The World, Filtered*

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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Automake Makes
http://www.fabbaloo.com/2008/12/automake-makes.html
 
"What do they make? Objects you design, or at least "co-design".
 
It's a very interesting concept, somewhat reminiscent of the approaches
used by Shapeways, Ponoko and other consumer-oriented 3D print services.
 
Here's the issue: printers can produce objects from 3D models, but where
do the models come from? It turns out that you need quite a few skills to
use complex 3D software to produce useful 3D models from scratch. Skills
few consumers have, and even if they do, they probably don't have time to
use them.
 
The emerging solution seems to be to assist the consumer by partially
building the model. New services provide software to select a base model
and then the consumer customizes it by selecting colors, materials, size
and shape variations, etc.
 
Automake is similar. Their software allows you to either select a "mould"
or generate one using mathematical techniques. Then you select
combinations of sub-shapes to "fill" the mold. The resulting artifacts are
quite interesting.
 
While Automake appears to be a research project, it's an intriguing idea
that could possibly be made into a commercial consumer-oriented 3D print
service. Imagine a vast library of moulds and "fills", with the ability to
combine all together into a variety of wild objects."
 
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Culture Jamming Google Street View
http://threeminds.organic.com/2008/12/culture_jamming_google_street.html
 
"...A group of people living on Sampsonia Way, located in the North of
Pittsburgh, decided to bring to the street to life when the Google Street
View cameras came by. Robin Hewlett and Ben Kinsley, the people behind the
project, gathered neighbors and other participants to create staged scenes
including a sword fight, parade, marathon, band practice, and more. The
Street View cameras captured the activity via 360-degree photographs, as
the snapshots became forever preserved in Google Maps."
 
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Top 10 Enterprise Web Products of 2008
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/top_10_enterprise_web_products_2008.php
 
"Enterprise adoption of cloud computing, SaaS, and social media (whatever
you want to call it) is accelerating. This is a healthy market, in which
vendors are doing well in a tough economy. As we near the end of a year
that will go down in history with the words "meltdown," "panic," "crisis,"
and "depression" attached, it is time to celebrate the winners in this
market, enterprise-focused web products that are already doing well and
poised for even greater success in 2009."
 
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2008's Best Books on Innovation
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/dec2008/id20081215_635136.htm?campaign_id=rss_innovate
 
Old-fashioned ink and paper may have been supplemented with blogs, wikis,
and YouTube (GOOG) videos, but many of the top thinkers who focus on
innovation published high-profile books in 2008. Our editors and staff
writers read and reviewed most of them, interviewing their authors, and
often asking, "Why write this book now?"
 
With highly anticipated titles - including four co-authored by Harvard
Business School Professor Clayton Christensen - we had our hands full. But
in distilling the year's books into a top-10 of innovation-related titles,
we didn't want to include every obvious business-press offering, or simply
opt for publications with the word "innovation" displayed prominently in
their titles. Nor did we want to choose something simply because it
carried the imprimatur of a reputable press or the byline of a star
author.
 
Instead, we asked ourselves whether a book had an original thesis, tapped
into a trend that seemed clearly part of the zeitgeist, or simply provoked
us, making us think differently about the world or how better to monetize,
mix, or manage fresh ideas. Our goal was to offer a selection that in
itself might seem unexpected and forward-thinking. Together, they make for
a well-rounded (and heavy) bookshelf that provides a smart approach to
defining and executing innovation today."
 
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What is Design Thinking
http://metacool.typepad.com/metacool/2008/10/roger.html
 
"Here's a great interview with Roger Martin, Dean of Rotman.
 
He provides a very crisp definition of what design thinking is about. Design thinking is about creating better things, while traditional
analytic thinking is about choosing between things. We need both, but
surely the world would be in a better place if there was a bit more design
thinking in play out there. Which is why we now have places like Rotman
and the d.school and the entire design thinking movement.
 
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The Discipline of Content Strategy
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/thedisciplineofcontentstrategy
 
"We, the people who make websites, have been talking for fifteen years
about user experience, information architecture, content management
systems, coding, metadata, visual design, user research, and all the other
disciplines that facilitate our users -  abilities to find and consume
content.
 
Weirdly, though, we haven't been talking about the meat of the matter. We
haven't been talking about the content itself.
 
Yeah, yeah. We know how to write for online readers. We know bullet lists
pwn.
 
But who among us is asking the scary, important questions about content,
such as "What's the point?" or "Who cares?" Who's talking about the
time-intensive, complicated, messy content development process? Who's
overseeing the care and feeding of content once it's out there, clogging
up the tubes and dragging down our search engines?
 
As a community, we're rather quiet on the matter of content. In fact, we
appear to have collectively, silently come to the conclusion that content
is really somebody else's problem - "the client can do it," "the users will
generate it" - so we, the people who make websites, shouldn't have to worry
about it in the first place."
 
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What's All the Fighting For?
http://www.good.is/?p=14054
 
A "Good" infographic highlighting major civil and international conflicts.
 
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Mind Mapping: Best Tools To Draw Your Own MindMaps - Sharewood Guide
http://www.masternewmedia.org/mind-mapping-best-tools-to-draw-your-own-mindmaps/
 
"Are you looking for an effective way to collaborate and organize ideas
with other people? If you're still into voice and text chat, you might
want to give mind mapping a try. Mind mapping is a cool way to share your
ideas in total freedom, without the need to follow a structured approach,
but just shooting your best thoughts as they come out of your head. And
the good news is that there are many tools online that let you draw your
own mindmaps. Today, I scouted the Web to suggest you the best ones."

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MindManager 8
http://www.mindjet.com/products/mindmanager/default.aspx

Mindjet has been busy addressing pressure placed upon them from web 2.0
mind mapping services. Their newest version has just been announced. You
can see a strong trend towards making MindManager a project management
tool with the integration of JVC Gantt Pro and new enhanced Automated Task
Management. Another big improvement is the Mindjet Player - you now have
the ability to share maps easily in PDF or SWF files for distribution to
folks who do not have the application.

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Google Maps Now Availalble For Blackberry Enterprise Server Distribution
http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2008/11/11/11readwriteweb-google_maps_now_availalble_for_bes.html

The iPhone may have outsold RIM's Blackberry devices here in the U.S., but
Google knows that getting their software in the hands of business execs
still means building Blackberry apps. The company's recent offering in
this arena is a new, deployable package of Google Maps for Mobile which IT
admins can distribute using Blackberry Enterprise Server.

… Now, BES admins can deploy Google Maps for Mobile to those millions of
users with ease, thanks to Google's new packages designed specifically for
this server technology….

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Why Project, Portfolio Management Matter More in a Recession
http://www.nytimes.com/external/idg/2008/11/10/10idg-Why-Project-Po.html

IT departments are scrapping projects in response to tightening budgets
and the ever-deteriorating economy. But this is no time to cut back on
project management or portfolio management, experts say.

"High project failure means you're wasting money, and there's even less
tolerance for that in a down economy," says Margo Visitacion, a vice
president with Forrester Research who covers project portfolio management
and quality assurance.

Portfolio management can help you zero in on the projects that are most
worth their effort and scant budget dollars, while project management can
help you execute those projects most efficiently, IT managers and project
management experts say.

David Muntz, CIO of Dallas-based Baylor Health Care System (which warned
patients last week of a potential breach of their personal data), agrees
that an economic downturn increases the need for project management
software. "Good project management tools enhance the three Cs:
communication, coordination and collaboration," he says. "With fewer
people [on staff], you can't afford missteps."

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In Crisis, Remote Access
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/giving/11NET.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin

RUI LOPES'S first impression of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, after the 2004
tsunami was chaos. Bone-jarringly rough roads led to a hastily assembled
field office, where Mr. Lopes, the senior technical director of Save the
Children, learned that the communications infrastructure, along with just
about everything else, had been destroyed.

Aside from a few satellite phones and even fewer working cellphones, the
area was isolated as relief workers scrambled to assess the security
situation and address the vast humanitarian needs.

On the ground, Mr. Lopes unpacked a contraption made of circuits, chips
and wires, pointed it at the sky and rolled out a solar mat, which turns
sunlight into energy, to power it up. Aid workers plugged their laptops
into the device, which offered the first stable Internet connection since
the disaster had hit a week earlier.

Assessment reports and supply requests streamed out. Photographs went to
news outlets to help spread awareness of the situation. Plans to
coordinate agencies came in from abroad.

This device, called a Network Relief Kit, weighs less than four pounds and
"is a grand slam invention," Mr. Lopes said. "It's portable, light and
brings the outside world to the most remote, disconnected places."

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Lessons from innovation's front lines: An interview with IDEO's CEO
http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Strategy/Innovation/Lessons_from_innovations_front_lines_An_interview_with_IDEOs_CEO_2185

Many companies claim to be innovative, but few can claim innovation as
their raison d'être. One such innovation machine is IDEO'a designer of
products, services, and experiences ranging from Apple's first mass-market
computer mouse to aspects of Prada's store in New York City to the
patient-care delivery model at SSM DePaul Health Center, in St. Louis,
Missouri.

IDEO's single-minded focus makes it an intriguing port of call for
executives seeking insights on innovation. The company's deep experience
collaborating with other businesses and with nonprofits and government
agencies gives it valuable perspectives on what distinguishes winning from
losing innovation efforts. Yet as CEO Tim Brown is quick to point out,
what works at IDEO won't work everywhere.

Brown has worked at IDEO since its formation, in 1991, when three
established design firms came together. He became CEO in 2000, after
stints heading IDEO Europe and the company's San Francisco office. Over
the years, Brown has stood for the development of ideas through
action "observing customers, prototyping, testing, refining" rather than
abstract thought.

In this interview with McKinsey's Lenny Mendonca and Stanford professor
Hayagreeva Rao at IDEO's offices in Palo Alto, California, Brown provides
his perspective on innovation at IDEO and at other ...

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World Wireless Map
http://visualthinkmap.blogspot.com/2008/11/world-wireless-map.html

The GSM Association and coveragemaps.com are proud to announce the
availability of the updated GSM World Coverage map for 2008. This
publication is available in printed form at all GSM Association events and
can also be downloaded in PDF using the links below. Unfortunately we are
unable to post copies of the map. This maps is updated from time-to-time
and new versions can be identified by a change in the colour used for
coverage.

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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.

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