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Interesting Reading: 2/12

Sully: Authority and Authenticity
http://www.bertdecker.com/experience/2009/02/sully-authority-and-authenticity.html
 
"Eloquent in his brevity in his first speech (21 seconds long) after the
'Miracle on the Hudson' crash landing, Capt. Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger
just had his first lengthy interview on '60 Minutes.' His legend
continues.
 
There are many perspectives to analyze, laud and talk about when we
consider this unique hero. It's the intention here to emphasize how the
'communication experience' Sully creates is that which reflects the man
accurately. It is so rare that happens when a man or woman is NOT trying
to make a 'presentation.'
 
He was uniquely brief in his first (of many) ceremonies honoring him,
which reflects perhaps why he was also uniquely brief in his
communications with the air traffic controllers when under intense
pressure to pilot his aircraft to escape disaster. And he did it"
 
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Explaining Things To Non-Technical Users Is A New Business - Video
Interview With Joshua Gunn

http://www.masternewmedia.org/explaining-things-to-non-technical-users-is-a-new-business/
 
"Explaining difficult ideas, or complex new technologies to non-technical
people is going to be a professional activity by an increasing and
unstoppable popular demand.
 
As technology keeps changing faster and faster and as the number of
tech-based solutions that can have positive impacts on one's own daily
life steadily increase, the need to understand and make sense of these
technologies and their use keeps growing.
 
How many times did you try to explain some new cool web service or
technology to a friend, only to discover it was harder than you thought?
Not everyone is a geek, and, when it comes to technology, if you want
people to understand what you say, you have to explain things (especially
tech stuff) in a language that they can understand.
 
Nutintuit is a small company that specializes in creating animated video
tutorials which are short, simple, and easy to understand and which help
companies promote and explain new technologies to their potential
customers via fun and enjoyable cartoons."
 
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Don't Assume Your're Normal: What You Can Learn From Other Creative Cultures
http://lateralaction.com/articles/creative-cultures/
 
"In his book The Post-American World Fareed Zakaria argues that there have
been "three tectonic power shifts over the last five hundred years". Each
of these shifts profoundly reshaped culture and economy on a global scale.
 
According to Zakaria the first shift was the rise of the Western World,
starting in the fifteenth century. The second was the rise of the United
States as an industrial world power. And the third shift - the one we are
going through now - could be called "the rise of the rest".
 
If I were an entrepreneur today in India, Brazil or China I would probably
not identify with the term "rest of the world". But my question is: How
will we cope with the new reality that the economic logic of the Western
world is just one of many world-views?
 
As the co-founder of www.shapeshifters.net - a crosscultural resource
exchange for professional creatives - I spent almost two years travelling
the world in order to get to know our future users personally. I wanted to
have more than just "digital relationships" with the people who joined our
network. I wanted to learn what it means to run an architect's studio with
30 employees in Johannesburg. I wanted to see through the eyes of a
graphic designer who operates out of a rural garage in New Zealand. Or
just simply hear for myself that for some Chinese it is incomprehensible
how one can have a decent conversation with just 26 letters in the
alphabet! It made me smile - and think."
 
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Innovation from India: The Next Big Wave
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/feb2009/gb20090211_273997.htm?chan=globalbiz_asia+index+page_top+stories
 
"A new portable electrocardiogram machine, the MAC 400, can take 100 EKGs
on a single battery charge and weighs less than three pounds. This is
appropriate for rural areas in emerging markets where electricity is not
always readily available and where patients cannot easily travel to urban
diagnostic centers. The product's roots are as remarkable as its
capabilities: The MAC 400 was designed at General Electric's (GE) John F.
Welch Technology Center in Bangalore by a team of Indian engineers. Most
of the early growth at this research and development center, GE's largest
outside the U.S., took place during the 2001-02 recession. Today, the
50-acre campus employs 3,500 scientists and engineers; they've created
patents on aircraft engines and locomotives in addition to medical
devices.
 
Many other companies are, like GE, turning to Indian talent for new
product development. Technological innovation has powered the rise and the
economic domination of the West for two centuries. With scientific
research, technology development, and product innovations from the steam
engine to the World Wide Web, the West has led the world in wealth
creation. A vibrant and structured educational system coupled with a
strong intellectual property regime has enabled the creators and owners of
ideas to profit handsomely."

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Filed under  //   Communications   India   Innovation  

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Interesting Reading: 11/17

"Smart" wastewater bio-treatment takes over where porta-potty leaves off
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13639_3-10098074-42.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

…...the Texas Research Institute for Environmental Studies (TRIES) at Sam
Houston State University and PCDworks, a technology innovation firm, have
developed a self-sustaining, portable and "smart" wastewater treatment
system that promises to take over where the porta-potty leaves off. (PDF)
Housed in the ubiquitous 40-foot shipping container, the Deployable
Aqueous Aerobic Bioreactor (DAAB,) can convert a battalion's worth of
wastewater (the effluent from approximately 600 soldiers) to something
that meets Environmental Protection Agencystandards within 24 to 48 hours,
according to TRIES.

A self-contained, bio-digestion unit uses specially selected bacteria to
remove organic and inorganic materials from the waste, and then releases
"clean" water into the environment "with no harmful consequences." The
system is completely autonomous. It adjusts flow and fluid levels
automatically, and can dispatch reports and alerts, and be turned on and
off via the Internet.

It runs on common household 120-volt, and while the treated runoff is not
potable (yet), it's good enough for other uses like irrigation, according
to PCDworks.

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Lose the BlackBerry? Yes He Can, Maybe
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/us/politics/16blackberry.html?_r=3&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

WASHINGTON - Sorry, Mr. President. Please surrender your BlackBerry.
Those are seven words President-elect Barack Obama is dreading but
expecting to hear, friends and advisers say, when he takes office in 65
days.

For years, like legions of other professionals, Mr. Obama has been all but
addicted to his BlackBerry. The device has rarely been far from his side -
on most days, it was fastened to his belt - to provide a singular conduit
to the outside world as the bubble around him grew tighter and tighter
throughout his campaign.

"How about that?" Mr. Obama replied to a friend's congratulatory e-mail
message on the night of his victory.

But before he arrives at the White House, he will probably be forced to
sign off. In addition to concerns about e-mail security, he faces the
Presidential Records Act, which puts his correspondence in the official
record and ultimately up for public review, and the threat of subpoenas. A
decision has not been made on whether he could become the first e-mailing
president, but aides said that seemed doubtful.

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Ringing in the New Year by Wrestling Bulls
http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/travel/21webletter.html?pagewanted=all

AC: I recently met the author of this article. I knew nothing of this
event prior to talking to him. This sounds fascinating, if a little
dangerous
.

"…Jallikattu, an ancient and bizarre bull-wrestling sport that takes place
in villages throughout Tamil Nadu every January to celebrate Pongal, a New
Year's festival that coincides with the ancient rice harvest. Though
similar to and older than the Spanish running of the bulls, it's bloodier.
Instead of bulls getting killed, it's the people. In previous years, as
many as 20 young men have been fatally gored, and several hundred,
including spectators, have been mauled, trampled or otherwise injured.
The ritual dates back as far as 2,000 years, but the pandemonium became
intolerable to the public in 2004 when a 14-year old boy died after a bull
plowed into the front row of the audience. His father petitioned the
courts and, last year, for the first time in maybe three centuries,
Jallikattu was banned.

The villagers were devastated. Farmers, who spend at least three years
raising and training the deadly bulls, were left with livestock.
Competitors, who spend years preparing to risk their lives - and village
reputations - were deflated. Rumors began surfacing that farmers were
planning to hold competitions in secret. But with only a week to spare,
the ban was reversed, lending this year's festivities a victorious, almost
giddy air…"

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Livescribe Pulse Smartpen is Finally Mac Compatible
http://gizmodo.com/5089925/livescribe-pulse-smartpen-is-finally-mac-compatible

After promising long ago that Mac software for the Pulse Smartpen was in
the works, Livescribe finally delivered on that promise, today announcing
that the OS X beta client will be available for download next week. The
Mac version of Livescribe Desktop not only does the same things it's PC
counterpart can do (digitized notes, Paper Replay audio syncing,
handwriting recognition), but it has a couple of new tricks up it's sleeve
as well.

The Mac version of Livescribe desktop can export audio as an AAC file or
export your notes as a PDF (via OS X built-in function). This gives users
the option of sharing their files with people who may not have a
Livescribe smartpen or the software. These same features are planned for
PC users eventually, but for now, they're exclusive to the Mac.

I also had the chance to get a quick hands on with the new Mac software
and found it to be fairly smooth and polished, despite still being in
beta. The software is laid out in a manner similar to iTunes (when you're
viewing album covers in a grid), and is very easy to use. Click on a
thumbnail and it brings up the notes for that section. If you're looking
for a specific section of notes you can do a text search. And if you're
only interested in audio, you can bring up a list of recordings. It's
nothing radically different from the earlier software, but it's nice to
know that Livescribe didn't cut any corners for the Mac version.

Not to be outdone by the Mac version, the PC software also comes with a
few new features. First, it now has the ability to transcribe your
handwriting into text and export it as a document. Livescribe teamed up
with Vision Objects to provide a one click handwriting to text transfer of
your notes. This feature, like the handwriting search feature, works best
with handwriting that's actually legible. It will be available for
download on November 24 for an extra $30. They also have plans for an
audio transcription service where someone will listen to your recordings
and transcribe them (for a fee of course). Release and pricing are still
in the works on that.

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WANTED: A Command Line for the Web
http://mashable.com/2008/11/16/command-line-web/

Kwyno, which launches in private beta next month, wants to be a command
line for the web: a single box where you can type commands to navigate to
web pages, search the web or check your friends' updates on Facebook,
Twitter or Pownce.

The web isn't where a command line might shine though: it's Kwyno's support
for commands sent via text and IM that make it intriguing: text in "Check
Mashable", and Kwyno returns the latest Mashable headlines. Text "Check
News" and get the latest headlines from CNN (or any news source you
configure).

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Filed under  //   India   Mobile Technology   Sanitation  

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