Monthly Archives: October 2003

FRIDAY QUICKIES

THE NEW RULERS OF THE WORLD Dick Jones’ Patteran Pages introduced me to the remarkable work of writer, film-maker and award-winning British investigative journalist John Pilger. I recently picked up his prescient book The New Rulers of the World, written … Continue reading

Posted in How the World Really Works | 8 Comments

IS THE BLOGOSPHERE SEXIST?

Researching this article has been a nightmare. The data is suspect and contradictory. There are dozens of explanations for the anomolies, some of them quite absurd. Last fall there was a huge discussion of this issue. But I thought the … Continue reading

Posted in Using Weblogs and Technology | 17 Comments

‘A CRIME OF STUPEFYING PROPORTIONS’

Yule Heibel put me on to the work of J.M. Coetzee, and specifically his new book Elizabeth Costello. The book is about a writer in her later years taking up the lecture circuit, and espousing an unpopular animal rights viewpoint. … Continue reading

Posted in Collapse Watch | 20 Comments

THE FUTURE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Lately I’ve been talking to quite a few companies about Social Network Enablement, Social Software, Weblogs, the ineffective use of technology and knowledge by front-line workers (both because these tools are inadequate, and because they’re not used properly), and what … Continue reading

Posted in Working Smarter | 1 Comment

MAYBE THE REPUBLICAN ESTABLISHMENT DOESN’T LIKE BUSH EITHER

Thinking about Bush’s falling popularity and how his gang of extremists has been able to push things through a meek Congress, I began to wonder whether Republicans were in fact gritting their teeth when they voted for his resolutions, much … Continue reading

Posted in How the World Really Works | 3 Comments

VOTING SYSTEM INTEGRITY: A SIMPLE SOLUTION

Kriselda at Different Strings, Rob at Emphasis Added and Fiona have been blogging about the threat to democracy posed by new, inadequately tested and suspect electronic voting technologies already adopted in some states and planned for broader use in 2004. … Continue reading

Posted in How the World Really Works | 7 Comments

STAND STILL AND LOOK UNTIL YOU REALLY SEE

Betty Edwards’ famous book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, contains a wonderful series of exercises for those who are convinced they can’t draw. I only picked it up after I’d read Edward de Bono’s Serious Creativity and … Continue reading

Posted in Our Culture / Ourselves | 12 Comments

BUILDING MATERIAL OF THE FUTURE?

BusinessWeek TV has an ‘Innovation’ feature which this week described a futuristic building material called SmartWrap that, inventors say, could replace all existing interior and exterior wall materials, and might have other applications (e.g. ‘smart’ clothing) as well. A prototype, … Continue reading

Posted in Working Smarter | 6 Comments

FROM PILLAR TO POST: INCARCERATING AND ABANDONING THE MENTALLY ILL

Quite a few news sources are covering the recent Human Rights Watch report on the incarceration of the mentally ill. Key data in the report: As many as one in every five of the 2.1 million people in American prisons … Continue reading

Posted in How the World Really Works | 7 Comments

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Sea-Creature, by Dave Pollard Several months ago I came across a site that described the impact of your name on your character and life progress. At the time someone in Salon Blogs was regretting their name and someone else said … Continue reading

Posted in Creative Works | 8 Comments