• 17:00 Want new pc, as old one is dying by degrees. But will persevere and replace HDD and wait another month for another part of it to die. #

• 10:52 If casting a good actress in a role perfect for her is "stunt casting", yay for stunt casting. #
• 17:14 Ebay, new interface could only be worse if it was accompanied by a midi soundtrack of It's a Small World in 7/8 time dropping a semitone/bar #

• 09:51 Alice's DW episode was made of pure, crystal awesome. #

Reading an article by the man who wrote the book I got a review of about a show and a dvd of a mentalist, the latter of which is produced by an old friend...

And another old friend directed a VERY good TV show I saw at the weekend.

And another old friend was at a convention launching his new comics and getting new writing gigs.

Which is to say; I appear to be only a node or two away from the networks I aspire to being in.

But also, there is little more humiliating than the success of one's peers.

And finally: available for summer season, panto season, wedding, bar mitzvahs and funerals.

In the QI edition of The Idler, Lloyd and Mitchinson present a five-point manifesto for educational reform.

One: play not work

Schools should be resource centres, not prisons. Teachers should be returned to their original roles as facili-tators, not bureaucrats or drillmasters. The more "work" resembles play – telling stories, making things – the more interested kids will become.

Two: follow the chain of curiosity

Ask a kid what he wants to learn, and he's unlikely to say: "a broad-based curriculum that offers the core skills". Real learning is obsessive. It happens through watching, listening and practising something that really interests you. Encourage children to follow their own curiosity right to the end of the chain, and they will acquire the skills they need to get there.

Three: you decide

The QI School isn't compulsory and there are no exams: only projects or goals you set yourself with the teacher acting as a mentor. This could be making a film or building a chair. From age seven onwards, our core subjects might be: philosophy, storytelling, music, technology, nature and games.

Four: no theory without practice

If you're lost in wonder looking at, say, a lettuce, you will want to have a go at growing it, too.

Five: you never leave

There is no reason why school has to stop dead at 17 or 18. The QI school would be the ultimate "lifelong learning" venue – a mini-university where skills and knowledge would be pooled and young and old could indulge their curiosity.


Yes, it does sound awfully familiar, almost like, some sort of autonomous, student led education, if only someone had thought of it before....

• 09:36 did everyone enjoy summer? because it looks like we're about to move into autumn now you've had a whole week of summer. #
• 10:04 Apologies, apparently it is still summer as the rain isn't freezing, my apologies. #
• 15:01 @joshuamneff ... and who's saying it isn't? #
• 15:07 @joshuamneff Typical. He doesn't even reply these days when I send him videos of how McGregor should have played Obi-Wan.. #
• 15:52 getting excited about Alice's Doctor Who episode on Saturday.... #

• 10:20 Today, I are to havin' my SOOPID hed on. #

• 11:13 Iron Man: yeah, it's good, but it's no Little Brother... now available for download from craphound.com #
• 17:44 Your mission: find someone who admits to having voted for Boris. #

• 09:50 I did NOT fail my driving test, the examiner FAILED to RECOGNIZE MY AWESOME. #
• 10:07 The universe has apologized for my crappy week. Awesome. #
• 14:04 Oh joy, e-bay have re-ordered their categories making it impossible to find decent boardgames #
• 18:34 Off to jolly old Essex then #

• 10:39 If it's thursday, it must be time for RTA on the Ruthin-Mold road #
• 10:48 Dear Lazy web: if one finds that one's DVD box set is now missing a disk, how does one obtain a replacement? Answer me up, folks. #
• 11:06 Whoever it is in the office who has the Catchphrase sound effect on his phone, please turn it off, before I "Say what I see". #
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• 11:54 tinyurl.com/5om44l still ok about ID cards and kids database? #
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• 12:48 Why I hate my computer: it's laughably easy to put apostrophes in the wrong place. #

• 09:46 Happy, happy sunshiney day... #
• 11:15 Paranoia Blog: BBC Wrexham are "following me" on twitter... #
• 15:01 making up semi-plausible scandals about wrexham now bbc wrexham are following. Start with Relegation from league due to anti-welsh prejudice #
• 15:19 "The social mammals teach pups how to forage for dangerous prey, challenging the idea that teaching is built on intelligence" - New Sci. #

• 12:40 Need to get timesheets signed, my manager's facebook update says "is a ball of fury". eek. #
• 15:11 I'll see Colin's ball of fury and raise tired, stupid and depressed. #
• 15:37 Ever had one of those days when you want to kick your own backside because you're ruining your own day? #
• 15:39 @notsheep Call the boy Shatner. In fact, even if it's a girld, call the baby Shatner. #
• 16:04 @notsheep I wish my parents had called me Shatner. It would suit me. And I'd fit into the average US TV show cast / crew list #

• 09:46 Had a great time on Saturday with Alex at Merseyside Astronomy Day: Main Belt Comets FTW! #

• 13:01 Unhealthily obsessed with Little Brother, not been this obsessed since Transmetropolitan #

• 15:14 I have a preview copy of Little Brother, ask me about it, go on, you want to. #

• 11:06 I love following Warren Ellis on twitter: it's like having someone else do my abuse for me. #

• 09:24 To all now following me on twitter: welcome to my ADHD #