Bookmarks for April 16th through April 17th
These are my links for April 16th through April 17th:
- Blowing Raspberries | Dehype – Why target education? The intention of the project is to get kids excited about programming computers again in the same way the BBC Micro produced By Acorn did in the 1980s. It’s an attempt to get away from the pointless exercise in learning how to use Microsoft Word and Excel and give kids some real IT knowledge. Doing this with current technology like a standard PC is expensive for schools. Even if they were to use a bare bones machine running Linux that bare hardware will still cost £199+ for one PC. The RaspberryPi is a cheaper alternative. Not only is it’s hardware cheaper. It’s a stateless computer. Which means if kids screw things up all they need to do is switch it off and on again. A worst case scenario is reinstalling the OS. The RaspberryPi is cheap enough that not only can schools buy them. But parents can buy them as well without having to worry about their kid breaking it.
- Innovation is a process | opensource.com – Parts of this article made me think of this second memo. I am dubious about the whole idea of "managing innovation" in any sense beyond trying to not stifle innovation. Part of me thinks it's folly to speak of a "…consistent, predictable and sustainable path for innovation.", the same kind of folly evinced by the 2nd silly memo above. I think that Mr. Stikeleather has some sense of this himself when he calls innovation a "social art" and writes that managers can be "clouds of suppression". This weeks NY Times Book Review had a book about Bell Labs. AT&T's encouragement of innovation seemed to be just encouraging everyone to run into everyone else, and mixing theoreticians with engineers. I'm not convinced that you can do much more than that, save maybe get the hell out of the way. Mr Stikeleather may be onto something when he speaks of a need for "mastery of organization", that is something that managers can do for innovators. I don't know that I can innovate on a timetable or schedule, that does not seem like a good idea. At Bell labs they just let people follow their thoughts, some led to nothing productive, others changed the world.
- Give Google Reader Readable, Clutter-Free Interface with This User Style – If you aren't a fan of Google Reader's new interface, this add-on will take out all the clutter, giving you a pretty, readable version of the current article and nothing else. This add-on overhaul's Google Reader's interface to look more like Instapaper or Readability—it gives it a better looking font, strips out the buttons and other nonsense, and even hides the left sidebar until you mouse over it. It doesn't give you quite as many options as something like the famous Minimalist Everything extension does, but it sure makes Google Reader a lot nicer for actually reading your articles.
- Never Stop Hacking – Randall Degges – The desire to learn new things. The desire to build something that has never before been built. The desire to hunt down problems–and then solve them. It was at this moment I realized something. Something which, to me, is an incredibly powerful revelation. Often times, I find myself hunting for solutions. I find myself desperately trying to figure out what I should do about X, and how to optimize Y. I find myself searching for solutions to problems, hoping to get them out of the way as quickly as possible so that I can move onto the next thing, the next chore, the next item on my todo list. It was in this moment that it all became clear to me– I enjoy the problems. I crave them.
- The 6 Pillars of Social Commerce: Understanding the Psychology of Engagement (Contagious ideas by PSST : spreading 2.0 social innovation. Edited by jérémy dumont, strategic planner in FRANCE) – The psychology of social commerce reveals the emotional elements that stimulate the human network. It is the understanding of the 6 pillars of social commerce that facilitates the development of a more cohesive and connected online experience for customers. More importantly, by investing in the value, productivity and efficiency of consumer decision making and not just the outcome, businesses can not only earn reciprocity and goodwill, but also earn social capital as a result…and, that’s priceless.
- Ubuntu Musings» Blog Archive » Using pygmynote – Final thoughts pygmynote is simple but it is flexible. Even if you’re not comfortable with the command line, it’s easy to use and can be a great substitute for a desktop note taking tool.
- Teach Yourself Ruby With Hackety Hack – For now, it is more of an introduction into programming and the Ruby programming language, than it is a full course that teaches you all there is to know about Ruby or how to code. Closing Words There is nothing wrong with that approach though, and the instructions given are clear and concise. You can check the Hackety website for things to do after you have finished the four lessons, especially Learn Ruby The Hard Way seems to be a good next step. If you are trying to learn a programming language and do not really have a preference right now, then Hackety Hack can be a good easy start into the programming world.
- Fritz!Box Firmware mit Freetz erweitern –
