12 Letters that didn't make the cut

12 Letters That Didn’t Make the Alphabet - Mental Floss

Am I a nerd to find this interesting? LOL

Instagram's new privacy policy - Scary!

I don't use Instagram myself... but I am on Facebook, which owns Instagram.

I'm not terribly surprised by this announcement, but what is surprising is the lack of groundswell so far, along with threats of lawsuits, boycotts and so on.

They would almost have to be kidding, right?  Read the details-- they can use your Instagram pictures in ads and sell them to others without your consent.  They can use and re-post pictures of minors.  They can sell your posted content.  To top it off, there is no opt out option or decline button for this new policy either, which takes effect this month.  Well, there is only one way out- cancel your account.

I wonder how many people are going to be voting with their feet...

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/17/what-instagrams-new-terms-of-service-mean-for-you/

10 skills for developers to focus on in 2013

OK, this article is about developers, so not all of it applies to BA's or others of us who don't live in the techie world.

However... as a BA it is always important for us to know what's happening on the development side and what the trends are.  Interesting to note that they list User Experience as a top, growing trend.  Personally I had always thought it was a key skill needed (since the creation of the Interweb at least), so it's past due seeing it actually listed as a top 10 trend.

Tech Republic: Top 10 Skills for 2013

Planning Poker - The Easy Way

I love this post (and along the way, have found another resource I plan on following). Our team has finally tried diving back into practicing poker after a long hiatus, and I have relearned why so many teams have issue with this. How to 'split' votes, gain consensus, etc... always harder than it seems, and in real life is always more of a challenge than they teach in course, or sometimes allude to in articles or books. This short read points out how planning poker doesn't need to be hard... especially when you break it down to the basics and build up from there as the team matures.

http://scrumology.com/planning-poker-the-power-of-two/

Agile: One size doesn't fit all...

A short read, and I really wish Nancy had expanded more. But in a few short paragraphs she reinforces the point that not all projects are "Agile", and that there is no one set standard on what "Agile" is across different companies. Any time I fine someone to chime in on this, I can't help making note, LOL.