Can you train people to innovate? Financial analyst Barry Ritholtz has shared a helpful slide set titled “Innovation can be trained” that’s worth reading. Printing and then tacking individual slides to your cube walls can be used as a daily reminder that organizations can create cultures of innovation. It’s based on the work The Innovator’s DNA by Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen and Clayton Christensen.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Innovation creates instability, you say? BLASPHEMY, you SCUM
Ooh, a stoning, a stoning!
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/11/innovation_creates_instability_blasphemer_kill_the_heretic/
In one particular session labelled ‘Publishing & the IT Sector’, a great deal more than this was being lost in translation. We heard that 85% of jobs in the publishing industry will soon demand ICT skills but only 25% of those currently in it have any. Of course, you can make percentages mean anything you like but I’m 50% sure this is correct.
When IT bosses talk up the power of computing, you have to take it with a fistful of salt.
a fantasy near-future in which high-speed-train passengers will be able to pull e-reader devices out from their armrests and download a book to read for the journey
Inevitably, when an IT boss sings the praises of technology in front of a large audience, the computers dig their heels in.
Rounding off the session was EU policy officer Marisa Fernandez Esteban who claimed that we had apparently witnessed examples of the TISP ideal.
It seems that while TISP is laudable in principle, it is disconcertingly lumbered with cool-sounding jargon such as “driving innovation” and “creating convergence” which, as El Reg’s readers will know, mean nothing whatsoever.
Questioning the righteousness of innovators is heresy in these narrow-minded times but it pays to heed the bullshit meter. The next time someone starts bandying around the term “innovation” at your office, grab your mobbafer and call security to escort them from the premises. The last thing you need is someone cocking up your business because it sounds cool
Tomi Engdahl says:
New technological trends intimidated by the CEO
According to a recent study, four out of ten interviewed the CEO believes that their business activity comes six years after the distinctly different from the present .
While nearly two-thirds of interviewees leader sees new technologies as key factors in the success of their company , 43 per cent of fears that it will lose its competitive edge because they find it difficult to stay behind the evolution of technology . Approximately one-third feel that they are already dropped behind.
Business transformation is clearly visible in all sectors. New technologies and the opportunities brought about by changing the way businesses operate and sectors logic.
“We have seen in the past how fast technology changes can be. For example, the rapid breakthrough of the Internet in our society brought with it new applications , such as online banking . These days, online bank has become the norm , ”
Source: http://summa.talentum.fi/article/tv/uutiset/56461
Tomi Engdahl says:
Economic co-operation to change the business
Many people call the current development of all the social media and mobille gadgets as economic cooperation (collaborative economy). What is certain, however, is the fact that business must adapt to the new time.
Crowd Companies advisor Jeremiah Owyang is of the opinion that it is only begun seeing the effects of the social media business.
“The next step change communication, customer management and personnel relations with employers. Alongside business must adapt to shocks,” he says.
Owyang believes that the new economy associated with the following factors: the products, services, transport, tele-working, and money. The Internet has a huge impact on all of these.
Sharing economy
Some consider the cooperation with the ancient barter economy as a new version, as if basaaritalouden continuum.
Altimeter Group analyst Brian Solis calls the economy of cooperation rather the sharing economy, where people exchange their holdings, and its time for them to the most appropriate pace.
“Digitisation or not, the economic model is the same,”
The new technology offers people the ability to assess the cost of doing business and the associated risks.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/cio/yhteistyotalous+muuttaa+liiketoimintaa/a984113
Tomi Engdahl says:
How the Collaborative Economy Will Change the Way You Do Business
http://www.cio.com/article/751764/How_the_Collaborative_Economy_Will_Change_the_Way_You_Do_Business
The Internet puts the goods, services and expertise you need at your fingertips. Some call it a ‘collaborative economy’ focused less on transactions and more on trades. Others see a throwback to the early days of economic exchange. Either way, it’s quickly changing the way we do business.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why the Sharing Economy Is About Desperation, Not Trust
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/14/04/27/063209/why-the-sharing-economy-is-about-desperation-not-trust
“New York Magazine has another theory: that it arose because of the weakness in the real economy.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Sharing Economy Isn’t About Trust, It’s About Desperation
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/04/sharing-economy-is-about-desperation.html
Wired’s cover story this month is about the rise of the “sharing economy” — a Silicon Valley–invented term used to describe the basket of start-ups (Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, et al.) that allow users to rent their labor and belongings to strangers. Jason Tanz attributes the success of these start-ups to the invention of a “set of digital tools that enable and encourage us to trust our fellow human beings,” such as bidirectional rating systems, background checks, frictionless payment systems, and platforms that encourage buyers and sellers to get to know each other face-to-face before doing business.
Tanz’s thesis isn’t wrong — these innovations have certainly made a difference. But it leaves out an important part of the story. Namely, the sharing economy has succeeded in large part because the real economy has been struggling.
A huge precondition for the sharing economy has been a depressed labor market, in which lots of people are trying to fill holes in their income by monetizing their stuff and their labor in creative ways.
Tomi Engdahl says:
As manufacturing changes, it’s time to take some risks
http://www.controleng.com/single-article/as-manufacturing-changes-it-s-time-to-take-some-risks/dceacb982a944aa262ab4701283dfb90.html
Futurist Jack Uldrich sees what’s coming next, and encourages manufacturers to jump on the trends while presenting at the MFG Meeting in Phoenix.
1. Wearable Technology
2. 3D manufacturing
3. Nanotechnology
4. Robotics
5. Sensors
6. Computers
7. Big Data
8. Collaborative consumption
Tomi Engdahl says:
Programming Education Making A Comeback In Primary Schools:
A is for algorithm
A global push for more computer science in classrooms is starting to bear fruit
http://www.economist.com/news/international/21601250-global-push-more-computer-science-classrooms-starting-bear-fruit
When computer science was first taught in some American and European schools in the 1970s, generally as an optional subject for older pupils, computers did little unless given instructions in a specialist language. So classes focused on programming. But the advent of ready-made applications and graphical user interfaces in the 1980s saw a shift to teaching “ICT” (information and communications technology): how to use computers for word-processing, creating presentations and the like. The result was that pupils left school with little idea how computers work. England’s ICT curriculum has come in for particular criticism. It “focuses on teaching how to use software, but gives no insight into how it’s made,” said Eric Schmidt, Google’s chairman (and a director of The Economist’s parent company), in a lecture in 2011. “That is just throwing away [England’s] great computing heritage.”
Digital technology is now so ubiquitous that many think a rounded education requires a grounding in this subject just as much as in biology, chemistry or physics. That is one reason that the pendulum is swinging back towards teaching coding.
In many places, enthusiasts have moved faster than governments.
Doing some coding is essential, says Michael Kölling, a specialist in computing education at the University of Kent: it motivates pupils and means they find out whether their algorithms work. But should pupils start with programming and leave principles till later, or the other way round?
How a country answers such questions depends partly on what its economy needs. Estonia is short of programmers for its burgeoning tech industry; it puts great emphasis on programming, with some schools teaching it to pupils as young as six. Denmark devotes more time to topics such as the design of user interfaces, which interests its big firms, and the impact of digital technology on society.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Preloaded’s Katie Goode looks at the plethora of ways the VR revolution can impact our lives
http://www.develop-online.net/opinions/virtual-reality-with-purpose/0192224
Tomi Engdahl says:
Coding Bootcamps Already 1/8th the Size of CS Undergraduates
http://developers.slashdot.org/story/14/05/01/0117234/coding-bootcamps-already-18th-the-size-of-cs-undergraduates
“programming bootcamps are expected to grow by 2.8x in 2014, meaning that bootcamps will graduate a student for every 8 CS undergraduates.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fix capitalism with floating cities on Venus says Charles Stross
Brit SciFi author feels Mars colonies or fusion reactors lack ambition
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/01/charles_stross_wants_floating_cities_on_venus_to_fix_capitalism/
As an economist, Charles Stross might just make a very good science fiction writer, because he’s just suggested colonising Venus is a fine way to ensure the continuation of the species while also solving the crises effecting capitalism.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fifty Years of BASIC, the Programming Language That Made Computers Personal
http://time.com/69316/basic/
Knowing how to program a computer is good for you, and it’s a shame more people don’t learn to do it.
For years now, that’s been a hugely popular stance. It’s led to educational initiatives as effortless sounding as the Hour of Code (offered by Code.org) and as obviously ambitious as Code Year (spearheaded by Codecademy).
Even President Obama has chimed in.
I find the “everybody should learn to code” movement laudable. And yet it also leaves me wistful, even melancholy. Once upon a time, knowing how to use a computer was virtually synonymous with knowing how to program one. And the thing that made it possible was a programming language called BASIC.
Tomi Engdahl says:
High Performance Embedded Computing: A Technical—and Mental—Breakthrough
http://rtcmagazine.com/articles/view/103586
It may come as a surprise to no one that there seems to be something in the human mentality that resists change. I only say that because we swim daily in an industry that is forever touting innovation. This is in marked contrast to most of the rest of the world, where selling new ideas and perspectives is a constant struggle. So when I notice such apparent resistance in this industry, it tends to stand out as unusual. There seems to be, at least in a few quarters, a disinclination to embrace the idea of high-performance embedded computing. That is not to say there are not advocates and promoters, but I am still struck by the occasional resistance.
Nobody has the slightest doubts about “high-performance computing.” It’s when you add the word “embedded” to the phrase that some eyebrows raise.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Students Remember Lectures Better Taking Notes Longhand Than Using Laptops
http://news.slashdot.org/story/14/05/06/0049217/students-remember-lectures-better-taking-notes-longhand-than-using-laptops
“Walk into any university lecture hall and you’re likely to see row upon row of students sitting behind glowing laptop screens. Laptops in class have been controversial, due mostly to the many opportunities for distraction that they provide”
“Now Robinson Meyer writes at The Atlantic that a new study finds that people remember lectures better when they’ve taken handwritten notes, rather than typed ones. The research suggests that even when laptops are used solely to take notes, they may still be impairing learning because their use results in shallower processing.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
To Remember a Lecture Better, Take Notes by Hand
Students do worse on quizzes when they use keyboards in class.
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/05/to-remember-a-lecture-better-take-notes-by-hand/361478/
A new study—conducted by Mueller and Oppenheimer—finds that people remember lectures better when they’ve taken handwritten notes, rather than typed ones.
What’s more, knowing how and why typed notes can be bad doesn’t seem to improve their quality. Even if you warn laptop-notetakers ahead of time, it doesn’t make a difference. For some tasks, it seems, handwriting’s just better.
The study comes at a ripe time for questions about laptop use in class. Educators still debate whether to allow students to bring their laptops into the classroom. And while researchers have found that laptop use during class-time tends to be distracting—not only do laptop-using students not perform as well academically, but also they’re less happy with their education—Mueller and Oppenheimer’s research seems to be the first quantitative attempt to compare laptops disconnected from the Internet with plain-old pencil and paper.
“People who take class notes on laptops when they expect to be tested on the material later tend to transcribe what they’re hearing without thinking about it much. Please try not to do this as you take notes today. Take notes in your own words and don’t just write down word-for-word what the speaker is saying.”
The warning seemed to have no effect. The quiz showed that longhand-notetakers still remembered lecture content better than laptop-notetakers. And analyzing the notes that laptop-using students took, the two authors admit: “The instruction to not take verbatim notes was completely ineffective at reducing verbatim content.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Engineers in America: Too Young, Too Old
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1320593&
In Breaking the $300B Barrier: State of Semiconductor Industry, I discussed the state of the semiconductor industry in general. Today, I’d like like to start a discussion on the apparent aging of the engineerings in the US market. This is far from scientific research, so I am taking some leniency on the subject.
We retained most of the talent during the downturn in 2009, then started a slow hiring program in 2010 to 2012.
The final piece of evidence came at the GSA event held recently in Silicon Valley. The median age appeared to be in the late 50s, and youngsters were those in their 40s. Now it should be noted that this tends to be an event with more senior management types, but it is a bit concerning. I worry about what is left behind and who is going to take over the innovation and drive the industry forward.
It could just be that we have heard for so long that everything is moving to Asia, that it has discouraged many of our young people from studying engineering. This leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy. CEOs complain about lack of talent, and at the same time state that they are going to Asia. Where is the incentive for the younger generation?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Experts are calling for an end to the PISA tests
The Economic Organization of the OECD organized by the PISA tests are harmful and should be stopped , requires a group of international experts in the field of education.
According to the letter of good PISA results of a short-sighted chasing has started to affect their teaching practices in many countries. According to experts, the one-eyed PISA results, aimed at improving the education policy takes the joy of learning, and is aggravated by stress in schools. In many poor PISA results for grade countries such as the UK and the U.S. is now trying to copy Asian countries reading style.
Source: http://www.iltalehti.fi/uutiset/2014050618269343_uu.shtml
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Exploitative Economics of Academic Publishing
http://betaboston.com/footnote/2014/05/06/the-exploitative-economics-of-academic-publishing/
Taxpayers in the United States spend $139 billion a year on scientific research, yet much of this research is inaccessible not only to the public, but also to other scientists.(a) This is the consequence of an exploitative scientific journal system that rewards academic publishers while punishing taxpayers, scientists, and universities. Fortunately, cheap open-access alternatives are not only possible, but already beginning to take root, suggesting a way forward to a more open and equitable system for sharing research.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia had a small metal spirit of the workshop – ” all knew each other ”
“We had a small metal spirit of the workshop , and all knew each other . Get your hands in the clay was made , ” says CEO Mikko Lietsalmi .
Nokia did not come in the 2000s the world’s best software houses because of lack of knowledge of substance .
” Coding is an art, a new creation. Doing so will suffer if the executive director has not written a single line of code in his life , ” says Sami Halonen .
Entrepreneurship brought on by the most obvious change has been the decision-making speed. Mikko Lietsalmea frustrated at Nokia stiffness, caused by the swelling of the organizations .
“It’s hard to imagine that even without a career at Nokia as possible, the company can immediately head to the global market ,” Lietsalmi thinking .
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/nokiassa+oli+pienen+metallipajan+henki++quotkaikki+tunsivat+toisensaquot/a987046
Tomi Engdahl says:
Inventors: Feast your eyes on fuel cell tech that’ll power up Internet of Thingies
Developer kits at the ready, just add water
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/01/fuel_cell_tech_to_power_internet_of_stuff/
As we’re in the land of handheld devices and ultimately sensor nodes supporting the “internet of things”, keeping power consumption down, or at the very least making it practical, is high on the list here.
London-based outfit Arcola Energy strives to deliver the best of both worlds with its adaptations of hydrogen fuel cell tech.
The fuel cell determines the overall output of the system. With the Arduino One kit it’s 1.5W whereas the R-Pi version delivers a 12W and can increase this to 30W.
Besides green credentials, efficiency is a factor for industrial purposes. Diesel generators don’t like working below a full load, and Todd says that if your needs are 500W or less, then fuel cells are competitive.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Lately, Coding
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/11/us/reading-writing-arithmetic-and-lately-coding.html?hpw&rref=us&_r=0
Seven-year-old Jordan Lisle, a second grader, joined his family at a packed after-hours school event last month aimed at inspiring a new interest: computer programming.
“I’m a little afraid he’s falling behind,” his mother, Wendy Lisle, said, explaining why they had signed up for the class at Strawberry Point Elementary School.
The event was part of a national educational movement in computer coding instruction that is growing at Internet speeds.
It is a stark change for computer science, which for decades was treated like a stepchild, equated with trade classes like wood shop. But smartphones and apps are ubiquitous now, and engineering careers are hot. To many parents — particularly ones here in the heart of the technology corridor — coding looks less like an extracurricular activity and more like a basic life skill, one that might someday lead to a great job or even instant riches.
The spread of coding instruction, while still nascent, is “unprecedented — there’s never been a move this fast in education,” said Elliot Soloway, a professor of education and computer science at the University of Michigan. He sees it as very positive, potentially inspiring students to develop a new passion, perhaps the way that teaching frog dissection may inspire future surgeons and biologists.
But the momentum for early coding comes with caveats, too. It is not clear that teaching basic computer science in grade school will beget future jobs or foster broader creativity and logical thinking, as some champions of the movement are projecting. And particularly for younger children, Dr. Soloway said, the activity is more like a video game — better than simulated gunplay, but not likely to impart actual programming skills.
James, 8, explained that programming is “getting the computer to do something by itself.” It is fun, he said
“The Google guys might’ve been coders, and the Facebook guys — I don’t know,”
The use of these word-command blocks to simplify coding logic stems largely from the work of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, which introduced a visual programming language called Scratch in 2007. It claims a following of millions of users, but mostly outside the schools.
“Computer science is big right now — in our country, the world,” she said. “If my kids aren’t exposed to things like that, they could miss out on potential opportunities and careers.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lectures Aren’t Just Boring, They’re Ineffective, Too, Study Finds
http://news.sciencemag.org/education/2014/05/lectures-arent-just-boring-theyre-ineffective-too-study-finds
Are your lectures droning on? Change it up every 10 minutes with more active teaching techniques and more students will succeed, researchers say. A new study finds that undergraduate students in classes with traditional stand-and-deliver lectures are 1.5 times more likely to fail than students in classes that use more stimulating, so-called active learning methods.
“Universities were founded in Western Europe in 1050 and lecturing has been the predominant form of teaching ever since,” says biologist Scott Freeman of the University of Washington, Seattle. But many scholars have challenged the “sage on a stage” approach to teaching science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses, arguing that engaging students with questions or group activities is more effective.
The meta-analysis, published online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, concluded that teaching approaches that turned students into active participants rather than passive listeners reduced failure rates and boosted scores on exams by almost one-half a standard deviation. “The change in the failure rates is whopping,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
When is it worth it to bother your friends online?
http://blogs.technet.com/b/next/archive/2014/04/30/when-is-it-worth-it-to-bother-your-friends-online.aspx#.U3RjHShM0il
Sometimes, it’s just more convenient to Facebook a question than it is to search for the answer online.
Friendsourcing is a common but infrequent behavior because it incurs a social price. “There’s this idea that you’re using up a valuable resource of your friend’s time and attention,”
Morris and her team were able to devise a novel experiment whereby subjects were given a set amount of funding and were tasked with getting answers to specific questions. They were then forced to either pay money to obtain these answers through an online crowdsourcing service, or tweet the questions at their friends. Some answers cost more than others to obtain.
Morris and her research team found that subjects mostly behaved rationally, from an economic perspective. The more it would cost to crowdsource the answer, the more likely they were to choose to friendsource.
Tomi Engdahl says:
US College Students Still Aren’t All That Interested In Computer Science
http://news.slashdot.org/story/14/05/14/2210209/us-college-students-still-arent-all-that-interested-in-computer-science
“Despite the hot job market and competitive salaries, the share of Computer Science degrees as a percentage of BA degrees has remained essentially unchanged since 1981″
Tomi Engdahl says:
For-Profit University’s Super PACs Could Tap Into Tech Industry Wealth
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/15/singularity-university_n_5331313.html?utm_hp_ref=politics
A for-profit university bankrolled by prominent tech firms and co-founded by futurist Ray Kurzweil is behind four separate super PACs formed this week, according to interviews and documents filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Randi Willis, an official at Singularity University, confirmed to the Center for Public Integrity that leaders at her institution will later this year begin determining how to best use these new political committees, which could tap into the wealth of tech industry titans.
While hardly a household name, Singularity University is supported by a slew of corporations that are.
Its listed “corporate founders” include Google, Cisco, Genentech, Nokia and Autodesk. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have personally associated themselves with Singularity University.
“Corporate partners” include General Electric, the Credit Union Roundtable and pharmaceutical company Celgene.
Kurzweil, the Singularity University co-founder, today works as Google’s engineering director.
The company’s four new super PACs are named “Singularity PAC,” “Impact,” “Global Grand Challenges” and “10^9+” — the latter a reference to Singularity University’s stated goal of helping its graduate program students develop “the tools, knowledge, skills and mindset for delivering real humanitarian impact to 1 billion people.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Americans See Engineers as Society’s Chief Innovators
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1386&doc_id=272163
A whopping 87 percent of Americans identify engineers (when compared with other professions) as those who are fueling positive invention and innovation in society.
TE Connectivity executives attribute the high regard for engineering to the proliferation of tech-based consumer products. “There’s always been a high level of respect for engineering’s contribution to society,” Rob Shaddock, EVP and CTO at TE Connectivity, told Design News. “Technology has evolved rapidly, and now it’s readily available in consumers’ hands, so I think people are more interested in and excited about the continued innovation from engineers.”
The survey also asked what technology was most likely to positively impact society over the next 10 years. The leader — with 33 percent — was connected devices that allow users to connect their phones to their cars and TVs. Next was robot development with 22 percent, followed by wearable technologies such as Google Glass, computer watches, and fitness bands at 14 percent. 3D printing came in at 13 percent, and driverless vehicles were at 12 percent.
When it comes to preparing for an engineering career, Americans by 31 percent ranked STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) programs in elementary and middle school as the most effective. Other means to ready students for engineering include preparedness programs at 17 percent, mentorship at 17 percent, internships at 15 percent, and college or university resources to prevent drop-out from STEM-related fields at 15 percent.
As for STEM programs that are particularly successful for inspiring engineering careers, Shaddock pointed to FIRST, a program sponsored by Design News. “STEM programs like the very successful FIRST Robotics Competition and the DiscoverE Future City Competition will continue to play an instrumental role in the growth of the profession. These are programs where kids are inspired to collaborate, form ideas, and build stuff, tapping into the very core of a young engineering mind.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Children of parents in technical jobs at higher risk for autism
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140515154132.htm
Children of fathers who are in technical occupations are more likely to have an autism spectrum disorder, according to researchers. Fathers who worked in engineering were two times as likely to have a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Those who worked in finance were four times more likely and those who worked in health care occupations were six times more likely to have a child on the autism spectrum. There was no association with a mother’s occupation.
“Parental occupation could be indicative of autistic-like behaviors and preferences and serve as another factor in a clinician’s diagnosis of a child with suspected autism. Medical students can be taught that this is one of the things to consider,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Professors: US “In Denial” Over Poor Maths Standards
http://news.slashdot.org/story/14/05/21/2229251/professors-us-in-denial-over-poor-maths-standards
“The maths skills of teenagers in parts of the deep south of the United States are worse than in countries such as Turkey and barely above South American countries such as Chile and Mexico.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Linux Foundation and edX Team Up for Intoduction to Linux Class
http://linux.slashdot.org/story/14/05/21/2154259/the-linux-foundation-and-edx-team-up-for-intoduction-to-linux-class
“The Linux Foundation has teamed up with MOOC provider edX to teach an introduction to Linux class.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Introduction to Linux
https://www.edx.org/course/linuxfoundationx/linuxfoundationx-lfs101x-introduction-1621#.U323XShsUik
Develop a good working knowledge of Linux using both the graphical interface and command line, covering the major Linux distribution families.
Linux powers 94% of the world’s supercomputers, most of the servers powering the Internet, the majority of financial trades worldwide and a billion Android devices. In short, Linux is everywhere. It appears in many different architectures, from mainframes to server to desktop to mobile and on a staggeringly wide variety of hardware.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The power of one: Making a difference personally, professionally
Each person has the unique ability to have an impact on the environment around him.
https://www.csemag.com/single-article/the-power-of-one-making-a-difference-personally-professionally/314e67d68c7b1835c7fa1f07d2cd12ee.html
There are a lot of people out there who say that one person can’t make a difference, that it’s impossible for an individual to have a major impact or start a trend or create a culture.
I wholeheartedly disagree. I think it’s within each person’s realm of possibilities to make a difference in his or her own life, in the community, or at a global level.
High-level creative geniuses—think Elon Musk, Nikola Tesla, and Steve Jobs—often are seen as slightly off-kilter when they first come up with an idea. Their unorthodox ways of creating something new start off like the lone dancer—looking rather odd and alone. Once their idea picks up momentum and followers, it becomes brilliant, even historic.
How does this translate to what engineers do every day? I often hear engineers say, “I’m not creative,” or “I don’t have the ability to think any other way than analytically.” Again, I disagree. Engineers are creative every single day, and on every single project.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Codecademy translates its ‘learn to code’ site into three new languages and readies London office
http://thenextweb.com/dd/2014/05/22/codecademy-translates-learn-code-site-three-new-languages-readies-london-office/
Codecademy is starting to think global. The New York-based startup has translated its popular learn-to-code platform into three new languages today and formalized partnerships in five countries.
So if you speak French, Spanish or Portuguese, you can now access the Codecademy site and study all of its resources in your native language.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Teachers Union: Computers Can Negatively Impact Children’s Ability To Learn
http://news.slashdot.org/story/14/05/22/2347250/teachers-union-computers-can-negatively-impact-childrens-ability-to-learn
“A teacher’s union in Northern Ireland is asserting that children spending too much time on computers are impairing their ability to learn.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Old topic: Is Technology Making Kids More Intelligent?
http://slashdot.org/story/01/05/24/0326208/is-technology-making-kids-more-intelligent
Tomi Engdahl says:
Computers can impact on children’s ability to learn, says union
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-27513174
A teaching union in Northern Ireland is calling for urgent action over the impact of modern technology on children’s ability to learn at school.
The Association of Teacher and Lecturers (ATL) is concerned at how long children spend on computers and digital gadgets outside school.
It said some pupils were unable to concentrate or socialise properly.
The impact of digital technology is the focus of the union’s annual regional conference in Belfast on Thursday.
Mark Langhammer of the ATL said: “We’re hearing reports of very young children who are arriving into school quite unable to concentrate or to socialise properly because they’re spending so much time on digital games or social media.
“We’d like the Department of Education to issue guidance to all parents on the maximum amount of time which young children should spend on these devices, and on how kids can use digital technology safely and sensibly.”
“We readily appreciate that digital technology can have huge benefits for children,” he said.
“But there seems to be a real lack of awareness about its potential dangers, and we think the Department of Education needs to take action to make parents much more aware of the issues.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Economic Nobel laureate Edmund Phelps harshly criticizes the corporate management
Economic Nobel Prize winner, judged western societies in the development and structuring . According to him, they do not help people, companies and societies to grow. The company’s management has changed to the short term.
- CEOs and managers know that they enjoy the position for a long time. Therefore, they think mainly large bonuses that they get after their term
The short-sightedness leads to Phelps , the fact that the companies develop innovation, the implementation of which goes to the ” five or ten years .” The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the company is financed by requiring quarterly results. The financial sector’s pressure to keep all eyes firmly by management in the following months.
- Companies operating in an environment where it is difficult to think of innovation
Surprisingly, Phelps to bring a solution to the Renaissance , after gradually developed the values: individualism, risk-taking and self-expression.
The current situation does not look good . Not only is the company ‘s management and operational funding is short-sighted, administration may not get clean papers either: In societies is a strange philosophy, that all should be protected. It leads to the fact that all tax revenue is used to maintain the current situation. The benefit of social security is that entrepreneurs do not have to worry about that failure leads to personal bankruptcy.
Source: http://yle.fi/uutiset/talousnobelisti_arvostelee_kovin_sanoin_yritysjohtoa/7257684
Tomi Engdahl says:
Launching a hardware startup? The stars are aligned in your favor
There’s been no better time to get into hardware biz, says hardware biz analyst
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/24/launching_a_hardware_startup_the_stars_are_aligned_in_your_favor/
Launching a hardware startup is more difficult than springing software upon the world – all a coder needs, after all, is a keyboard and a creative mind – but recent developments are removing barriers and creating a new startup gold rush.
“It used to be really difficult to start a hardware company,”
“Perhaps you worked in R&D at a bigger company; perhaps you worked at an agency,” DiResta said, “but it was a really big challenge to take a product to market and to build a business around a device.”
That’s changing – thanks in part to the internet, she said, which enables rapid and relatively seamless collaboration between like minds around the globe with whom ideas can be shared.
like-minded hardware hackers getting together to bang up their ideas in a fast-growing number of public “hackerspaces”.
While the growth of hackerspaces is an indication of interest, it doesn’t provide data about how many of those sites are spawning startups. The growth in hardware startups, however, can be tracked
There is also a growing number of hardware-startup accelerators
Hardware prototyping is also getting easier, DiResta said, with 3D-printing quality going up and prices coming down.
The design prototyping ease provided by 3D printing is one thing; functional prototyping is, of course, another – but there’s help for hardware hackers in that area as well. For example, Arduino and Raspberry Pi boards and kits have found their way into many a hardware startup’s prototypes, the OpenPilot open source UAV autopilot is speeding the growth of drone startups, and Electric Imp is easing startups’ efforts to connect their devices to the internet.
Finally, once hardware startups get their products ready for manufacturing, they should not automatically expect that they’ll need to find a manufacturing partner in China.
She also suggested that “nearshoring” be an option that startups consider when choosing a manufacturing partner
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ph.Ds From MIT, Berkeley, and a Few Others Dominate Top School’s CS Faculties
http://developers.slashdot.org/story/14/05/25/1733233/phds-from-mit-berkeley-and-a-few-others-dominate-top-schools-cs-faculties
“A Brown University project collected the background information of over 2,000 computer science professors in 51 top universities. The data shows a skew in their doctoral degrees, “Over 20% of professors received their Ph.D. from MIT or Berkeley, while more than half of professors received their Ph.D. from the [top] 10 universities.”
internet music marketing Strategies says:
Hi there! This article could not be written any better! Reading through this post
reminds me of my previous roommate! He always kept talking about
this. I will send this information to him. Pretty sure he’ll have a very good read.
Thank you for sharing!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Your Money More: Wealth Habits Smart Investor
10 Ways Rich People Think Differently
http://www.businessinsider.com/ways-rich-people-think-differently-2014-5
1. Rich people believe their habits have a major impact on their lives.
2. Rich people believe in the American dream.
3. Rich people value relationships for professional and personal growth.
4. Rich people love meeting new people.
5. Rich people think that saving is hugely important.
6. Rich people feel that they determine their path in life.
7. Rich people value creativity over intelligence.
8. Rich people enjoy their jobs.
9. Rich people believe that their health influences their success.
10. Rich people are willing to take risks.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Major Blunders That Held Back Progress in Modern Astronomy
https://medium.com/the-physics-arxiv-blog/77becd39e530
It turns out astronomers are susceptible to prejudice, bias and wrong-thinking, just like everybody else
chekdesign.com says:
Hello, I read your new stuff like every week.
Your writing style is awesome, keep up the good work!
belbels.com says:
Howdy! Quick question that’s totally off topic.
Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly?
My weblog looks weird when viewing from my apple iphone.
I’m trying to find a theme or plugin that might be able to correct this issue.
If you have any suggestions, please share. Many thanks!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Use ideas from “Responsive web design”.
Responsive web design (RWD) is a web design approach aimed at crafting sites to provide an optimal viewing experience—easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrolling—across a wide range of devices (from mobile phones to desktop computer monitors). Responsive web design term is related to the concept of developing a website design in a manner that helps the lay out to get changed according to the user’s computer screen resolution. Responsive web designing is an entirely different designing version than traditional web designing.
A site designed with RWD adapts the layout to the viewing environment by using fluid, proportion-based grids, flexible images, and CSS3 media queries, an extension of the @media rule.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsive_web_design
http://designmodo.com/responsive-design-examples/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nobody Cares How Awesome You Are at Your Job
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-05-23/nobody-cares-how-awesome-you-are-at-your-job
In an article published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, University of California at San Diego behavioral scientist Ayelet Gneezy and University of Chicago business professor Nicholas Epley tracked people’s responses to three types of promises: broken ones, kept ones, and then ones that were fulfilled beyond expectations. And while it’s true that everyone gets upset when a promise is broken (I’m looking at you, housing-contractors-who-claim-bathroom-renovations-will-be-done-in-a-week), it turns out that overdelivering on something won’t make anyone significantly more impressed by your awesomeness. “Going above and beyond a promise didn’t seem to be valued at all,” says Epley.
The reason for this, Epley says, is that promises work a bit like verbal contracts. If I promise you something and you accept that promise, you assume I’ll do it, nothing more, nothing less.
“It really makes you think about how you spread your effort and how to use your resources wisely,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Parenting Rewires the Male Brain
http://news.sciencemag.org/brain-behavior/2014/05/parenting-rewires-male-brain
Cultures around the world have long assumed that women are hardwired to be mothers. But a new study suggests that caring for children awakens a parenting network in the brain—even turning on some of the same circuits in men as it does in women. The research implies that the neural underpinnings of the so-called maternal instinct aren’t unique to women, or activated solely by hormones, but can be developed by anyone who chooses to be a parent.
“This is the first study to look at the way dads’ brains change with child care experience,”
“It’s as if the father’s amygdala can shut off when there’s a woman around,”
“But it’s clear that we’re all born with the circuitry to help us be sensitive caregivers, and the network can be turned up through parenting.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Inside Innoconn: Foxconn’s new hardware startup incubator
http://www.cnet.com/news/inside-innoconn-foxconn-hardware-startup-incubator/
Will this Chinese manufacturer’s search for the next big thing pay off? CNET takes a tour of Foxconn’s Innoconn Beijing campus to find out more.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Canada’s Pitch to Tech Entrepreneur: We’ll Pay 80% of Your Salaries
Lucrative Rebates Aimed at Top Tech Talent
http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304811904579586283430862854-lMyQjAxMTA0MDIwNjEyNDYyWj
Tomi Engdahl says:
Three things that are happy people understand
You understand that the world is only one of you!
You do not mind what others think of you
You realize your vulnerability
You only have this one life , and no information about what tomorrow will bring. The truth finality and uncertainty can be paralyzing , but the happy turn assembly inspiring life as a guide.
Source: http://www.iltalehti.fi/terveys/2014052818349855_tr.shtml
Tomi Engdahl says:
Parents’ educational background is a recent study confirmed that the child’s school is still the main factor affecting the child succeed in school. In addition, the school success is determined by the child’s social confidence and attitude to school.
Doctoral research focused on ninth-graders in Helsinki Finland.
Source: http://www.iltalehti.fi/perhe/2014052818349856_pr.shtml
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Big Benefits of Building Business Apps Faster [Infographic]
http://blogs.salesforce.com/company/2014/05/the-big-benefits-of-building-business-apps-faster-infographic.html?d=70130000000YrTu&nc=70130000000YrTz&other=us_outbrain
Now more than ever, companies in industries across the board have the power to innovate. How? By building custom applications.
And the faster they add this value, the quicker they can differentiate their brand, release new products, acquire more customers, and improve overall competitiveness.
The speed and success of such app development is dramatically increased when using a cloud application platform, also known as Platform as a Service (PaaS).