Archive for 2006

I, Course Co-ordinator

Monday, April 24th, 2006

Natcoll have hired me full time to cover for my boss as he goes on leave for three months. So I’m now Acting Course Co-ordinator.

My first big task as CC was to sign all the diplomas which were only just made available to sign the day I assumed the role.

This was a big deal for me. The diploma document is a symbol of proficiency in a skill; a talisman representative of knowledge and ability, if you will. Identifying myself with these student’s time was kinda scary but in an exciting way. It felt important, and I didn’t feel like I should be the one signing them: I wasn’t the course co-ordinator while they were studying. But seeing as the regular CC was on leave, it fell to me. Proudly, I rose to the occasion.

My existing signature isn’t particularly appealing nor can I consistantly reproduce it, so I spent like a good 15 minutes re-creating and practicing my signature. I like it much better than my old chicken scrawl splat of a signature I had.

And so, armed with a sufficently better signature, I signed the diplomas for the students graduating this Friday. Congratulations to all of them. There are a lot of classes there that had finished before I began at Natcoll, and there are classes there I had a lot to do with, especially last year’s 07s who finished earlier this year.

My del.icio.us bookmarks this week

Tuesday, April 18th, 2006
  • Tips for an effective sleep-deprivated night. Drink coffee/tea/etc, eat a meal, shower, listen to music (the loud kind), take breaks, and walk around. Don’t Lie Down!
    (tagged: article business cool geek gtd hacks health howto interesting learning life lifehack lifehacks links productivity resources sleep study tips tools tutorials work)
  • Some excellent quotes for getting that get up and get things done.
    (tagged: gtd inspiration life lifehacks list motivation opinion personal philosophy productivity quotes tips)

My del.icio.us bookmarks this week

Tuesday, April 11th, 2006
  • Wow, while the end result isn’t earth shattering, there is still something awesome about creating a game in 40 ‘billable’ hours. Especially valuable was the top 10 lessons learnt as a debrief (I think debriefs are something any project of any kind should
    (tagged: agile article business coding computer cool creative design dev development diy fun gamedev games gaming geek graphics guide hacking howto indie interesting language learning management productivity programming python reference resources rpg scripting software tech tiles time tips tool tools tutorial tutorials windows)
  • Probably the best site for finding new free and also trendy fonts :D
    (tagged: archive art awesome cool download downloads font fonts free freeware fun gallery graphics library mac osx resources stock text type typography)
  • Firefox extension that takes a screenshot of the entire document, not just the window or the viewport! Thanks Smikwily!
    (tagged: cool development extensions firefox mozilla plugin software tool tools useful web webdesign webdev)
  • A spoiler guide to one (really good) theory about the plot of that award winning first person shooter, Half-Life
    (tagged: article cool games gaming guide half-life halflife halflife2 hl2 reference story)
  • Our lifehacks, which art in contexts, Inbox zero be thy aim. Thy Kinkless done. Thy Mind Sweep fun, in @work as it is in @honeydo. Give us this day our next action. And forgive us our open loops, as we forgive those who delete our email. And lead us
    (tagged: comedy fun funny gtd humor humour lifehacks lol)
  • (tagged: api blogging bookmarklet bookmarks code community cool del.icio.us delicious directory extensions firefox folksonomy free geek guide hacking hacks howto interesting internet javascript library lifehacks links list mashup read reference resources rss search service social software stuff tagging tags tech technical tips tool tools tutorials useful utilities web)
  • A list of documentation pages for Prototype, seeing as there is no official Prototype documentation.
    (tagged: ajax api code coding design dev development documentation dom guide howto html javascript js library links list opensource programming prototype reference software tips tools tutorial web web2.0 webdesign webdev webdevelopment webmaster)
  • Unobtrusive script to add corners to divs without adding markup beforehand. I guess any additional markup is added by the javascript; very nifty indeed.
    (tagged: browser code cool css design dev development dom graphics howto html javascript js layout library reference resources scripting style templates tips tools tutorial tutorials unobtrusive useful web web2.0 webdesign webdev webdevelopment website xhtml)

My del.icio.us bookmarks this week

Tuesday, April 4th, 2006
  • Take it off! Your CSS that is! Build awareness of good semantics, backwards compatibility and accessibility by getting naked.
    (tagged: accessibility awesome css design development event funny html humor internet markup naked semantics standards usability web webdev website xhtml)
  • A wizard-like 20-questions-like approach to naming that font! Very useful!
    (tagged: art design font fonts graphics howto interesting media neat reference resources search service teaching text tool tools type typography webservice work)
  • Useful hidden commands for all iPods with screens
    (tagged: apple geek hardware howto ipod music reference repair resources tech tips)
  • Get that inbox empty! It’s a great feeling to know you are in control of your email!
    (tagged: article business communication email gtd guide hacks howto internet life lifehack lifehacks links list mail management productivity read reference series strategy teaching tech tips tools tutorial tutorials work)
  • Wow, create DOM elements easily! Inspired by Prototype. Say goodbye to non-dom .innerHTML :D
    (tagged: dom hacks javascript library prototype reference webdesign webdev)
  • Lightbox, an unobtrusive yet easily implemented javascript library to overlay images on the current page. Love it — looks dead sexy :D
    (tagged: browser code coding cool css design development dhtml download free gallery geek graphics howto html image images inspiration internet javascript js layout library opensource photo photos picture pictures presentation programming prototype reference resources slideshow software sourcecode tools usability web web2.0 webdesign webdev webdevelopment webstandards xhtml)
  • A fast and clever free hex editor for Mac OS X. Looks pretty good.
    (tagged: apple applications apps coding data dev development editor editors free freeware geek hex mac macosx osx programming software tool tools useful utilities)
  • A roundup of great quality desktop backgrounds. Many many good images.
    (tagged: art article background backgrounds computer computing cool creative design desktop download downloads free fun gallery illustration image images inspiration interesting list photo photography photos picture pictures resources stock useful wallpaper wallpapers)
  • An addicting collection of common opensource games. There’s some doozies (sp?) in there!
    (tagged: cool free fun games interesting linux mac neat opensource osx puzzles software sourcecode unix)

Mmm… MacZot

Monday, April 3rd, 2006

I’ve been watching MacZOT with interest since it started last month, watching for awesome Mac OS X software to be on special, which it usually is.

MacZOT is updated every week day with a new piece of discounted shareware, available for instant purchase, while stocks last. Every so often they mix it up and offer a Myztery ZOT, which is an unknown package of many pieces of software for an amazingly discounted price.

I’m posting this story to maybe scam me a free copy of AppZapper with what MacZOT is calling a “BlogZOT” — every post linking to MacZot will put the price down by five cents. If we get 259 posts about MacZot, 1000 people will get it for FREE…. wooooooot! Be in quick, there’s only like 2h45 minutes to go before the software will be available :D

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