NorthStarNerd.Org

Merry Christmas!

It's early afternoon on Christmas day ... life is beginning to return to normal. Thank you for your support during 2007, and specifically my Run for China's Children. 35 children in China received the best present possible this year, a new school.

If your situation allows, please consider a pledge for the LingYun Dorm Project. Send a pledge via eMail to Rich Hoeg at [email protected]. Remember, not everyone in this world has equal access to learning. You'll note that none of my learning sites use Google Adwords. I support these learning efforts using my own resources; thus your donation to the LingYun Dorm Project is that much more appreciated. Donations in the USA are tax deductible.

In wrapping up 2007 I invite you to view the China Tomorrow Education Foundation's current newsletter, and the case study the foundation created covering the building of JiaYou's new school:

• CTEF Newsletter | Web Site
• JiaYou Case Study

Once again, thank you and Merry Christmas!
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Web 2.0 and Learning BarCamp in 2008??

I've been intrigued with Unconferences ever since I attended Wikimania at Harvard during the Summer of 2006. Although Wikimania was not strictly an unconference, I really appreciated the free flow of ideas, and the fact that much of the conference was unstructured. I've found that I learn much more from fellow participants, than formal presentations.

Recently I've been introduced to the concept of BarCamps. Quite frankly I'm intrigued with the idea of hosting a "Web 2.0 and Corporate Learning BarCamp in 2008". Here is a link from a BarCamp hosted in my home state of Minnesota earlier this year.  It will help you get the idea.

Anyone else interested ? Post a comment, or send me an email: [email protected].
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Update posted on January 7, 2008: Feedback to this idea has been positive.  I've contacted some folks I know at both Stanford and Harvard with the goal of seeing if either of those organizations might be willing to provide space for such an event. As much as hosting a BarCamp in Minnesota might be easier for me, it's obvious that Boston or Silicon Valley would allow for better participation on the part of some key individuals.
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The Age of Speed

With as hectic as life becomes during the holiday season, take a few minutes and listen to this podcast from TechNation (NPR), The Age of Speed (Learning to Thrive in a Faster More Now World).

Description: In The Age of Speed, Former Olympic speed skier and now author and consultant Vince Poscente shows us instead how to harness the power of speed for less stressful, less hectic lives. This doesn't necessary mean slowing down!

I've also added this podcast to my Innovation and Networked Economy Podcast Series.
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From UFO's to SixSigma

I'll admit ... it's a challenge.  I'm tempted to have fun for the rest of December and only post about important technical knowledge management items ... like flying saucers, or focus upon leisure time activities like SixSigma. After all, have you analyzed your holiday activities? Do your relatives understand the need to maintain all holiday processes in a "lean manner"?!

I give up, thus via Asiaing.Com I bring to you not one, but two great eBooks:

• How to Make the Most of a Flying Saucer Experience: Book | Web Site
  (or)
• Six Sigma for Quality and Production: Book | Lean Sigma Institute

Seriously, Asiaing.Com is one of my favorite eBook sites for providing links to legal and interesting eBooks. The number of books they review is amazing.
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Christmas Sanity at the Ann Bean Mansion

Please pardon me if during this holiday season my posts don't focus as much on technical topics. Thus, how do you do to stay sane this time of year!? Here is how Molly and I addressed this issue. We both took Monday and Tuesday off, and escaped to the Ann Bean Mansion B&B. This is our Christmas present to each other ... two days of togetherness! In addition, we each have $100 to spend in the town of Stillwater, Minnesota. As I'm not much of a shopper, and there are no computer stores, I am challenged, but it's fun!

Our hosts, Jeremy and Erin, are fantastic. Even Jeremy's Dad gets into the act by painting some murals. Erin's breakfast was superb, and we enjoyed everyone's conversation.  I even learned a new technical term ... D.P.S.F. (doilies per square foot). This helps one avoid B&B's which are too frilly!

Once again, how do you stay sane during this Christmas season? Add a comment to this post and let us know!
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