Personal Blogs

The courses I've done with FutureLearn over the last 18 months.

1. World War 1: A history in 100 Stories: Monash University
2. Medicine and the Arts: The University of Cape Town 
3. The Mind is Flat: University of Warwick 
4. Understanding Drugs and Addiction. King’s College, London 
5. World War 1: Changing Faces of Heroism. University of Leeds 
6. Explore Filmmaking: National Film and Television School 
7. How to Read a Mind: The University of Nottingham
8. Start Writing Fiction: Fall 2014. The Open University
9. Word War 1: Trauma and Memory: The Open University 
10. World War 1: Aviation Comes of Age: University of Birmingham 
11. World War 1: Paris 1919 - A New World: University of Glasgow 
12. How to Succeed at: Writing Applications: The University of Sheffield 
13. Introduction to Forensic Science: University of Strathclyde, Glasgow 
14. Shakespeare’s Hamlet: University of Birmingham 
15. Climate Change: Challenges and Solution. University of Exeter
16. Managing my Money: The Open University
17. Community Journalism: Cardiff University
18. Developing Your Research Project: University of Southampton 

Those I'm on or have pending

1. World War 1: A 100 Stories: Monash University
2. Start Writing Fiction: Spring 2015: The Open University
3. Monitoring Climate From Space: European Space Agency
4. Behind the Scenes at the 21st Century Museum: University of Leicester
5. Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales:  The Hans Christian Andersen Centre

The OU has stimulated my mind suitably over the last seven months to oblige a subscription to the New Scientist.

I was picking it up every other week for the Web Tech and other 'e-' related topics. These now feature regularly. My wife has ten years in medical market research, though not a Scientist, she will often have an opinion on anything that touches her world of work. It is better read that the weekend colour supplement. In fact, I've ditched the Guardian once a week for the New Scientist once a week with all other stories and news prompted by a sentence on TV, a couple of sentences on the Radio and a paragraph or two online.

Beware the Irresistible Internet

Is it addictive?

Expecting or wishing to look at numerous e-learning style products for H808 I found I had spent 3 hours today doing this with Dropbox and Facebook. I wish I hadn't. I haven't even started to make Facebook sing, so would prefer to exit in tact. And I suspect that Dropbox, like Amazon, Google, Facebook and Twitter is just a neat trap and that within six months we will be enrolled into a myriad of appealing, complementary services that we'll be paying for by subscription.

• technology-dependence clinic (Richard Graham)
• young men stuck in multiplayer online gaming environments
• Women and adolescent girls using instant messaging platforms and social media compulsively
• obsession with screen-based media (Ofcom)
• Blackberry-addicted white-collar workers

Hear say or fact? Not evidence and the citations are sparse. But of interest.

• Is there such a thing as an OU obsessive?
• A blogging obsessive (certainly).
• If you have an obsessive nature.

'Now, the potent combination of omnipresent technologies and our addictive nature means more casualties look inevitable.' Paul Marks. Senior Technology Correspondent

REFERENCE

Marks, P. (2010) New Scientist. Volume 207. No. 2777. pp24-25.