All posts by Richard

Spoofing Wikipedia 2.0

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A common concern I often hear from managers who don't understand Web 2.0 and social media is: "Won't openness be abused?" or "Can we trust our employees to have control over our web?".

Questions which are based upon fear can never be answered satisfactorily. Instead I direct you to Uncyclopedia. Now Wikipedia defines penguins in this manner, while Uncyclopedia defines penguins this way. Assuming you allow your employees to use social networking tools at work, your internal knowledge base will shortly take upon similarities to this example.

My personal input is given below: (read full article)

In early 2005, the invasion took on some real steam. This map of the Lake Superior
region shows an area which the locals now know as Ile de Penguine. As
you can see, the official cartographers, demonstrating their Anglo-Saxon
prejudices, have changed the name to the Penguin Archipelago. This
island chain is now being used for a new northern invasion route into
the USA.

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Lake-Superior

The penguins have already begun to prepare for an expected American counter-attack by
calling in powerful allies such as Pingu, Linux and Morgan Freeman to
aid them in seeking out the secret all powerful weapon said to send
waves of unspeakable and horrific 70's funk music at its holders
enemies. An earlier version of this weapon is shown below during recent
Canadian war games.

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Polar-penguin

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This leads to the obvious question. Dare you trust your employees? Thankfully the answer to that question where I work is "yes".  In closing, if you really believe that your knowledge base would end up like my penguin example … please re-examine yourself.

Hmm … Should I Ski, or do Research?

Northern Life

Given the temperature is -16 F with a wind chill between -25 F and -35F, guess what the answer is to that question? Cross-country skiing will have to wait till this evening when the thermometer reading approaches -1F.

In the meantime, here is a great site for getting online open source eBooks, Techotopia. If LINUX is your cup of tea (good idea on such a cold morning), then I would link to this great post from the Daily Artisan. The number of LINUX eBooks linked is amazing.

The image below was taken last night out on the open waters of Lake Superior! I also have included the weather forecast from the weather station where I work. It helps explain the penguins! Click upon any image to view full sized.

Linux
.
Weather

Your Next OS … Android?

Android | iPad | Kindle Fire

I just read an announcement from the Motley Fool that "Google is Raising an Android Army". I knew that Android was Google's new mobile operating system, but quite frankly … I had not paid much attention to the new OS. I think that is about to change … time to monitor Android (Wikipedia link).

Our family owns both a Nokia N800 and N810 (posts on this subject). I love these small internet tablets because of what they allow me to do (LINUX, GPS, web, etc). However, the world has not beaten a path to Nokia's doorstep. My son, Carl, who is a college senior and owns an iTouch reviewed his thoughts concerning the iPod Touch vs. the Nokia N810. When Carl backpacked through Europe this Summer, his mobile device of choice was the N810.

However, on his next trip overseas, I assume the device will have an Android OS. Is this assumption based upon Google's size? Nope! Take a moment and watch this YouTube demo of some Android applications (bar code scanner and GPS mashups). I was wowed.  I had never thought that I would like my own personal bar code scanner. Boy, was I wrong! The important fact is not so much the specific applications; rather it is the "openness of the Android platform". There are a lot of smart people out there in application development land … who would love to make some money. Apple Computer should heed this as a warning, and really open their software development platform.

For the moment, I do NOT plan to get a new cell phone or handheld internet tablet. 2009 will bring some neat Android devices … delaying my purchase at this time is the saavy move (first Google Android powered phone)

Android

Merry Christmas from the Northstar Nerd

China

Today I post my blog holiday card, and use the artwork of a friend, He Qi. Two years ago I said this about He Qi: (more about The Artist)

While I was growing up in Minnesota during the 1960's, and worrying
about the fortunes of my favorite Minnesota Twins baseball players, He Qi was being "re-educated" by the Chinese. He Qi was considered an "undesirable" due to his Christian faith, and was
sent into the Chinese country side to learn proper thought. The
local authorities learned of his artistic ability, and he was given the task of painting portraits of Chairman Mao. By night, he painted the Madonna.

I own two different large silk prints including the Nativity shown below, which hangs in a place of honor in my home. My other print is Finding Moses (more on the Silk Print Style |detail). I like how He Qi combines Chinese folk art and bible stories.

Thus, Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays. Please pause to reflect about what is truly important this Christmas season. My little attempt to try and make the world better is in southern China.

Nativityheqi_2