tgalery/more_annotations.txt

## more_annotations.txt
url: http://www.fastcoexist.com/3020930/yahoo-says-that-killing-working-from-home-is-turning-out-perfectly
text: When Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer banned her 12,000 employees from working from home in February, her all-hands-on-deck ultimatum ignited a national debate on the merits of cloudworking that still rages. Silicon Valley’s fair-haired wunderkind was alternately mocked and condemned by the likes of Maureen Dowd and Richard Branson, while pundits declared she’d made “a terrible mistake.” Some even wondered whether Mayer was trying to make them quit. Mayer was finally hounded into addressing the issue in April, acknowledging her critics' contention that “people are more productive when they're alone,” and then stressing “but they're more collaborative and innovative when they're together.” Eight months later, Yahoo insists Mayer was right. (And earlier this month, HP’s Meg Whitman followed suit.)The workplace has become a catalyst for energy and buzz.Despite predictions of “epic policy failure,” in the words of Julie Ford-Tempesta, Yahoo’s senior director of real estate and workplace, “employee engagement is up, product launches have increased significantly, and agile teams are thriving,” adding, “The workplace has become a catalyst for energy and buzz.” Ford-Tempesta’s comments were included in a paper called The Power of Presence: Being Present In a Virtual World, published last week at the CoreNet Global Summit in Las Vegas, where several thousand real estate execs gathered to debate the future of the office. (Full disclosure: I was an unpaid speaker at the event.) The author of the report, Steve Hargis has spent the last six months advising Yahoo on an overhaul of its Sunnyvale headquarters in his role as an executive vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle, which handles the company’s outsourced real estate. “Most of the campus is still the old-style cubicles,” he says, but several floors have been remade in the image of the 300 to 400 agile programming teams charged with overhauling Yahoo’s aging Web services and dragging them into the mobile era. These are the spaces packed with stand-up desks and scrum boards--not to mention employees. “The difference between the two is so visible it’s become a marketing tool,” says Hargis. “People are saying, ‘Wait a minute, I want to be over there.”Using totally different tactics, the office of headset manufacturer Plantronics is designed to actively encourage employees to work at home.But does this anecdotal evidence constitute success? In the report, Yahoo’s Ford-Tempesta points to the near-doubling of the stock price since the beginning of the year, an assertion which is dubious at best considering how much of that value is tied up in the company’s 24% stake in the soon-to-IPO Alibaba, while its third quarter revenues and profits are both down compared to a year ago. There is definitely merit to the idea, however, that bringing its agile programming teams together in the same place at the same time can have a small but crucial impact on performance. In his book People Analytics, MIT visiting scientist Ben Waber discusses the role of dependencies for programmers, that teams must coordinate closely to ensure their code meshes well. Citing others’ research as well as his own, Waber argues remote programmers are 8% less likely than co-located groups to communicate about dependencies, which translates to 32% longer code completion times--or death when you’re already as lumbering as Yahoo. “For Yahoo, then, this means their workforce becomes about 3% more effective with the stroke of a pen,” Waber wrote, the value of which he pegs at $150 million. That may not be quite as much as the $17 billion in market cap that the report lays at the feet of killing working from home, but Mayer certainly doesn’t have to say she’s sorry, either.
topics:
Silicon Valley
Web service
Yahoo!
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Hewlett-Packard
Sunnyvale
Child prodigy
Richard Branson
Maureen Dowd
Agile software development
Meg Whitman
Plantronics
Marissa Mayer
Jones Lang LaSalle
Alibaba Group

url: http://www.designboom.com/architecture/x-studio-constructs-peaceful-cactaceae-enclosure-in-mexico-11-02-2013/
text: x studio constructs peaceful cactaceae enclosure in mexicoall images courtesy of iván juárez of x-studiobased on the geometry of flowering cacti, the peaceful ‘cactaceae’ enclosure by mexican architect iván juárez of x-studio is designed in response to its natural scenery. located in the semi-desert of the tropic of cancer in mexico, the folded volume pays tribute to this landscape – a place where a diverse range of endemic american plants exist. the beautiful flowers are typically characterized by their contrasting stems and thorns, displaying a variety of forms and textures. the small shelter explores the traditional artisan technique in mexico of ‘papel picado’ or paper cutting – it is made from a semi-transparent membrane with floral embroidery on its skin that filters light through to the interior. the space offers a restful setting for personal reflection, with views out to the exterior landscape. the delineation between outside and inside creates a strong visual dialogue within the structure, which during the day changes its outer appearance through varying tonalities and reflections. at dusk, the light fragments its apparent solidity to reveal a sculptural form that illuminates from within, helping it blend into the the landscape.the introspective shelter references the geometry of flowering cacti in mexicothe piece features a semi-transparent membrane with floral embroidery on its skinit is designed using the traditional artisan technique in mexico of ‘papel picado’ or paper cutting‘cactaceae’ offers a peaceful interior space for personal reflectionthe patterned cut-outs in the exterior skin filter through natural lightthe hut is located in the desert of mexico and the design reflects it natural landscapedetail of the handmade structure‘cactaceae’ at sunset ‘cactaceae’ illuminated from within at nightplansdesignboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.
topics:
Cancer
Do it yourself
Embroidery
Papercutting
Cactus
Endemism
Geometry

url: http://www.blessthisstuff.com/stuff/technology/portable-media/yoga-tablet-by-lenovo/
text: The new Yoga Tablet by Lenovo not only looks awesome, it is said to be a tablet unlike anyother. First of all the battery lasts longer than a standard tablet, upto 18 hours on one charge! it also features a integrated kickstand thatopens to let the tablet stand on its own, plus front-facing DolbyDigital Plus speakers with enhanced sound quality. The Android powereddevice has a 1280 x 720 pixels HD display, an internal storage of 16GBeMMC, a microSD card slot, a back-facing  5-megapixel camera and afront-facing 1.6-megapixel camera with 720p video capabilities. Available in an 8-inch display ($249) or 10.1-inch display ($299) unit. watch the video
topics:
Android
Kickstand
Secure Digital card
Yoga
Computer monitor
720p
Pixel
Lenovo
Tablet computer
	url: http://www.fastcoexist.com/3020930/yahoo-says-that-killing-working-from-home-is-turning-out-perfectly
	text: When Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer banned her 12,000 employees from working from home in February, her all-hands-on-deck ultimatum ignited a national debate on the merits of cloudworking that still rages. Silicon Valley’s fair-haired wunderkind was alternately mocked and condemned by the likes of Maureen Dowd and Richard Branson, while pundits declared she’d made “a terrible mistake.” Some even wondered whether Mayer was trying to make them quit. Mayer was finally hounded into addressing the issue in April, acknowledging her critics' contention that “people are more productive when they're alone,” and then stressing “but they're more collaborative and innovative when they're together.” Eight months later, Yahoo insists Mayer was right. (And earlier this month, HP’s Meg Whitman followed suit.)The workplace has become a catalyst for energy and buzz.Despite predictions of “epic policy failure,” in the words of Julie Ford-Tempesta, Yahoo’s senior director of real estate and workplace, “employee engagement is up, product launches have increased significantly, and agile teams are thriving,” adding, “The workplace has become a catalyst for energy and buzz.” Ford-Tempesta’s comments were included in a paper called The Power of Presence: Being Present In a Virtual World, published last week at the CoreNet Global Summit in Las Vegas, where several thousand real estate execs gathered to debate the future of the office. (Full disclosure: I was an unpaid speaker at the event.) The author of the report, Steve Hargis has spent the last six months advising Yahoo on an overhaul of its Sunnyvale headquarters in his role as an executive vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle, which handles the company’s outsourced real estate. “Most of the campus is still the old-style cubicles,” he says, but several floors have been remade in the image of the 300 to 400 agile programming teams charged with overhauling Yahoo’s aging Web services and dragging them into the mobile era. These are the spaces packed with stand-up desks and scrum boards--not to mention employees. “The difference between the two is so visible it’s become a marketing tool,” says Hargis. “People are saying, ‘Wait a minute, I want to be over there.”Using totally different tactics, the office of headset manufacturer Plantronics is designed to actively encourage employees to work at home.But does this anecdotal evidence constitute success? In the report, Yahoo’s Ford-Tempesta points to the near-doubling of the stock price since the beginning of the year, an assertion which is dubious at best considering how much of that value is tied up in the company’s 24% stake in the soon-to-IPO Alibaba, while its third quarter revenues and profits are both down compared to a year ago. There is definitely merit to the idea, however, that bringing its agile programming teams together in the same place at the same time can have a small but crucial impact on performance. In his book People Analytics, MIT visiting scientist Ben Waber discusses the role of dependencies for programmers, that teams must coordinate closely to ensure their code meshes well. Citing others’ research as well as his own, Waber argues remote programmers are 8% less likely than co-located groups to communicate about dependencies, which translates to 32% longer code completion times--or death when you’re already as lumbering as Yahoo. “For Yahoo, then, this means their workforce becomes about 3% more effective with the stroke of a pen,” Waber wrote, the value of which he pegs at $150 million. That may not be quite as much as the $17 billion in market cap that the report lays at the feet of killing working from home, but Mayer certainly doesn’t have to say she’s sorry, either.
	topics:
	Silicon Valley
	Web service
	Yahoo!
	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
	Hewlett-Packard
	Sunnyvale
	Child prodigy
	Richard Branson
	Maureen Dowd
	Agile software development
	Meg Whitman
	Plantronics
	Marissa Mayer
	Jones Lang LaSalle
	Alibaba Group

	url: http://www.designboom.com/architecture/x-studio-constructs-peaceful-cactaceae-enclosure-in-mexico-11-02-2013/
	text: x studio constructs peaceful cactaceae enclosure in mexicoall images courtesy of iván juárez of x-studiobased on the geometry of flowering cacti, the peaceful ‘cactaceae’ enclosure by mexican architect iván juárez of x-studio is designed in response to its natural scenery. located in the semi-desert of the tropic of cancer in mexico, the folded volume pays tribute to this landscape – a place where a diverse range of endemic american plants exist. the beautiful flowers are typically characterized by their contrasting stems and thorns, displaying a variety of forms and textures. the small shelter explores the traditional artisan technique in mexico of ‘papel picado’ or paper cutting – it is made from a semi-transparent membrane with floral embroidery on its skin that filters light through to the interior. the space offers a restful setting for personal reflection, with views out to the exterior landscape. the delineation between outside and inside creates a strong visual dialogue within the structure, which during the day changes its outer appearance through varying tonalities and reflections. at dusk, the light fragments its apparent solidity to reveal a sculptural form that illuminates from within, helping it blend into the the landscape.the introspective shelter references the geometry of flowering cacti in mexicothe piece features a semi-transparent membrane with floral embroidery on its skinit is designed using the traditional artisan technique in mexico of ‘papel picado’ or paper cutting‘cactaceae’ offers a peaceful interior space for personal reflectionthe patterned cut-outs in the exterior skin filter through natural lightthe hut is located in the desert of mexico and the design reflects it natural landscapedetail of the handmade structure‘cactaceae’ at sunset ‘cactaceae’ illuminated from within at nightplansdesignboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.
	topics:
	Cancer
	Do it yourself
	Embroidery
	Papercutting
	Cactus
	Endemism
	Geometry

	url: http://www.blessthisstuff.com/stuff/technology/portable-media/yoga-tablet-by-lenovo/
	text: The new Yoga Tablet by Lenovo not only looks awesome, it is said to be a tablet unlike anyother. First of all the battery lasts longer than a standard tablet, upto 18 hours on one charge! it also features a integrated kickstand thatopens to let the tablet stand on its own, plus front-facing DolbyDigital Plus speakers with enhanced sound quality. The Android powereddevice has a 1280 x 720 pixels HD display, an internal storage of 16GBeMMC, a microSD card slot, a back-facing 5-megapixel camera and afront-facing 1.6-megapixel camera with 720p video capabilities. Available in an 8-inch display ($249) or 10.1-inch display ($299) unit. watch the video
	topics:
	Android
	Kickstand
	Secure Digital card
	Yoga
	Computer monitor
	720p
	Pixel
	Lenovo
	Tablet computer