John Young

So interesting... the sample size is small, so we'll see how other studies present, but this article suggests that AI coding assistants don't make us much faster. There's some data in here that suggests they do if you are practiced with them, but 30% more, not even 100% more (2x). In my experience AI can get new ideas bootstrapped quickly but it starts to get confused with the code base gets larger. It requires developer skill to get more out of it. For existing or large codebases, you need to focus it with good requirements documents and let it go in "agent" mode. I think our workflows need to change as these tools evolve to make best use of them. https://lnkd.in/gwUTBehz

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The purpose of this post is to touch base on Ollama and how it can help with both privacy and running a cost efficient pipeline for indie devs. If you haven't heard of ollama, I highly recommend checking their website and read https://lnkd.in/gUvgcRSY. In a nutshell, it allows you to run certain models locally or in a docker container which can help with hosting models on your machine or server. It has a lot more features which I'm still learning about. I've been playing around with qwen3:30b for majority of the time and just recently updated to qwen3.5:35b. Both run smoothly on M4 Max / 48GB but could've run better on 64GB only if I knew better to get that upgrade. I'll write more on the projects that I'm working on in future, but in a nutshell, I used LLM to run a two-phase pipeline: - Filter 1.3million records from jsonl and reduce it to 50K useful records for the app - Run through all 50K records to select most meaningful samples among several examples for each record. In addition, fallback mechanism for any missing data needed

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We just removed over 20 million orphaned or corrupt entries from our Moodle database Not a typo. Twenty million. Gone. Safely. Permanently. Here’s how…. This wasn’t a quick fix or a late-night SQL gamble. It took six months of careful engineering - building a custom tool from scratch that could handle the job without risking active courses or critical data. We tested it. We backed up everything (twice). We interrogated edge cases. This was hands-down one of the riskiest bits of data surgery I’ve seen in HE digital infrastructure. When we first raised it, our vendor's response was: “This is too massive and dangerous - we don’t want to touch it.” Six months later, after seeing it in action: “This is the most fantastic thing we’ve seen. Can we roll it out worldwide?” That pivot says it all. We’d been sitting on years of digital debris - ghost courses, broken gradebook records, deleted users still haunting the database. The kind of thing that accumulates quietly while systems keep ticking over… until it starts to get in the way. This was more than a clean-up. It was a strategic move. Because here’s the thing: 👉 If we can’t trust the data, we can’t trust the story it tells. 👉 And if we don’t fix the foundation, no dashboard, AI tool, or insight is ever going to deliver real value. At Queen Mary, we’re done treating data as digital exhaust. We’re treating it like the strategic asset it should have been all along. I'd love to hear your war stories. What’s the biggest, riskiest or most satisfying data job you’ve taken on? And what changed once it was done? #HigherEducation #DigitalLeadership #DataStrategy #Moodle #BI #EdTech #DataQuality #FixTheFoundation #StrategicIT

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Big accessibility boost in Adobe InDesign 20.4! - Native MathML export in EPUBs—making equations screen‑reader and braille friendly - SVG images include proper alt tags, staying crisp and scalable - Better navigation titles (e.g. “Cover,” “Contents”) for clearer structure - Nested list support through intuitive indenting These updates make producing inclusive digital publications easier than ever. A must-read for designers, educators, and publishers! https://buff.ly/c7rotw5 #Accessibility #InclusivePublishing #InDesign #EPUB #A11y #DigitalDesign #DigitalAccessibility

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The hardest part of an accessibility audit isn’t scanning. It’s everything after: prioritization, evidence, handoff, and re-testing. If your workflow lives in spreadsheets + screenshots, what breaks first? Reply with: 1) Tracking 2) Evidence 3) Dev handoff #DigitalAccessibility hashtag #Accessibility hashtag #WCAG hashtag #A11y hashtag #AccessibilityTesting

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Is your design workflow feeling sluggish? The integration of generative AI, like ChatGPT, into tools like Figma isn't just hype—it's a fundamental shift in design productivity. 🧠 This marriage of language models and visual design promises to streamline early-stage ideation and iteration in powerful ways. We're moving beyond manual mockups. Here’s what this means for designers today: * **Rapid Prototyping:** Generate initial layout concepts or user flow scripts instantly based on text prompts. * **Content Population:** Instantly fill wireframes with realistic, context-aware placeholder text. * **Accessibility Checks:** Use AI to analyze designs against WCAG guidelines faster than ever before. According to recent industry analysis, AI adoption in design is expected to drastically reduce time spent on repetitive tasks ([Design Future Report](https://lnkd.in/eG8nzVze)). This frees us up for higher-level strategic thinking. Embracing these tools isn't optional; it’s necessary for staying competitive. Start experimenting with how conversational AI can augment your creative process now! What use case are you most excited about? 👇 *Source Example (Illustrative): McKinsey Global Institute research often highlights productivity gains from AI integration across professional services.*

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I’ve spent over 20 years in edtech with a consistent mission: helping others solve problems, make progress, and reach goals. Today, that mission hits a major milestone. I’m proud to share that the Utah State Board of Education has selected #YouScience to deliver the statewide First Credential Career Mapping Tool. https://lnkd.in/e7bt_ukv For the last six months, my team has been deep in the research, design, and development of a new CCR Planner offering within our platform, YouScience Brightpath. When we saw Utah’s vision for HB 260, it was clear that what we were building was the "accelerator" they needed to turn this policy into a reality for both students and the educators who support them. Why this partnership is so meaningful: * It’s co-creative: We are working side-by-side with state agencies as partners to refine the vision of the First Credential Program, rather than offering an off-the-shelf, plug-and-play solution. * It drives student outcomes: We are moving beyond mere best-fit career exposure to verified readiness, ensuring every student graduates with a stackable credential aligned to high-wage opportunities. * It empowers our educators: This system is built to reduce the manual workload for counselors through automated tracking and a single source of truth for compliance. * The impact is ready to scale: We already serve 271,000+ students in 100% of Utah’s public middle and high schools. One of our core values is "We perform as a cohesive championship team." This win is a direct result of that value in action. A huge thank you to Kellie Openshaw, Philip Hardin, Edson Barton, Amanda Johnson, Katie Cockrell Clark, and Tim Kennedy (and many others!) for the incredible collaboration on the RFP response. At YouScience, we talk a lot about "The Science of You." Kurt Vonnegut famously said, "Science is magic that works." In our world, the "magic" is when a student finally finds their "why", and the science is the platform that makes that outcome a reality for every student. #CareerConnectedLearning #youscience #brightpath #collegeandcareerreadiness

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