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https://www.amazonfutureengineer.com/free-courses
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I have been working in the education sector for sometime now and I have seen many vision and mission statements, graduate attributes, intended learning outcomes, graduation speeches…etc. To be honest, they all sound similar and you will surely find keywords such as “life-long learning”, “21st century”, “global citizenship”, “socially responsible”, “leadership” and “innovation” or some of the soft skill set keywords such as “collaboration”, “communications”, “critical thinking”…etc. But if you have to pick just one ultimate outcome, what would it be?
The author of this article asked Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman (Economics Nobel Award in 2002) and his answer was simple but thought-provoking:
It is to change what you believe.
Schools have long been overly emphasizing on the knowledge transfer part and ignoring the emotional part of education which many research have pointed out that it can have a great impact on the life-long well-being of the students.
Read on here:
“Schools’ main focus is on developing children’s core academic knowledge and skills in literacy, numeracy, and range of curriculum subjects. But there are other skills that are increasingly seen as important to children’s wider development: ‘essential life skills’ such as confidence, social skills, self-control, motivation, and resilience. These are the attitudes, skills and behaviours that are thought to underpin success in school and work, and include the ability to respond to setbacks, work well with others, build relationships, communicate effectively, manage emotions, and cope with difficult situations. Such skills are often referred to as ‘social and emotional skills’, ‘soft skills’, ‘non-cognitive skills’ or ‘character’. They are usually seen as distinct from academic knowledge and skills, however, they are increasingly thought to play an important part in learning, as well as contributing to children’s wider development, well-being and readiness for life beyond school. This report, authored by Carl Cullinane and Rebecca Montacute, highlights the recognition among teachers, employers and young people on how important life skills are to the success of young people, exploring current provision for life skills development in state schools and the level of demand for improvement.”
source: https://www.suttontrust.com/research-paper/life-lessons/
(節目係逢星期二晚8:30pm新城FM99.7MHz播出)
(節目係逢星期二晚8:30pm新城FM99.7MHz播出)
教主已離開人世差不多一個多月，傳媒對佢一生嘅佈導都未停過，加上剛剛上市嘅傳記，宣傳攻勢仍然強勁，攪到好似如果你唔識up吓教主嘅點滴，你就唔係地球人咁，有好多人讚教主以愛恩斯坦、牛頓、愛迪生咁相比，有報紙專欄作家歌頌佢發明咗Mouse, GUI同Multi-touch，為人類謀幸福云云。
教主確實係好叻，佢嘅business sense 同presentation skills係好掂，無可否認，但將佢同Einstein、Newton相比，我就覺得有點兒那個，有人話佢嘅發明改變了電腦業…其實只要上網或者睇吓一D講矽谷發積史嘅書、甚至睇有套荷里活B movie，都可以知道教主沒有那麼神，例如Mac用的GUI及Mouse，都是他及他的工程師在一次拜訪Xerox 在Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) 中「参考」返黎的，現在Apple在產品用上的Multi-touch技術也是從收購回來的，iPOD之前已有mp3 player，我覺佢最有頭腦就是用existing technology去製做美觀易用的devices，再用一個平台(iOS, iTunes, Apps)做一個生態環境出來，大家在佢傳記都知原來佢最初是反對Apps的。佢嘅為人太dominant 加上marketing又好，唔怪得一般人以為他是個偉大的發明家，其實佢係一個機會主義者，也是成功商業家的先决條件。
係十月其實仲有兩位電腦界奇才逝世，在13Oct, 電腦語言”C”的發明家Dennis Ritchie逝世，我的research也是用”C”完成的，C Language簡單、直接、快速， 因為Dennis冇諗過用呢個發明黎發大達，所以差不多所有不同派別、型号的電腦，總會有個C Compiler比你去寫software，對software development 黎講係好正，以後什麽Java, C++, C#, Objective C…etc.或一D scripting languages都有不少C的影子。Dennis亦積極參與UNIX的發展，相信大家都知Mac OSX、Linux也是UNIX。24Oct, AI Language LISP的發明者John McCarthy過了身。佢地沒有利用佢地嘅發明變成億萬富豪，反而豪不自私咁與大家分享，保持低調是高尚情操的表現！教主死忌16Oct已成為加洲的Steve Jobs Memorial Day, 反觀Dennis及John嘅死訴都係低調地傳出才由家人証實。對我來講Dennis及John的貢獻及精神更是偉大！RIP, Dennis, John!
最近成日都聽到有人話邊個領導無方要下台咁，身邊都有唔少朋友投訴老細唔識帶領公司、唔識打逆境波。網上有好多錦囊教人點做一個好嘅CEO，但最近我係著名科技新聞網站TechCrunch睇到一份由過來人講CEO應該做乜，作者Seth Sternberg是Meebo (一個Web-based IM platform)的co-founder同CEO，當公司發展到有200人咁上下時，CEO應該要抽離細微嘅工序，要宏觀地主理以下三大範疇：
讀完以上，是否覺得有d「啊媽係女人」嘅common sense，話你知，我及身邊的朋友打咗咁多年工，都未見過有CEO可以真正做得齊、做得好以上嘅野！
Apple公司第100間Apple Store如無意外會座落係IFC2，聽講24/9就開幕，唔知有冇高層會黎剪綵呢？如果SJ黎，我都有興趣一睹佢嘅風采。香港係購物天堂，又冇消售稅，有Apple Store 係遲早嘅事，但今次傳聞話會有3間添！香港真係受教主寵幸啊！另外兩間相信會分別座落係CWB嘅Hysan Place同埋TST廣東道嘅彩星大廈，彩星係三間之中唯一一間由地鋪開始總共三層有成二萬呎，租金每月千一萬，好似話簽咗十年租約！真係比足臉！呢d消費旺區老闆們真多得蘋果唔少，扯高哂d租金！Apple佢地睇到同胞嘅消費力驚人，加上港元貶值，又唔打稅，落黎買野等如打8折，真着數，三間Apple Stores絕對受得起冇問題啦！反而做緊蘋果的專賣店到時會點呢？香港咁細都有3間Apple Store，會唔會意味着香港會同美國同步推出新產品呢？須然我唔係Apple嘅die hard fans，但係有國際大公司咁比面香港係好事嘅。傳聞十月中推出嘅iPhone5，會唔會令IFC2出現人龍呢？有咗3間Apple Store，希望Apple認真攪好d維修服務啦，用家d投訴聽唔少。仲有，聽講佢地呢幾個月正密密招聘人手，人工比一般Sales高(傳言$200/hr.)，但要求亦相當高，第一條件一定要係虔誠嘅蘋果信徙，有好嘅溝通技巧，親切嘅笑容同流利嘅兩文三語唔少得。
【後記 11/9/2011】
Apple Store HK 需要請 Apple Genius(仲有其地posts)，有與趣快d上網apply！可惜冇提人工。
Job Description 如下:
You’re fascinated by the way things work and the reasons they sometimes don’t. You sometimes rearrange your computer setup just for fun. You were the kind of kid who took things apart just to put them back together (correctly). If this sounds like you, you’re our kind of Genius. You’re here not only to help fix equipment, but to restore positive customer relationships with free technical advice and timely repairs.
A candidate we’ll love:
- You provide white-glove treatment to customers.
- You enjoy meeting people and building relationship with customers.
- Your friends and family see you as an absolute technical guru.
- You have some background in tech support or customer service.
- You have a burning desire to solve problems.
- You can communicate technical concepts in layman’s terms.
- You have a sense of urgency—but also the ability to keep your cool.
- You share a passion for technology and Apple products.
A position you’ll love:
- Solving problems—things happen and you’re there to fix them.
- Providing frontline customer support at the Genius Bar, including hardware and software troubleshooting and diagnosis.
- Troubleshooting and repairing Apple hardware and software.
- Juggling customer and product issues with a genuine sense of urgency.
- Turning around repairs to customers as quickly as possible.
- Being one of the go-to people for technical knowledge in the store.
- Having passion about customer service and a commitment to exceeding expectations.
我相信冇正常人係喜歡等人嘅，最近有機會同一d八十、九十後出街聯誼一吓，當然準時到達相約地點的是很少數，早到更家不可能。遲到的時間最低消費15分鐘，最長達一個小時！遲到嘅藉口來來去去都係果d，都無謂提，我相信遲起牀佔>90%的真正原因。致於歉意方面，當中亦有d一句sorry也欠奉的。亦試過有d活動plan咗上午進行(其實都只係10點)，黎到d人一個又話未食早餐，一個又話要買呢樣個樣先可以開始得，結果攪得黎都已經中午先出發。想話利用新科技約人活動啦，原來在Facebook開個event，d人按attending係未必嚟架，我唔知呢個係人嘅問題，或者其實係唔應該對Facebook嘅野太認真呢？
科技實在太方便啦，好多野都變得好即興、随意，少了些計劃及準備，宜家約人都會用手機話「到咗咐近就打比你啦」、「出到嚟再上網揾去邊道食野」、「上網用Google Map揾咪得咯，唔駛預先睇地圖嘅」… 我反而懷念以前人與人之間的承諾及好好的預備功夫。
專欄作家「遊清源」話可以由遲到的時間分辨出你喺邊一代人:
最近成日都話什麽「議而不決」，是的，一間機構光有idea但沒有能力去執行都是沒有太好前途的，睇報紙引述一位公司醫生Michael C. Mankins的研究，發現領先與落後公司的比較(見圖):
並指出：「決策出色的公司，5年計收入增長多4.9%、平均資本回報率多6.2%、股東總回報多5.9%；另員工忠誠度高23%。」
好多打工仔都投訴花太多時間去開會，加上開會都只有老闆講冇其他人講。Micahel有以下建議/發現：
最近Steve Jobs宣佈辭去CEO一職，由原本COO Tim Cook頂上，好多人都話Jobs的Visions同Ideas一流而Cook就是執行力非常高的一個人，所以你明白點解Apple股價在7年之間升了40倍啦！
(節目係逢星期二晚8:30pm新城FM99.7MHz播出)
(節目係逢星期二晚8:30pm新城FM99.7MHz播出)
如果有世上有一個國家有以下的教育制度，我也想移民去！
【後記】貪得意上網查吓移民去芬蘭要有乜條件，根據芬蘭移民局網站，一般人要符合以下條件才可申請：
怎樣才是老闆眼中的fit馬呢？讀過一篇，作者提出要有以下九點：
(摘自2011年7月23日 第196期iMoney 施伯樂—公司心戰室)
好多時電影續集都逃不過宿命:就是續集比不上第一集精采，但今次KungFu Panda 2真的也不錯，節奏明快，用2D方式交代過去效果很好，音樂有點中西合璧。三年前的第一集，驚喜的原素大d，當時想美國公司也可以拍到中國特式的東西，香港照計也可以呀，香港有咁多學校培育電腦動畫人才、深厚嘅電影歷史、中西文化匯合。三年後看完了第二集，感概仍多，這短短三年內香港攪動畫的環境也變了 (例如攪小飛俠的意馬Imagi已經面目全非啦，另外一間已被老鼠公司羅致其下，再另外一間亦因內部原因一分為二，唏噓)。
香港能否做一套成功的電腦動畫?我覺得幾乎是沒有可能，原因有以下(只根據個人觀察)：
無礙香港人十分喜愛看動畫，但看還看，落手落做又另一回事。一套成功嘅戲要有好的編劇，扁扁香港最缺就是編劇，找專門為動畫的編劇更難，電影行業對編劇不重視大家都知，另外一個大家未必留意到就係我發覺本地學生的說故事力弱，呢個同教育絕對有關，外國小朋友細細個就要在班上講故事，香港的課室學生說話、討論、互動、創作、表現自己的機會很少(希望334會改善)。
人才方面又如何呢？做動畫需要大量不同工種的專才，本地各院校都有動畫課程，為什麽動畫公司常常投訴請唔到人才呢？本地大部份動畫課程都只著重教軟件的操作，有幾多課程會由手繪入手呢？當然要找人教手繪動畫難，學生聽到話唔用電腦更加會掉頭走啦！PIXAR主持人話請人主要睇手功，軟件只是Tools。課程內容方面也千扁一律，大多用軟件跟來的training材料教學，導師也不多有真正製作經驗。我不是說軟件操作不值得學，畢竟新手多數要由操作開始，但是想一想，只要搭一個鐘頭車向北就可以用1/3嘅香港工錢請到對軟件操作熟識的員工。另一方面，學生對電腦動畫有誤解，又或者sell課程的過份吹噓，以為襟幾個掣就乜都可以變出黎，唔知道動畫就算用咗電腦都要續格續格砌出來的。
外國的電腦動畫閒閒地用上兩年以上完成，而且風險極高，例如做公認手繪動畫師祖米老鼠公司，你以為有咁嘅根基，攪電腦動畫應該好掂，可惜剛剛相反，仲要摺埋動畫部門添。Dreamworks有Spielberg同Paul Allen撑又點，有幾次都爭d破產。所以香港邊會有投資者會咁傻呀！有咁多錢去炒摟好過啦。
咁樣大陸情況又點呢？佢地政府支持動漫產業、美術學院的畢業生基本功好、資金不缺，攪電腦動畫實掂啦，比條trailer link大家睇吓先:
根據Yahoo報導，呢套戲《兔俠傳奇》係中國首都3D电腦動畫，片長 90 分鐘，斥資 1 億 2 千萬元人民幣的電影，由北京電影學院動畫學院院長孫立軍執導，製作歷時三年。我睇完之後結論是: 电腦動畫呢個咁特別嘅媒體都係美國天下(或者講係PIXAR天下)，短期內無人可代替。
(節目係逢星期二晚8:30pm新城FM99.7MHz播出)
(節目係逢星期二晚8:30pm新城FM99.7MHz播出)
Krates' Blog 