Well May We Say “Advance Australia Fair” 24 June, 2010
Posted by paralleldivergence in Internet, My Thoughts, Politics, elections, voting.Tags: Australia, gillard, labor party, leadership, rudd, spill
10 comments
…because NOTHING will advance Julia Gillard. As the Australian Labor Party prepares to vote in the country’s first ever female prime minister, I’m waiting for Kevin Rudd to come out with a quotation for the history books, but I doubt he’ll be echoing Gough Whitlam’s infamous and nonsensical quote from his dismissal in 1975.
Before the mainstream media and television stations caught on that something was going down in Canberra last night, the Twittersphere was already abuzz with speculation that Kevin Rudd may not last the evening. As Parliament House insiders began tweeting that Julia Gillard, the current Deputy PM and John Faulkner, the Defence Minister and Labor “elder-statesman” had gone into Rudd’s office for a closed-door meeting. Soon other Ministers had joined in the impromptu meeting and speculation was rife.
Once twits had settled on the hashtag #spill, it was on for one and all. Seconds had passed and fifty updates had gone through. Keeping up with the challenge was a challenge. Twitter had already played a major role in the U.S. election, but this was Australia’s first real go at the population actively discussing our future leadership online in real-time. But unlike the dry, emotional and serious commentary that surrounded the U.S. election, Australia’s effort was far more jovial, keeping people glued to the #spill stream for many hours.
From nowhere appeared a new Twitter account, @KevinRuddExPM - a play on Kevin07′s official @KevinRuddPM account. This Kevin was more outwardly bitter than the real Kevin and provided a refreshing array of tweets that you’d think might actually reflect the (ex)PM’s persona – including this one that tied in the week’s other big story from the World Cup:
“Calling Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell to ask them for some advice on handling a send off…”
Of course, I got my boot in via Twitter as well:
“Hey Ban Ki-moon! You’d better watch your back. Kevin’s available early.”
Julia Gillard’s first press conference as PM: “Look at mooee, look at mooee, look at mooee.”
What were you doing when Rudd was booted? Oh yeah. Tweeting.
Well done Julia Gillard – Australia’s first female Prime Minister.
Feel free to share some of your favourite #spill tweets in the comments.
iPad Changes Everything 2 June, 2010
Posted by paralleldivergence in ICT in Education, Internet, Life, apple, education, ipad, technology.Tags: apple, education, ipad, Life, technology
24 comments
Every so often an invention comes along that is a game changer. Most of the really good ones like the Wheel, Electricity, Light Bulb and Plumbing pre-date me, but I am fortunate to live in a time where the rate of progress now is such that I can witness many of the newest breakthroughs first-hand. Arguably, the Apple iPad is one of these breakthroughs.
Image courtesy of philderksen
What is the Point of Life? 26 March, 2010
Posted by paralleldivergence in Earth, God, Life, Religion, afterlife, astronomy, heaven, hell.Tags: atheism, Life, philosophy, Religion
50 comments
Today I received a personal invitation from Aim for Awesome to share my thoughts on “The Point of Life”. Vern said it could be “two sentences, or two pages – up to you”. Anybody who could so profoudly sum up the answer to this question in two sentences is a better person than me. To me, it’s a question that demands respectful consideration.
Stop Phishing: Websites and Users Working Together 5 February, 2010
Posted by paralleldivergence in Internet, Life, My Thoughts, passwords, security.Tags: cyber-crime, identity fraud, phishing
7 comments
PHISHING is a worldwide problem. Unscrupulous cyber-criminals, unsuspecting Internet users and apathetic web-service providers: It’s a volatile mix that will always benefit the crook. Hell, if the user is stupid enough to click on a link in an email message and gladly provide their user account details, they deserve what they get!
image courtesy of Financial Services Technology
How many light bulbs does it take to change teaching? 3 January, 2010
Posted by paralleldivergence in ICT in Education, Internet, My Thoughts, education, technology.Tags: DER, Digital Education Revolution, edtech, ICT in Education
52 comments
Everyday my email inbox alerts me to at least one teacher who has become a new follower on Twitter. Now while I’m definitely not the best ed-tech guy in Twitterland to follow, I like to think that for each of those emails, a light bulb has switched on somewhere and a teacher is working to change, or at least keep up with the change that’s continually going on all around them.
photo courtesy of purplemattfish
If God Was an Alien… 7 November, 2009
Posted by paralleldivergence in Earth, God, Hubble, My Thoughts, Religion, astronomy.Tags: atheism, Religion, space
18 comments
The Parallel Divergence blog has been around for over three years now with sporadic articles being posted covering a wide range of topics, all carefully crafted with the intention of making the reader think, question and respond. I’ve enjoyed the large number of comments that most of my articles attract and I’ve learned from people who both share and completely oppose my various points of view. But recently, a reader comment was posted that grabbed me totally.
All We Are is Dust in the Wind 25 September, 2009
Posted by paralleldivergence in Earth, Geology, God, Life, My Thoughts, NSW, shock.Tags: dust, storm, sydney, video, weather
5 comments
SEPTEMBER 23, 2009: The Australian Outback visits Sydney – the nation’s largest city. It was Nature reminding Man that it cannot be taken for granted and will not be ignored.
Photo by NSW Maritime
Man often thinks he can do anything. Clearing jungles, re-routing rivers, building cities. But it’s nothing to crow about as we are cautioned that with just a shudder, Mother Earth is always in control.
Imagine the power. With merely a breath, the planet can pick up five million tonnes of dust and dirt whip it into a front 800 kilometres long and drive it more than 1,100 kilometres from Central Australia to the east coast and out to the Pacific Ocean – all in less than a day. Coating anything and everything in its way, the dust storm caused havoc, stopping industry and transport and costing millions in lost productivity.
This planetary nudge was a reminder that from Dust we came and to Dust we will return. Man’s miniscule reign is just an itch in Earth’s four-billion year grandeur. All we are is Dust in the Wind.
You Better Start Swimmin’ or You’ll Sink Like a Stone 4 September, 2009
Posted by paralleldivergence in ICT in Education, Internet, Life, My Thoughts, Politics, education, technology.Tags: Digital Education Revolution, education, edutech, ICT in Education, iwbnet09, learning
21 comments
Today I “attended” an educational technologies conference. Well sort of. I wasn’t there, but then again, I was. IWBnet’s “Leading a Digital School” conference was on at the Gold Coast in sunny Queensland and while I was unable to be a delegate at the venue, I had the next best thing. Many of the delegates who were there, were happy to instantly share their experience with the rest of the world via Twitter.
Relive the IWBnet Conference via Visible Tweets
Is this Technically the Best 1:1 Rollout in the World? 20 August, 2009
Posted by paralleldivergence in ICT in Education, Internet, Life, My Thoughts, NSW, education, technology, windows.Tags: 1:1, Digital Education Revolution, education, laptops, Lenovo, NSWDET, students
13 comments
October 20, 2007 - Australian Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd is on the election campaign trail making a promise that made state governments, educational authorities and teachers shudder in their boots. While holding up a laptop which he referred to as “the toolbox of the 21st Century“, he promised to provide a computer to every high school student from grades 9 through 12. Then he became Prime Minister and the pressure was really on, because while he would provide the funding, the Federal Government does not control school education and would not be responsible for implementation - the individuals states would.
Which Teachers Should get a T1 Laptop? 26 June, 2009
Posted by paralleldivergence in ICT in Education, education, technology.Tags: 1:1, classroom, education, education revolution, laptops, Laptops4Learning, NSWDET
67 comments
The initial rollout of Laptop Computers as part of the New South Wales Digital Education Revolution is pretty clear-cut when it comes to students – ALL year 9 students will get one this year. But when it comes to teachers, the T1 rollout sees high schools receiving enough to cover only one-third of their staff. This begs the question, which teachers should get a T1 Laptop?
Lifelong Learning is NOT a 9 to 5 Job 14 June, 2009
Posted by paralleldivergence in ICT in Education, Internet, Life, education, technology.Tags: education, Life, lifelong learning, schools, teaching
12 comments
Late last year I attended my son’s high school graduation where speech after speech espoused the knowledge and skills that the Class of 2008 have gained over their thirteen years of schooling. As the students prepared for the next phase of their lives, it was heartening to hear that they all had been instilled with the fundamentals of lifelong learning. I wish.
Image by Tragicomedio
I, Cyberbully. 29 May, 2009
Posted by paralleldivergence in ICT in Education, Internet, Life, My Thoughts, education, hell, pranks.Tags: cyberbullying, Life, school, social networking, students
5 comments
I’m not sure I quite remember when and how it started. He was just another boy in my class. But it seemed that everything he did just grated on me. No, I don’t want to listen to your music. Hell, that’s a stupid haircut. Put your hand down and shutup for god’s sake. I’m gonna say something to him.
image by Jeff Weston
What ICT Teachers Think… 20 May, 2009
Posted by paralleldivergence in ICT in Education, Internet, My Thoughts, education.Tags: computers, education revolution, ICT in Education, teaching
10 comments
EVERY School Term for the past ten years, in conjunction with my team, I have been running Information Days for school ICT Coordinators. Over 250 teachers representing over 200 public schools consistently come to find out the latest information relating to ICT in school education in our little part of the world. Now while I’m usually the one passing the latest news onto them, I often like to ask them what their point of view is – that is, being a school educator that uses ICT in the classroom, or in other words, being a minority within the teaching faculty. Here’s what some of them have told me.
Uh oh. I think I have Swine Flu… 30 April, 2009
Posted by paralleldivergence in Humor, Life, jokes.Tags: friday fun, funny, Humor, jokes, swine flu
12 comments
I had a little nap after work, and when I awoke, I found myself covered in rashers. On the news they showed up the phone number for the Swine Flu information line, so I rang them up to get some advice. Problem was I couldn’t make out a word they were saying. All I heard was crackling.
Still Waiting for the Revolution… 26 January, 2009
Posted by paralleldivergence in ICT in Education, Internet, NSW, Politics, education, technology.Tags: Alan Kay, Digital Education Revolution, education, ICT in Education, revolution
7 comments
Date Log: January 2009. Still waiting for the revolution.
Australia’s Digital Education Revolution is coming. Even before it started, it was identified that the $1.2 billion promised was not going to be enough, so now with the injection of a further $807 million, Educational Authorities across the country are investigating hardware options including laptops and wireless connectivity. But Dr Alan Kay is still not convinced that this will be the revolution our children need.
