civil society
It seems strange watching the sad events unfolding in the United Kingdom from such a distance. With the spreading riots, looting, and mob violence it is apt to recall the words of Charles Dickens describing turbulent times past: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of
ideas
My buddy Anthony Baxter has been a Googler for a while and has worked on many fascinating projects. But what he's working on now is not just interesting from a technology perspective, it is interesting from a social innovation perspective too. He's working on the Google
social innovation
A while back I did a Live Local Challenge, attempting to consume only food produced within 100 kilometres of my home for a week. You can check out the results and learnings from the process in a series of blog posts from 2009. Since that time I've been
lolcats
Now I've mentioned that lolcats are serious here previously, but there's even a for that (hat tip to @Neerav for pointing it out) ;) see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!
civil society
Over the weekend I listened to this moving talk from the Burmese pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, where she examines what drives people to dissent. Reflecting on the history of her own party, the National League for Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi, examines the meaning
civil society
Over the past several years I have come to think that capitalism as practised in the western world is fundamentally broken. Even before the global financial crisis (GFC) this feeling was strong. But in the aftermath of the GFC my discomfort with modern capitalism has continued to grow. Nothing I
lolcats
caturday
Quite often there's an article that bundles us all up into handy age-based cohorts (a.k.a. 'generations'). Behavioural phenomena are neatly explained by the characteristics of the particular age cohort or generation. Based on the theories of Strauss and Howe generations have been adopted as
ethics
There have been astonishing revelations in London about leaders in the News International group of companies and in the UK Parliament. Perhaps even more shocking is the disclosure of the deep and complex relationships between the two groups? It is a classic case study of power and the old-fashioned dispensation
ideas
I've had a very lucky life in many ways. But along with that I've lost a lot of people in my immediate family over the years - parents, aunts, cousins, grandparents - to untimely death. No great traumas. Traditional family illnesses mainly rather than accidents for
ideas
civil society
The demise of a 168 year old (and reportedly profitable) newspaper in Britain called the News of the World (NoTW) gives us some valuable insights on a number of levels. Every day over the past few weeks we have been gobsmacked by the revelations about NoTW and assume nothing could