinion

• Room for Debate: Does the Law Support Inventors or Investors? (October 10, 2012)

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For three decades, Mr. Phillips had focused on writing software to allow computers to understand human speech. In 2006, he had co-founded a voice recognition company, and eventually executives at Apple, Google and elsewhere proposed partnerships. Mr. Phillips’s technology was even integrated into Siri itself before the digital assistant was absorbed into the iPhone.

But in 2008, Mr. Phillips’s company, Vlingo, had been contacted by a much larger voice recognition firm called Nuance. “I have patents that can prevent you from practicing in this market,” Nuance’s chief executive, Paul Ricci, told Mr. Phillips, according to executives involved in that conversation.

Mr. Ricci issued an ultimatum: Mr. Phillips could sell his firm to Mr. Ricci or be sued for patent infringements. When Mr. Phillips refused to sell, Mr. Ricci’s company filed the first of six lawsuits.

via nytimes.com

Commission urges Member States to recognise skills gained outside school and university

Commission urges Member States to recognise skills gained outside school and university

As part of its strategy for creating jobs and growth, the European Commission has launched an initiative to boost the recognition of skills and competences gained outside school or university. The Commission's proposal aims to increase job opportunities in particular for the young unemployed and those with few formal qualifications such as older and low-skilled workers. It also seeks to increase access to higher education, especially among mature students.

Through this recommendation, the Commission is urging Member States to establish national systems for the validation of non-formal and informal learning (see background for definitions) by 2015. This would allow citizens to obtain a full or partial qualification on the basis of skills and competences acquired outside formal education. Only Finland, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands currently have comprehensive systems in place for validation of non-formal and informal learning.

"Our aim is for all citizens to make full use of the learning opportunities which are available to enhance their skills and employability, whether at the work place, through civil society groups or via the internet," said Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth. "In a time of high unemployment and low economic growth, it is essential that Europe develops the right mix of skills and competences to boost competitiveness, prosperity and social inclusion."

via europa.eu

Are your passwords as secure as you think? - IBM Software Blog #yam

Several high profile breaches so far this year have brought some much needed attention back around to the topic of password security. Odd that in the years since the World Wide Web was first founded, the username password paradigm remains relatively unchanged. Technologies, browsers, design and usability have all evolved exponentially, and yet the same authentication methodologies have persisted for nearly two decades.

In some ways, we are almost regressing in our ability to protect our private information online. Security questions based on public data, linked accounts which can be recovered through basic social engineering tricks, and password reuse have all served to further destabilize an already flawed system.

Attempts at educating users on proper password policy has been limited to a fuzzy stream of seemingly over complicated policies, oversimplified "rules", and increasing characters, symbols and numbers, without much consideration for the implications of a poor password choice.

via www-304.ibm.com

How To Keep Students Focused On A Single iPad App #yam

We talk every day about how iPads and other technology can be implemented in the classroom. But many devices *cough* iPad *cough* are designed to do a myriad of different things. Sure, they’re terrific learning tools but they’re also great distraction tools. Just ask any student able to quickly check their Facebook account while they’re supposed to be using an iPad for research.

But Apple has you covered. The new iOS 6 has a very simple and powerful tool called Guided Access that lets you keep students focused on a single app of your choosing. It lets you disable the home button, restrict parts of the screen so they can’t be touched, and even stop responding to being turned over and upside down. It’s easy to implement and a great tool in the teacher’s toolkit.

via edudemic.com

50 Interesting Ways To Use Skype In Your Classroom | Edudemic #yam

I’m a so-so fan of Skype. I’ve used it on an infrequent basis and have had more than a few dropped calls. Audio and video alike.

However, it’s a cheap way to make long distance calls and seems to work better over wi-fi and the video quality is improving on a regular basis.

So therefore it’s probably a great tool for the classroom. But how can you use Skype to do more than just make calls? Well, there’s a pantload of interesting ways! Check out these fun ideas:

via edudemic.com

The Teacher's Toolkit For Creating A Supportive Classroom

Creating a supportive and bully-free classroom takes time, energy, and determination. It can’t be done overnight and certainly can’t be done without a ton of effort on the teacher’s part. That’s exactly why a team at the Department of Education created a series of toolkits to help you build a safe and supportive classroom.

It focuses on working to solve the bully problem and then moving onto crafting a long-term plan for a safer school experience for everyone. These modules were designed to work together.

via edudemic.com

Will the Internet Replace Traditional Education? #yam

I recently met a principal at the world’s largest school. It was a chance meeting at a community event, so you can imagine my surprise when I asked this warm, humble Indian man what he did, and he proceeded to tell me he was a principal at a school founded by his father, Jagdish Gandhi, that had just completed enrollment of 45,000 students for a single year.

As a web guy, I’m used to big numbers. But in this case, we’re talking not about virtual users on a website, but thousands upon thousands of loud, excitable school kids. The City Montessori School in the town of Lucknow, India was very much a bootstrapped startup of its time. Some fifty years ago, a newly married couple set out with just 300 rupees (the equivalent of less than $10) looking to serve humanity through education.

via thenextweb.com

Scottish Review: Labour needs to ask: Is Scotland a nation?

 

Labour needs to ask:

Is Scotland

a nation?

 

Alex Wood

 

The independence campaign has officially started. Over the next two years the positions of politicians will meld and change. Already several former Labour Party activists, including a few heavy-weights such as Denis Canavan and John McAllion, have declared for independence. Salmond has identified the Labour vote as winnable, not only winnable but essential if a 'Yes' vote is to be achieved.
     It was also noteworthy then that one of Scottish Labour's most honest MSPs, Malcolm Chisholm, should blog on Facebook that, 'Papers confirm what was obvious on Friday that SNP focus is Labour voters. Left case for enhanced devo (ideas + powers) key to indy defeat'. Interesting, that: the aim is an 'indy defeat', not a 'unionist victory'.
     The appeal for a new 'Left' strategy, 'enhanced devo', is a real conundrum. Leave aside the fact that neither the Scottish Executive nor the Blair/Brown Labour goverments ever considered 'enhanced devo'. As a strategy to defeat independence today, 'enhanced devo' is too little, too late. It's the deus ex machine manufactured to produce an 'indy defeat'. None of the pro-union parties support it. At best it's disingenuous to proffer something to the implementation of which no-one is committed. It's certainly no alternative to the big options which are genuinely up for grabs.
     That's not to say that 'devo-max' should not appear as an option in any referendum. The argument for posing such a question is simple. There appears to be (at this stage an unproven but reasonable assumption) a significant proportion of the electorate which actually wants that option. It would be undemocratic to deny that cohort the right to cast a vote for its first choice.
     The likelihood, however, is that it will not appear on the ballot. If it did, it would split the Labour Party asunder. It would also be opposed, at least initially, by the other unionist parties, although that would change if support for independence were seen to grow. Then there would be more than a few damascene conversions. (It might still be the option that materialises but that's a different issue.)
     There is a larger matter which McAllion and Canavan have recognised and that Malcolm Chisholm (and, I suspect, many others within the Labour Party) have yet to acknowledge. When great historical issues come to the fore and require moral commitment, bets may not be hedged.
     A good example for the Labour Party was the second world war. Many previous Labour leaders, including Keir Hardie and Ramsay Macdonald, had been opposed to British participation in the first world war. There was a strong anti-war current in the 1930s Labour Party. There was sustained hostility to the Tory government. Nor was the emergence of Churchill, loathed by Labour for his role in the general strike, reconciling. Yet Labour Party members realised that the defeat of fascism was the great item on the historical agenda. Which was the historically progressive side was clear – even though it included countless reactionary characters. For Churchill the war was in defence of the British empire (in fact it pre-empted its dissolution) but Labour knew that war was essential. When the sides were called in 1939-40, Labour knew where to place itself.

 

There is perhaps an even more fundamental question which Labour activists need to answer: is Scotland a nation? Scotland may be no more a country
or a nation than Florida or Nova Scotia.

     The independence issue is also complex. Nationalism can be a divisive, conservative, socially corrosive and reactionary force. Radicals in Scotland can hardly be attracted to a low-tax, pro-business culture as envisaged in the Celtic tiger concept. In an increasingly interdependent world in which business straddles continents, traditional concepts of national independence are questionable. Indeed there is an argument that a strong, united Europe requires precisely the abandonment of the nation state, that what the present Euro-crisis proves is the incompatibility of monetary and economic union without total political union. But these are not Malcolm Chisholm's starting points.
     Labour activists require to ask themselves serious questions. Is a more equal and less divided society more likely in the British state than in an independent Scottish state? In which is a more consumerist, market-oriented social order more likely? In which is the maintenance of high-quality public services, rather than low levels of taxation, more likely? Is direct involvement in further military incursions in the Middle East and elsewhere more likely by the British state than by an independent Scottish state? These questions would indicate a more serious approach than the present haggling over whether independence or the union would put an extra £5 a week in people's pockets.
     There is perhaps an even more fundamental question which Labour activists need to answer: is Scotland a nation? Scotland may be no more a country or a nation than Florida or Nova Scotia. It may be merely a region of the greater British nation. If so, independence is a nonsense. Few, however, deny Scotland's nationhood – but if Scotland is a nation, then there requires to be a powerful reason why it should not seek statehood like almost every other significant nation on earth.
     There may be situations where national independence is not practical, or where there is an overwhelming case, accepted voluntarily by both, for the continued unification, within one state, of two nations. If Labour's position is that membership of the United Kingdom so overwhelmingly benefits Scotland, let them spell it out. What are the benefits which make the denial of statehood worthwhile? In particular, what are the concrete benefits of remaining within the British state, with its long imperialist history, the residual shreds of which still taint its world outlook? Why stay within a British state, the economic foundations of which have been steadily eroded over the last 60 years and the archaic institutions of which remain hopelessly outdated, feudal in parts?
     If the decent wing of the Labour Party asks these questions seriously, it must take sides. In 1939, their predecessors chose to ally themselves with a Conservative leader they despised, supported a war when their roots lay in pacifism, and stood up to fascism. When harsh alternatives were posed they took a stand and theirs was the right moral decision. Today's harsh alternatives cannot be dodged by raising a third option. Enhanced devolution is a smoke-screen. The logic of Malcolm Chisholm's politics is to support, not 'devo-max', but the emergence of a new organisation: Labour Supporters for Independence.

 

Alex Wood is a retired head teacher and former political activist

via scottishreview.net

Windows 8 Camp in a Box - Mike Ormond's Blog

If you’ve recently attended one of our Windows 8 Events or Windows 8 Camps (London, Edinburgh, Manchester, London again, Birmingham etc etc) then you may have asked us about how you can get hold of the materials.

You’ll be pleased to hear that the official materials including Hands on Labs, presentations, samples and other resources are now available for download. You can find them here:

via blogs.msdn.com

Eric Schmidt, Google's Executive Chairman, Challenges College Graduates To 'Take Your Eyes Off That Screen'

By Ross Kerber

May 20 (Reuters) - Google Inc Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt challenged college graduates on Sunday to take the radical step -- at least for their generation -- of tearing their eyes away from their smartphones and computer screens.

"Take one hour a day and turn that thing off," Schmidt told graduates at Boston University, where he received an honorary degree and was applauded by an audience that had grown up relying on the technology company's search engine, e-mail and other services.

"Take your eyes off that screen and look into the eyes of the person you love. Have a conversation, a real conversation," Schmidt said.

Schmidt's advice came midway through his remarks and provided context around his broader message that electronic tools such as social media are positive forces. He said that "a distinctive feature of your new world is that you can be unique while being completely connected." That feature, he said, is a "fulfillment of the American dream."

Google executives are comfortable with broad statements, having made "Don't be evil" a business motto and battled governments over Internet freedoms.

In his remarks, Schmidt did not address policy issues or business topics such as last week's initial public offering of Facebook Inc, in many spaces a Google rival. Schmidt also offered traditional sentiments that included urging graduates to reach high and not be afraid to fail.

He also emphasized they will be armed with technology as never before. "You are emblems of the sense of possibility that will define this age," he said, adding that, "If you're awake, you're online, you're connected.

"Some of you are probably tweeting this speech right now."

On Twitter, Miles Branman, who identifies himself as a Boston University student, quoted another part of Schmidt's speech and wrote: "Listening to Eric Schmidt of Google, advising us to write the code for all of us (the world) at #BU2012 Commencement."

Also on Twitter, Boston Univesity Dean of Students Kenn Elmore wrote: "Eric Schmidt works it at #BU2012 Commencement."

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How To Develop Your Own Mobile Learning Tools – Edudemic

Mobile learning, or m-learning, refers to any learning intervention that is carried out through the use of mobile devices and wireless technology.

Ever since the concept of mobile learning came into the picture, instructional designers have been coming up with innovative ideas to create effective and meaningful ways to harness the power of mobile learning. It started with focused efforts to convert existing e-learning to m-learning.

Subsequently, educational technology companies now design effective and meaningful mobile learning tools by addressing various challenges associated with delivering content on mobile devices. This article introduces these challenges and discusses some strategies to design effective m-learning.

Why Mobile Learning?

Several factors make a compelling case for delivering learning materials on mobile devices. For one, as per the statistics reported by MobiThinking — a mobile research company, year 2011 ended with about 5.9 billion mobile subscribers, which constitute roughly 87% of the world population.

Second, increasingly, more people are using smart phones and tablets, which make it easy to access any kind of learning materials.

Finally, there has been a consistent increase in the number of employees working from outside their offices, and just-in-time access to information can help them overcome many challenges of working from remote locations.

Mobile learning brings a lot of benefits that organizations can’t ignore. The most obvious ones are convenience and flexibility to access just-in-time information at any location, at any time. It can help employees make use of the down time, such as while waiting in a hospital, during traveling time, and while waiting for an internal or a client meeting to begin.

Challenges Associated with Mobile Learning

Various challenges associated with delivering learning content on mobile devices create barriers in adoption of m-learning by organizations. The biggest challenge is devices working on varying platforms and supporting different formats. There is no formal standard to ensure the auto-adoption of content on different devices.

Further, the screen size of most devices makes it difficult for users to go through a lot of content. Other challenges include connectivity and bandwidth issues, concern for content security, difficulty in integrating devices to LMSs, and high costs of designing programs compatible with different devices.

Strategies to Design Mobile Learning

Here are some strategies that you can use to design effective and engaging mobile learning tools. These strategies are focused on addressing the challenges related to m-learning and making best use of the inherent mobile features to ensure learning effectiveness.

Target Specific Devices

There is no solution to push rich, interactive content to every possible device. So, do not target your learning program for all possible mobile devices. Shortlist devices based on the ones that most of your learners already have or can easily switch to. Organizations can overcome the challenge of varying devices and platforms by distributing a specific device and designing for the same.

Design for Performance

Users typically use mobile devices for short bursts of activity. Nobody would want to sit through a full-fledged, long e-learning course on a mobile device. Therefore, designing m-learning for performance support and just-in-time learning is more realistic.

For example, quickly going through the product updates while a sales person is on the way to meet a customer may help him crack the deal. Or, consider a scenario where your sales people frequently interact with customers of a foreign nationality. Sending texts of common phrases of the specific foreign language to those sales people may help them interact better with their customers.

Package Content as Small Chunks

Most mobile devices have small screens. So, break the content into small chunks to facilitate processing. Avoid excessive downward scrolling of the content. Also, remember that the rule of seven plus/minus two units to compensate for the limited short term memory applies to m-learning as well. Finally, you can use appropriate interactions to help learners dive deeper into each chunk. For example, you may want to use flash cards to summarize each feature of a product. Clicking on each flash card may help users learn more about that feature.

Design a Simple and Intuitive Interface

Mobile devices have small screens and limited processing capacity. Also, users are less likely to use a complicated mobile application, and there is not enough room to explain the user interface on a small screen. So, it is advisable to eliminate complexity and use a simple user interface with only the limited, required functionality that can be accessed easily and efficiently. Keep the screen uncluttered and consider the device types you are designing for. For example, designing for a touch screen is completely different from doing it for a keypad-based device. Selection errors on touch screens are higher than other screens so you may want to surround the touch areas with as much white space as possible.

Use Simple Code and Open Source Products

Use basic HTML code to provide a simple and accessible learning program with basic navigation features. Using simple code helps minimize file sizes, increase download speeds, and ensure compatibility with feature phones. Further, the use of open source products helps increase accessibility and enables local communities to make customizations as per their environment.

Use Mobile Features and Apps

Use the inherent features of a mobile platform to design meaningful interactivity. Some devices, such as iPhone and iPad, present several ways to make the content interactive. Explore the features of the devices you are designing for and use them appropriately. Further, most people define their learning experience on tablets and smart phones by the apps they use. Try to include these apps in your overall learning design strategy.

Design Social / Collaborative Learning

It is a well known fact that mobile devices and social networking work very well together. You can leverage this fact by providing a collaborative learning platform for people to connect with each other, hold discussions, and share information.

Collaborative learning can work very well through mobile devices. Learners can also click photographs or shoot video clips and share with others to substantiate their views. Create an inclusive environment that supports learning through sharing and collaboration by valuing contributions of all participants.

Conclusion

With ever growing use of mobile devices and wireless connectivity, m-learning has the potential to cater to a large number of learners. Instructional designers need to develop creative techniques to get learners to do much more than viewing heaps of text on their mobile devices. This paper captured some strategies to design effective and engaging m-learning.

There may be many more, but hopefully these should get you started on thinking about the ways to create effective m-learning.

About The Author

Anu Galhotra has over 10 years of experience in designing learning products across different industries. Throughout her career span, she has partnered with several Fortune 500 organizations to identify business needs and design custom learning solutions to address those. With an extensive exposure to instructional design methodologies and content development tools, her work in the areas of collaborative learning and organization-wide accreditation won Brandon Hall and ASTD awards. Anu is now heading the instructional design COE at Infopro, aspiring to create a culture of rigorous thinking and continual learning.

via edudemic.com

Why Harvard just raised the Bar [way high] for e-learning

E-learning has just been given premier status. Sooner rather than later, online learning will no longer be viewed as sub-standard, second-rate or ‘lite’ education. The heavy hitters of higher ed, the IVY Leagues are now behind online learning, open source, MOOC‘s, [Massive Open Online Courses] which will have cataclysmic effects for higher ed. I’m speaking of Harvard and MIT’s announcement this past week which introduced edX, a collaborative partnership between MIT and Harvard which will offer Harvard and MIT classes online for on-campus students and anyone with access to the Internet.

The edX initiative is going to accelerate a shift to a new model for education, actually it’s going to be more like a tsunami that’s going to hit campuses which is how John L. Hennessy, president of Stanford described it, according to Ken Auletta in Get Rich U. (2012). 

Why is Harvard getting ‘in’ now?
Why has Harvard (finally) thrown its hat into the ring? It’s not just because Stanford’s doing it, as is Princeton, University of Michigan and U Penn, (all of which are doing so collaboratively through a similar initiative coursera), but because they HAVE to. It’s not optional (similar to the question many campuses faced five or so years ago, should we be on Facebook – which changed to when do we get on FB) – the time has come, either acknowledge that the education model needs to change or just close your doors and crawl under a rock. With the influence of social media, 24/7 Internet access, there’s a need to respond, adapt. Furthermore, this higher education bubble we’re in is going to burst, soon. This bubble exists due in part to the cost of higher education, which according to the National Center for Public Policy and Education has increased 440% in the past five years, nearly four times the rate of inflation (Lataif, 2011).

Enough of that, let’s look at the practical reasons why Harvard [and MIT] need to change…

1) Transform: “To enhance campus-based teaching and learning“, according the edX website, which I view as a productivity issue. As much as I dislike to apply business terminology to education, it’s a necessity, universities need to innovate and embrace technology, find new ways to conduct the ‘business’ of educating.

2) Relevancy for on-campus students: Make no mistake, MIT and Harvard recognize that learning needs to transform in order to remain relevant and provide meaningful, enriched learning for students, and we’re talking about on-campus students. EdX appears to be just as much about transforming learning for and reaching students worldwide, as it is for students in traditional face-to-face classes. Watch the two-minute YouTube video at the end of this post where leaders of both institutions share their vision for edX.

3) Education Research: It appears the plan is also to conduct research into educational practices and theory, “EdX will support Harvard and MIT faculty in conducting research on teaching and learning on campus through tools that enrich classroom and laboratory experiences“, a good thing.

What it means for Online Education
We [educators] need to step-up – the bar is high – educators now more than ever need to create and deliver courses of quality and rigor. It also means capitalizing on the value of the educational experience, and showing the student how he or she will benefit from completing for-credit courses. Audit students will become a thing of the past.

The Ivy Leagues have an International reputation that speaks for itself, there will be instant name recognition, which will be associated with ‘quality education’ (whether accurate or not).  A recent example, Stanford’s  Professor Thrun offered a free online course in Artificial Intelligence last year, that drew 160,000 students from 190 countries. Thrun found this to be a life changing experience, and started Coursera, which offers a full range of courses from Ivy League professors. Granted college credit is not earned. However, there may be something in the offing for edX, as Mitx (which has now merged Harvard edX) had  planned to offer recognition of completion (certificate after testing for content mastery) at some point. We’ll have to see what happens with edX.

L. Rafael Reif, Provost of MIT, made it clear that quality and rigor will not be compromised,

“This [edX] should not to be construed as MIT Lite or Harvard Lite, the content is the same”. (YouTube video).

What are the Nay Sayers Saying?
Of course there are plenty of skeptics – and I don’t discount their concerns. I feel it’s worthwhile to consider other viewpoints. Collectively some concerns include, 1) how to motivate students that aren’t intrinsically motivated [to engage with online content], 2) how to promote cross discipline learning, 3) how to get feedback from students that have dropped out [and why], 4) how to monitor progress of students (if the case of thousands of students), to name a few. One blog post I read, was quite pessimistic, suggesting that the impetuous of these schools offering online education is motivated by profit. I respect this educator’s position, though I do not agree, as it’s all about what I’ve mentioned above.

Transforming education is about moving forward, progressing and the time has come. I’ll close with one quote made by chairman of IBM when the prototype for the personal computer was introduced. It’s rather humorous now.

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

Further Reading
Universities on the Brink, Louis Lataif, Forbes.com
Edx: A platform for MOOCS, and an opportunity for more Research about Teaching and Learning Online, Audrey Watters, Inside Higher Ed
About edX, edxonline.org
What’s the difference between a MOOC and the University of Phoenix, More or less Bunk

Photo Credit: Terrible Tsumami, FrankBonilla.tv , Flickr, Creative Commons

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via onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com

Audacity User Guide - Resources - TES

A basic user guide which takes you through the basics of sound recording and editing through to saving as mp3 and adding the mp3 tags useful for podcast information. Suitable for staff and students alike.

via tes.co.uk

P2PU | Learning for everyone, by everyone, about almost anything

Learn anything
with your peers.
It's online and totally free.

At P2PU, people work together to learn a particular topic by completing tasks, assessing individual and group work, and providing constructive feedback.

via p2pu.org

How Do You Cite a Tweet in an Academic Paper? - Alexis Madrigal - Technology - The Atlantic

The Modern Language Association likes to keep up with the times. As we all know, some information breaks first or only on Twitter and a good academic needs to be able to cite those sources. So, the MLA has devised a standard format that you should keep in mind.

via theatlantic.com

Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 4 (RDS) - Microsoft UK Faculty Connection - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

There has been tremendous excitement with Microsoft Kinect within the robotics space signalling the potential opportunities that exist in transforming robots to low-cost mainstream consumer devices. RDS 4, with support from the Kinect sensor, aims to make it easier for developers to build applications, including those directed at personal robotics and consumer scenarios, both in hardware and in simulation.

via blogs.msdn.com

GDC: "Traditional developers are scared," Google offers Native Client as solution | GamesIndustry International

Google's Native Client easily brings PC games to the Chrome browser and Google+

Google is making it as easy as possible for publishers and developers to bring their existing PC games to both the Chrome browser and to Google+ through their Native Client initiative. Some 15 games have already made the transition and more are in the works, according to Colt McAnlis, Developer Advocate for Google.

via gamesindustry.biz

Windows on a stick: hands-on with Windows 8's "Windows to Go"

But Windows 8 does offer a “mobile” alternative that may at least pique business and tech support users' curiosity: Windows to Go, an installation of Windows 8 that boots from a USB thumb drive. In theory, Windows to Go could give administrators a way of creating a verified, locked-down image of the Windows 8 OS that can be given to wandering users, temporary off-site contractors, or telecommuters to allow them to connect to the corporate network with confidence from their own (or someone else's) computer.

Windows to Go could also be attractive to desktop support teams—or anyone else who ever gets drafted into fixing a friend's or relative's computer. While it doesn't access local storage at start-up, local drives can be mounted and accessed so they can be repaired, or scrubbed of boot-sector viruses and other nastiness on the host computer.

via arstechnica.com

A Simple Comparison: Textbooks, Digital Textbooks and the Techbook – DEN Blog Network

Here’s my ToonDoo-inspired take on the differences between classrooms that are driven by books (digital or otherwise) and those that are driven by inquiry-based instruction.

via blog.discoveryeducation.com

IBM Providing Free Internet Security Training to Students, Parents & Teachers | ITProPortal.com

US based multinational technology giant International Business Machines has announced the launch of a range of free training tools designed to assist students, parents and teachers to have a better understanding of Internet security.

According to IBM security counsel and chief privacy officer Harriet Pearson, the new resources have been made available by the company in order to help the public have a better understanding of the most common cyber threats. The training will equip users with all necessary skills and knowledge to keep themselves at a safe distance from such threats.

via itproportal.com

Edinburgh - MUSIC – Edinburgh Spotlight Sounds of the City: Volume 1 | Edinburgh Spotlight

We love local music here at Edinburgh Spotlight.

Whatever your tastes, you’re likely to find at least one band or artist in the city catering to it – and usually performing it live with passion, drive and enthusiasm that proves the local music scene in the city is alive and well.

To help the best of Edinburgh’s music be heard by as wide an audience as possible, we’re releasing regular free Sounds of the City compilation albums: each one containing sounds and songs which have caught our ears; and which we wholeheartedly recommend.

This first release is a true sampler – acoustic rock, country, pop, post-punk, hip-hop, world music: the only common thread is that these songs represent some of the best of the varied and exciting music on offer in Edinburgh.

So why not download the free album and hear what some of the city’s talented musicians are capable of!

via edinburghspotlight.com

5 Places to Get Digital Textbooks

The days of shuffling that 10-pound textbook to class or those countless fiction novels in your backpack are slowly but steadily coming to a close. With ebooks, your wallet may gain a few pounds as well, as you will be spending a lot less money on books.

Check out these five digital text services. With synchronized convenience and interactive, cost-effective methods, life is on its way to becoming a little bit easier for readers on the go.

via mashable.com

Higher Education Interrupted – a presentation | Energise 2-0

Following on from our recent posts Reinventing the University and Universities disrupted – the best recent articles we have compiled a presentation (using Prezi.com) that illustrates the issues facing Higher Education establishments from technology, social media and the ‘net generation’. We have included footage from four of the very best minds in this area – well worth a look. 

via energise2-0.com

BBC News - MIT launches free online 'fully automated' course

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the world's top-rated universities, has announced its first free course which can be studied and assessed completely online.

An electronics course, beginning in March, will be the first prototype of an online project, known as MITx.

The interactive course is designed to be fully automated, with successful students receiving a certificate.

via bbc.co.uk

More damaging evidence on open plan offices

Tests carried out for a recent UK TV programme called The Secret Life Of Buildings have produced further evidence that open plan layouts create massive distraction, damaging productivity.

The Channel 4 programme’s presenter, architecture critic Tom Dyckhoff, wore a cap that measured his brainwaves while trying to work in an open plan office. The scanner revealed intense bursts of distraction. Dr Jack Lewis, the neuroscientist who conducted the test, said: “Open plan offices were designed with the idea that people can move around and interact freely to promote creative thinking and better problem solving, but it doesn’t work like that. If you are just getting into some work and a phone goes off in the background, it ruins what you are concentrating on. Even though you are not aware at the time, the brain responds to distractions.”

via thesoundagency.com

Save Newsweek Scotland : Scottish Parliament Motion

BBC Responsibility to Provide In-depth Analysis of News and Current Affairs

That the Parliament notes with concern that what it considers the excellent weekly Radio Scotland programme, Newsweek Scotland, presented by Derek Bateman, is due to end early in 2012; considers that this will deprive listeners of the only remaining in-depth weekly analysis of news and current affairs in the period leading up to the Scottish referendum, during which time it considers that the general public has a right to expect the highest quality information and examination to be provided by the BBC, and so urges the BBC Trust to reverse this decision and ensure that the corporation meets its obligation to its audience.

via scottish.parliament.uk

The myths of independence | Herald Scotland

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tackles head on some of the claims being made by Unionists about Scotland’s prospects for going it alone

via heraldscotland.com

Citigroup Clear that Independent Scotland Financially Viable

We certainly do not rule out a break-up of the UK over time. ONS data suggest that an independent Scotland would have a slightly better fiscal position than the rest of the UK [assuming Scotland gets its geographic share of oil and gas receipts]. Scotland could have a viable future as an independent country, although there are a lot of questions that would have to be resolved before that happens.

via telegraph.co.uk

Billy Bragg on Scottish independence - Arts Blog - Scotsman.com

The doyen of political protest, Billy Bragg, has added his voice to the cause of Scottish independence. Ahead of a gig in Edinburgh next month, he tells our reporter that the end of Britain could herald a new England led by a centre-left party akin to the SNP

via scotsman.com

North Sea oil will last for 100 years' - Telegraph

Dr Richard Pike, a former oil industry consultant and now the chief executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry, said: "Rather than only getting 20 to 30 billion barrels [from the North Sea] we are probably looking at more than twice that amount."

His analysis is supported by petroleum experts who believe there are some 300 fields off the coast of Britain still to be explored and tapped properly. If energy prices continue to soar, companies will become increasingly willing to tap previously uneconomic oil fields.

via telegraph.co.uk

Who would have thought the Telegraph would help the Independence cause?

How black gold was hijacked: North sea oil and the betrayal of Scotland - The Independent

It was a document that could have changed the course of Scottish history. Nineteen pages long, Written in an elegant, understated academic hand by the leading Scottish economist Gavin McCrone, presented to the Cabinet office in April 1975 and subsequently buried in a Westminster vault for thirty years. It revealed how North Sea oil could have made an independent Scotland as prosperous as Switzerland.

via independent.co.uk

How black gold was hijacked: North sea oil and the betrayal of Scotland - The Independent

It was a document that could have changed the course of Scottish history. Nineteen pages long, Written in an elegant, understated academic hand by the leading Scottish economist Gavin McCrone, presented to the Cabinet office in April 1975 and subsequently buried in a Westminster vault for thirty years. It revealed how North Sea oil could have made an independent Scotland as prosperous as Switzerland.

via independent.co.uk

IBM Press room - 2012-01-10 University of the West of Scotland Teams with IBM to Tackle Skills Gap - United Kingdom

LONDON, U.K. - 10 Jan 2012: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced an academic collaboration with University of the West of Scotland that gives students access to IBM software and technology training needed to gain new skills in business analytics and business modelling that are increasingly required by employers.

The IBM Academic Initiative is a global programme that facilitates the collaboration between IBM and educators to teach students the technology skills they need to be competitive and keep pace with changes in the workplace. Members of the IBM Academic Initiative get free access to hardware, full-version software, professionally developed courseware, training, books and other discounts.

With almost 17,000 students and around 1,400 staff, University of the West of Scotland is unique in its geographical coverage across the West of Scotland with four campuses in the region. The University has extensive expertise in research and development and collaborative working relationships with companies in the UK and abroad to prepare students for employment upon graduation.

via www-03.ibm.com