An Intro to Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) – Ideas Worth Spreading
Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) is an annual conference that brings in many leading thinkers of today. It puts them on stage for a speech of about 18 minutes. It is an “I have arrived” moment for many of these thought leaders. Here is what it says on the TED homepage:
TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design.
It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds.
Education is Getting an Overdue National Review
Over the past three months I’ve really noticed an increase in media directed towards the needs to the US education system. The decline in prominence of the US over the last 18 months coupled with the financial crises has motivated people too look at root causes. And the root cause many are concluding is a lack in education prioritization.
Much of the wealth created over the last 100 years in the US has been attributed to the across the board schooling that took place between 1900 and 1960. This created better skilled workers, which improved productivity, which raised the buying power of the middle class.
20 Ideas for 2009 from the HBR
The Harvard Business Review, or HBR as some like to call it just redid its website. It is much easier to navigate now and I’ve ran across one segment that I want to highlight. It is called Breakthrough Ideas of 2009.
Here is the list of 20 ideas:
Just Because I’m nice, Don’t Assume I’m Dumb
Beware Global Cooling
Institutional Memory Goes Digital
Stumbling to a Longer Life
The Rise of Forensic Economics
State Capitalism Makes a Comeback
Now’s the Time to Invest in Africa
Consumer Safety for Consumer Credit
The Ikea Factor: When Labor leads to Love
Launching a Better Brain
A Central Nervous System for the Earth
A Looming American Diaspora
Harnessing Social Pressure
Western Union World
How Social Networks Network Best
Should You Outsource Your Brain
The Dynamics of Personal Influence
Forget Citibank, Borrow from Bob
The Business of Biomimicry
What you Need to Know about the Semantic Web
Many opportunities await. I particularly like Launching a Better Brain because it reminds us that having fun learning stimulates the brain to develop new neurons and pathways.
The Future is Bright – R & openFrameworks
Stanley Bing is a writer for Fortune.com. He provides a business viewpoint with a crusty tint to it. It is fun to read. The other day he wrote about a time when he was young. Several classmates went with him to see a farm and the they learned a life lesson – chickens run around [...]
President Obama and My Four Components to the Future
This blog has really helped develop my sense of the economic future or at least a future I would like to see. It has four components to it. Two are tactical and very achievable and two are conceptual and high level.
They are:
Energy Innovation
Health Care Efficiency
Information Value
People Insight
I try to hit on these topics as much as I can as they related to the working world. For instance, I believe Energy Innovation and Health Care Efficiency are two areas ready to explode in growth.
President Obama is Making 30 Year Decisions
Jocelyn Noveck wrote a piece for the AP this weekend (1/11/08) called In Obama, many see an end to the baby boomer era. She writes how President-Elect Obama, although technically a baby boomer, represents something different as President. Here is an excerpt to say it better: He’s an example of a new pragmatism: idealistic but [...]
On the Cusp?
We are the cusp of something very important. The media is starting to write more positive economic stories and less gloom and doom. I don’t have any facts to back this up except for general observation, but I stand by this statement. For instance, over the weekend I saw two stories about how 2009 might be better than you think and three stories about innovation, intellectual property, and a growing post Katrina New Orleans.
Strange Decision by the NY Times
I just caught up on some reading that I’ve neglected. One writer I like is Marci Alboher. She authors a blog for the NY Times called Shifting Careers. Since my blog is about work, I tend to check out other blogs that are similar in nature.
Trying Times for the Profession of Recruiting
This is one of the most trying times for the profession of recruiting. There is the obvious reason – income is tight so hiring is tight. But there is also the cultural ramifications of the current situation. For instance, a writer that reflects the Generation Y opinion, Nadira A. Hira, is stating in a piece [...]
Three Leader's Strategies in a Down Economy
The beauty of a down economy is nothing is sacred. It allows government and corporations to make truly visionary decisions. I’ve said it before, but I think the downfall of the US is the Cost/Benefit Analysis. The example I like to use is the case of the cellular phone.