Geography and all that Jazz

This is one of those "let's have a go at this..." moments. It's a 'development' of some of the excellent QR code work that Noel Jenkins has done. I read this week that some graffiti artists are now using QR codes to 'tag' their work... The idea of tagging is spreading (apparently there is no # tag on an Apple keyboard, although hashtags are now becoming very common...) It's obviously important to tag resources so that people can find them, photos are tagged on Flickr so they can be searched, and an extension of that is geotagging , which is now built in to some digital cameras, and is added to photos taken with my iPhone for example. So TOUCHATAG was introduced to me by John Davitt via some tweets and details from a conference that I followed remotely. John is also planning an event called Learning on the Beach #lob10 in Ireland which I would have attended as 'this year's Islay 2020' style CPD, but instead I will be at Glastonbury ...

University of Leeds: 21st Century Geography More details are now available for this day, which I am attending in a couple of weeks time, and looking forward to it ! There will be four main sessions presented by active researchers in each field. Every session should be of interest in itself and will also be of relevance to various examination board syllabuses with material that you can use within the classroom. 1. Natural Hazards & Risk Perception: Snow Avalanches in Iceland Dr Chris Keylock The study of natural hazards is at the interface of physical and human geography and is an integral element in many of the A-level syllabuses. In this session we will start by looking at the scientific issues behind the initiation and dynamics of avalanches and strategies used for risk mitigation. In the second half we will consider the perception of avalanche risk and how this is mediated by social, economic, political and cultural factors. This will involve a practical introduction to the use...

Rewind to 1973... I was 10 years old, and my uncle, who had long hair and beard was listening to an album that was instantly appealing to me. It had a number of entwined themes, and some great guitar and organ passages, finishing up with a quirky section where someone spoke the names of a load of instruments, finishing off with 'Tubular Bells', and then another side which started off with 8 minutes of the most wonderful relaxing pastoral music, and then a drunken bash around a house (if you've ever heard the original) climax with a Sailor's hornpipe. I went out and bought it, the first LP I'd ever bought, and then played it until I wore out the vinyl, and could repeat it note for note. And now 30 odd years later, it's given away free with the Daily Mail, and we also have this album to thank for Richard Branson's VIRGIN empire. And of course the cover features a crashing wave - very geographical. And all at MFP (my favourite price) Got a place on this course ...