The highlight of the most recent Springwise Newsletter is the promotion of Austin-based SwapYourShop.com. It facilitates Life Hacks in the shape of swapping your address as well as your job between countries or continents. New world vibes alongside keeping your business alive or keep working for your current employer.
The title is a quote by Christian Dior (DRK). And when I gaze through one of my favorite newsletters that collects and shares innovative business ideas: Springwise, this becomes an apparent fact. Innovations on display include a Wifi scale, Chocolate with a conservation commitment, Vanity barcodes, Best loved brands. The most scalable one in my opinion is a medical tourism portal.
The web is Globalization. The web is a mirror of societies. Its a huge mirror, yet we go back to select spots as our brains keep reaching their capacity. Home. To the safe places. New text mining tools are out there. Incredible in capacity, able to crunch and conserve huge amounts of data. Since this is my daily business, I often think of this when I exercise my right to express myself. What weird picture could be made of my text bits, my blips, my connections, my life online. Data clouds and data integration is mighty fascinating. And a bit intimidating. But I guess that’s the only way to quality control what’s being published. The best, the bravest, the ones who care the less about the norms, or the ones who care the most. All will continue ahead.
I read a presumption that Google is afraid of Facebook. Afraid. Such a strong word for such a mighty business. Uncertainty is what keeps creativity flowing (more DRK - Deepak Chopra).
Follow people in search of truth, and stay far from those who found it.
I consider having my teeth checked when going on my annual winter trip. Had the medical tourism portal included dentists in Goa, I would have used it. I have morale remorse , just like the web says. I have characteristics that places me quite distinctively in a segment. Feels weird. When at the same time people are suffering and the world is so uneven. I hope that web transparency will bring out the best in all of us. I defend the state of luxury living.
tags:globalization, trends
I want to recommend a book named Rettidig Omsorg - roughly translates Punctual Care - which is only available in Danish. That is its only flaw. The author is Jens Moberg, the highest ranking Dane in the history of Microsoft. Currently, he is the CEO of Better Place, in the creation of electrical cars and matching infrastructure. Something that requires good analytics. And he’s a real top-notch decision maker who manages to keep in real contact with the most humanistic and thus sustainable values for filtering the world. If you have the slightest interest in management and human behavior, I recommend this book. Its full of sweet graphics and wise quotes to remember too. My favorite is this:
If you want to be somebody, be yourself!
tags:belief, books, management
i’ve been meta-tweeting recently. many have for a long, long time. henriette weber, web connaisseur extraordinaire, i do believe, was the one who introduced me to microblogging in her jaiku days. i vividly remember she said to use it to know it. and i wanted to. that really is years ago! 2006, i think. it took me this long to embrace it to the level where i pass on her piece of advice with confidence. and i’m not even fully convinced. 90% there. 85. in making my mind up that its a good thing that our inevitable use of social technologies will make the world truly one.
today, for example, the top 5 trending topics on twitter are: #havetoadmit (i’m sure there are some good secrets out there, but i couldn’t find any of interest before deciding it was a time waste to look), #chrisisadouche (useless, waste of time), Chuck Norris, Michael Jackson, Pirates. i have no use for any of this. i can’t imagine who does. google hot trends also don’t impress me at all.
cold coffee break
‘progress’ can have a high price. ab fab’s daughter told me that costa rican farmers don’t get to decide for themselves what crops to seed. they drink imported coffee, even though they produce plenty to supply themselves and others. this sucks. big time. everyone should try to supply their local area. our self-preservation instinct should not be surpressed by national or global regulations. even when it’s produced cheaper elsewhere. and so for practical reasons we still need to divide the planet into nations. divide the land that can or can not be used for a variety of things.
yet cultural characteristics dissolve. we become more like each other. we grow a mutual understanding that spites national borders. it doesn’t matter where you’re from. online, we are equal! and i think that is bloody great! it’s a miracle. like the steam power, electricity. the plane, the phone, laser, what have you. now, an amazingly smooth transport of data. so smooth that it empowers our relations all over the world. as a consequence, our interesting differences and national idiosyncrasies become less interesting. they kind of have to step aside, so we can get to business. we focus on what we have in common. and i so hope, that we will use our relatively new power tools to speed up fairness in every sense of its meaning. fair trade, good governance. good policies. sustainability. quality art and thought. not to all waste our precious time on this planet looking through chuck norris facts, wrongfully thinking the trend must have a useful point.
a brief corporate status
in the corporate world, we use advanced it-systems to align our efforts (to make the $$ circulate) across borders already. certainly makes reporting a lot less of a hassle. actually… if you do well, there is no need to report at all. the real benefits of transparency have become very clear to me. transparency frees resources. allows you to focus. frees resources to define what you want to do, instead of what you’re already doing. top management (be it yourself or some gray-haired guys whom you trust to know what they’re doing, so much so that you’ve decided to work for them) adds it all up, and decides what to do with the profits (or whatever it adds up to these days). i have enough experience to observe that this is a best practice. when you have all available facts gathered up, or when you judge that you have sufficient, you are armed to make the right decisions. in the right time, i should add. there’s no big mystery to it.
as the facts roll in (be it corporate reports or feeds from peers around the world), you are still obliged to wonder if things can be done even better. this is what makes you invest in development. on making more good ideas a reality, and of meeting demands of a picky market place. and we can. the world is now technologically armed with this ability. the world has gotten so much smaller. we’re using the same systems. we pour data into the same pool. we learn from each other, and educate each other. and take upon us to share. thoughts, ideas, notions. preferably fact-checked insights. we must govern ourselves well. make the right decisions. gather the facts. take good advice, and offer it. and not least, you must take appropriate action. in the areas where your powers matter the most. very much available online. use it.
take in the good, don’t get caught up in the useless
systems can come up with suggestions, you can get ideas on your own. with full access to the world, it’s more important than ever, to pick the good vibes. the good ideas. the sustainable thoughts. of course it will clutter. of course we have a need to share also the ‘useless’ details about our lives… such as what we’re eating, buying, appreciating, fascinated with, and that’s okay. that’s how we get a feel for whom our peers really are. helps us feel normal. human. all right.
i believe it’s human nature to want progress. it certainly is my nature. and technology, the free social platforms in particular, give mankind an enormous potential and humbling power to make the world better. be constructive with what you share. pick the good stuff. try to have a majority of positivity in what you share. be critical, always. but focus on the good. as we pile our interests together, i believe we do want a greener and more sustainable planet. raise your voice for what you believe in. and don’t forget to (trans)act.
tags:act, community, democracy, globalization, twitter
Wikipedia, Flickr, and Twitter aren’t just revolutions in online social media. They’re the vanguard of a cultural movement. Forget about state ownership and five-year plans. A global collectivist society is coming—and this time you’re going to like it.
that’s wired’s kevin kelly in The New Socialism: Global Collectivist Society Is Coming Online. for so long i have wanted to write a proper blog post about this new socialism i am so very happy to be a part of. but i have to face, that when i’m at my most uptight ambitious, my energy is not spent on this blog. this blog is for recreation. creativity. curiosities. well-being. and expression. of which at least the latter has been used up. and so for a while instead of blogging, i spend my evenings listening to all kinds of music in the one world. blipping is also expression, but a very undemanding one. it expresses your taste in music. and the bits of your personality or pov that you care to share. this is the web. where japan greets you good morning at night. and where colleagues across the atlantic take over when you leave work. few hours to talk and chat and webex and share, but we’re interacting and that is the norm. the web empowers us all. as prosumers. creating, sharing, interacting. with individuals and companies. with the ones who get it. we all have to get it, and will eventually.
but for now, ladies & gentlemen who come across this post in search of insights on the new socialism, although in the light end of it, blip.fm stays on the front page. enjoy.
tags:blip, community, music, new socialism
my talented brother who gave me this drawing for my b-day is just elected chairman of the danish comics council (interview from dr2 on youtube). denmark needs the comics council to position comics as an art form that contributes to understanding various aspects of life. contributes to lifting the spirits of consumers, in the same way as other art forms have the potential to.
i strongly agree that comics has these powers. as an example, my brother gave me mixed double by johan f. krarup. a sweet and most suited gift, in particular for anyone who contemplates playing tennis running a personal ad.
thank you for doing and sharing.
tags:comics, family, generousity, graphic novels
for various reasons i missed barcamp copenhagen which was held yesterday. but from the twits from probably the coolest geeks in my network, my guess is that nabaztag is the new black. and damn’! is this little adoptable rabbit adorable.
this little tai chi mastering rabbit literally speaks for your network, alerts, calendar, mailbox, radio, time manager and for other nabaznauts (who can even send songs and more to each other) based on your personal settings. this might actually drive you very crazy very quickly, but that’s just a matter of settings (i would hope!)! this clever rabbit can also read books or blogs out loud for you. all that monsieur rabbit needs to work like this is a wifi router. check it out (remember sound)! or join the nabaztag community before i do…
tags:community, irl, nabaztag, social audio
| my duoboots arrived on wednesday, 10 days after i ordered them. and the tnt guy said to have been by 2 times before, and i believed him. they fit. they actually fit. very comfortable. go holland, go holland! |  |
added nov. 30: plus, i received 20 hits from duo boots until delivery, so as far as i know they’re cool!tags:boots, consumer info
the dutch are being clever once again (previously praised dutchmen in green graffiti, eco-clubbing and interior design). duoboots made me buy a pair of boots online. something i would not have done if it hadn’t been for the little duo difference: calf fitting (and width fit for shoes).
i’m glad my list of ecommerce do’s doesn’t come short yet, as it really is that tiny touch of ‘personalization’ that makes all the difference… the shoes and boots are all made to begin with; you can search your shoe- as well as calf size… so the ‘personalization factor’ really is emotional, and in reality it is the product selection that stands out as a niche. will be back with unbelievably interesting info on whether the boots actually arrive fit or not. tags:boots, personalization, webshop
this must be the future: eco-friendly clubbing, where dancing power equals electricity. club4climate started in the netherlands, and have just had an eco-friendly party in london. i would love an eco-friendly dance floor here in copenhagen. visit dr. earth who operates under the motto: all you have to do is dance to save the world (and “partying not parasites”). further initiatives to make clubs self-sufficient, for example flushing toilets with rain-water and making energy out of sweat and urine (!?) are being worked on. for now; club owners (and the rest of us) could embrace just some simple eco-friendly starting points. read springwise’s coverage.
another eco-friendly business idea is to make money with reverse graffiti. again, clever dutchmen are first-movers (and even TM’ed the name GreenGraffiti) in proving that commercial messages can also be eco-friendly. although the case GreenGraffiti is showcasing at present is cleverly extending the notion of “outdoor advertising”, it is pretty lame… i have mixed emotions with this concept. in one way, i think all aspects of businesses should be as eco-friendly as possible, yet in another way, i think most of us would appreciate that public spaces remain free of commercial messages…
it is a safe assumption though that many a good business starts with arts! tags:clubbing, eco friendly, graffiti, sustainability