Saturday Links – Dec. 24/05

Unconferencing: A Recursive Conversation: My friends Rob Paterson and Chris Corrigan have a podcast conversation with the UK’s Johnny Moore about ‘unconferencing’ — running a conference without speakers, using conversation facilitators instead. It’s an enlightening conversation, involving three very intelligent people, and if you haven’t listened to podcasts this is a great first listening experience and model (and Johnny’s ‘show notes’ of the highlights are excellent). But ironically, given the subject, I got frustrated just listening — I wanted to jump in and participate in the conversation, but because of the medium, I couldn’t.

Ray Ozzie on the Inflexibility of Large Corporations: Ray Ozzie, now bogged down in the bureaucracy of Microsoft, talks with Wendy Kellogg on a variety of subjects. Thanks to Innovation Weekly for the link. A teaser:

Socially & Environmentally Responsible Housing in Three Days: Necessity Housing is creating inexpensive, well-made housing using local materials in a responsible manner, where it is most desperately needed, and putting them up in three days. Watch the time exposure video.

Bush Impeachment Timeline Still Tracking Nixon’s: Even conservative pundits now admit that Bush’s secret law permitting spying on Americans without warrants is against the law, and grounds for impeachment.
Thanks to Dale Asberry for the link.

Guide to Phishing: As a follow-up to my earlier article on phishing, here’s a complete paper on the subject, with examples of all the tricks. Thanks to Rudy Breda for the link.

GTD Procrastination Process: 43Folders has another way of Getting Things Done for procrastinators. Try it, and tell me if it works for you.

Great African Music Video: Malian musician Salif Keita’s wonderful song Yamore is now available online as a video. Watch it here.

Instead of a quote this week, here are the Hanover Principles, written by Bill McDonough and adopted for the 2000 World’s Fair, as a framework for a sustainable world (thanks to Kenny Ausubel for pointing these out):

1. Insist on rights of humanity and nature to co-exist in a healthy, supportive, diverse and sustainable condition.
2. Recognize interdependence. The elements of human design interact with and depend upon the natural world, with broad and diverse implications at every scale. Expand design considerations to recognizing even distant effects.
3. Respect relationships between spirit and matter. Consider all aspects of human settlement including community, dwelling, industry and trade in terms of existing and evolving connections between spiritual and material consciousness.
4. Accept responsibility for the consequences of design decisions upon human well-being, the viability of natural systems, and their right to co-exist.
5. Create safe objects of long-term value. Do not burden future generations with requirements for maintenance of vigilant administration of potential danger due to the careless creation of products, processes or standards.
6. Eliminate the concept of waste. Evaluate and optimize the full life cycle of products and processes, to approach the state of natural systems, in which there is no waste.
7. Rely on natural energy flows. Human designs should, like the living world, derive their creative forces from perpetual solar income. Incorporate the energy efficiently and safely for responsible use.
8. Understand the limitations of design. No human creation lasts forever and design does not solve all problems. Those who create and plan should practice humility in the face of nature. Treat nature as a model and mentor, not an inconvenience to be evaded or controlled.
9. Seek constant improvement by the sharing of knowledge. Encourage direct and open communication between colleagues, patrons, manufacturers and users to link long-term sustainable considerations with ethical responsibility, and re-establish the integral relationship between natural processes and human activity.

Merry Christmas, everyone. No post tomorrow. Talk with you again on Boxing Day.

Image: The astonishing cover from last week’s New Yorker by Anita Kunz. The right-wing bloggers are up in arms about this cover.