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March 5, 2009

Right-brain Book Thought Provoking

From Publishers Weekly...

Just as information workers surpassed physical laborers in economic importance, Pink claims, the workplace terrain is changing yet again, and power will inevitably shift to people who possess strong right brain qualities. His advocacy of "R-directed thinking" begins with a bit of neuroscience tourism to a brain lab that will be extremely familiar to those who read Steven Johnson's Mind Wide Open last year, but while Johnson was fascinated by the brain's internal processes, Pink is more concerned with how certain skill sets can be harnessed effectively in the dawning "Conceptual Age."

The second half of the book details the six "senses" Pink identifies as crucial to success in the new economy-design, story, symphony, empathy, play and meaning-while "portfolio" sections offer practical (and sometimes whimsical) advice on how to cultivate these skills within oneself. Thought-provoking moments abound-from the results of an intensive drawing workshop to the claim that "bad design" created the chaos of the 2000 presidential election-but the basic premise may still strike some as unproven. Furthermore, the warning that people who don't nurture their right brains "may miss out, or worse, suffer" in the economy of tomorrow comes off as alarmist. But since Pink's last big idea (Free Agent Nation) has become a cornerstone of employee-management relations, expect just as much buzz around his latest theory.

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Filed under  //   books   community   culture   design   thought  
Posted by Jerry Daniels 

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February 9, 2009

Using envy to motivate untility users to conserve

From the New York Times article:

The district had been trying for years to prod customers into using less energy with tactics like rebates for energy-saving appliances. But the traditional approaches were not meeting the energy reduction goals set by the nonprofit utility’s board.

So, in a move that has proved surprisingly effective, the district decided to tap into a time-honored American passion: keeping up with the neighbors.

Last April, it began sending out statements to 35,000 randomly selected customers, rating them on their energy use compared with that of neighbors in 100 homes of similar size that used the same heating fuel. The customers were also compared with the 20 neighbors who were especially efficient in saving energy.


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Filed under  //   community   conservation   energy  
Posted by Jerry Daniels 

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February 9, 2009

Friendship can conquer time & space with Twitter

Have you heard of Twitter? 

It's an extremely simple service that let's you tell your friends what you're up to. It doesn't sound like much to talk about it, but it's an extremely effective and cool way to check in with your friends even when you're not with them--at work, home or while you're tooling around. You can "tweet" (posting a short message via Twitter) from your computer or most cell phones (you must have text messaging).

How does it work?

Click the image below or just click this link and you'll arrive on a page that lets you know I use Twitter. First, you will need to join Twitter (it's free and hassle-free), then go to my page again. Under my picture you'll see a "Follow Me" link. Click it and you will start receiving my tweets. Sweet.


You can use your Twitter home page to tweet to your friends, or you can get a Twitter client application for your computer--like Twitterific. Some cell phones also have Twitter applications, so you don't necessarily have to use text messaging.

Use Twitter to aggregate!

With all the different social networks, blogs and such, I am using Twitter as a common link to my friends. Sean may be on MySpace. Mark may be on FaceBook. But I get a tweet from them both each time they post to their separate social sites, because both of these social networks tweet--they can post a short version of your content to Twitter as an option!

When I post to my personal blog, it automatically tweets the subject of my post and a link to its content. Then, all of my "followers" get a tweet from me. So, I can tweet directly through Twitter, or indirectly through my blog. You can do the same. Make sense?

Wait a minute--Blogs?

Yes, blogs. A blog is a web-based journal of your thoughts created using text, images, video--or all three. They can be personal journals, vacation highlights, or even commercial endeavors. Some authors blog and then after a year, turn the blog into a book. 

If you are curious about blogs, etc., you might just check out Posterous. It is a free blogging service with no ads and it is EXTREMELY easy to use. You can post (add content to) your Posterous blog 100% via email! 

I use my iPhone to take a snapshot, create an email out of it, write a few comments, and then send it to a Posterous email address. Within a minute, my email becomes a post on my blog like I did this morning! There's a even special Posterous email address that will simultaneously post to your blog and Twitter!

Sorry about the length of this email

I'm always looking for ways to stay in touch with out-of-town family and friends scattered across the globe. Twitter is makes reaching out a lot easier and more fun. 

See you in cyberspace?

Jerry

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Filed under  //   communication   community   techology  
Posted by Jerry Daniels 

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