Posted by: blanchy | December 29, 2009

Farmville 1.0

I live on a farm.

OK, it’s a small farm but is is a farm nevertheless. We have cows. In deference to it’s size it is called THE NEARLY FARM. Capitals afford it more importance than it deserves so maybe The Nearly Farm is more appropriate.

I am bemused by folk whose pastime is Farmville. The Facebook variety. It’s almost like farming has achieved a romanticism, a chic image where exciting things happen like (let’s see….) someone else stops by to fertilise your farm. Like that ever happens in the real world!  Did they get a soil analysis done before their farm was fertilised? You can do a lot of damage by fertilising with the wrong stuff you know, just look at the dust bowls of the USA.

Noone has ever just stopped by to fertilise our farm. They have been ordered and paid for, then you wait for the right weather and once the moon is in the right quadrant they roll in with their trucks and spreaders and fertilise. Them over the river that have a real farm with some hilly stuff get planes to fertilise theirs. Planes don’t stop by, they pass over. Preferably. For the health and longevity of the pilot.

Anyone that doesn’t have a Facebook account and friends that play with Farmville on FB will think I have totally lost it if they read further. For their information Farmville is something that some folk do online that leaves strange messages on our Facebook pages recording the activities on their farms. The messages are strange. It is unreal. I’m just telling the story here.

Some folks find that adorable baby calves have strayed onto their farms, some of them are green. I thought at first that they needed to fix the fences but it appears they are delivered in a nappy by storks.  I must warn them that adorable baby calves that are away from their mamas for too long get very noisy. If you can’t find their mamas, you may have to mother them on to one of your nursing cows, or if you don’t have a nursing cow you’ll have to buy formula. Formula will give them the squits as its a change of diet for their sensitive tums. Squits are nasty, messy and smelly and you’ll get some on you. Goodness knows how ghastly a green adorable calf’s squits are!

These adorable green calves presumably have mothers somewhere who are missing them very much. They’ll be making a noise as well and there will be farmers out looking for their lost calves. By the look of the pictures on my Facebook page they have been kidnapped by storks so they could have come a long way. Have they been TB tested? I have to be able to tell those people where our animals were born and I don’t think “the stork brought it” will cut the mustard.

I’m off to the farm now. I’ve done my day job and I’m heading back to the Nearly Farm (aka Farmville 1.0) to deal with fences that need fixing, weeds that need pulling, paddocks that need topping. If I find that a clumsy reindeer from Farmville has stumbled onto our farm I’m going to be in trouble with MAF and the neighbours.  

Maybe there is a good reason why folk stay indoors and play with their own Nearly Farms online. It ain’t the real world though.

Posted by: blanchy | December 29, 2009

New Year’s Resolution?

Looking at the contents of this blog – it’s obvious what my New Year’s resolution should be.

Blog more.

But why?

I have to have a good reason.

FYI (whoever you are!) I have loads of postings still sitting in my drafts folder either waiting to be finished or awaiting the right moment to be unleashed on the blogosphere. I also regularly purge my postings so there did used to be more than there is now OK?

Anyway I typed “reasons to blog” into Google and chose “I’m feeling lucky” – ’cause I am! I’m sitting here looking out at the rain falling gently on our parched lawn. The birds are going nuts and I reckon I can see the leaves on the trees lifting themselves up in thankfulness for the cool refreshment they’re receiving.

Oops sorry – got distracted there!

My “lucky” answer was an about.com site “10 Reasons to start a blog”. I’m thinking already – “OK, so these are the reasons to start a blog – what about reasons to continue? Continuing is my New Year’s resolution after all.”

Maybe if I look at these reasons to start, I’ll find a reason to continue, so don’t get ahead of yourself Blanchy! 

1. To express your thoughts and opinions
I thought I expressed them quite well verbally and to people who either asked to hear them, were in the vicinity when I expressed them or were employed by me and so were subjected to them quite regularly. Blogging will therefore introduce my thoughts and opinions to a whole new audience. Maybe. Who reads this stuff anyway?

2. To Market or Promote Something
OK, so this is starting to make sense. We do have an in-house blog where we post all the nice, hilarious and inspiring stuff people write to us. That’s for our in-house pleasure and edification. It lets us know we’re on the right track, keeps everyone in touch with our client’s world and even gives us ideas on what else we can do. But who continues to read a blog that’s just marketing and promotion? Maybe a blog is a good forum to introduce new features, discuss implementation techniques. But this is not a company or product blog, this is just me. Do I want to market or promote myself? Why?

3. To Help People
This is good. I like to help people. I don’t see myself as an advisor or guru nor do I feel I am qualified to advise the great unwashed or want that responsibility. How to help in a blogging manner needs some thought. I will think.

4. To establish yourself as an expert
This one is funny! I don’t take myself all that seriously. The blogs (and tweets) I read by folk who claim or are accorded ”expert” status all quote each other and/or  newsfeeds . Much like a Google algorithim the more “experts” you quote the higher ranked you become. I do wonder if some bloggers have personal opinions at all as they appear to be channels living vicariously off the opinions of others.

5. To connect with people like you
I use Facebook, email, txt, LinkedIn and Twitter to connect with my type of people. For this lousy letter writer could blogging be a sort of communal letter without the mail merge facility of personalisation? Facebook does that.  Blogging to me is a rather one sided conversation with a tendency for long-winded monologues. With Twitter there is an awareness that you have connected as your followers have revealed themselves. Blogging appears a lonely pursuit.

6. To make a difference
Yes! That is my whole reason for being and how I like to live my life. This requires greater thought. How can blogging aid something I try to do every day? It all seems a bit too public and trumpet sounding for this shy, retiring do-gooder.

7. To stay active or knowledgeable in a field or topic
I read and listen to stay active and knowledgeable. I also know that if I write something down I remember it better! Everyone else doesn’t have to read my takes on someone else’s wisdom though. Things could become a bit like Chinese Whispers or its internet equivalent – urban legends! I do have my private places where I might pen some poetry or prose – it’s private!

8.  To stay connected with friends and family
Yes OK, before Facebook, Flickr, txt and Twitter. Mind you I do know folk that aren’t on FB and they may like to know what I’m doing and thinking. Really?

9. To make money
I have a day job.

10.  To have fun and be creative
A blog interface does not encourage creativity beyond the strictures of the platform itself.  You can use a blog to record and skite about your creativity in other fields. Is a discipline fun?

I’m going to need some better reasons to continue blogging. I’ll find them. I’m sure they will be here somewhere. So many people can’t be wrong – can they?  I do enjoy reading some blogs regularly its just I don’t think I can be as witty, erudite, wise, relevant or necessary.

A little encouragement wouldn’t go astray :-) . I shall tweet!

Posted by: blanchy | February 20, 2009

Yahoo – what’s up?

Blanche from TVNZ flicked through this link today (20 February 2009) from www.yahoo.co.nz

Most popular searches

Posted by: blanchy | February 7, 2009

Educational Institution?

There are pre-schools out there that prepare their students for school but I found this Premire College in Chatswood Sydney. What is it preparing it’s students for?

mire(from www.dictionary.com )
noun, verb, mired, mir⋅ing.

–noun
1. a tract or area of wet, swampy ground; bog; marsh.
2. ground of this kind, as wet, slimy soil of some depth or deep mud.

–verb (used with object)

3. to plunge and fix in mire; cause to stick fast in mire.
4. to involve; entangle.
5. to soil with mire; bespatter with mire.

–verb (used without object)

6. to sink in mire or mud; stick.
Sounds like a really useful form of education!
Ooops!

Ooops!

Posted by: blanchy | January 23, 2009

The Human Calculator

I was privileged to meet Scott Flansburg aka the Human Calculator this week in Sydney.

I was not only impressed by his mathematical abilities but also his skill at communicating his concepts to audiences, whether they were students, teachers or our group of skilful programmers.

Scott has also announced that he is joining 3P Learning’s World Maths Day Education Team putting out a challenge to students around the world to unite to beat last year’s record of correctly answering 182,445,169 questions in one day.

The World Maths Day site opens for registrations on 15 February for practice and World Maths Day is on Wednesday 4 March. bbbb

Posted by: blanchy | January 17, 2009

Stop Press – BETT Award!

bett-award-winnerCongratulations to Jayne, the UK Team, and everyone behind Mathletics on gaining the 2009 BETT AWARD for Primary Digital Content.

More later ….

Posted by: blanchy | December 30, 2008

Deep and meaningful thoughts (not)

View north from Millers Flat Bridge

View north from Millers Flat Bridge, Central Otago

It already feels like the new year has started as I sit in my office and clear out the detritus of 2008 and make lists for 2009.

I get easily distracted as I ponder whether I need to keep a piece of paper or whether it should be binned or shredded or if a particular snippet of information is safely enough buried in my cerebral hard drive to be recalled if needed.

I form piles and then prune the piles, carefully saving the paper that is only used on one side for future scribblings. I don’t scribble enough to use it all <note to self> scribble more in 2009 to utilise the box of scrap paper hiding behind my desk </note to self>.

Of less damage to the environment is the digital pruning. Documents that have been superceded or updated or are just plain obsolete are deleted. Next on the list – email! I’m a filer and archiver rather than a deleter and am way up there with my digital footprint on the company mail server. Maybe I have too much ruth (isn’t that the opposite of ruthless?) and should shed some of it in 2009.

And then there’s that book in my book shelf “Getting a grip on Time – Productivity and life balance made easy” by Robyn Pearce. I must read that. However it shares shelf space with another (much larger) book “A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder” by Eric Abrahamson and David H Freedman.

I like this para from the book

“As both John Steinbeck and the University of Texas researchers pointed out, our personalities tend to be more clearly expressed in our disorder than in our neatness. When we are being ruthless about ridding ourselves of what naturally accumulates around us and about meticulously straightening out what remains, we are in a sense tidying our identities. The truth is, we are all at least a bit of a mess – and all the more interesting for it.” p. 145

And what about resolutions for 2009? I’m still thinking about it but I figure that it may be best to make ones that can be fulfilled in the first week or the new year rather than broken in that week. Then you have the rest of the year to feel virtuous!

Posted by: blanchy | December 6, 2008

Reading Eggs

There’s a great new site out there in the big www that is teaching kids how to read in an engaging and effective way. The site is Reading Eggs from Blake Publishing in Australia.

logoYou can try out some free lessons here and even sign up for a free 14 day licence.

I have mentioned this site to many schools and new entrant teachers and the response is always the same – they love it and want it! I note that they have now brought out schools pricing for Australia and a CDROM version when you don’t have a broadband connection.

The graphics are bright and clear, the characters are fun and funky and the lesson structure is clear and well-paced. I wish we could get the books in NZ too!

Congratulations Blake on taking learning to read to this new and exciting level. 

Give it a go!

Posted by: blanchy | December 3, 2008

Up there with the Jonas Brothers and the Hadron Collider!

More exciting news for Mathletics!

Google have released statistics for the top searched for terms in New Zealand for 2008.

The year’s fastest rising search was for the Olympics reflecting the interest the New Zealand public had in the performance of New Zealand athletes in Beijing but coming in at number 17 is the Mathletics website.

From the PC World Magazine -

“The year’s fastest rising search was for the Olympics, reflecting the strong performance of New Zealand athletes in Beijing. But, showing that New Zealanders are into brain as well as brawn, the large hadron collider and ‘mathletics’ also made the top 20.”

Fastest rising searches of 2008
1. olympics
2. facebook
3. youtube
4. lotto
5. wiki
6. seek
7. miniclip
8. asb
9. tvnz
10. large hadron collider
11. heath ledger
12. obama
13. gossip girl
14. jonas brothers
15. miley cyrus
16. euro 2008
17. mathletics

Mathletics NZ recently hosted the 2008 NZ Maths Week Challenge when over 20,000 Kiwi kids went online and solved Maths problems and competed against other students in online challenges. This generated an enormous amount of interest in the site as students discovered that Maths was enjoyable and fun!

Posted by: blanchy | November 21, 2008

A New Frock for Jayne!

Congratulations to 3P Learning UK and also to the development and publishing team at 3P in Gordon, Australia on the announcement that Mathletics has been shortlisted as a finalist in the Primary digital content section for the annual BETT Awards to be announced in London in January 2009.

This is a prestigious award and can be described as the Oscars of the educational technology world.

Jayne Warburton, the UK General Manager, and the UK 3P team are also exhibiting at the BETT Conference at Olympia in January culminating in the awards at the London Hilton Ballroom. It totally warrants a new frock!

“The awards recognise outstanding education sector products and learning solutions, and judges review the entries based on criteria including design, cost-effectiveness, support of higher-order skills and effective learning and teaching styles.”

 

Older Posts »

Categories