Machine Learning demonstrated beautifully in a fun game

The website of the year winner has just been won...
- https://quickdraw.withgoogle.com/

It is cool and fun for three year olds up to 103 year olds... and demonstrates machine learning beautifully. Lovely to play around with on a desktop with your mouse - or on a touch screen device with your finger.

Watch the video...

...and how did I do when I gave it a go?

It guessed four out of six of my sketches (you get 20 seconds for each).

A bit disappointed that my brilliant penguin sketch though. Come on a fire hydrant!!!???

Check it out,..

- https://quickdraw.withgoogle.com/

The Mining Institute

Today I was fortunate enough to have a tour of the North of England Mining Institute in Newcastle City Centre.

Two hundred years ago, the North East led the way in terms of engineering techniques around deep mining. In this building the lead engineers from collieries around the UK came together and shared knowledge so that the UK were world leaders in mining and so that safety and efficiency could be continuously improved.

Some photographs and links to further information below...

As featured in the RIBA love architecture series

The Neville Hall Library

"I advise and protect"

Marble statue of ex-chairman Nicholas Wood

Fantastic carvings and details everywhere

The historic steep sided lecture theatre - inspired the room in London's Royal Institution

Stuff lying about in the storage rooms - like a 200 year old map of Newcastle

If you are ever in Newcastle - I can recommend planning a visit.

Visit their website - https://mininginstitute.org.uk
Check out the Wikipedia page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_of_England_Institute_of_Mining_and_Mechanical_Engineers

Building Information Modelling for Dummies

BIM for Dummies

I received a complimentary copy of Building Information Modelling for Dummies last week. This is the latest BIM title to hit the internet bookshops in time for Christmas.

Written by NBS experts Stefan Mordue and Paul Swaddle alongside UK Government's Head of BIM Dave Philp it is fantastic to see this title published as part of the world-famous Riley 'For Dummies' series.

The book weighs in almost 400 pages and is split into six main parts. The first part looks at how to get started with BIM, in particular defining what BIM is. The authors stress the importance of the information - without which a model is simply 3D geometry. This publication has an international audience, but it is nice to see that so many of the examples used within the book come from a UK background. In the second part of the book that looks at the foundations for BIM, the levels of maturity that were originally mapped out by Bew and Richards are explained.

The authors

In part three of the book practical advice is given in terms of defining a process around BIM that works for the type of organisation that the reader may represent. One thing that is nice in terms of how the book is presented is the iconography against the paragraphs that highlight where the content is presenting a 'Tip', a 'Warning', 'Something to Remember' etc... For example in the section on standardising your BIM approach, there are a number of nicely written tips on what parameters to include in your objects.

Part four looks at some real-world benefits of the working within a BIM environment. Again, it is nice to see the UK's recent experience being used as examples with the early adopter Cookham Wood case study being presented. Part five then takes an opportunity to look at where the digitalising of the construction industry will next take us. The point is made that organisations need to invest in R&D to keep on moving forward. Organisations need to keep an eye on emerging capabilities such as big data, telemetry and the cloud. These will enable us to start measuring real-world performance enhancements and better outcomes that are tangible. In the coming years the aim will not be simply digitalising a single built-asset but how that built-asset is performing as part of a smart-city.

The final part of the book looks at some nice little 'lists of 10' - perhaps designed for those who like to flick through a book from the back pages first. There are lists of the top 10 BIM questions and answers, the top 10 BIM software considerations and the top 10 BIM resources. One of these resources is social media and it's is very nice indeed to see a mention of this blog at the bottom of page 343 :)

A mention!

Reflecting back on this publication and the recent NBS publication The BIM Management Handbook, neither will give you 100% of the answers to all of the BIM questions. But what they will do is provide an excellent well-structured framework to provide a base for your detailed research and allow you to do some quality thinking time whilst reading through the topics.

To put an order for the book please check out the link below:
- http://www.ribabookshops.com/item/building-information-modeling-for-dummies/85686/

To see my blog review of The BIM Management Handbook see:
- http://constructioncode.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/the-bim-management-handbook.html

The BIM Management Handbook

New NBS publication

Today I received a complimentary copy of the BIM Management Handbook, authored by David Shepherd and published by NBS.

The first few chapters looks at the how a professional consultant can support and respond to the client to ensure that their needs are met. Clients will have information needs to answer their business requirements through the process of designing, building and operating a facility. David looks at how through the development of employer's information requirements and BIM execution plans the project can get off to the best possible start. There is also a chance to reflect on the processes, tools and skills that need to be developed across a practice to ensure that there is a capability and support to deliver efficiently against the client's needs.

The UK BIM Task Group levels of BIM maturity are then explained with a practical guide to how to deliver Level-2 BIM projects. There is also an examination of the UK's Build Digital Britain plan on how this journey will continue.

David Shepherd

David is BIM Manager at Lend Lease and was previously BIM Manager at HOK London and this experience shows as he gives practical advice on the coordination of models and also how to collaborate effectively in a common data environment. There are lots of examples and illustrations from models and also outputs from these models taken from real projects.

Finally, there is a good section on the use of standardised information and also the key principles of levels of detail (LOD) and levels of information (LOI). It's good to see references here to the huge amount of free online support here from NBS including the NBS BIM Object Standard, the National BIM Library and also the library of 1000s of LOD and LOI definitions that are part of BIM Toolkit.

So, an essential purchase for any office to place in the library or tea room - or an ideal Xmas present for those wanting a chance to reflect on their BIM processes and capabilities over the festive period ;). Also, a final thank you to David for the nice mention in the acknowledgement - a little humbling to be mentioned in the company of the other names listed here...

Thanks for the mention!

To put in an order for this book, please follow the link below to RIBA Bookshops...
- http://www.ribabookshops.com/item/bim-management-handbook/83973/

Finally, check out my blog over the next week or two to look out for a short review of the other big BIM publication BIM for Dummies when I manage to get my hands on a copy. NBS also had a big hand in this one with Stefan Mordue and Paul Swaddle working alongside BIM Task Group's Dave Philp as the authors.

Update - find this blog review here:
- http://constructioncode.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/building-information-modelling-for.html

Wembley

I visited the new Wembley for the first time at the weekend. My home town club North Shields were in the FA Vase final and therefore it seemed a great excuse for me and little-Hamil to get the early train down to London for the game.

In recent years I've not had much to cheer from a football point of view [ref 1, 2]. You can sometimes question whether it really matters as much to those making the decisions and those playing as it does to the fans. But watching a small, local club, close to your heart win a cup at the national stadium makes for a pretty special day.

Some photographs below...

The huge arch

An impressive stadium

Memories of 1966

North East vs North West

The hallowed turf

Shields win the game 2-1 with a goal in extra time

Souvenir programme, scarf and tickets

In praise of - Scratch

Both of my children are in Primary School and they are now learning "coding" using the fantastic Scratch website. I remember reading about this in the news a few months ago, but now I am helping them with their homework I cannot speak highly enough about this initiative.

As a youngster myself I remember playing around with a BBC Microcomputer.

10 CLS
20 PRINT "STEPHEN IS COOL"
30 GOTO 20

At university I remember doing a bit of C, FORTRAN and VBA to help analyse results of lab work. This then took me into my day-job which is creating software and websites for the construction industry.

Anyway, back to Scratch, it allows you to build fun visual computer games using "building blocks" of code. It reduces the typing needed as you can get started by just sticking blocks of code together and seeing what happens.

Once you get used to it - fun games to try and write (especially if you are working with kids) are:

1. Pub quiz games - Click on the correct answer - import some nice images - keep score - give the result at the end
2. Platform game - Control the Sprite with the cursors and make fences and clouds and food fly past to produce a "Mario" style platform game
3. Shooting game - Make targets appear and shoot them to make them disappear, add the points up as you go along.

Some screenshots from a recent piece of homework that came through the Hamil House are below. Really simple, but needed designed (sourcing images, resizing them, working out the flow of logic), developed (sticking the code blocks together) and then tested (does it work?). All great fun learning activities for kids. The homework was to do a fun quiz about a European country...

Images appear and disappear when clicked on

In the background the score is being remembered

Different end-screens are shown depending on your success

Events, sensing, appearance and commenting in the simple to use code

Finally, the whole web community is embraced as you can share projects with your friends and explore other people's code so you can keep getting better. Top stuff!

Further info:

• The Scratch website - http://scratch.mit.edu
• The Scratch Wikipedia page - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scratch_%28programming_language%29

Finchale Priory to Durham - Fantastic Cycle or Walking route

The powers that be at Durham have just re-surfaced the Brasside-to-Durham cycle path. A massive 'well-done' to whoever made this happen!

This puts the 7km from Finchale Priory to Durham Cathedral as a really top class UK walk (or short cycle).

Google Maps for Finchale Priory

View Larger Map

I'd advise parking at Finchale Priory if you have the car. If you arrive by train - then start at Durham and work your way up the opposite way. Some photographs below:

The 12th century Finchale Priory 

From the road from Finchale to Brasside you'll see the abandoned Brasside bunkers

Hidden away behind Frankland Prison a lake in the nature reserve

A little further off the beaten path is the grade 2 listed abandoned Belmont Viaduct

The majority of the route is on this fantastically re-surfaced cycle path

The view of the Wear and Cathedral from the grade 1 listed Prebends Bridge

And the 'not-too-shabby' Cathedral awaits -
compared in the same conversations as Prague and Avignon amongst Europe's finest

Linkedin - Who's viewed your updates

I like this the new linkedin feature - it shows you the stats as to how many people have viewed and "liked" your updates. These are grouped into circles representing your 1st level, 2nd level and 3rd level contacts.

http://uk.linkedin.com/in/stephenhamil/

Step 1 - Post a link to a story on the web you think may be of interest

Step 2 - To the right of your linkedin page it tells you the statistics in a nice little chart

You can scroll through the latest 6 updates

Read more on the official linkedin blog...

- http://blog.linkedin.com/2013/06/26/a-more-personalized-linkedin-homepage/

In Praise of - Bradley Wiggins at Le Tour de France

I used to do get out and about cycling quite a bit twenty years ago, this year's Le Tour has certainly reminded me why I love it so much. Also, I've quite enjoyed some of the cycling related banter from the BIM crew on Twitter.

I knew Wiggins had a fair chance of doing well this year, so I made a point of watching Le Tour each night for the last three weeks. The first time I have done this since the days of Lance Armstrong. My favourite three moments of Le Tour have been...

#1 - Stage 7 
Champion Cadel Evans attacks Wiggins and Froome again and again. Wiggins holds his wheel and takes the yellow jersey. Froome puts the marker down that he's the best climber by winning the stage. I love the picture below of Froome powering over the final hill and over the finish line with Wiggins attached firmly to Evans' wheel.

Stage 7 - Wiggins gets the yellow jersey

#2 - Stage 17 
Any questions about whether Wiggins will win or not are put to bed as Froome and Wiggins ride the whole field off their back wheels on the final climb. Great Britain one and two. Le Tour is over.

Stage 17 - Froome and Wiggins ride away from everyone on final climb

#3 - Stage 20
If this had been Indurain or Armstrong the yellow jersey would have been coming into Paris safely in the pack with a glass of Champagne in-hand. Wiggins on the other hand led out the sprint from the final 1km over the cobbles and coming out of the tunnel. A fantastic sight to see the Yellow Jersey leading the whole Tour de France homes.

Stage 20 - Wiggins leads out the sprint for his team mate Cavendish

And now it's time for the Olympics. What price for a Cavendish road race win and a Wiggins time trial win?

...also, maybe I'd better use my bike a bit more than simply to amble the 5km to the train station each day?

1992 - a young geordie teenager on the slopes of Alpe D'Huez

In Praise of: Bridge Constructor iPhone/iPad App

I like little daft puzzle games for my iPhone - Cut the Rope and Angry Birds probably being the best so far.

But as far as I am concerned, there is a new king in town. I downloaded Bridge Constructor a few days ago and I have been playing on it every spare second I have had.

Anyone who has built bridges out of straw and pins at university or school will love this game. You are presented with a gap in the road, then using building materials provided you must make a bridge. You must stay within a budget to ensure you don't over-engineer the solution. Finally, you test the bridge by firstly sending two cars across - then for the big test, two trucks.

Island 1 Bridge 4 - Problems - Trucks about to go in the water

If your bridge is badly designed then the trucks (or the cars) will load test it to destruction. The members under the most load turn red then fail and the vehicles go into the water.

Island 1 Bridge 4 - Problems fixed. Success at 13% under budget

 If your bridge works then trucks drive off into the sunset beeping their horns to confirm success.

Island 3 Bridge 5 - What is this steel and concrete monster? But it works!

After the first few levels the gaps get much larger - but you get more building materials and a bigger budget to solve the challenge. Concrete, steel cables, steel beams and timber beams are at your finger tips ready for you turn into the ideal solution.

In Praise of: The new LinkedIn App for the iPad

Many web applications for tablet or handheld devices are simple replications of the main website. However, the new LinkedIn iPad app is really quite nice. I have been playing around with it and it has impressed me enough to write a short blog about it. (For larger images in a slideshow - click on any of the images below).

Fig 1 - Simple welcome page

To quote Senior Product Manager Manish Sharma:
"The new experience re-imagines LinkedIn for the iPad, taking full advantage of Multi-touch and the new Retina display. We aspire to be the place where every professional comes throughout the day. A place where members come to gather important business intelligence and insights to be great at what they do."

The most impressive pages for me are within the "Updates" area of the site. This lays out a combination of stories from the web you may be interested in with stories your connections have "liked" or actively promoted. This is presented in a two column magazine style format that you can simply flick through by swiping across the tablet. There is just enough information to give you an overview and tease you in to read more. Fig 2 below shows articles on the Government Constriction Summit, Green Roofs and BIM Objects. As LinkedIn knows what subjects I am interested in and what my connections promote - it is all relevant to me.

It must be said, that the presentation of this information is completely different to what you see on your PC or Mac - it is perfect for a tablet device - and that's what makes it special.

Fig 2 - New articles you like and your connections like - newspaper style

Within the "Group" area the page design follows the same principles: Two columns in a magazine format; good use of images and author pen-pics. You can flick through the summaries and then read what is of interest in more depth.

Fig 3 - The LinkedIn Groups are a pleasure to browse

The discussions within the groups are also easy to scroll through and read opinions. This is shown in Fig 4 below...

Fig 4 - The discussion threads are laid out nice and clearly

But what LinkedIn is built on is the ability to make connections with people in your area of interest. The "connections" and "people you may know" areas are really well laid-out. Like mini-business-cards on a table that you can scan through.

Fig 5 -  Potential connections are presented like a desktop of business cards

Selecting a person will give you a nice little overview of their activities and your connections in common. The messaging system is simple too. So overall, very, very nice.

Fig 6 - The personal page gives a clear overview of any connection

So a big "well done" to the team at LinkedIn. It'll be interesting to see if Twitter, Facebook, Google+ react. All of the big social media platforms have unrivalled potential content that people want to see. It would be fantastic to see each of their design teams provide in it in the most appropriate media - whether you are viewing it on a traditional computer, smart phone or a tablet.

- LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/stephenhamil
- Twitter - @StephenHamilNBS