A mobile revolution!

There's some amazing technology coming out across the handheld platforms and one such example is QIK.

This software basically hijacks your mobile phones camera and streams the sound and pictures straight to 'youtube' style website. What makes it special is that it does this in near real-time.

That means that as you are streaming the content, its being displayed and it's this 'live' element which makes QIK so impressive.

Visitors to the website can also interact with the content creator via built in 'live chat' which gives instant feedback which is once again, in near-realtime.

At the moment, QIK is invitation only and in alpha testing so we can expect to see even more features added to the impressive list I've already mentioned. One feature which is already here though is blog integration, which allows your live or recorded clips to feature directly into a html webpage or blog.

You can check this out for yourself here.

One feature I found really impressive was how this 'live content' is much more impressive to the casual surfer. Knowing that its possible to view live videos being shot away from a webcam is impressive in itself but then to be able to interact with that person takes it to a whole new level altogether.

I checked out the mobilediner via QIK and then was also able to visit the website too. Who would have thought that I could interact with political bloggers in the USA, sat in Starbucks by the Whitehouse in realtime via the QIK website and their N95 handset...

Bomb scare in Biddulph?

A local Staffordshire town has been disrupted with road closures and police cordons after a bomb disposal unit was called in to take a closer look at one or possibly two suspect items.

The team were called in to Biddulph near Congleton at around 5pm today and although details are still sketchy, the authorities were clearly not taking any chances as they blocked off roads and and called in army experts to take a closer look.

In this day and age, this obviously goes to show how city-wide fears of bomb attacks have now moved into the suburbs. Nothing can be left to chance, no matter how trivial an incident may seem.

Fortunately occurrences like this are rare and although the exact details are not known by myself at this time, it is still reassuring to see that there is obviously a high degree of vigilance here in the UK at the moment.

As some people may know, I don't live in Biddulph but as soon as my girlfriend notified me of the police cordon and rumours of two suspect devices in a loft, I was quick to advise her to take pictures of the scene and also video footage too.

The photographs and video footage where taken by Emma Barlow who lives in Biddulph and via this blog, they have also been passed onto the BBC local news teams for Staffordshire.

Not often that this blog is first for breaking news, however as more and more people become 'citizen journalists', the headlines will increasingly hit the RSS feeds before they hit the more traditional forms of broadcast media.



Bomb scare in Biddulph? from pthurst and Vimeo.

Blogging in schools

Today has seen the official launch of a school blog after six weeks of training with sixteen students.

Pupils from St Peter's High School in Orrell have been finding out all about blogs as part of their english coursework and ICT across the curriculum. They have had lessons in Creative writing, journalism skills and of course web safety and security.

You can have a look at their school blog and their write-up of the course here and as the team continues to create more content, I'll be back in the school to work with more students and staff in this exciting area of creative education.

As most of you may know already, a lot of my work centres around the use of podcasting, blogging and photojournalsm in education and I set up the Rock FM bus blog as part of my vision for journalistic skills such as research and presentation to be featured more prominently within our schools.

Students love the challenge of creating podcasts and school blogs, especially when they can work alongside creative professionals and broadcast partners such as Rock FM so if you're connected with a school in the North-West of England and you'd like more information or maybe like to meet for advice then feel free to email me.

pthurst@gmail.com

Blogging in the classroom

How about taking the concept of blogging and citizen journalism and teaching it in the classroom? Well that's exactly what I've done in one of the local high schools near to where I live.

Most of you will already be well aware of my interest in blogging and its uses and I am very interested indeed in looking at new ways in which blogging can be used by everyday people to promote or produce their work or interests. Fortunately with my own work as a media producer within education, I have been able to draw up a six-week series of lessons which introduces the concept and technology behind blogging into a classroom setting.

The result so far has been excellent. The school in question, has decided to replace the good ol' term newspaper with a new blog and they also identified sixteen students from across the yeargroups who will produce and edit the content.

You can keep your eye on their blog by clicking here and if you'd like to see a short video (shot and edited on the N95 mobile) then check out this post on my moblog.

If you work in a school and would like more information about setting up and teaching blogging skills to your students, please get in touch.

My life thru the lens of a mobile phone

***Click the title to go to http://paulhurst.vox.xom***

As past of a blogging experiment into both methods and equipment used for the modern day bloggers, I have just started a new moblog.

rather than another place to write about things, this new blog concentrates on the world through the lens of my mobile phone. There's little to read but lots of pictures and videos to watch instead.

I suppose its a reflection on blogging technology and practice itself. As it stands, there are blogs out there that read like a personal journal and other that read more like a newspaper column and they are both largely centred around text. This is because visual media generally requires more effort to produce and upload.

As in my last post though, thats all about to change. the new handsets from Nokia at least, allow blogging integration straight from the camera app which means with an extra button press, your content is uploaded to your blog or flickr account. Couple this with more flexible data tariffs on mobiles and an ever widening internet 'hotspot' in our towns and cities and the result is a much more integrated lifestyle between people and their online blogs or second lifes, or whatever.

Its this kind of thing which has driven me to experiment. I wonder how my life will change if I am able to maintain a moblog without carrying a laptop round to coffee shops. I wonder what impact this record will have on my own understanding of who I am and what I do and even how I interpret events and emotions around me.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many must a constantly developing and evolving online journal be worth? I'm about to find out.

Web ' n' Walk - True internet on the go from T-Mobile

This post may look no different to you than any other but the way in which it has been written is a first for me.

I am writing this on my laptop while connected to a high speed 3.5g T-Mobile line via my mobile phone. This offers near-broadband speeds over the same network that carries mobile phone calls.

In turn, the phone is then 'bluetoothed' to my laptop and 'hey-presto' full internet access anywhere where there is a mobile phone signal.

Now this technology isn't really that new but what is new is the way in which mobile companies are opening their networks to flat-rate data pricing rather than per-megabyte pricing. This means that for a flat rate, you can use the internet sevices on your phone handset (or laptop computer), as much as you like.

This is all very similar to the dial up revolution when the cost became fixed rather than per minute pricing. Some analysts cite this as the 'tipping point' for internet uptake, even above broadband introduction.

In any case, this type of service will become more and more popular and it won't be long before all of the mobile providers have a similar flat-rate scheme. At the moment its T-Mobile and 3 that are leading the way with this here in the UK, in fact an Orange rep freely admitted to me yesterday that no-one could touch these networks for data price plans at the moment.

It stands to reason when you think about it, that as the handsets become more and more capable, then the cost for fast,reliable internet via mobile platforms must contine to improve and become cheaper too. My new Nokia N95 handset takes full advantage of internet access by offering a sophisticated browser, media service and even GPS map download service, all of which is done automatically via the mobile network.

And for bloggers such as myself, all this is very good news indeed. Not only is it getting easier and cheaper to blog on the move, the technology is getting more sophisticated too. Take Flickr for example, When I take a pic on my phone handset now, I can instantly upload it to flickr for inclusion on this blog, I don't even need to bluetooth files anymore.

To be fair, We shouldn't be surprised when things like this improve on a consistent basis and I don't usually bat an eyelid myself. Occasionally though, something comes along which radically alters the way in which we work and operate though and for me, This flat rate service from T-Mobile is quite a defining moment.

Ps. for any users who use mac laptops, you'll be pleased to hear that its fairly easy to get everything working with the N95. Even though the mac isn't officially supported,you'll find everything here that you need to get up and running. My thanks to the blog author for writing such a great set of instructions.

Can media make a difference?

It seems like the national curriculum us set to be re-shuffled for students here in the UK. There will be a re-emphasis on personal learning and the expressive arts are also on the ascendancy.

As some of my regular readers will know, I am currently helping to run a media bus project which basically allows students to have a go at using media skills to create curriculum based content. The aim is to encourage students to use research, preparation and presentation skills to look at any given topic.



I've been reminded today of just how effective something like this can be. Over at one of our schools, we have just finished our second project in which we have taken a look at the schools work towards arts status accreditation.

Some of the pupils have given us some feedback which helps us to tweak what we are delivering in the schools.

Technologies such as blogging and podcasting have massive potential for use within our 21st century schools, but I am reminded that the technology in itself is only useful if it is used to re-enforce and develop personal skills at the heart of the students who we work with.

MyBlogLog - Web 2.0 essentials

Web 2.0 is revolutionising the way in which we think about and use the internet and I'm always on the lookout for great 2.0 sites and services. Let me introduce you to MyBlogLog.

To sum up this site quickly, its a bit like a 'Myspace for Bloggers'. Its a site which allows you to make contact with other bloggers from all around the world, add them to your contacts portfolio and obviously view their blogs.

The service is free to use and so far, I have found it to be a great utility for finding new blogs about any given topic and also making some kind of meaningful contact with its author beyond firing off an email into the invisible 'ether', posibly never to be seen by human eyes again.

The blogging community is growing daily and with over 55 million blogs to choose from, anything which helps an audience to find their blog-based information promptly is a bonus. Couple this with the fact that it allows bloggers to attract a larger audience too and you really do have a recipe for success.

If your a blogger, register for the sake of your wider audience of fellow bloggers and if you are looking for some specific topic based blog, then you'll do far worse than to make this your first port of call.

A week away...

Can bloggers take time off? Do we deserve time off or should we be chained to the computer terminal to continuously churn out our rants, ramblings and observations?

Partly prompted by this BBC Manchester blog post and also by a slight pang of guilt for not updating for a whole seven days, I found myself wondering to what extent and for what purpose do we blog at all?

I suppose for me, its partly to express thoughts and feelings which we all have but we don't all share. We all have opinions on most things but there isn't often an outlet, unless your a blogger of course!

My break over in the Lakes was great, I feel quite relaxed now (almost able to face Christmas... Well almost) It rained continuously for five days and nights but aside from a trip to Newcastle, my Girlfriend and I spent most of the time in our cottage, by the wood burner.

Anyway I am back now and I've returned to 118 emails and a load of work but just time to include one of my pics... Hopefully it will help me keep a sense of 'holiday peace' beyond tomorrows rush hour.

Healthy eating starts HERE!

(Wholesome burger pic is from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/popcornography/)

Now this might look good (and by jove it does!), but have you any idea what this kind of food actually does for you?

We all may be used to counting the calories and considering the cholesterol, we may even only eat food like this once per day (!), but a cursory glance at google soon brings the news home, and its not good.

If your diet looks more like this than something nice and green, then you could be losing anything from 20-30 years from your lifespan. Wikipedia also hints at heart disease soon after 40 but whats out there for us bloggers who actually want to survive to see web 2.0?

Well lets start here. This blog makes big claims: "How to never feel hungry again". If you read deeper though, the article seems to just say 'eat what you want' (highly paraphrased), now that sounds like the healthy lifestyle for me but I don't think that I could trust myself with this kind of rulebook.

Over at The amazing adventures of dietgirl the plan seems to be to use your blog as some kind of honesty journal. Own up to whatever you eat and maybe you'll 'shock' yourself into losing weight. It seems like a good idea but she seems to posting quite regularly at the moment so I wonder, does that mean shes honest and overweight or just compulsive and HUGE! (actually its WORKING!)

And finally, how could I justify this post unless I could offer some free stuff? Well I can't really promise it will work but here's a website thats got to be good for you. Healthyfreestuff.com may promise you free things but maybe with all that Omega 3 oil thats floating around, I can't help smelling something a bit 'fishy'. I'll finish my post by making my blog the DEFINITIVE guide to HEALTH, WEALTH and HAPPINESS.

1. Only eat veg and even then, not too much (HEALTH).
2. Take any website that offers 'free stuff' with a pinch of salt (no more than 6g per day though) (WEALTH).
3. HAPPINESS? Well make sure to get your regular dose of this blog of course... What more could anyone ask for?