Ars Technica did an in-depth review of the newly released Lightroom application for digital photography. I’ve been using the beta version for a while, and it’s pretty much taken over my work flow from Photoshop CS. It’s available at a big discount through the end of April, so I’m sure to pick it up before then.
Here’s an interesting, and probably controversial, article on the most sought after IT skills of the near future. It’s really nothing new – they are assuming that the most technical jobs will all be outsourced or automated. That leaves you with a need for versatile, big picture people who can design and manage IT projects. Of course, engineering the security of data is listed as a growth area.
The nuts-and-bolts programming and easy-to-document support jobs will have all gone to third-party providers in the U.S. or abroad. Instead, IT departments will be populated with “versatilists” — those with a technology background who also know the business sector inside and out, can architect and carry out IT plans that will add business value, and can cultivate relationships both inside and outside the company.
I attended a Microsoft event for developers today, where they showed off a lot of the fancy new user interface features available with Vista. Even if you are running XP, you can install the Net 3.0 Framework and get a lot of the same effects, since they’re based on the Windows Presentation Framework. One of the coolest applications they demoed is the New York Times Reader. It’s a program you run locally on your computer, which then connects to NYT online and allows you to read through the paper. It also has a really quick search feature, but the beauty is in the presentation. You’ve got to try it out to really get the idea… it’s very dynamic [screenshot].
