Ken Novak: Digital DevelopmentCommunications and info tech in developing countries, especially wireless broadband and high-value applications(Untitled)- August 31, 2004 Darfur, Sudan: A shocking map of the region as of August 2, 2004. One red marker for each of 395 destroyed villages, another 121 orange markers for damaged villages, the locations of camps with over 100,000 refugees, the dirt tracks and airports used by relief workers to get there. (The map is a poster-resolution PDF, 1.87mb, including satellite image details.)http://www.novak.com/weblog/categories/digitalDevelopment/2004/08/31.html#a2354 (Untitled)- August 30, 2004 Made to Order - How industrial design became a weekend hobby: Many examples of customization (and "wrangling"), like fitting computers into other cases, modifying cars, playing The Sims, using rapid prototyping machines, and vendors like cafepress.com. About rapid prototyping machines (aka "3D printers"), check out the Solidscape: T66 ($50k), and Z-corp (with a cool GIS application).http://www.novak.com/weblog/categories/digitalDevelopment/2004/08/30.html#a2346 (Untitled)- August 27, 2004 Horizontal innovation networks - by and for users: 2002 MIT paper on what I've been calling open production, related to the book Enabling Innovation. Several examples, both techie and nontechie (like mountain bikes). "Innovation development, production, distribution and consumption networks can be built up horizontally &150; with actors consisting only of innovation users (more precisely, &147;userself-manufacturers&148;). &147;Free&148; and &147;open...http://www.novak.com/weblog/categories/digitalDevelopment/2004/08/26.html#a2333 (Untitled)- August 24, 2004 Economist on Prahalad: Good short review. "To be profitable, firms cannot simply edge down market fine-tuning the products they already sell to rich customers. Instead, they must thoroughly re-engineer products to reflect the very different economics of BOP the bottom of the pyramid: small unit packages, low margin per unit, high volume. Big business needs to swap its usual incremental approach for an entrepreneurial mindset, because BOP markets need to be built not simply entered...http://www.novak.com/weblog/categories/digitalDevelopment/2004/08/24.html#a2325 (Untitled)- August 18, 2004 Bruce Sterling SIGGRAPH 2004 speech "When Blobjects Rule the Earth": Fastastic speech connecting memes from all over (open production, new media, sci fi, cluetrain, sustainability) into a new techno vision. An update of Bucky Fuller, maybe an "As We May Think" for this generation. Too much to summarize, I'll quote just a few bits that stuck out for me. "We are facing a future world infested with digital programmability. A world where our structures and possessions..http://www.novak.com/weblog/categories/digitalDevelopment/2004/08/18.html#a2306 (Untitled)- August 18, 2004 WFP creates game to tackle hunger: "Food Force is the brainchild of the World Food Programme (WFP), which last year fed more than 100 million people. The UN body seeks to capitalise on the popularity of video games to educate youngsters about hunger and the work of the aid agency. The game is due to be released later this year for the PC and Mac, and will initially only be available in the US as a free CD or download from the net. .. "The game itself is somewhere between a game like...http://www.novak.com/weblog/categories/digitalDevelopment/2004/08/17.html#a2303 (Untitled)- August 17, 2004 The Wisdom of Crowds: A popular new book sheds light on the earlier post about Open Production. The publisher's notes provides an outline; the Amazon reader's comments are interesting, not least in noting examples (like intelligence failures -- reminding me of the movement to open source intelligence). "While our culture generally trusts experts and distrusts the wisdom of the masses, Surowiecki argues that "under the right circumstances, groups are remarkably intelligent, and..http://www.novak.com/weblog/categories/digitalDevelopment/2004/08/16.html#a2295 (Untitled)- August 16, 2004 The Cgnet Story: A Case Study of International Computer Networking: How cool: Our 1994 book is actively traded on second-hand book sites. Under $6...http://www.novak.com/weblog/categories/digitalDevelopment/2004/08/16.html#a2294 (Untitled)- August 16, 2004 Open production: I talked with Brewster Kahle briefly in 2001, and got the idea that the degree of collaboration is a spectrum. At one end is the conventional commitment to play a role in a team; at the other is the incidental activity that leaves a trace that can be datamined in an implicit collaboration. At the implicit end, we see Google mining the links I make as though I were collaborating with all other web authors; and Amazon mines my purchases and makes recommendations.http://www.novak.com/weblog/categories/digitalDevelopment/2004/08/15.html#a2293 (Untitled)- August 15, 2004 UNV Online Volunteering: UN Volunteers has an online program: "Volunteers from all over the world are helping organizations that serve communities in developing countries -- but without leaving their own communities. These online volunteers translate documents, write articles, research data, build web sites, mentor young people, design logos, and engage in many other projects to benefit organizations serving people in the developing world. Online volunteers are volunteers without...http://www.novak.com/weblog/categories/digitalDevelopment/2004/08/15.html#a2288 |