Cumbie Bob's Musings

Things you wish you had said

2010-05-05T12:33:00.000-07:00

Each day I travel from Cumbernauld to Kirkintilloch to work and as part of that journey use the Blackwood roundabout. Last summer I remember being uplifted each day by the wonderful display of natural wildflowers that appeared on the roundabout. They seemed like something out of an impressionist painting or some of those wonderful meadows you encounter in the countryside.

I remember at the time thinking I should write to the Parks department of North Lanarkshire Council and congratulate them on such a wonderful display and express how much pleasure their work had given me. Unfortunately I didn’t do so at the time.

Last month I noticed work on this years scheme underway and was somewhat disappointed to see that they had changed their approach and were going for a much harder landscaping scheme, don’t get me wrong the current scheme like many of the others around Cumbernauld shows creativity and an attempt to create a positive civic space but I am afraid in my opinion it doesn’t give half the pleasure that those lovely meadow flowers did last year.

Imagine my surprise and disappointment therefore to see the same roundabout proclaimed as an eyesore in the Cumbernauld news and local Councillor Bob Chada and disgruntled resident David Pollock proclaiming their success at replacing the eyesore with the sustainable scheme.

For me it is a lesson learned, when you see something being done locally that you approve of don’t be silent, express your approval letting others know of your support and how you appreciate their work. I would hate for those in the Parks department who had the vision to plant the wildflower meadow on a roundabout not to realise that people appreciated their work and perhaps you might find that you are part of a silent majority which is often it seems ignored in favour of the complainers.

Election Fever

2010-04-10T14:05:00.000-07:00

Well the election is finally upon us and try as I might I cannot remain disinterested have started to look for sites that give another slant on the process and the first one I have come across is Unlock Democracy They have a neat widget on their front page which lets you compare your views the the main parties and lets you know which one is the closest match.

Perhaps it's because we havie been building up to this for some time but I feel I could do with some humour in this process so I am off to look for sites that make me laugh.

So I'm a Web Leopard!

2010-02-25T09:17:00.000-08:00

If any of you have been watching the Virtual Revolution programmes on BBC then you will be aware that they are conducting a large scale experiment with listners to see what our style of web use is like and whether or not we are simlar or otherwise to the next generation of web users.

I apparently am a web leopard which means that I am:

Fast-moving - Web Leopards like you are adept at getting information from the internet very quickly. Your speed is a trait you share with real-world leopards, which are among the fastest land animals.

Solitary - Leopards live alone, fending for themselves in isolated home ranges. Similarly, the Web Leopard likes to go it alone when looking for information, rather than rely on social networks, or other sites where the users create the content.

Specialised - Web Leopards are best suited to performing one task at a time rather than multitasking. The real-world leopard is similarly specialised, being perfectly adapted to silently tracking its prey before pouncing.

Taking the test was fun and I broadly agree with the results although I am not sure what difference it will make to me however, if you are interested in finding out what kind of web animal you are then head on over to Lab UK site at the BBC and have a go yourself.

Word Clouds

2010-02-07T03:58:00.000-08:00

I have been undertaking some work in analysing responses to a consultation and as part of that process came across a word cloud. You quite often see these on blogs or social network pages and the give a visual representation of the frequency of words within a web page or alternatively a text file.

I thought these would be difficult to create and perhaps need some specialist software so I was pleasantly surprised when on Googling "word clouds" to come across a number of free web based resources that you can easily use to create them.

Have a look at Wordle.net and see if you could use this in your reports.

Time passes so quickly!

2010-01-31T10:09:00.000-08:00

I don't think I am very good at keeping up with this personal publising business, I was watching the new series on BBC about the virtual revolution and the impact of the world wide web on our life when the presenter informed us that of the 130 million or so blogs created they reckon over 90% are now dormant. I am not surprised really since keeping up with online life can be quite time consuming.

I try to keep both a chess and an organisational web site up to date as well as an irregular email update on current matters associated with parental involvement, this combined with the surfing necessary to keep up to date with developments at work and home just seem to gobble up the time I have available.

That's why so far I have avoided facebook and rely on Beth to keep me up to date with what's going on in the family and friends.

Dinner is ready so have to go - see what i mean :-)

Christmas Concerts

2009-12-08T15:43:00.000-08:00

This last weekend is traditionally the start of Christmas for us. Friday night was the annual CLIC - Sargent carol Concert at the Glasgow royal concert Hall. This event is organised by a voluntary committee of which Beth is a member and she allows me to tag along and help.

The concert raises funds for CLIC - Sargent which some of you know were a great support to us in the past and getting involved allows us to put something back into a great organisation. The carol concert is a great way to kick of the Christmas season and if you like a good sing then I would recommend it for next year.

Checking your sources

2009-12-03T12:41:00.000-08:00

Wandering the internet requires a certain degree of cynicism and there are a few places I trust more than others. Usually these are reputable newspapers or well respected news sources.

When I do get a questionable story or email I often head for http://www.snopes.com/ where there is a usually a reference to some of the crazier stories that circulate. This week for example I received the following from one of my regulars who has a habit of forwarding without checking.

“ From a friend in Houston.

Today I went to the Harwin Central Mall to pick up some crystals.. The very first store that you come to when you walk from the lobby of the building into the shopping area had this sign posted on their door. The shop is run by Muslims. I couldn't stay in the building, it made me so sick.

Feel free to share this with others. There then follows a picture of a sign followed by this text “Imam Ali flew one of the planes into the twin towers. Nice huh? Religion of peace my #!#.....

I WOULD NEVER SET FOOT IN THAT MALL !!!!!!"

Ever sceptical I headed for snopes.com and read their article. What do you think?

SNPICL AGM & Annual Lecture

2009-11-30T08:14:00.001-08:00

Last Thursday I attended the SNPICL AGM and inaugural Annual Lecture held at Stirling management centre. The management Centre is a fine place to have an event such as this with well proportioned rooms and good support staff, not sure how expensive it is but well worth a look if you are looking for a Central Scotland venue.
The AGM itself was businesslike and we had just enough time to complete a very full agenda before the lecture. I for my sins managed to give up the membership Secretary's post only to become the Vice-convener.
The lecture by professor Charles DesForges was very interesting, he talked about the research he had undertaken on behalf of England's Department for Education and Skills. (report here) and its implications for those interested in parental Involvement in their children's education.
A very entertaining presenter he had some challenging ideas for those attending and certainly sparked some debate on the evening and in the car on the way home. If you have the opportunity to hear him on another occasion I would recommend attending.

16 days of Action for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

2009-11-27T08:18:00.001-08:00

The 25 November saw the launch of the Campaign to eliminate violence against women and the start of the 16 Days of Action. The East Dunbartonshire launch included a presentation from Michael Kaufman from the White Ribbon Campaign
I have worn my white ribbon for several years now after having obtained at a violence reduction conference the ribbon symbolises my pledge to never commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women.
Michaels talk was very powerful and highlighted a very positive message about how we as men can contribute to the sterling work women have undertaken already on this problem and ensure that our sons and daughters will not have to face the scourge of violence against women so prevalent in Scotland today.
If you are interested in discovering more about how you can contribute to the campaign visit the White Ribbon Scotland site.
Michael Kaufman's own site at http://www.michaelkaufman.com/ also gives some interesting support materials for work with men and boys.

Spirit of Thanksgiving

2009-11-23T07:32:00.000-08:00

I was privileged a few years back to attend an Tony Robbins event in London and that was the most inspiring event I think I ever attended. The enthusiasm and the energy of the event lasted well into the following year and I still draw on some of the techniques he offered that weekend today.

I sometimes get emails from Tony Robbins and there was one recently that I would like to share with you. As someone with strong connections to America I have always been aware of their Thanksgiving Holiday and I really admire what the Anthony Robbins Foundation does at this time of year and I would recommend that you listen to the video at Tony Robbins Blog.

And a Happy Thanksgiving to all when it comes

Understandable Statistics

2009-11-11T03:52:00.001-08:00

Finding usable statistics for a particular area can be very difficult but the Scottish Government web site has two very good sources of information which I use a lot especially at work.

The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation site http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/SIMD/ has great interactive maps that you can query for an area.

The Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics page http://www.sns.gov.uk/ has a great set of tools to provide data to your desktop. In these days where producing evidence for all that you do both are well worth bookmarking.

Working the web

2009-11-05T13:02:00.000-08:00

At the recent Scottish learning Festival I had the pleasure of listening to David Noble from Hillside School in Fife who gave us a flavour of some of the ways he is using web technologies with fellow teachers to meet and explore views.

I found his talk very stimulating and therefore think that you might find some of his bloggs and links work looking at view David's blog at http://edonis.ning.com/profile/DavidNoble

Blogging on the Move

2009-11-03T04:06:00.001-08:00

Blogging on the move is a feature I haven't yet tried so this will be the first posting using the email process, hopefully it will work.

have been trying to use GLOW to access the SNPICL group but no success so far. Not sure what the problem is but will keep trying and let you know how it works when I finally get access.
--
Robert Kelso
for fans of chess visit www.cumbernauldchess.co.uk

Parental Involvement

2009-11-02T12:12:00.000-08:00

Those who know me will know that I am involved in the Scottish network for Parental Involvement In Childrens Learning SNPICL. This is a voluntary grouping of staff who work mainly with parents around Scotland. We have developed a web site at http://www.snpicl.org.uk/ which has a fair amount of information about us and is well worth a look.

Welcome

2009-10-05T11:26:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog page, I previously operated one while I was running for the local Council and it seemed a shame to waste the account so I have started to use it now to log items of interest from my travels across the web.

I am not sure how frequent the comments will be but lets see how things develop.