Monthly Archive for July, 2009

links for 2009-07-28

links for 2009-07-27

  • Cradle to Cradle Design (sometimes abbreviated to C2C or in some circles referred to as regenerative) is a biomimetic approach to the design of systems. It models human industry on nature's processes in which materials are viewed as nutrients circulating in healthy, safe metabolisms. It suggests that industry must protect and enrich ecosystems and nature's biological metabolism while also maintaining safe, productive technical metabolism for the high-quality use and circulation of organic and synthetic materials. Put simply, it is a holistic economic, industrial and social framework that seeks to create systems that are not just efficient but essentially waste free. The model in its broadest sense is not limited to industrial design and manufacturing; it can be applied to many different aspects of human civilization such as urban environments, buildings, economics and social systems. Via "Hot, Flat and Crowded", by Thomas L. Friedman
  • Every day, millions of people use Twitter to create, discover and share ideas with others. Now, people are turning to Twitter as an effective way to reach out to businesses, too. From local stores to big brands, and from brick-and-mortar to internet-based or service sector, people are finding great value in the connections they make with businesses on Twitter. Via Jérôme Bailly

links for 2009-07-08

links for 2009-07-07

  • Psychologists understand that people may not say what's on their minds either because they are unwilling or because they are unable to do so. For example, if asked "How much do you smoke?" a smoker who smokes 4 packs a day may purposely report smoking only 2 packs a day because they are embarrassed to admit the correct number. Or, the smoker may simply not answer the question, regarding it as a private matter. (These are examples of being unwilling to report a known answer.) But it is also possible that a smoker who smokes 4 packs a day may report smoking only 2 packs because they honestly believe they only smoke about 2 packs a day. (Unknowingly giving an incorrect answer is sometimes called self-deception; this illustrates being unable to give the desired answer).

    The unwilling-unable distinction is like the difference between purposely hiding something from others and unconsciously hiding something from yourself.

links for 2009-07-04

links for 2009-07-02

  • Take a Nap! Change Your Life :
    Mednick has produced scientific proof that people ought to take afternoon naps. Her latest study, published in the technical journal "Behavioral Brain Research," is in my opinion irrefutable. Naps, she found, improve cognitive performance better than caffeine and better than placebos — and … for even the most expensive medical intervention, to exceed the effectiveness of a placebo is quite impressive. Mednick is now campaigning for naps and even engaged in corporate nap consulting — there's a 21st century field! She believes companies that allow employees to nap will realize improved productivity in the same number of work hours, a proposition that makes intuitive sense to me. Modern globalized life grows ever more stressful; the only sane response may be to take a nap.

links for 2009-07-01

  • Janet Radcliffe Richards (1944- ) is a British feminist philosopher and bioethicist. She reads bioethics and is Director of the Centre for Bioethics and Philosophy of Medicine at University College London, is the author of several books, papers and articles, and has sat on a variety of advisory and working committees in areas of philosophy and bioethics. She is also a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics and posts regularly at the University of Oxford’s Practical Ethics: Ethical Perspectives on the News website. At present, her name often arises in articles and discussions on organ transplantation, in particular the idea of a legitimate organ trade. Her identification with feminism and her focus on bioethics both occurred [by accident] during the writing of her first book, The Sceptical Feminist: A philosophical enquiry (Routledge, 1980; Penguin, 1982) – bioethics being central to the abortion debate.

links for 2009-06-30




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