Links for the week Nov. 12-05

innovGuidelines
A Baker’s Dozen of the best articles and sites discovered or brought to my attention this week.

Business & Innovation

The Key to Innovation is Overcoming Resistance: Michael Schrage in CIO Magazine says innovators need the political smarts and persuasive skill to get their good ideas sponsored, funded and implemented. Thanks to Mitch Ditkoff at IdeaChampions for the link.

Bioteaming: Collaborating Like Nature: Ken Thompson’s blog and his new Manifesto with Robin Good explain how much we can learn about collaboration from watching dolphins and other species.

When Business Knows Too Much About You: A hilarious but slightly spooky  video spoof of how information-sharing gone haywire could imperil your privacy and dignity.

Canadian Businesses That Do Good: Both DownBound in Toronto and Ethiquette in Montreal allow Canadians (and others) to find and buy from socially and environmentally responsible companies. And Dale Asberry points out Etsy — a broker that proposes to connect such business around the world.

Design a New Wine Bottle and Win a Prize: Hugh Macleod has a contest to design a new bottle and label for his favourite wines from Stormhoek. Contest rules here, ideas to date (including mine) here.

Yahoo Online Think Tank: Yahoo Australia is sponsoring a think tank that will allow those looking for ideas, and those that have them, to brainstorm together — 5 minutes per session. You can see the results on a live webcam.

Environment

Carnival of the Green: City Hippy hosts a new eco-blog post carnival this week, with a wide range of posts on environmental matters including my Boycott List (BTW, City Hippy made me a copy of the Boycott List in .pdf format; e-mail me if you’d like a copy).

Bill McKibben Waxes Optimistic About the End of Oil: Environmentalist McKibben (The End of Nature, Maybe One) says expensive oil will benefit local businesses over global ones, and contribute to community self-sufficiency — but only if we start working on improving community-based infrastructure to improve autonomy and introduce local currencies to enable the shift.

Science & Health

New Power Source That’s Too Good to Be True: The Guardian reports on a scientist’s claim to have invented a cheap, limitless, clean source of energy., that defies the rules of quantum mechanics. Pardon my skepticism. Thanks to Jeff Gold of the Green Party for the link.

Meditation is Good for Your Brain: Science Daily reports on a multi-university study that indicates that meditation improves your brain’s ability to process sensory inputs, ideas and emotions. Thanks to Kalanga Joffres for the link.

Social Justice

Tracking Business’ Charitable Giving: WhyCharity is an Open Source project to create a mechanism to monitor and report corporate charitable giving, giving consumers one more indication of corporate social responsibility.

Helping the Rich Loan Interest-Free to the Poor: Kiva provides a list of community business projects in struggling nations that need low-cost loans, and provides an ongoing log of how these businesses are doing, so you can see how your investment is doing. Thanks to Lavonne at BornFamous for the link.

Cartoon by Leo Cullum from The New Yorker — his framed cartoons can be bought here.

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4 Responses to Links for the week Nov. 12-05

  1. Kaunda says:

    Your link lists are always a treat. Very glad to see Kiva as they take the power of blogging and put it in play in charitable giving. I think this has great potential, and not just for the monetary part. I’d like to see better use of P2P power through blogs in charitable enterprise. Kiva is a great start.A trusted network on the ground is esential. Kiva works now in one location because of the network there. I’m curious whether the way to expand is for Kiva to develop more trusted networks or to make their software and approach available for other organizations to use. I’m not sure. Local small projects can really provide the most bang for the buck. My hunch is that Kiva may be most effective staying in their single location. But I’m sure that I’d like to see their approach copied over and over again.

  2. Balbina says:

    About MeditationThis might interest you:There are many elements of your shift (of consciousness) that your individual physical brains are preparing for. I have expressed to you of neurological pathways. These are not concepts. These are actual neurological brain workings within your physical manifestation; actual impulses within your physical brain that are, in their way, widening and opening to incorporate more information; just as your vision also will change, and is already changing. Your ability to see more than you saw before is occurring, for your senses are being heightened in response to these openings. (Elias)

  3. WC Ping says:

    Hello again -I say get to the source of the problem. The problem is in the brain, not in the hands.Understand the brain, declare “war” on it, then the change will come of its own nature.

  4. Dave Pollard says:

    Thanks for your comments. Kaunda, I agree that Kiva will be most effective focusing on one location. It should allow and encouraging the ‘spinning off’ of similar projects for other locations, and getting someone who isn’t tied up with the work on that location to create the ‘meta-Kiva’ directory that weaves them together.

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