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Showing posts from October, 2016

Raising good humans, Tinybop announces - Me #apps #kids #parenting

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Raising good humans We're beyond excited to release Me - our newest app, the fifth in the series - next week and not a moment too soon. Like other Digital Toys apps, Me encourages creative thinking. But it's also our first app specifically designed to support kids' socio-emotional development.

Most Recent Episode 9m 3 tools to help identify the system conditions | Adolfo Foronda #agile #scrum

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When analyzing and understanding the systems we work with we have many possible tools to help us find what is affecting the system and therefore the team. Adolfo lists 3 tools he uses and how he uses them to find out what are the system conditions in play.

How to tackle strong personalities - #Scrum Master Toolbox

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It happens. Some of our best people are also quite strong minded and want to do things their way, because hey, it worked in the past! This is a problem for the team to develop in a cohesive and collaborative mode of work. However this does not be an impossible problems for us Scrum Masters. Adolfo walks us through how he solved such a situation. In this episode we refer to the book Crucial Conversations by Patterson et al., a guide to handling difficult, but necessary conversations in our teams.

The Humpday Must Watch - Social Media Influencers Release Movie on Influencers

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Vine Star Jason Nash Releases 'FML' - a Parody About Social Media Sam and Henry (Photo courtesy of Digital Riot Media and FML) Over the weekend, 60 Minutes ran a story on Social Media Influencers . These people who are changing the landscape of advertising are offering product endorsements to their followers via their "schtick" not some ad agency planned marketing campaign. They are as big on social media as some sports stars but they are just normal like you and I. Over the weekend, we were grateful to have screened the the movie " FML-The Movie " (Thank you Shark Party Media and Digital Riot Media ) which is a comedy which parodies the whole social influencer world. Jason Nash, a vine star himself,  producing and directing his second cross-over feature, has released the  first-ever Vine star feature film (written, directed and starring Vine stars) on October 11th.  FML   stars  Jason Nash  and  Brandon Calvillo , two of Vine’s most followed socia

Listen now - The tail can't wag the dog in #Scrum #Agile

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It was my tremendous honor to be invited on the fantastic Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast with host Vasco Duarte. It is tempting, and sometimes even possible to change many things starting from a small group. But if you are working in a large multi-national organization don’t forget the old adage: “the tail can’t wag the dog”. Small wins are necessary, but not sufficient to help change take hold in larger organization.

Don't Forget LinkedIn Learning is Free This Week

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Be Somebody New: LinkedIn Learning Opens Up their Courses for 1 week Photo courtesy of LinkedIn Learning On LinkedIn's blog there is a quote " Learning means growing." Here's your chance to grow. LinkedIn announced last Friday that they are opening their coffers for one week to show you the breadth of LinkedIn Learning. On September 22,  LinkedIn announced they finally pulled the Lynda.com library of online training courses into its main service. Lynda.com, now LinkedIn Studios, is still based in Carpenteria and still going strong. 

Linked Learning: Loading Education 4.0?

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IMD Professor Stefan Michel on LinkedIn and the Future of Learning in the Workplace New Age of Education Delivery (photo courtesy of Pablo by Buffer) LinkedIn recently announced that it was entering the professional development market. Surprisingly, this news barely caused a ripple. Will 22 September 2016 go down in history as a key milestone in the digital transformation of the professional development market? Only the future will tell.

International Accelerator Program Brings Topics of Interest for Startups

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Founders Space Announces New Seminars for Startups in November November Events for Startups by Founders Space (photo courtesy of Founders Space) Recognized internationally accelerator , Founders Space, has announced some great instructional and informational lectures for startups. What makes this special? Steve is always on the move as most accela-preneurs are and to get him to stay still for an hour is amazing. But equally amazing is that he has created a great environment/ecosystem of startups, mentors and funders creating the next big thing. Captain Hoff (aka Steve Hoffman) will be giving three inspiring talks on future tech trends, raising capital and telling your startup story coming in early November. If you look below, we have a Nerdy discount for you. Full discloser, I am a volunteer mentor at Founders Space focused on PR/Marketing.

The Follow Friday Orionids

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#FF Summaries from Our Retweeters and Followers What the heck is a Orionid? A Orionid is a meteor that originates from Halley's Comet. They create quite a spectacle in the sky at night and they peaked this week. So did these #social shooting stars that followed and retweeted us.     Check them out. Have a great weekend! - The Nerd Stalker Team

Amazon patents personal mini drones to locate lost cars or kids

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Fly my pretties: Amazon patents personal mini drones to locate lost cars or kids Imagine you're trying to find your car in a crowded parking lot. Simply say "locate car" and a tiny drone on your shoulder flies off and guides you to it. Amazon has been awarded a patent for such a drone, which may also be used by emergency personnel to locate missing children or spot fires.

Towards A More Inclusive Model for Digital Product Design

Towards A More Inclusive Model for Digital Product Design - Core77 Digital product design is a rapidly growing field that engages unique individuals with skillsets that unite traditional communication design principles with user experience capability and digital software skills. In an increasingly tech-driven world, more skilled digital product designers will be needed to create authentic and innovative digital touchpoints. Because digital

Checklist for handing off designs to product teams #ux

Checklist for handing off designs to product team With short deadlines and crunch schedules, designs are often handed down to the development team one week before the product/feature's release date, and they are asked to start sprinting. The designs usually consist of Photoshop files (PSDs) or Sketch artboards with a lot of layers and zero specs to accompany them.

Taking a Chance on Life

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Bill Thompson Talks about Stepping Out on the Limb of Life Taking a Chance on Life (photo courtesy of pablo by Buffer) What’s harder than getting fired? What if you’re a baby boomer plugging away at a job you’ve had for years, and suddenly everything is turned upside down the day your much younger boss strolls into your office to let you know your services are no longer needed? What would be the first thing you’d do? What would you tell other people? What feelings would be coursing through your mind right then ... and for weeks and months afterwards? It’s a sobering thought for those of us who are cruising toward that magical time called retirement. Even if you’re not—even if you’re one of us who plans to work until he or she drops—the idea that an involuntary career change could be right around the corner has entered the minds of every one of us who works for someone else. Now think about something even more daunting and challenging. Instead of getting fired,

The Weekend Scene - Brent Rose on the GoPro Hero5

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Wired's Brent Rose Checks Out the New Action Cameras from GoPro and Garmin Virb Ultra 30 Brent Rose on GoPro Hero5 (photo courtesy of Conde Nast Entertainment - The Scene) GoPro started the world on capturing action video. With their new GoPro Hero5 Black and Hero5 Session they have improved on the previous model. Brent Rose of Wired also takes a peek at the Garmin and does a comparison of the 4k footage between the two.  If you are looking for a new action camera, the new GoPros seems to be the cutting edge. If you are trying to look for it on Amazon, wait a while. In a Fortune article this week, GoPro has ceased selling on Amazon citing pricing pissing match. We see this to clear up by Black Friday (wink-wink). Thanks to our friends the Wired Channel at Conde Nast Entertainment 's The Scene , check out the video below.

The Follow Friday Dessert Champions

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#FF Summaries from Our Retweeters and Followers The Follow Friday Dessert Champions Happy National Dessert Day! Heck, we are not sure who created this and why it is national but why the heck not? We celebrate weekly, these wonderful dessert socialites, who retweeted and followed us, and who were the perfect week ending meal finishers.     Check them out. Have a great weekend! - The Nerd Stalker Team

5 Things to See On Day One of IoT Tech Expo

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We look forward to some things to see at IoT Tech Expo Photo courtesy of IoT Tech Exposition N ext week, the IoT Tech Expo comes to Silicon Valley for two days from October 20-21. Here are some of our must sees at the conference.

SuperSuit Brings Super Excitement to Kid's Play

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SuperSuit Enables Kids To Play In The Modern Tech Era SuperSuit Glove and Body Unit (photo courtesy of SuperSuit) Maybe this will move the kids from bottle flipping to a new way of interacting? SuperSuit promises to add modern tech play and get our iPad couch potatoes to venture out. Introducing the World’s First Wearable Game, SuperSuit launched a few weeks ago on Indiegogo.  Players can act like stormtroopers, zapping, and invoking super powers. SuperSuit  comes in the form of a bundle that includes a vest, interactive glove and removable bot, bring in gaming into the real world.  On their Indiegogo page , they are offering a two-pack to get you started. The platform fills the gap left by virtual and augmented reality games, getting kids and people of all ages moving, away from screens, and engaged with others. After a successful debut at CES 2016, SuperSuit has been listed as one of the year’s coolest gear by WIRED and one of the coolest gadgets for Generation Z by Mash

Humpday Must Watch: Seniors Get Flipped Off by Bottle Flipping

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Wired Gets Seniors to React to Bottle Flipping Seniors React To Bottle Flipping (photo courtesy of Conde Nast Entertainment) Based on all accounts, kids love bottle flipping, parents hate it. But what  about  seniors? WIRED  asked a group of seniors what they know about bottle flipping, then gives them an opportunity to show off their flipping skills.  Thanks to Conde Nast Entertainment and WIRED for what these cool seniors think.

Another SF New Tech Crawl Takes It To The Streets

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SF New Tech Announces the 2016 Crawl Though SF Techtopia Our Nerd Stalker with Myles (photo courtesy of ABC 7 News) Last week, our beloved SF New Tech announced that this year's SF New Tech Crawl will be on November 4. What's the SF New Tech crawl?  This annual tech love fest allows many of us to see the insides some of SF's tech companies by hopping from company to company to see what each company persona is all about. Many use this for recruiting, job seeking or just inspiration. This year, The SF New Tech Crawl features GoPro, Imgur, Zendesk and others. If you want to participate, sponsor or even volunteer,   Click here . This year, the crawl will be starting in Fi-Di (Financial District) and end at WeWork Transbay. Featured on

The Weekend Screening: Bourne Identity Producer to Release 360 VR Series

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Conde Nast Announces Bourne Identity Director David Liman's new 360 VR series - Invisible Scene from Invisible - a 360 VR series (photo courtesy of Samsung and Conde Nast Entertainment) With the world starting to figure out the VR content vacuum, this week Conde Nast Entertainment and partners hopes the dominoes will fall with the announcement of  a six part 360 VR scripted series  trailer for  Invisible t hat  is “coming soon." Driven by major Hollywood talent, Invisible made its debut at Oculus Connect 3 . The trailer is now available to view through Samsung Gear VR via Samsung VR, the company’s premium virtual reality content service. Invisible  tells the story of an old New York family, the Ashlands, whose tentacles reach into the largest corporations and governments in the world. Although they control a large portion of the world’s economy they exist in relative ambiguity. They move without being seen and somehow without being known. That’s because select

The Interaction-Attention Continuum: Considering Various Levels of Human Attention in Interaction Design #ux

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The Interaction-Attention Continuum: Considering Various Levels of Human Attention in Interaction Design Interaction-Attention Continuum (photo courtesy of Pablo by Buffer) Interactive systems are traditionally operated with undivided attention. Recently, such systems have begun to involve autonomous system behavior that takes place outside the user's behest and attentional field. In everyday life, people perform actions with varying levels of attention.

Google teaches robots to teach each other

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Google teaches robots to teach each other Robots have the potential to instantly share all the skills they've learned with other robots simply by transmitting the information over a network. It is this "cloud robotics" that Google researchers are looking to take advantage of to help robots gain skills more quickly.

Yahoo is spying on its users for the NSA, so here's how to delete your account

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Yahoo is spying on its users for the NSA, so here's how to delete your account Yahoo secretly built software for US spies that monitored every user's emails for certain keywords, according to a bombshell report from Reuters published Tuesday. The news has provoked a deluge of criticism for the ailing tech company, with the American Civil Liberties Union even labelling it "unconstitutional."

Beyond The Conversation: Context-Fluid Experiences and Augmented Cognition

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Beyond The Conversation: Context-Fluid Experiences and Augmented Cognition Have you ever felt like you were having a one-sided conversation with someone? It feels as if you are exerting much effort with minimal feedback or response in return. When we use an application, we can think of this experience as a conversation between the user and the technology.

Hack Education Weekly News

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Hack Education Weekly News There was a Vice Presidential debate this week. Among the education highlights: Republican VP candidate Mike Pence made up a name for the university hosting the event. Actually, I think that was the only education highlight. Via Edsurge: "Experts Look Into the Crystal Ball of the Next Administration's Ed Policy."

The Follow Friday Nobel Winners

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#FF Summaries from Our Retweeters and Followers The Follow Friday Nobel Winners (photo courtesy of Pablo by Buffer) This week some major Nobel prize winners were announce. We want to honor the people who made great strides in social this week. Check them out. Have a great weekend! - The Nerd Stalker Team

Amazon Just Keeps Prime'ing the Pump with Prime Reading

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Amazon introduces another benefit into the "All-You-Can-Eat" Prime Membership - Prime Reading Prime members are now able to read as much as they like from a selection of over a thousand top Kindle books, magazines, short works, comic books, children’s books and more – all at no additional cost ( photo courtesy of Amazon and Business Wire) Amazon's marketing engine is gearing up for the holidays. Amazon  recently introduced Prime Reading, a new reading benefit for U.S. Prime members. Bridging another segment into the Amazon Prime family. The $99 Prime membership adds unlimited reading from a rotating selection of books, magazines, comics and more – at no additional cost. Believe it or not,  No Kindle device required – Members can enjoy using the free Kindle apps for iOS and Android as well as from any Kindle or Fire tablet.

Kirobo Mini Can't Get You Into The HOV Lane But Will Get You Into Zen

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Toyota Made a Tiny Robot To Keep You Company On Your Commute Kirobo Mini by Toyota (photo courtesy of Conde Nast Entertainment's The Scene) Toyota bills this as their "vision of a future where humans and artificial intelligence work together for a better world" Enter the $400, 10cm high, packed with tons of cuteness - Kirobo Mini. Toyota says "He can talk to you, gesture at you, and detect and respond to your emotions, but his mission as your new portable friend doesn’t end there." With people spending an average of 4.3 years of our lives in our cars (which equates to traveling to the moon and back three times) Toyota believes that much can be learnt about our behavior and emotion while driving. And that’s where Kirobo Mini could help. Thanks to  Conde Nast Entertainment and N EWSY for a peek into this cool robot driving companion.

Scheduling Tips for People Who Hate Scheduling

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Johan Gunnars, CEO & Co-Founder of  Simpliday , Get You Over Your Scheduling Worries Scheduling your life (photo courtesy of Pablo by Buffer) If the idea of scheduling your life—especially your “free time”—makes you feel trapped or overwhelmed, I get it. You want to feel free. You want to enjoy your time to the fullest. I hear you. And yet, scheduling is still the best strategy I know for feeling more free and getting the most from your time. Why?  Because we all have a finite amount of energy and decision-making power on any given day . Think of that power like a tank of gas; whether you make mundane decisions like what to have for breakfast or weightier decisions like which new project to take on, you’re drawing on that tank. We only have so much to use before we start running on fumes, something called decision-fatigue.

Weekend Must Check Out - Lights, Camera, SF

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RentHop Provides Heat Map of the Most Popular Places to Shoot a Film Infographic provided by RentHop Using data provided by San Francisco’s   open data portal  RentHop geocoded and mapped out where the most popular San Francisco neighborhoods and locations for filming are. The data goes back all the way to 1915 (coincidently the year of the Panama Pacific International Exposition) , covering over 100 years of filming.  There were over 200 movies and TV shows filmed in San Francisco that have been documented, with nearly 1,200 set locations.  Film in SF has a long history as provided by FILM SF here . Unfortunately, the first part of this century was a dark moment in the SF Film Industry citing bureaucracy and hight fees: Impact of San Francisco’s declining film industry during the six-year period of 2001-2006 1,936:  Jobs lost $123 million:  Local spending lost $8.4 million:  Tax dollars lost 2005:  Last year a film was made in The City – Source: San Francisco