Tech Reading 21st July 2017
First up a PR piece or something of genuine interest from the Google Research Blog: Using Deep Learning to Create Professional-Level Photographs (13/07/17) Expect this to research to be realised if not already o Google Photos. Machine learning meets the art is not a match made in heaven but the results are what counts. CommsCamp 2017 is the gift that keeps on giving. The latest apple to fall from its tree is from Ben Proctor What have we learned about emergencies in 2017? (19/07/17). This for me was a useful insight on crisis communications amongst many others from Ben:
We were great assisted by having a number of people who had been involved in the response to the Manchester attack in fire and local authority comms. They had some very interesting things to share including the rather wonderful insight that so many people took to social media to thank the emergency services for their work that it threatened to swamp the Fire Service comms team. Something worth feeding into planning and exercising, but a problem I imagine any public service should be very proud to have.
Thinking about this as a problem is odd instead for me it is a challenge. How can we in a crisis give the public the chance to thank those responding to a crisis in a way that it does not swamp the comms team who are working hard to respond to the crisis. You could give the public an action; ‘Say thank you by retweeting this for us ( Tweet with the emergency phone number).
If you work in the HQ of a major newspaper the demand for meeting room may well be high. They could have a high end Condeco style solution to booking and displaying when a meeting room is busy or available. Or you could have ‘The Internet of Meeting Rooms, or “Is this room free or what”? ( Richard Spence 10/07/11) Does this Internet of Meeting Rooms work? that’s not really the point of Richard’s article instead it’s a really good report back from a great office experiment using a popular Internet of Things (IoT) device called Dash or its equivalent.
Work today sometimes leaves little time for learning and the public sector is no different. Thankfully the UK Department of Transport (DfT) have reported back in this blog post: ‘Running a digital speed learning session’ (Susannah Johnson, 10/07/17). After reading, the event was clearly a success with staff. The great thing about these types of events is that staff can come and shop around for tech tips, grab one and make it stick. Honestly once someone is introduced to the snipping tool they never looking back. In one heading called ‘Appetite for Instruction, a nod to Guns and Roses gives a good insight into staff preferences at Dft
As results from a recent DfT intranet poll show, we haven’t lost our taste for classroom-based learning. And for good reason — it takes you away from your desk and allows you to fully focus on your learning objective. Yet it can be hard to fit whole days in the classroom around other commitments. Speed learning isn’t a replacement for a longer training course, but for bite sized introductions to tools and tips that you can start using straight away, it definitely gets the job done.
Lastly a film documentary recommendation, it is educational and it is by the great German film maker Werner Herzog. The documentary is called ‘Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World (2016) The film is about the internet, its past, present and future. More importantly it is about how human interact with it for better or worse. The real strength of this film documentary is Werner Herzog himself. Speaking in English, Herzog’s delivery with his German accent is one that is caring, thoughtful and best of all compassionate to all those he interviews. Here is a taste of its charms
Anyways, have a great tech weekend.
