Thank Firebrand it's Friday - First Edition

Firebrand Training

05 April, 2013

By Edward Jones

Welcome to the first edition of "Thank Firebrand it's Friday", TFiF for short (because in Tech we all love acronyms). We work hard here in the Firebrand Comms team to bring you all the latest news, reviews and updates on IT Certifications and Technology via the Firebrand Blog. The Blog was created with the defining principle of adding value to our community, and helping you the reader in your day job by giving you the knowledge you seek.

For those that follow Firebrand closely, you'll have hopefully spotted our 'how-to' guides floating about the web on technical publications, if not here are a few examples on TechNet, ServerWatch and TechRadar Pro.

But we've felt like something's missing, something a little less serious, informative yet fun, something that is perfect for a Friday afternoon, and so we (I) have created TFiF. As it's the first edition it will likely evolve as time progresses and we'd love your feedback on how to shape it. Today it's a bit of a hotch botch of fun things found around the web...

LEGO™ just got technical

Man I wish littleBits were around when I was a kid (I say this as if I haven't ordered a set), these guys have taken the concept of LEGO™ building blocks and completely revolutionised it for the 21st-Century. For the Trekkies amongst you, think Borg assimilation, they've effectively taken LEGO™, injected it with technology and in the process made the practice of learning about hardware design accessible to kids. Check out this two minute video and try not to purchase a set at the end.

Check out some of the products already created, the hardware is open-source so expect some rapid expansion from the 50 modules currently available, allowing far more complex products to be created. If you read my previous post on the growing skills gap in the UK technology sector, littleBits could be the educational solution sought to address the issue at grass-roots level, especially in the the hardware design sector.

Leap Motion will blow your mind

If you haven't seen the Leap Motion Controller yet, you need this in your life. Planning to ship May 14th, 2013 this product from software and hardware company Leap Motion is set to revolutionise the way we all interact with computers. If this takes off then it could effectively destroy the emerging touch screen market being driven through Microsoft in Windows 8.

Time to make a LEGO™ Data Center

Ever wanted to see a Data Center made of LEGO™ ? Me neither, but now you can thanks to the efforts of Eduardo Tanaka and the fact that it's a Friday afternoon.

Well that's about it for today, I hope you've enjoyed the first instalment of TFiF, let's see where next week take us. And as I leave you; continuing along the Data Center theme, check out this shot from one of Google's Data Centers. You can see the full gallery here - Google Data Centers

About the Author:
Edward is a member of the Marketing team overseeing the Content Strategy for Firebrand. Working in the Industry for 2 years, Edward has experience with Microsoft Technologies including SharePoint 2007 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Edward writes for a variety of Blogs and Publications on all things Technology.