Links – 31st January 2009

As Des’ree once bemoaned, “Life, oh life, oh life, oh life”. A hectic few weeks are *fingers crossed* finally over. Rather than just watching the evening news and eating toast in that time, I also managed to read and bookmark some interesting things posted on the internet. Here is part 1 of a two-part collection [...]

The Science of Lifelong Learning

On Tuesday evening I attended the lecture / debate “The Science of Lifelong Learning“, co-hosted by the RSA and the NIACE. The evening was centred on neuroscience and how understanding of its mechanics can impact upon education. The event was recorded, and I believe that feed will soon be uploaded here. It was an enjoyable [...]

Links – 17th January 2009

Aside from links, this blog probably won’t be updated for a week or so. I’m trying to stick to my quality over quantity aim, and my schedule is pretty full at the moment. Marketing Paul Isakson posits that weird and wonderful advertising works because of the prompt that our brain receives, irrespective of what the [...]

Could targeted ads work on TV?

I’ve been exploring the concept of targeted advertising on television. Loosely defined, it is the ability to purchase advertising space against a diverse array of groups that go beyond the traditional trading audiences. This post accumulates the background information I’ve collected on the topic and speculation (mostly mine) on how theory may become reality. Because [...]

Links – 9th January 2009

Enjoy your Friday Products Jon Canter rants against the rise of personalised copy on product packaging. “We’re the couple who love to make crisps.” It sounds like a personal ad in Snackmakers Weekly: a couple seeks another couple who also love to make crisps, in the hope of meeting up in a car park in [...]

Learning from textbooks

Are textbooks valuable? They encourage rote learning, are open to malignant biases, are frequently tedious and the contents are promptly forgotten about before they can be digested. So why are they so commonly used? Simplicity? Equality? Continuation? Personally, I find them useful. Up to a point. I wouldn’t attempt to fly an aeroplane, but I [...]

Links – 2nd January 2009

The year has started off well – I didn’t write 2008 in the subject header. Social media The US Air Force has published their “rules of engagement” in responding to blog posts and it makes for a very sensible read. Considerations include transparency, sourcing, timeliness, tone and influence A Flickr alumnus gives advice on how [...]

New Year; New Resolutions; New Approaches

NB: As a rule, I try and avoid the circular pitfalls of blogging about blogging – fimoculous sums it up nicely. However, this post touches on additional points so,  as it is a new year, I’ll make an exception. My New Year’s resolutions are usually disappointing normal – drink less, exercise more and so on. [...]