John Hanke, “The State of the Geoweb”, O’Reilly Media Where 2.0 Conference, IT Conversations, 2008/05/14 July 26, 2010
Posted by daviding in Talk Audio Download.Tags: esri, geoweb, google, hanke
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Moving from text data to geographic mapping on the Internet has been a evolutionary advance.
John Hanke’s believes that geography and maps provide a useful context for understanding information and making decisions. That belief fuels his vision of a massive Geoweb of geographically aware web content. With a growth of 300% increase in geographically tagged data on the web since last year, it appears as if Hanke’s vision is rapidly emerging.
In this talk from the 2008 O’Reilly Where 2.0 conference, Hanke lists the places where this growth is happening. He also discusses what Google is doing to address the challenges of drowning in data and identifies the need for an open standard markup language for displaying geographical data on the web.
For Hanke, the biggest challenge to further evolve the Geoweb is how to make the billions of dollars of real-time GIS data available to developers. To help solve this challenge, Google reached out to ESRI, the world leader in GIS mapping technology. Jack Dangermond, founder and CEO of ESRI, joins Hanke to jointly describe the work Google and ESRI have been doing together. Dangermond explains how the 9.3 release of ESRI’s software will allow developers to pull data from GIS servers and combine that data with other information on the Geoweb. This new partnership furthers Hanke’s vision, and will lead to a whole new kind of user-generated content and an exciting future for web-based map making.
IT Conversations | O’Reilly Media Where 2.0 Conference | John Hanke
Thomas J. DeLong, “Managing B Players”, HBR Ideacast, 2008/01/03 July 26, 2010
Posted by daviding in Talk Audio Download.Tags: performers, star, talent
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Companies that expect everyone to be an “A performer” may be missing out.
In the much-heralded war for talent, it’s hardly surprising that companies have invested a lot of time, money, and energy in hiring and retaining star performers. For most CEOs, recruiting stars is simply more fun; for one thing, the young A players they interview often remind them of themselves at the same age. For another, A players’ brilliance and drive is infectious; you simply want to be in their company.
Besides, in these troubled times, when businesses are so vulnerable, people who seem to have what it takes to turn around a company’s performance are almost irresistible. But our understandable fascination with star performers can lure us into the dangerous trap of underestimating the vital importance of the supporting actors.
It’s true that A players can make enormous contributions to performance. Yet, as the authors have found, companies’ long-term performance–even survival–depends far more on the unsung commitment and contributions of their B players. These capable, steady performers are the best supporting actors of the corporate world. They counterbalance the ambitions of the company’s high-performing visionaries. Unfortunately, organizations rarely learn to value their B players in ways that are gratifying for either the company or these employees. This article will help you to rethink the role of your organization’s B players.
Let’s Hear It for B Players (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition) – Harvard Business Review
Jeffrey Ford, “The Four Conversations”, 800-CEO-Read, 2009/08/21 July 26, 2010
Posted by daviding in Talk Audio Download.Tags: business, conversations
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I’ve been interested in the language-action perspective in business. Here’s another view on conversations.
Most conversations to get things done at work are of one of four types-initiative conversations, conversations for understanding, performance conversations, or conversations for closure-but they are often done poorly or misused. This book shows managers and employees how to use the right conversation at the right time, plan and start each conversation well, and finish each conversation effectively.
800 CEO READ.com – We sell business books and promote great ideas.
The Fords believe that conversation can be broken down into four categories. In the podcast, we talk about each type of conversation and the right time to use them. We talk about midwestern sensibilities, amending broken agreements, and the frequency with which we use The Four Conversations.
800-CEO-READ Podcast with Jeffrey Ford, co-author of The Four Conversations « 800 CEO Read
George Soros on The Economy, Reflexivity and Open Society, Central European University Lectures, 2009/10/26-30 July 5, 2010
Posted by daviding in Talk Video Streaming.Tags: reflexivity, soros
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George Soros is a practical philosopher, applying his knowledge in a world that thinks linearly. I’ve been interested in his ideas on reflexivity, and less on financial markets, so the whole series of lectures were not of equal interest.
Lecture 1: General Theory of Reflexivity
Date: Monday, 26 October
Time: 2.00 p.m. – 4.00 p.m.
CETModerator: Colin McGinn
Videoconference with the London School of EconomicsGeorge Soros will present the fundamentals of his guiding philosophy, laying the foundation for his four subsequent lectures. This session discusses historical understandings of objective reality, scientific inquiry, and the limits of human perception. It discusses the gap between perceptions and reality, illustrating how actions based on these flawed perceptions then reshape reality in a reflexive system.
[Part 1 at video.ft.com]
[Part 2 at video.ft.com]
[Part 3 at video.ft.com]
[Q&A Introduction at video.ft.com]
[Q&A Part 1 at video.ft.com]
[Q&A Part 2 at video.ft.com]
[Q&A Part 3 at video.ft.com]Lecture 2: Financial Markets
Date: Tuesday, 27 October
Time: 2.00 p.m. – 4.00 p.m. CET
Moderator: Anatole Kaletsky
Videoconference with Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyThis lecture applies the general theory of reflexivity to financial markets, challenging the prevailing paradigm of the efficient market hypothesis. George Soros will discuss bubbles and the recent financial crisis in detail, testing his theory against major financial events.
Lecture 3: Open Society
Date: Wednesday, 28 October
Time: 4.00 p.m. – 6.00 p.m.
Moderator: Ivan Krastev
Videoconference with Columbia UniversityIn this session, George Soros discusses the concept of open society, which guides his philanthropy and is central to his political and social thinking. Over the past quarter century, Soros has devoted over seven billion dollars to promoting the underpinnings of this concept—from equal access to justice to freedom of expression—around the world, from South Africa to Poland to the United States. Here, he describes the historical and philosophical roots of open society. George Soros builds on Karl Popper’s thinking while stressing the central importance of fallibility, relating this to reflexivity, and applying these concepts to political and social reality. The lecture concludes by discussing the balance between individual freedom and regulation to protect the common good.
Lecture 4: Capitalism Versus Open Society
Date: Thursday, 29 October
Time: 2.00 p.m. – 4.00 p.m. CET
Moderator: Mark DannerVideoconference with the Indian Institute of Science, BangaloreIn this lecture, George Soros will explore the conflict between capitalism and open society, market values and social values. Focusing on the principal-agent problem, he will use contemporary economic and political examples to challenge market fundamentalism while presenting ideas for protecting the public good more effectively.
Lecture 5: The Way Ahead
Date: Friday, 30 October
Time: 1.00 p.m. – 3.00 p.m. CET
Moderator: Howard Davies
Videoconference with Hong Kong UniversityTurning his attention to the future, George Soros will focus on the increasingly important role that China is likely to play on the world stage. He will outline key global trends and discuss their major economic and political implications for the years ahead.
