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Design Education Globalization Innovation Network Reading Technology

Latest read: America Alone

Mark Steyn has written a clever book America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It. In a post 9/11 world America, according to Steyn must “go it alone” against the impact Muslims have in today’s world.  A lot of his knowledge is coming from outside the mainstream of US media organizations and many will be surprised to learn the real state of affairs between a fading Anglo-America and a rising Muslim world.

America AloneSteyn begins simply with demography as the basis for his argument that Islam will outgrow the Anglo-American world.  The American birth rate is 2.4 while Muslim countries like Pakistan have a birth rate of 4.5 and given time some countries like England and Spain which have rates under 1.5 will simply fall off the earth in the next century.

He points out that eastern European countries like Russia have abortion rates as high as 70%, and acknowledges that countries are killing themselves in the long run while Muslims are set to flourish for the next two to three generations.

At the same time the medium age in some parts of the Muslim world is just 15.  Steyn argues that this very young minority will grow to see democratic countries and institutions will shift to the law and culture of Islam.

Is the Muslim world gaining political strength in a post 9/11 world?  Steyn writes about how the growth of Muslim populations in Europe still lead to isolation, not assimilation in their Anglo-countries and slowly over time how Governments have begun to accommodate their growing communities.  Want proof?

lockerbee
The recent release of Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi the Lockerbie bomber made headlines around the world. Freed from jail by Scotland al Megrahi returned home to Libya a hero.  Was it all for cheap oil?  The US Government condemned this release.  But who is holding power here?

Tags: America Alone, Mark Steyn, education, Muslim, Demography, culture, trends

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Design Education Globalization Innovation Network OpenSource Reading Smartphone Technology

Latest read: Groundswell

Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies.  This book is a great primer for social media.  If your new to social media this book is for you.
GroundswellHowever if you have been working with blogs and wikis for more than five years this book is a bit too elementary but a great quick read nevertheless.

The Groundswell is the powerful movement of our networked society. Basically the book breaks the “groundswell” into gaining insights from what social networks say about your company, your products and the people representing your company.

We have reached a point on the modern internet that personal voices will grow via social media tools never before available. This will help to drive new marketing plans, business reach to both existing and new customers. This can drive new media to tell stories about products and community movements.

Blogs help talk to your communities, and buzz helps energize the groundswell and the new ability to utilize “customers” as collaborative team members. In the end its Groundswell is about person to person relationships.

Groundswell’s blog

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Design Education Reading

Latest read: The Lost Symbol

Just finished Dan Brown’s latest The Lost Symbol and was amused at the placement of Twitter in the book.  I wonder if Robert Langdon is finally tweeting? It was a nice quick departure from my usual reading habits.

The Lost SymbolAs usual Langdon finds himself wrapped in another mystery now focusing on the symbols of the Freemasons.

Never dull and boring Langdon sheds light on the role of religion in the U.S. Capital, George Washington portrayed as a God, the impact of Freemasons and more importantly Noetic Sciences.

I have enjoyed all of Browns novels revolving around Langdon and feel the books are much better than Ron Howard’s movie interpretations.

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Design Education Innovation Rich media Technology

Dr. Richard Schilsky on Chicago’s WTTW

While at the University of Chicago I had the true pleasure of working for Dr. Schilsky at the Cancer and Leukemia Center. This interview describes some of the new advanced treatments for breast and colon cancers.

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Design Rich media

Aperture project size limits

Needless to say with Maxwell and now Zofia I am pushing the limits of family photo management.  Max’s “project” is only 2.5 years old.  Zofia will now be helping me quickly wear down the trigger button on my Nikon….

Aperture limit