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MY PERSONAL QUEST for energy independence involves saving solar energy as the primary power source for our household. That means investing in a Power Vault to store the energy AND committing to shutting down for the day when the stored power reaches a critical level.

Our home burns 11.4 kwh during the summer and nearly double that amount during the winter months if we run a space heater in our uninsulated outdoor studio. We need to conserve more and perhaps start with better insulation. Ideas welcome.

[Bernie Goldbach teaches remotely during COVID-19 and reckons working from home in his log cabin síbín costs three euro per day for electricity.]

WE HAVE A COMMUNAL Surface Book now. I used it for 35 minutes during the first five hours of its life in the house. The remainder of the time the laptop was detached from its screen and used by Mia (13) with its pen to draw with the excellent app Leonardo.

My first impression: this is a laptop that can quickly save me up to an hour a day with rendering and system multi-tasking. True to its promotional literature, this Surface Book 3 "combines speed, graphics and immersive gaming with the versatility of a laptop, tablet and portable studio."

If having a Windows machine with the elegance of an iPad appeals to you, I recommend checking to see if you can if you qualify for an educational discount otherwise you'll spend north of €2400 for the Surface Book we have in the house..

[Bernie Goldbach teaches remotely while attached to the Clonmel Digital Campus of the Limerick Institute of Technology.]

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Where Bernie's Teams Meetings happen.

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This took more than a few minutes.

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Exploring how I could have spent more than €600 in data charges.

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You pay more than a used car to use Three MiFi on a monthly 30GB contract. Details from my bill.

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One week of MiFi for the house just killed Christmas 2020 for us, according to my bill.

With lockdown restrictions returning to Ireland taking place up until the two weeks before Christmas, it is important to remain calm about anything that isn’t life or death. This year has been so hard for so many, I remain grateful...

The post Shopping and Planning for Christmas 2020 appeared first on EvinOK.

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DJI OM4 sneaking out to record.

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Three MiFi Broadband working in the garden shed.

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Videographer Jack Allen graduated from the Clonmel Digital Campus in 2018. He shares where he gets some of his best creative techniques.

I EXPECT TO CONTINUE teaching third level students in a hybrid fashion for the rest of my days. Looking at my current teaching methods, I realise I use six rather unique technologies while delivering course material to a mix of creative media, digital animation, and game art design students.

I have allowed students to complete exit interviews by using live direct text responses inside Instagram when they did not have bandwidth for any other service.

Students produce 30 or more pages of content in written journals for me. Pages are numbered and specific content must be sketched or noted. To earn credit for this work, they join me with a webcam running during an exit interview as I ask to see specific pages of their journals.

For up to three marks in modules, students write public content on LinkedIn. The content should be both textual and visual and reference a person or a company with the hashtag #clonmeldigital.

I like Calendly for booking appointments.

I use Instapaper, Readwise, and Roam for injecting current content into my academic material.

I use Socrative multiple choice questions with my second year students. I should have the current quiz running in the MEWRITING room before our meeting if you want to try your hand. Students earn one mark for scoring 70% or above on the quiz. The questions are served in random order. I know there’s some collaborative work being done during the quiz sessions.

[Bernie Goldbach teaches creative media for business on the Clonmel Digital Campus for the Limerick Institute of Technology.]

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Explaining how to use a DJI OM 4.

I HAVE BOOKS on my shelves that teach me lessons from generations ago. One of those books is written by Thucydides who explains how the citizens of Athens survived a major pandemic in the fifth century. The story is wonderfully told during a two part Ideas Podcast from the CBC. (Subscribe to Ideas from the CBC.)

There are so many parallels between the way the citizens of Athens managed their pandemic and the way Americans are maneuvering through the pandemic. We can learn from history. Or not. I recommend listening to the two part CBC series on Thucydides, even if you've read the history of the Peloponnesian War, a conflict fought in ancient Greece between Athens and Sparta—the two most powerful city-states in ancient Greece at the time (431 to 405 B.C.E.). SPOILER ALERT: This war shifted power from Athens to Sparta, making Sparta the most powerful city-state in the region.

Or you could dive into a good book. Or Subscribe to Ideas.

Whatever you do, don't take advice about global pandemics from your Facebook newsfeed.

[Bernie Goldbach teaches creative media for business on the Clonmel Digital Campus of the Limerick Institute of Technology. He lusts for high quality leather-bound hardbacks.]

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The props are part of €80 of damage to the DJI P3P.

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This one came from Microsoft.

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The fastest home broadband I can get when my Eir Fibre is inop.

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