After a “meh” experience with a set of Berlitz CDs and workbooks, I’m embarking on a new language-learning adventure.
Did an extended online demo of the Rosetta Stone language software last week, and was very impressed with it; have just popped for a couple of Latin American Spanish teaching modules, which will, if nothing else, enable […]
Lately, I have been thinking about a couple of management practices that seem (based on my experience of more than 18 years in government) to occur more frequently in government settings and to have significant detrimental effects on employees and the organization. The first one is keeping underperforming employees around when they should be let […]
If you respond to RFPs or have any part in the proposal writing process, the Shipley Associates Proposal Guide for Business and Technical Professionals will be worth every penny of the $60 you pay for it (Amazon price as of September 2006.)
It is not a tutorial or a “how to” guide; rather, it’s a reference […]
The Adobe® FrameMaker® 7.2 Application Packs for Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) and S1000D enable developers to fully evaluate and enhance the XML authoring and publishing capabilities within FrameMaker using two leading open standards. Both application packs are companion pieces to the already available Adobe FrameMaker Developer Kit (FDK) that provide sample content, tools, applications […]
The last year has seen the first appearance of online word processing applications such as ajaxWrite, ThinkFree Online, Writely, and Zoho Writer. Online office applications are an unproven product in a new market. To see how worthwhile they were, I compared their interfaces, basic and advanced features, and their document export and administration capabilities. The […]
Hey, everybody! It’s the Web 2.0 Logo Generator!
Hat tip: The Modulator.
If you want to make an appointment to see Larry Page and Sergey Brin this week, you’ll have a harder time than usual doing so. The Google founders are making their annual pilgrimage to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada for the Burning Man festival.
Google’s known for its exacting hiring requirements, which include a degree […]
Leading British and American companies face being dragged into an emerging fraud scandal at a call centre company in India.
V-Angels, a Delhi-based outsourcing company that handles customer inquiries for telecoms firms in the West, has reported a number of employees to the police for allegedly stealing highly confidential customer data.
Som Mandal, V-Angels’ lawyer, confirmed that […]
Rob Lawrence wrote a useful field guide to help you identify whether you’re dealing with a consultancy or a body shop:
What are the differences between a consultancy and a “body shop”? No matter what your role in professional services–buyer, seller, or resource–you need to be able to understand how the two differ. Consider:
If you are […]
Project management guru Scott Berkun has a useful essay on how to detect bullshit in the workplace:
…[L]ies, serious lies, should not be encouraged as they destroy trust, the binding force in all relationships. One particularly […]
Here’s a terrific, intelligent side-by-side comparison of the two most popular rapid e-learning development tools: Captivate and Camtasia.
Macromedia Captivate by Adobe and TechSmith Camtasia Studio 3.1 are similar software tools with uniquely different strong points. If you’re creating a quick-and-dirty software demo, or a PowerPoint presentation to post to a Web site, Camtasia is a […]
If you’re disappointed with Windows XP, scared to death of Windows Vista, and thinking about dipping your toes into the techie waters of Linux on the desktop, there’s never been a better time.
The Linux operating system — a free, open-source alternative to Windows and Mac OS X — has long served to define the gap […]
Many people ask me for advice about getting a job in Silicon Valley, so here’s the inside scoop. Not everyone will agree with this advice, and some will outright deny what I’m saying, but if you use these tips you will stand head and shoulders above most candidates.
Guy Kawasaki: Everything You Wanted to Know About […]
Ten years ago, if you were a Windows user, the idea of switching to a Macintosh might not have seemed enticing. An abundance of new Windows software was arriving on store shelves, while the selection available to Mac users seemed to be falling behind, often relegated to a back corner of the same store.
Today the […]
The IBM PC was announced to the world on 12 August 1981, helping drive a revolution in home and office computing.
The PC came in three versions; the cheapest of which was a $1,565 home computer.
In 2006 dollars, that’s a $3500 computer, folks.
That’s enough to buy you a nicely equipped Mac Pro with Apple Cinema Display […]
Let me tell you about these fabulous little notebooks I’ve just found.
As a writer (one who works on technical subjects, not the Great American Novel) I make a point to never be without a notebook and a pen (a Pilot G2, please.)
For years, I used cheap spiral-bound reporter’s notebooks and went through them like Sherman […]
A fine-tuned Windows XP PC can run quite fast even it’s seriously lacking in the memory and CPU department. Before you chuck out your PC to buy a new one, try stripping some of the rust that’s built-up over the years; the results may surprise you.
It’s probably your operating system that’s slow, not the PC. […]
Responsible education reformers know that throwing money at the problems of poor schools and underperforming students doesn’t work.
Sun Microsystems’ retired CEO Scott McNealy has a new idea: leverage the power of open-source tools and software to make high-quality instructional material available to the world’s students for free.
“Math hasn’t changed since Isaac Newton,” declares Scott McNealy. […]
It’s important to remember that ITIL is NOT a standard. ITIL has no auditing criteria. Contrary to popular belief ITIL tools cannot be officially regarded as ITIL Compliant. ITIL is a framework of best practice that aims to ensure cost effective, appropriate and quality IT services are delivered. But there’s nothing in ITIL to Audit […]
We are all told from childhood on that “Patience is a virtue.” And this is largely true. True patience is a combination of disciplined action and disciplined waiting. If we can employ it to the right ends, we can achieve goals and reap rewards that initially seem impossible or unattainable.
In organizational life, however, “patience” is […]
