Chris Curtis Web Site

Blogging Pro mentions my WordPress Plugin: WP_Shoutcast

The WP_Shoutcast plugin shows what’s on a [[shoutcast]] station of your choice. The output is similar to this:

Whole Wheat Radio

On-air
Programme/Song
Todd Hoke – Hidden Track
Bitrate: 56 kpbs
Listeners: 25 / 70

Only a small mention, but nice to be noticed. Thanks!

If you want a copy of the plug-in (the zip file has a readme with instructions) click here.

I have been using Feeddemon for about a fortnight. Basically, it is a reader for RSS, atom etc. feeds. There are free readers out there, but I thought it was worth paying for feeddemon because it is so slick – it genuinely helps you to read the content of your feeds, which is what it is all about. Feeds are kept in groups, and each feed and group generates a “newspaper” – or browser display of the contents. This is configurable so you can present the feed contents in a format you like (or download one that someone else has made). Use a “newspaper” with some sensible values for reading and feeddemon becomes a genuine “information centre” doing the browsing donkey work for you, so all you have to do is scan the updates in all your favourite sites.

What I also like, is that it handles RSS enclosures, so is also my podcast software. You can set it to download all enclosures automatically, but I have quite a few, where I read the description then click the paper-clip icon to start the download for the ones I want to listen to. It downloads in the background, saves it to a sensible place and logs it into Windows Media so you can find and listen to it later (or put it on the Muvo so I can listen to it at the gym).

Recommended.

I thought it was time for a new, proper WP 1.5 theme for this site. I started with “FrameFake” by Kai Ackerman, changed a lot of the CSS style and the header photo, then played with the templates to add-in my shoutcast plug-in and the spam-karma announcement, plus my links.

The next step is to have a different template for different categories so I can have a different header photo, different colours and maybe even different layout for each.

Incidentally, the header photo is one of mine – a view from the “High Weald” near Turner’s Hill, W Sussex.

My main PC is a Dell laptop which I lug between home and work, as well as to other places! At home, it connects to the internet through a firewall with Address Translation. Skype works very well, without any configuration. At work, there is also a firewall and address translation, but a mandatory proxy too. Skype does not work at all, but I have not tried any reconfiguration yet. The internet connection at work is due to change very soon, with it being much easier to connect to the internet, and with proxy servers becoming “transparent” so it is not worth spending hours trying to get it to work now. I will update when I have tried it out.

I took the British Orienteering Federation’s level I orienteering coach course about a year ago, and have enjoyed working with students in and around the school grounds and taking them to events. I was quick and keen to sign up when I saw a (fairly) local course for the level 2 coaching qualification advertised last November. Despite the booking form being lost in the post back then, I went along today and joined 12 others for the course.

The level I qualification is aimed at people who want to share a “taste” of orienteering with beginners, within the grounds of a school or youth centre. Level II is aimed at people who want to “instruct” orienteering up to technical level 3 – or “orange” courses. This is ideal for me with the age range of students at my school. The qualification also supports you in organising and planning coaching in “small woodlands with good access” again ideal for the students I work with.

We started with a brief reprise of parts of the level I course, then came a mixture of new things: access, registering activities with BOF and the like. Then we worked in groups using a local map to plan coaching exercises for particular purposes. I was with a group that was given the job of preparing a course that would coach recognising and using attack points. The discussion was great, with group members pitching in as we identified possible controls and attack points that went with them. Then we ambled down to the area, about five minutes away, and walked the course. At this point, the planning evaporated. Our first control and its attack points were fine, as was the second, but the lovely clear lines into the third turned out to be full of gorse bushes and a gully on the map was hardly visible on the ground. Our best control was basically invisible, and the lovely attack point turned out to be vague and unconvincing. The hasty replacement was not great. What was a classic and well thought-out exercise on paper, was OK but not great on the ground – a powerful piece of learning.

Each group then tried the other groups’ exercises, which showed that they had struggled as we had, with some really good controls to illustrate the learning points (“route choice” and “aiming off”) and some very dubious ones. This was another powerful piece of learning – how particular terrain favours particular techniques. With some pacing and bearing exercises thrown in, three and a half hours flew by.

After lunch, we worked on some coaching situations, looked at how to plan coaching exercises and did some work actually planning. I spent a happy half hour trying to plan white and yellow courses on a variety of unfamiliar maps. What was fascinating and challenging was the business of planning things appropriate to the level, even thinking about what might be visible from a child’s height compared with an adult’s.

In many ways, the real work now begins. To qualify, we have to do “internal assessment”, completing a written test paper, and other exercises as well as submitting plans for several sessions and courses. Once we are through that, we have to do an “external assessment”, which means running a coaching session while being observed.

I thoroughly enjoyed the day and felt I learnt. I had wondered whether I was being a little arrogant thinking that I can coach the sport, given my fairly limited achievements so far, but trying to explain things to others is a very good way to learn, and I already know that there is a desperate need for our kids to be encouraged to get out of doors and do challenging and interesting things. I think I can help them to do that while I carry on learning. I do want to continue and will be aiming to do the work to gain the qualification. More importantly, this will be a spur to plan and deliver more orienteering for youngsters.