joshuago’s Bookmarks

What you should remember when you hand out “free” software is that if that software doesn’t work as advertised, it’s unreliable or the documentation is non-existent or misleading then you are doing its users harm. While you may not be legally liable for such deficiencies you have an ethical responsibility to ensure what you deliver does what it says it does.

Imagine the economic value of knowing, with mathematical certainty, exactly what the law is. If organizations could calculate legal risk as efficiently as they can now calculate financial risk (recession notwithstanding), millions of dollars in legal fees could be rerouted toward economic growth.

We need to send a clear message that we value the contributions of immigrants to this country. We need to condemn those elements, including those in the media, who use race-baiting as a political strategy. We need to harness the power and the passion of those who love Sarah Palin in ways that build a well-rounded, balanced and forward-looking party, one that’s built not on the politics of fear but, rather, on the politics of future prosperity.

Content matters. And you must find a way, in the brave new world of digitization, to make people pay for that content. If you do this, you still have a product and there is still an industry, a calling, and a career known as professional journalism.

Everyone who thinks online subscription fees can save the newspaper industry is effectively arguing that the world will change to support newspapers. The truth is that newspapers must change to adapt to the world.

In order to succeed at one of these leapfrog projects, you have to focus on the core business strategy. We have been lucky enough to work with customers who understood this to the bone: first, do no harm to your existing users. Next, quickly eliminate needless costs. Then, and only then, start dipping into that well of pent-up feature demand. Without a deep commitment to this set of values, such a project is likely to suffer from cost overruns, angry users, and lost revenue. In other words, the 75% scenario for corporate IT investments.

The path to many good jobs and others is community college. You spend a couple of years getting a certificate or an Associate in Arts degree. It's not expensive and loans are not hard to get. A call to action and a new way of thinking for black America.