How the Internet Really Works and How it Encourages Random Acts of Kindness

If you've began to think of the Internet as becoming more trouble than it is worth because of phishing attempts, viruses, and other ways that one man tries to take advantage of another, this video podcast will certainly make you think again. 

Jonathan Zittrain, a professor of Internet law, first does a great job of explaining in a humorous way how low-level technology that makes the Internet possible actually works and how dependent it is on people voluntarily playing by the rules.  He gives a great example of what happens when this does not happen when he describes how Pakistani internet censorship inadvertently hijacked YouTube a couple of years back.

He then goes on to provide real-world examples of how people who do not know each other come together on the Internet to voluntarily provide value to others and even self-police themselves.

Watch "The Web As Random Acts of Kindness" on Ted.com or download the talk on iTunes.

Unpleasant "Secret Sites" and Misidentification of Criminals

This video podcast is both interesting and painful to watch but I feel like it is something people need to watch, especially conservative "law and order" types like myself.

The first half of the video will also open your eyes.  Taryn Simon provides glimpses behind the scenes at various unpleasant "secret sites" you've probably never heard of where nuclear waste is stored, where human bodies are allowed to decay to improve crime scene investigation techniques, and where the Federal Government grows marijuana for research purposes.  Also, did you know the Library of Congress puts out a braille edition of Playboy magazine?

In the second half of this video, Taryn provides a stark reminder that eyewitnesses have been wrong and victims can be wrong.  Sometimes the wrong person was sent to prison for years and exonerated later when improved DNA analysis technology became available.  Decades of lives were lost.  In one story, 13 different people identified the wrong man as being at the scene of the crime.

Check out "Taryn Simon photographs secret sites" from Ted.com.  It is also available on iTunes.

Too Big to Fail, Consumer Protection, Derivatives, and Government Regulation

I recently discovered the NPR PlanetMoney podcast and have really appreciated their fresh approach which is both entertaining and full of insight.  There is plenty of depth and not just soundbites.

Are you worried about financial institutions which are "too big to fail"?  Are you worried that financial regulators might go to far and make things worse?  In either case, you will appreciate Podcast: Planet Money Live (or click here to find on iTunes).  One of the host's dad is there to ring a bell to make sure nobody uses jargon he doesn't understand without explaining it.

- Bob Litan and Scott Talbott duke it out over what to do with financial institutions that are too big to fail.
- Adam Levitin and Diane Casey-Landry sound off on a proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
- Darrell Duffie and Mark Brickell dispute the future of derivatives.

With special appearances by Alice Rivlin, Martin Bailey, Charles Calomiris, Peter Wallison and Adam's dad, Jack Davidson.

One participant wants a "bigness tax" to discourage financial institutions from getting too big to fail.  One participants wants to go even further and force big institutions to break up.  Industry insiders and conservatives counter with their points that such regulation would have unintended consequences or that large corporations like General Electric need to do business with large financial institutions.

How to Write Clearly At Work

It may not be a popular topic of discussion, but I still think its important.

Listen to David Silverman, author of the Words at Work blog on HarvardBusiness.org and of Typo: The Last American Typesetter or How I Made and Lost 4 Million Dollars discuss better business writing (which in his mind includes writing clear emails).  Here are some good quotes I picked up:

• No writer would think of themselves as fantastic without an editor.
• We should be rewarded for fewer words instead of more.
• All first drafts are pretty terrible..... the rewriting where the effort is.
• Email has replaced the memo.
• The reason you don't get anything done is because you're responding to emails that were poorly written.
• It is not fair to mark a document "Draft" as if it excuses you from making the document any better.
  

There's a discussion on writing a resume and cover letter also for those looking for a job today.

Check it out at How to Write Clearly at Work (also on iTunes).  Here's a link to his book too.

13 Mistakes and 13 Brilliant Strokes

 There are two reasons I like this podcast.

1. I got to hear lessons learned from the successes and failures of someone who has both worked in major companies and successfully stared companies.
2. I learned why DNA sequencing could revolutionize healthcare.
   

"Hugh Martin, Chairman and CEO of Pacific Biosciences, looks back on the evolution of his career - from building computers to creating the future of medicine. Martin charts the lessons he learned working for large technology firms, as a leader in several successful start-ups, and while being courted by the VC community to launch a new wave in bioscience."

Audio Podcast:  13 Mistakes and 13 Brilliant Strokes ( also on iTunes)

How to Be an Innovator for Life

I found this great talk by Tom Kelly at the Stanford Technology Ventures Program lecture series.  I found his ideas on how to be creative and innovative very encouraging. 

"Tom Kelley, general manager at the world-renowned design firm, IDEO, presents five core practices that enhance creativity. Through entertaining stories and examples, he describes how these techniques help us all become more innovative in every aspect of our lives and lead to more success."

 Here's some interesting quotes:

• "Every child is an artist.  The problem is to remain an artist when you grow up" - Picaso
• Be childlike as often as possible but not childish.
  
• Deep expertise is extremely valuable to the organization... but they start filtering things out as distractions
• Take an anthropology course
• If you figure out you are the most productive and creative from 8-10 am whatever you do, do not look at email or attend anything resembling a status meeting during that time.
• Find out what your muse is.
• The supreme achievement in life is to blur the line between work and play.
  

Major themes for staying innovative:

• Think like a traveler all the time (as if visiting for the fist time).  See with new eyes. 
  
• Treat life as an experiment.  You must actually be willing to fail.  "Fail forward."
  
• Have an attitude of wisdom.  A balance between trusting what you know and distrusting what you know to be true just enough to keep you from "resting on your laurels."
• Use your whole brain (left and right brain)
  
• Use your "tortoise mind".  (Work on an idea "in the background" or using your subconscious mind.)  You have to take time to daydream.
  
• Follow your passion. 
  

This talk is definately worth listening to!  Check out Young at Heart: How to Be an Innovator for Life or also on iTunes,   Here's a link to Tom Kelly's book on innovation.

Clipping Coupons for Health Care

There is not hotter issue in the US right now that health care reform.  I recently discovered the National Public Radio:  Planet Money podcast (on iTunes) and they have what I think is a really good episode explaining many of the nuances of various policy decisions.

They compare today's health insurance system to an "all you can eat buffet" in which insured health care consumers don't worry too much about how much the meal costs and they take more than they can eat to try each of the side items.  They then have a very civil debate between two very different points of view.  (A civil debate on health care is very rare indeed these days!)

1. One point of view is to raise the deductible to a really high number, maybe even as high as $50,000.  This would drive premiums way down and allow employers to give employees most of the $1200 per month or so that today's healthcare costs back in the form of a raise in pay.  When health care consumers have to pay for all their prescriptions, x-rays, broken bones, etc. out of their own pocket advocates say.. they will be much more selective about treatment options and avoid unnecessary extras. This would have the effect of lowering health care costs.
2. The other point of view is that most people do not have enough good information or knowledge in which to make informed choices about healthcare options or how to choose between providers.  People in this camp fear that if too much of the cost of day-to-day health care comes out of the consumer's pocket, consumers well delay seeking the care they need.  This has the potential of allowing disease to progress further to the point where the cost to treat is much higher and where perhaps the chances of a cure are less likely.

Do I dare tell you the punch line?  They report that studies have shown that both camps are correct.  Making costs more visible does drive down costs.  People also often delay seeking treatment longer when they pay more expenses out-of-pocket. 

This particular episode can be found here on the NPR site at Clipping Coupons For Health Care
or at iTunes.

Malcolm Gladwell on Cultivating High Performance

I tucked my iPod nano in my pocket, my earbuds under my hearing protection, and made use of my yard mowing time yesterday to listen to a thought-provoking podcast interview with Malcom Gladwell. Gladwell is one of my favorite authors and wrote best sellers such as The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, and Outliers: The Story of Success.

The interview was arranged by 92Yin New York City and moderated by Robert Krulrich. Gladwell expressed some interesting views about our educational system. He addressed topics such as:.

• Should the educational system identify the gifted children and give them
  separate, enhanced educational programs?
• What is a genius?
• Does the prestige of the school granting your college degree really impact your future earning potential?

He believes much of what organizations practice today to cultivate high performance is wrong. This is a fairly lengthy listen but definitely worth your time.  Here's the video at 92Y or check it out on iTunes.

The Opening of the Evangelical Mind

Anyone who thinks that evangelical Christians cannot possibly be very smart or any evangelical Christians who won't even bother to talk to a university intellectual should listen to the Let My People Think podcast by Ravi Zacharias and the episodes The Opening of the Evangelical Mind Part 1 and The Opening of the Evangelical Mind Part 2.

Google Putting Millions of Books Online

Google's big book case is an online article from The Economist describing Google's push to put thousands and thousands of books online.  Google's plans were challenged in a big lawsuit with a settlement to be announced next month.

 

Google has been working with the libraries of major universities all over the world to digitize obscure printed media, many of them out of print.  Google's effort will make all these works available to anyone via the internet.  However, not everyone is happy about this because of the implications for existing copyright law protecting content creators and even what to do about "orphan copyright holders" who can't be located to be paid their royalties.   

"To its opponents, it is a brazen attempt by a crafty monopolist to lock up some of the world’s most valuable intellectual property. To its fans, it is a laudable effort by a publicly minded company to unlock a treasure trove of hidden knowledge. Next month an American court will hold a hearing on an agreement, signed last year by Google and representatives of authors and publishers, to make millions of books in America searchable online. The case has stirred up passions, conflict and conspiracy theories worthy of a literary blockbuster."

 

Up to 20% of any particular book will be available for free browsing.  

 

There is a very interesting podcast on the same topic. with an interview with Paul Courant, the Dean of Libraries at the University of Michigan.  Click here to get podcast from iTunes.

How We Read Minds

Rebecca Saxe provides results of her research showing there is a specific region in the brain devoted to thinking about what other people are thinking.  She shows how this capability is slow to develop and that it can be influenced by an external stimuli such as a magnetic field.  That introduces some scary possibilitites doesn't it?  Check out "How We Read Minds" (click here for iTunes link) from TED

Leading Clever People and Herding Cats

Anyone in a leadership position who has an interest in innovation could benefit from listening to the Harvard Business IdeaCast on "Leading Clever People."  (click here for the iTunes link).  Gareth Jones, coauthor of Clever: Leading Your Smartest, Most Creative People provides some interesting insight both into how much today's organizations need clever people and how much disdain those clever people have for hierarchy, titles, and office politics.

He defines someone who is "clever" as someone who adds disproportionate amounts of value to the organization.  They're capable of innovation and breakthru ideas.  However, they are not compliant employees.  They can be difficult to lead.  They think a good manager is one that "does not get in the way too much."

Inside the Mind of a Reluctant Entrepreneur

The Stanford Technology Ventures Program has a podcast series called the Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Series.  I realy enjoyed listening to "Inside the Mind of a Reluctant Entrepreneur" (also on iTunes) with Jeff Hawkins as the speaker.  Jeff Hawkins is perhaps best known for founding Palm Computing, creating the Palm Pilot, and then later founding Handspring. However, in this podcast he describes how he never really set out to start corporations and how he objected to the long hours typical of startup companies.

Jeff shares an interesting story about his long-time passion for studying the brain and figuring out how the brain works as a way to create a new way of computing.  Along the way, he also developed an early passion for mobile computing before computer, display, and battery technology really made it possible. 

Jeff finally realized his dream of studying how the brain works full time when he founded a non-profit, the Redwood Neuroscience Institute.  He later merged that institute into the University of California at Berkley and then founded a fourth organization called Numenta which is "creating a new type of computing technology modeled on the structure and operation of the neocortex."

Jeff authored a book about his work on how the brain works called  On Intelligence.

Is Modern Portfolio Theory Dead?

Episode #124 of the Disciplined Investor podcast (iTunes link) by Certified Financial Planner Andrew Horowitz and his guest Harold Evensky discusses the question, "Is modern portfolio theory dead?"

Even if you don't know what modern portfolio theory means, you've probably heard the basic premise if you've invested some time in a retirement planning seminar trying to figure out how to allocate your funds in your 401K.  Modern portfolio theory dates to 1952 and earned Harry Markowitz a Nobel Prize in economics 38 years later.

The basic idea is that if you diversify your investments across different asset classes (stocks, bonds, real estate, etc.) that you can achieve similar investment returns with lower risk.   The idea is that if stocks go down, for example, perhaps bonds or real estate might go up to offset the loss in stocks.  Modern portfolio theory helps create recomendations as to the optimum mix of financial asset classes so as to minimize the risk for a given expected rate of return on your investment.

In he recent financial meltdown, many people observed that almost all financial asset classes moved in the same direction - down.  Hence, some people are suggesting that the modern portfolio theory is "dead".  If you're struggling with investment decisions for your nest egg, give this podcast a try.

Getting to Plan "B"

The title really doesn't mean what you think.  In a BusinessWeek - Innovation of the Week podcat  ( also on iTunes), Randy Komisar discusses the premise of his book Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model in which he says that the first business plan ("plan A") envisioned by the vast majority of startup companies doesn't work out.  He advocates that entrepreneurs accept that they try their plan "A" and be prepraed to quickly accept it didn't work out as planned and be ready to quickly move on to "plan B".  He says he uses "plan B" only that it is something else (something smarter) based on what was learned from plan A.  Plan B doesn't necessarily imply a less attractive alternative, just another alternative which is probably better.  He gives several examples of companies which failed to be profitable on their plan A and had to adapt quickly. 

Here's a link to Randy's book:

The Accidental Creative

I've always had an interest in creativity and whether creativity is a gift you are born with or a skill which can be learned and developed.  If you fall into the "its a skill which can be learned and developed" camp, you will perhaps enjoy a podcast I found called  The Accidental Creative  (See also The Accidental Creative on iTunes).  The podcast is put out by Todd Henry of AccidentalCreative.com who targets this podcast for people who must "create on demand."  By this he means people in creative professions who must come up with creative ideas day in and day out against real deadlines for their employer or clients.  The podcast doesn't come out super often anymore but I always enjoyed Todd's point of view.  Here's a few quotes from his website:

Accidental Creative is a new breed of consultancy. We are connecting with thousands of creative pros through our online resources and services. We teach creatives how to thrive in an organizational setting and organizations how to better lead their creative teams and structure for long-term effectiveness.

We exist to free up creatives and organizations to make great stuff. (No pressure or anything…)

Accidental Creative helps those who must create to succeed (visual artists, musicians, writers, designers, idea people) unlock their creativity. Accidental Creative helps creatives find their passion so they can once again enjoy what they do and change the world with revolutionary ideas.