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  • Open Source Schools Seminar on Innoviation for LA Staff

    On 15th October 2009 Open Source Schools held a seminar on Innovation for LA Staff. A fantastic day with many wonderful sessions but I thought I would point out my own one first. Tasked with talking about how IT Support teams are making a difference with Open Source I chose to talk about a number…

  • Standing in the shoulders of giants

    There are times when you just know that a day is going to be a wonderful one, that no matter how nervous you are about presenting, no matter how tired you may or how much work you have to do for the next day… You just get a tingle. And that is what I had…

  • No such thing as a free ride!

    Well … people keep telling me that and then pointing me at Open Source software (I like OSS, agree with OSS and want people to use more, but it is not the be all and end all!)   When many people talk about OSS they forget that it is FOSS that is actually important. The…

  • So you want to be a strategic leader?

    A recent discussion on EduGeek.net was about the introduction of someone above the Network Manager, but line managed by the Bursar / School Business Manager. Full details can be found here. Since I have just come from a similar role (actually part of SLT and line managed by the Head) I thought I would give…

  • The Brave New World

    For those that may not be aware I have recently made a permanent change of role. I have been on secondment for a year with the LA and over the summer my job became a full time position so I had to decide whether to apply for it or not … I was a harder…

  • The Return of Google!

    The month has gone, the task was done, reflection has taken place (over a lovely cup of Earl Grey) and I am now ready to sit down and pour forth my findings. Erm … it doesn’t really matter whether you use Google or not, but it is pretty pointless going out of your way to…

  • No Google – day 28

    The month is nearly gone and I find I have less to report that I thought. The initial concerns about how I would do stuff without resorting to a quick dip into Google quickly went. With some suitable suggestions from friends, colleagues and my PLN (mainly via Twitter) I soon had a raft of suitable…

  • No Google – day 14

    So … nothing for the last week or so. No fantastic revelations about missing tools, no desperate struggle to find new ways of doing things. In fact, if Google dropped off the face of the Earth tomorrow it would take me less than a week to move on completely. I honestly cannot find anything that…

  • No Google – Day 2

    Yes … I used Google today. I admit it … but there was no choice … or so I thought. Quite a few sites will now have a search facility powered by Google. Nicely indexed, linked in with other features and in a big search box which has “google” all over it. So now I…

  • No Google – day 1

    So the first of the month also sees me starting my month of not using Google as my one-stop shop to find anything and everything. Some helpful suggestions about alternatives for specific tasks will come in handy, but today has been around setting my fixed parameters. There are some things that I cannot avoid. I…