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on Mashable, Stan Schroeder, end of August 2015 As for Flash, the change in Chrome's behavior is just another cut that's making the security-flaw-ridden platform less relevant and, hopefully, soon obsolete.

Harvard Business Review's top trends identified by using 5 questions that determine if these are indeed a trend or not. Top trends for 2015 are: Deep learning (machine learning); Smart virtual personal assistants; Uber's monetization of downtime and the offer for those needing employment to work. Uber-like businesses such as grocery delivery, massage services, dry cleaning and laundry, etc. will take off; Oversight for Algorithms - ethics of how algorithms can be used especially when programmers add subjective judgments to algorithms causing false answers; Data privacy - dealing with ongoing breaches. The public does not blame hackers but blames business for not taking measures to combat hackers; Block chain technology is a transactional database that is shared by everyone participating in bitcoin's digital system. Block chain systems may become a universal platform for anything needing a signature or authentication.

Harvard Business Review's top trends identified by using 5 questions that determine if these are indeed a trend or not. Top trends for 2015 are: Deep learning (machine learning); Smart virtual personal assistants; Uber's monetization of downtime and the offer for those needing employment to work. Uber-like businesses such as grocery delivery, massage services, dry cleaning and laundry, etc. will take off; Oversight for Algorithms - ethics of how algorithms can be used especially when programmers add subjective judgments to algorithms causing false answers; Data privacy - dealing with ongoing breaches. The public does not blame hackers but blames business for not taking measures to combat hackers; Block chain technology is a transactional database that is shared by everyone participating in bitcoin's digital system. Block chain systems may become a universal platform for anything needing a signature or authentication. 

A thoughtful slide program on how to use Google+, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and LinkedIn in your business, Donston-Miller, June 20, 2012. One finding, only use as many platforms as you can manage well. You have to have a "there" (i.e., relevant, timely content) in order to send people there for it to have value.

blog post by Donston-Miller, June 4, 2012 on how social changes how we work 1. website home pages (home pages less of a destination, Facebook timeline becoming more important) 2. Email--with built-in IM systems on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, email less important. Google+ users get tight integration on communication tools 3. Help desk call centers--moving to discussion forms on social networking platforms 4. Resumes-- "Now, social networks are basically living resumes. Or, looked at another way, you are your resume; what you post, how you interact, what you share, who your friends and followers are, and more all combine to demonstrate your value to a company." 5. PBXes--enterprise wide phone systems are affected by Skype and online chat and messaging features

Blog post January 10, 2013 on 10 Social Networks for Special Interests, including cat lovers, the Brainyard, Intelligence for the Social Enterprise from InformationWeek. Have not seen this terminology before--"vertical social network" Excerpt: "For users looking to streamline their social networking experience, vertical or specialized social networks may be the way to go. Vertical social networks are not new, but we have been seeing more and more pop up. We have also seen increased user interest in vertical social networks, as platforms such as Facebook and Twitter become social jacks of all trades. Many vertical social networks are industry-based. ..."

Blog post by William Bowen, March 25, 2013, on movement towards online education. He would like more hard evidence to understand impact/success among other effects, tool kits (platforms), new mind-set to attempt online to reduce costs without adversely affecting educational outcomes, what we must retain in terms of central aspects of life on campus such as "minds rubbing against minds." Excerpts: "My plea is for the adoption of a portfolio approach to curricular development that provides a calibrated mix of instructional styles." ... "Their students, along with others of their generation, will expect to use digital resources-and to be trained in their use. And as technologies grow increasingly sophisticated, and we learn more about how students learn and what pedagogical methods work best in various fields, even top-tier institutions will stand to gain from the use of such technologies to improve student learning." Really like this comment for value of MOOCs for post-college graduates: "A quibble. I am intrigued by your comment about "minds rubbing against minds." While there is undeniable worthiness of the thought inside academic communities perhaps underestimated is the lack of such friction after graduation and how MOOCs can provide opportunities outside the alma maternal environments. To take courses at the local U. costs both in inconvenience of scheduling, transportation and monetary costs equivalent to constantly having a new Hyundai. Those requirements wind up as being unreasonable. Since January I have had the great pleasure of thinking about the thoughts of Dave Ward and colleagues from the University of Edinburgh and arguing about points in the forums. More recently, Michael Sandel on Justice from Boston. These opportunities are enormously better than nothing at all, clearly benefiting myself and probably also friends, colleagues and civil society. While these experiences do not provide the intensity of a post seminar argument in the Ree

Interesting explanation of business model for how nonprofit and forprofit MOOC partners--edX, Coursera, and Udacity--will make money along with the universities. Implications for other, smaller online learning partnerships? Excerpt on two models (large-scale efforts) According to Mr. Agarwal, edX offers its university affiliates a choice of two partnership models. Both models give universities the opportunity to make money from their edX MOOCs-but only after edX gets paid. Related Content What You Need to Know About MOOCs Document: The Revenue-Sharing Models Between edX and University Partners The first, called the "university self-service model," essentially allows a participating university to use edX's platform as a free learning-management system for a course on the condition that part of any revenue generated by the course flow to edX. The courses developed under that model will be created by "individual faculty members without course-production assistance from edX," and will be branded separately in the edX catalog as "edge" courses until they pass a quality-review process, according to a standard agreement provided to The Chronicle by edX. Once a self-service course goes live on the edX Web site, edX will collect the first $50,000 generated by the course, or $10,000 for each recurring course. The organization and the university partner will each get 50 percent of all revenue beyond that threshold. The second model, called the "edX-supported model," casts the organization in the role of consultant and design partner, offering "production assistance" to universities for their MOOCs. The organization charges a base rate of $250,000 for each new course, plus $50,000 for each time a course is offered for an additional term, according to the standard agreement. Although the edX-supported model requires cash upfront, the potential returns for the university are high if a course ends up making money. The university gets 70 percent of any revenue gen

Nellie Deutsch is a wonderful educator using the WizIQ platform for helping people learn all kinds of things. This one is focused on the virtual classroom and has a list of learning objectives that might be adapted for our beta test work group as what they will learn while they are helping us with the website/program development issues.

Free forum and message board platform that allows you to customize the look so it matches your website. They have an example of how they have integrated a forum into a website. Downside to free service are ads on the forum or message board page, but paid service eliminates that.

from Entrepreneur.com. Another article on how to network when you are an introvert. First suggestion is network and make connections online to develop relationships on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms. This is especially helpful if you are going to a conference or event as you will "know" people before you get there, and they will know you. Arrange to meet up with them ahead of time. Talk about your accomplishments to better connect with others so they know what you have done and what connections you have with them. Discuss your goals and ideas to join or jumpstart the conversation, and ask for others' goals and ideas. Don't overthink it and go over and over your interactions. Concentrate on the positives you get out of the interaction. Maintain strong relationships when they develop and keep in touch regularly. Take Notes - remember faces, names, and what they said. Send an email to them to continue the conversation and remind them of who you are.

Connected Learning, a new research-driven initiative was introduced at the Digital Media and Learning Conference 2012. This blog post by Jackie Gerstein discusses its essence and includes TED video of Henry Jenkins and separate video of Mimi Ito. See excerpt on core values and principals of connected learning: At the core of connected learning are three values: Equity - when educational opportunity is available and accessible to all young people, it elevates the world we all live in. Full Participation - learning environments, communities, and civic life thrive when all members actively engage and contribute. Social connection - learning is meaningful when it is part of valued social relationships and shared practice, culture, and identity (http://connectedlearning.tv/connected-learning-principles). This initiative is being driven by the following design principles: Shared purpose - Connected learning environments are populated with adults and peers who share interests and are contributing to a common purpose. Today's social media and web-based communities provide exceptional opportunities for learners, parents, caring adults, teachers, and peers in diverse and specialized areas of interest to engage in shared projects and inquiry. Cross-generational learning and connection thrives when centered on common interests and goals. Production-centered - Connected learning environments are designed around production, providing tools and opportunities for learners to produce, circulate, curate, and comment on media. Learning that comes from actively creating, making, producing, experimenting, remixing, decoding, and designing, fosters skills and dispositions for lifelong learning and productive contributions to today's rapidly changing work and political conditions. Openly networked - Connected learning environments are designed around networks that link together institutions and groups across various sectors, including popula

Interesting distinction between blogging and writing articles. Kevin O'Keefe's blog on January 16, 2014 Blogging is done to engage others in a conversation by recognizing the post is one in a series on a topic. Writing an article is to get your point of view out there. Excerpt: I have always viewed blogging as all together different than writing an article. Blogging is a conversation where by listening to relevant discussion you engage those in the conversation. Social media consultant, Jayne Navvare (@jaynenavvare), made the point as well as anyone in her post today. If you want to post "articles" to the web using a blog platform, fine, but do not confuse that with blogging. Articles are static. Blogging is dynamic. Bloggers do more than just write posts. They socialize. Articles are one way. I write it. I distribute it. You read it. Think magazines, newspapers, and newsletters. Circulation and eyeballs are measures of success. Blogs engage. Blogs mix it up with readers and other bloggers. Relationships and word of mouth reputation are measures of success.

Blog post by Euan Semple, December 30, 2013, curated by Harold Jarche. Excerpt: "It's not about marketing, or SEO, or "going viral". It is not about internal "enterprise social" or external "social media" It is not even about the platforms or tools on which you choose to write. It is much simpler and much more powerful. It is about developing our awareness, our communication skills, and our collective intelligence. It is about thinking harder and writing better. Blogging is a means by which to rediscover your voice, to learn to share your thoughts with others, and by doing so to help us all get smarter faster. "

Blog post by Deborah Shane "According to a CareerBuilder survey "hiring managers are using social media to get a glimpse at the candidate's behavior and personality outside of the interview, and are most interested in professional presentation and how the candidate would fit with the company culture. Here are five strategies anyone can use to 'advance and own their professional development'." First three of five strategies are online: 1) Use Facebook in a hybrid way. Facebook can be one of the most effective and diverse self marketing, branding and networking assets of all of the social platforms. Posting professional questions, article linking, Facebook chats and using the Notes Feature are all great ways to brand yourself on Facebook. 2) Brand your LinkedIn and Twitter pages content and information. Having a content rich, branded landing page on LinkedIn and Twitter can make a strong first impression. Complete your profiles and tell your story in your job history. This makes you more personable and shows people you are serious, professional and you want to be remembered. 3) Launch your own blog or guest blog for other strategic sites. This is one of the best ways to share how you think and show your knowledge and expertise, as well as highlight others in your field that you admire or want to emulate. Some of the free sites you can use are WordPress, Weebly and Wix.

Once again, Copyblogger offers something very worthwhile! Clear and great ideas about how one's "brand" opens or closes doors. 1. Plan the effect you want to have--get to know your audience to use their words in your message 2. Dress the part--understand what motivates them and choose a website theme that uses brand colors, right fonts, and print materials to make a consistent positive impression 3. Stand up straight and make eye contact--own your look on a couple of social media platforms. Do blog posts, webinars, speaking gigs, and interviews. 4. Speak their language--goes back to #1 a bit; do a focus group to pick up their phrases 5. Direct their eyes to your best attributes--three things--size, color, and placement 6. Be yourself--find a way to make them talk about you; exude confidence in what you're doing.

""Women small business owners are not just more optimistic about their own businesses, they're also more bullish about the prospects for female entrepreneurs who are just starting out," said Billie Dragoo, national board chairwoman of the National Association of Women Business Owners. "With a positive outlook and strong entrepreneurial spirit, women business owners continue to be a driving force of our economy." The research also gauged how female business owners are using social media to help grow their companies. While 85 percent of the women surveyed believe social media is important for building customer relationships, only 67 percent currently use social media to connect with customers. The study found that just 25 percent of female business owners are posting on social media at least once a day, with 23 percent rarely posting at all. When they do use social media, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube are the preferred platforms."

newsletter by Seth Kahan--this provides a Template for Creating a Grand Challenge--"noble goal that provides value to society at large, capitalizing on your organization's unique assets." Cites American Geophysical Union's Thriving Earth Exchange, a platform for making a positive impact on the planet and society by bringing together three groups. Like this page because it has the steps for thinking big, acting on a vision with magnetic qualities, and is practical in its execution.

article by Martin Dewhurst and Paul Willmott, September 2014 on new leadership skills required in age of new information technologies Machines force executives and senior leaders to: 1. open up their companies through crowdsourcing and social platforms within and across organizational boundaries 2. create data sets worthy of the most intelligent machines 3. "let go" in ways that run counter to a century of OD 4. executives...able to make the biggest difference through the human touch. ...questions they frame, their vigor in attaching exceptional circumstances highlighted by increasingly intelligent algorithms ... tolerating ambiguity and focusing on the "softer" side of management to engage the organization and build its capacity for self-renewal. 5. turbocharged data-analytics strategy, a new top-team mind-set, fresh talent approaches, and a concerted effort to break down information silos...transcend number crunching..."weak signals" from social media and other sources also contain powerful insights and should be part of the data-creation process. 6. ...early movers will probably gain insights of unstructured data, such as email discussions between representatives or discussion threads in social media. 7. ...dashboards don't create themselves. Senior executives must find and set the software parameters needed to determine, for instance, which data gets prioritized and which gets flagged for escalation. 8. ...odds of sinking under the weight of even quite valuable insights grow as well. Answer: democratizing it: encouraging and expecting the organization to manage itself without bringing decisions upward. ...business units and functions will be able to make more and better decisions on their own. 9. 8 will happen even as the CEO begins to morph into a "chief experimentation officer," who draws from acute observance of early signals to bolster a company's ability to experiment at scale. 10. need to "let go" will be more significant and the discomfort of s

Intuit report from 2010 that speaks to demographic trends ( including digitally savvy kids with global grid; baby boomers gray to go into unretirement); she-economy; social trends (social networks via web and mobile platforms, localism, individuals shoulder the risk); economic trends (including "work shifts from full-time to free agent employment" and niche markets); ubiquity of technology (working in the cloud; data criticality; "social and mobile computing connect and change the world").