I’m currently in Romania. The main reason for me being out here is to carry out some research experiments regarding the adaptive e-learning software I’ve developed.

However to do e-learning experiments we need students and apparently there are plenty of students in Romania, which is why I’ve spent the last two weeks teaching a Web Application Development course in at Bucharest University.

We’ve had some problems with spam registrations for some of the Joomla websites I run. After a little browsing I found a free,  easy to use joomla plugin which solves the problem.

It’s called OSOLCaptcha and is a captcha plugin for the user registration, login, reset password, contact us and remind username forms. You only need to install and then publish the plugin for it to work and you can download it for free from here.

I’ve been using WPTouch on this blog for a while now. WPTouch is a plugin for WordPress which allows you to use a different theme for mobile browsers. Test it by going to JoshuaScotton.com on your mobile!

The default theme is fine for my needs and since installing it and doing the initial configuration I haven’t needed to touch it for months. The plugin page is here but you can also click on ‘Add New’ from the Dashboard Plugins menu and install it from there. I’d highly recommend using it if your blog is on WordPress.

I’m now looking into a similar plugin which works with Joomla for some other websites I’m currently working on. It’s called Mobile Joomla and looks pretty good as well.

I’ve been messing around with Google’s AppInventor following the invite I got last week.

Here’s my first app, it’s fairly simple and uses the TinyDB and the OrientationSensor objects which were fun to play with.

Ever had an argument about which direction North is? You haven’t? Just me? Well, if you had, you could have solved it on the spot with “Where’s North?!?”. Two players try to point the phone North. The closest player wins…

You can’t upload AppInventor apps to the market yet so you’ll need to download here or scan the barcode below. Make sure you have Settings->Applications->Unknown Sources ticked otherwise you won’t be able to install it.

Latest issue of the free online magazine BlenderArt is out…

ISSUE 28: Blender 2.5
The Blender 2.5 series has been out for a while now, and while it still is under going a lot of changes and refinement, it is stable enough for some serious testing and playing. So let’s get everyone ‘Up to Speed’ with Blender 2.5 and how to best take advantage of all the wonderful new toys and options available.
Download here

I’m currently in Sousse, Tunisia attending and presenting at the IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT 2010).

I’m presenting a talk on “Reusing Adaptation Strategies in Adaptive Educational Hypermedia Systems” later this morning and the slides are available from here.

You can download the slides from my presentation at the WPCCS 2010 today from here.

Latest issue of the free online magazine BlenderArt is out…
ISSUE 26: Blender & Gaming
This issue we not only take a look at how Blender is used in various game production pipelines, but we see two very creative uses for Blender’s internal game engine and how those uses have helped children.
Download here

The first events of the year that I organised for Notts/Derby BCS group went well and I’m hoping that this continues with the events over the next couple of months.

They are all held at the Long Eaton Novotel and are free to non-BCS members. If you want to come along please register first on our website so we have an idea of numbers. The next few meetings are:

• 15th March: Safe Disposal of IT equipment
• 19th April: Speed Networking!
• 17th May: Game-based learning
• 21st June: The Art of Productive Laziness

All meetings start at 18:30 and are at: Novotel, Bostock Lane, Long Eaton, NOTTINGHAM NG10 4EP (map)

Latest issue of the free online magazine BlenderArt is out…
ISSUE 25: Winter Wonderland
There is something mesmerizing about watching snow gently fall. The soft fluffy look as it piles up here and there. Then there are the lovely shades of blue that seem to paint winter landscapes in enchanting hues of winter chill. So while the weather outside is frightful, the articles and fun to be had inside are delightful.
Download here