Replied to no more email subscriptions (jarche.com)

There are several ways to subscribe to this blog and I have just removed two: Feedburner (Google), and Webfish.
This will be the last post you receive via email as I am cancelling subscriptions and deleting all subscribers in the next 24 hours.

Why am I doing this?
1. I do not agree with Googleโ€™s…

Harold, you have me thinking about my use of email. I think that I will maintain my email related to my newsletter. However, I am wondering about my blog(s).

Another option you didn’t include in following blogs via email is IFTTT.

Replied to Blog Posts As Old Concrete Slabs or Alive in the Cracks In Between? (CogDogBlog)

Hereโ€™s another nifty way to make your blog alive; link to your own posts. Itโ€™s so easy in the WordPress editor when selecting text to hyperlink.

Even better again Alan is to link to other people’s posts too! There are flowers absolutely everywhere.
Bookmarked All The Ways Your Smartphone And Its Apps Can Track You (Gizmodo Australia)

In the end your smartphone use is helping to build up a picture of who you are and the kind of advertising you’re interested in for companies like Google, Facebook, and others — even if an app isn’t part of a massive advertising network, it may well sell its data to one. Apple stands apart in this regard, keeping the data it tracks for its own use and largely on a single device, though of course the apps that run on iOS have more freedom to do what they want.

Even if you’re reasonably content to put up with some monitoring on Android and iOS, it’s important to know what kind of data you’re giving up every time you switch your smartphone on. Whether it means you uninstall a few social media tools, or disable location tracking for a few apps, it gives you some semblance of control over your privacy.

Mark Nield explains some ways that phones track users, including capturing location settings via photographs. He also provides some tips for how to regain some of the control through the privacy settings. Along with Adam Greenfield’s breakdown of the smartphone, these posts help to highlight what data is being gathered about us and how.
Replied to Filtering with dates in the QUERY function – Ben Collins (Ben Collins)

Working with dates in the Query function in Google Sheets can be tricky. This tutorial shows you the correct syntax and examples.

This year I have been creating a monthly summary of posts and updates associated with all things GSuite. It occurred to me after nine months that I should really be storing all the links in some sort of database. My question is how to automate the process of turning that into a monthly post.
I have been getting on the GAS and am thinking that QUERY might be a part of my solution. I am therefore trying to get everything working in Sheets first. I have followed your guide to QUERY, even adding in two dynamic selectors (is that what they are called?) that I got from your work on VLOOKUPS. My question is filtering by dates. I have followed your instructions for filtering between two dates:

ย =QUERY(Data!$A$1:$H$136,”select C, B where B > date ‘”&TEXT(A1,”yyyy-mm-dd”)&”‘ and B <= date ‘”&TEXT(B1,”yyyy-mm-dd”)&”‘”,1)

But fear that I maybe limited as I have recorded my dates using DD-MM-YYYY. Sheets recognises this as a date as a formatted the cells as ‘DATES’. My spreadsheet settings have also been changed to ‘Australia’. I am wondering if you have any thoughts or suggestions on this? Here is a link to my sheet.

Replied to 4 Ways that Google Might be Hurting Education (etale.org)

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This is such an interesting post Bernard. In regards to the ‘commercialisation of educators’, I am a Google Certified Innovator and enjoyed my experienceย at Google. However, it was the opportunity to work with other passionate educators which was the boon, not the focus on tools.

I was a Google Educator before they changed the program, but my credentials have since lapsed. I could justify completing the credentials as it is a core part of my current work. However, I have concerns about ticking a box. I prefer to use my time to develop my own capacity myself, documented in my monthly newsletter. I think that Rafranz Davis captures some of the issues too.

In regards to the influence of Google, I am more concerned about the influence of GAFA, FANGS or whatever acronym you choose to use. I am happy to support teachers where they are at. I have written about Apple, Adobe and Microsoft. I have also written about open software and managing my own domain. In regards to disclosure, I would like to think that I am transparent, but I guess I could always do better.

Replied to Pickles and Shoe Tying (cogdogblog.com)

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I love this comment Alan:

What I think is worth writing about are things in your day that nibble at your attention. That make you pause, ever so briefly.

I think sometimes I forget this. Interestingly, Kin Lane shared something similar lately to:

It would KILL ME to not be able to tell stories. I need storytelling to do what I do. To work through ideas. It is how I learn from others.

You have both reinvigorated me to stop worrying and just get back to sharing and storytelling.