Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 12/10/2026Or have never taught anything practical I can tell you all about while loops all you want, but the only way you’ll ever understand them is by using them and getting stuck in an infinite loop. And if you don’t understand them you’re no good as a programmer 040
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 25/09/2026You think there’ll be any meaningful punishment? That’s only for little people 110
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 23/09/2026The Wild, the Innocent and the Eel Street Shuffle? 011
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Oh aye, the royal family were famously marrying Gaelic speaking crofters from Lewis 060
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Not listened to this for a while so I’d forgotten how darned good it is 000
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Album of the day: 1001albumsgenerator.com/albums/4NGWe...1001albumsgenerator.comAlbum Of The DayPsychocandy by The Jesus And Mary Chain 100
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 10/09/2026I think you should be able to make Brussels (or maybe Cologne) or Paris on day 1. That maximises your travel days. The ÖBB app reckons you can make Amsterdam in time for the sleeper… 110
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 10/09/2026We did Berlin to Diss easily in a day with long enough breaks in Cologne and Brussels to do some shopping (and build in time for any delays). It was quite an early departure but worked fine and everything was on time 020
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Ag, is someone pivoting to a different money making opportunity now that skills are making a (slight) comeback? 110
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 04/09/2026And they seem to be turning up more frequently. As do the non-first class regular units. Not that I regularly go first class, but sometimes you get a decent deal 010
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Chiltern Seeds will often have interesting varieties that are worth a look 010
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 01/09/2026The first day of the last year I shall be a teacher. 0.5FTE so 98 days to go… 010
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 27/08/2026I was the quiet kid at the back of the classroom praying the teacher never asked me to speak or, even worse, read aloud Now I'm the apparently confident teacher at the back of the staff meeting praying no one singles me out for comment or, even worse, praise It's excruciating; I can't cope with it 010
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 23/08/2026Here’s the route: bahn.expert/details/EN%2... Takes as long from Sapjane as the regular train and that’s not racing anywaybahn.expertBahn ExperteDein Begleiter um Stressfrei Bahn zu fahren. Sucht die besten Informationen aus allen Quellen um dich ans Ziel zu bringen. 020
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 23/08/2026Perhaps a carriage gets detached at Ljubljana and sent to Koper? Certainly the train that sits at Rijeka station doesn’t seem overly long 020
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 23/08/2026Also “raced through Croatia”? on the line to Rijeka from Ljubljana? There are slower lines I imagine, but not many 110
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 14/08/2026Sure it is I love bagpipe music. Let me know which train you’re on and you can experience some 160
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 14/08/2026No worries. Occupational hazard: I used to teach geography! 010
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 14/08/2026For comparison, Thorpeness, Dunwich, Hemsby, Happisburgh etc clearly more at risk from erosion. Even the likes of Hopton and California Coastal poverty is another issue of course 110
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 14/08/2026There seems to have been relatively little erosion over the last 120 years. The Naze has shifted a little, but other than that I'd say flood risk was more of an issue Thanks for making me take a look btw 110
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 13/08/2026Looks like the new GBR livery? Do SR have any of those in use yet? 100
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 13/08/2026Obviously not. I tutted a bit and cleared my throat… 110
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 13/08/2026Do we know whether she plays videos with the volume up on her phone whilst travelling? I mean, she doesn’t look like she does, but I’ve just been on a 3 hour train from Luxembourg to Brussels where an older lady did that… 210
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 28/07/2026I see plenty of teachers who have been persuaded that if they can measure a short term gain in knowledge that means they’re doing a good job In my view that’s due directly to Gove’s changes. And it’s unforgivable 040
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 28/07/2026I’m not one of the ones who think they were good. Indeed, I’d say they were the single worst thing to happen to education in my 35 year career. The way they’ve skewed the system to a fairly extreme right wing view of knowledge is unforgivable 090
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 28/07/2026Quite. The problem is that at 11-16 level the way to teach is increasingly mandated. I’ll be glad to finish next year 011
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 28/07/2026The problem is that Gove’s reforms and the “evidence based” teaching changes that happened as a result push pure knowledge to the fore in subjects like history. So rather than the source analysis stuff I taught 35 years ago, it’s learning dates and fact more than it should be rather than thinking 100
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 19/07/2026Naturally I’ll take a Peters projection… xkcd.com/977xkcd.comMap Projections 000
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 19/07/2026Spotted in John Lewis in Norwich. Love the colour but: * Mercator projection? Really? * Japan? * Indonesia?? * Madagascar??! * Caspian Sea??!!!! #maps #BadMaps #mercator 100
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 17/07/2026Yes, this. Every child I teach learns this They also learn that the magic word is abracadabra. I teach secondary level… 010
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Ours pulled them off with their mouths as well and then chewed them to death Wait till mittens are required… 020
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Socks. Mainly they like socks if I remember correctly 100
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 12/07/2026Tulips are quite heavy bulbs, so would you like to know about crocuses? 020
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 05/07/2026Yeah, sure. And the referee allowed it so they kept at it. Some of Galaza’s work was outstanding and the team in general disrupted brilliantly, which had to be their game. But some of it was too much. Two yellow cards, both of them French? Ref seemed too have lost control a bit to be honest 110
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 05/07/2026It was like watching Italian club sides from the 80s. The attempt was to destroy the opposition. And those sides were some of the most successful in European competitions. There are referees who might have taken a different line with some of the defending mind. Which might have made a better game 110
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 03/07/2026Rest of the resources were also pretty weak imo, certainly not allowing for kids to work at different speeds or have difficulty with spreadsheets. Which they always do. We’re losing both the ability to create resources and the understanding that it’s necessary to. Let alone the desire to. 021
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 03/07/2026One of the centrally planned resources I’ve been given is a spreadsheet of medals from the 2012 Olympics. This is a national resource. The kids I was told to use this with (yr 7) weren’t born in 2012. No child in school would remember 2013. Took me 10 minutes to extract data for the Paris games… 110
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 20/06/2026Good luck finding shade! I shall be at Canterbury watching Kent fail to nail down their slight advantage. Not a day for bowling a fear 010
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 18/06/2026Although... It would fit nicely in a year 9 unit on networks and the internet. “There is something called a VPN children. You must not use it, but this is what it does and this is why some people use them” 150
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 18/06/2026The school I work in has a policy of allowing just enough access to fun stuff that the children don’t need to try doing anything that could put the network at risk Seems to work well enough 2120
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 16/06/2026I watched a child do their maths homework the other day - year nine using an online maths website Took a screenshot of each question, dragged it into co-pilot, it have the right answer. Each time Seems like a waste of everyone’s time 110
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 16/06/2026We‘re told parents want homework so we have to set it. And “it”’ is often an exercise in creating work for the sake of it. Or is done on an app Apparently we’re all going to use AI to mark it soon. Which will render it even more pointless. 110
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 16/06/2026Well, as a teacher… But, yes, I’m most cases I agree. Some reading. Maybe some times tables and then like in primary school, sure. Beyond that, not a fan 120
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 15/06/2026As far as I can see they being actively encouraged to use AI. That certainly seems to be the trend. Certainly I’m being told that I need to teach them how to use it in my computing lessons. I’m resisting, but… 000
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 11/06/2026Hasn’t Downham Market also been done up in NSE livery? 100
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 10/06/2026Album of the day: 1001albumsgenerator.com/albums/5cboZ... Haven’t listened to this properly for years. Fabulous album, and The Queen and the Soldier is a masterpiece. Obvious 5/5 but I’m surprised Solitude Standing isn’t on the list1001albumsgenerator.comAlbum Of The DaySuzanne Vega by Suzanne Vega 000
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 07/06/2026Exactly the example I was thinking of. The high school next door also has pane on its roof (although no battery storage). My youngest did an essay on the potential for this as part of his degree this year, so maybe it’s an idea that’ll arrive 110
Ian Ford @bluesquarething.bsky.social · 06/06/2026Computer science teachers roll eyes: three major updates in that timeframe to our GCSEs 010