The Sunday Diigo Links Post (weekly)
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100 Examples of Corporate Social Media Policies
Useful reference for …
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The following table contains the names of over 100 companies and organization that have published their Employee Social Media Policies or Guidelines online
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Innovation Depends on a Robust Manufacturing Sector – Technology Review
Must-read article, America… (And Canada is actually even worse, because this economy manufactures very little, basing its wealth on the export of raw resources. Terrible.)
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To illustrate the importance of maintaining a U.S. innovation ecosystem even when an innovation’s value isn’t apparent immediately, Shih points out that rechargeable batteries didn’t seem very important to U.S. companies when the University of Texas licensed lithium-ion technology to Sony two decades ago; hardly anyone in the United States was making consumer electronics. But after Sony introduced the technology in its Walkman in 1991, other Asian consumer-electronics companies also developed rechargeable-battery technology. Later, as rechargeable batteries became an important component of laptop computers, the battery makers honed their skills with manufacturers, which in turn transferred expertise with small consumer electronics into building laptops in Asia. Today, with hybrid and electric cars on the rise, manufacturers in Japan, Korea, and China have a big head start on the technology behind those vehicles.
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It starts out lightheartedly, as a meditation on the power of showers (water pressure, preferably STRONG), and morphs into a list of very excellent points about what every city should be able to provide:
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It was under a deluge from the massive showerhead at the hotel one morning last week that I started thinking about a simple checklist that every mayor should ensure is delivered everyday for every resident and visitor. My 10-point checklist went something like this: [click through/ read on for more]
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Cultured People Feel Less Stress : Discovery News
Men feel soothed by experiencing culture, whereas women feel that way if they’re creating it? This is interesting…
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* Regardless of education or wealth, people who go to museums or concerts or make art tend to be happier.
* The link between culture and good feelings were different for men and women.
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Brain scans and the mental health of the megalopolitan | SmartPlanet
It seems like there’s a lot to revise / recheck in this study. One thing it does perhaps prove is that amenities in cities/urban environments are absolutely crucial. Meanwhile, note this caveat, from the article:
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While the work doesn’t prove that living in the city causes the changes in the brain, it could be used to help improve life for city dwellers.
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The art of architecture | Harvard Gazette
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Harvard has no glassy campus pond or placid central green, like many universities do. The Yard, which is the closest thing to a traditional campus green, is dotted with buildings. The tight-knit closeness of the University’s structures, the breadth of their styles, the pocket greenery, and the bustling, untamed public square at Harvard’s core make it an unusual campus, one where faculty and students have to interact regularly.
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and
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“The future intellectual direction of Harvard will be linked to its physical planning and architectural path,” Mostafavi said.“When there is more and more discussion around collaboration and transdisciplinary practices, the question is: What kind of space do you need for that work?” he added.
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In the Garden with the Guru by Bob Rodgers – The Literary Review of Canada
Interesting personal take on Marshall McLuhan. Also, this:
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Like all original thinkers from Blake to Einstein, McLuhan was much misunderstood. He never promoted TV over books as popular accounts gave out. He never expressed a preference for tribal culture over individualism. He never said the patterns of perception imposed by the ear are superior to those of the eye. One small aphorism sticks with me: “When the globe becomes a single electronic web with all its languages and culture recorded on a single tribal drum, the fixed point of view of print culture becomes irrelevant, however precious.” However precious! Those are the operative words, about as far as McLuhan went in taking sides. But they also bring his innermost sympathies to the fore.
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Who knew? Boston ranks 3rd nation-wide in “diversity density.”
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First, is there a wide range of ethnic and racial groups in your city — as opposed to a binary division between white and black, or native and immigrant? And second, is your city’s density high enough so that you really encounter people from different ethnic backgrounds on sidewalks and other shared space, as opposed to simply driving past their neighborhoods on your way to the mall?The diversity density index measures both at once. And if you use data from the most recent census, you see something surprising: Boston is the third-most diverse city in America, outside of New York and San Francisco.
Diversity density counts the number of people per square mile who do not claim membership in either of the county’s two largest racial/ethnic groups. The result gives you a rough approximation of the likelihood of running into people of a variety of different ethnic backgrounds during a brisk walk across town.
Suffolk County, most of whose residents are in Boston, has 12,338 people per square mile, making it the seventh-most crowded county in the United States. Take away its two largest ethnic groups (non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics), and there remain 3,957 people in other categories per square mile — the sixth highest concentration of all US counties and county equivalents. (Of the five leaders, four are boroughs in New York City.)
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SBS Dateline | China s Ghost Cities
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It’s said there are around 64 million empty apartments in China.
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Fascinating video report on China’s ghost cities, a potential real estate bubble, and questions around quantity versus quality, especially of GDP. -
How to Land Your Kid in Therapy – Magazine – The Atlantic
OMG…
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At the end of the season, the league finds a way to “honor each child” with a trophy. “They’re kind of euphemistic,” the coach said of the awards, “but they’re effective.” The Spirit Award went to “the troublemaker who always talks and doesn’t pay attention, so we spun it into his being very ‘spirited,’” he said.
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