Himself

Magic Mice and Menu Bars

by

Finally caught a Magic Mouse which is as good as anticipated. I did not have a problem with the old [W:Apple Mighty Mouse] although a lot of people complained about them. I have a Logitech wireless mouse that I used with the old Mac but never got around to setting it up with the new Mac – the Mighty Mouse that came with it has done the job.

I did add Magic Prefs but have not really needed the extra pinches or swipes as yet – but will experiment with configuring it for flying X Plane. Magic Prefs added yet another icon to the ever leftward expansion across the menu bar so here is a quick check of what they are (admittedly some could be removed as they are never used and I have no idea why they are there 😉 )….
menu bar

From the left….

    Magic Prefs – adds extra controls to the Magic Mouse
    Spam Sweep – Within minutes of launching the demo Spam vanished… purchased minutes later.
    Library Books – Monitirs your library account and reminds you when stuff is due back.
    Savvy Clipboard – expands the usefulness of the clipboard.
    BwanaDik – any software named after a Zappa song must be good.
    Scribblet – fuss-free aide-mémoires. Updated to Version 2 today.
    Weather Dock – Saves having to look out of the window 😉
    Growl – pops up and tells you what you are listening to on Spotify, or when you have email, or when NetNewsWire has just refreshed etc. etc.
    Caffeine – Keeps your Mac awake.
    iStat Menus – Monitors the system if you enjoy watching that kind of thing. Who doesn’t? 😉
    Universal access – some of the other stuff needs some of this stuff to be on so they can do their thing.
    AppleScripts – Tweak you Mac to do what you want, when you want, how you want it done.
    Bluetooth – Lets Magic Mice talk to Macs
    Spaces – multi desktops thingy
    Spell Catcher – monitors your typing and corrects your spilling milkshakes.
    Time Machine – auto back up and then some.
    AirPort – wifi monitor
    Date & Time – this is why you buy a Mac 🙂
    User Account switch – what it says.
    SpotLight – search everything everywhere.

Sophisticated Interactive Cheating Learning

by

Only in the bizarre (as in anachronistic, educationally limiting and often damaging, economically draining and environmentally indefensible) world of mass schooling in the 21st century would looking something up on the Internet be considered cheating. To quote Stephen Crowne, Chief Executive, Becta,

“Equipping our current and future generations with the necessary skills to compete in a digital world is crucial to our future. Through innovative programmes such as Home Access, Becta is driving this development.  We can see in schools and colleges across Britain how the use of technology breeds greater success for students and teachers alike.”

Quite.

Or from a Microsoft Word document (No! Don’t laugh!) linked from the DCSF site, but without any indication what it is or who created it or when it was created (No! Don’t laugh!) ….

Gone are the days when young people spend endless school days poring over dusty textbooks. Learning is now interactive, sophisticated, and engaging.

Ho hum!

Synchronous Civil Disorder and Chess by Correspondence

by

It was one of those happy synchronous moments reading the latest Freedom in Education post just after reading A Brief, Yet helpful, Guide to Civil Disobedience by [W:Woody Allen] which is full of brief, yet helpful, advice…

When the ‘oppressors’ become too strict, we have what is known as a police state, wherein all dissent is forbidden, as is chuckling, showing up in a bow tie or referring to your local MP as “Fats.” Civil liberties are greatly curtailed in a police state, and freedom of speech is unheard of, although one is allowed to mime to a record. Opinions critical of the government are not tolerated, particularly about their dancing. Freedom of the press is also curtailed and the ruling party ‘manages’ the news, permitting the citizens to hear only acceptable political ideas and Football scores that will not cause unrest.

But I only found that by chance while looking for the piece about the two guys playing [W:Correspondence chess], (throw another log on the fire and I will tell you about the olden days when people wrote letters to each other), which never fails to leave me rolling on the floor in a crumbled tearful state. I had earlier been enjoying some [W:Spike Milligan] which requires that you engage in his [W:Dada], absurdist, [W:Surreal humour]; whereas the Allen piece, The Gossage-Vardebedian Papers, is absurd but in a normal kind of way. The two protagonists play Chess by exchanging letters, the thinly spread civility of their correspondence barely covering the out-and-out cheating. This eventually culminates in the abandoning of Chess in favour of [W:Scrabble] from the setting down of the first seven letter word we know that nothing will change in their relationship.

Look at me going on about books! Martine will be so proud 😉