people first, people second, people third, people ad infinitum
That’s the way I like to do business.
From The Little Big Things by Tom Peters
Category: Quotes
Quote – Anna Kamenetz
…a video version of the course supplemented with a set number of hours of live teaching support, either delivered remotely by a…grad student, or live and in person from a local instructor, for a charge somewhere between zero and several thousand dollars, with credit awarded by your local institution. The existence of such an option–call it MIT on Demand–might even enhance the MIT brand, as OCW already has.
A company called StraighterLine already offers and important version of this idea: accredited online college courses for $399 per course, which includes ten hours of one-on-one tutoring. But the course credit is granted by just four small, unknown, community and for-profit colleges. This approach is half a step away from really blowing things up. It would just take a few more prestigious institutions getting on board to change the way people feel about online, on-demand education.
Anna Kamenetz, DIY U (pg 128)
A pail blue dot (Carl Sagan) – updated
Pale Blue Dot from Amy Bach on Vimeo.
I’m not sure why they took down the original version (which was very, very cool). But here’s a replacement that’s AOK as well.
Quote – Mark Twain
The Post Office Department of the United States is an Ass.
Mark Twain, Who is Mark Twain
“I’m here” by Spike Jonze
Sponsored by Absolut Vodka, “I’m here” is a short movie about…uh…robot hipster love.
Great soundtrack (to be expected from Spike) and a few good laughs and touching parts. I thought the film was a pretty endearing retelling of the classic robot-boy meets robot-girl (plus a bit of tragedy).
Give it a watch (it’s about 25 minutes) if you can at the official site (note that only 5000 ‘seats’ to watch are opened a day). The official site: http://www.imheremovie.com
Here’s the trailer:
“it was the best dream in the history of dreams” – Sheldon
Quote – Mark Twain
Nothing has to be paid but the rest of the debt; and here I stand, nobly paying it—out of your pockets. That is the way with debts; they just dump along, from shoulder to shoulder, and you never know who has got to foot the bill at last.
Mark Twain, Who is Mark Twain?
Quote – Sun Tzu
Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow; decision, to the releasing of a trigger.
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Quote – Chris Anderson
Now, working within a company often imposes higher transaction costs than running a project online. Why turn to the person who happens to be in the next cubicle when it’s just as easy to turn to an online community member from a global marketplace of talent? Companies are full of bureaucracy, procedures, and approval processes, a structure designed to defend the integrity of the organization. Communities form around shared interests and needs and have no more process than they require. The community exists for the project, not to support the company in which the project resides.
Chris Anderson, Wired Magazine – “Atoms are the new bits” (pg 105)
Seriously? Why get hampered by an inept CEO with no concept of customer wants/needs when you can just collaborate with a friend/online colleague to accomplish the same thing. It’s faster, better and you own it. OWN IT.
Quote – Bill Bryson
For a long time it puzzled me how something to expensive, so leading edge, could be so useless, and then it occurred to me that a computer is a stupid machine with the ability to do incredibly smart things, while computer programmers are smart people with the ability to do incredibly stupid things. They are, in short, a dangerously perfect match.
I am a Stranger Here Myself, page 168. In regards to a “complete home office solution”.
My dear programmer friends, please don’t take offense and hack my site, computer or phone. I love computers…and programmers. Without them I would literally be mopping and sweeping floors for a living.
Music – Ben Folds
Currently enjoying Ben Folds (Way to Normal), particularly this track:
There’s blood on the keyboard. Oh my god.