Weekly Download 14.22
Posted: November 7, 2014 Filed under: Technology, Weekly Download | Tags: Chromebook, cloud, Core M Processor, design, Intel, iPad, MacBook Air, Marques Brownlee, windowless planes, Windows PC 2 Comments
Here’s a recap of news and notes from around the Web that caught my attention over the past week or so.
Cloudy With a Chance of Trouble. This perfect headline summarizes how employees are using a large variety of officially unsanctioned cloud-based tools in the workplace. The WSJ shows that regardless of the corporate approach, employees find creative ways to tap into these services.
Why Getting It Wrong Is the Future of Design. Just when design gets it right, some are headed to the wrong side, with often exciting results. I like the slightly deviant thinking reflected here that takes on the idea that perfect can be too perfect.
Don’t miss these tech reviews: great quality, great onscreen presence. This guy is a college senior, but already has six years of experience! Marques Brownlee, you’re a terrific example of what is possible in this new world.
Windowless planes could be here in 10 years—and they look amazing. Wow, this sure made me think.
In the evolving convergence of traditional devices and new devices, the long standing “how many devices” argument is still not clear. As soon as we think we’re close, there is yet another set of expectations to meet. Apple should make a better MacBook Air and not fret about the iPad looks at what may be on the horizon with hybrid devices. I love the toaster-meets-refrigerator imagery.
Intel Launches the Intel® Core™ M Processor, touted as the “optimal blend of mobility and performance.”
The Apple Mac Takes Its Place In The Post-PC World. The fight for market position is being won by Macs and Chromebooks, at the expense of Windows PCs.
Weekly Download 14.21
Posted: October 31, 2014 Filed under: Weekly Download Leave a commentHere’s a recap of news and notes from around the Web that caught my attention over the past week or so. Today’s theme is coffee.
I have a coffee problem. This is not news for those who know me. And, apparently, I’m on the “snootier side” of the coffee drinker spectrum since I prefer single-origin beans. But here is a surprise: according to America’s coffee cup is half full, today’s consumption is less than half of what it was in the mid-1940s.
Much to my delight there is a well-known coffee supply and home roasting business right here in Middleton. Burman Coffee Traders modesty describes their business by saying “Coffee is our passion.” Ditto.
Who are these people who live among us? I Am Not a Coffee Drinker fails to answer a fundamental question: Why not?
Weekly Download 14.20
Posted: October 24, 2014 Filed under: Weekly Download | Tags: character traits, email, IBM, wolves Leave a commentHere’s a recap of news and notes from around the Web that caught my attention over the past week or so.
Ever sent an email you wish you didn’t? I have, leading to my adoption of this modern commandment: thou shalt not hit send in anger. You Can Recover From a Snippy Email, But Prepare to Grovel is a practical guide to what type of emails to refrain from sending and how to make amends when you have done so and are regretting it. It includes a history lesson:
Abraham Lincoln is said to have advised his secretary of war, who was furious with one of his generals, to write the man a sharp letter, then “put it in the stove.”
IBM Plummets as CEO Abandons 2015 Earnings Forecast. I commented on this back in a July 2014 post.
How Wolves Change Rivers. Perhaps you’ve seen this making the rounds on the internet or Facebook. I thought it was very powerful example of “systems thinking” and how small things can impact distant and seemingly unrelated items. Like our natural systems that this video demonstrates, much of our work occurs in a larger system (such as our organization’s culture) that may be hard to see or understand.
Character matters. I don’t recall how I found Psychopaths in the C-suite: Fred Kiel at TEDxBGI, but I liked the research-based approach that links certain character traits and profitability. The four character traits studied are: Integrity, Responsibility, Forgiveness and Compassion.
Bonkers World is a fun site. Who doesn’t like comics? I particularly enjoyed the humor in this one:
Credit to Manu Cornet
ZMAB15 