Happy Monday. I’ll be on the road most of this week, so I apologize in advance for light posting (though maybe Jarred will pick up the slack…..ahem). Here are a few items that caught my attention recently:
- When you hear the word “scuppie” what do you think of? For me, I remember the schools of scup–a small whitefish, delicious fried–I caught with my grandmother as a kid. Apparently, at least a few people are trying to bring “scuppie” into the nation’s vocabulary of social labels much like “hippie” or “yuppie.” What does scuppie mean?
“Scuppie – a ‘Socially Conscious Upwardly-mobile Person.’
1. A person who desires all the best life can offer and strives for those goals in a socially conscious manner.
2. One who is dedicated to the pursuit of peace, happiness and cash (not necessarily in that order).
3. Someone ‘green’ — i.e. one who understands the love of money does not preclude the love of nature…and vice-versa.”
- I this this report from Deloitte about employee preferences is spot-on: I’d much rather accept a lower salary with plenty of perks like flexible working hours, more vacation time, and free food than a higher salary without those benefits. Turns out most folks would agree (at least when faced with a hypothetical offer).
- Expect a blog post this week where I take a deeper look into this column, by the authors of Freakonomics, about prize philanthropy and alternative giving that promises a financial return to donors.
“Obama’s million-plus individual donors should be seen as marking two significant changes in American politics. First, we’re living through a major upsurge in public participation in politics–and the Internet is a big engine of that surge. Second, a candidate with a million-plus individual donors–90% of whom at this point have given something like $100 on average–has the potential to more independent of monied interests than any in the past. It’s too soon to say if Obama will live up to that potential–indeed, it’s too soon to say if he will be the Democratic nominee–but whatever happens I suspect that a year from now we’ll look back on this day and note that it marked an inflection point in how technology is changing politics.”
- In case you’re planning your travel around gadget obsession, social networking addiction, or general dorkdom (and, let’s face it, with a bit more disposable income Jarred and very well might fall into this category), here’s a convenient description of the “Best Geek Hotels in the World.”
- It’s really not fair to make fun of children passing through that awkward phase known as “Middle School,” but these 41 Hilarious Science Fair Experiments had me laughing out loud. As Fake Steve said, “Ever wonder what those crazy kids at Google are doing with their 20% free time?”
That’s all for now; check back all week for new material. If you’re interested in writing a guest post for Tropophilia, we’d love to have your input. See this page for instructions on submitting a guest post and please contact us with any questions. It can be long or short, serious or sarcastic, and on any topic related to change.
Happy Monday everybody. I can tell already that it’s going to be a double-coffee morning in my office. Peruse these links when you get a chance:
- This “Extinction Timeline” [warning: PDF file] is one of the more controversial and interesting things I’ve seen all week. Essentially, a consulting firm plotted the “extinction” of everything from trends and habits to technologies and nations from 1950 into the future. They expect both blogging and the Maldives to expire around 2022. Hear that Jarred? Only 14 more years of Tropophilia. Hat tip to Philanthropy 2173 for bringing this to my attention.
- If you’ve stayed in a hotel lately, you’ve probably noticed a proliferation of Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFLs) in lighting fixtures. Apparently, many hotel guests are treating the CFLs like shampoo and hand soap: they’re taking the $10-15 bulbs home! EcoGeek has the details.
- Lifehacker highlights a neat new product: from the folks who brought you del.icio.us, this new social bookmarking tool is specifically tailored to generate wish lists. Brace yourself, because the name isn’t necessarily…catchy. But check out del.ishli.st anyway.
- PBS’ Frontline features a six-part series called “Growing Up Online.” We are at an important time in history when the first generation of true “digital natives” are coming of age and starting to vote, own businesses, and raise children of their own. Interesting to think about the development of connected children in a positive and a negative light. I haven’t had a chance to watch any of the documentary yet, so why don’t you check it out and let us know in the comments if you find any of the segments compelling.
- Finally, this proposed Death Star hotel in Azerbaijan is both hilarious and…strangely threatening.
I could go on, but I have to save a few things to write about this week! Have a great day.
Apparently, some of you folks don’t have to go to work today. Aren’t you special. Since I’m clearly bitter for not having the day off, let’s cut the commentary and get straight to the links:
- From the “Things That Make You Go Huh” file, something seemingly obvious that never occurred to me: endless storage on gmail–>rarely deleting email messages–>lots of servers using tons of energy–>negative environmental impact due to archived musings from friends and frantic “OMG!@!11 NEW STAR TREK MOVIE TRAILER” messages from Jarred.
- Speaking of email, here’s a (currently) free service that allows users to track whether email recipients click-through on links in their messages. Kind of creepy if you ask me, though anyone who receives political campaign or corporate email (frequent flier promotions, etc) should know that they’re already tracked in this way.
- For anyone interested in philanthropy and social ventures, Tactical Philanthropy highlights a goldmine of free articles from the Stanford Social Innovation Review. Stanford usually publishes their articles behind a pay-wall, but for a limited time they’re allowing free access to 2007’s most popular articles, including (my personal favorite) “A New Era for Business.”
- An interesting Washington Post article on guerrilla activism–environmental activists inserted leaflets in Kleenex boxes accusing the tissue maker of “wiping away ancient forests.” Is this really a trend?
“The leaflets may be part of a trend known as “shopdropping,” in which people leave items at a store, the reverse of shoplifting. Items left on store shelves have included the business cards of personal trainers tucked into weight-loss books and CDs of unsigned musicians.”
- Anyone looking at the Democratic primary deadlock and wondering about the original purpose behind Super Delegates should check out this Op-Ed by the estimable Mann and Ornstein. The authors are insightful as always, but I still view a nomination decided by Super Delegates to be a worst-case scenario in terms of future voter engagement and turnout in the general election.
- Finally, in honor of Presidents Day, take a few pointers from George Washington’s “Rules of Civility.”
Enjoy your day off………
Welcome to February, and another week here at Tropophilia. Be sure to check out new posts (including a great guest post by Bruce) from the weekend; here are your morning links:
- Fast Company gives us The Top 10 Websites You Never Heard Of. My personal favorite? Newsmap, “an amazing graphical representation of the constantly-changing headlines on Google News.”
- Following up on last week’s link about green jobs, Sustainablog describes various “green employment benefits” eco-conscious companies are offering to employees both to lure new employees and to reflect their sustainability values throughout their corporate operations. Some examples include public transportation commuting subsidies, natural light buildings, local/organic food in company cafeterias, and company outings to national parks. Where do I sign up?
- If you’ve read Tropophilia for a while, you know that I’m all aflutter about algae as fuelstock. Well, treehugger highlights exciting news of an agreement between Chevron and Solazyme (an alternative energy start-up) to ramp up testing of the green goo. What makes this particularly exciting are the particulars of Solazyme’s process (emphasis mine):
“Algae usually rely on photosynthesis for energy to consume CO2 and produce oils. Biodiesel can be harvested from the algae, which can be composed of up to 50% oily matter. But getting sunlight to the algae in industrial-scale processes is difficult. So how does Solazyme solve the problem? By growing a special strain of algae in the dark.”
- Via lifehacker comes 10 Tips to Retain More of What You Read Online. Tip #11: comment on Tropophilia posts to continue the conversation.
- Following up on my post a few weeks ago about Kiva.org: Sean at Tactical Philanthropy explores the challenges Kiva faces with an overwhelming supply of willing donors and a limited supply of projects. He makes a number of excellent suggestions, including some creative solutions the site could use to ensure willing donors are able to direct their funds to good causes–even if not through Kiva itself.
- And finally, in celebration of everyone’s favorite resource, Mental Floss points out 4 Great Wikipedia Variations. Try using Wookiepedia (exactly what it sounds like….arrrrrrrrgggggggggg) on your next assignment.
That’s all for now. I’ll be traveling for work until next week, but I have faith my co-conspirators contributors will keep the wheels churning with new material. Have a great week!
Here we are again, another week and another link-thread to kick things off. Back on our regular schedule, so grab your coffee and let’s get started:
- Sometimes a simple trip down memory lane can remind us of the astounding pace of change online. This gallery, courtesy of Gizmodo, shows websites from corporate giants like Apple and Reebok back in the mid 1990s. My how web design has evolved.
- I’m always wary of any seemingly progressive sound bytes originating in Bentonville Arkansas, but Wal-Mart execs are saying all of the right things about sustainability and supply-chain management innovation leading to increased energy efficiency and (surprise!) larger profit margins. Certainly something to watch based purely on the power Wal-Mart wields across so many industries. EcoGeek blogger Hank Green puts it well: “I don’t think the Wal-Mart model is a good model. But I do believe that, since they’ve pretty much taken over the (retail) world, when they do good things, it has gigantic impacts.”
- Speaking of EcoGeek, here’s a really cool resource they featured last week: a mapping tool that assesses the feasibility of wind and solar power for any location in the U.S. Did I mention that it’s free? I love the Internet.
- Sometimes change arrives by freak accident. Mental Floss directs us to 10 Accidental Product Discoveries. Still no indication of why “Silly Putty” was a good idea.
- Good to see the GiveWell crowd back at work after their kerfluffle a few weeks back. Their two part discussion on evaluating charter school programs speaks eloquently to the difficulty of measuring impact in education programs.
Enjoy your week, and keep checking back for new material and the debut of Joel’s (super secret) Wednesday afternoon feature.
One last note: if you notice the stat counter on the bottom right corner of our sidebar over there (–>), we’re nearing 1,000 unique visitors since the site launched 3 weeks ago. Leave a comment if you’re lucky visitor #1,000 (or the first after 1,000 to comment) and maybe we’ll hook you up with something cool (Tropophilia t-shirts? no?)
