Inspiring the Youth of Mongolia

Opportunity. Take it. It is rare that any human being gets the kind of chance given to today’s youth in Mongolia. This giant country has a tiny population, and yet its people are entrepreneurial, hardy, and open. And the economy will thrive based on strong economic conditions, robust civil society, freedom of the press, and [...]

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I need to write down my predictions more often… Berlusconi & Netanyahu…

Whenever I look at events, I use a technique I call “Trajectories“. I figure out what are the key elements to the progression of a set of events, and then make an estimate of how likely certain outcomes will be. I write down my estimates in my notebook, and then go back and review them [...]

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Plausible Ridiculousness – My Tactic to Help Others

For about three years I have been using a tactic to present myself. That tactic is “plausible ridiculousness“. It is a tactic, not reality! I have been working on a plan to help change the world (for better) at huge scale. Ultimately this means: helping people be more happy… and less sad… be free to [...]

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Extreme Problem Solving & The Science of Spread – Presentation at HR Tech Europe

I was invited to deliver a keynote on technology and people at the HR Tech Europe event in Amsterdam. I am talking at the same time as I deliver the slides, so don’t be disappointed if you are not sure what the slides mean just by looking at them online. You’d be missing the point [...]

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The Zimbabwe Election Monitoring Project 2008

My first ever big ‘change the world (for better)‘ initiative was helping the MDC opposition in Zimbabwe win the 2008 elections. I have told the story many times (in person, and sometimes with a glass of wine in hand). In order to provide more detail around the story, plus some photos of what actually happened, [...]

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New Accountability for Corporations: Jail Time for Executives

The OccupyWallStreet (OWS) movement has gathered momentum rapidly, from a mere mention in a July 2011 e-mail newsletter from Adbusters, a Canadian activist organization, to hundreds of locations and thousands of supporters across the US and beyond (see Wikipedia history on OWS). The We are 99 Percent movement, as some are calling themselves, have many grievances, [...]

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Found my book list again! Neuroscience, networks, behavioral science & more @orcasci

            http://astore.amazon.com/orcasci-20     Our Favorites Neuroscience Behavioral Science Numbers Networks Complex Systems Techniques Collective Intelligence History Books Science Questions Innovation Management

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News reporting bias – from gung-ho Iraq style to personal stories in Libya (blog)

There is a quite a difference in the tone of reporting on the end of the Libyan conflict (near end, anyway) and the end of the Iraqi conflict. Today’s reporting is much more personal, narrative stories of people effected by the crisis, and usually from both sides of the fence, pro and anti-Gaddafi. The Iraqi [...]

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Saif Al-Islam’s non-arrest – the importance of hoaxes in war (inspired by Guardian)

So, now the world knows that Saif did not really get arrested, or maybe that if he had been arrested, he somehow escaped. The initial response was despair, and a feeling of distrust of the NTC leadership and communications team. (see Guardian article of 23 Aug for a sample) The thing is, as a professional in [...]

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Sharing FB comments – Mongolia protests sparked by deaths

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/30/ap/asia/main20067302.shtml   Why can’t people just get along… two incidents, both local people complaining about encroachment into their local lands (goat herding, etc) – Chinese workers end up killing two people – driving a truck into one, and a forklift truck into another. It will be interesting whether the news / internet clampdown can actually [...]

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