Things I Learned This Week – #27

Offline this week I learned that sometimes you’ve got to just grab the bull by the horns and take the lead, that lemon curd has never stopped being insanely tasty, and that camping with a 3 year-old is actually quite fun!

http://delicious.com/dajbelshaw/TILTW27

Tech.

• With more and more places offering free or low-cost public wifi, it’s always good to know how to make sure you’re secure and safe.
• And while we’re talking security, here’s 10 useful WordPress security tweaks! (numbers 8 and 10 are quick, easy and important)
• uTorrent has finally been released for Mac OSX (about time!) Lifehacker’s got the lowdown on why it’s pretty awesome.
• Apparently, it takes longer to read a book on an iPad or Kindle than it does to read the physical version. Perhaps it’s to do with depth of reading? The type of people who use e-readers at the moment?
• From the but-I-thought-the-Cold-War-was-over department comes the news that Russian spies have been hiding messages via digital stenography in popular websites. Unbelievable!

Productivity & Inspiration

• If you’re in a management/leadership position, you’re inevitably going to have to manage people who bother you. Here’s 9 useful tips on how to do so. And if you’re not in such a position, I wrote earlier this week on 5 steps to to making other people more productive!
• It’s fairly easy to create a routine that keeps you organized and productive. But what happens when something comes out of leftfield to disrupt your harmony? Try this article on how to stay organized when life throws you a curveball.
• So your new routine involves decamping to a coffee shop to work? That’s great for your productivity, but how do you stop being ‘that annoying guy/freeloader/parasite’? Here’s some tips.
• How does Seth Godin manage to say so much in so little words. Not only did he explain this week on the important difference between running and managing a project, but also why continually optimizing everything can get in way of creating.
• Mark McGuinness has a great post about the importance of not doing ‘reactive’ work all the time. Instead, you need to find a way of focusing on creating remarkable things that people talk about. Thankfully, he’s got some tips!

Education & Academic

• Google Apps Education Edition now has a training centre. Which is handy. 🙂
• Stephen Downes has updated the design of his website. Which means it not only has awesome content, but looks good too!
• I didn’t realise just how many educational books and articles are available for free on the Amazon Kindle Store. Given that the Kindle software is available for pretty much every platform, it’s a win/win situation as far as I can see.
• iTunesU, for those who don’t know, is a way for universities and educational institutions to deliver educational content (including lectures) via Apple’s iTunes ecosystem. Do students like it? Well the Open University seem to think so!
• You should check out this post at the Xplana blog entitled E-Learning, E-Books and Technology Innovation. And not just because it mentions me and because I syndicate these blog posts over there… 😉

Data, Design & Infographics

• Presentation Zen features a great post on asymmetry and emptiness:

Designs which are asymmetrical are more dynamic, active, and invite the viewer in to participate. An asymmetrical design will lead the eye more and stimulates the viewer to explore and interpret the content. Asymmetrical designs may evoke a sense of flow or movement. This kind of active engagement on the part of the viewer may lead to better recall of the content. It’s important to remember that harmony is key and can be achieved in an asymmetrical design when care is given to achieving balance among the elements.

• Now that Lost has finished, ever wondered what a map of the island would have looked like?

• Davis Guggenheim (he of An Inconvenient Truth fame) has a new film out later this year called Waiting for Superman. It’s about the ‘crisis’ in American education. I’m more interested in the awesome video infographics than the rather sensationalist message, to be honest…

• How are mobile phones changing social media? Here’s how (click for full version):

• Escher in Lego. Awesome.

Misc.

• I’m always looking for more blogs to subscribe to, so Time magazine’s Best Blogs of 2010 is definitely worth checking out!

• A Canadian filmmaker has replaced his the false eye he wore as a result of a hunting accident with one that makes him Eyeborg. Basically, he can stream out footage of what he can see via a wirelss video camera. Awesome and scary all at the same time! :-s

• Instead of getting retribution which may backfire, sometimes it might just be better to watch this 100 greatest movie insults video:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSEYXWmEse8&w=640&h=385]

• From the Google-can-do-more-cool-stuff-than-I-can-keep-up-with department comes the news that you can quickly and easily find sunrise and sunset times.

• I must point to my good friend Paul Lewis’ recent post Quality is a Mindset, Not a Setting. It’s not only an awesome post in its own right, but marks his coming of age as a blogger. 😀

Quotations

The Master doesn’t talk, he acts. When his work is done, The people say, “Amazing, we did it, all by ourselves!” (Lao-Tzu)

A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others. (Ayn Rand)

In looking for someone to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. But the most important is integrity, because if they don’t have that, the other two qualities, intelligence and energy, are going to kill you. (Warren Buffet)

Humility doesn’t mean you think less of yourself but that you think of yourself less. (Max Lucado)

No one ever choked to death swallowing his pride. (Anon)

Main image CC BY-NC gigi 62