Planning and Development Development Deals Criticized: Devil is in the Detail
We've heard about never getting between a premier and a bucket of money. Perhaps the public should avoid getting between planning gurus and a piece of dirt. Follow the money, and in the world of politics the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is to be found in the office of a few decision makers.
Consider the lillies, Jesus said - but he was thinking of the field. The lesson for the political season just underway comes from the lilies of the pond, water lilies. It is an old French riddle. 'At first there is only one lily pad in the pond, but the next day it doubles, and thereafter each of its descendants doubles. The pond completely fills up with lily pads in 30 days. When is the pond exactly half full? Answer: on the 29th day...’
The entomologist Edward O. Wilson uses this riddle to illustrate the urgency of our ecological crisis. 'Because earth is finite in many resources that determine the quality of life - including arable soil, nutrients, fresh water, and space for natural ecosystems - doubling of consumption at constant intervals can bring disaster with shocking suddenness. Even when a nonrenewable resource has been only half used, it is still only one interval away from the end.' The 29th day can feel like a normal day - look how much room is left in the pond - but it can actually be the eve of catastrophe. Only those who are paying close attention may see the dire significance of the day, but by then their biggest problem is the complacency of those who do not know what time it is.
On the 29th day, the pond is half-choked to death, but it seems OK. Surely we have another 29 days to fix the problem. But do we? How this lesson applies to the earth's dwindling resources is obvious, but it has meaning in other areas as well.
The devil in development by Kevin Rozzoli
The developer does his development and takes his money and runs, and moves on to the next development. The poor people in the community who live next door to the development are there suffering long after the developer has gone.
· Webdiarist: Kevin Rozzoli [SMH]
· Hubris, corruption and greed in Sydney [SMH]
Protest From the backbench Lawrence still rocks the boat
She also wanted to ‘illustrate the hypocrisy’ of the US position on weapons inspections by inspecting the aircraft carrier itself for weapons as it prepared for war against Iraq.
They [the warships] wouldn't be here otherwise, it doesn't take a genius to work that out. We expect Australians should know what sort of weapons are being held at a time of war.
· Hypocricy [SMH]
· From the Desk of Carmen: Youth, Fellings, Emotions & Reasons [Web Diary: SMH]
Wednesday, January 15, 2003
The Sewer and the Commons
Individual software writers, authors, and musicians produce something close to raw sewage. The computer programs, books, and music that people buy are closer to drinkable water.
What Creative Commons lets you do as an author is label your stuff before you flush it down the toilet. If you don't want the sewage treatment plant to filter your stuff and sell the water on its usual terms, Creative Commons lets you have your way. If you think that publishers are stealing your crap, you can stop them.
· Creative Commons [Tech CentralStation]
Individual software writers, authors, and musicians produce something close to raw sewage. The computer programs, books, and music that people buy are closer to drinkable water.
What Creative Commons lets you do as an author is label your stuff before you flush it down the toilet. If you don't want the sewage treatment plant to filter your stuff and sell the water on its usual terms, Creative Commons lets you have your way. If you think that publishers are stealing your crap, you can stop them.
· Creative Commons [Tech CentralStation]
Life Ordinary Extraordinary Calvin Trillin: Grandfather knows best
I'm offering all sorts of delivery possibilities—English fish-and-chips, Indian chaats, Japanese ramen, Singaporean fried rice. Menus are being flashed in front of her. I mention roasted chicken, the simple tuna-fish sandwich, soup dumplings. Yes, soup dumplings! I tell her that if she'd like to finish off by having Cones, just around the corner on Bleecker Street, bring over a pint of hazelnut gelato, that, too, can be arranged. I think it's fair to say, Abigail, I tell her as I continue to flip through the menus, "that there's practically no type of food that can't be found within a few blocks.
· Delivery of possibilities [New Yorker]
Libraries The New York Times has a love letter to NYC libraries.
The suburban library of my childhood, with its glass atrium, pristine bathrooms, deep easy chairs and smorgasbord of new fiction, spoiled me forever. This, I thought, is what all libraries are like. College did nothing to dispel this notion. I loved the library at Brown University as much as I'd loved the one in Syosset.
· Rooms of Wonder [NY Times via BookSlut]
Google Question. "Paul Krugman, Princeton prof and NYTimes columnist
Poor drstrangelove. He (she?) doesn't realize that friends of the administration must have already looked into all of this. Read Lou Dubose's new book "Boy Genius", about Karl Rove, and you'll realize that if there was something there they would have used it. In fact, they would have invented something if they thought it would stick. But to save drstrangelove additional trouble and money, here are the answers.
· Good Answers [Princeston via MetaFilter]
I'm offering all sorts of delivery possibilities—English fish-and-chips, Indian chaats, Japanese ramen, Singaporean fried rice. Menus are being flashed in front of her. I mention roasted chicken, the simple tuna-fish sandwich, soup dumplings. Yes, soup dumplings! I tell her that if she'd like to finish off by having Cones, just around the corner on Bleecker Street, bring over a pint of hazelnut gelato, that, too, can be arranged. I think it's fair to say, Abigail, I tell her as I continue to flip through the menus, "that there's practically no type of food that can't be found within a few blocks.
· Delivery of possibilities [New Yorker]
Libraries The New York Times has a love letter to NYC libraries.
The suburban library of my childhood, with its glass atrium, pristine bathrooms, deep easy chairs and smorgasbord of new fiction, spoiled me forever. This, I thought, is what all libraries are like. College did nothing to dispel this notion. I loved the library at Brown University as much as I'd loved the one in Syosset.
· Rooms of Wonder [NY Times via BookSlut]
Google Question. "Paul Krugman, Princeton prof and NYTimes columnist
Poor drstrangelove. He (she?) doesn't realize that friends of the administration must have already looked into all of this. Read Lou Dubose's new book "Boy Genius", about Karl Rove, and you'll realize that if there was something there they would have used it. In fact, they would have invented something if they thought it would stick. But to save drstrangelove additional trouble and money, here are the answers.
· Good Answers [Princeston via MetaFilter]
Global Politics Reign of Terror Redux: From Bush to Bonaparte
Here's the situation: The nation's leadership is taken over by a secretive group of elitists who profess democracy while dragging the country into a totalitarian nightmare. Confusion and fear take hold, civil rights are eroded in the name of fighting a terror war, and impersonal governmental bodies with names like Committee of General Security start labeling dissenters as enemies of the state. Secretive courts with limited accountability punish civilians who object. Tightening its grip on power, the government creates public crises it can later be seen as solving, and military service is made mandatory for young men. The ongoing terror war drains the country's resources, foreign relations hit rock bottom, and the economy slides even further. But since fear is the government's most effective weapon against its own population, the terror war is expanded.
· Bonaparte [Common Dream]
Revolution - How Digital Will Create A New World Order
A new book from Sweden says the digital revolution - the move from a society controlled by printed and broadcast mass media to an information age that provides interactivity is 'at least as dramatic as the move from feudalism to capitalism'. The more information technology dominates, the more culture, society and the economy change. It’s the birth of a 'whole new world' — a world undergoing a paradigm shift right under our noses. Say goodbye to the nation state and governments. Capitalism will be no more and its chief proponent, the bourgeoisie, will gradually lose power and become a mere 'underclass'.
· Maximum N40 [Mail & Guardian (South Africa)]
Here's the situation: The nation's leadership is taken over by a secretive group of elitists who profess democracy while dragging the country into a totalitarian nightmare. Confusion and fear take hold, civil rights are eroded in the name of fighting a terror war, and impersonal governmental bodies with names like Committee of General Security start labeling dissenters as enemies of the state. Secretive courts with limited accountability punish civilians who object. Tightening its grip on power, the government creates public crises it can later be seen as solving, and military service is made mandatory for young men. The ongoing terror war drains the country's resources, foreign relations hit rock bottom, and the economy slides even further. But since fear is the government's most effective weapon against its own population, the terror war is expanded.
· Bonaparte [Common Dream]
Revolution - How Digital Will Create A New World Order
A new book from Sweden says the digital revolution - the move from a society controlled by printed and broadcast mass media to an information age that provides interactivity is 'at least as dramatic as the move from feudalism to capitalism'. The more information technology dominates, the more culture, society and the economy change. It’s the birth of a 'whole new world' — a world undergoing a paradigm shift right under our noses. Say goodbye to the nation state and governments. Capitalism will be no more and its chief proponent, the bourgeoisie, will gradually lose power and become a mere 'underclass'.
· Maximum N40 [Mail & Guardian (South Africa)]
Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.
- Pericles, 430 BC
Politics Compassionate/noncompassionate conservatism
Here is a good example of the difference between compassionate conservatives and the old-fashioned kind. An old-fashioned conservative won't fund programs to protect abused and endangered kids because it's not government's job and damn it, this isn't some kind of nanny state that takes care of every crack baby and hard-luck case that comes down the pike. Survival of the fittest; no handouts; roll with the punches, kid.
A compassionate conservative says we won't give money to programs to protect abused and endangered kids because it's time to think outside the box. Find a new paradigm. Be more effective. This isn't about kids; it's about bureaucracy. Then he'll schedule a photo-op with a private program that helps a handful of kids while refusing to adequately fund the state system.
Much more caring. Nicer press. Same results.
Compassionate conservative Jeb Bush won't spend money for more case workers at the Div. of Children and Families. Too many damn social workers already. (See here, where he talks about fixing a dysfunctional system by pushing the problem to local sheriff' offices (and local taxpayers, heh-heh) and private agencies that are no doubt just waiting in the wings to take over this thankless job.)
Hesiod isn't buying the buying the bullshit and works up a good rant.
· Final Result [Lane]
Values & Ethics
The issues Moore has raised - including guns, government corruption, and the loss of community values in the face of corporate might - are vital. In opening those dialogues, no matter how populist his methods, Moore has opened the gates for other social commentators to enter.
HIH is the yarn today, but what's the real, long-term solution to the collapse of ethics among big-end-of-town accountants, lawyers and actuaries? They're the professionals involved who are meant to have duties separate to those of the companies they service. Higher duties. The workability of current practice - that they work directly for the companies that pay them - relies on strong professional ethics, and the enforcement thereof by peers and their professional associations. That's broken down. Conflicts of interest aren't even recognised as such these days. How can we repair the damage?
· Community Values [SMH]
· Community Ethics [Web Diary SMH]
- Pericles, 430 BC
Politics Compassionate/noncompassionate conservatism
Here is a good example of the difference between compassionate conservatives and the old-fashioned kind. An old-fashioned conservative won't fund programs to protect abused and endangered kids because it's not government's job and damn it, this isn't some kind of nanny state that takes care of every crack baby and hard-luck case that comes down the pike. Survival of the fittest; no handouts; roll with the punches, kid.
A compassionate conservative says we won't give money to programs to protect abused and endangered kids because it's time to think outside the box. Find a new paradigm. Be more effective. This isn't about kids; it's about bureaucracy. Then he'll schedule a photo-op with a private program that helps a handful of kids while refusing to adequately fund the state system.
Much more caring. Nicer press. Same results.
Compassionate conservative Jeb Bush won't spend money for more case workers at the Div. of Children and Families. Too many damn social workers already. (See here, where he talks about fixing a dysfunctional system by pushing the problem to local sheriff' offices (and local taxpayers, heh-heh) and private agencies that are no doubt just waiting in the wings to take over this thankless job.)
Hesiod isn't buying the buying the bullshit and works up a good rant.
· Final Result [Lane]
Values & Ethics
The issues Moore has raised - including guns, government corruption, and the loss of community values in the face of corporate might - are vital. In opening those dialogues, no matter how populist his methods, Moore has opened the gates for other social commentators to enter.
HIH is the yarn today, but what's the real, long-term solution to the collapse of ethics among big-end-of-town accountants, lawyers and actuaries? They're the professionals involved who are meant to have duties separate to those of the companies they service. Higher duties. The workability of current practice - that they work directly for the companies that pay them - relies on strong professional ethics, and the enforcement thereof by peers and their professional associations. That's broken down. Conflicts of interest aren't even recognised as such these days. How can we repair the damage?
· Community Values [SMH]
· Community Ethics [Web Diary SMH]
As a proud iMac user, I feel like picking a fight today so here it goes:
Wired News on the particular phenemon that is Apple: 'What makes Mac users so loyal? The answer, of course, depends on who is asked: Marketers say it's the brand, psychologists say it's a social relationship, and Apple loyalists say it's the merits of the machine, its friendliness, its simplicity. But some common themes emerge: community, the alternative to Microsoft, and the brand, which connotes nonconformity, liberty and creativity. Mac users are not merely an ad hoc group of people who happen to use the same kind of computer. They represent a distinct subculture, with its own rituals, traditions and mindset.'
Says one Apple devotee: ’If you see somebody in an airport in London, or someplace down in Peru or something, and you see an Apple tag on their bag, or an Apple T-shirt, it's like the Deadheads … you have an instant friend... Most likely, you share something very core to your being with this person, which is a life outlook, a special vision.’
Hear, Hear, Hear ... Only those who consume an apple a day will reach the long distance marathon! And as we all know at the end only the paranoid like Andy Grove will survive.
As Kold Krusty, the Klown, would say: ‘Have a Kooky iMac, a Happy Mac, a Crazy iBook, and a...very respectful Apple Links.’
Erica Jong once wrote about people who think they can live without poetry. And they can. At least until they survive the Iron Curtain, fall in love, lose a friend, lose a sister, or a parent, or lose their way in the dark woods of life in the Sunshine State. Apple of A Poem
Powereless? The Stand
When religious institutions fail to provide moral leadership, when governmental institutions become dangerous to the nation they are tasked to serve, when politicians do not work for the people, or when they tremble at the possibility that standing alone in righteousness might cost them votes, when journalism becomes one long commercial, when votes are brokered against the party affiliation of a majority of powerful judges, it becomes necessary for the singular multitude that is the American people to stand and be counted.
· To Be Counted [Smirking Chimp]
How a small Bohemian town saved a troubled Nobel Prize laureate
There is no gift in the world which can repay a man who has risked his life for you.
· Thomas Mann, (Not the former Rene Rivkin’s Butler) [Prague Post]
Wired News on the particular phenemon that is Apple: 'What makes Mac users so loyal? The answer, of course, depends on who is asked: Marketers say it's the brand, psychologists say it's a social relationship, and Apple loyalists say it's the merits of the machine, its friendliness, its simplicity. But some common themes emerge: community, the alternative to Microsoft, and the brand, which connotes nonconformity, liberty and creativity. Mac users are not merely an ad hoc group of people who happen to use the same kind of computer. They represent a distinct subculture, with its own rituals, traditions and mindset.'
Says one Apple devotee: ’If you see somebody in an airport in London, or someplace down in Peru or something, and you see an Apple tag on their bag, or an Apple T-shirt, it's like the Deadheads … you have an instant friend... Most likely, you share something very core to your being with this person, which is a life outlook, a special vision.’
Hear, Hear, Hear ... Only those who consume an apple a day will reach the long distance marathon! And as we all know at the end only the paranoid like Andy Grove will survive.
As Kold Krusty, the Klown, would say: ‘Have a Kooky iMac, a Happy Mac, a Crazy iBook, and a...very respectful Apple Links.’
Erica Jong once wrote about people who think they can live without poetry. And they can. At least until they survive the Iron Curtain, fall in love, lose a friend, lose a sister, or a parent, or lose their way in the dark woods of life in the Sunshine State. Apple of A Poem
Powereless? The Stand
When religious institutions fail to provide moral leadership, when governmental institutions become dangerous to the nation they are tasked to serve, when politicians do not work for the people, or when they tremble at the possibility that standing alone in righteousness might cost them votes, when journalism becomes one long commercial, when votes are brokered against the party affiliation of a majority of powerful judges, it becomes necessary for the singular multitude that is the American people to stand and be counted.
· To Be Counted [Smirking Chimp]
How a small Bohemian town saved a troubled Nobel Prize laureate
There is no gift in the world which can repay a man who has risked his life for you.
· Thomas Mann, (Not the former Rene Rivkin’s Butler) [Prague Post]
Tuesday, January 14, 2003
Slovak Hungarian Antipodean Greiner: Political Midwives & Daughters
Politics Political Midwives & Daughters - Politics is Fun!
Are you from the ABC? As sitting Liberal MPs and MP-hopefuls attended a dusk pre-election strategy meeting on Level 10 of Parliament, their 'significant others' - a few of them men - listened as Mrs Greiner talked of the trials, tribulations and 'great fun' of public life, politics and campaigning.
· Political life is fun - but don't let the media spoil it, partners warned [SMH]
· Sydney Mother Bear Breeds Rebels [SMH]
· A Dubliner, who is the younger daughter of Ireland's Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, smiles in 'PS: I Love You.' [BBC]
Many, many moons ago, pinned down by a lynch mob of vendor representatives all shouting 'Troublemaker! Troublemaker!,' I squealed out my standard excuse, 'I don't look for trouble. Trouble looks for me!' But what still amazes me is how diligently it finds me.
-Barbara Quint
War & Peace Sometimes You Don't Even Know Where to Start
Deterrence doesn't work any more because even if Saddam and Kim Jong-Il are rational, skilled actors, you can't count on every national leader who might develop nukes being one.
Therefore, Derek argues, militant nonproliferation is the only option for the US (and presumably the rest of the nuclear club).
A common theme running through the critiques is that whatever policy we adopt toward nuclear proliferation must be perfect because if it is not perfect, a nuke might be used, and used against us or those we love. After all, the result of a nuke use would be horrible devastation. As Derek James puts it in a hypothetical:
We'd have tens of thousands of people dead, tens of thousands more burned and poisoned with radioactivity, and a molten, radioactive slagheap for downtown Boston.
All my critics argue that we can not have perfect certainty that deterrence will work, and they're right. But Derek especially leaps from that fact to a wholly unjustified faith that militant nonproliferation will work with perfect certainty. Again, from his item:
We have to follow a course of nonproliferation, the entire international community in concerted cooperation.
Or guess what? We're fucked.
Well, guess what: we're fucked.
· Troublemaking Years Ahead [Highclearing.com]
List of US Companies That Sold Weapons Technology to Iraq
Key: A - nuclear K - chemical B - biological R - rockets (missiles)
1. Honeywell (R,K) 2. Spektra Physics (K) 3. Semetex (R) 4. TI Coating (A,K) 5. UNISYS (A,K) 6. Sperry Corp. (R,K) 7. Tektronix (R,A) 8. Rockwell )(K) 9. Leybold Vacuum Systems (A) 10. Finnigan-MAT-U.S. (A) 11. Hewlett Packard (A.R,K) 12. Dupont (A) 13. Eastman Kodak (R) 14. American Type Culture Collection (B) 15. Alcolac International (C) 16. Consarc (A) 17. Carl Zeis -US (K) 18. Cerberus (LTD) (A) 19. Electronic Associates (R) 20. International Computer Systems 21. Bechtel (K) 22. EZ Logic Data Systems,Inc. (R) 23. Canberra Industries Inc. (A) 24. Axel Electronics Inc. (A)
This list doesn't include governmental and quasi-governmental agencies that gave technology to Iraq, including the Pentagon, Lawrence Livermore Laboratories, Sandia Labs, Los Alamos, and the Centers for Disease Control.
Source: Die Tageszeitung (Berlin daily newspaper), who says it came from the original Iraqi report to the UN Security Council.
-Barbara Quint
War & Peace Sometimes You Don't Even Know Where to Start
Deterrence doesn't work any more because even if Saddam and Kim Jong-Il are rational, skilled actors, you can't count on every national leader who might develop nukes being one.
Therefore, Derek argues, militant nonproliferation is the only option for the US (and presumably the rest of the nuclear club).
A common theme running through the critiques is that whatever policy we adopt toward nuclear proliferation must be perfect because if it is not perfect, a nuke might be used, and used against us or those we love. After all, the result of a nuke use would be horrible devastation. As Derek James puts it in a hypothetical:
We'd have tens of thousands of people dead, tens of thousands more burned and poisoned with radioactivity, and a molten, radioactive slagheap for downtown Boston.
All my critics argue that we can not have perfect certainty that deterrence will work, and they're right. But Derek especially leaps from that fact to a wholly unjustified faith that militant nonproliferation will work with perfect certainty. Again, from his item:
We have to follow a course of nonproliferation, the entire international community in concerted cooperation.
Or guess what? We're fucked.
Well, guess what: we're fucked.
· Troublemaking Years Ahead [Highclearing.com]
List of US Companies That Sold Weapons Technology to Iraq
Key: A - nuclear K - chemical B - biological R - rockets (missiles)
1. Honeywell (R,K) 2. Spektra Physics (K) 3. Semetex (R) 4. TI Coating (A,K) 5. UNISYS (A,K) 6. Sperry Corp. (R,K) 7. Tektronix (R,A) 8. Rockwell )(K) 9. Leybold Vacuum Systems (A) 10. Finnigan-MAT-U.S. (A) 11. Hewlett Packard (A.R,K) 12. Dupont (A) 13. Eastman Kodak (R) 14. American Type Culture Collection (B) 15. Alcolac International (C) 16. Consarc (A) 17. Carl Zeis -US (K) 18. Cerberus (LTD) (A) 19. Electronic Associates (R) 20. International Computer Systems 21. Bechtel (K) 22. EZ Logic Data Systems,Inc. (R) 23. Canberra Industries Inc. (A) 24. Axel Electronics Inc. (A)
This list doesn't include governmental and quasi-governmental agencies that gave technology to Iraq, including the Pentagon, Lawrence Livermore Laboratories, Sandia Labs, Los Alamos, and the Centers for Disease Control.
Source: Die Tageszeitung (Berlin daily newspaper), who says it came from the original Iraqi report to the UN Security Council.
Good News: Cancer Widower Wins Legislative Crusade to Donate Wife's Drugs
When Karon Beltz died of cancer in 1999, her husband, Garry, had to flush down the toilet $6,700 worth of cancer medicine that could have been used to help save the life of someone else. Now, after Beltz's three year crusade, Ohio has become the first state in the nation to allow unopened drugs to be donated to patients who can't afford them.
On January 8, Governor Bob Taft signed 'Karon's Law,' which was introduced by State Rep. Kirk Schuring (R-Canton) who himself lost a wife to cancer and had to throw away thousands of dollars worth of prescription drugs. A lot of people, particularly politicians, talk about fixing the high cost of prescription drugs. This is truly doing something effective.
The bill requires the state pharmacy board to establish a program that will permit individuals or health care facilities to donate drugs in their original, sealed, tamper-evident packaging to income-eligible Ohioans through free clinics and pharmacies that volunteer to participate.
Inspiration Point: Honor your discontent. 'Progress is not created by contented people.'
- Frank Tyger
When Karon Beltz died of cancer in 1999, her husband, Garry, had to flush down the toilet $6,700 worth of cancer medicine that could have been used to help save the life of someone else. Now, after Beltz's three year crusade, Ohio has become the first state in the nation to allow unopened drugs to be donated to patients who can't afford them.
On January 8, Governor Bob Taft signed 'Karon's Law,' which was introduced by State Rep. Kirk Schuring (R-Canton) who himself lost a wife to cancer and had to throw away thousands of dollars worth of prescription drugs. A lot of people, particularly politicians, talk about fixing the high cost of prescription drugs. This is truly doing something effective.
The bill requires the state pharmacy board to establish a program that will permit individuals or health care facilities to donate drugs in their original, sealed, tamper-evident packaging to income-eligible Ohioans through free clinics and pharmacies that volunteer to participate.
Inspiration Point: Honor your discontent. 'Progress is not created by contented people.'
- Frank Tyger
Daily Quote
Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than live as slaves.
- Winston Churchill
Ideas & Humanity Explore Your Hidden Talents & Biases
To appreciate and exploit the complexity of a networked economy, people have to push themselves not only to know what they don't know, but also to get to know it. If you're a designer, take an economics course. If you're an engineer, take up painting. If you're a consultant, sign up for an improvisation class. Get to know that new thing to a point where you can understand the tension between your own way of thinking and seeing and this entirely different perspective. For 2003, start to build empathy for the things that are different. - Clement Mok, American Institute of Graphic Arts
· Empathy [Fast Company]
Use the Internet and blogs to kick up this future-mining project a few notches. Track new blogrolls. Track new laws. Reason your way to new tools and assistance folks will need to comply.
· Trends [CEO Refresher]
Dig Deeper into the science behind the tests, into stereotypes and prejudice, and into the societal effects of bias.
· Tests and Links [Tolerance]
Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than live as slaves.
- Winston Churchill
Ideas & Humanity Explore Your Hidden Talents & Biases
To appreciate and exploit the complexity of a networked economy, people have to push themselves not only to know what they don't know, but also to get to know it. If you're a designer, take an economics course. If you're an engineer, take up painting. If you're a consultant, sign up for an improvisation class. Get to know that new thing to a point where you can understand the tension between your own way of thinking and seeing and this entirely different perspective. For 2003, start to build empathy for the things that are different. - Clement Mok, American Institute of Graphic Arts
· Empathy [Fast Company]
Use the Internet and blogs to kick up this future-mining project a few notches. Track new blogrolls. Track new laws. Reason your way to new tools and assistance folks will need to comply.
· Trends [CEO Refresher]
Dig Deeper into the science behind the tests, into stereotypes and prejudice, and into the societal effects of bias.
· Tests and Links [Tolerance]
Monday, January 13, 2003
Perils of digital publishing -- Lost evidence and a broken historical record
Elsevier's Vanishing Act: To the dismay of scholars, the publishing giant quietly purges articles from its database by Andrea L. Foster. Elsevier Science, it seems, is working on a disappearing act, and that has university librarians fuming.
· Digital Libraries [Chronicle of Higher Education ]
Please Consider Spreading this meme:
· Why You Should Fall to Your Knees and Worship a Librarian [Librarian News Via Shifty Librarian]
· Just Remember, Classified Librarians Know When You Are Sleeping [The Nation via Commonm Dream]
Elsevier's Vanishing Act: To the dismay of scholars, the publishing giant quietly purges articles from its database by Andrea L. Foster. Elsevier Science, it seems, is working on a disappearing act, and that has university librarians fuming.
· Digital Libraries [Chronicle of Higher Education ]
Please Consider Spreading this meme:
· Why You Should Fall to Your Knees and Worship a Librarian [Librarian News Via Shifty Librarian]
· Just Remember, Classified Librarians Know When You Are Sleeping [The Nation via Commonm Dream]
Digital Literature Story of E-book: History
In 1938, the very year Britain and France sold Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany, H.G. Wells published World Brain, which contained a vision of an extensive and complete (but in print form) encyclopaedia of all recorded (human) knowledge. This concept piece sets off ideas for what will become both the digital library revolution and the notion of the electronic book.
· Digital History [Dandini]
eBook Locator - Powered by OverDrive is a service for locating ebooks.
· Overdrive [Ebook Locator]
· Escape [Cold River]
Internet You Blog, We Blog:
The global reach of the World Wide Web helps create connections between many people with diverse opinions and interests. This strength, combined with the ease of publishing to the Web when compared to traditional publishing endeavors, and the ability to reach a large audience have fostered a phenomenon known as weblogs. Weblogs, or blogs for short, are a cross between a diary, a web site, and an online community. Blogs are built using specially designed software that makes creating and updating a web site quick and easy. As a result, blogs are informal, frequently updated and often chock full of the humor and personality of their creator/moderator.
· Creating connections between many people with diverse opinions and interests [Teacher Librarian]
In 1938, the very year Britain and France sold Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany, H.G. Wells published World Brain, which contained a vision of an extensive and complete (but in print form) encyclopaedia of all recorded (human) knowledge. This concept piece sets off ideas for what will become both the digital library revolution and the notion of the electronic book.
· Digital History [Dandini]
eBook Locator - Powered by OverDrive is a service for locating ebooks.
· Overdrive [Ebook Locator]
· Escape [Cold River]
Internet You Blog, We Blog:
The global reach of the World Wide Web helps create connections between many people with diverse opinions and interests. This strength, combined with the ease of publishing to the Web when compared to traditional publishing endeavors, and the ability to reach a large audience have fostered a phenomenon known as weblogs. Weblogs, or blogs for short, are a cross between a diary, a web site, and an online community. Blogs are built using specially designed software that makes creating and updating a web site quick and easy. As a result, blogs are informal, frequently updated and often chock full of the humor and personality of their creator/moderator.
· Creating connections between many people with diverse opinions and interests [Teacher Librarian]
Migration Antipodean Diaspora
As a member of the diaspora, I am becoming increasingly curious about its nature and what it means for my homeland.
There are around one million Australians living outside the country, according to figures from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. That's more people than live in Adelaide, or twice the population living on Sydney's North Shore. These far flung million are the great Australian diaspora. As a member of the diaspora, I am becoming increasingly curious about its nature and what it means for my homeland.
· Expats [SMH]
As a member of the diaspora, I am becoming increasingly curious about its nature and what it means for my homeland.
There are around one million Australians living outside the country, according to figures from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. That's more people than live in Adelaide, or twice the population living on Sydney's North Shore. These far flung million are the great Australian diaspora. As a member of the diaspora, I am becoming increasingly curious about its nature and what it means for my homeland.
· Expats [SMH]
Sunday, January 12, 2003
Internet Microcontent News Turns Macro
When I published my first Microcontent News article last week, I wasn't expecting too much of a reaction. It was five in the morning, so I emailed my friend Hylton (publisher of Corante and Microcontent News) about the article, and went to bed, exhausted.
I woke up a few hours later and hurriedly checked the server logs, anxious to see if any of my friends had linked to the article. The results stunned me: dozens of links all pointing to the article, creating a massive surge in traffic! Miraculously, that night the article hit the #3 slot on Blogdex - and the followup piece was Slashdotted (three times!), Metafiltered, and even mentioned in Microsoft's Slate and HotWired's Monkeybite. All in all, over 30K visitors visited Microcontent News over the next week, all looking to read the article.
· Korante [Microcontent News]
· Interactive technology [CJR]
· Bloggers who Link Dangerously [Useful Work]
As usual the guru blogger, Corante, point me to a thoughtful beginning of blogging. Blogging was born out of a need for independence and out of a simultaneous trust and mistrust for the community. People who join blogging groups keep their freedom. They don't accept any theories. They've had enough of the academies: laboratories of formal ideas.
· Trust [fishrush]
· 2002: Year of Linking Dangerously [SoundBite]
When I published my first Microcontent News article last week, I wasn't expecting too much of a reaction. It was five in the morning, so I emailed my friend Hylton (publisher of Corante and Microcontent News) about the article, and went to bed, exhausted.
I woke up a few hours later and hurriedly checked the server logs, anxious to see if any of my friends had linked to the article. The results stunned me: dozens of links all pointing to the article, creating a massive surge in traffic! Miraculously, that night the article hit the #3 slot on Blogdex - and the followup piece was Slashdotted (three times!), Metafiltered, and even mentioned in Microsoft's Slate and HotWired's Monkeybite. All in all, over 30K visitors visited Microcontent News over the next week, all looking to read the article.
· Korante [Microcontent News]
· Interactive technology [CJR]
· Bloggers who Link Dangerously [Useful Work]
As usual the guru blogger, Corante, point me to a thoughtful beginning of blogging. Blogging was born out of a need for independence and out of a simultaneous trust and mistrust for the community. People who join blogging groups keep their freedom. They don't accept any theories. They've had enough of the academies: laboratories of formal ideas.
· Trust [fishrush]
· 2002: Year of Linking Dangerously [SoundBite]
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