Ed Dowding

Blame the poor rich.

Flexible Work Arrangements and 21st Century Worker’s Guilds

“Overall, we believe the guild concept can alleviate some of the challenges connected with the rise of non-traditional employment arrangements, and it may help create valuable new kinds of communities. It is not, however, a panacea for addressing the problems of the working poor.” http://ccs.mit.edu/21C/21CWP004.html

Market folly

Just to be clear, these markets which are 4 years late in realising the obvious are the same ones the incumbent powers trust to determine our lives. ” Groupon’s shares have lost 77% of their value since the firm was floated on the Nasdaq in November 2011, as investors fear its business model offering bulk ...

14 big trends to watch in 2013

http://radar.oreilly.com/2012/12/14-trends-for-2013.html

The Science of Storytelling: Why Telling a Story is the Most Powerful Way to Activate Our Brains

http://lifehacker.com/5965703/the-science-of-storytelling-why-telling-a-story-is-the-most-powerful-way-to-activate-our-brains

14 wonderful words with no English equivalent

http://theweek.com/article/index/238751/14-wonderful-words-with-no-english-equivalent

The 32 most alarming charts from the government’s climate change report | Grist

Oh Jesus.. There is nothing to see here. Move along. Everything will be fine. Keep flying, buying stuff you don’t keep, and eating meat at least 5 times per week. I SAID MOVE ALONG: NOTHING TO SEE HERE. The 32 most alarming charts from the government’s climate change report | Grist.

The world is on track for disaster. Who wants to buy a farm?

Written by MIT researchers for an international think tank, the Club of Rome, the study used computers to model several possible future scenarios. The business-as-usual scenario estimated that if human beings continued to consume more than nature was capable of providing, global economic collapse and precipitous population decline could occur by 2030. However, the study ...

The four ages of sand

http://www.douglasadams.se/stuff/sand.html

The Generals by Shel Silverstein

Said General Clay to General Gore, “Oh must we fight this silly war? To kill and die is such a bore.” “I quite agree,” said General Gore. Said General Gore to General Clay, “We could go to the beach today And have some ice cream on the way.” “A grand idea,” said General Clay. Said ...

The social tipping point is 8%

Someone told me recently that the tipping point for lasting social change is 8%. I don’t know where they got that number from but it seems believable. Especially if there’s no reason to resist the change. (A quick google turned up affirmation, so let’s go with it.) So if it’s true, this report from Germany ...

Manifestos for life

Posters in the Hub Westminster with typographical design by Robert Reed. Source: This is Reed

The Mountain & the Sky

Beautiful. The Mountain on Vimeo.

Should I be afraid of the future?

Simple Critical Infrastructure Maps

Simple Critical Infrastructure Maps

Is global warming real?

I don’t think you’ll have any doubt, dear reader, but just in case you know friends or relatives who do:

Building on allotments

@SaveFarmTerrace tweeted me yesterday: @eddowding Our mayor wants to sell our fab beautiful allotments in Watford UK to developers to build more houses on. Pls follow and rt us! — Sara jane trebar (@SaveFarmTerrace) December 26, 2012 So I’ve written a letter to the Mayor. Right now the comment is held in moderation so I’m ...

The Quantity Theory of Insanity.

The commuter traffic jam is the peak of man’s unhappiness. It’s a situation outside of your control, probably on the way to a location you don’t want to be at, at a time you didn’t choose. It is noisy, shamefully inefficient, encourages mis-directed frustration at one’s fellows, and you have absolutely zero ability to remove ...

Hashtag

I love the grammatical convenience of a hash tag. Language lacked its facility before. I consider it a useful and significant improvement, albeit ill-fitting and poorly rendered at this stage of its life.

The power of pure imagination

If you want to view paradise Simply look around and view it Anything you want to, do it Wanta change the world? There’s nothing To it From Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.