Dave Pollard's environmental philosophy, creative works, business papers and essays.
In search of a better way to live and make a living, and a better understanding of how the world really works.

	June 21, 2008

Saturday Links of the Week -- June 21, 2008 Do-it-yourself personal photo mosaic made from answering 12 questions, courtesy of MosaicMaker, with questions from Beth T. Royal Bank of Scotland Predicts 30% Drop in Stocks By September: A drop of this size, coupled with a spike in interest rates as oil and food prices soar, could plunge us into the next great depression. The Desert Landscapes Are My Prayers: Some astonishing writing about how we cope with the end of life, from Beth Patterson. Umair Haque's Manifesto for Business Revolution: Jon Husband interviews Umair, who describes the massive change to our economy that P2P is beginning to wreak as it disintermediates the traditional corporation, including the Fortune 500. Peter Senge's Prescription for Business Sustainability: Senge says business has to do much more than just mitigate and adapt to climate change. Lessons From the Tao: The Dao has no agenda. So at the end of the day, everything is done. Thanks to Evelyn Rodriguez for the link. Webcam as Game Controller: A new software program uses your webcam to recognize any selected moving object in its field of vision as a game controller. So then you can play Wii games, play simulated music or sports. Watch the video and use your imagination -- this has terrific possibilities. Thanks to Dale Asberry for the link. Wilderness as Place Apart: "Perhaps we need to start seeing wilderness differently, more holistically, as a part of our urban and suburban worlds. It makes me ask...whether our drive to preserve wilderness areas has had one very detrimental effect: allowing us to despoil those places where we live." Strangers Do Not Create Alliances So Deep and Dark and Sore: Sam points us to a moving poem Words for My Daughter from the Asylum by Hayden Carruth. Our Future, Cast in Stone: The Oil Drum shows how China's production of cement, which produces 1/2 ton of CO2 for every ton produced, is a massive contributor to climate change. Moving Pictures: Gapminder software lets you animate 3-dimensional graphs over time. Thanks to Peter Craig for the link. And More Moving Pictures: Dan Roam, author of Back of the Napkin, explains how to sketch simple, powerful visualizations to convey and persuade. Thanks to Craig De Ruisseau for the link. North Korea Shows Us the Future of Climate Change: North Korea two decades ago faced a huge spike in price and drop in availability of oil and food, and the consequences of abrupt climate change. We all know how well they adapted. Just for Fun: Business Newspeak: BBC lists the 50 most hackneyed, misused and overused business expressions. Thanks to Paul Sloane for the link. More Evidence IM is More Effective than E-Mail: Another study shows IM saves time, e-mail wastes it. Thanks to Michael Sampson for the link. Books on Entrepreneurship Less Successful Than Their Authors: Those who've succeeded as entrepreneurs are often tempted to write about their success. They usually fail as authors, because their lessons don't provide enough context for what they did to be replicable. Thanks to my publisher Margo Baldwin at Chelsea Green for the link. Creating Intentional Community in Second Life: Cheryl (Mia) has created the physical space for our virtual Intentional Community, and now we're recruiting members. Our blog tells the story of our success so far. If you want to visit, e-mail me with your SL avatar name and I'll teleport you over. And Theresa Purcell points out a new technology that may soon allow Second Life to work on mobile devices. Thoughts of the Week: Excerpts from conversations with homeless people recently interviewed by Liz Seymour: Homelessness almost by definition makes people hard to track down, and Lowell is more difficult than some because he refuses to use email. "How do you communicate with people then?" I asked him once. He answered the question with patience. "I talk to them." "I’m not really homeless, you know," Lowell said as we settled into the little nest of sofas by the front door, "I’m just houseless. I like the spot where I am." "Is there something you wish you had but didn’t? Something like, I don’t know, like an axe or something?" Lowell shrugged. "A woodsman’s machete would be nice," he l said. "It would make it easier to clean raccoons." "But how do you sneak up on a raccoon?" "You don't need to—they come to you," Lowell said. "Do you do anything with the skin?" "Not if I don't want the fleas." "And in the woods [you can find] strawberries, blackberries, mulberries. All you have to do is watch what the animals eat. If they don't eat it I don't eat it, if they don't drink it I don't drink it. The only difference is I boil the water." "You want to know something?" Danny said "All those people in the middle class, upper middle class, all the people that look down on us, [soon] there are going to be a lot more of them out here with us. And when that happens I think you’re going to start seeing the suicide rate go up. They're not going to be able to take it." Stan shook his head. "It’s too late. It doesn’t matter any more who’s up there. Four years isn't enough, forty years isn't enough, to undo what's been done. Basically the way it is now, we either live together or we're going to die together." 11:55:36 PM  trackback []  comment []

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