Peartrees: Multi-dimensional Curation A few weeks ago now, I posted an opinion piece on Technorati titled, 'Why Social Media Curation Matters'. Following this I received quite a lot of feedback and it’s thanks to one of these comments – posted by on my blog – that I was led to Pearltrees. In addition to this, I was also motivated to re-evaluate my position on the subject of curation and take a closer look at what I perceived that to be. At first I made the rather naïve assumption that the difference between Pearltrees and the services I’d discussed in my previous articles both here and on my blog, was purely aesthetic – Pearltrees has a beautifully designed Flash interface. Nonetheless, they are just lists. The answer can be summed up in one word, depth.
UPDATED: The Art of Anonymous Here's a look at some of the propaganda circulating around the Internet — largely from anonymous authors, natch — advocating for Anonymous or for Wikileaks. Source: Various (No Flash? Here's the Flickr set compiled for this slideshow.) Gabriella Coleman, an assistant professor at New York University's program in media and communications and a longtime researcher of the multitudinous activist group Anonymous, makes the case that a specific design aesthetic and savvy use of online media are powerful tools in the arsenal of its supporters: There may be no individual celebrity but there is certainly art. And this is perhaps one of the reasons I like to study Anonymous—and something that is rarely addressed—is that Anonymous is interesting for making great art, in the form of videos, images, manifestos. Here's an interesting idea. American politicians have paid tens of thousands of dollars for video productions much worse than this one:
When to Let Employees Work from Home Telecommuting can be a vital recruiting tool, if you plan ahead and create the right culture for your company. Here's how. Jim Ball of Alpine Access is making virtual a reality. Photo© John Johnston Q: When should a company allow its employees to work from home? A: It's not as easy as giving everybody a laptop and sending them on their way. "You have to have it in your DNA the fact that you don't have workers coming into an office space," says Ball, whose 4,500 employees--spread across 45 states--all work from home. Creating that culture, he adds, means planning ahead to prevent the chaos that can result if you don't. A key part of getting it done is making sure that every worker--at home or in the office--has equal access to technology, supervisors and, of course, promotions. "You can end up with people who feel isolated, limited in their ability to move up the corporate ladder, frustrated if the technology does not work," Ball says. That starts during the hiring process.
Pearltrees: What problem does Pearltrees solve Scotland Yard Has Been After Anonymous for Months | eWEEK Europe UK The Metropolitan police has been investigating Internet vigilante group Anonymous, since well before its current online reprisals against companies not supporting WikiLeaks. “Earlier this year, the Metropolitan police service received a number of allegations of denial of service cyber attacks againat several companies by a group calling itself Anonymous,” a police spokesman told eWEEK Europe UK. “We are investigating these criminal allegations and our investigation is ongoing.” “The Metropolitan police service is monitoring the situation in relation to recent and ongoing denial of service attacks, and will investigate where appropriate,” the spokesman added. Cyber Unit Involved The spokesman also confirmed to eWEEK Europe UK that the investigation is being conducted by Scotland Yard’s ‘specialist crime directorate’, which includes the Metropolitan Police Central e-Crime Unit (PceU). Wikileaks Furore
Is working from home a good idea? Last year, NPR put together a serial on the mobile-office revolution. The second of the three-part series was titled “The End of 9-to-5,” a profile of workplaces that had adopted what’s called a Results-Only Work Environment—or ROWE—which “gives everyone in a company the freedom to do their job when and where they want, as long as the work gets done.” Employees worked from their kitchen tables at midnight; they telecommuted from coffee shops; and they could manage their work lives to fit in with the daily routines of school drop-off and cooking dinner. Is there a workers’ paradise on the horizon for the cubicle dwellers of the world, or is it just another utopian vision that will join the cubicle and other office innovations as the object of ridicule in Dilbert cartoons and derision by those on the receiving end of ROWE’s good intentions? For at least some of those with soul-destroying morning commutes, liberation may indeed be at hand. Perhaps we’re not witnessing the end of 9-to-5.
pearltrees > blog Anonymous, Wikileaks & Arabic Cyber Revolution: Cause | Michael Wharton Anonymous Operation Payback Targets Opponents Of Wikileaks Okay, so due to really badly timed server issues, I have not been able to blog during the latest developments of what is now being called the first global cyber-revolution (thanks to Roger Davies for helping me out!). As my last blog entry: Twittocracy, Interactivism, Hacktivism & Cyber Anarchy: Cause covered Operation Payback, it was a vendetta campaign against those attempting to censor online content based on copyright infringement. Those perpetrating the attacks were Anonymous, the mysterious hacktivist group behind the latest cyber protests against opponents of Wikileaks. At the end of last year, Wikileaks released the torrent of leaked American diplomatic cables they called Cablegate. Anonymous Changes Tactics: Operation Leakspin Wikileaks, Anonymous & The Coming Arabic Cyber Revolution As if inspired by the courage displayed by the brave Tunisian and Egyptian people; similar protests have taken place across the Arab world.
Is there a telecommuting personality type? It’s coming up on the end of the year, and for eight of the past twelve months I’ve been telecommuting 2-3 days per week. After establishing a secure home office environment and routine, I found myself taking to telecommuting quickly, enjoying the many benefits this non-traditional work option provides. The advantages, which include reducing carbon footprints and increasing office space, are practical and proven. [youtube= And yet, as I reflect on telecommuting practice and talk with my coworkers about starting their own, I sometimes wonder if there is such thing as a “telecommuting temperament.” Introverts versus extroverts As a self-professed introvert and an off-the-charts INFP, I took to telecommuting on several levels. Internal versus external locus of control The concept of “locus of control” is a by-product of cognitive and behavioral psychology. Corporate culture [youtube=