Katherine Fulton draws a clear picture on what each of us is able to achieve if she/he just acts. I’ve made my first good experience with one of the organizations mentioned by Katherine: kiva.org. I’ve lent 250 USD to eight small entrepreneurs in Benin, Cambodia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, and Tajikistan. My default rate is currently 0.0%. So, please give it a try. It’s easy to complain about the banking system and the liquidity crisis. You can make a difference.
July, 2009
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Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009100 Days with Our MacBook White
Saturday, July 18th, 2009
Photo from Ricky Romero (Creative Commons License)
Yes, we are happy MacBook users! Me and my wife too: “Why didn’t you already buy this Mac some years ago?” She loves the dock with its program icons, the amazing fast boot time, and the intuitive handling of day-to-day tasks (e.g. including a foto into an e-mail).
The only thing which I’m not satisfied at all is the missing import function from Outlook to Mail. This is a basic feature that I would have expected to be implemented by Apple. Why do I have to buy a 3rd party tool to import properly emails and contacts?
Which are the other pieces of software that are very useful, not part of the Mac software package, and free of charge?
- Cyberduck – the right choice for an FTP client
- Fruux – a good solution to synch your address books, calendars, and favourites between Mac users (even on the same MacBook)
- Gimp – for the more advanced editing of your fotos and graphics
- OpenOffice – good enough for 80% of the tasks I use the MS office package for in the office
- MPEG StreamClip – a converter for MPEG video files
- RadioLover – the right tool to record and split MP3 songs from radio streams (limited to 30 minutes per session for the free version)
- Skype – no need to introduce this one…
- Smultron – an open source text editor (e.g. to edit HTML code on your website)
- XMind- use it for mindmapping
- Zattoo – watch TV via an easy-to-use peer-to-peer system (mostly German channels)
Visual Innovation
Monday, July 13th, 2009
TED has again called my attention to an outstanding information design expert. Tom Wujec works on creative innovation (ok, do you know uncreative innovation?) and visual collaboration.
As a knowledge management consultant I perceive the visual framework for business effectiveness as a framework that doesn’t contain new elements. However, the methodology relies heavily on visualized communications and is presented in a very clear way. So, the “how to” part of it is really a “visual innovation”
The so-called “knowledge maps” are collections of sketches from presentations and events. This way of visualizing a presentation is of course different from usual meeting notes. Though, the methodology doesn’t scale. You have to rely on a skilled artist as Tom is to make full use of it. And you have to like his style of doing it.
As a citizen interested in sustainability I would of course love to see the “new previously unseen visualizations” of sustainability and the unveiling of the emerging technology of EcoViz tools.
Ignore Everybody
Thursday, July 9th, 2009
“Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity“: A great book by Hugh MacLeod. Easy and funny to read. However, full of insights and food for thought if you intend to become a ‘real’ artist.
The three keys I’ve appreciated most are:
#8. Keep your day job.
#28. The best way to get approval is not to need it.
#29. Power is never given. Power is taken.
