My home network has changed a bit since 2011. New devices, new technologies, and some electrical work has made things more reliable for Work From Home.

Chess is a fun game. And I’ve seen the benefits of the game produce great results for high school students. Benefits such as improved concentration, problem-solving, and self-control.

One problem with using pattern-lock to secure an Android device is that fingerprint residue on the screen can be used by an attacker to guess the pattern (AKA smudge attack).

I’ve been learning Windows Powershell over the past year, and developing scripts for scheduled tasks to perform administrative functions. One of the tasks requires data retrieval from an FTP server, waits for the data to be processed, and then puts the results back to the FTP server.

Sneakers (1992) is one of my fav movies. In it Robert Redford leads an ethical hack team (played by Sidney Poitier, David Strathairn, Dan Aykroyd, and River Phoenix) down a rabbit hole of cryptography, government espionage, and too many secrets. Ever since, I’ve always assumed there is state-sponsored network monitoring, especially after the FBI implemented Carnivore in 1997, and ECHELON was reported in 2001.

Tor (The Onion Router) is free software and an open network intended to enable online anonymity. The default browser bundle is the ESR version of Mozilla Firefox, which is good for privacy, but restricts functionality.

Old-school text-messaging led to the abbreviation of language. 4 eg u can read this :-)

The Lismore Visitor Information Centre (VIC) recently revamped their indoor model rainforest walk into a vibrant, interactive display, featuring murals.

After teaching high school students about computer hardware and programming languages for 20 years I am now practicing what I preached!

A: Since 28-Aug-2010 I’ve been blogging using the service developed by my employer.

Next year I’ll be transferring to another school. With this change I’ve had cause to pause and consider what I’ve achieved with my time at my current school; what I’ve learnt and what I’m proud of. Here’s a selection of highlights …

blogED is a blogging environment developed for NSW government school teachers and students. (You’re reading one of the blogs right now!) It is a great concept, with some excellent features, but also some foibles, and some uglies.

Ben Gomes (Google Fellow) posted a video on 28-Nov-2011 entitled: The evolution of search in six minutes. In it Amit Singhal (Google Fellow) describes his ideal Google (from 5:30). He describes a search engine that returns answers to complex questions such as “what is the best time for me to sow seeds in India given that monsoon was early this year.”

Due to a reduction in student numbers my school will be over-staffed in 2012, and a teacher needs to be relocated to another site. On Friday 11-Nov-2011 I was nominated to transfer.

I recently purchased a couple of gigabit switches to run as the “backbone” of my home network.

Just as cars and planes move people, the internet is a great way of moving information. But, there seems to be a lot of work being done using electronic tools in an inefficient way. It’s like using a plane to drive around on the ground, not knowing that your technology can now fly.

Over 21/22 June 2011 the 1:1 Learning Unconference was held in Sydney and promoted to help NSW teachers implement the Digital Education Revolution in their schools. Although interested when I first heard about the event, I dismissed it as too expensive for school funds to cover considering the cost of transport and accommodation. But Ross Woolfe from the Lismore Education Office offered an invite which I was happy to jump at.

Should time and resources be allocated to investigate the implementation of web-based data management solutions through-out the school site/community?

Originally posted on 28-Feb-2009 at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/csteachers/message/13472 Reposted here for posterity (and in the event that Yahoo! …).

Before everything went online, teachers shared ideas and resources by meeting face-to-face at conferences and collegiate gatherings, or through an academy. Resources were in paper form (or papyrus) and good ideas took months and years to get distributed through a community.

I’m not a football club owner. Not even a manager. I was once a high school football player. So the following comments are from an IT point of view; I have no experience running a football club or much else for that matter.

Listening to Security Now 263 this week Steve Gibson of GRC discussed Blink, a ‘new’ form of contactless smart credit card technology. Although this has been around since 2005, it’s probably only becoming more common now, and hence a major security issue, as current cards expire and are replaced.