There has been quite a bit of buzz about a screencast tutorial which teaches RSS concepts. Even if you understand and use RSS, you have to watch RSS in Plain English. The developers have taken a difficult concept, and explained it without the use of any computer screenshots, such that the non technical computer user will understand the concept … and just an importantly, who one should use RSS.

If you work for a training department, you must watch this video.  It demonstrates how one can simplify difficult ideas. I look forward to more tutorials from Commoncraft.

IBM announced today that their mainframes will now have a gaming chip. This has very interesting implications from the vantage point of simulations and virtual realities. Dr. Dobbs Software Journal has a good analysis of IBM’s announcement:

• PlayStation Meets Mainframe (In Second Life?)

You think I’m nuts?! Believe it or not, there is a new trend on the internet … box opening videos. The idea is that when you receive something cool, you have a friend video your experience as you "open the box"! Thus, I bring you two examples … one from c|Net (techie examples)… and one from me!

• The Northstar Nerd’s Rapala Box Opening Video
  (may take a moment to load … 2 minutes 45 seconds in length)

My thanks to my camera man … my son, Erik, who helped me create this satire. Finally, see my updated post which turns this video into a YouTube test.

When we were children, we were scared of monsters. These horrible demons would appear in our dreams, and our imagination … it was frightening! Managing software projects have often been described in terms that approach these childhood fears … scope creeps, cost overruns, or just plain lack of effective communication between software geeks and "normal folk" (not sure where I fit on this spectrum!).

Even though I may make light of this problem, this issue is very serious and costs organizations huge amounts of money. If you ever get involved with managing software projects, take some time to listen to at least one, if not both of these podcast interviews with the author of the new book: Dreaming in Code.  The byline for this book states:

"Dreaming in Code: Two Dozen Programmers, Three Years, 4,732 Bugs, and One Quest for Transcendent Software"

As the book’s author, Scott Rosenberg, is actually a journalist … as much as any journalist can be described as "normal", this would describe Scott; he is not one of the "geeks"!

• Podcast #1: Dreaming in Code – Open Source Conversations
• Podcast #2: Dreaming in Code – MP3 – Posting (scroll to bottom)

What is innovation? When do we achieve it? How do we know we’ve innovated? These are not easy questions to answer. However, one the one fact that does remain, without innovation companies die. This blog forces me to constantly be doing research, and learning new ideas.  Does that represent innovation in my field of knowledge management? The answer obviously lies with how I apply the data and information I learn.  With these thoughts I now leave you with:

• Seattle Innovation Forum (sponsored by the University of Washington)
  • Forum webcasts from UWTV (free)
  • Boeing: Enterprise-wide Innovator
  • Creating New Billion Dollar IT-based Business in the 21st Century
  • e-Types: Innovation Strategy in a Design Firm
  • IT Innovation: Investments, Process, and Results
  • Organizational Dilemma of Stewards and Creators
  • What Are The Key Dimensions and Issues of Team Level Innovation?

Finally, if watching webcasts does not work well for you … go back to my posting on innovation podcasts.