The Mashable community engaged in a variety of articles this week, resulting in solid discussions and debates in the comments. Topics that spar…
Source: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/ykCvENtwxkQ/
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Quick Tip: Versioning Your Graphics Files With Dropbox
Posted by admin on May 20th, 2012
Version control isn’t just something for developers and doesn’t just apply to code. Having a version history of your graphics documents may save you from that awful moment when you realize you’ve scrubbed over a crucial stage of the design process. Thanks to Dropbox, you might already be storing versions of your work without even having noticed..
Dropbox is like a time machine. It keeps snapshots of every change in your Dropbox folder over the last 30 days
Version History in the Cloud
Alternatively, Download the video, or subscribe to Webdesigntuts+ screencasts via iTunes, YouTube or blip.tv!
Remember, both Dropbox and Google Drive will keep snapshots of your files for just 30 days, unless you upgrade your account. You can read more of what Google have to say on the matter at support.google.com, or head on over to Dropbox Help to read up on their “Pack-Rat” pro feature (indefinite history storage).
Useful Resources and Alternative Services
- Sign up for Dropbox if you haven’t already!
- Sign up for Google Drive
- Pixelapse – “Visual version control done right”.
- Layervault – “Unlimited storage, simple version control, team collaboration, and much more”.
- Microsoft SkyDrive
- SugarSync – “..keeps the previous five versions of all your documents.”
- iDriveSync – “Protect yourself from ‘digital accidents’ with versioning and unlimited file retention”
Space X’s Dragon launch… is go! (update: aborted)
Posted by admin on May 20th, 2012
We’re crossing our fingers and toes so hard we can barely type and walk, since it looks like the oft-delayed Dragon launch will take place tomorrow. SpaceX founder Elon Musk confirmed that the company had passed final launch review with NASA and that everything was set for the Falcon 9 to lift off at 4:15AM ET on May 19th. The lift-off will be broadcast live from the official website and is on course to be the first private spaceflight to dock and deliver essential supplies to the International Space Station. For our part? We wish the craft (and the ground crew) all the best and hope it’s a perfect flight — we wanna stay in a space hotel sooner rather than later.
Update (05/19): At around 5:06AM ET, Elon Musk tweeted that the launch had been aborted due to high combustion chamber pressure around Engine 5. It won’t be leaving for another couple of days.
Continue reading Space X’s Dragon launch… is go! (update: aborted)
Space X’s Dragon launch… is go! (update: aborted) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 May 2012 10:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/gBpBcvQCEtU/
May 7, 558: The Roof Caves In on the Hagia Sophia
Posted by admin on May 20th, 2012
The roof caves in on the Hagia Sophia and a lesson is learned about building big domes.
Source: http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2012/05/may-7-558-the-roof-caves-in-on-the-hagia-sophia/
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Posted by admin on May 20th, 2012
How to Ask Better Questions
Posted by admin on May 20th, 2012
You may have what sounds like the best idea in the world. But before you do anything else, try to poke as many holes in it as you can.
Some newfangled ideas are just too tempting to pass up. So entrepreneurs and managers rush to jump on them. Never mind asking key questions like, “How exactly will this work?” and “What do we want to accomplish?”
Take C&A Brazil, a South American clothing store that recently launched an interesting marketing campaign. Customers can go to a special collection online and press a Facebook “like” button on specific articles of clothing. The votes get tallied and are displayed in real time on the hangers of the items in the company’s São Paulo flagship store.
It’s a clever idea that has received a lot of press. But it’s also the type of idea that could trip the company into making a bad decision. Tying fashion to fast-moving popularity votes could artificially drive sales to the more favored items without allowing merchandise buyers adequate time to react and adjust inventory levels. Maybe it’s something to do only for a short time, in which case the company must justify the cost of implementing the technology for limited use.
The Basis for Good Decisions
The impulse to want to innovate and run the organization more effectively is a good one. However, it can break down early on if no one is asking good questions. Unless you ask the right questions, based on what you’re really trying to achieve, the results may be a waste of money, time, and, worst of all, the “willingness” capital of employees to work hard and make something new a success.
A great example of the phenomenon is chronicled in the 2003 book by Michael Lewis, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. On the surface about baseball, it’s really about business and the irrational way in which people make decisions.
Many who came up traditionally in the game would resolutely look at the statistics they had learned to follow, such as runs batted in and number of home runs. But it turns out that those statistics weren’t the ones that would statistically lead to winning games.
Far more important were numbers like the percentage of times batters would actually get on base. That’s because to win games, you need to have people in position to score runs and you also have to reduce the number of outs you make, because reaching three outs ends your turn at bat and completely resets your attempt to score more runs. For years, people running baseball franchises were looking at the wrong numbers because they hadn’t closely examined the connections between what those numbers meant and what they were paid to accomplish.
How to Ask Better Questions
The right questions will change, depending on the company and circumstances. But here are some general ones to modify for your deliberations:
- What is our corporate strategy goal in undertaking this initiative?
- How would the initiative positively and negatively affect marketing, operations, finance, and other specific aspects of the business?
- Are there legal, regulatory, or contractual implications?
- What resources are necessary to make this work?
- What are the hard benefits to which we can put a dollar sign?
- Do the hard benefits at least pay for the initiative?
- What are the soft benefits?
- What are the pessimistic, realistic, and optimistic projections for success?
Success is never a given, but you’re more likely to find it when you look the right way, and that means asking the right questions up front.
Study: Twitter Sentiment Mirrored Facebook?s Stock Price Today
Posted by admin on May 19th, 2012
Facebook’s IPO was obviously the single most discussed topic on Twitter today. The good folks over at social media data platform DataSift monitored what Twitter users were saying about the IPO throughout the day and came up with some interesting conclusions. Turns out, the ups and downs of how Twitter’s users felt about the stock pretty much mirrored the price of Facebook’s stock as the day progressed.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/aJxRoscC6Uk/
Gillmor Gang Live 05.18.12 (TCTV)
Posted by admin on May 19th, 2012
Gillmor Gang – Gabe Rivera, John Taschek, Robert Scoble, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gilmor. Recording has concluded.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/unqXErcq9G4/
Midtronics GRX-5100 simplifies servicing hybrid and EV batteries
Posted by admin on May 19th, 2012
As we move away from traditional fossil fuel-burning automobiles towards hybrids and EVs, we’re presented with new challenges — namely servicing those vehicles and their high-voltage batteries. When it comes time for transport, in the event of an accident or when components need to be serviced individually, it’s necessary to completely drain the cells on board, and that’s where Midtronics‘ GRX-5100 comes in. The vehicle battery service and de-power tool is wrapping up field testing at GM and may soon find itself in “reclamation yards” (read: junk yards) as well as your local mechanic. With testing out of the way Midtronics plans to ramp up production before the end of the year, and its updateable firmware means it will be able to handle future vehicles with nothing more than an upgrade loaded on a USB key. For more info check out the PR after the break.
Continue reading Midtronics GRX-5100 simplifies servicing hybrid and EV batteries
Midtronics GRX-5100 simplifies servicing hybrid and EV batteries originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 May 2012 05:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/18/midtronics-grx-5100-simplifies-servicing-hybrid-and-ev-batteries/