Category: skills

Journalists’ to-do list: Learn to code

Posted by: Stephen Baker on January 22

Charles Arthur, who follows tech at The Guardian, urges up-and-coming journalists to learn how to code. I think it’s an excellent point. The idea isn’t to become a software whiz,…

What’s a resume, these days?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on June 24

I was inspired to see epredator’s resume in a tag cloud. It’s not only a fun exercise, but it provides a graphic way of communicating our skills and experience. Will…

The 140-character resume: a celebration of glib?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 27

Lots of interesting comments to Beyond Blog cover. Chris Boese objects to the idea of a 140-character resume: …While some employers may like the elevator pitch resume, I’d say the…

Twitter architect leaves job, country

Posted by: Stephen Baker on April 23

Given Twitter’s erratic performance, it’s little surprise that the company’s chief architect, Blaine Cook, is leaving. I focused on the immigration section of his note: I am moving to the…

Glittering future for… librarians

Posted by: Stephen Baker on February 06

If one profession appeared endangered by the digital age, it was the librarian. But only at first glance. In the age we’re entering, as Steve Rubel notes, the challenge will…

Schools send wealthy kids to college. So what?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on July 09

Schools that send wealthy kids to college don’t earn bragging rights

Do we want baby brains?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on June 27

Here’s an interesting post on the magic of the baby brain. (ex Marginalrevolution). The idea is that babies’ brains have a focus and a plasticity that we jaded, task-oriented…

Economics and braille keyboards

Posted by: Stephen Baker on June 01

Very good interview with economist Robert Frank, who explains among other things, why the keypads on drive-though ATMs should have braille dots. (ex Marginal Revolution) The key point in the…

Necessary skills: typing, statistics

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 20

When my kids were little, I had a small obsession: We had to teach them to type! They were heading into a future full of keyboards, and that was going…

Max is looking for a marketer

Posted by: Stephen Baker on February 07

Max Kalehoff blogs that he’s looking for a digital marketing guru at Nielsen BuzzMetrics. A college student thinking about entering the job market in coming years could do worse…

Microsoft’s B+ student shines

Posted by: Stephen Baker on November 25

I was surprised and happy to read in BW’s cover story that Microsoft’s shining light, J Allard, was a B+ student who went to Boston University—far across the river from…

Covering the election in J-school: What kind of writing to learn?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on November 08

After a late night watching the returns, I’m reading the election coverage by the students at the new journalism school at City University of New York. (ex Jarvis) How lucky…

Babe Ruth would languish in a world of business process outsourcing

Posted by: Stephen Baker on April 20

Last night in Philadelphia, I watched a pitcher almost singlehandedly win a baseball game—with his bat. The pitcher was Cuban-born Livan Hernandez. He’s a veteran for the Washington Nationals. He…

Software engineering makes a comeback, despite outsourcing

Posted by: Stephen Baker on April 16

A couple surprises for me in Money Magazine’s list of hot jobs. First, despite all the concern about software jobs migrating to India, software engineer ranks as the number-one job….

Dumbing down for the work force

Posted by: Stephen Baker on January 25

Offermatica CEO points out that sophisticated Web analytics tools are often too challenging for the work force.

Journalists wrestle with math: WSJ

Posted by: Stephen Baker on January 20

Wall Street Journal details journalists’ troubles with numbers

Long-toothed journalists tackle Excel

Posted by: Stephen Baker on December 15

Older professionals need to tackle math tools like electronic spreadsheets to keep with younger generation. Dead week begins at Businessweek and Baker tackles Microsoft Excel.

The tech lessons teachers can learn from students

Posted by: Stephen Baker on August 19

Study shows that teachers are falling further behind students in tech

Looking for bloggers: the prereqs

Posted by: Stephen Baker on July 26

A blog business is looking for bloggers who are witty and opinionated. Authority and accuracy are not stressed.

Follow your passion: Who can afford it?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on June 04

Blogspotting’s Stephen Baker says that college grads often carry too much debt to invest in themselves in their 20s.

How the blogs bring math into journalism

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 29

Blogs are closing the traditional divide between letters and math

Journalists don’t know math

Posted by: Stephen Baker on May 28

Journalists tend to be weak at math. This affects their view of the world, and the way they cover news.