Wednesday, September 30, 2009

My Article in Cleveland Plain Dealer...

Here is my article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. It is also in the print version on the employment section front page.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

FREE

I read Nicholas Negroponte's book BEING DIGITAL sometime in the 90's. It taught me to understand the full potential of the Web and digital economy. Today it still seems prophetic even as some of its predictions have become true. Chris Anderson is a writer whose books expand on Negroponte's premises, to show the effect the Web has and will have on our culture and economy.

I am currently reading Chris Anderson's FREE: THE FUTURE OF A RADICAL PRICE. Anderson's last book, THE LONG TAIL told how the Web and digital technologies have allowed businesses to move past a “blockbuster” mentality, where only high selling products are offered, to one where multiple niches can be accommodated.

Free is an extension of that. When goods are digital, storage is cheap and distributon costs low, it has a lot of implications that amplify the differences between the world of “bits” and the world of “atoms”, to use Negroponte's terms. Anderson shows in an interesting and compelling way that the notion of Free is not a new one, but the Web and digital technologies make it especially relevant now. While certainly not all products will become free, more and more businesses will need to respond to this one way or another – by embracing it, or by competing with it. Examples: Cable TV vs Hulu, Microsoft vs. Open Source.

Of course businesses always have and always will need to make money. Anderson points to many of today's most successful and innovative businesses, such as Google, that, paradoxically, give away much of their services for free: in Google's case - search engine, Google Docs, Google Maps, GMail. Anderson argues that businesses are well advised to look at innovative ways to apply new technologies to embrace the radical price of Free.

True to form, versions of this book are free. See Anderson's blog for details.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

1+1=?

Dr. Benjamin Ola. Akande, dean of Webster University's School of Business & Technology, on the power of Twitter

from the article:
1+1 is equal to 3, to 300, 3 million. It is equal to the power of the written word -- 140 characters, succinct, precise and concise. Twitter is equal to the possibility to make a difference, to be a contributor to society for the greater good of mankind. Twitter is becoming the definitive equation of our time not just for its simplicity but also for its exponential potential of increase.


via @valdiskrebs

Friday, September 11, 2009

Ruins and Life – Photographs by Keith Berr and Poetry by Bruce Weigl

We in the Business Division recognize there is more to life than making a buck. As such, I would encourage everyone to visit Ruins and Life – Photographs by Keith Berr and Poetry by Bruce Weigl the Stocker Arts Center on LCCC's campus. I visited the exhibit yesterday and was blown away by the photography and the poetry and by the synergy of juxtaposing the work of these two fine artists.

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Tuesday, September 08, 2009

College for $99 a Month

In a very interesting article in the Washinton Monthly College Guide the author describes the potential for the "disruptive innovation" of an all-online college degree. His thesis is that just as with other traditional business models such as travel agencies, newspapers, and the music industry, technology is poised to throw a potentially lethal blow to the traditional higher education system.

Although, distance learning in various forms has been around since at least the 1800s and internet courses and programs have been in place since the late 1990s, they have never really challenged the traditional, on-campus college education. According to the author, that is about to change. The spectacular rise in college tuition and other costs has increased the demand for cheaper and more convenient college education.

The author notes that the all-online colleges such a the University of Phoenix do provide the flexible options students demand, but their pricing model has been to charge as much or more than traditional universities and thereby rake in enormous profits. He makes the case that when someone can offer online education and charge competitive rates (i.e. what it costs to provide it plus a reasonable profit), traditional colleges and universities will be in big trouble.

He points out, however, the obstacles in the way of this possible transformation - specifically accreditation. This was (is) the main barrier for the subject of the article - Straighterline.com.

It is interesting to note opposition to Straighterline from students at its then partner university, Fort Hays State University in Kansas. Although their protest was based on Fort Hays partnering with a private corporation, one wonders if an unspoken motivation might be to prop up barriers to a college degree so as to limit the numbers of degree holders those students would have to compete against.

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Friday, September 04, 2009

data visualization...

The purpose of IT is to gather data and transform it into information. Data is the raw materials - facts, out of context, which by themselves are meaningless. However, when organized, summarized, filtered, etc - data can be transformed into information. The "last mile" in this process involves taking the information and presenting it in an understandable way. When the data is presented in some graphical format, it is called data visualization. Of course, this is nothing new. charts and graphs have long been used. However, advances in technology and the web have allowed for some innovative approaches to data visualization. Here are 50 Great Examples of Data Visualization. As the sheer volume of raw data available becomes staggering, techniques like this will become increasingly important.

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Free and Discounted Microsoft Software

Microsoft offers free downloads of their software development tools for college students who have a college email address. Microsoft also offers Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate Edition for $60 to college students with a college email address and who are currently registered for classes. LCCC now provides email address to all students enrolled for credit classes.

To access your LCCC email address, go to http://www.lorainccc.edu/Current+Students/e-mail.htm

To download the free Microsoft Development Tools, go to https://www.dreamspark.com/Default.aspx?wa=wsignin1.0 and follow the signup instructions there. Note that you can download more than one of the products listed.

To buy the discounted Microsoft Office 2007 Suite, go to http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-us/default.aspx

These are really great offers when you consider the list prices for these products. For example, Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate lists for $679.95!