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I’m passionate about technology, storytelling, and, well, tomfoolery. HiDef as a whole is big into literacy and the dispersion of knowledge. That why I spent several hours on January 20 combining all three by testing out some promising new tech from Apple that was announced January 19: iBooks Author, iBooks 2 (iTunes link), and a iTunes U app for iOS (iTunes link).
Our test? We charged ourselves with writing a complete, interactive iBook in just 8 hours. We wanted to see what a small team can do in eight hours with brand new software. If you’ve got your iPad handy, why, go download Mastering the Five Habits of Awesome Virtual Work on the Internets (iTunes link) now! Continue Reading
JIRA can be a daunting tool. It is robust and flexible, but, as with any tool, it is only as good as our ability to use it. Here are some suggestions for turning JIRA into an agile project management tool. Note: This tutorial assumes installation and configuration of of the excellent Greenhopper plugin. Continue Reading
Here at HiDef, we are a completely distributed operation. There is no office building we have to get to everyday, so we’re not spending that 90 minutes a day in the car getting frustrated–or worse. Beyond the obvious benefit of missing rush hour and allowing ourselves to arrive at work truly at our best, we can “time shift” common activities, such as grocery shopping or other errands into time slots that aren’t peak hours. Continue Reading
The typical conference structure is built to highlight structures of power and “expertism.” Trophy speakers, plenaries, gee-whiz presentations… those mechanisms of communication are inaccessible to so many with great ideas. There is one communication apparatus that we all have, and which serves as the only means of presenting an idea at OppColl: The voice. And the voice is the only mechanism granted to those who attend OppColl. Continue Reading
There is quite a bit of data emerging on the potential of crowdsourcing. As we covered in our Power of Everyone video, the intersection of connectivity, collaboration, and cognitive surplus is creating an environment where ideas can proliferate and mature rapidly.
This post is an attempt to quantify each of these factors in some way, and understand how we can position ourselves best to ride this colossal wave and force called crowdsourcing. Continue Reading