Remote (book review)

Remote: Office Not Required

Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson

37 Signals, 2013

After writing Getting Real and Rework (see my blogpost), Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson wrote Remote. This book is all about working (ta-da) remote. A topic they know all about as they founded Basecamp (formerly known as 37 Signals) while living and working in respectively the US and Danmark. Nowadays their employees work at different locations all around the globe.

First of all, the authors explain why one should work remotely. At the office people get distracted by their managers and meetings. The M&M's as they call it. Also commuting takes lots of valuable time. However there's a lof of resistance. Many people, especially managers, oppose to telecommuting as they fear to lose control.

In the following chapters Fried and Heinemeier Hansson explain how to organise the work, the cooperation and the social aspects. They emphasize the importance of human interaction. Therefore they synchronise at least some working hours. People should interact directly even if they use technology like (video) chat. Another important aspect is the provision of services to customers, software support in their case. At last, the book contains some useful resources and tools.

Remote is well written. It's not a novel but it contains tons of useful information about the modern workplace. It's interesting both for companies and employees. It's clearly structured and provides practical advice. Both for dealing with resistance and how to effectively organise the work. 

Do you work remote?

3D Printing (video)

In my 'series' about the Maker movement, I wrote about the new makers and Fab Labs. I also mentioned some resources. At the moment I'm reviewing Makers by Chris Anderson. As this article isn't ready yet, I post a quick but interesting video by PBS Off Book.

Enjoy!

Maker movement (resources)

In my series about Makers, I wrote about the new makers and Fab Labs. For those interested, I gathered some links for further reading. Do you know other useful resources? Please mention them in the comments or drop me a line.

Enjoy!

3D Printing refers to any of the various processes for printing a three-dimensional object.

CAD is the use of computer systems to assist in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design.

CAM is the use of computer software to control machine tools and related machinery in the manufacturing of workpieces.

CNC Machines. Numerical control (NC) is the automation of machine tools that are operated by precisely programmed commands encoded on a storage medium, as opposed to controlled manually via hand wheels or levers, or mechanically automated via cams alone.

MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms is an interdisciplinary initiative exploring the boundary between computer science and physical science.

Fab: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop--from Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication

Fab Lab is a technical prototyping platform for innovation and invention, providing stimulus for local entrepreneurship. A Fab Lab is also a platform for learning and innovation: a place to play, to create, to learn, to mentor, to invent.

Instructables is a place that lets you explore, document, and share your creations.

Local Motors. We combine co-creation and micro-manufacturing to bring hardware innovations to market at unprecedented speed.

MAKE magazine brings the do-it-yourself mindset to all the exciting projects in your life and helps you make the most of technology at home and away from home.

Maker Faire is a family friendly event celebrating technology, education, science, arts, crafts, engineering, food, sustainability, and more. 

Maker Movement. Community enabled by a rekindled interest in manufacturing and hardware, accompanied by the proliferation of inexpensive or less expensive distributed, democratizing manufacturing tools.

The Maker Movement Manifesto: Rules for Innovation in the New World of Crafters, Hackers, and Tinkerers

Maker Stuff supplies the most innovative equipments which turn your ideas into your product. 

Makers: The New Industrial Revolution

Popular Mechanics helps people build, fix and customize the technology in their lives, from houses to hot rods to gaming systems.

Prosumer is a portmanteau originally formed by contracting producer with the word consumer.

Thingiverse is a thriving design community for discovering, making, and sharing 3D printable things. As the world's largest 3D printing community, we believe that everyone should be encouraged to create and remix 3D things, no matter their technical expertise or previous experience.

The Zero Marginal Cost Society: The Internet of Things, the Collaborative Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism

Zero to Maker: Learn (Just Enough) to Make (Just About) Anything
 

Open Library

Today we'll talk about the Open Library. In fact. I will write and you may read it. ;-)

This library is an initiative of the Internet Archive. Its aim is to create a (web) page for every book which is quite ambitious. By creating such a huge database readers and book lovers are able to retrieve information about many published works.

But that's not all. It's also possible to read books as long as they are digitized. Registered users are allowed to read classics online or even download them. These are books published till 1922. They are avalaible in several formats like TXT, PDF and EPUB. At the moment of writing, over 1.000.000 titles are available for free.

Modern books are published as of 1923 and can be borrowed. Borrowed? Yes, registered users can check a book out for up to fourteen days. During that period, the lender is able to read it on- or offline. For the latter Adobe Digital Editions software is necessary. These are available for Windows and Mac; unfortunately there's still no Linux version. Users may loan up to five books a time all for free!

Are you already a member of the Open Library?

Keep on reading!

Four principles for the open world (video)

At the moment, I'm reading Macrowikinomics: Rebooting Business and the World  written by Don Tapscott. In fact, I'm listening the audio book during my commute to work. My interest in his idea's grew during 'reading' the chapters.

After a while, I found out Tapscott spoke at TED some time ago. In Edingburgh he talked about openness. He explained the four principles of this concept:

• Collaboration
• Transparancy
• Sharing
• Empowerment

Along his speech, Tapscott wrote  Radical Openness: Four Unexpected Principles for Success .

Enjoy!

Bookmarklets

Book whats? According to Wikipedia, a bookmarklet is:

a bookmark stored in a web browser that contains JavaScript commands to extend the browser's functionality. 

Sounds interesting, not? But is it useful? Yes it is! Personally I use them for a couple of often performed tasks, e.g:

• to share a page or an article on LinkedIn or Facebook;
• to translate a site to English or Dutch;
• to read a page with Readability;
• to save a bookmark on Diigo; or
• to shorten a URL using goo.gl.

On the sites mentioned above, the bookmarklets are shown as a button. You'll only have to drag them to the bookmarks bar in you browser. Otherwise you may create a new bookmark and copy the piece of code in it.

But that's only my selection. You'll find more inspiration on Lifehacker.com, MakeUseOf.com, or in Lifehacker: The Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, and Better by Gina Trapani & Adam Pash.

Do you use bookmarklets?

Enjoy!

Better than free

Former editor of and author at Wired and Whole earth catalog, Kevin Kelly wrote an interesting manifesto for ChangeThis about the network economy. He declares the internet is a copy machine and therefore a super distribution system. All for free.

But why would user pay for something they can get for free? Kelly states eight reasons why this might happen.

1. Immediacy
2. Personalization
3. Interpretation
4. Authenticity
5. Accessibility
6. Embodiment
7. Patronage
8. Findability

Large aggretators, like Amazon, earn their money by helping people finding the stuff they like. They do so by using the long tail phenomenon about which I wrote earlier. However, they're not needed for distribution anymore. Kelly explains, money follows the path of attention.

Kelly is the author of Out of Control, New Rules for the New Economy and the blog Cool Tools.

Enjoy!

LinkedIn: tips & tricks

Personally, I use LinkedIn daily. I keep in touch with classmates, former colleagues, business partners and friends. On this blog, I wrote about the start-up of you and how to really use LinkedIn.

The team of MakeUseOf published some good articles about the functionality of this business networking site. They help you to make your profile irresistable and create a nice looking resume, based on your profile. They've also documented how to stay connected smartly.

Furthermore you'll find some little known features that make it more fun to network professionaly and some hacks you should use to further your career. It's also possible to research you next job.

Some time ago, they wrote about Signals, a nice feature to keep track of what's going on in your network. Another feature documented is InMaps which is part of Labs. It visualizes your network. For people with many connections, I may take a while, but it's worth waiting for as you get a nice overview of the links between your connections.

Last but not least: they wrote a guide which can be read online and downloaded. Despite the fact it's written in 2012, it contains much useful information. Highly recommended.

How do you use LinkedIn?

Happy networking!

GoodReads

You may have noticed, the little G logo on this blog. Well, that's the link to my profile on Goodreads. As the name suggests, this is a book community. As stated on their site:

"Goodreads is the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations. Our mission is to help people find and share books they love."

Their numbers are impressive: at the time of writing they claim 18 million members, 570 million books and 24 million reviews.

After registering, you can track the books you're reading, have read, and want to read. It's possible to organize you books in shelves, e.g. the topics you're interested in. Based on your library, the site recommends books. Before starting a new book, you may check its reviews. Like many social media, it's possible to see which books your friends are reading and to join communities. A nice feature - according to me - is to connect your virtual collection to the open source e-book library management application Calibre.

I really love Goodreads with its impressive book database including many reviews. It's easy to search and to organize your books. As Chris Anderson wrote in The Long Tail, you'll get reccommendations tailored to your reading habits and preferences. I know, Amazon does so too. However, I found a few nice titles I hadn't heard of before.

How do you keep track of the books you've read? Do you like suggestions what to read?

Happy reading!

The start-up of you (book summary)

The Start-up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career

Reid Hoffman & Ben Casnocha

2012

Recently, I discussed how to use LinkedIn. Co-founder and Chairman of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman wrote along with Ben Casnocha the book The Start-up of You. I found the executive summary on Slideshare and like to share it on this blog. Don't let the numer of slides hold you back: the presentation is easy to read.

Happy reading!

How to really use LinkedIn (book review)

How to REALLY use LinkedIn

Jan Vermeiren & Bert Verdonck

2011

LinkedIn is a useful tool for building and maintaining your professional network. I myself use it daily. Jan Vermeiren and Bert Verdonck wrote a book called How to really use LinkedIn about this social medium for businesses and professionals.

First of all the authors make clear it's important to have a professional network. They explain networking is about asking, giving or sharing and thanking. So you have to know the magic word. ;-) They introduce their so-called Know, Like and Trust Factor: people have to know you (being visible), like you (being helpful, kind and not pushy) and trust you (for being an expert and upright). They also emphasize the importance of networking on- and offline (away from keyboard).

Vermeiren and Verdonck explain how to create an attractive profile and how to build a diverse and high quality network. They also make clear the importance of LinkedIn Groups as they enable you to meet like-minded people and share knowledge. The book provides useful tips for personal branding: how to become visible and credible. It teaches us to reach customers, jobs and employees.

Last and maybe least, readers get an explanation of the site. Settings, preferences and so on. Being a lifehacker, Vermeiren added some other useful tools.

I like How to really use LinkedIn. It's about networking and not just about another fancy tool. It provides useful tips to build and maintain a diverse and high quality professional network. It helped me to build my personal brand and to keep in touch with interesting people. As the somewhat fancy layout distracts me, I prefer a cleaner look of the pages. But that's all a matter of taste, ofcourse.

Did you read the book? How do you use LinkedIn?

Happy networking!

The shallows (book review)

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains
Nicholas G. Carr

W.W. Norton & Company, 2010

After my post of Thinking, fast and slow, I'll now review another book of the brain: The Shallows by Nicholas Carr. The subtitle of the book, What the internet is doing to our brain, is well chosen as we may see.

The author tells us about his adoption of computers and the internet. Using the internet intensively, Carr noticed: "Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski." How could this happen?

Citing several studies, Carr explains our brains are flexible. They continuously create new connections and disconnect others. They're work in progress, so to say.

Mankind developed intellectual technologies like maps, clocks, typewriters, books, computers and the internet. These inventions extend and support our mental powers. When Gutenberg introduced the art of printing in the mid 15th century, he enabled people to share ideas and knowledge. Computers perform calculations and the internet helps us to find and classify information.

Websites provide many hyperlinks enabling surfers to seek out additional information. As powerful computers and bandwith became cheaply available, pictures, audio and video were also added to websites. All these rich media create a lot of stimuli competing for attention. The net is therefore by design an interruption system. (!) Readers therefore get distracted, concentration goes down and reading becomes scanning.

Our brain needs to process incoming information thoroughly and deeply to save it in our longterm memory. It needs to be meaningfully and systematically associated with the knowledge already in our memory. This is only possible after deep reading: concentrated reading and understanding what we read.

When surfing, we are confronted with a lot of stimuli. Concentration goes down and we scan in stead of read pages. This way we consume lots of information but we don't process it thoroughly.

Well, there's a lot more in the book. Carr mentions many studies, opinions of philosophers and developments. The crux however is the many distractions of the internet causing less concentration and less understanding. The book is well written and interesting to read as the internet is part of our lives.

For me the The Shallows was an eye opener. I use - both for work and private - computers and the internet intensively. It allows me to gather a bunch of information. But as I think of this book, I recognize a lack of concentration. Reading becomes scanning. Therefore I think I should focus on fewer topics and websites. That'll be a challenge as I'm broadly interested. ;-)

Do you recognize Carr's statement?

Happy reading!

Readability

We read a lot on the internet nowadays. News sites, blogs, social media, etc. Are you distracted on many sites by blinking ads, news tickers, tweets and so on? I do. Therefore, I use Readability. According to its makers...

"READABILITY turns any web page into a clean view for reading now or later on your computer, smartphone, or tablet."

That's just what it does. And it does it prety well. Let's get an example. Here's an article on MakeUseOf.

And here's the same article, using Readability. Notice the difference?

Just text and pictures. Nothing else. Lines are also smaller which require less eye movements. I like it very much for deep reading. It's less suited for searching and scanning information.

It's also possible to save articles for later reading, sharing them on social media, e-mailing them and sending them to your e-reader. Readability is available for free as an add-on for popular browsers like Firefox/Iceweasel, Chrome/Chromium/Iron, a bookmarklet for any web browser, an app for Android and iOS and - last but not least - an webapp.

Happy reading!