I want to be a pupil at Bacons College in Rotherhithe! What an awesome school. From the moment I arrived, the sense of fun and enthusiasm from teachers and pupils (and their ace librarian) hit me like a tractor beam. As with so many of the schools I’ve visited with Dot Robot, the children were mad for the tech and the reading. Thanks for having me (Robonova says ‘Hi!’)
Pictured with the kids, are some of the Dot Robot Roadshow robots: Rovio (Who I operate via the net with my iPhone), Robonova (who has just finished his Tai Chi routine) and Punk (from my book)
Another school, another Dot Robot Roadshow. As you can see from the bottom picture, it was mayhem during the robot race at Walworth - I even got some stern looks from the teachers for being a bad influence (^_^) Big hello to all of the kids (and teachers!) from Walworth Academy who made me and the robots feel very welcome.
Uber British mathematician and physicist Stephen Wolfram’s latest creation has been revealed to the world. You’ve gotta give WolframAlpha.com a try. It might look like a search engine, but it’s very different. It’s a computational logic engine - the beginning of a huge project designed to make all systematic knowledge, instantly computable. What does that mean? Well, try this: my electric bike is reputed to go 20 miles on one charge. I can travel at 25mph on it and I want to know how long my battery will last me in time. If I enter ‘20 miles at 25 mph’ into Google, I get a list of rather irrelevant pages from other people’s sites. If I put ‘20 miles at 25 mph’ into WolframAlpha I get the time in seconds and minutes (2880 secs or 48 mins). The computers behind the site work out, from my plain English, what I’m after and boom, I have my answer - along with a bunch of other mathematically related info. It’s like an real life version of Skynet (the fictional computer system that gives rise to the robots in Terminator). Indeed, & this is really cool, I asked WolframAlpha ‘Are you Skynet’ and the image above is the answer he gave! (yep, it’s a joke based on the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey with HAL’s iconic red eye in the middle of the logo. Genius.)
Dot Robot is the Blue Peter book of the month!!! And even better, I was invited onto the show to chat about it and review some seriously cool tech - like the new Microsoft smart table and a really nice augmented reality encyclopedia.
And yes! I got a badge! That’s another life box ticked!
The Twitter Index is a list of the world’s 200 most influential users of Twitter. I was amazed to receive an email telling me that I am ranked 13th on the list! Just after Downing Street - and above Barack Obama!!! Jonathan Ross is 1st, Stephen Fry 3rd and Lance Armstrong 8th. The list is compiled using algorithms designed to calculate a user’s standing within the Twitter community, how often their name is used, how much their messages are passed around and the interest their posts generate within their readership.
Other notable entries in the list include Twitter itself at 24th, Tony Hawks & Britney Spears 44th & 45th respectively- and Arnold Schwarzenegger 97th!
The Dot Robot Roadshow hit Harris Academy of Peckham. It’s a HUGE school!!! And wow, what a great bunch of kids! The hall was jam packed! I thought my signing hand was going to fall off. I based the fictional school in Dot Robot on Peckham Academy, so it was kinda like coming home. And here’s a thing, this picture of me taking my fictional robot, Punk, for a walk, was shot on the road next to the school. A big thank you to the pupils and teachers for accepting me into the home borough of Dot Robot’s hero, Jackson Farley.
My first school visit with the Dot Robot Roadshow was to the boyZ & girlZ of Preston Manor High School, Wembley, London! What a crazy bunch they were. SOooo many autographs! My ears still haven’t recovered from the shouting during the robot race.
To all of you who came to Gadget Show Live… did we rock or what?! B-) What a blast! U were all awesome. I thought my hand was going to seize up with all those autographs. The main stage rocked. But the book signings blew me away! See you all next year?
The top photo features Suzi, Ortis and I live on stage.. testing the Panasonic Toughbook! The Second pic is the queue to have copies of Dot Robot signed. Incredible!
The photos and this link were sent to me by some of the audience members. A big thank you.
The Dot Robot Roadshow starts SATURDAY 4TH APRIL, 12.30PM. BLUE BOAR MARQUEE, CHRISTCHURCH COLLEGE OXFORD. I’m so excited to be at the Oxford Literary Festival for my first date. With just two days to go, if you want to come it’s best you turn up at the venue - but the Box Office number is 0870 343 1001 if you want to call. Dot Robot Roadshow isn’t your average book reading. I’m bringing a bunch of really cool robots including the model of Punk from my book. They’ll be a robot race and a chance to WIN one of two robots on the day!!! And of course, I’ll sign any copy of Dot Robot you like!
Other Dates include: 27th May - Hay Festival. 19th August - Edinburgh International Book Festival. 20th September - Bath Festival of Children’s Literature.
