And a joke submission…

So, these are my favorite albums from this year.

So here’s some shit that I’ve been doing in Skyrim:

Chillin’ with Lydia.

Climbing mountains and shit.

Shooting vampires in the face and robbing them.

LOOKING AT MY STOMACH.

So Now I’m totally this guy:

The original idea was to get the first and second year students together in a room, and to spend an evening getting to know them, and creating some hilarious and probably dysfunctional websites.

Every time we spoke to someone else about the idea, it kind of snowballed. Some people wanted to take the evening off campus, others suggested inviting the third years and everything became a bit of a blur.

In the end, we had a mixed group of First, Second, Third and Graduates having a generally nice time working on university or personal projects, talking about the web, the course, and placements.

It was a really fun few hours, with various projects started which can be viewed here (currently none of the projects started have been published)

For future evenings, A few things need to be addressed. The first being a way of enticing the first year students to come and get involved. The few that I met were genuinely interested in the course, and the web and wanted to produce cool stuff. Which in the end, is what everyone wants to do.

After speaking to some very helpful contributors on the first year’s facebook group it has been suggested that we run some workshop style talks about cool shit, perhaps I can get Steve Lacey to come do his talk on git again.

Secondly, transport. Because it’s an evening event it’s awkward for people living off campus to get home after, which leads them to not  being able to attend. If a solution can be found I imagine the attendance would be much higher.

Anyway, thanks everyone that did attend, hopefully we can do this again and possibly better in the new year.

Dear those on strike,

Whilst I understand the reasons why you are going on strike, I want to ask you this: what do you expect to achieve out of tomorrow?

I am 99% certain that after the next couple of paragraphs it’s going to become abundantly clear you in fact do not understand why public sector workers are striking.

When I’m worked last year as student rep for the University of the West of England I felt that my feedback to the management was falling on deaf ears, and that they don’t care for the 25 voices that I represent when they have a student base of 30,000.

While initially it may seem like being a student representative of a classroom of 25 students is a fair comparison to being a trade union leader, it is in fact not, at all.

As much as I appreciated the work you did for us last year and agree that it mainly (some of our suggestions did come through this year lets not forget.) fell on deaf ears, I think you need to look at the situation from another perspective.

Had there been an alternative to “Grim and bear it” in regards to our issues with our course it would not have taken much to push a few students over the edge.

We were paying for the privilege of learning, not being paid for the privilege of a job. Don’t like the course? The option was there to leave. Don’t like your job? Oh, you need the money to live. Some people do not have a choice. They have families to support and cannot afford to be out of work.

Therefore, I know the feeling that all of the trade union members are in. They represent a small voice of a very large public sector, and they feel their voices will not be listened to properly. I therefore support the idea of all the unions coordinating together to help their voices be heard.

I know that you regularly coordinated with some of the other student representatives on issues such as external access to files, Dropbox etc. But would you continue to cooperate with them if one of the reps disagreed with your point of view on Dropbox? Would you feel it is any less necessary? If the other reps though that Dropbox was an unneeded commodity, and not worth their time pursing would you still want it?

However, this is where I put my conservative hat on. Whilst the trade unions are out there attempting to make their public voices heard, they are forgetting 4 things.

1. The government is and has been very willing to talk. However, if you’ve noticed across the pond in America, two very different partisan viewpoints can struggle very hard to meet a compromise.

I would actually love to know the compromise to which you are referring. This paragraph is filled with so much ignorance, that I don’t know where to begin. I suppose with some essential facts: The 2 main parties in America are both more right wing than the conservative party we have here. They also do not agree on fucking anything. Almost all of Obama’s campaign promises which could have made a significant difference to America have been blocked by the republicans. This happens regardless of who is President, republican or democrat.

With those facts in mind, I’m almost certain you either do not have a clear understanding of how American government works, or you don’t have a clear understanding of what “compromise” means.

2. The fact that you have tax-payer funded pensions is an added bonus. A lot of people in the private sector receive very little or no pension at all, and none of it is funded by the British tax payers. It honestly looks like the trade unions are acting like a spoilt 8 year old, who is throwing a tantrum because he only got 20 presents instead of 30. Please at least some sign of gratitude that you have these tax-payer funded pensions.

Public sector pensions are not an “added bonus” like you claim. They are there to allow people who provide the public with a service for most of their lives to be able to afford a reasonable level of living when they can no longer work. Public sector pay is generally lower than private sector, and as such smart private sector workers should be putting money aside for a situation where they can no longer work.
By freezing the increase in pensions, the money these workers will be receiving is effectively being whittled away as the cost of living increases.
Tax payers are paying for these pensions as gratitude for what these people do for us on a daily basis, perhaps you’d prefer to pay your medical bills when you need medical attention or a prescription so we can privatize the health care industry.
I know that I’d rather pay some tax, and £7 for a prescription than to pay the ludicrous prices drugs sell for in the states. As someone who relies on asthma medication to live, I appreciate our public health service more than some.

In my opinion paying for public sector pensions is not a tax, but an investment in the countries future. These workers are educating our children, keeping us healthy etc.
To accept their work and to leave them broke is beyond evil.

3. The government has acted recently to offer an improved offer. In other words, they have made a compromise. Now it is your job to do the same. This is, again, exactly the same issue as is happening with the United States’ debt crisis, neither party can reach a compromise.

Comparing a room of paid off by big business politicians to a workers union is a pretty poor comparison. The union are trying to achieve the best possible outcome for their members, and strike action is a never taken just because they want an extra tenner a week. In a way this strike is a tool to force the government to sweeten their side of the deal.

4. By going on strike, you are disrupting education in schools, colleges and universities; you are disrupting medical treatment to ill patients; and you are disrupting public transport at airports, trains and the like. By going on strike, you are forcing public agencies, which are already strapped for cash, into drawing up expensive, temporary contingency plans, so some level of service can continue. By my example, I’m losing 2 hours of paid lectures tomorrow, and frankly I want my fees back for them. The point I’m trying to make is this strike is just going to cost the government a lot of money, and frankly I think this money could be better spent on, uhm, I don’t know… funding your pensions?

This paragraph makes me feel like you don’t understand the point of strike action. The point is to inconvenience the government, if the people striking did not have such an obvious effect on the country; the strike would be far less poignant. The workers are sending the government a message that they have a profound effect on how this country is run, and as such should have a fair pension at the end of their career for the good work they have done.

So yes, strike action is inconvenient to you and to me, and it’s bloody well suppose to be. As well as showing where these people are needed in society it also forces the general public to pick a side in either supporting them, or not. The point of “picking a side” of course is forcing you to think about the issues that are under dispute, something which I don’t think you have. At all.

Anyway, best of luck with your strike tomorrow. I hope you get nothing back.

This post is definitely not intended to be a personal attack on you however, I hope that in future it makes you think before you post your thoughts to the internet.

Mainly because of this:

[9:32:18 PM] Alex.: charlie, when did you last update your blog?

Web Programming
After my first lecture and tutorial, I’ve got a really good feeling about this module. The lecturer knows exactly what he’s talking about and seems more enthusiastic about the subject than 99% of our former lecturers.
I’m pretty excited to get stuck into PHP as it’s something I’ve put off doing for a very long time, only dabbling when absolutely necessary.

Web Design Principals
Another very strong looking module. Michaela seemed very excited to be teaching a specific Web Design class on this module. From what I know about the coursework and coming lectures it should be fairly challenging in the second semester.

Information Systems Practices
This module looks like a disaster waiting to happen. It’s being co-taught by a lecturer I am not fond of and seems to be focused on business rather than Web Design, and I’m finding it extremely hard to understand anything that any of the students on the other courses are saying, and the masses of acronyms used by the lecturers themselves appear to have left many of the people on my course feeling more than slightly confused and alienated.

Data, Schemas and Applications
Another module with Prakash, this one seems interesting however I may attend his tutorials rather than the one I have attended today, as I found it less than informative and was mainly Software Development students. I did find the Yahoo Pipes editor intriguing though, must look into it in further detail.

Human-computer Interaction
This module focuses on user interface design, and I am very excited about it. From what I can tell so far there is going to be a fair amount of reading involved but since it’s a subject I’m interested in I guess that it’ll be a breeze.

Information Architecture
This is a bit of a wildcard. From the first tutorial I like where it is going. It’s mainly about information organisation and placement, so a bit of an extension to our Information Design module last year. I’m psyched for it though.

Your favorite song:
Good Old War – Coney Island

Your least favorite song:
Wolfmother – Woman (MSTRKRFT remix)

A song that makes you happy:
Circa Survive – Get Out

A song that makes you sad:
Frank Turner – The Huntsman Comes A-Marchin’

A song that reminds you of someone:
Death Cab For Cutie – I Will Follow You Into The Dark

A song that reminds you of somewhere:
Caution: Dangerous Curves Ahead

A song that reminds you of a certain event:
The Fall of Troy – F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X.

A song that you know all the words to:
Ignite – Poverty For All

A song that you can dance to:
Coheed and Cambria – Good Apollo, Vol. 1: Willing Well III: Apollo II: The Telling Truth

A song that makes you fall asleep:
The Postal Service – We Will Become Silhouettes

A song from your favorite band:
A Wilhelm Scream – I Wipe My Ass With Showbiz

A song from a band you hate:

A song that is a guilty pleasure:
La Roux – In for the Kill

A song that no one would expect you to love:
Lowkey – Terrorist?

A song that describes you:

A song that you used to love but now hate:
Owl City – Hello Seattle

A song that you hear often on the radio:
Cee Lo Green – FUCK YOU

A song that you wish you heard on the radio:
3 Inches Of Blood – Deadly Sinners

A song from your favorite album:
Rush – 2112: The Temples Of Syrinx

A song that you listen to when you’re angry:
Strung Out – Away

A song that you listen to when you’re happy:
Manchester Orchestra – Simple Math

A song that you listen to when you’re sad:
Dan Warren – The Scientist

A song that you want to play at your wedding:
Coheed And Cambria – Wake Up

A song that you want to play at your funeral:
Imogen Heap – Hide And Seek

A song that makes you laugh:
Jonathan Coulton – RE: Your Brains

A song that you can play on an instrument:
Muse – Plug in Baby

A song that you wish you could play:
The Who – Baba O’riley

A song that makes you feel guilty:
The Beatles – Let It Be

A song from your childhood:
Ozzy Osbourne – No More Tears

Your favorite song at this time last year:
La Dispute – New Storms For Older Lovers

That about wraps that up.

• Create a website for a climate change group, plus a 2500 word report.
• Create a website about David Bowie (fuck yes), plus a report.
• Create a website for Webair, the fictional airline.
• Solve an experience design problem based on inclusive design.

Time to get productive.