Act!

Please donate to one of the following organizations:

Red Cross
Care
Oxfam
Doctors without borders
Unicef

All it takes is 1 click:
Amazon honor system.

Or any other you are comfortable with.

Science: Edge

E.O Wilson, Ray Kurzweil, Benoit Mandelbrot are some of the names that appear weekly on Edge for interviews and discussions.

A wide range of topics covering science and philosophy.


(Edge)

[The website enjoyed great coverage after its 'World question Center' issue on January 6 2003.]

Videostreams (International perspectives)

From the website:
"Each episode of FRONTLINE/World features two or three "short stories" told by a diverse group of reporters and video journalists. These first-person stories will take viewers on adventurous journeys to foreign lands from Argentina to Zimbabwe." "By presenting viewers with compelling stories from around the planet, the series aims to not only help fill the void in current international news coverage but also to engage the American public in global stories that resonate in their own lives."




(Program also airs on PBS, check your local listings.)

Game Theory

Game theory is a branch of mathematics that uses models to study interactions with formalized incentive structures ("games"). It has applications in a variety of fields, including economics, evolutionary biology, political science, and military strategy. Game theorists study the predicted and actual behavior of individuals in games, as well as optimal strategies. From the Game theory article on Wikipedia.
(Also from wikipedia, the most commonly used beginners example in game theory: The prisoner's dilemma)

Here are a few other links on Game Theory and its applications:

Gametheory.net:a portal with many links to lecture notes,articles.


An interesting article, with examples of how game theory is used in FCC auctions, Intel/AMD price war and other applications.

And this is a link to a lecture [audio] from the Stanford GSB.

Mckinsey Global Institute (Strategy)

The following link is to Mckinsey, again a management & strategy consulting firm.
The MGI offers research publications on the state of local and global economies as well as forecasts covering industries and future opportunities.



You can also subscribe to the monthly newsletter and more frequent topic alerts, from your choice of industries,regions or functions, on the MckinseyQuarterly website. (I have been a subscriber for while and I have never received an uninteresting email. However, some are for premium subscribers only.)

Strategy Consulting.

Management/Strategy consulting firms will always be prominently represented on this blog. The research papers they publish are usually key for understanding the dynamics of industries/markets, consumer behavior, economic growth opportunities, etc.

The following link is form Mercer. Click on 'Perspectives' and choose one of the options [Whitepapers, specialty journals, articles,...] for interesting reports.



(Mercer MC)

Focus: Artificial Intelligence + Business

I got this article last week from s+b, a previously recommended magazine. It mentions how Dell is using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to better serve its customers.
So I decided to post a couple of articles about how AI and business are coming together, and, a link to Ray Kurzweil's AI website.[about Ray Kurzweil]

Recommended Wired articles:
-It's Alive!
(Don't miss the linkbox inside the introduction for the different examples of AI applications)
-A Machine With a Mind of Its Own

(Kurzweil AI Website)

General resources 2 (Classes, Studies, Seminars)

MIT's open courseware offers a considerable number of courses covering all disciplines of study at MIT. Some offer few class notes and others offer in-depth and interactive material.


(MIT open courseware)

Fathom used to be a fee-based educational website by institutions like Columbia university, The London school of economics, The science museum and others. Now it offers its archives for free.


(Fathom)

Magazine Blogs (tech, business,entrepreneurship)

Both RedHerring and FastCompany are great magazines to read. The links below point to their respective blogs.


(Fast Company blog)



(RedHerring Blog)

Trends &Forecasts.

The two links below include publications on worldwide economic and demographic trends.
I have already linked to one of the Goldman publications.
Also, the IMF has tons of interesting data, research papers and videos. However, The design of the whole website is not user friendly. But if you are patient you might find something like this. (A summary of the international financial system from 1871 to 1999)

(IMF: World economic outlook)

(Click on image to open in new window)

(Goldman Sachs research insights)

(Click on image to open in new window)

Innovation Partnership Programs at NASA

NASA has many initiatives to share the wealth of technologies and expertise.
The following page includes links to some, including:
-NASA small business innovation research/technology transfer.
-NASA technology portal.
-NASA SpinOff


(NASA: Innovation Partnership Program)

L

Blogs: Bnoopy (Entrepreneurship)

Quoting the blog's author: "My name is Joe Kraus and Bnoopy is a blog about entrepreneurship -- thoughts, lessons learned, open questions. It's all stuff I'm thinking about right now in the midst of starting a new company. My background is that I was one of the founders of Excite. Then I co-founded DigitalConsumer.org and now, I've got a new project still in stealth mode."



(Bnoopy: an entrepreneurship blog.)

Blogs: VentureBlog

There are a few blogs that definitely need to be highlighted. I will try to post some, hopefully sticking to the 5 main subjects of 'links-eyed':
Science, Technology, Entrepreneurship, Business, and, Strategy.

I will start with Venture blog because it covers all five.
The contributors are investors and high-tech entrepreneurs.
The posts cover:'Conferences, Entrepreneurial Success,Legal Issues, Management Issues, Presenting Your Company, Semiconductors, Software, The Economy & Finance' and many others.


(Venture Blog: a random walk down sand hill road)

Social enterprise.

Whenever you feel like using your energy and skills for a good cause, you should consider the vast opportunities in social entrepreneurship.

Here are a few links that will provide some information about joining or starting and managing a succesful social enterprise.


(Socialedge: online community for social entrepreneurs)


(Social enterprise at Harvard Business School)


(Net Impact: Business leaders for a better world)

L

Magazine (S+B)

Strategy+Business is a very interesting magazine published by Booz Allen Hamilton, a strategy consulting firm.
Topics range from HR to the science of complexity management [s+b34 recommended].
And, unlike HBR, you can read most of the articles online by doing a quick free registration.


(Strategy+Business:click on graphic to open page in new window.)

Think-Tanks

For anyone not familiar with the term a Think-Tank is: 'a research institute or other organization providing advice and ideas on national or commercial problems; an interdisciplinary group of specialist consultants.'-OED

There are dozens of think-tanks but the following 3 are my personal favorites for in-depth research, analysis and forecasts.

(Rand Corporation)



(The Brookings Institution)



(The Cato Institute)

Book Recommendations

(Click on the picture to open in new window)

This page mainly includes recommendations from business school professors.
The books are very diverse and the short summaries are quite informative.

Posts

After a 6-week vacation;
I will restart posting as soon as next week.
L

Globalization (Video streams)

Commanding heights is a six hour documentary based on the book by the same title.
You can watch the full documentary online (in short clips), and, get more in-depth information for several countries, covering economic and geopolitical issues.

Very insightful points of view and cases, for anyone interested in globalization.


 


enjoy,
L

Business (Audio-Video Streams)

Another, link from Stanford.
This time it's from the graduate school of business.
(Speakers, Conferences, etc)

Entrepreneurship

The Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) educators corner:a comprehensive site for entrepreneurs; covering a wide range of topics from building a good founding team to product marketing, financials, and many others.


(STVP)

Business Strategy

Two great links from two great authors:
Tom Peters (In search of excellence, Re-Imagine)
and Jim Collins(Built to last,Good to Great)
Focus on: :Leadership &business strategies.


Tom Peters


Jim Collins

To check (on websites) : presentations, ideas, lectures, articles and case studies.

Further reading

Industrial Design

I believe Industrial design is a great example of how creativity is used to balance form and function.
Today's first link is to IDEO one of the best (and best-known) design firms. You can browse their projects gallery, see conceptual designs and read about the design process.

(IDEO)

The second link is to the industrial design society of america (IDSA). Make sure you visit the design awards [IDEA] galleries.


IDSA

News Map

The following is a link to a page that displays Google news in a visual format. It could also be configured according to your preferences.


(click on graphic to open page)

Business (Video streams)

Speeches by CEO's of major companies, nobel prize winners & other leaders. [Northwestern university Kellogg school of management]




(click on the picture to open the new page)

Recommended:
Jack Welch
Sumner Redstone
Joseph Stiglitz

L

Magazines (culture,technology,foreign policy, business)

A few of the most intriguing and informative magazines out there:

1- Culture, Politics, Art:

Harper's Magazine

The New Yorker

2- Business:
Inc. 'The magazine for growing companies'


Business 2.0

Harvard Business Review (my personal favorite, subscription only)

3- Foreign affairs/policy:
Foreign Affairs (published by the CFR)

Foreign Policy

4- Technology:
 
Tech Review (by MIT)


IEEE spectrum

enjoy!

L

Giving back

If you are reading this, chances are, you are much more fortunate than the majority of the world's population.
It is never too early to think about giving back; you don't have to wait until you are a millionaire. Consider all the unnecessary things we waste our money on; trust me, you can afford to donate some money and maybe even some time for a good cause.


To make it even easier The hungersite only asks for a mouseclick. By visiting that webpage (and the affiliated pages:breastcancersite,childrenhealth,rainforest, and, animal rescue) and clicking a button you are redirected to a new page with a few banners, and, the sponsors donate on your behalf for the respective cause.

You can also learn about many important issues by visiting the: UNDP where you can learn about the issues facing the developing world. And the AD council, where you can learn about current campaigns and research specific issue you might be interested in.

If you want to be more active, consider:
Volunteering:
-Search for opportunities by location or area of focus
-With the United nations
-And more opportunities.
-also consider mentoring

thanks,

L

International affairs (Video streams)

The first is one my favorite programs on TV, Frontline. The site has about 35 different episodes already online (all new episodes are available online a couple of days after the TV broadcast); each episode has a dedicated webpage with articles, interviews and can completely viewed on high or low bandwidth connections.
All episodes are recommended but 'China in the red' is highly recommended.
(This research paper from Goldman Sachs will go very well with it.)

The second is B-SPAN; the online streaming site for the world bank. Here you can watch very interesting presentations, seminars and roundtables on worldwide economic/development issues. Speakers include Nobel laureates, heads of central banks and others.


The last one for today is SAIS. A large collection of speeches (usually audio streams but some are video too) from heads of states, foreign ministers, ambassadors, senators, professors, etc.
The topic is usually international relations, but you might find other topics too.
[Scroll down to the bottom of the page to get to the archives from previous years]

General resources (Encyclopedias, Dictionaries)

Two web encyclopedias:


1- Wikipedia a free online encyclopedia created entirely by users; however, the content is quite accurate and reliable.

2- Encyclopedia.com is another resource, but, one nice feature is that it also looks for magazine and newspaper articles that contain the search-term.

And three dictionaries:

1- Meriam Webster

2-Reference.com

3-Le grand dictionaire terminologique (french)

Web tools

Today I have some tools that you might use to save time, be more productive or make your life easier.

The first is: TinyURL a website that lets you transform a large address into a short one, making it easier to exchange with others.

The second is a Conversion tool that makes converting distances,temperatures,currencies and other units, quick and easy.

And finally, you can use this
Online virus Scan in case your software is not up-to-date. It is a trustworthy service by Trend Micro.

Science+

Since my first post was about travel, this one will be about science!


The first link is HowStuffWorks a site that has a large collection of articles explaining everything from Aspirin and Asteroids to Windshield wipers and X-rays. It's targeted to the general public, so it's very simple and easy to read. (One cool note: the company is a few minutes away from here, and,I had the chance to meet the founder Marshall Brain.)

The second resource is The National Science Digital Library a gigantic collection of information, and, links to external websites dealing with science, engineering and mathematics. The navigation is not optimal, but, you can use their search engine to look for audio,video, text and other kinds of media. Also make sure you go to 'collections' and browse the whole collection alphabetically.

Two more websites are from public television in
The UK and here in The US these include a mix of articles, videos (from TV shows) and other interesting material.

Make sure to visit Nova and Scientific American Frontiers.
(You can watch shows online)

The last link, I believe is targeted for Kids it would probably be useful to get them interested in science and engineering.

That's it for now!

Travel

Since it's summer and time to think about travel (or if you're lucky actually do it!),
today's links will be from cool travel sites.

The first one is:

Vagabonding.com a site built by Mike Pugh while he was traveling around the world, (check the equipment in his backpack!) I found the site in mid-2003 when Mike was still traveling, but it's still very interesting with a collection of very nice pictures and stories.

The second link is from a much more popular resource, msn, it is a collection of 25 adventures that you can consider with descriptions,links and prices.
You can find it here

Rules

Well,
The rules are simple, I will try to classify each link, maybe some explanation, and note if it's a broadband (BD) link, meaning it probably requires a cable, dsl, T1 connection or better. [you can still try to access it if you have a dial-up connection]

thanks!

Change

This blog is now officially dedicated to sharing links and ideas. Friends seem to enjoy my collection of links, and, it seems logical to share the finds of about 8 years of surfing, specifically because there are so many resources on the web and it is so easy to find what you want. The most interesting pages you will find, are the ones you were never looking for.

L