A full month? August, 2010

Change2010_00: pattern-based vs. systemic change

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

This is the first short article of a 7-article series on change, that I will post along the month of September.

The purpose is quite simple: share, through case studies and examples, an approach that I used in my prior activities joining technology and change, and focusing on the change itself.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Blogosphere News
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace
  • Reddit
  • Technorati

Just a public announce…

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

Just a preview of what is coming up on this and related websites :)

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Blogosphere News
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace
  • Reddit
  • Technorati

Who owns cultural heritage?

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

In this article, my examples will focus only on Europe- anyway, I think that the principles described in the last two sections are universally applicable.
Recently, I was reading some articles about what I could define “a family feud”, as this has been a recurring item on newspapers in Italy.
Admittedly- during the Summer, and mainly in [...]

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Blogosphere News
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace
  • Reddit
  • Technorati

From cost- to externalities-based pricing

Friday, August 13th, 2010

This article is about something really simple, and yet so complex: setting a price.

A puzzling element of the current discussions about global warming is how often carbon neutrality seems to have become yet another marketing tool.

And this is a good starting point to discuss about prices and corporate social responsibility.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Blogosphere News
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace
  • Reddit
  • Technorati

Biometric IDs and you

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

First and foremost: I think that adding biometric security features to our legally issued IDs is a normal technological improvement of security- and the matter is only “how” and “when”, not “if”.

“Biometric” IDs include information that is unique (more or less) for each individual.

Of course, it is cheaper to print a piece of paper and add a stamp than adding a chip containing your fingerprints or retina scan, or other information.

Also if I think that biometric chips should not be implanted on people, at least not for official uses, for reasons that will be explained in this short article.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Blogosphere News
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace
  • Reddit
  • Technorati

Forecasting the future and number crunching

Monday, August 9th, 2010

Well, forecasting the past is a pointless exercise, I assume.

I am restudying statistics, restarting from scratch.

The first time I did it? Few times in school and at the beginning of the university, of course.

Why now? Because I want to understand and review the computations behind some existing models, instead of re-inventing the wheel- with my old models, I needed to understand but not to write computations.

The main difference? Models built on historical data and limited behavioural analysis, vs. models built on historical behaviour and limited data.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Blogosphere News
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace
  • Reddit
  • Technorati

From privacy to nationality, via identity

Saturday, August 7th, 2010

This week it was reported that the CEO Google predicts the end of privacy on the internet.
But, in part, the announce was an element within a campaign on “network neutrality”, i.e. ensuring that providers cannot filter and decide which content is published and distributed, controlling how the available resources are used.
The interesting issue is: part [...]

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Blogosphere News
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace
  • Reddit
  • Technorati

Human-oriented steganography

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

Somebody says that need is the mother of invention.

As usual, I am following the approach of alternating technology and political articles- today, an article about communication, memory, technology, and the transmission and storage of information.

This lunch-time short article starts as a generic description, in non-technical terms, adds some boring details, and closes again with a generic description.

Let’s say that this morning I had another set of catalysts: need, of course, boredom, and… a cappuccino.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Blogosphere News
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace
  • Reddit
  • Technorati

Euro: costs and benefits

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

An interesting, curious article on the Wall Street Journal about the 500 EUR banknotes and seignorage made me think about the headless chicken.

As no revisions to the article have been published, I assume that the information that it contains is confirmed- and I wanted to share some comments.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Blogosphere News
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace
  • Reddit
  • Technorati

Cyber-jurisdiction and the cloud: the smartphone case

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

A short commentary to share (again) some doubts and ideas about what I could define… the separation of the Cyber-church and the State.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Blogosphere News
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace
  • Reddit
  • Technorati