geekitarian

I like this article on working hours and flexibility by Jeff Haden.  I think a lot of it is true. http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140109125746-20017018-how-to-make-your-own-rules-at-work?trk=eml-ced-b-art-M-1&ut=3Fz2vNHL3Zq641 I just read a different article, this one on Big Data (which I won't link); it was discussing how 2014 is the year for enterprise investment in Big Data.  Basically it was an article about nothing.  It's easy to talk about Big Data.  It's easy to collect lots of data.  It's easy to store lots of data.  Actually doing something useful with it is a challenge that eludes most companies... 70% of organizations plan to deploy big data projects in blah blah blah buzzword buzzword blah blah... honestly it doesn't really matter unless you figure out some way to use it. Is it bad that my favorite parts of when my wife watches "The Bachelor" are the complete and total mental breakdowns?  Does that make me a bad person?

Online education seems to be picking up.   Georgia Tech is offering a new MS in Computer Science and it looks like the first time a traditional (and reputable) brick-and-mortar school is offering a degree via massively open online courses (MOOCs).  It's an interesting idea, and I'm watching it closely to see how it unfolds.  Will it be a success?  More importantly, will the students who graduate with a degree from the program be the same caliber as the more traditional students?  Regardless, there's something appealing about earning a degree without having to put on pants. I've completed 3 degrees completely online and from my experiences I'd say that online education has a few issues and a few strengths.  While online courses can be convenient and cost-effective, when you compare online courses to traditional courses, there are a few things missing: When you're dealing with group work, you don't have to look anybody in the eye and this impacts trust, r