Chuck

Apr 042013
 

This looks like a great idea built on fundamentals of good leadership.  By Les Mckeown at Inc.com…

Any great leader faces a multitude of challenges every day. Whether it’s communicating strategy, helping people through change, holding on to excellence in the face of compromise, or just navigating the leadership environment, there is no shortage of development opportunities lurking in each day’s schedule.

I’ve worked over the years with leaders on all of the challenges above–and many, many more. But surprisingly, the skill that I see more leaders struggle with more than any other is relatively mundane (but very important): the ability to work with their team as an equal. To be “merely” a resource, rather than the team leader.

As we’ve seen before, many leaders can only operate in one of two modes–in charge, or not there. In other words, once they join their team (virtually or otherwise), the team instantly defers to them, and they take the lead.

Truly great leaders have a third mode: The ability to sit with their team without needing to be in charge, using their subject matter knowledge just the same way as anyone else around the table would.

If you don’t already have it, here’s how to develop that skill:

via Hardest Leadership Skill You’ll Ever Learn | Inc.com.

 Posted by at 10:54 am
Mar 312013
 

By Ed Bott at ZDNet.com…

Summary: The speculation on the next version of Windows (code-named Blue) is getting out of hand. Based on a few screenshots and one offhand remark from a prominent Windows blogger, one of my colleagues is convinced that the Windows desktop is an endangered species. Nope. Not gonna happen.

via Five reasons why the Windows desktop isn’t going away | ZDNet.

 Posted by at 3:18 pm
Mar 202013
 

It’s interesting to look back and see how the CIO role has evolved.  I started aspiring to such a role back in the late 90’s and the article has a table on page 2 that compares the shift from 20 years ago to today.

By David Raths at CampusTechnology.com…

How are you adding value?

It’s a question faced by many higher ed CIOs, as campus administrators look at the dollars budgeted for IT and wonder what they’re getting for the money. And it’s no longer about servers, bandwidth, and e-mail: Increasingly, IT leaders in higher education are under pressure to go beyond finding operational efficiencies, to developing more strategic contributions to pedagogy and university business.

via 9 Traits of the CIO of the Future — Campus Technology.

 Posted by at 9:27 am
Feb 262013
 

I’ve been waiting for months for one of these, that’s beside the point.  This is just awful.

By Nate Anderson at arstechnica.com…

Marmet, West Virginia is a town of 1,500 people living in a thin ribbon along the banks of the Kanawha River just below Charleston. The town’s public library is only open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. It’s housed in a small building the size of a trailer, which the state of West Virginia describes as an “extremely small facility with only one Internet connection.” Which is why it’s such a surprise to learn the Marmet Public Library runs this connection through a $15,000 to $20,000 Cisco 3945 router intended for “mid-size to large deployments,” according to Cisco.

via Why a one-room West Virginia library runs a $20,000 Cisco router | Ars Technica.

 Posted by at 5:05 pm
Feb 232013
 

By Danny Stieben at MakeUseOf.com….

We all know that Photoshop is the premiere application for image and graphics manipulation. It simply does everything you could possibly want, which is the reason why most professionals choose it and why your wallet has a deep hole after you buy it. But Photoshop isn’t the only image manipulation tool on the block. The leading open source alternative to Photoshop, GIMP, has plenty of power under the hood as well.

via Better Than Photoshop? Make GIMP Even More Powerful With These Plugins.

 Posted by at 11:40 pm
Feb 232013
 

ATHENS, W.Va. – Concord University will host the community premiere of “Three Rivers: The Bluestone, Gauley and New” on Wednesday, Feb. 27. The 90-minute documentary, produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting, will be shown in the main theatre of the Fine Arts Center beginning at 5 p.m.

via Community Premiere Of WVPBS Documentary ‘Three Rivers’ Set For Feb. 27 At Concord University | Concord University.

 Posted by at 8:14 pm