Words of hope in an era of calamity

Once again, the print version of a newspaper is dead. This time it’s the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, disrupting the lives of journalists and the news coverage of a region, as it shifts to a pared-down digital edition after 146 years of delivering news on paper. Journalism’s economic crisis has attained historic proportions — but there are […]

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The cigarette tax and human behavior

According to the CDC, roughly 20% of the American population, some 43 million people, smoke (and within that group 80% smoke every day).  That number is down significantly from just a few decades ago, but the rate of decline has leveled off in recent years.  Some attribute the slow-down to creative marketing tactics by the […]

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Hello From SeeClickFix

WeMedia has been kind enough to offer us a place on their blog to keep their community updated about the progress of SeeClickFix.Com. We’ll be checking in here frequently, but here’s an update on new features, new relationships, and ways you can help spread the clicking. ___New Features____*Mobile Web VersionUse SeeClickFix from your smart phone […]

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My Challenge to Google Ventures

Google announced this week that they were creating a venture capital arm whose main objective will be to turn a profit.  The group, called Google Ventures, is expected to invest up to $100 million in the next 12 months. The New York Times article on the announcement notes that “Google will tap the connections of […]

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Thinking, Writing, Connecting

I owe you an apology.  Part of my role is to help manage the blog and keep the conversation among those in the WeMedia community going strong.  I dropped the ball in a big way. I haven’t posted since the WeMedia conference at the end of February.  I haven’t followed up on many of the […]

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Blogger dies in Iranian prison

A Facebook campaign has been launched to hold Iran responsible for the death of Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, a 29-year old Iranian blogger who died March 18 in an Iranian prison. In December, he was sentenced to two and half years in prison for insulting religious leaders and engaging in propaganda. More from Global Voices […]

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ExecTweet: Big wigs fart just like everyone else

A new web site called ExecTweet collects Twitter posts from assorted business executives. The site got extraordinary attention on launch this week – here are stories in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and many others. Why so much interest? Twitter watchers, admirers and detractors have been a-twitter for months debating if/when/how the […]

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A branding challenge for social entrepreneurs

Originally published on NextBillion.net Two weeks ago I attended the We Media conference in Miami as a We Media Fellow . The conference was exciting and thought-provoking and made me think a lot about the state of the “development through enterprise” community and us entrepreneurs working to fight poverty through innovative, private-sector-lead solutions. I’ll share […]

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Kristoff and the Sea of Stories

Just when I think The New York Times is beginning to understand the concept of story in a connected society, Nicholas Kristoff invokes the old “Daily Me” cliche in an op-ed column. God save us from ourselves, so says Nick. God save us from Kristoff. He ought to know better than to conjure up a […]

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Legends of the fall

Two recent metaphors, both good, from the long, sad conversation about newspapers. From South By Southwest, author Stephen Berlin Johnson’s ecosystem metaphor (pick it up at the second chapter) with chart. Or full video. And the map from latest The New York Times story that tells it all.

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Me to everyone: Be wary of the virtual nothing

As I was walking down the stairs I met a man who wasn’t there He wasn’t there again today I wish, I wish he’d stay away I just joined me2everyone.com, a new social network from the UK that many voices on the Internet say will not only be bigger than Google, but will also provide […]

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The gov 2.0 conversation is stalled

I am in Austin for SXSW and listening to a conversation about the future of government in a connected society.  The natural topics have come up — how to use data, what transparency means, the role of media, what technology standards are used, and similar. It is an interesting conversation, full of smart and experienced […]

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Full circle

From The Economist: “A piece of the American experience has faded away. Fisher-Price, the toy company that used to market them, has just eliminated almost all the View-Master titles that have been a staple of young lives for almost 70 years.” I first discovered the world in 3-D on a paper disc and a plastic […]

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The Girl Effect

My daughter Amanda took the above photo in Nepal. The picture on the right is of my new granddaughter, Elizabeth Jane. I thought of them as I discovered The Girl Effect, a project from the Nike and UN Foundation that stunned global leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The big idea: unlocking the […]

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