Category: Donna Murdoch

Donna Murdoch

Digital Literacy, Donna Murdoch, Tech Software

Upgrade your brain: Programming resources for coding newbies

I’m not sure it is avoidable for anyone.  CEOs need to know the basics of coding, and there are so many ways to learn there are no excuses.  TNW shares some ideas.  The go so far as to call it a digital literacy.  “It used to be okay to just be a manager and leave the tech to the geeks, these days, products are being developed at speeds never seen before, sometimes in weeks. The rates of execution, iteration and experimentation (lean) are neck-breaking, and you should be a part of it, hands-on, and not as an orchestrator only.”

via Upgrade your brain: Programming resources for coding newbies – The Next Web.

Digital Puglishing, Donna Murdoch, Tech Hardware, Tech Software

A Look Back In Techdirt History

I’ve never felt TechDirt got the attention it deserved, but it’s a great resource and this article was a reminder of the “informed” side of the internet we’ve been focusing on for the past 15 years.  This is a recollection since 1999.  “The site had existed for nearly two years before that, but was mainly done as an email newsletter. Back in March of 1999, the word “blog” still didn’t even exist until a few months later (though “weblog” had been around for a little while before that) and didn’t really catch on for a couple years. Anyway, given 15 years of blog posts, I thought it might be fun to look back at what we were writing about five, ten and fifteen years ago.”

via A Look Back In Techdirt History | Techdirt.

Digital Puglishing, Donna Murdoch

The common elements of good storytelling

What makes a good story? Simple. Emotional. Truthful. Real. Valid. This article from TNW expands, and I think anyone will agree.  “Storytelling is as old as any culture, but probably better preserved as a practice with First-Nations than European culture. It was the primary way of passing along information, long before the written word even existed.”

via The common elements of good storytelling – The Next Web.

Donna Murdoch, Future

Staying Home, Connected to the World

Interesting article from the NYT, discussing the pros and cons of the ways we are now connected to everything with our phones.  The author describes a day in which he does everything, and pays for everything, via his smartphone.  How does that effect chance encounters, small businessmen, opportunities that arise from the people we see every day?  “But in the end, Mr. Gleick said, the pros of our technology-driven lives outweigh the cons. “For every dry cleaner who you’re now cutting yourself off from, you’re potentially capable of being in touch with thousands of people who are physically far away,” he told me.”

via Staying Home, Connected to the World – NYTimes.com.

Donna Murdoch, Future

Delivery dreams: How I’d build a better Amazon Prime

I always thought Amazon Prime was a fantastic deal, so wasn’t surprised when they announced the new price increase (after so many years.)  The author of this article lives in a place where there are options, but unless you live live in one of the areas she mentions these interesting options really aren’t available.  They could be in the not-to-distant future though.  “The Amazon Prime price hike has me thinking about what I’d really like to see from the service. Think streaming sports, personal shoppers and never having to go to the post office again.”

via Delivery dreams: How I’d build a better Amazon Prime — Tech News and Analysis.

Digital Puglishing, Donna Murdoch

With Medium, Evan Williams Is Tackling the Future of Writing Online

I like Medium, another Ev WIlliams (Twitter, Blogger) startup.  Do we like longer-form posts when reading online?  Often when we are writing content to be posted, we try to be short and succinct.  Medium content is somewhere in between long and blog-post short.  Critics say it is hard to filter quality from noise – but the quality tends to rise to the top.  “Mr. Williams is also still trying to decide how to describe his venture. Medium is for short posts and long ones, by amateur writers and professional ones. It emphasizes a clean design and relies on a network of writers and readers to edit and discover new posts.”   It is well done.

via With Medium, Evan Williams Is Tackling the Future of Writing Online – NYTimes.com.

Donna Murdoch, Tech Hardware

People Love Their Tablets. That’s Bad News for Apple

Interesting – seems the upgrade cycle for tablets is similar to computers or laptops, not iPhones.  That’s the conclusion I had after this article from Wired.   “Apple sold more than 70 million iPads last year. People love them. But they might love them a little too much for Apple’s taste, if new predictions of shrinking growth in the tablet market turn out to be true. Tablets are so good, it seems, that people are keeping the ones they have and not buying as many new ones.”

via People Love Their Tablets. That’s Bad News for Apple | Wired Business | Wired.com.

Digital Puglishing, Donna Murdoch, Tech Software

What are New York and San Francisco Tweeting About?

Evidently people tend to complain about the same things via Twitter if they are from the same city.  “New Yorkers are always complaining about the weather, while San Franciscans tend to moan about the city’s perpetually poor MUNI bus service. That’s not just a stereotype — it turns out there’s hard, Twitter-based evidence for it.”

via What are New York and San Francisco Tweeting About?.