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Showing posts from April, 2011

Clay Shirky: How cognitive surplus will change the world

Ushahidi was created by two blog readers who had time (72 hours) to create a platform on which a person can congregate information - aggregates it and make it public, people loved it, so they turned it into an open source platform. The ability of the world population to collaborate on free projects A trillion hours a year exist for free projects When a new technology steps in people always ALSO use it for throwaway stuff (e.g. LOLcats) It's tempting to want the abundance without the LOLcats, but it doesn't work that way Freedom to experiment means freedom to experiment with anything. Even with the printing press we got porn before journals 'Design for generosity' our intrinsic motivations are more powerful than our bosses telling us to do something Deterrence theory - add a punishment, people will do less of that thing Study - when you add a punishment, people do MORE of that thing - if you pay the fine you pay it and you feel nothing, it's more powerful pr

TED: Jason Clay: How big brands can help save biodiversity

Amazon. What can I do to save the rainforest? Get someone to make a product that is sourced from the rainforest that can show that the rainforest is worth more as resource than pasture. It failed. The people who made money from the rainforest were not the same people who were cutting the forest.  The average European cat has a larger carbon footprint than the average African. The average American consumes 43 times more than the average African. Should consumers have a choice between sustainable or not sustainable products, or should all the products on the shelf be sustainable.  Are consumers equipped to make the choice between products? Do they have time to make an informed choice? There are so many ifs ands and buts. It's a minefield. Sustainability needs companies to work together, countries need to work together. And the where what and who have to be managed. There are 1.5 billion producers. 500 commodities determine the trade of all of these companies. If you look at the

TED: Sheryl WuDunn: Our century's greatest injustice

There are fewer women in the world because more girls are discriminated to death than all the people killed in all the battlefields in the 20th century. When you educate a boy, he has slightly fewer children. When you educate a girl, she has significantly fewer children. When you don't use women as part of the solution you not using all the solution resources you can.  Move women out of a viscious cycle into a virtuous cycle (and she will work harder for women than men do - fetsiboomsticks). 

TED: Sheryl WuDunn: Our century's greatest injustice

There are fewer women in the world because more girls are discriminated to death than all the people killed in all the battlefields in the 20th century.  When you educate a boy, he has slightly fewer children.  When you educate a girl, she has significantly fewer children.  When you don't use women as part of the solution you not using all the solution resources you can.  80 000 slaves were transported to the new world, 800 000 women are trafficked across borders .