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During a few months I have participated in testing on a new natural language search engine Powerset.\
It is coming soon - today or tomorrow. I shall not be able to have
internet access tomorrow therefore I write preliminary comments.
The engine has a number of very interesting features:
1. You enter a query in natural language. It means that you do not
need to think about keywords and can get more relevant search results.
It means more deep search as well.
2. When you get search results you easy see not full document or
webpage but highligted sentences that are relevant to your query.
3. You see semantic environment of your search results. It means
that you see a content of the document and you see both related terms
and actions you can do for more relevant search.
4. You can select and click the new term or action and then you will
see the relevant part of the document or webpage in the content at the
right of the document.
5. Powerset team used very nice friendly and interesting tool for collecting feedback. |
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A big list of tools related to creativity http://lifedev.net/big-list-of-online-productivity-tools/Online Office Suites
Online Calendars
Online Documents
Online RSS Readers
Startpages
Invoice Managers
Time Tracking Services
Goal Tracking Services
Project Management Services
To-do Lists
Personal Organizers- calendars, to-do’s, etc. all rolled into one service
Sticky Notes
GTD Tools
Mind Mapping Tools
Online Collaboration Tools
Web-Based Operating Systems
Misc. Productivity Applications
Running
Music
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Tags: productivity, creativity, collaboration, tool, list of tools, calendar, todo, online office, rss reader, pm, goal tracking, organizer, mind mapping |
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An interesting list of tools boosting creativity http://lifedev.net/2008/03/19-online-destinations-for-boosting-creativity/1. SpringWise
- A database of great ideas that any entrepreneur can act on to help
you start the “next big thing”. There are some great, fun ideas, plus
they showcase the latest trends of entrepreneurship.
2. WhyNot?
- Much like SpringWise, WhyNot? has lots of user-submitted ideas for
any ambitious soul to take under their wing and develop. However,
WhyNot? is more of a community for entrepreneurs than SpringWise, which
can be a bit more helpful at times.
3. Digg
- You can find a smattering of news, tips and other odd things on the
Digg homepage. Digg’s users find the best of the web, and the community
voting does a wonderful job of showcasing quality news and compelling
links. You know it’s a good site when LifeDev has been on the homepage
a few times ;)
4. Del.icio.us Popular
- I love the del.icio.us popular page. One can find the most creative
and interesting articles and tools on the Internet on the Del.icio.us
popular page. It’s basically a barometer of what’s hot on the web with
designers and techies alike.
5. Tumblr
- Tumblr is another one of my personal favorites. Aside from creating
your own Tumblelog, the Tumblr homepage showcases the best links,
images and videos that people are sharing around the web.
6. Nasa’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
- Have a breathtaking shot of the cosmos, once a day. Nothing is more
inspiring and mysterious than outer space, in my humble opinion.
Perfect for shaking any sort of doldrums you might be in.
7. FlickrLeech
- If you’re a visual person and love to view creative photos, check out
FlickrLeech. You can browse just about any type of photo, plus the
default view of Flickr Interesting page is very handy, especially if you need some creative wallpapers for your desktop.
8. LifeRemix - Shameless plug? Maybe. But I visit the site every day and am almost always inspired by the quality of writing. Note: Yes, I’m the co-founder of LifeRemix ;)
9. DocStoc -
You can find some incredibly creative and informative documents that
can lead to many ideas. You’d be surprised at the great content you can
find at DocStoc.
10. WisdomQuotes -
Nothing inspires more than a great quote from someone smarter than
myself. I’ve done entire blog posts based on an inspiring quote.
11. Seth Godin’s blog
- Aside from his uber-savvy marketing advice, there are plenty of
untapped ideas and inspiration that he shares frequently with his
readership. And you better believe that if Seth Godin dreamed it up,
there’s a good chance he’s on the mark.
12. TechCrunch
- Mike Arrington and company constantly showcase the newest and the
best sites on the web at TechCrunch. There is plenty of inspiration
that can be found just by seeing the newest thing in web applications.
Many ideas I’ve had for web apps come directly from concepts introduced
through TechCrunch. Here’s a tip: If you’re wanting to create the next big web phenomena, hang on to their every word.
13. Kottke.org - Jason Kottke has been posting interesting and creative information on the web for the past 10 years. He’s a favorite of many bloggers, and rightly so.
14. BoingBoing
- One of the most popular blogs around, BoingBoing showcases the most
“wonderful things” on the web. Like Kottke, BoingBoing does the dirty
work of sifting through the web for the creme de la creme.
15. Google Docs
- While not expressly a site for finding information, GDocs is a great
tool for capturing ideas and thoughts. GDocs gives the perfect
flexibility for saving quick ideas and then expounding on them later.
16. How to Change the World
- Guy Kawaski is a fun guy with great ideas. Though his blog is geared
slightly more to the marketing crowd, it’s chock-full of great ideas. I
think the most stimulating thing about Guy’s blog is that it’s written
with great voice and lots of humor.
17. MindMeister - Although I’m personally not a huge fan of online apps for creativity’s sake (other than GDocs), many people do like
to use online mind-mapping tools for brainstorming. MindMeister is
right up there with the best of the online mind-mapping tools because
it’s quick and intuitive.
18. Twitter - Although the way I use twitter is more as a web service, (I use the twhirl
twitter client), Twitter can use your friends to help you find
interesting and creative articles to check out. You can quickly ask
your friends if anyone has an idea for XYZ, and odds are someone can
point you in the right direction. Also, your friends will most likely
link to content that you’ll find interesting as well.
19. Smashing Magazine - A site that shares useful and interesting bits for web developers and
designers. It likes to showcase the trendy and useful, which can
stimulate creative ideas for any reader. |
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Read Svetlana FULL blog Today I
realized that I have not claimed my authorship of this blog on Technorati yet. And since usually
Technorati is the first tool the majority of bloggers use to make their blogs
noticed by other bloggers, I have decided to correct this by claiming this
Profy blog.
Obviously,
I already have an account on Technorati that owns our multi-author Profy blog (I will appreciate you adding this blog to
your favorites, of course, if you like reading our posts). If you do not
have an account yet, you will have to register first. READ MORE on Svetlana blog
source |
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I suppose that it is rather interesting especially if you have read a previous post about Svetlana interview.
Posted by Admin on Mar 18th, 2008
How leaders can unlock potential in their teams
Leaders are faced
with unlocking the potential in the people that they lead and
motivating the individual is a key part of this process. Motivation is
not something that is done to an individual as they already posses it.
What a leader does, to profit the whole team, is to discharge, or
unlock, it.
Here are seven ways leaders unlock potential in people.
1. Leaders
share their vision and values. Vision is what the team aspires to. Some
visions may not ever be reachable, yet by their very existence they
inspire, excite and motivate people to turn them into a reality. Where
the vision comes from, however, is less important than whether team
members fully share the vision. Where does vision come from?
Essentially it comes from what you value or care strongly about.
Values, then, are the foundation of the vision. Normally you would have
only a few values. Each person can usually identify and describe them
in their own words. They are not necessarily the same as mission
statements, slogans or taglines written on walls or bulletin boards. As
a leader, it is important that you regularly restate the team values
and display them by your own actions. Leaders should also ask team
members to keep producing examples of how they are turning values into
reality.
2. Leaders
value people. People will work very hard for a leader because they feel
you value them as a person. You do this by treating each person with
respect and by persisting in demanding that this is how team members
treat one another as well.
3. Leaders
Give Recognition. Research has shown that organizations seldom give
enough recognition to their people. All too often people feel that they
are taken for granted and that there is insufficient feedback about
their efforts. Recognition does not always have to be in the form of a
promotion or pay raise. Your team needs clear signs of appreciation and
this can easily and simply be done by saying “thank you,” a small gift,
public praise, a party, etc.
4. Leaders
are Creative. Creativity is one of the most powerful means a leader has
of unlocking your team’s full potential and infusing them with new
energy. You can foster creativity by being open to new possibilities,
new connections, new methods and surprising solutions. To use everyone
in the team to their maximum potential, they need to be stretched as
human beings. This does not mean setting impossible goals as much as it
does expecting the most of each person on the team. To expect the most,
you need to know each persons talents. You can learn about members of
the team through formal assessment procedures, asking the person,
asking others, trial and error in the workplace and so forth. The range
of your team’s talent will likely astound you. Have fun uncovering the
team’s talents.
5. Leaders
Inspire Special Effort. Interestingly, people will do extraordinary
work for some leaders and not for others. This happens when people see
their own interests linked with the leader and he/she wants to achieve.
When you call for team effort, remember that people respond to facts
and emotion. Both are essential. Facts will start the process of
convincing your team that heroic effort is needed. Make sure you
prepare the facts carefully since they must stand up to the team’s
scrutiny. Emotion is another vital ingredient. You need to appeal to
people’s feeling, not just their logical, rational, parts. Facts alone
will seldom tap a team’s hidden energy and commitment. Watch for signs
in the team to indicate that people are making special effort and
immediately reinforce this by offering approval and recognition.
6. Leaders Do
It Their Way. Leaders need to develop a method and adopt a style that
suits them. Then, when you need a special effort from the team, this is
the moment to show them your real leadership style. Inspiring people is
not as easy as it sounds. It starts with you, sharing with them what
inspires you. If are committed to what you want, people will respond to
your inspiration, energy and vision. If you really believe in your
vision, and exude energy and passion about it, the team will also share
in that effort with you and feel your passion. 7. Conversely,
negativity will also breed negative thoughts from your team. Remember
that each team member will internally respond with a “what’s in it for
me?” approach. Discover what each person on the team wants and you will
have the key to unlocking their potential and sustaining that special
effort you need.
Your
qualities as a leader will attract people to consider making the heroic
effort you want or need. They may be drawn to your passion, your
humanity, energy, integrity or commitment. They may admire and fear
your determination to make something happen, but it is the human
qualities you share that will gain their |
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http://howtosplitanatom.com/interview/lessons-from-entrepreneurs-svetlana-gladkova/
By Steve Spalding March 18th, 2008 Under: interviewSvetlana Gladkova is a part of the team behind the blogging platform Profy.
What’s especially interesting about this company is that it’s based out
of Siberia. Svetlana was kind enough to share some insights about
development, networking and reaching international markets.
Here is what she had to say.
First of all, I need to point out that we only launched Profy
blogging platform in private alpha back in January so this is a very
early stage project – thus the early-stage lessons I can share with
your audience. So my tips are focused on the development and launch
stages of the web project.
Development is your focus until your product is perfect
As a marketing person I used to think that success of any project
depends mainly on marketing, publicity, and public relations. Now I
know that no PR can actually make any project a success. Now I know
that when you prepare to launch a web product, almost everything
depends on the development process and this is what any web
entrepreneur should focus on. You can believe your over-optimistic team
and expect the development to be completed in 6 months (and have the
development budget for this period as well) and you can easily end up
with over a year in development.
Such situations can easily crash even the best of ideas so it is
extremely important to have a good architect to plan the development
process and set deadlines. And even if you are 100% sure in how your
team will perform and know that your product will not have any single
bug, it is still wise to add a couple of months to your plan to be
absolutely sure you have at least some time allowance to have the
product ready.
You are the leader, your enthusiasm is crucialREAD FULL interview |
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http://gigaom.com/2008/03/18/iphone-users-are-having-more-fun/
New data from M:Metrics
for the month of January confirms that folks who own an iPhone tend to
do more entertaining things on their devices — such as watch video and
visit social networks — than those who own smartphones. However
February data from mobile ad network AdMob
points out that iPhone users are still a relatively small part of the
overall mobile phone market in the U.S. Good thing, otherwise we’d
never get anything done.
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The Diverse and Exploding Digital Universe. An updated forecast of worldwide information growth through 2011 (Note: PDF) From the EMC Corporation websiteThis white paper calibrates the size (bigger) and growth (faster) of the digital universe. It also seeks to understand the implications for business, government, and society. Some key findings are as follows: • The digital universe in 2007 — at 2.25 x 1021 bits (281 exabytes or 281 billion gigabytes) — was 10% bigger than we thought. The resizing comes as a result of faster growth in cameras, digital TV shipments, and better understanding of information replication • By 2011, the digital universe will be 10 times the size it was in 2006 • As forecast, the amount of information created, captured, or replicated exceeded available storage for the first time in 2007. Not all information created and transmitted gets stored, but by 2011, almost half of the digital universe will not have a permanent home • Fast-growing corners of the digital universe include those related to digital TV, surveillance cameras, Internet access in emerging countries, sensor-based applications, data-centers supporting “cloud computing,” and social networks • The diversity of the digital universe can be seen in the variability of file sizes, from 6 gigabyte movies on DVD to 128-bit signals from RFID tags. Because of the growth of VoIP, sensors, and RFID, the number of electronic information “containers” — files, images, packets, tag contents — is growing 50% faster than the number of gigabytes. The information created in 2011 will be contained in more than 20 quadrillion — 20 million billion — of such containers, a tremendous management challenge for both businesses and consumers • Of that portion of the digital universe created by individuals, less than half can be accounted for by user activities — pictures taken, phone calls made, emails sent — while the rest constitutes a digital “shadow” — surveillance photos, Web search histories, financial transaction journals, mailing lists, and so on • The enterprise share of the digital universe is widely skewed by industry, having little relationship to GDP or IT spending. The finance industry, for instance, accounts for almost 20% of worldwide IT spending but only 6% of the digital universe. Meanwhile, media, entertainment, and communications industries will account for 10 times their share of the digital universe in 2011 as their share of worldwide gross economic output • The picture related to the source and governance of digital information remains intact: Approximately 70% of the digital universe is created by individuals, but enterprises are responsible for the security, privacy, reliability, and compliance of 85%  source |
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