The November issue of Fast Company highlights Gordon Bell, Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research Labs (full text available to Stanford users).
For the past seven years, Bell has been 'lifelogging', creating a near-total digital record of his life. Every piece of e-mail, every document, every chat session, every site he surfs, every picture his portable minicam takes, is copied and tucked away using his custom-designed software, MyLifeBits. The result? A mass of more than 101,000 e-mails, about 15,000 documents, 99,000 Web pages and 44,000 pictures. This collection is giving Bell the ability to perform feats of memory reminiscent of Rain Man. He can produce the exact contents of a note in his office 30 years ago -- and who passed him on the street last month. Instantly.
The article includes 7 tips on building your own MyLifeBits. As author Clive Thompson says, "It's a crazy experiment. But perhaps it's craziest aspect is that soon you'll be part of it too -- whether you want to be or not." Crazy? Not for Bell, who says that with hard-drive space exploding and our society's growing proclivity to publicize our lives, computers and the Net are becoming capable of recording everything we see and do. "People say, 'Oh, what you're doing is revolutionary!' I say, 'No, no, it's evolutionary. Because it's happening to you. It's happening as you speak.'"
The last Ford Taurus rolled off the assembly line in Atlanta, the New York Times reported. This plant will close because of cost cutting efforts initiated by Ford's new chief executive, Alan R. Mulally. This closure is just part of the plan that Ford hopes will reverse one of the worst financial crises in its 103-year history.
Think you know what analysts are saying? Not in their formal Wall Street reports, but in their own blogs? To find out, head to Tekraki. A total of 170 blogs are listed. The directory lists the name of the blogger, a link to the blog, and a one-sentence description of the blog's scope.
'Catch the Wave of Wealth' is the title of an interview with pioneering futurist Alvin Toffler in the October issue of Associations Now. Author Apryl Motley notes that Alvin and Heidi Tofflers' new book, Revolutionary Wealth: How It Will Be Created and How It Will Change Our Lives, forecasts how wealth will be generated and distributed in the global economy of the future. According to the Tofflers, who serve as advisors to companies and governments, we are entering a 'third wave of wealth', characterized by the importance of knowledge in wealth creation. Toffler opines: "Today's mass pessimism is a function of the historical upheaval through which we are moving. It's a typical reaction ... The assumption that there are fixed amounts of resources is limited conceptually. Knowledge is becoming our most important resource -- the key to all the rest -- and there are no fixed limits to knowledge."
Gaming's for children! Or is it? 'Gaming: Let Yourself Fail Forward' is the cover story of the October issue of Associations Now. "Don't kid yourself," author Elliott Masie cautions. "Online games, once the province of the young, could soon change the way your association delivers education and certification programs."
The piece is framed as an interview of two virtual characters, Silver Merit and NextGen Opus, in the world of Second Life -- a growing multiplayer gaming environment on the 'island' of LearnLand where Fortune 500 companies are experimenting with gaming. The characters discuss how gaming is a universal human experience, how it can be conducive to learning and meetings, and how your association can implement virtual environments for training purposes. A sidebar cites the experience of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, who created a virtual simulation game to help their auditors, many in their 20s, to quickly learn about financial derivatives.
There's no altar call at 'The Church of the Non-Believers' -- cover story of the November Wired magazine. Author Gary Wolf talks about a growing skirmish in the ongoing Culture Wars: The New Atheism.
Voices in science and elsewhere are taking an ever more aggressive stance against religion, including Richard Dawkins of Oxford University, authors Sam Harris (Letter to a Christian Nation) and Warren Allen Smith (Who's Who in Hell), philosopher Daniel Dennett of Tufts University -- and Vegas showmen Penn & Teller. Whatever side you're on, this is an interesting take on a highly flammable current issue.
From Forbes Magazine, a list of which celebrities are earning the most money with one catch they are not here to enjoy it!
Their estates continue to make money by inking deals involving both their work and the rights to use their name and likenesses on merchandise and marketing campaigns.
The 2006 Special Edition of The McKinsey Quarterly has an interview with Carrefour's Jean-Luc Chéreau Lessons from a global retailer: An interview with the president of Carrefour China, in which Chéreau tells of the French retailer's experience since opening its first Chinese store in 1995. He also discusses the importance of adapting to local tastes and budgets. Networks of Chinese partners and their knowledge of mainland consumers are crucial as well. Chéreau notes that when multinational companies explore the Chinese market, their failures often teach them more than their successes.
The article also links to a series of reports on "the new Chinese consumer", such as 'Building brands in China', 'Marketing to China's hinterland', 'Understanding the Chinese consumer', 'Understanding China's teen consumers', 'The value of China's emerging middle class'. Some of these are available only to "premium" members. Stanford users may access them at the Information Desk in Jackson Library.
Two GSB alums Rod Beckstrom (MBA '87) and Ori Brafman (MBA '01) have written a book entitled The Starfish and the Spider. The focus of the book is decentralized organizations and how well they can work. The title metaphor derives from the fact that although a starfish and spiders have similar shapes, their internal structure is dramatically different. A spider dies when its head is removed while a starfish can regenerate limbs. What do organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Craigslist and Al-Qaeda have in common? This book draws on real world examples of how starfish like organizations clash with spider like organizations. Read more about this book at Amazon.
The library has a copy of this book in the Popular Business Books collection. Call number: HD50 .B73 2006.
Are you one of those people who needs a caffeine jolt to reach your performance peak? Check this Google map to find a Starbucks near you. Select from the drop down the city you are in, and then drag the map around with your mouse.
Find the Fortune magazine's top 10 highest paid men on this Google map. Click on red anchors, you can see their pictures, compensation, and where they work.
For top 10 highest paid women, check this Google map.
MIT's Technology Review includes in a special September / October issue 'The TR 35', young innovators under the age of 35 with this year's best ideas. They include, among others: Sumeet Singh of Cisco, creator of faster defenses against computer viruses, Ling Liao of Intel, using light modulation to radically increase processing speeds, William King of Georgia Tech, engineer of a nano-soldering iron, Jane McGonigal of 42 Entertainment, alternate-reality game designer, Edward Boyden of Stanford, inventor of artificial neural switching systems, Michael Raab of Agrivida, making fuel ethanol cheaper, and Alice Ting of MIT, who uses 'fluorescence imaging' to reveal the operations of cells in cinematic detail. Joshua Schachter takes honors as 'Innovator of the Year', for creating del.icio.us, an online bookmarking system that has become a grassroots hit for users to collectively organization information across the Web, while Christina Galitsky of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is 'Humanitarian of the Year', for her work in developing a technology for the Third World to filter arsenic from drinking water.
September's Entrepreneur magazine hits 'The Right Spot' -- name of its twelfth annual survey of 'hot cities' for entrepreneurs, broken down by US region.
The winners? Phoenix, Memphis, San Antonio and Las Vegas, among others. Plus a number of runners-up, including Denver, Indianapolis, Nashville and Rochester. Interspersed in the article are cameos of successful entrepreneurs from around the nation -- such as Brenda McCaffrey, resident of Phoenix and founder of the circuit-testing company White Mountain Labs, a seven-year-old business which projects $3 million in sales this year.
This is the title of the October 23 U.S. News & World Report cover story, which outlines growing challenges posed to traditional religious and philosophical concepts by ever more sophisticated scientific inquiries. Author Jay Tolson notes that "during the past 20 years or so (consciousness) has become the focus of an expanding intellectual industry involving the combined, but not always harmonious, efforts of neuroscientists, cognitive psychologists, artificial intelligence specialists, physicists, and philosophers." The article notes the evolution of speculation on the 'soul' from Plato to William James, and examines how contemporary science is bringing new insights to bear. Tolson concludes that new findings suggest that "if religion can learn something valuable about the unity of body and mind from science, then science might be able to relearn something from religion about the deepest purposes of our minds."
From Jackson Library's magazine shelves comes the latest on proper business behavior.
Recent highlights from Ethical Corporation magazine include 'Your Company Lawyers: How to Work With Them, Not Against Them', 'Corruption in Europe: Dealing with the Bribes and Backhanders', 'Italian Football: Not Such a Beautiful Game', and 'Cocoa: How Voluntary Initiatives Can Help the Supply Chain.'
Business & Society brings us 'Ethical Attitudes of Future Business Leaders: Do They Vary by Gender and Religiosity?', and 'A Business Ethics National Index (BENI): Measuring Business Ethics Activity Around the World.'
From Business and Society Review comes 'The Influence of Global Business Regulation: Beyond Good Corporate Conduct', 'Physicians and the Pharmaceutical Industry: A Reappraisal of Marketing Codes of Conduct', and 'Antitrust as Frontier Justice: Is it Time to Retire the Sheriff?'
And finally, Business Ethics brings us a cover story for our time: 'A Measure of Success? Ethics After Enron.'
The Oct. 16th issue of Fortune magazine, devotes 5 different covers (yes, 5 front covers) to the top 5 women CEOs in the US. It also contains a list of the '50 most powerful women in business'. "In a historic year, strong women take charge at PepsiCo, ADM and Kraft. How they did it."
Also in this issue is an article called 'The Second Worst Deal Ever' detailing how Boston Scientific paid too much to take Guidant away from rival Johnson & Johnson.
What a great idea! BusinessWeek tries to help strengthen your knowledge of new technologies in business. They have put out a podcast series, CEO Guide to Technology, which airs once a month and focuses on current topics of interest to CEOs as well as the average business afficionado. Topics covered are related to new technologies and how they can help improve business. Among the topics covered; VoIP (Voice over IP), Social Networks, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). The only down side, or upside if you have an iPod, is you'll have to download iTunes to play these interviews which average about 20-30 minutes.
Begin with O'Reilly's Guide to Web 2.0.
A stellar panel convened at Stanford on October 14, before an audience of more than 4,000, to contemplate current and future global concerns under the rubric 'Anxious Times: Seeing Beyond a World of Perpetual Threats'.
Moderated by Stanford alum and former Nightline host Ted Koppel (M.A., '62), the prominent participants included Stanford President John Hennessy, Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, former Secretary of State George P. Shultz, former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry, Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang, Jean-Pierre Garnier, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline, and Lucy Shapiro, the Virginia and D. K. Ludwig Professor and Director of the Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine.
Among issues, one seemed to surface repeatedly: the idea of the 'global village.' Civil liberties post-9/11 were considered, as well as water supplies. Infectious diseases were also a significant concern. Mr Garnier, discussing the need for pharma companies to expand the drug supply chain, he said "We'll forget about competition, money and profits. This is bigger than us." While some audience members wondered aloud whether the forum should have tackled so many issues, others were enthusiastic. "It was fantastic," The Stanford Daily quoted alum Richard Bush. "We're up for our fiftieth (Stanford) reunion and this was the best part of the trip."
Ed Batista blogs a short meditation on work with 'The Inner Game of Work: Who are You Working For?' He reflects on Tim Gallwey's book 'The Inner Game of Work', recalling a dialog in the final chapter: 'I am not a slave to anything. I do not work under pressure. I am someone who has something to reveal and who wants to reveal it. I am free and only work freely.' Brave and confident words from this voice that seems so faint and gentle. It appears so much smaller than the voices demanding that I must get my work done. It is distinctly different from the voice of obligation and duty that counsels me to meet my responsibilities to others. That voice comes through loud and clear. The one I am listening to now has another tone and another message ... 'I work for myself. I love what I do. I consider work one of the most wonderful opportunities of being alive. Work is my play. But it is play with a purpose. The purpose is mine ..."
Batista denies that choosing to work for yourself implies self-centeredness: 'I wholly agree with Glen Sartain that "in meeting other's needs we find true happiness." But there's a paradox here that we each must confront and resolve in our own way: We need to listen to our inner voice and work freely for ourselves without simply giving in to indulgent whims. And we need to be of service and to create value for others without simply responding to external demands and obligations.'
You can find the book 'The Inner Game of Work' at Jackson Library. Call number: BF481 .G27 2000.
BusinessWeek of October 16 has the cover story 'The Organic Myth'. Apparently the growing demand for organic this-and-that is outdistancing supply. As mainstream consumers turn to organic foods, there just isn't enough in the way of organic cows, the organic grain that they eat, and organic fruits and veggies to keep up. To complicate matters, giants like Wal-Mart and General Mills are jumping in. The cottage industry of yesteryear is becoming the conglomerate of tomorrow. And as firms scramble to find bona fide organic ingredients, the ethos that once defined the organic lifestyle is giving way to something that looks increasingly like agribusiness-as-usual: thousands of organic cows kept on mass feedlots, expanding incursions into forest for ever more farmland, importation of ingredients from foreign countries where cheap labor is exploited. Perhaps the Organic Movement has fallen prey to one of History's paradoxes: An excess of success.
Robert B. Reich, former Secretary of Labor, is interviewed in the September issue of Training + Development magazine. The cover story, 'Preparing the Workforce', springboards off Reich's famous categorization of the 'symbolic analyst' -- the person who manipulates information to solve problems -- to discuss his current views. Reich voices his concern that a large segment of the US labor pool remains woefully unprepared for the challenges of the new century : "At least one-third of the current workforce continues to be unprepared. ... They are working at local service jobs for near the minimum wage. Most of these are dead-end jobs." The interview goes on to touch several topics, including outsourcing. Reich opines "Companies are wise to be in emerging markets ... They are wise to source there; they are wise to find human resources there." But he cautions, "On the other hand, it is a fallacy for American companies to believe that they can offshore their most important technical, engineering, research, development, strategic, and sales operations." In conclusion: "The fact is a dedicated innovative, and talented workforce is the only source of sustained competitive advantage. Wall Street, hopefully, will wake up to this reality."
UC Davis Prof. Andrew Hargadon in his blog expresses concern about some disturbing trends in social networking. He worries that in relying heavily on online networks people might lose the value of relationships built with mindful, interactive, personal contact with others. To illustrate the growth in such networks, he cites a BusinessWeek article from September 11, 'Social Networks: Execs Use Them Too', which highlights how corporations are turning to online social networking sites like LinkedIn for their recruiting. Headhunters and HR departments are taking note. Is this the future of recruiting? Such sites are becoming useful in other areas as well, such as sales and marketing; the article notes how a location booker used one such service, Ryze, to find a castle for a corporate promotional.
Think laws are made at our U.S. Capitol building? Think again. So argues 'The Shadow Capital', cover story from the October 9 New Republic. Quoth author Thomas Frank, "Visitors to Washington who want to see democracy in action traditionally waste their time at the viewing galleries of the Capitol building, where -- if they are lucky -- they might see one or two legislators mumbling mechanically for the C-SPAN cameras. ... My advice to those visitors: Walk across the street to Charlie Palmer Steak. This is the place for political spectatorship in the age of Abramoff ... " The upscale eatery is housed at 101 Constitution, ground zero for shadow policymakers and political operatives, where "10 stories of lobbyists plot their next thrust on behalf of the life-insurance industry, the mining industry, or the retail hardware industry." Light up your $20 cigar and enjoy this walk through the legislative sausage factory, birthplace of more pork than a Virginia hog farm.
In Donald MacKenzie's new book, An Engine, Not a Camera : How Financial Models Shape Markets, he "argues that the emergence of modern economic theories of finance affected financial markets in fundamental ways. These new, Nobel Prize-winning theories, based on elegant mathematical models of markets, were not simply external analyses but intrinsic parts of economic processes." "MacKenzie examines the role played by finance theory in the two most serious crises to hit the world's financial markets in recent years: the stock market crash of 1987 and the market turmoil that engulfed the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management in 1998. He also looks at finance theory that is somewhat beyond the mainstream - chaos theorist Benoit Mandelbrot's model of "wild" randomness. MacKenzie's pioneering work in the social studies of finance will interest anyone who wants to understand how America's financial markets have grown into their current form."
A review by David Warsh is available at economicprincipals.com. You can find this book in the library's MAIN collection, under call number: HG4523 .M24 2006.
Want a new perspective? New Perspectives Quarterly tracks global trends and civilizational changes at the highest level through articles and interviews. Sample items from recent issues:
• 'Planet of Slums' by Mike Davis
• 'Psychopaths of Faith vs. The Muse of Irreverence' by Wole Soyinka
• 'Will Groundbreaking Movies Move the Middle East?' by Graham E.
Fuller
• 'In the End China will Vote Against Iran at UN' by Chris Patten
• 'Populism and Globalization Don't Mix' by Fernando Henrique Cardoso
• 'George Bush's Suicidal Statecraft' by Zbigniew Brzezinski
• 'The Triangle of Peace' by Shimon Peres
• 'Ratzinger is Right' by Rene Gerard
• 'Ending Poverty in Africa: We are Not There Yet' by Jeffrey Sachs
What makes this magazine fascinating is its stunning roster of contributors, a veritable global Who's Who: Salman Rushdie, Rene Girard, Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev, Carlos Fuentes, Madeline Albright, Jeffrey Sachs, Andrew Young, James Watson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Milton Friedman, Hans Blix, Shimon Peres, Daniel Barenboim, Jorge Castenada, Chris Patten ... and the beat goes on. Check it out at Jackson Library.
There's an article in the Oct.11th New York Times, about a GSB PhD alumnus, Prof. Brian Wansink and his work at Cornell University. The article, 'Seduced by Snacks? No, Not You' speaks about how eaters are influenced by any number of things to overindulge. His research in part influenced companies to come out with those "100-calorie" snacks packs that you see in the grocery aisles these days.
This is one of the most popular emailed articles at the New York Times site.
Much has been made of so-called disruptive technologies that in the past broke on the scene, shaking up the corporate pecking order and transforming lifestyles. Now welcome ... The Next Disruptors. This is the title of the cover story for the October issue of Business 2.0. The 'disruptors' are 11 businesses authors Schonfeld and Borzo have identified to become new challengers to the current pantheon of Google, Skype, Citibank, Ford, Oracle, et al. Their list of suspects includes Netvibes, EEStor, Coghead, NextMedium, Salesforce.com and others. Major changes could be in the wind. After all, as the article starts off, William Orton of Western Union in 1876 asked of the newfangled telephone, "What use could this company make of an electrical toy?" And we know that story.
Are you a poet at heart, but need some quick business knowledge? There's a new book in the library called The Wall Street MBA: Your personal crash course in Corporate Finance by Reuben Advani. It is currently shelved in Jackson Library's Career Corner: Finance/Investment Banking section.
What will the business model look like in the next few years? Chris Anderson's book "The Long Tail" speaks about how the "future of commerce and culture isn't in hits, the high-volume head of a traditional demand curve, but in what used to be regarded as misses - the endlessly long tail of that same curve."
For selected articles, books, and websites that discuss the "long tail" and it's effects in various industries, see Hot Topics: Future of Business.
What are these "Hot Topics" pages at the library site? They are a series of pages containing links to articles, books, and websites selected by Jackson Library staff to highlight flashpoints of current hot issues and their impact on the business world. You are welcome to suggest a topic.
Las Vegas-based Redux Beverages launched an energy drink called Cocaine, dubbing it "The Legal Alternative". Sorry to disappoint, but the drink does not actually contain cocaine. Instead, each 8.4 fluid ounce can has 280 milligrams of caffeine - something like three times as much as in a Red Bull energy drink. For more detail, see the ABC news story 'The Ultimate Energy Drink: Cocaine'.
The Marketing News Blog at the American Marketing Association also has a disussion on ethical questions in the branding of Cocaine.
From philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) comes inspiration for the Crooked Timber academic blog site: "Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made."
This well-known site contains academic blogs in a wide range of fields -- psychology, law, sociology, computer science, political science, history -- divided by discipline. Here you'll find blogs for lesser known figures in the academic firmament, as well as 'media stars' like Noam Chomsky. Ongoing discussions can range from DDT to Chinese university curricula to animal rights to creationism to political lobbying to sporting goods.
School is on. You're hip-deep in course reading and assignments. But for that scanty leisure time you do have, enrich yourself by checking out some of the Popular Books just inside the entrance to Jackson Library.
To sample just a few:
Discover the energy and excitement of sports that begins before the first inning or first kickoff in The Business of Sports, by our own George Foster, Bill Walsh, and HBS Professor Stephen A. Greyser.
Howard Gardner, Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at Harvard, brings us Changing Minds: The Art and Science of Changing Our Own and Other People's Minds.
Jack Welch and the 4E's of Leadership, by Jeffrey A. Krames, examines the model the legendary leader employed to identify and cultivate performance-based leaders.
Len Lewis' The Trader Joe's Adventure tracks the rise of an iconoclastic chain that generates sales per square foot twice the industry average.
iCon: Steve Jobs, The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business -- perhaps the title says it all. This new book by Jeffrey S. Young and William L. Simon provides a new perspective on Jobs and his now-famous 'comeback'.
Harry S. Dent, Jr. crystal-gazes with his The Next Great Bubble Boom, where he predicts a third and final 'bubble' taking the Dow to 40,000 by 2010.
Finally, Hershey, by Michael D'Antonio, a biography of entrepreneur Milton S. Hershey and the trade name he built into an enduring American institution.
The October issue of Harvard Business Review includes an interview with Professor James March. The article is called 'Ideas as Art' (pp. 82-89). In the introductory part, the author quotes the University of Chicago professor John Padgett who once wrote: "Jim March is to organization theory what Miles Davis is to jazz." In the interview, March elaborates on the distinction he makes between the practical managerial needs and concerns and scholarly approach to new ideas. He values ideas which contain "some form of elegance or grace or surprise-all the things that beauty gives you" and not being relevant to the immediate needs of an organization manager in a short run. He also explains the essence of his rather famous and colorfully named theories: "garbage can theory", "technology of foolishness", and "hot-stove effect". The interview reveals not only a great and original scholar but also the multifaceted personality of Jim March, a man with appreciation for literature, a poet himself and an author of several books of poetry. In his own words: "What might make a difference to us, I think, is whether in our tiny roles, in our brief time, we inhabit life gently and add more beauty than ugliness."
As of the writing of this post, the online version of this article the library subscribes to is not yet available. A print copy of the October issue is available at Current Periodicals display area of the library.
Guy Kawasaki on his blog interviews Polly LaBarre, co-author with Bill Taylor of the new book Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win. Among the highlights: The difference between a maverick and a jerk? "Mavericks are so different, so edgy, and so independent of spirit that their personal style or message may not appeal to everyone. But that's precisely the point: mavericks are defined by the power and originality of their ideas," says LaBarre. "Don't confuse mavericks' unswerving commitment to a cause and their lack of patience for the status quo with the egotism, monomania, and power mongering modeled by too many celebrity CEOs and moguls. Mavericks, in fact, have a sense of humility." Are mavericks born or made? "It's probably a little bit nature, a little bit nurture," LaBarre suggests. "We wrote this book to nurture the maverick in all businesspeople. ... We all want to make a mark, forge our own path, and express ourselves in the world. It's just that some of us need more of a nudge down that path than others. Hopefully the maverick individuals and ideas we present are inspiring and instructive enough to move people."
The October Atlantic reports that for most of the Twentieth Century, the typical American workday grew shorter. But since 1970, a paper points out, this trend has reversed itself. The trend is most acute among highly skilled workers. In The Expanding Workweek? Understanding Trends in Long Work Hours Among U.S. Men, 1979-2004, authors Peter Kuhn and Fernando Lozano argue that this reflects a changing attitude toward compensation.
Guy Kawasaki (The Macintosh Way, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy) takes on venture capitalists at his blog Signal Without Noise. He posted this controversial take on VC in January, where he listed his 'Top Ten Lies of Venture Capitalists'.
Newsweek (August 28, 2006) in 'Poking a Stick into the "Hive" Mind' observes that Jaron Lanier -- famed virtual-reality pioneer, New Age composer, and artificial intelligence expert -- has got a bone to chew with Wikipedia. Dismayed at trends of digital collectivism, where preferences of thousands or even millions are aggregated on the Web, Lanier has coined the term 'Digital Maoism' -- also the name of an essay he wrote, widely circulated online. In it, Lanier draws comparisons to negative outcomes in China during Mao's reign, and warns against subsuming one's identity into the electronic mass. Retorts Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, "Lanier is objecting to the writing style of the Wikipedia being neutral rather than biased," and goes on to contend that imbalances in coverage are just a temporary effect in its development. Likewise, Kevin Kelly, author of Out of Control, responds "The hive mind can't do everything, but it's not stupid and boring. There's no evidence that it subsumes individual expression."
The cover story of the October 2 BusinessWeek, 'Click Fraud: The Dark Side of Online Advertising', serves as a wake-up call about online scams that are taking a toll on the advertising costs of thousands of companies. BW studies the people and technology behind this phenomenon -- and how it "poses the single biggest threat to the Internet's advertising gold mine". When giants such as Google recycle ads to dubious sites, 'legit' marketers can get billed as those ads are accessed. And those clicks can come from anywhere on earth, authors Brian Grow and Ben Elgin document. Defined as 'clicking on Internet advertising solely to generate illegitimate revenue for the Web site carrying the ad", click fraud is a growing concern in an economy where spending on Internet ads is growing faster than any other sector of the ad industry.
In an innovative move to share its intellectual treasures with the public, UC Berkeley announced last week that it is delivering educational content, including course lectures and symposia, free of charge through Google Video. Meanwhile, course offerings have increased on the Berkeley on iTunes U service.
Diego Rodriguez at his metacool blog writes about 'brand fractalness'. He cites a child who recognizes, by visual cues alone, that an Apple outlet near Stanford is thereby an iPod outlet.
Elsewhere citing Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia, Rodriguez observes: 'Patagonia still vibrates in sync with every fiber of Chouinard's body. That's brand fractalness -- I think if you're doing things right, you are your offerings, and your offerings are you and everyone else who produces them and adopts them into their own lives.' He comments: 'Brands are fractal entities, and the meaning of the whole is to found in the execution of even the lowliest detail.'
'How much of your organization's brand is in you?' Rodriguez asks. 'And vice versa?'
I was searching for articles in Ebsco Business Complete database and found an article that I thought was intriguing called 'Buying into Crisis' (full-text available on Stanford Network). In part, the "article cites investors who have attempted to profit from companies that cater to terrorist detection or to companies that were employed following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina." A risky gamble don't you think? Or maybe not given the climate of the times.
Fast Company highlights in its July / August 2006 issue the 'Rise of the Aerotropolis' -- the emergence of giant airport-cities around the globe. An example is Suvarnabhumi, near Bangkok, intended to have the largest terminal in the world when it opens later this year; by 2036, it is estimated that a city of 3.3 million -- larger than present-day Chicago -- will have surrounded it. The immense new Chek Lap Kok airport that serves Hong Kong, the most expensive ever constructed, contains a luxury mall and the city's largest hotel, plus residences for 45,000 workers nearby. And an even larger complex, the $33 billion Dubai World Central, will open late next year -- the size of O'Hare and Heathrow airports combined. It will eventually include housing for over 100,000, one of the world's largest malls, a Four Seasons golf course, and on-site office towers.
In Fast Company July-August 2006 is an article by Clive Thompson, 'eBay heads East'. The piece cites the vast potential growth of e-retailing in China. "This is going to be enormous. China is already one of the most entrepreneurial societies around", opines Mary Meeker of Morgan Stanley. From 2004 to 2005, total value of Chinese e-commerce leapt forward greatly, $43.6 billion to $68.9 billion. Quoth James Zheng, PayPal's COO in China, "The whole economy in the world is coming down to one com |
