Saturday, May 31, 2008

Since I started looking at the Lancaster Management videos on YouTube I have been thinking of how a sequence could be put together. The Lancaster campus is a suitable site for a sequence as it is linear and reaches a conclusion. Maybe that is just what makes sense for me. I like a walk in central Exeter as it is a loop and there need not be a conclusion. anyway, back on topic.

I have already done one post about this and a sequence on a Bailrigg channel for WorldTV. My current idea is to concentrate on the knowledge economy and the implications for organisation and leadership. There is enough material from events at the Work Foundation, Exeter and Lancaster. People may be prepared to contribute who remember what was said or repeat sections on camera.

The story tension is about maintaining motivation for a group offering a web service between sensing an outline possibility at Info21 and meeting a client at the Spicy Hut. The hurdles are the forms of critique offered by the shapeshifters known as management academics. Episode 2 could be more detail about security for mobile devices ( could relate to current IAS project) but this proposal is about the Knowledge Economy as material exists.

A device could be a DVD player or similar to show existing video. Otherwise the sets are coffee places. At Info21 Will Hutton or virtual equivalent to talk about ‘Contemporary Trends in Work and Organisation’ as at the Inter Logics website. Moving to the George Fox Building for Steve Ackroyd to talk about "Network Organisation". This building is where I heard Chris Grey talk about "relevance" so I associate it with "critique". The take on "Network Organisation" accepts that something is happening but questions the claims on benefits.

Mike Pedlar was not recorded talking about "New Organisations?" but he could be invited to repeat this at the Management School. Alternatively others could remember what was said or comment on it. Discussion here could be more detailed, the George Fox Building is a site for shocks.

Through the Wikipedia description for "critical discourse" I have found an online free text from Norman Fairclough. I have loadedthis into Google docs with a highlight around the approach to the Knowledge Economy. This would be enough for a talk at the IAS cafe and possibly there could be recording at the Summer School.

So what will the final scene be at the Spicy Hut. will the group manage to make any positive claims for the technology in general or the economic benefits of knowledge? Will they come back next time for the detailed discussion on mobile security? Who knows? Let us just shoot loads of stuff and present it to an editor. The advantage of YouTube and components is that there can be many versions so a script stays in draft indefinitely.

By the way, in Exeter we have Adobe video editing at Life Bytes on Sidwell Street and a couple of reasonable cameras. Some of the buildings on the Exeter campus could be much the same as at Lancaster so we may shoot some tests or bits to edit in.
Looking on Google blogsearch for any links to the Safe Living conference found this blog on mobility. More on this later.

Friday, May 30, 2008

It is not my imagination, Eurekster and the swicki universe have both returned. Here it is confirmed in a blog.

I think there could have been more information about this. Maybe it is a high level of PR theory at work, when there is a problem say nothing, just be upbeat about something else.

the last week has made me realise what an excellent thing a Swicki is. I managed to find quite a lot on the wayback machine but from a few years ago. There is nothing from this year yet, normally a reasonable policy but not in an emergency.

So I am now busy with the Swicki Disaster Recovery Procedure, archiving results pages to PDF. More later when this is completed.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

I am working on the drupa2008 blog for the next week or so and plan to be there on Tuesday and Wednesday. What strikes me so far is that Apple are not there and Adobe are only just engaged with it. They hace a press release out about the PDF Print Engine but the website is still about Flash, AIR, the Web. Thing is, they could have a point. iTunes and mobile devices, that is the way to go. Meanwhile print is not that soundly based.

It has taken a while for me to come to terms with this. I still think Adobe should do more to explain what is possible with PDF. There could be a file format rewrite in XML but almost nothing is known about this compared to the developer buzz investment around AIR.

Other than trying to link my blogs together when possible, there are a couple of points relating to learning. Education and printing industry have been linked for a few hundred years. Gradually the authority of print is fading away, at least in comparison to other media. There will still be a range of media in use but there is something to consider here. Also there are few models as yet about how the new software affordances can be used. Adobe and others are making things possible but there is no fixed approach as yet. Most of what exists is a form of entertainment so far. It needs to be interpreted for organisations and education.