People and Teams

People and Teams

People and Teams Stories
Robots Roundup: Flash Mobs, Room Service, and HitchhikersA long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... R2-D2, the most beloved robot in the Star Wars universe, made us heart robots. Although today's robots can’t match R2-D2’s charisma, they are performing some pretty amazing feats. Pamela Rentz looks at some of the latest robotics projects.
Is Facebook's Free Internet Initiative Really an Altruistic Endeavor?Facebook recently launched the Internet.org app in Zambia, which gives users free access to basic services, including Facebook, Google Search, Wikipedia, some job sites, and the Women's Human Rights app. This certainly has the makings of a great initiative, but is it really a philanthropic venture?
Leveraging the Voices of Users: Amazon vs. Hachette PublishingUsers are familiar with helping organizations by providing references, but Amazon is now leveraging them in an unprecedented way. In building its case against Hachette Publishing, Amazon has sent an open letter to its readers and authors appealing to them to write to Hachette's CEO.
Will IBM’s Brain-Like Chip Bring Cognitive Computing Closer?Scientists at IBM are working on a new cognitive computer chip likened to right–brain, sensory pattern-recognizing learning models. Known as TrueNorth, this neurosynaptic computer chip is an event-driven microprocessor with supercomputer capabilities that’s roughly the size of a postage stamp.
Effective—and Possibly Crazy—Tips for Persuading Anyone

Not a day goes by that you don’t have occasion to try to persuade others, whether it’s for something big like canceling a project or something inconsequential like deciding where to go for lunch. Read on for tips to help convince people and get them on your side, both on a team and outside work.

Stop Being Difficult! How to Deal with Passive Aggressive StakeholdersProject teams have to learn to manage the difficult personalities they encounter on a project. The key is to identify which type of personality you are dealing with, then quickly apply approaches to smooth over the situation. Here are some tips for handling passive aggressive stakeholders' concerns.
Tapping into the Power of Introverts in IT

Introverts—those who rarely talk to others, seldom engage socially, and answer questions only when asked—can be the strongest contributors on a team, but only if they’re engaged effectively. Here are some tactics that can help leverage the enormous strengths of the quiet ones on your team.

Can Dropbox Survive the Emergence of Amazon's Zocalo?Amazon recently rolled out Zocalo, an enterprise storage service that lets people store and synchronize files. Another popular cloud storage provider, Dropbox, is also built on Amazon's S3 service. Will Amazon's entry into the storage-as-a-service segment spell doom for other providers?