Downloading and Converting Youtube Videos

Useful tool for downloading YouTube videos. You can also convert the videos to different formats.
Be careful with copyright issues on Youtube though! I use some videos for teaching and lecturing when network connection is not possible so downloading the video is essential

 http://www.clipconverter.cc/

How to be Creative

Although I've worked in the creative field for many years I've never really analysed the process of how to be creative. It just happens. I'm not saying I'm a natural at it as I took me many years studying in the creative arts and then being surrounded by superb, creative people from whom I learnt creative nurturing techniques. This is why I found the following video so fascinating: somebody who has studied the process carefully and rounded up the salient points into a 25 minute presentation. And to top it all the speaker in question is John Cleese which makes it informative, creative and funny! Check it out…. (but give yourself some space and time in order to do so)


John Cleese - a lecture on Creativity from janalleman on Vimeo.

Learning something in 2013 for your resolutions?

Have you thought about how technology will impact upon that learning process?

When I first started learning French, some twenty years ago I had access to a teacher during lesson time, books in the library and cassettes for listening comprehension. Some tv programmes were available but were difficult to get hold of. Maybe I could have video taped them and watched them at some other time, but let's face it, this was a faff on.

Leap forward to 2013 and we can see how learning has changed. Essa Academy is at the forefront of student interaction technology, having issued every child and teacher with an ipad. The upshot? No heavy books for the kids to lug around, instant feedback from teachers during the lessons and a reduction in the photocopying bill of some £65,000.

See the BBC video here ...

…and an older but more comprehensive video showing the school's 'enabling' ethos headed by the Principal, Showk Badat.

The Success Factor

Good points for everybody to take on board as we embark on a New Year…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maryellen-tribby/the-success-indicator_b_1874431.html

The Success Factor Indicator

Successful People
Have a sense of gratitude
Forgive others
Accept responsibility for their failures
Compliment
Read everyday
Keep a journal
Talk about ideas
Want others to succeed
Share information and data
Keep a "to-be" list
Exude joy
Keep a "to-do/project" list
Set goals and develop life plans
Embrace change
Give other people credit for their victories
Operate from a transformational perspective

Unsuccessful People
Have a sense of entitlement
Hold a grudge
Blame others for their failures
Criticize
Watch TV everyday
Say they keep a journal but really don't
Talk about people
Secretly hope others fail
Horde information and data
Don't know what they want to be
Exude anger
Fly by their seat of their pants
Never set goals
Think they know it all
Fear change
Take all the credit of their victories
Operate from a transactional perspective

Online searching in real life

Neat Google Analytics ad pretty much sums up the feeling you sometimes get when online searching.
Milk, semi-skimmed.

It doesn't have to be this way though does it!?

How to get people to do what you want

This is a great video by Associate Professor Charles Dwyer who has a quirky and funny delivery. I'm pleased I found this video as it reaffirms some of the thoughts I had about working with others.

"People do what they do to take care of what's important for them"…


- It's all your responsibility! 100%
- Positive reinforcement and influence
- There's no place for ego:people will do it for *their* reasons
- The stuff of human influence is fluff: timing, words, tone…
- Reasons with "because" increases the likelihood of your demand being followed through
- Ask for help from others
- Thank people
- Communication breakdowns are your fault, "I must not have said that very well, let me try that again…"

McCabe's Law: "McCabe's Law: Nobody _has_ to do _anything_."

Old Skool UI

As our car was in for a service I had the opportunity of using the new Scenic for a while and was interested by the dashboard UI. The most interesting thing I noticed was that the fuel gauge was old skool! The display was fully animated and this fuel indicator was in fact a facsimile of the way analogue fuel used to appear. I'm sure this is the result of much user feedback and not the whim of a misty-eyed older designer (ahem). 

In addition the rev counter was a sliding arched scale much like you'd see in a video game and the speedometer was a digit. Have video games influenced dashboard UI? Car games dashboards have long needed to be animated and this sort of animation is commonplace in the virtual world. Have we been so influenced by games that we *need* similar UI in our real cars?

Is this life imitating [c]art?