21st Century Learning Skills

Playing with BuddyPress

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With the upcoming WordCampNYC 2010 and some other projects I have been playing around with BuddyPress again.

ACoterie

Coterie is a French word for a group of people who associate closely, a clique or inner circle.  Seems a fitting name for an online community….@ least at this stage and until we get the final kinks worked out of the functionality of this type of community site and what we want to do with it.  I must say, Steve Bruner does great job explaining the installation of both WordPress and BuddyPress in this video.

The Gig Economy

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Gig_Economy

Richard Greenwald says we are now, “living at the dawn of the freelance world, as more and more people find themselves working as consultants, contract workers or freelancers. This change in the way we work is as profound as the shift that occurred during the Industrial Revolution.”

Having been an on and off freelancer, since 1985….I of course, side with the freelancers and have to say….this is not just the dawn of the freelancers….it IS the Dawning of the Age of the Freelancers.

Savasana = Nap

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SavasanaI practice Bikram Yoga which is done in 104 degree temperatures and between 40 and 60% humidity. 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises.  Roughly the first 45 minutes are warm up to what Bikram calls ‘The real yoga!’

During the second half of class we do postures and in between we have savasana, which literally means: corpse pose.  I’m told we have 20 second savasanas in order for our blood to circulate once throughout our bodies.  Seems plausible.

It’s like a tiny nap…..and naps are the real reason for this post.  I LOVE naps.  Naps are highly under rated in the United States.  When I moved to China, in 1990 [and first visited in 1987] daily between 11 and 2 the entire country took a rest time.  European nations know this ritual as well and it is based on sound logic.  Our bodies do better with   some rest.

And after going full on, usually from 4:45 am….by mid-day I am ready for a savasana.  I usually can pump out more productive activity after just 20 minutes of rest.  On the weekends I attempt to push that time out to 45 or 60 minutes of nap time.

Try it yourself and let me know how it works for you.  I’m willing to bet you’ll be more productive, rested and happier….and you’ll be more inspired.

Rework the Project Charter and Run Projects

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CompassJust when we thought we got the Project Charter figured out, the book Rework, by Jason Fried & David Heinemeir Hansson, debunks ‘Planning as Guessing’.  In fact, they go on to say, “Unless you’re a fortune-teller, long-term business planning is a fantasy.  There are just too many factors that are out of your hands: market conditions, competitors, customers, the economy, etc.  Writing a plan makes you feel in control of things you can’t actually control.”

They advocate, “…you have to be able to improvise.  You have to be able to pick up opportunities that come along.  Sometimes you need to say, ‘We’re going in a new direction because that’s what makes sense today’.”

Before you stress they do add this: “Now this isn’t to say you shouldn’t think about the future or contemplate how you might attack upcoming obstacles.  That’s a worthwhile exercise.  Just don’t feel you need to write id down or obsess about it.  If you write a bit plan, you’ll most likely never look at it anyway.  Plans more than a few pages long just wind up as fossils in your file cabinet.”

Seems to me, some planning-or having some sort of ‘general guide’ is a good thing….just as good as knowing when to make adjustments.

And Seth Godin doesn’t even want us to call ourselves Project Managers, he prefers the title: Project Runner.

Building iPhone Apps

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Software Development

For the last few weeks, on Mondays, I get myself over to the new Ford Building on the Smith College Campus. Now, I’m the first to admit, I am not a programmer.  However, as a designer I’m intrigued with development and thus am assisting Lou Franco with ‘testing’ some chapters of his soon-to-be-published book.

Lou has the patience of a saint. St. iPhone or St. Xcoder is how I like to refer to him.  He is a great teacher! In class, he sometimes tends to run through code pretty quickly when he is showing examples.

Some of the stuff we cover in our workshop goes over my head….Lou does move thru the information.  But I am happy-no, I am joyous to say, I get most of it! I mean, come on everyone has an idea for an iPhone app. A few that have just recently come to mind:

  • A Shit List App: something you could interface with that would assist you in being sure others met your criteria for being on your Shit List. And, of course, there would be some type of meter or rating system.  Maybe it could even connect with your Contact list? Humm…..the possibilities. [Note: this is obviously a bit of a joke here.  Then again, who knows….maybe there is something to this.  Humm.].
  • Then there is this behavioral app I’m working on….I can’t reveal the name just yet….let’s just say the market is for parents to use when their child isn’t behaving in the manner the parent prefers.  This one is still in development stages.
  • And then, an app to help you ‘know’ what types of organic foods are currently ‘ripe and ready-to-pick’. This needs to coordinate with locate organic farmers and dovetail with their crop growth charts….however, I firmly believe there is a need for this.  Especially, as we grow more conscious of the foods we eat, where we buy those foods and in getting the freshest possible foods-locally.

If  you have an idea for an iPhone app [or iPad app for that matter]. Leave me a comment….maybe we can get started on one.  After all, I have a classroom full of Techie-Developers all of whom I am sure would love to develop a iPhone app.