Ding-a-dong

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Following on from the musical theme of yesterday’s post, we have the Eurovision song contest tomorrow. This will be broadcast live from Malmo and in many ways is no longer a song contest (Ding-a-dong won in 1975), but more a chance for subtle and not so subtle political statements to be made.

Do you watch this competition? Will Cyprus and Greece give each other the maximum 12 points? Does it matter?

Does singing your song in English improve the chances of winning as a larger audience will understand the words, or is it better to use your own language to gain the votes?

Click on the image below to read about and listen to songs from the Eurovision for endangered languages and perhaps hear a song in Breton or even Sami.

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Songs to hear before you die

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I often see lists with titles like ’50 places to visit before you die’ and ’20 pasta dishes to try before you’re 50′.

Then I saw ’1000 songs everyone must hear’ in the Guardian and I was surprised by some of  the choices.

I asked some of the people I work with for their Top 10 lists for songs they think everyone should hear at least once in their lives. It might be because it has personal significance, it might have been groundbreaking or it might simply have been a great piece of music.

There is no right or wrong, these are personal opinions, but it creates some interesting lists and some fantastic listening as well.

Click on the picture below to see this list and copy and paste the links to listen to the songs. Do any of the choices surprise you? Now we have shared with you, what about your favourites – can you create a top 10 as well?

You can also click here to download our list - Top 10 songs

Top Tunes

Who cares?

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Do you care if people like you? Does it matter or is getting the job done more important?

In business is being liked a sign of weakness and people will take advantage of you?

Or do people enjoy working with/for someone they like (and of course respect professionally)? Don’t people who enjoy their work tend to be more productive?

Click on the image (kittens are always likeable) below to read an article on this topic and to try a likeability quiz. Was your score as you expected?

Likeability

 

Problem solving in 3 steps

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We all have decisions to make and problems to solve. There are times when it isn’t easy for a number of different factors including lack of data, lack of time and sometimes lack of incentive.

However, by applying critical thinking skills to the process, you can become far more effective at dealing with these situations.

Click on the slinkachu image below (I think the Little People Project is brilliant) to read a short article with some great tips.

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Cognates that don’t stagnate

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15,000 years ago there were worms. Not only were there worms, but we were calling them worms.

Researchers at Reading University have uncovered 23 such words. These words are ‘ultraconserved’ meaning that have remained the same for a very, very long time.

A cognate is a word that sounds and means the same in different languages. Please click on the image below to see these ancient words and hear them spoken.

Would you say that the Kartvelian pronunciation of the verb ‘to spit’ is onomatopoeic?

Worms

When Saturday Comes

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I have already done posts for the other days of the week over the last year or so with just the weekend remaining. For those who might doubt me you can see them here -

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (which was a bit depressing), Thursday (which was tricky) and  then, as you might have guessed by now, Friday.

Now it is the turn of Saturday and I will start off with a poem that reminds me of my son when they are doing ‘exciting writing’ at school.

However, let’s not dwell on the chores of the week- click on the image below of someone who has just realised there is no ‘exciting writing’ on Saturdays and listen to the song…

Winning

 

Thinglink linkback

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I mentioned ThingLink before back in November last year. It is an application that allows you to make images interactive and then share them via social media.

There are a number of ways that this can be used and it is not all just about marketing opportunities. There are also a number of possibilities for using ThingLink within the classroom and Doug Woods has put together a great list outlining some of the best.

For example, I could imagine this being used as a presentation tool. An engaging image for the audience and then navigating around the picture opening up new images and videos as the talk progresses.

What uses can you think of for this easy to use online tool?

Please click on the image below to see a very simple example.

OISE Bristol 2011-100 (1)

Go with the flow

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Have you tried Lucidchart?

There are freemium and paid for options available and it offers online sharing and collaboration creating organisational charts, mind maps, flow charts and a number of other useful applications.

Why not take a look at a flowchart of the Beatles song ‘Hey Jude‘ by clicking on the image below? Do you ever work online on documents with other colleagues?

© Ryan Pike | Dreamstime Stock Photos

Lucidchart

Are you showing your true colours?

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Which colour are you? Green, orange, gold or blue?

I read an article recently about managing people according to their temperament and the skill sets associated with that particular personality type. Now it wasn’t entirely clear why these specific colours were allocated to each category – as far as I can see it could just as easily have been indigo, red, olive and burnt sienna.

However, nit-picking aside, it was an interesting read and you can see it by clicking on the image below. I asked you which colour you are, but is that what you want to be or what you really are? Do you think others would choose the same colour for you?

Color Glasses......(3)

Trust me…

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Interpersonal skills are vital if you want to be able to communicate effectively. Indeed those people with a good understanding and command of these skills tend to be happier and more successful in both their personal and professional lives.

So what are interpersonal skills? They include areas of communication such as listening, problem solving and making decisions. Can you think of any others?

I think that first impressions are an important aspect, because the way people perceive you during that initial encounter may well have a considerable impact on your relationship with them.

Before you click on the picture of Bristol below to read an article about this, what ways can you think of that will help anyone make a great first impression?

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