Innovation comes in many guises. When we hear the word we probably most often thinks it means creating something new. But innovation can also be using something that already exists in a new way. Innovation of the latter variety was recently exhibited in an interesting post to the Code4Lib list. The message, from Chris Fitzpatrick, [...]
Data Recovery From Corrupt MS Office Files
By on March 13, 2013 2 Comments
Anyone who follows me on Facebook knows that recently I experienced a corrupted Microsoft PowerPoint file. I still don’t know what caused it, but the upshot was that a file that I worked on for an hour (and saved!) would no longer open after several different attempts. Finally, in frustration, I set out to recreate [...]
How the Web Reinforces My Worst Tendencies…And How You Can Too
By on March 11, 2013 Leave a Comment
I’m impatient. Just ask my family. I hate to waste time — so much so that I obsessively shave minutes from almost everything I do. And then I multi-task. As I back the car out of the garage I am buckling my seat belt, hitting the garage door opener, and turning on my headlights. I [...]
The Top-Cited Recent Sources for Current Cites
By on March 7, 2013 1 Comment
Why You Should Not Learn HTML
By on March 5, 2013 40 Comments
It pains me a great deal to write this post, since at one point I advocated that librarians learn HTML, and not just as a lark. I was quite serious, and I even wrote a book to help librarians learn how to do it. The sales figures for that book should have been a clue. You [...]
Being Different, Part 9: How Not to Die on the Plain of Suckitude
By on March 1, 2013 1 Comment
In parts one through eight I first introduced, then explained and summarized my Topography of Skill Acquisition. But as I made clear in Part 3, the absolutely essential event to ever add a skill to your resume is to not die on the Plain of Suckitude. Because if you do, you are never coming back. [...]
Being Different, Part 8: A Summary of the Topography of Skill Acquisition
By on February 27, 2013 Leave a Comment
In Part 2 of this series, I formally introduced my Topography of Skill Acquisition. It is comprised of five distinct parts, which I described in the following posts: Part 3: The Plain of Suckitude — “When acquiring a new skill, everyone begins on this plain. It is flat, since when you are on the plain [...]
Being Different, Part 7: The Plain of Mastery
By on February 25, 2013 Leave a Comment
In Part 6 of this series, I described how one becomes a true master of a skill — by putting in around 10,000 hours (or nearly five years of full-time work) using that skill. Obviously, few of us ever achieve this, so if you have reached the 10,000 Hour Crest for any given skill you [...]
Being Different, Part 6: The 10,000 Hour Crest
By on February 19, 2013 Leave a Comment
In a Part 5, I discussed the Long Incline of Experience, upon which, I asserted, many would camp. This means they would never reach the point of true mastery of a skill. That’s fine, as few of us do for any given skill. If it were easy we would all be masters of nearly everything. [...]
Being Different, Part 5: The Long Incline of Experience
By on February 17, 2013 Leave a Comment
As I described in an earlier post, the Elevator of Enlightenment saves you from the Plain of Suckitude, and dumps you out on the Long Incline of Experience. For most people, this is where you will camp. This means it is a skill that you will always have, but that you will never truly become [...]
