Interesting Reading 10/23
Inspiration Can Be Found in Many Places, but You Need to Be Looking
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/business/smallbusiness/23sbiz.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin
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Pursuing Big Ideas
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/business/smallbusiness/23sbizbox.html?ref=smallbusiness
Successful inventors, entrepreneurs and writers say they are often asked
where their big ideas came from.
They will acknowledge that serendipity often plays a role. But equally as
important, they say, is having an open mind especially in tumultuous
times like these. Big and small ideas are out there, they say, if you are
looking for them.
Mr. Kimel was in Park City, Utah, in the late 1990s, he recalled, and
witnessed the success of the Sundance Film Festival. Why not, he thought,
have a diverse festival that celebrates ideas?
And so, in 2000, he helped create the IdeaFestival, which brings together
creative thinkers from different disciplines to connect ideas in science,
the arts, design, business, film, technology and education.
The goal, according to the festival's promotion, is to promote
"out-of-the-box thinking and cross-fertilization as a means toward the
development of innovative ideas, products and creative endeavors."
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The 2008 Global Cities Index
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4509&page=0
National governments may shape the broad outlines of globalization, but
where does it really play out? Where are globalization's successes and
failures most acute? Where else but the places where most of humanity now
chooses to live and work-cities. The world's biggest, most interconnected
cities help set global agendas, weather transnational dangers, and serve
as the hubs of global integration. They are the engines of growth for
their countries and the gateways to the resources of their regions. In
many ways, the story of globalization is the story of urbanization.
But what makes a 'global city"? The term itself conjures a command center
for the cognoscenti. It means power, sophistication, wealth, and
influence. To call a global city your own suggests that the ideas and
values of your metropolis shape the world. And, to a large extent, that's
true. The cities that host the biggest capital markets, elite
universities, most diverse and well-educated populations, wealthiest
multinationals, and most powerful international organizations are
connected to the rest of the world like nowhere else. But, more than
anything, the cities that rise to the top of the list are those that
continue to forge global links despite intensely complex economic
environments. They are the ones making urbanization work to their
advantage by providing the vast opportunities of global integration to
their people; measuring cities' international presence captures the most
accurate picture of the way the world works.
So, FOREIGN POLICY teamed up with A.T. Kearney and The Chicago Council on
Global Affairs to create the Global Cities Index, a uniquely comprehensive
ranking of the ways in which cities are integrating with the rest of the
world. In constructing this index of the world's most global cities, we
have collected and analyzed a broad array of data, as well as tapped the
brainpower of such renowned cities experts as Saskia Sassen, Witold
Rybczynski, Janet Abu-Lughod, and Peter Taylor.
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Undecided - By David Sedaris
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2008/10/27/081027sh_shouts_sedaris
I don't know that it was always this way, but, for as long as I can
remember, just as we move into the final weeks of the Presidential
campaign the focus shifts to the undecided voters. "Who are they?" the
news anchors ask. "And how might they determine the outcome of this
election?"
Then you'll see this man or woman - someone, I always think, who looks very
happy to be on TV. "Well, Charlie," they say, "I've gone back and forth on
the issues and whatnot, but I just can't seem to make up my mind!" Some
insist that there's very little difference between candidate A and
candidate B. Others claim that they're with A on defense and health care
but are leaning toward B when it comes to the economy.
I look at these people and can't quite believe that they exist. Are they
professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of
attention?
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The Unmentionable World of Human Waste
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2008/10/21
Leonard Lopate of WNYC New York Public Radio interviewed Rose George on
her newly published book The Big Necessity which focuses on the world
sanitation crisis. Nearly half the planet's population does not have
access to indoor toilets. This is a timely book on a widely ignored
environmental and human problem. Listen up and read the book.
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Nike Hindsight Gives You Unparalleled Vision
http://www.yankodesign.com/2008/10/22/nike-hindsight-gives-you-unparalleled-vision/
You need the right tools to keep you one step ahead of irresponsible
motorists. The Nike Hindsight gives you superhuman like powers with
extended peripheral vision so all those sneaky cars, beware.
They work similar to bifocals except for your peripheral vision. By using
fresnel lenses on both sides of the glasses, riders can detect motion in a
field of view beyond the normal human limit of 180º. If you want to get
technical about it; high power, diverging fresnel zones aligned vertically
distort into view an extra 25º on both sides. Vision is radically
distorted in the periphery, but as the eye detects only motion in that
area, little clarity is lost in the process.
A rider's clear benefit is in the early warning of approaching vehicles,
but a less obvious advantage is reducing the necessary head rotation to
check behind. Tho it was intended for bicyclists, there's a myriad of
sports and activities where a greater field of view becomes an advantage.
As for me, I would totally wear these 24/7 to keep this one particular
friend in check. He finds it funny sneaking up on me. My nerves are
shattered enough. I can't take it anymore. I need these shades.
