Archive for category Economy
The Road Not Taken
Posted by Mark Hewitt in Cooperatisim, Economy, Health & Wellness, Trust on April 12, 2012
In 1916 Robert Frost wrote the now famous poem “The Road Not Taken” it speaks to difficult decisions we make every day in our lives. The poem reads:
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Read the rest of this entry »
Follow up on Bruce Schneier
Posted by Mark Hewitt in Economy, Health & Wellness, Trust on March 15, 2012
OK so this is my third post on this great book “Liars & Outliers” but I must tell you that I’ve reread the book yet again and must say that in conjunction with the book “Liespotting” that my ability to pay attention to the details of Defectors, Tricksters and outright Hacks has improved by a factor of 10. I think that Bruce’s book helps to understand the motivation behind why people lie. The other book reviews are also over the top (note: click on link to a summary pdf of other recient reviews and interviews)
I’m reminded of the primate psychology study “monkeynomics” done by Laurie Santos and some of the human equivalent studies showing how we use deception for short term gain. One of the conclusions that I took away from the study is the lack of sustainability in deceptive strategies even in the animal kingdom.
As we collectively move into a new era our skills and social rapport with each other depend on transparency and Read the rest of this entry »
What is the Value of Privacy
Posted by Mark Hewitt in Broadband, Economy on February 21, 2012
The press has been relentless lately on the cost of our privacy with news of Google bypassing the privacy features in Safari and the multi-billion dollar IPO of Facebook. Yet our privacy has been traded for near term value for many years Neilson Reports got people to give up information about their personal and family behaviors decades ago. Cellular providers have known about your personal patterns since the late 80’s and networks like NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, CW, CNN, etc. all exchange content for a little information about you.
Now with the pressure to proclaim anyone that uses proxies and anonymizers as potential terrorists and criminals even the FBI has gotten into the act with a flyer that suggests that people that are overly concerned about privacy may be terrorists.
Now I must admit that if I were someone wishing to do other harm that privacy would be foremost on my mind however I personally enjoy using Google’s Latitude tracking feature to keep track of when and where I go – I think it’s pretty cool and I guess since I’m not a terrorist that no one really cares – BUT! I don’t like having advertising pop up based on my last couple of searches either – so I’ve been trying projects out like Read the rest of this entry »
The Metamorphosis Blueprint – Update
Posted by Mark Hewitt in Cooperatisim, Earth Day, Economy, Health & Wellness, Trust on February 6, 2012
Time for an update on the Metamorphosis Blueprint – the number of great comments and suggestions as well as contributions have been overwhelming and clearly show how clearly the Metamorphosis Protocol resonates within each of us. For a link to the original post on the Blueprint see –> Metamorphosis
Always looking for good suggestions and I feel that we are now ready to dive into each chapter.
Enjoy….
Creating a New World one City at a Time
Posted by Mark Hewitt in Broadband, Cooperatisim, Economy, Trust, US Broadband Coalition on January 23, 2012
I was recently struck by two seemly unrelated topics that were mentioned in Jim Baller’s daily broadband list under the title “America’s Competitiveness” One in the New York Times talks about a technology summit held at the White House where Obama asked Steve Jobs what would it take for America to keep the jobs that produce the iPhone? The second article in The Atlantic Cities talks about empowering Regions to reinvent themselves.
We are approaching a time where more than half of the world’s population lives in Cities; there is no Nation in the World today that can survive without at least one thriving city population. Cities have become the urban economic engine to the regional economy that surrounds it.
A third element “The Internet” has also made its impact on the world and again yet another article in Jim’s list on Read the rest of this entry »
Join me at the SUITS Conference this Jan 31st
Posted by Mark Hewitt in Broadband, Cooperatisim, Economy, Science and Engineering on January 22, 2012
The Synopsis Under IP/Patents Telecom Sourcing Conference (SUITS) was launched to advance the knowledge innovators of telecommunications including developers, implementers, licenses, licensors, end users, carriers and enterprise patents.
Learn how to be aware and prepare to protect your most valuable assets – individual and company patents and intellectual property stored in the Patent Eco System or being held for security.
I will be moderating a few sessions if you would like to join me here is a link to a discounted registration –> SUITS
Planetary Citizenship
Posted by Mark Hewitt in Cooperatisim, Earth Day, Economy, Health & Wellness, Trust on January 3, 2012
On New Year’s Day I was given a book titled “Planetary Citizenship
For those of you who participated in the authoring of “The Metamorphosis Blueprint” each chapter of his book “Planetary Citizenship
Giving Thanks
Posted by Mark Hewitt in Cooperatisim, Earth Day, Economy on November 24, 2011
by Mark Hewitt
Thanksgiving 1863 then President Abraham Lincoln issued a Thanksgiving Proclamation
to a nation torn by civil war; expressing gratitude for the abundance of a nation torn by the diversions of wealth and drawing strength from fields of peaceful industry.
Mankind had grown since these times of civil war in many ways perhaps we have improved the reach of our destructive nature; where today entire nations fall to our plunder and “Diversion of wealth” as Lincoln so applicably stated.
Yet our resolve strengthens in growing numbers as humanity is faced with greater challenges most often of our own doing; as we most recently saw in Japan following the tsunami and nuclear disaster the world pulled together and today we are all stronger.
We as a people are greater for our ability to pull together; as in another great Lincoln speech “A Nation divided cannot stand”. I wish to express my gratitude for the resolve and cooperative nature of my friends, family, and colleagues.
Sustainability
Posted by Mark Hewitt in Broadband, Broadband Stimulus, Cooperatisim, Earth Day, Economy, Physics on July 27, 2011
by Mark Hewitt
May you live in interesting times… an old Chinese saying that sometimes is called a curse; and as I watch our political leadership mire itself in their own self-interest jockeying for position as to which political party will survive the 2012 election at the expense of not only our economy; at the expense of lives and our future.
This process however is as predictable as knowing that the Sun will rise in the East; Interesting to realize that the only way to succeed at the point of the greatest level of complexity in a society is to not play the game. I hope that most of you have had the opportunity to read some of the work from Physicist Geoffrey West who properly states Read the rest of this entry »
Skype’s new home Microsoft
Posted by Mark Hewitt in Broadband, Cooperatisim, Economy, Mobile VoIP on May 10, 2011
Skype
Today’s announcement of the $8.5 Billion dollar cash purchase of Skype by Microsoft will
Microsoft
have the world buzzing with chatter and speculation for weeks to come. Here are my outtakes from today’s announcement.
- Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis were (are) team builders; the company succeeded against the giant telecom odds by collaboration and strong leaders that really bonded
- Skype has formed perhaps the largest active peer to peer network in the world; with access to now over 50 million TV’s and other devices Microsoft will soon be expected to add Skype to Xbox, Kinect and perhaps reawaken the seemingly dead Microsoft Mobile platform
- New revenues from advertizing something that has always held back Microsoft in achieving a strong financial model like Google to “Give Away” things in order to generate revenue.
- Skype has become a “Verb” and Microsoft will leverage this across their applications; I see it becoming part of Read the rest of this entry »