OBI, RSS and QR Codes!

Image found on wikipedia here

There is a connection between these groups of letters, and one of them is an odd word out! Can you guess what it is? Well, the connection is that they have all been on my mind recently and the odd word out in a way is "OBI" as it is a name of a DIY shop in Pescara. The other two are acronyms linked to the Internet.

NB
At the end of my post I have added a little comic test to review what these three groups of letters mean.

OBI and QR Codes
It all started in OBI, a local garden centre when I picked up one of their magazines and to my surprise, I noted that QR codes were on practically each page. I felt pleased that I recognised these as QR Codes! Only a few short months ago, I would not really have recognised them or indeed known the name or what the function of them was. Below is an example. Do you recognise it? They are now becoming ubiquitous, and I think they are definitely here to stay.If you would like to learn more about QR codes, you can read an excellent and comprehensive article written by Nicky Hockly from The Consultants-E. It's called Mobile learning - 9: A Dummies Guide to QR codes.

Below is a fantastic QR Code cartoon created by The Daring Librarian on Flickr.



You can read this excellent blog post by Gwyneth Anne Bronwynne Jones, aka The Daring Librarian, called Hot QR Codes in the Classroom, written in December 2010.

If you are interested in this area of technology, you can attend a free webinar on QR Codes On Saturday 30th July at the Reform Symposium presented by ShamblesGuru (Chris Smith). It promises to be very useful and extremely interesting!



RSS or Really Simple Feed syndication

RSS? Well I have been discussing Really Simple Syndication with a group of online learners recently. Only a few short years ago, I didn't have a clue to what RSS refered to, but now I do!! I use my RSS feed on my blog sidebar to gather all the latest updates on my favourite blogs and links. It's time-saving and very convenient.

The Circle of Knowledge
So the circle is complete. I was in OBI, I saw the QR codes and I felt chuffed that I recognised them and had an idea of what they were. So like a few years ago when RSS was a new and alien concept for me, I don't have any real experience of how to actually use QR codes actively yet.
QR codes are relatively new for me now, but I would like to know much more about them as they seem to be everywhere. Maybe in the future, they will be commonplace for me like RSS feeds are now, and I will be using them effortlessly? Watch this space!

Comic Testing Items
In preparation for my talk at RSCON3 on using comics and cartoons, I have just created a little test for you using cartoons as a prompt. These questions will check if you have read this post including all the links carefully :-)

writecomics.com

Toondo.com

Super Hero Squad Comics

Rumble in the Jungle

The past few days have been spent on and off in front of the computer, happily busy with Twitter, Wikis, Nings, Acronyms, TEFL, PLN, CPD and Blogs, to the unfortunate neglect and detriment of my poor garden. As Voltaire famously said in "Candide" - "Il faut cultiver notre jardin". In English it means "You must look after your garden". Well, this saying has been praying on my mind recently and I have watched the huge mass of verdant vegetation above expand uncontrollably and unrelentingly. It has become a veritable jungle, with lush dense vegetation growing at a rapid pace. In fact, it has become a fertile breeding ground for all manner of creatures. The picture below was taken by K this morning. A romantic couple of Praying Mantises enjoying some R & R on our land, would you believe!


The Root of the Problem


I now have a good picture for use in future Idiomatic lessons. What is Janet holding?? One of the unsolicited bushes from the land was dug up and its amazingly long roots were extracted forcefully. They were almost as tall as myself! Have we now got rid of the deep-rooted problem? I would hope so!
Nature idioms abound here in Abruzzo and today the expresson "Idioms are the salt and pepper of speech" has just come to mind after picking my yellow pepper below.
Please click here for a previous posting on Making Hay while the Sun Shines which contains a selection of Nature Idioms.


An absolutely Divine Intervention
Drinking my post-prandial Espresso infused with the absolutely divine Amaretto, I was most surprised to hear a distant rumble in the jungle. K and I rushed to see what the noise was and.....it was the local farmer Marco, in his tractor, cutting our jungle down, with its enormous blades. We hadn't asked him to do this huge job, so we were thrilled to see the land now actually becoming more visible. It would have taken K and I probably weeks (I am not exaggerating) to mow the "lawn" down with the tools we have, so it is a big relief for us both. It has also preserved K's sanity!! I will ring Marco later to see how we can repay him. I think maybe our land stood out like a sore thumb amongst all the beautiful surrounding countryside and he has taken pity on us for the sake of his aesthetical principles. Boy, am I very happy about this!!

A Penny for his Thoughts?


What is Kelly thinking about? He does look rather deep in thought. He is a very happy dog nowadays, his tail always wagging and wanting to play games all the time. When he first showed up here totally uninvited, he was unkempt and badly injured. He had wounds on his throat which had become abcesses. He was half the weight he should have been. He had a skeletal framework. He was a scavenger. He had matted greasy fur. In fact, he was a total mess. I didn't like or trust Kelly at first as he looked totally rough and any attempt at affection could have turned nasty. We were worried about the girls' reaction. Would he transmit any afflictions? Would he turn on them? We didn't know. However, Kelly persevered with us with quiet determination and we took him in initially because we felt very sorry for him indeed. Quietly but surely, he grew in our affection and the girls love him to bits. He transformed himself to the dog you see above. With love and affection, this is the result. He is now part of the gang and no way, is he going anywhere else. Ever. He is my most faithful companion, following me around with dutiful enthusiasm.

Ad Hoc Style
Well, I've had some fun writing up this post. I really liked the title "Rumble in the Jungle" and this "ad hoc" posting is what I have come up with as a result! Totally unplanned, but it has a connection with events today.

See you on Twitter or on your blog in a mo?? Bye for now...............

Acronyms

Acronyms seem to be everywhere nowadays and it's easy to get lost amongst them if you are not careful. Do you know the meaning of NETTEL? I didn't know this acronym until this morning, when I read Valentina Dodge's very interesting comment in Lindsay Clandfield's "Six Ugly Words in English" blog post , where she refered to a new acronym called "NETTELS" which came via Schott's Vocab.

Some interesting acronyms:

• WAG The English Blog has an excellent headline which mentions WAG
• TEFL Teaching English as a Foreign Language
• ASBO Anti-Social Behaviour Order Please refer here to the meaning
• IPOD Insecure, Pressurised, Overdrawn and in Debt. Please click here for a previous post.
  
• NYLON A regular commuter from New York to London
• SKIER Spending Kids' Inheritance
  
• NIMFY Not in My Front Yard!
  
• BHAG Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal Please click here for an explanation
  
• SPIN Small Plot INtensive Please click here for an explanation
  
• KIPPERS Kids' in Parents' Pockets Eroding Retirement Savings Please click here for an explanation

Wordsearch Puzzle
I have created an Acronyms Puzzle using www.puzzlemaker.com. How quickly can you find the 11 acronyms inside the puzzle?

Click here for the pdf link.

An Acronym Story
Can you make out what this story is all about? I set myself a time limit of 5 minutes to write whatever came out of my mind and this is it- a bit of fun!

Victoria had been in the SPIN farming business for too long and she was fed up with being a SPINNER. So she had a BHAG! She decided she would like to become a WAG so she went to Boujie's night club in London and hey presto, she netted herself a very striking, handsome Premiership footballer called Joey Cascarino. He was a bit of a NIMFY at heart, so he wasn't happy with where he lived. He decided to move to New York but Victoria didn't want to leave England so they agreed to become NYLONS for a while. Unfortunately, this arrangement didn't work out and she became an IPOD. This led to her being given an ASBO for unruly behaviour. The relationship broke up and she went back to her parents to ask for help. Unfortuately, they were SKIERS, so they were out spending all their money while they were still able to do so. They told her she shouldn't be a KIPPER and told her to find a job. She saw an ad in the Guardian for a TEFL job in Civitaquana and went for it. She got it! She is now on top of the world. This story is purely fictional, if you were wondering!

KIPPER NYLON ASBO WAG
Which acronym is the "Odd Word Out?" Why?

Questions Questions Questions

1. Do you think TEFL is an interesting profession?
   
2. Has SPIN farming taken on in your neighbourhood?
3. Have you ever had a BHAG? Did you achieve it?
4. Would you become a NYLON for the love of your life?
5. Do you think ASBOs are effective in curbing anti-socal behaviour?

Acronym Name Quiz
This is an Acronym quiz based on the letters of my name. Not sure if I agree on all of them! Which adjectives does your name generate?

Get Your Name Acronym
From Go-Quiz

It's funny how one simple acronym like "NETTEL" can inspire a blog post!

Asbos in the News

Asbo is a very popular acronym and it stands for "Anti-Social Behaviour Order". Asbos have been around since 1998 and were first introduced by Tony Blair's government to curb a growing tide of anti-social behaviour. Indeed, the scheme was so successful (not) that it encouraged young thugs and yobs to gain more than one Asbo in order to show them off proudly as a badge of honour. Now this topic is in the news again with Alan Johnson, the new Home Secretary, saying "We need action, not talk, on anti-social behaviour". Read the full article from the Daily Telegraph here.

Ageless
Asbos seem to have no age restrictions. Here is an article from the Daily Mirror with a reference to an Asbo being given to a very young person and here is another article from ITN News which covers a story about an Asbo given to a pensioner of 82. Learn more about the meaning of the word from this BBC Learning English lesson.

Asbos for Kids
Teachers will be able to take parents of disruptive pupils to court under Government plans to be unveiled this week. Read more of this topical article from Yahoo News here.

Who is ultimately responsible for a child's behaviour? Parents or teachers? What is your opinion?

The "IPOD" Generation

Perennially seeking new hidden gems in the media for possible lesson exploitation, I came across this very interesting article about the "IPOD" Generation the other day. You may well be surprised to know that in this particular case, "IPOD" does not have the same meaning as what you think! It is an acronyn for "Insecure, Pressurised, Over-taxed and Debt-ridden", refering to the youth of "Broke Britain". I first cut out the article from the Daily Mail on 21st October 2008 and put it to one side, ready for me to "do something with it" . The time has come, so here goes!
Click here to read the article in full.

In the Red
In the report mentioned in the article, the finances of 18-34 year-olds were put under the spotlight. Young people today are under enormous pressure to get on in life. They are faced with so much choice and have been lured by banks to get ever more into debt. They are unable to put money away for a secure future as the cost of living is sky high. The image of "broke" Britain is ever more present during the credit crunch and it is a difficult period in history. Here is an interesting video from www.videojug.com on "How to deal with being broke after graduation".

YUPPIES
The days of "YUPPIES" refer to an era long gone and now according to this article, the acronym has come to mean "Young Unhappy Professionals". Those were the days!

Idioms of the Hour
To be in the red: to be in debt
To be broke: to be without money/ short of money

New Words Quiz

Looking through Nik Peachey's excellent blogs I read about this nice little quiz maker from funquizcards.com and thought I would have a go at creating one myself. See how you get on!


Create A Quiz | View Scores

Back into the Groove

Ups and downs are the usual ingredients of the hurly burly of life. The past few weeks have been a roller coaster. Riding high in the clouds one day, lying low the next. It is so easy to lose track of one's direction if one is not focused enough. One needs rugged determination, powerful will and extreme dedication to fly high. I feel I am "back in the groove"!




A Holy Familiar Reunion
Today the family celebrated my nephew's First Holy Communion at Corpus Christi Church. It was a wonderfully joyous occasion and it was made extra special with the presence of my dear mother. She was able to leave OCE for the whole day for the first time since she had her devastating accident four months ago. She is a walking miracle. I am very proud of her progress and her zest for life, which remains incredibly undimmed.

The Black Boy
A truly amazing celebration lunch was served in a new eaterie in Headington called The Black Boy. The choice of menu was varied and the meal I chose was perfect in every way. The portions were generous and everything was homemade. One thing that really stood out was the great attention to detail. Everything was organised to a high degree. Abigail Rose was the "hostess with the mostest" and ensured that everything went off smoothly and without a hitch. A lovely personal touch was that my mother and aunt were provided with lovely, plump cushions to ensure that they were sitting comfortably. Absolutely nothing was too much and we were looked after very well indeed. Would I recommend The Black Boy? Yes, indeed. It is tucked away in a beautiful corner of old Headington and has a long and varied history. I believe it will definitely become the "in" place to dine. If you are ever in the local Oxford area, make sure you drop in to sample the delicious food and at the same time, unwind in the relaxing atmosphere.

Language in Motion
I am now busy compiling examples of slang words that I come across in newspapers/magazines and of course, the Internet. This is in preparation for my Primary Teachers' Refresher classes called "Update your English" which I will be doing for the Lake School of English in July . The English language is constantly on the move and as a teacher of EFL, it is vital to keep up with what is happening. One of my favourite sites is wordspy.com. How many of these words in the Top 100 have you come across? I admit, there are a lot that are new for me, too!

WAGS in the News
Just today I saw this eye-catching headline about Posh Spice wanting to "ditch" her WAG image in order to appear in Vogue Magazine.
To "ditch" something means to get rid of something/remove something, which you no longer want.
WAG stands for the wife and or girlfriend of a famous footballer. It is now not so cool to be known as a "WAG".

Odd Word Out

I had fun devising a little vocabulary quiz today. Some words are acronyms that have entered the English language recently, others are newish compound words, some are blend words and some abbreviations. A lot of them have a connection with technology. I have used Word Spy - Top Hundred as my source of information and also wikipedia.


From the list of words below find one which is different and ask yourself why is it different from the other three? Please note- I had to invent something which didn't fit so hopefully you will be able to work out which one differs. Please do post a comment if you feel some of the words are a bit ambiguous and I will modify as necessary!

1) facebook digg youtube del.icio.us

2) netizen netiquette nethead networker

3) avatar second life island blog

4) wikipedia nibipedia voki encyclopedia

5) ple cpd pln vle

6) recession-chic silver-surfer empty-nester helicopter-parent

7) nimby wag bogof imby

8) cyberchondriac cyberpet cyberbully cyberstalker

9) webzine ezine fanzine magazine

10) clog splog vlog flog