Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Apple Wars!!!


What can I say, I'm a simple man with a simple mind. All that geek stuff might be good for Jess & Gabby but I need something that looks pretty and even an idiot can use.

I love my ipad!!!! I just sit there looking at it for hours. And it will be even better when I can get near some wifi and start getting some cool apps!!! lol

Manila Bay at the end of a long day Ahhhh!




Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Mabuhay! and Bienvenue!!!





Mabuhay!!! Because I'm in Manila and Bienvenue because I am staying at the Sofitel.

The ENORMOUS room is much fun. I have a lounge/TV room (with DVD) & another big bedroom with another TV & DVD & a big bathroom. Many toys to play with!!! Yes!!

The hotel (which my wife booked... mmmm) is very close to the Mall of Asia, the fourth largest shopping mall in the world apparently. lol Coincidence????? I think not! Now I know why we have such a big room!!!

The breakfast is a bit of a worry too! I may eat myself to death.

Work hard now!!! lol

Monday, September 27, 2010

Do you think she fancies me??!! lol lol

I sent our picnic pics with the donation and I got this today:

Dear Phil,

What a gorgeous bunch of young ladies, and you’re not bad either!
It is certainly reassuring for me and the Sunrise children to know that there are students and teachers in Australia with hearts like yours.
$300 goes a long way in Cambodia…
I am sending your donation form to the office in Adelaide.
I do not know why the fax machine was not working,
Please thank the girls for me and a big thank you to you as well.
If the girls want to continue to get our quarterly newsletters like the one attached, they should email our office.

Love and light,

Geraldine Cox AM

Country Director and President

Australia Cambodia Foundation, Inc - and
Sunrise Children's Villages in Cambodia

Australian Mobile 0419 696 012
Australian Fax 08 8340 4920
Cambodian Mobile 012 803 069
Cambodian Fax 023 217 943



Websites www.sunrisechildrensvillage.org
www.geraldinecox.org

“There's a crack in everything -
That's how the light gets in…”

Sunday, September 26, 2010

I got my new ipad yipeeeeee!

Use of new technologies!!?? I copied this from ipad propaganda, but it's still quite interesting!!

In Pompeii — the longest continuously excavated archaeological site in the world — iPad is is being used by scientists working in the field. Rather than recording notes and sketches on paper, researchers at the site use iPad and apps to capture historical data faster, more easily, and with far better accuracy.

Deep Data

For Dr. Steven Ellis, who directs the University of Cincinnati’s archaeological excavations at Pompeii, perhaps the most significant discovery at the site this year was iPad. Ellis credits the introduction of six iPad devices at Pompeii with helping his team solve one of the most difficult problems of archaeological fieldwork: how to efficiently and accurately record the complex information they encounter in the trenches.

Most archaeological researchers today collect data from their sites as others have for the past 300 years. “It’s all pencil and paper,” says Ellis. “You have to draw things on paper, or in preprinted forms with boxes. That’s a problem because all these pages could be lost on an airplane, they could burn, they could get wet and damaged, or they could be written in unintelligible handwriting. And eventually they have to be digitized or entered into a computer anyway.”

Although portable computers offer a paperless solution, field archaeologists rarely use them in the trenches because their size, input limitations, battery life, and sensitivity to dirt and heat make them impractical in the harsh conditions of a dig.


iPad Rx

But Ellis, Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Cincinnati, was determined to find a better way to collect data for his current project, which involves excavating below the floor line of an entire neighborhood near the main thoroughfare of Pompeii. He and a handpicked team of 35 scholars hope to learn from the patterns of reconstruction under the buildings how middle-class Pompeian families actually lived during the 2000 years before a volcanic eruption covered their city in AD 79.

“I’ve been very lucky to get permission to dig up an entire neighborhood,” says Ellis. “This gives me a real chance of looking not only into a single building but at how a whole community of families developed over time.”

The idea of using iPad to collect the massive data the project would generate came from Ellis’s University of Cincinnati colleague John Wallrodt, an expert on digital databases for archaeological projects. Wallrodt had looked unsuccessfully into using various tablet devices for field research, but when iPad was introduced in January 2010, he knew at once that it was right for their project. Says Wallrodt, “Perfectly portable, with no moving parts, a Multi-Touch screen, and a battery that lasts the whole workday, iPad was practically custom built for our needs.”

Adds Ellis: “It was the ability to enter so many disparate kinds of information, recording everything from architectural elements to fish scales and bones to the actual sequences of events. That my team could both type and draw on the screen, and also examine all previously entered data, made it an ideal single-device solution.”



Forms and Functions

Excavators generally make four kinds of paper records in the field: forms (sometimes a hundred per trench) for describing soil layers and features; notebook entries for recording elevations and space; daily scaled drawings of the trench; and a Harris Matrix, an illustration that shows chronological relationships among layers.

With iPad, Wallrodt was able to re-create each of those functions using “off-the-shelf” apps from the App Store. FMTouch replaced paper forms by allowing researchers to make direct entries into their database forms on iPad. The Pages app supplanted paper notebooks, enabling them to not only enter notations on the iPad keyboard but also import drawings and photos. Scaled drawings were made directly on iPad in iDraw. And OmniGraffle handled the intricate matrix illustrations.

“iPad replaced all of these functions and added many others,” says Wallrodt. “In this way, all of our piles of paper were replaced with a single 1.5-pound device.”

iPad Revolution

Ellis, who estimates that iPad has already saved him a year of data entry, plans to increase the number of iPad devices from one to two per trench. “The recovery of invaluable information from our Pompeian excavations is now incalculably faster, wonderfully easier, unimaginably more dynamic, precisely more accurate, and robustly secure,” he says.

Beyond the scope of his project, Ellis sees iPad as revolutionizing the 300-year-old discipline of archaeological fieldwork. “A generation ago computers made it possible for scholars to move away from just looking at pretty pictures on walls and work with massive amounts of information and data. It was a huge leap forward. Using iPad to conduct our excavations is the next one. And I’m really proud to be a part of it.”

More on the Stabia project - http://www.uc.edu/pompeii/

Saturday, September 25, 2010

I have sent off our $300!



And ... this is where it has gone ...

Just remember what a big holiday you are going to have when the HSC is over!!!!



Whenever you feel like you are trapped studying while everyone else is having fun just look at these pics because this is going to be YOU when it is all over and done with!!!! BUT don't forget the blockout (You too Max)! lol

Friday, September 24, 2010

Sunshine Children's Villages



The Sunrise Children's Villages are two orphanages located in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The Australia Cambodia Foundation started in September 1993, following the first visit by Geraldine Cox and a friend in 1993. The orphanages are now known as Sunrise Children's Villages and they care for hundreds of orphaned or disadvantaged Cambodian children. Plans are in place to open a third Sunrise Children's Village in Sihanoukville.

http://www.scv.org.au/

I am going to donate your $150 and match your donation. So I am going to send $300 to this organization if that is ok with you?

Maybe they have a goat that they will name after me!!??? (No tattoo Julianne, promise!)

No Goats!!!!!


Julianne has pointed out that my intention of using the $150 to purchase goats, tattoo them with my name and distribute them to African villagers is bordering on animal cruelty and is therefore not cool!!!!!

Yes Julianne it was a silly idea! I'm shame faced. I was carried away with the idea of thousands, possibly millions of goats all over Africa with my name on them. It was all about me!!!!!

So now I have a new plan that I think that you will all like!!!

And thanks for all the cuddles today. I needed them.

Also, I am now leaving for Manila on Tuesday, so if you have any stuff you want to ask or want marked - mail it to me.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Thank you for including me in your Mock Assembly!


I think it went very well and was very funny! It was all really good, but the Man V Wild and Sophia's song as Moaning Myrtle had me in stitches!!!!

You are all so talented in so many ways. I just can't wait to see what you do in the future. Follow your passions and you will do amazing things.

JK Rowling would have loved it and would have been very impressed with your lovely gesture of the donation to 'Compassion'.

I think I would like my name tattooed on the goat if that's possible!? No particular reason. Just always wanted my name tattooed on a goat and this sounded like the opportunity, and since I donated part of it - what the heck!!! It would keep the African villagers guessing and could even become a fad. My name could end up on half the goats in Africa within the next twenty years. Well that's my aim anyway!!! :)

But... all of that planning is simply to keep my mind off the fact that tomorrow is your last day and I don't want it to be!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Who wrote the script for the Mock Assembly??


Well done whoever you are! I think it must have taken a lot of time and effort! And it is very funny!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

It's a draw!!!!

Both picnics were fantastic thank you!

And we didn't have any McDonalds! How healthy is that!


(This is an actual ad!!??? The kid freaked me out. I may never eat Macas again.)



I don't want you to go!!! You can all hide away in the senior study and come back again next term as Year 11!!!!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Saturday, September 18, 2010

NEWS FLASH!!!!!!!!! Big Ted is missing!!!!!!!!


I can only presume that either a 23 year old boy or 26 year old boy are in possession of said bear!! Mmmmm

So in his place will be coming Humphrey, who coincidentally is also missing an eye!!!! How come all our bears are missing one eye?! Yes yes I know all about the controversy regarding Humphrey never wearing any pants, but hell's bells we're all grown ups and he's keen to come and he is a bear after all. It's probably more surprising that he was able to find himself a jacket and a hat! Well that's my opinion anyway and he's my guest so be nice to him!

Friday, September 17, 2010

OUR picnic will be heaps better than this!!!!!!!!


As long as there are no Nazi cakes, no trenches dug in the Senior Quad. AND no drinks appropriate for the Eastern & Western Fronts!!!!!!!!!!!

Bring a bear, a doll or your favourite toy. But don't copy the photo. Wear your uniform not your pajamas and don't bring plain noodles and peas!!!!!!!!!! Yuk!!!! Surely this picnic is child abuse???????!!!!!!!!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Guess what we've reached?


I told you it would go quickly!!!!!!!!!

TEDDY BEAR'S PICNIC 2010


TO ATTEND YOU MUST BRING A BEAR! OR BRING YOUR BEST DOLL! OR YOUR BEST TOY!!!

At the moment there are TWO picnics. Modern History during periods 5 & 6 on Monday. Ancient History during periods 1 & 2 on Tuesday.

So ...

a.) Do you want to leave it like this?

or

b.) Do you want to have a BIG Modern/Ancient/Extension Picnic on either Monday or Tuesday?

c.) What games should we play?

Is anyone volunteering to bring drinks, paper plates & paper cups???? Or do you want me to bring them?

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Just in time for summer


This is what the fashionable feminist historians will be wearing this season!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

I was thinking...


Maybe I was a bit rude imposing my idea of a picnic next week for Ancient & Modern. To be quite honest, last year half the people brought food and went to a lot of trouble and the other half just turned up and ate what the others had prepared. I thought that was a bit slack and unfair.

Now next week will be a busy week. If it is too much trouble, just tell me and we will break out a couple of packets of chips in class and have a chat. If that's what you want then that is quite ok with me.

So what do YOU want to do?????????????

No matter how stupid you may feel!


You aren't as stupid as this person!!!!!!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Giteau has got to go!!!!!!!!!



But you should still remember:

crouch touch pause engage!!!!

Go the Wallabies!!!!!


Crouch Touch Pause Engage

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Attention Modern History People!!!!


We are going to change our program and do a fair bit of work on WAR IN THE PACIFIC this week.

It seems to be the area causing people the most worry.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Only TWO weeks work to go!!! Amazing!!!


Week 8

History Extension: It is Historiography Week, so bring all your historiography stuff with you.
Ancient History: It is Hatshepsut Week, so you will need all your Hatshepsut stuff.
Modern History: We are going to have a change. We are going to spend most of the week on War in the Pacific, so bring your textbook and notes.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

An email from Sarah


From: Sarah Evans
To: Mr Sheldrick
Sent: Wed, 1 September, 2010 2:52:39 PM
Subject:

sir, i'm a bit confused about the war in the pacific topic. for one thing, i'm not really sure what kind of questions we're going to get- like, with the nazi topic it basically asks what things contributed to fall of weimar/rise of nazis and what the nazis were like when they were in power, and with leni riefenstahl it asks questions about her work in relation to her context. but what kind of things do they ask us for this topic?
also, i've been finding it hard to find good quotes or historical perspectives for war in the pacific- i'm not really sure what i'm looking for and can't find good quotes.
sorry for so many incoherent questions sir, but i'm confused :(


Mr Sheldrick
To: Sarah Evans

Hey Sarah,

Well I can't make it any easier for you Sarah! This is the area of the paper where people usually drop some marks. It has only been part of the papers since 2001 so the questions are unpredictable.

I can say this:

It shouldn't be a question on the dropping of the atomic bomb or the force of nationalism in causing the attack on Pearl Harbor and the war. Everything else is possible. So..... would we have been better off doing another older topic like the Cold War or the Vietnam War? Nope... the number of questions that they can ask you is even larger and even more unpredictable. Heaps of possible topics to study, many more than we have with just as little possibility of predicting what will come up.

But you still need to show the marker that you have DEEP knowledge of whatever comes up to get the top marks. Gulps!!!

This is the topic you probably have to do the most study for and most of it won't be of use in the exam. That's just the way that it is Sarah! Sorry!!!

As for the quotes... go back to your textbook. Lots of quotes. Lots of historians & experts quoted for each topic. Also go to amazon and type in War in the Pacific, Battle of the Coral Sea, etc... do each topic ... and look at the names of authors & books that come up. Many of the reviews have little quotes.

So no..... I can't tell you what they will ask... you are on your own on this one baby!!! lol But you know what??? I think you can handle it!! lol

Option D: Conflict in the Pacific 1937


Key features and issues:

• imperialism and responses to it
X nature and impact of nationalism(2009)
• Japanese and Allied strategies
• impact of the war on the home fronts of Japan and Australia
• impact of the war in Occupied Territories in South-East Asia
X use of the A-bomb (2009)
• reasons for the Japanese defeat
• aims and consequences of the Allied Occupation of Japan