Awesome President-elect from Africa
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Friday, December 5, 2008
ITU Advocates Infrastructure Sharing
[It is interesting to see that the last redoubt of the monopoly telco – the ITU - is now advocating infrastructure sharing. Infrastructure sharing has been as fact of life where there is intense competition, as for example with cell phone towers in the USA. Few cellular companies now own cellular towers or the associated transmission gear. Instead they contract with companies like America Tower that specialize in the business of operating and maintaining cellular towers and transmission gear for a number of carriers, while the carriers themselves focuses on their core competency of providing cell phone services. Similarly last mile business models, as advocated by Google policy staff such as “Home with Tails” is another example where “condominium” sharing of infrastructure enables new business opportunities and significantly lowers costs for all competitors – large and small. Thanks to Frank Coluccio for this pointer – BSA]
ITU Advocates Infrastructure Sharing to Counter Investment Drought
In response to the global financial crisis which may make it more difficult for investors to obtain financing for continuing network development, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is advocating infrastructure sharing as a means to continue to rapid rollout of network resources to under-served populations. In its newly published annual report, Trends in Telecommunication Reform 2008: Six Degrees of Sharing, the ITU examines the sharing of civil engineering costs in deploying networks, promoting open access to network support infrastructure (poles, ducts, conduits), essential facilities (submarine cable landing stations and international gateways) as well as access to radio-frequency spectrum and end-user devices.
Continued:
http://www.convergedigest.com/regulatory/regulatoryarticle.asp?ID=26045
Additional papers were commissioned by ITU as discussion papers and were written by various lawyers/regulators. See: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/treg/Events/Seminars/GSR/GSR08/discussion_papers/Overview_Final_web.pdf .
ITU Advocates Infrastructure Sharing to Counter Investment Drought
In response to the global financial crisis which may make it more difficult for investors to obtain financing for continuing network development, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is advocating infrastructure sharing as a means to continue to rapid rollout of network resources to under-served populations. In its newly published annual report, Trends in Telecommunication Reform 2008: Six Degrees of Sharing, the ITU examines the sharing of civil engineering costs in deploying networks, promoting open access to network support infrastructure (poles, ducts, conduits), essential facilities (submarine cable landing stations and international gateways) as well as access to radio-frequency spectrum and end-user devices.
Continued:
http://www.convergedigest.com/regulatory/regulatoryarticle.asp?ID=26045
Additional papers were commissioned by ITU as discussion papers and were written by various lawyers/regulators. See: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/treg/Events/Seminars/GSR/GSR08/discussion_papers/Overview_Final_web.pdf .
Legal and free: TV show and movies over the Internet
[For those outside of the USA, we can only dream of such developments. Geo-blocking and regulation is preventing the rest of the world access to many of these tools in the USA. But they will come someday and will fundamentally change the business model for the cablecos. Someday consumers will rebel against bundling, channel relocation and forced fed cultural content. Thanks to Dewayne Hendricks for this pointer—BSA]
http://insidedigitalmedia.com/legal-and-free-tv-shows-and-movies-on-the-net/
If you would like to learn why popular TV shows and movies are being made available legally on the Internet for free and how we can get them to our televisions, this interview is for you.
Our guest today is Will Richmond who is the editor and publisher of VideoNuze, an online publication for broadband video decision-makers. VideoNuze concentrates on the emerging Internet Video industry. Will has prior experience in the CATV industry thereby providing valuable perspective on how the sector reacts to developments. This is important because cable companies are the leading providers of broadband Internet access along with being the dominant networks delivering conventional television programs.
As noted in earlier podcasts, a number promising websites are emerging that host, or index, advertising-supported Internet Video of popular TV shows and movies. Examples include Hulu, Fancast, Veoh, TVGuide.com, and AOL Video. They’re great for consumers because they are free to the viewer and completely legal.
In our analysis the emergence of such websites could prove to represent the “tipping point” at which consumers push hard enough to find ways to get Internet Video streams to display on their televisions. ABC, NBC, and CBS have all made popular shows available online. There are also hundreds of popular, or once popular, movies from major Hollywood studios available at the websites noted above.
As users get increasingly accustomed to sites like Hulu, they find that they like the convenience of on-demand viewing, personalization of selections, viral sharing of program recommendations, community commentary, email notifications of show postings, and the abundance of interesting programming. Intense users are even avoiding CATV or satellite service. For example, Will’s research concludes that most subscribers will cut CATV service before they cut ISP (Internet Service Provider) service. This is particularly relevant given the current economic downturn.
However, Will’s research also concludes that the cable networks, like ESPN, and AMC, will be reluctant to provide shows to websites like Hulu. He reasons that they will decline to put at risk the traditional fees they collect from CATV operators.
http://insidedigitalmedia.com/legal-and-free-tv-shows-and-movies-on-the-net/
If you would like to learn why popular TV shows and movies are being made available legally on the Internet for free and how we can get them to our televisions, this interview is for you.
Our guest today is Will Richmond who is the editor and publisher of VideoNuze, an online publication for broadband video decision-makers. VideoNuze concentrates on the emerging Internet Video industry. Will has prior experience in the CATV industry thereby providing valuable perspective on how the sector reacts to developments. This is important because cable companies are the leading providers of broadband Internet access along with being the dominant networks delivering conventional television programs.
As noted in earlier podcasts, a number promising websites are emerging that host, or index, advertising-supported Internet Video of popular TV shows and movies. Examples include Hulu, Fancast, Veoh, TVGuide.com, and AOL Video. They’re great for consumers because they are free to the viewer and completely legal.
In our analysis the emergence of such websites could prove to represent the “tipping point” at which consumers push hard enough to find ways to get Internet Video streams to display on their televisions. ABC, NBC, and CBS have all made popular shows available online. There are also hundreds of popular, or once popular, movies from major Hollywood studios available at the websites noted above.
As users get increasingly accustomed to sites like Hulu, they find that they like the convenience of on-demand viewing, personalization of selections, viral sharing of program recommendations, community commentary, email notifications of show postings, and the abundance of interesting programming. Intense users are even avoiding CATV or satellite service. For example, Will’s research concludes that most subscribers will cut CATV service before they cut ISP (Internet Service Provider) service. This is particularly relevant given the current economic downturn.
However, Will’s research also concludes that the cable networks, like ESPN, and AMC, will be reluctant to provide shows to websites like Hulu. He reasons that they will decline to put at risk the traditional fees they collect from CATV operators.
How Canada Fought Bad Copyright Law: Showing Why Copyright Law Matters
[Great post and kudos to Michael Geist in leading the charge in Canada. I also highly recommend Michael’s blog http://www.michaelgeist.ca/ -- BSA]
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20081203/1826493010.shtml
How Canada Fought Bad Copyright Law: Showing Why Copyright Law Matters (Culture)
by Michael Masnick from the sit-back-and-watch dept on Thursday, December 4th, 2008 @ 4:10AM
You may recall, just about a year ago, there was suddenly a bunch of news over the possibility of Canada introducing its own version of the US's Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). To the surprise of both the entertainment industry (who helped craft the law) and the politicians who were pushing it, the opposition to this law was incredibly successful in getting its message out. Starting with calls on various blogs and Facebook groups, kicked off by law professor Michael Geist, the issue became a big one throughout the media. The politicians who promised the entertainment industry that they would pass this law tried to delay the introduction, assuming that the opposition, while loud, was thin and would fade away. They were wrong. The issue continued to get attention, and when the law was finally introduced, the opposition, across the board, was widespread and strong. It wasn't just a fringe issue among "internet activists." It was something that people from all over the economy saw as a fundamental issue worth fighting for.
But why?
For years, copyright (and wider intellectual property) law has been considered to be sort of inside baseball, something that only lawyers and the entertainment industry cared about. But that's been changing. There are a variety of reasons for why this happened and why copyright is considered a key issue for so many people in so many parts of the economy. Michael Geist has now put together a film that tries to examine that question. After first discussing how the issue became such a big deal, Geist interviews a number of Canadian copyfighters to get a sense of why copyright is an issue worth fighting about:
Not surprisingly, Geist has also made the movie available in a variety of different formats so people can do what they want with it, including remixing or re-editing it. There's the full version (seen above), an annotated version, a version for subtitling, or you can download the full movie via BitTorrent at either Mininova or Vuze. Unless, of course, you live somewhere where they claim that BitTorrent is evil and must be blocked.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20081203/1826493010.shtml
How Canada Fought Bad Copyright Law: Showing Why Copyright Law Matters (Culture)
by Michael Masnick from the sit-back-and-watch dept on Thursday, December 4th, 2008 @ 4:10AM
You may recall, just about a year ago, there was suddenly a bunch of news over the possibility of Canada introducing its own version of the US's Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). To the surprise of both the entertainment industry (who helped craft the law) and the politicians who were pushing it, the opposition to this law was incredibly successful in getting its message out. Starting with calls on various blogs and Facebook groups, kicked off by law professor Michael Geist, the issue became a big one throughout the media. The politicians who promised the entertainment industry that they would pass this law tried to delay the introduction, assuming that the opposition, while loud, was thin and would fade away. They were wrong. The issue continued to get attention, and when the law was finally introduced, the opposition, across the board, was widespread and strong. It wasn't just a fringe issue among "internet activists." It was something that people from all over the economy saw as a fundamental issue worth fighting for.
But why?
For years, copyright (and wider intellectual property) law has been considered to be sort of inside baseball, something that only lawyers and the entertainment industry cared about. But that's been changing. There are a variety of reasons for why this happened and why copyright is considered a key issue for so many people in so many parts of the economy. Michael Geist has now put together a film that tries to examine that question. After first discussing how the issue became such a big deal, Geist interviews a number of Canadian copyfighters to get a sense of why copyright is an issue worth fighting about:
Not surprisingly, Geist has also made the movie available in a variety of different formats so people can do what they want with it, including remixing or re-editing it. There's the full version (seen above), an annotated version, a version for subtitling, or you can download the full movie via BitTorrent at either Mininova or Vuze. Unless, of course, you live somewhere where they claim that BitTorrent is evil and must be blocked.
Deep Space @ Cielo
On monday december 1st I had the honor to play Francois K's legendary weekly Deep Space at Cielo in New York City. While FK was touring in Japan I was given the chance to play for 5,5hrs and pull out all those tracks I never get to play anywhere else, and build a vibe. It was a wonderful and very inspiring experience - it was one of those gigs where you go back home and you're just buzzing with adrenalin and new ideas about music and dj'ing. If you have the chance to check out Deep Space one day, do it! Thank you to FK, Erica, Brendon & Cielo..
Special Guest Martyn at Deep Space
ps: the track in the video is "Right?Star!" and is on my album.
Special Guest Martyn at Deep Space
ps: the track in the video is "Right?Star!" and is on my album.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Upcoming Workshops
I have two public workshops coming up, besides my work for companies and conferences. It would be a pleasure to meet you there! There is an attractive "early bird rate" until December 19.
Public workshops:
- 21. January '09: Zurich "Crafting Innovative Business Models" in German (info & sign-up here)
- 22. January '09: Geneva "Crafting Innovative Business Models" in English (info & sign-up here)
Public Talks:
- 15. December '08: VizThink Madrid - short keynote on business models and visual thinking together with XPLANE
Roundup
PW profiles former NBCC president John Freeman, "book review crusader," focusing in part for his NBCC work in the Campaign to Save Book Reviewing.
Janice Harayda talks to the Newark Star-Ledger blog about being a book blogger, WordPress, her Mitch Albom post, the Delete Key awards, and more.
Scott McLemee examines the Bill Clinton issues Susan Wise Bauer raises in "The Art of the Public Grovel: Sexual Sin and Public Confession in America."
Amitav Ghosh tells WNYC's Leonard Lopate the his "Sea of Poppies" is just the beginning of his Ibis trilogy. “This is my project for my next ten, fifteen, twenty years,” he says. (Read the first chapter of "Sea of Poppies" here.)
Laura Miller tends her bookshelf. And talks to David Ulin next Wednesday in LA about her new Narnia book, "The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia."
Joshua Cohen spends five days focused on Kafka's "Office Writings."
Harriet blog at the Poetry Foundation website considers Kevin Prufer and Wayne Miller's "New European Poets." Prufer, an NBCC board member, moderates a panel on January 23, 2009:
NBCC Balakian awardee Wyatt Mason reacts to his mail after blogging about “A Canticle for Leibowitz.”
Robin Hemley reflects on Yamashita's Treasure.
John Domini admires the clarity of DeWitt Henry's "Safe Suicide."
Janice Harayda talks to the Newark Star-Ledger blog about being a book blogger, WordPress, her Mitch Albom post, the Delete Key awards, and more.
Scott McLemee examines the Bill Clinton issues Susan Wise Bauer raises in "The Art of the Public Grovel: Sexual Sin and Public Confession in America."
Amitav Ghosh tells WNYC's Leonard Lopate the his "Sea of Poppies" is just the beginning of his Ibis trilogy. “This is my project for my next ten, fifteen, twenty years,” he says. (Read the first chapter of "Sea of Poppies" here.)
Laura Miller tends her bookshelf. And talks to David Ulin next Wednesday in LA about her new Narnia book, "The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia."
Joshua Cohen spends five days focused on Kafka's "Office Writings."
Harriet blog at the Poetry Foundation website considers Kevin Prufer and Wayne Miller's "New European Poets." Prufer, an NBCC board member, moderates a panel on January 23, 2009:
January 23, 2009, 7 pm Housing Works Bookstore Café.
Poetry in Translation panel: Has the US Lost Touch with World Literature?
Panelists Esther Allen, translator, co-director of PEN World Voices,author of International PEN report on Translation and Globalization;Yvette Chrisianse, South African poet, novelist, professor; Elizabeth Macklin, poet, translator from Basque of Uribe; Jill Schoolman, Director of Archipelago Books; Karen Emmerich, translator of NBCC award finalist Miltos Sachtouris, among other Greek writers.
NBCC Balakian awardee Wyatt Mason reacts to his mail after blogging about “A Canticle for Leibowitz.”
Robin Hemley reflects on Yamashita's Treasure.
John Domini admires the clarity of DeWitt Henry's "Safe Suicide."
You are probably wondering, then, how things went with the Norwegian.
Come to think of it so am I.
We met for lunch rather than in the evening. A few last-minute work concerns, he said. No worries - I am generally forgiving on the matter of men and their busy schedules. I had decided to save anything potentially upsetting for the end of our meeting, as it would probably not be an aid to digestion. Also I hadn't yet decided what to say, apart from a few salient points:
1. Your situation makes me uncomfortable
2. Your feelings for me make me uncomfortable
3. If there is nothing we can do about that, could we take a step back, please?
(At heart, I believe all emotional content should be delivered in bullet-point form. So much less messy; so much less scope for misunderstanding. But I recognise that is not how other people work. More's the pity.)
The Norwegian ordered. He paid - unusual, we typically split 50/50. We talked about Heroes, recent films, and which superhero we would be (him: Spiderman, because he has girl problems; me: Batman, because he isn't a real superhero, just a man). He ate quickly, sloppily, and apologised profusely. He talked about his girlfriend, about her new job, about interest rates. Superficial things. Easy things.
And then...
'I have to ask you something,' he said in a detached tone.
'What is that?' I said, smiling, wondering what it could be.
'Do you... have you done something to your eye? It's all red.'
'Oh! That,' I said, wiping the corner with the edge of my sleeve. 'I'm a little run down is all. A bit of a cold, nothing serious.'
He nodded. Then he disappeared to the toilet for a quarter of an hour.
I sat at the table, sipped my drink, and looked at the other tables in the restaurant. Was that an established couple or an early date? Were those people family or co-workers? Was the insanely joyous greeter at the door on drugs, or was I simply imagining she must be in order to muster so much wide-eyed enthusiasm for talking to hungry members of the public at a midweek lunchtime?
He came back to the table. Said he had to be off. Hoped we would meet again before Christmas, or maybe new Year, or sometime in January. A half-wave.
I wonder what he knows.
Come to think of it so am I.
We met for lunch rather than in the evening. A few last-minute work concerns, he said. No worries - I am generally forgiving on the matter of men and their busy schedules. I had decided to save anything potentially upsetting for the end of our meeting, as it would probably not be an aid to digestion. Also I hadn't yet decided what to say, apart from a few salient points:
1. Your situation makes me uncomfortable
2. Your feelings for me make me uncomfortable
3. If there is nothing we can do about that, could we take a step back, please?
(At heart, I believe all emotional content should be delivered in bullet-point form. So much less messy; so much less scope for misunderstanding. But I recognise that is not how other people work. More's the pity.)
The Norwegian ordered. He paid - unusual, we typically split 50/50. We talked about Heroes, recent films, and which superhero we would be (him: Spiderman, because he has girl problems; me: Batman, because he isn't a real superhero, just a man). He ate quickly, sloppily, and apologised profusely. He talked about his girlfriend, about her new job, about interest rates. Superficial things. Easy things.
And then...
'I have to ask you something,' he said in a detached tone.
'What is that?' I said, smiling, wondering what it could be.
'Do you... have you done something to your eye? It's all red.'
'Oh! That,' I said, wiping the corner with the edge of my sleeve. 'I'm a little run down is all. A bit of a cold, nothing serious.'
He nodded. Then he disappeared to the toilet for a quarter of an hour.
I sat at the table, sipped my drink, and looked at the other tables in the restaurant. Was that an established couple or an early date? Were those people family or co-workers? Was the insanely joyous greeter at the door on drugs, or was I simply imagining she must be in order to muster so much wide-eyed enthusiasm for talking to hungry members of the public at a midweek lunchtime?
He came back to the table. Said he had to be off. Hoped we would meet again before Christmas, or maybe new Year, or sometime in January. A half-wave.
I wonder what he knows.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
NBCC Reads, Fall 2008: Long Tail #4
Yes, folks, it's yet another Long Tail entry from the latest round of NBCC Reads. This time, we've got a twofer from Brooke Allen, a widely published critic and the author of Moral Minority: Our Skeptical Founding Fathers. She chose the following two titles as a partial skeleton key to American political life:
Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You With the Bill) by David Cay Johnston. This is a very detailed and comprehensible explanation of how the supposed "deregulation" initiated by Reagan enabled lobbyists, politicians and corporations to rig "free enterprise" in their favor. Johnston gives many examples of taxpayer subsidies that basically exempt many businesses from competition and give their executives free rides. This is a very, very important book that shows how our economy really works behind the scenes, and reveals unsavory truths about how our hard-earned tax dollars are spent.
What Orwell Didn't Know: Propaganda and the New Face of American Politics, ed. Andras Szanto, with an introduction by Orville Schell. This book came about when a group of Journalism School deans came together to try to understand why the press has failed America so badly over the course of the last decade. Looking back at George Orwell's classic essay, "Politics and the English Language," they reflected on what has changed since Orwell wrote and what has not. In twenty-first century America we are subjected to an Orwellian level of propaganda even in our mainstream press, which manipulated by spin-doctors who use new discoveries about how the human brain works. What Orwell Didn't Know contains essays by journalists like Nicholas Lemann, cognitive scientists like George Lakoff, journalism professors like Orville Schell, and many other experts on the subject. Very enlightening for anyone seeking to understand contemporary media.
Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You With the Bill) by David Cay Johnston. This is a very detailed and comprehensible explanation of how the supposed "deregulation" initiated by Reagan enabled lobbyists, politicians and corporations to rig "free enterprise" in their favor. Johnston gives many examples of taxpayer subsidies that basically exempt many businesses from competition and give their executives free rides. This is a very, very important book that shows how our economy really works behind the scenes, and reveals unsavory truths about how our hard-earned tax dollars are spent.
What Orwell Didn't Know: Propaganda and the New Face of American Politics, ed. Andras Szanto, with an introduction by Orville Schell. This book came about when a group of Journalism School deans came together to try to understand why the press has failed America so badly over the course of the last decade. Looking back at George Orwell's classic essay, "Politics and the English Language," they reflected on what has changed since Orwell wrote and what has not. In twenty-first century America we are subjected to an Orwellian level of propaganda even in our mainstream press, which manipulated by spin-doctors who use new discoveries about how the human brain works. What Orwell Didn't Know contains essays by journalists like Nicholas Lemann, cognitive scientists like George Lakoff, journalism professors like Orville Schell, and many other experts on the subject. Very enlightening for anyone seeking to understand contemporary media.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
NBCC Reads, Fall 2008: Long Tail #3
Now that we've all emerged from a tryptophan-induced stupor, it's time to resume the Long Tail entries from the latest round of NBCC Reads. This time around, we've got suggestions from Alex Ross, who won the NBCC Award for The Rest Is Noise, and Roxana Robinson, the author most recently of Cost, as well as Georgia O'Keefe: A Life.
Alex Ross: This summer I re-read most of Joan Didion's nonfiction, in the handsome Everyman's Library edition, We Tell Ourselves Stories In Order to Live. From the beginning, observing the rise of Ronald Reagan as a national phenomenon, Didion seemed to have an eerily focused view of where American political culture was headed. She had--and has--an uncanny ability to analyze the surface trickery that goes into the creation of what she calls "political fictions," yet she retains a profound, almost prophetic awareness of ominous historical movements underfoot. Her dissection of George W. Bush's phrase "compassionate conservatism" is a case in point. Almost nothing in this collection shows its age; indeed, Didion's writing has become ever more acutely relevant with the passage of time, as the same crimes and mistakes are committed year after year, decade after decade, in an impenetrable haze of forgetting. In "Salvador," published in 1983, Didion writes: "The American policy in El Salvador seemed based on auto-suggestion, a dreamwork devised to obscure any intelligence that might trouble the dreamer." The ambiguity of the word "intelligence" in that sentence is total and has yet to be resolved.
Roxana Robinson: I nominate the Rabbit Angstrom: The Four Novels, by John Updike. For me, these books reveal the deepest heartland of America. This is a flawed, limited, provincial place, full of all the messy stuff that humans have to offer: vitality and tenderness, greatness of spirit and nobility of intention, straight meanness, pure selfishness and dumb ignorance. It's the place where our political instincts--idealism and self-interest, greed and pragmatism, fear and misguidedness, hope and altruism--are made manifest. It's the place where we all actually live.
Updike's elegant prose beautifully articulates Rabbit's small-town world in all its quotidian splendor, and the writer's magisterial intelligence provides a radiant illumination of this world. The books offer a deep and compassionate rendering of the twentieth-century community that includes us all.
Alex Ross: This summer I re-read most of Joan Didion's nonfiction, in the handsome Everyman's Library edition, We Tell Ourselves Stories In Order to Live. From the beginning, observing the rise of Ronald Reagan as a national phenomenon, Didion seemed to have an eerily focused view of where American political culture was headed. She had--and has--an uncanny ability to analyze the surface trickery that goes into the creation of what she calls "political fictions," yet she retains a profound, almost prophetic awareness of ominous historical movements underfoot. Her dissection of George W. Bush's phrase "compassionate conservatism" is a case in point. Almost nothing in this collection shows its age; indeed, Didion's writing has become ever more acutely relevant with the passage of time, as the same crimes and mistakes are committed year after year, decade after decade, in an impenetrable haze of forgetting. In "Salvador," published in 1983, Didion writes: "The American policy in El Salvador seemed based on auto-suggestion, a dreamwork devised to obscure any intelligence that might trouble the dreamer." The ambiguity of the word "intelligence" in that sentence is total and has yet to be resolved.
Roxana Robinson: I nominate the Rabbit Angstrom: The Four Novels, by John Updike. For me, these books reveal the deepest heartland of America. This is a flawed, limited, provincial place, full of all the messy stuff that humans have to offer: vitality and tenderness, greatness of spirit and nobility of intention, straight meanness, pure selfishness and dumb ignorance. It's the place where our political instincts--idealism and self-interest, greed and pragmatism, fear and misguidedness, hope and altruism--are made manifest. It's the place where we all actually live.Updike's elegant prose beautifully articulates Rabbit's small-town world in all its quotidian splendor, and the writer's magisterial intelligence provides a radiant illumination of this world. The books offer a deep and compassionate rendering of the twentieth-century community that includes us all.
The Danger of Making a Choice
"Winston sank his arms to his sides and slowly refilled his lungs with air. His mind slid away into the labyrinthine world of doublethink. To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which canceled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again: and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself. That was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word “doublethink” involved the use of doublethink."
Life is all about choices.. My life is completely shaped by the choices my parents have done for me during my childhood, and the choices I have made during my adulthood. But recently, a third party has been forcing choices upon me.
The period of time before Eid is always very stressful for me.. I always have the worst time trying to show my classmates that it's MY choice whether I want to come to college or not before the Eid.. trying to bring sense to their thinking.. trying with no avail. I finally lose my strength and give up, and once I show a sign of giving up, they take it as an agreement. They, on the other hand, don't have words, or promises.. they just move with the stream, and the stream doesn't like my way.. Who's guiding the stream? I don't know.. but I know that today, the choice was made by the one student who doesn't even celebrate Eid because she's a Christian. And those students -the "MEN" of the class- haven't made the slightest objection..
We're sitting at home a week before Eid, and for what? because everybody else is.
Instead of teaching others about responsibility, we're learning to be careless.
Today's agreement has lead to so much confusion and pain, I came close to tears many times, and it's amazing that the students actually came to me and asked that I do not get angry at them.. that I should take it easy and relax.. I don't even have the choice to feel the way I want to feel!!
But no more "we".. This so called agreement is the straw that broke the camel's back.. From now on, if "we" are going to make such invalid agreements, then I don't want to be part of the team. I'm going to make my own, single-member team. I don't care if they hate me. Well, I do, but I've seriously had it and will deal with their hatred later. This is exactly the kind of small action that leads to bigger responsibility issues that lead to bigger and bigger issues that will and have lead to the situation we're living in now.. CHAOS.
I've had enough..
and I'm really angry..
and I really hope one of my classmates would read this..
and I know it's not worth all this tension.. but I've really REALLY had it.
"بخيرهم ما خيّروني.. و بشرهم عموا علية"
For God's sake, pray for me :((
There is this man - the Norwegian.
I met the Norwegian in late spring. We bonded over a shared love of backgammon. I know, I know - backgammon? Does no compute, right? File under 'Belle likes Ivor Cutler and real ale and the Simpsons' and let us move on, shall we?
Anyway. The Norwegian and I meet regularly for mutual appreciation of beer, board games, and Simpsons (as far as I know he is unaware of the specific charms of Mr Cutler). Every time we part my face hurts from smiling and laughing. He is tall and kind and has nice hands and impeccable taste in watches. He is the sort of chap I typically find attractive, a sort of which A2 is the most notable example.
We call these meetings Dancing in the Donut Rain. This appeals on several levels, being a keen dancer often found at the recreational classes at... um, a studio near me. If you don't get the Donut Rain reference, watch more Simpsons. It represents an alternate present. For an hour or two I bask in friendly companionship and the knowledge that whatever this is, it isn't going anywhere. Because he has a partner of ten years and I have a line I will not cross regardless of my own relationship status.
I know. The whore has standards after all.
There are several reasons why the line holds firm: the Norwegian idealises me too much. His distaste for even the most peripheral mention of T is no secret. He is, by his own admission, in love with me - or at least the me he knows, the me whose fierce deployment of the doubling cube, habit of arranging beer mats parallel to the table edge, and opinion on all things Bill Murray are defining characteristics - the pre-Belle me.
Post-Belle me sees his behaviour and recognises three things:
1. Regardless of whether I was single, being with him would hurt his girlfriend, a woman I've never met,
2. Being with me would hurt him whether he stayed with or left her, and
3. Even if 1 and 2 were manageable, he is not a man who could handle my past.
This is where an affair diverges strongly from sex work. This is how I could have clients who were married and never care, but a friend with a significant other is off-limits. He cares more than I think he should and it is worrying. Lately he has been starting arguments with his woman, and last month even moved out. Maybe that was coming anyway. Maybe not. What my existence does to his relationship is very much my business. Because any involvement wouldn't be about just sex, because something I do could hurt someone I don't even know.
His interest, in other words, is very flattering but simply not sufficient reason to play. Oh, the irony - sex work made me more selective about which men I pursue and why rather than less so. A bit more ethical. More of a grownup, perhaps.
Tomorrow, I think, will be our last dance in the Donut Rain. It is not an ultimatum, it is not a threat, it is simply the way it has to be. I will miss him but know it is the right thing to do.
I'm happy and I'll punch the man who says I'm not.
I met the Norwegian in late spring. We bonded over a shared love of backgammon. I know, I know - backgammon? Does no compute, right? File under 'Belle likes Ivor Cutler and real ale and the Simpsons' and let us move on, shall we?
Anyway. The Norwegian and I meet regularly for mutual appreciation of beer, board games, and Simpsons (as far as I know he is unaware of the specific charms of Mr Cutler). Every time we part my face hurts from smiling and laughing. He is tall and kind and has nice hands and impeccable taste in watches. He is the sort of chap I typically find attractive, a sort of which A2 is the most notable example.
We call these meetings Dancing in the Donut Rain. This appeals on several levels, being a keen dancer often found at the recreational classes at... um, a studio near me. If you don't get the Donut Rain reference, watch more Simpsons. It represents an alternate present. For an hour or two I bask in friendly companionship and the knowledge that whatever this is, it isn't going anywhere. Because he has a partner of ten years and I have a line I will not cross regardless of my own relationship status.
I know. The whore has standards after all.
There are several reasons why the line holds firm: the Norwegian idealises me too much. His distaste for even the most peripheral mention of T is no secret. He is, by his own admission, in love with me - or at least the me he knows, the me whose fierce deployment of the doubling cube, habit of arranging beer mats parallel to the table edge, and opinion on all things Bill Murray are defining characteristics - the pre-Belle me.
Post-Belle me sees his behaviour and recognises three things:
1. Regardless of whether I was single, being with him would hurt his girlfriend, a woman I've never met,
2. Being with me would hurt him whether he stayed with or left her, and
3. Even if 1 and 2 were manageable, he is not a man who could handle my past.
This is where an affair diverges strongly from sex work. This is how I could have clients who were married and never care, but a friend with a significant other is off-limits. He cares more than I think he should and it is worrying. Lately he has been starting arguments with his woman, and last month even moved out. Maybe that was coming anyway. Maybe not. What my existence does to his relationship is very much my business. Because any involvement wouldn't be about just sex, because something I do could hurt someone I don't even know.
His interest, in other words, is very flattering but simply not sufficient reason to play. Oh, the irony - sex work made me more selective about which men I pursue and why rather than less so. A bit more ethical. More of a grownup, perhaps.
Tomorrow, I think, will be our last dance in the Donut Rain. It is not an ultimatum, it is not a threat, it is simply the way it has to be. I will miss him but know it is the right thing to do.
I'm happy and I'll punch the man who says I'm not.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Business Model Innovation Book - buy early access to raw content now!
In MayEnd of August 2009 Yves Pigneur and I will bring a new management book to the market, which will be a beautiful manual for entrepreneurs and executives about business model innovation.
The interest we are getting for the book is staggering, because our business model innovation methods are already in use in companies such as IBM, Deloitte, Telenor and more. Our aim is to write a book that is visual & simple, applicable, relevant and full of exciting examples.
If you are interested in the topic you now have the exclusive possibility to get early access to the book content and a community of business model innovators. It is a unique opportunity to participate in the makings of a management book that has the potential to become a global bestseller. Working title: "Crafting Innovative Business Models" "Business Model Generation" (ideas welcome).
We will float and discuss the book content as it emerges on www.businessmodelhub.com. Access will only cost you $US 24.- $US 36.- $US 54.- $US 81.- $US 121.50 (the price increased because we exceeded 100 200 300 400 450+ subscribers )
- first & exclusive access to raw book content as we write it on www.businessmodelhub.com
- FREE digital version of the full book when it is published
- opportunity to influence authors and join content discussions
- personal mention of your participation (names of participants' in print version in order of sign-up... so you better hurry ;-)
- about
818 installments of book chunks (in a non-linear order as they emerge) 50% discount off theFREE final book- access to templates and exclusive PowerPoint slideshows
- being part of the business model innovation community
Don't miss out on being part of a potential management book bestseller. You will even be able to prove it because your name will be mentioned in the print version!
Buzz: Les nuages s'améliorent
Vous vous souvenez sans doute de mes nuages de buzz, qui essaient de donner une image des personnes qui font l'actu en temps réel (billet d'avril). Vous aviez été nombreux à réagir à l'époque, et j'avais été d'ailleurs (agréablement) surpris, une fois de plus, par la qualité et la pertinence des commentaires. En gros, vous aviez détecté la plus grande partie des difficultés, car aussi simple que ce problème puisse paraître, il est rempli d'embûches et de chausses-trapes... Il y a les variantes (Hillary Clinton / Hillary Rodham Clinton), les patronymes seuls (ok, on peut rattacher sans grand risque la plupart du temps Sarkozy et Nicolas Sarkozy, mais que faire de Clinton ?), les fausses pistes (on voudrait Taj Jackson mais pas Taj Mahal...), les personnages de fiction (Harry Potter ou Mickey Mouse : faut-il les garder ?). Etc. etc. La liste est impressionnante.
Depuis avril, j'ai pas mal travaillé sur le sujet avec la complicité éclairée de Jérôme de Wikio, que je remercie au passage, c'était un vrai plaisir (tient au fait : Jérôme de Wikio, ce n'est pas comme Albert de Monaco, n'est-ce pas ?). Le résultat est passé en production sur la nouvelle page d'accueil de Wikio depuis quelques jours :
Ce n'est pas parfait, il y a encore par-ci par-là de petits soucis, mais je pense que vous pourrez constater que la situation s'est améliorée (vous pourrez aussi regarder le buzz des différents pays ici -- la qualité est hélas un peu moins bonne).
Et voici une nouvelle fonctionnalité, qui n'est pour l'instant que sur Wikio Labs : les personnages de l'actu pour quatre grandes catégories : culture, international, politique et sport (les autres catégories comme santé ou science se prêtent mal à l'exercice : elles ne font pas assez apparaître de personnalités pour que le nuage ait un intérêt). Jérôme y travaille d'arrache-pied, et je pense que ça va passer en production sur les pages de catégories correspondantes sur Wikio d'ici quelque temps, mais en attendant vous pouvez jouer avec sur Labs:
Vos remarques sont comme toujours les bienvenues ! Et votre indulgence aussi... Parole : c'est un problème difficile !
Depuis avril, j'ai pas mal travaillé sur le sujet avec la complicité éclairée de Jérôme de Wikio, que je remercie au passage, c'était un vrai plaisir (tient au fait : Jérôme de Wikio, ce n'est pas comme Albert de Monaco, n'est-ce pas ?). Le résultat est passé en production sur la nouvelle page d'accueil de Wikio depuis quelques jours :
Ce n'est pas parfait, il y a encore par-ci par-là de petits soucis, mais je pense que vous pourrez constater que la situation s'est améliorée (vous pourrez aussi regarder le buzz des différents pays ici -- la qualité est hélas un peu moins bonne).
Et voici une nouvelle fonctionnalité, qui n'est pour l'instant que sur Wikio Labs : les personnages de l'actu pour quatre grandes catégories : culture, international, politique et sport (les autres catégories comme santé ou science se prêtent mal à l'exercice : elles ne font pas assez apparaître de personnalités pour que le nuage ait un intérêt). Jérôme y travaille d'arrache-pied, et je pense que ça va passer en production sur les pages de catégories correspondantes sur Wikio d'ici quelque temps, mais en attendant vous pouvez jouer avec sur Labs:
Vos remarques sont comme toujours les bienvenues ! Et votre indulgence aussi... Parole : c'est un problème difficile !
Take the Lead - Help Stop HIV and AIDS
For 20 years, people around the globe have observed Dec. 1 as World AIDS Day. It's a time to remember those we have lost, to thank the people who give of their time to care for those infected and affected by the disease, and to rededicate ourselves to finding a cure. AIDS has not gone away -- not by a long shot. Therapies have improved, and many HIV-positive people are living longer and healthier lives, but many challenges lie ahead.According to the World AIDS campaign web site, 8,000 people die from HIV disease every day, and there are millions of new infections each year -- despite increased commitments from government leaders and health-care institutions. This means we need even more leadership, more ideas, deeper commitments, and increases in funding.
Many people lacking insurance and health care simply do without necessary treatment -- and if they don't know that they are infected with HIV, they unknowingly put themselves and others at risk. With the global economic meltdown, there are likely to be more of them, especially among groups of people who already have little access to HIV education. Too many people don't get tested and some do not discover their HIV status until after they have progressed to full-blown AIDS.
As daunting as these challenges will be, we all have some reason to cheer on this Dec. 1. In the past year alone, reasearch has told us that people undergoing HIV therapies have similar survival rates as those of uninfected people. Newly discovered and approved treatment options make medication regimens safer and simpler to follow. Numerous states are making big headway in permitting routine HIV testing within everyday health care settings. This is all great news, and with renewed focus by government, research institutions, and health care administrators, hopefully we will see even more news to celebrate by this time next year.
In the meantime, health educators need new ideas for delivering potentially lifesaving information on HIV and AIDS to populations still not getting the word: young people, non-English speakers, disadvantaged communities in the US and overseas. There must be a renewed commitment to collaboration between health-care providers, researchers, and government officials so that they can bring necessary changes in diagnosis,a decrease in the number of new infections, and increased access to care and treatment -- especially during an economic crisis that will leave more people uninsured and under-insured.
HIV/AIDS organizations throughout the US hope the new Obama administration will bring needed change in prevention, access to care, civil rights, and research within its first 100 days. They call for a bigger federal investment in domestic HIV/AIDS programs, including research and prevention efforts, and in care and services for those with HIV/AIDS through the Ryan White CARE Act. They also urge the president-elect to get to work promptly on a national HIV/AIDS strategy that deals realistically with the HIV epidemic, which, despite the efforts of thousands over the past two decades, continues to grow.
HIV is everyone's problem -- that is most clear on this, the 20th World AIDS Day. We all must take some sort of leadership role to stop infections, to care for the sick, and to halt the dying. Since 1981, I have lost more than 100 loved ones to the disease, so ending this scourge is a very personal matter to me. Every person infected by HIV creates a group of people also affected by the disease. That adds up to a whole lot of misery -- and it must be stopped. With stronger leadership, fresh ideas, and renewed commitment, we can end the HIV/AIDS epidemic. I know we can. But we need you to do your part: Write to lawmakers and political leaders and remind them of the urgency. Volunteer at your local AIDS service provider -- you can serve as a caregiving buddy or deliver meals to homebound patients or visit people in hospitals or in a host of roles. Talk about the importance of testing, abstinence, and safer sex in your schools and within your community, your church, your home. If you can't give time, donate. Just do something.
On this World AIDS Day, I ask you to take time to inform yourself and to think: What will you do to make a difference before Dec. 1, 2009? Once you have found your answer, get busy. There are lives to save.
In the last few days I have had:
- 1 job offer
- 2 job interview invitations
- 3 visits from concerned neighbours (no, I don't know either)
- 4 plants delivered to the house (a tea rose bush, a poinsettia and two hyacinths)
- an offer of impregnation (courtesy of a friend's husband), an indecent amount of alcohol (ibid.), a sore throat (courtesy child of said couple), a long talk with someone I expected never to see again (of which more another time), and my body volume in roast dinners (ta A4)
- an unexpected change of heart...
Sunday, November 30, 2008
SMALL PRESS SPOTLIGHT: BILINGUAL CHILDREN'S BOOKS
During the holiday season, one of my favorite gift choices for my nieces and godson are books. And since all three are going to be raised bilingual speakers, it's important to encourage literacy in Spanish. I found five titles that will find their way to the tree this year:
Xavier Garza, Charro Claus and the Tejas Kid, Cinco Puntos Press.
(Illustrated by the author)
Here's an original take on the famous Clement Clarke Moore holiday classic. How would the night before Christmas "translate" in a South Texas Valley setting, where St. Nick's Mexican cousin Pancho can lend a hand by distributing gifts to all the children who live along the U.S.-Mexico border? Easy: Charro Claus!
Benjamin Alire Sáenz, A Perfect Season for Dreaming/ Un tiempo perfecto para soñar, Cinco Puntos Press.
(Illustrated by Esau Andrade Valencia)
An elderly gentleman is slowing down in his later years, but not his active imagination. With the need for afternoon siestas comes the time for dreaming up wildly inventive scenes celebrating the cultural experience of a long and rewarding life.
Jorge Argueta, Alfredito Flies Home/ Alfredito regresa volando a su casa, Groundwood Books.
(Illustrated by Luis Garay)
Once refugees from a country ravaged by war and conflict, Alfredito's family has decided to visit El Salvador now that the dust has settled. Surprises both heartbreaking and heartwarming await the family as they reunite with a landscape still healing from its wounds.
Francisco X. Alarcón, Animal Poems of the Iguazú/ Animalario del Iguazú, Children's Book Press.
(Illustrated by Maya Christina González)
This collection of poetry for children is a fun and educational way to raise awareness about the need to preserve the beauty of the South American rainforest. The poems are as delightful and colorful as the depictions of the flora and fauna that make Iguazú National Park a unique and magical place.
Carmen Tafolla and Sharyll Tenayuca, That's Not Fair!: Emma Tenayuca's Struggle for Justice/ ¡No es justo!: La lucha de Emma Tenayuca por la justicia, Wings Press.
(Illustrated by Terry Ybáñez)
Based on the true story about a young woman who led the historic pecan sheller strike in 1920s San Antonio, this book offers valuable lessons about activism and the fight for justice. As the book demonstrates: one is never too young to develop a social consciousness or an appreciation for Mexicans and U.S. labor history.
*
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Scott McLemee Ponders Information Overload
Scott McLemee, reviewing "The Overflowing Brain: Information Overload and the Limits of Working Memory" (Oxford University Press) by Torkel Klingberg, ponders information overload:"...it sometimes feels like one’s brain is being nibbled by carnivorous gnats."
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