julio 2010 – Gabriel Catalano®

China is now the world’s second largest economy

The People’s Republic of China – also known as Zhōngguó – has eclipsed Japan and is now the world’s second largest economy.

According to World Bank projections cited by Reuters, China remains on course to overtake the United States and assume the role of the world’s number one economic superpower by the year 2025.

China is now the world’s second largest economyHowever, China’s per-capita income, which hovers at a mere $3,800 a year, is still quite low compared to America or Japan.

Nevertheless, a recent op-ed in the government-controlled People’s Daily urged the United States to «recognize and accept» China’s inevitable rise «onto the world stage.»

«No one would like to see the negative effects rocky relations would bring to China, the United States and possibly to the world as a whole,» explained Zhong Sheng.

«[But] issues such as arms sales to Taiwan, Google censorship, RMB exchange rates [and] finger-pointing about economic responsibility show Washington still seems confused and impatient about relations with China.»

Sheng also noted that ties between China and the United States represented the «most important and complicated» bilateral relationship of the 21st century.

Aharon Etengoff

The People’s Republic of China – also known as Zhōngguó – has eclipsed Japan and is now the world’s second largest economy.

According to World Bank projections cited by Reuters, China remains on course to overtake the United States and assume the role of the world’s number one economic superpower by the year 2025.

China is now the world's second largest economy However, China’s per-capita income, which hovers at a mere $3,800 a year, is still quite low compared to America or Japan.

Nevertheless, a recent op-ed in the government-controlled People’s Daily urged the United States to «recognize and accept» China’s inevitable rise «onto the world stage.»

«No one would like to see the negative effects rocky relations would bring to China, the United States and possibly to the world as a whole,» explained Zhong Sheng.

Continuar leyendo «China is now the world’s second largest economy»

Twitter Hits 20 Billion Tweets

There have now been more than 20 billion tweets since Twitter (Twitter)’s inception, according to tracking service GigaTweet.

The milestone comes just two months after the service hit 15 billion tweets and about five months since it reached 10 billion, indicating that activity levels on the microblogging service continue to accelerate.

While GigaTweet’s count is unofficial, Twitter indicated earlier this year that they’re seeing more than 50 million tweets per day. With the company recently breaking its own activity records during the World Cup (World Cup), we imagine the numbers are fairly accurate.

Adam Ostrow

Continuar leyendo «Twitter Hits 20 Billion Tweets»

Top 10 Twitter Trends This Week [CHART]

Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi thriller Inception (staring the palpably handsome Leonardo DiCaprio) nabs the top of the Twitter talk chart for the second week in a row.

What else is up in the Twitterverse? Talk to Brazilians. Their tweets about football, celebrity gossip, and Sylvester Stallone’s off-handed comments at Comic-Con took home the lion’s share of the trends this week.

Check out the stats below for the full skinny, lovingly collected by our friends over at What The Trend. Because this is a topical list, hashtag memes and games have been omitted from the chart.

You can check past Twitter trends in our Top Twitter Topics section as well as read more about this past week’s trends on What The Trend.

Matt Silverman

Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi thriller Inception (staring the palpably handsome Leonardo DiCaprio) nabs the top of the Twitter talk chart for the second week in a row.

Check out the stats below for the full skinny, lovingly collected by our friends over at What The Trend. Because this is a topical list, hashtag memes and games have been omitted from the chart.

You can check past Twitter trends in our Top Twitter Topics section as well as read more about this past week’s trends on What The Trend.

Top Twitter Trends This Week: 7/24 – 7/30 Continuar leyendo «Top 10 Twitter Trends This Week [CHART]»

Motorola Droid Upgrading to Android 2.2 Next Week

We had actually heard rumors that the original Droid would be updated to Froyo at the end of July, so this isn’t all that far from the case. And, while the HTC EVO 4G is getting updated to the same version number on August 3rd, we expect the roll out for the original Droid to happen right around the same time. There’s no exact date, but considering the competition, we wouldn’t be surprised.

So, we’ve got confirmation from HTC, Samsung, and now Motorola that existing devices in the market right now are getting updated to 2.2. This is great news for all the Android fans out there, especially those who have been waiting patiently for their official upgrade. Now, the Motorola Droid X is next on the list — so hopefully that happens before the end of the month of August. Any word on that, Motorola?

By Evan Selleck

We’ll just go ahead and say it: Android 2.2 is just about to be on everything. And it looks like, unlike the previous updates to the Android version, every major carrier and manufacturer out there is taking the update to Android 2.2, or Froyo, very seriously. And that’s perfectly fine with us. This time around, we’ve got official word from Verizon that the Motorola Droid is getting updated to Android 2.2 next week.

Motorola Droid

Moto Droid 2.2 update 1 379x500 Continuar leyendo «Motorola Droid Upgrading to Android 2.2 Next Week»

UK.gov sticks to IE 6 cos it’s more ‘cost effective’, innit

The petition itself was sent to Number 10 earlier this year asking then Prime Minister Gordon Brown to follow German and French governments’ decisions to ditch IE 6.

Brown’s administration was unmoved by security concerns about the crinkly old browser, however.

It claimed at the time that its system, along with regular Microsoft updates, meant it was robust enough against the kind of attack that claimed over 30 corporate firms at the end of last year.

Google was perhaps the most high-profile victim of those attacks. It has since turned its back on supporting the old MS browser in its web apps.

At the same time, Microsoft too has been trying to shepherd users away from IE 6 and Windows XP – the operating system that refuses to die – in favour of its more recent software efforts.

But the ConDem government is singing from the same hymnbook as Number 10’s previous incumbents.

Freetards on the interwebs are in uproar about the decision, and the El Reg mailbox is overflowing with comments from outraged coders.

«Apparently the IT team in Whitehall has yet to realise you could quite easily use IE6 for IE6 only sites, and receive the protection of a more modern browser such as IE8, FF and Chrome for everything else,» Reg reader Mark told us.

«As a senior web application developer, the mention of the positive word ‘standards’ in a document about IE6 makes me die a little on the inside — ‘Public sector organisations are free to identify software that supports their business needs as long as it adheres to appropriate standards’ — I’m not sure which standards they mean… but certainly not the HTML ones.»

Alas, Internet Explorer 6 is here to stay to keep the wheels of central government turning in this big fat society of ours, people. ®

: Image via Wikipedia

By Kelly Fiveash

Computers in Whitehall will largely continue to run Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6, which will make web coders spit out their cheese‘n’pickle sarnies this lunchtime.

“It is not straightforward for HMG departments to upgrade IE versions on their systems. Upgrading these systems to IE 8 can be a very large operation, taking weeks to test and roll out to all users.”

“To test all the web applications currently used by HMG departments can take months at significant potential cost to the taxpayer. It is therefore more cost effective in many cases to continue to use IE6 and rely on other measures, such as firewalls and malware scanning software, to further protect public sector internet users,” it said. Continuar leyendo «UK.gov sticks to IE 6 cos it’s more ‘cost effective’, innit»

Defining Innovation

We often toss around the terms “innovative” or “innovation” when describing companies, products, services, or experiences. It almost seems as though the term(s) are overused. In fact, a Google search for “innovation” returns over 97 million results! If you’re one of those that throws around the term, have you ever compared the definition of “innovation” to see if it actually fits? That could prove confusing too since there are over 18.8 million search results for “definition of innovation”. If we use the Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s definition of “innovation”, it would be described as “the introduction of something new [or] a new idea, method or device”.

Posted by Justin Levy

We often toss around the terms “innovative” or “innovation” when describing companies, products, services, or experiences. It almost seems as though the term(s) are overused. In fact, a Google search for “innovation” returns over 97 million results! If you’re one of those that throws around the term, have you ever compared the definition of “innovation”

We often toss around the terms “innovative” or “innovation” when describing companies, products, services, or experiences. It almost seems as though the term(s) are overused. In fact, a Google search for “innovation” returns over 97 million results! If you’re one of those that throws around the term, have you ever compared the definition of “innovation” to see if it actually fits? That could prove confusing too since there are over 18.8 million search results for “definition of innovation”. If we use the Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s definition of “innovation”, it would be described as “the introduction of something new [or] a new idea, method or device”. Continuar leyendo «Defining Innovation»

10 Basic Principles of Innovation

Today’s post is from Matthew Greeley, Founder and CEO of Brightidea, the global leader in On-Demand Innovation Management software. Prior to founding Brightidea, Matthew consulted for Wrenchead.com, helping them raise over $100 million in venture funding from investors. He holds a degree in Computer Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and studied Creativity and Marketing at Stanford University. In addition to his role at Brightidea, Matthew sits on the board of directors of ClearDay Technologies.

After 10 years of working in the trenches of innovation, I have attempted to distill down the ten MOST important concepts that I believe anyone working in this field should be aware of:

Posted by Erica Templeman

Today’s post is from Matthew Greeley, Founder and CEO of Brightidea, the global leader in On-Demand Innovation Management software. Prior to founding Brightidea, Matthew consulted for Wrenchead.com, helping them raise over $100 million in venture funding from investors. He holds a degree in Computer Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and studied Creativity and Marketing […]

Today’s post is from Matthew Greeley, Founder and CEO of Brightidea, the global leader in On-Demand Innovation Management software. Prior to founding Brightidea, Matthew consulted for Wrenchead.com, helping them raise over $100 million in venture funding from investors. He holds a degree in Computer Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and studied Creativity and Marketing at Stanford University. In addition to his role at Brightidea, Matthew sits on the board of directors of ClearDay Technologies.

After 10 years of working in the trenches of innovation, I have attempted to distill down the ten MOST important concepts that I believe anyone working in this field should be aware of: Continuar leyendo «10 Basic Principles of Innovation»

Evolutionary Innovation

One of the big mistakes that smart people commonly make is to think that a great idea sells itself. If this were true, innovation would be fairly simple – just come up with great ideas. Unfortunately, it’s not so easy. Innovation is actually a process – you need to generate great ideas, you need to select the best ones and figure out how to execute them, and you have to get these executed ideas to spread.

These three steps are variety, selection and replication – that’s an evolutionary process. In fact, the history of the idea of evolution through natural selection provides a good lesson in how innovation is more than just coming up with great ideas.

We think of evolution by natural selection as Charles Darwin’s idea. However, the first public disclosure of Darwin’s big idea happened at a meeting of the Linnean Society in 1858 – and at that meeting two papers on evolution by natural selection were read. One was written by Darwin, and the other was written by Alfred Russell Wallace. One of the most powerful ideas of the past 200 years was developed nearly simultaneously by two people. And the initial impact of this great idea was, well, nothing.

Posted by TimothyKastelle

The Power of Saying No

The inability to say ‘no’ more often than not finds its beginnings in an organization’s lack of, or poorly articulated strategy. In recent years, with technological change progressing at an ever-increasing pace, the notion of an organization actually forming a forward-looking, long-term strategy has seemed quaint. It was as though technology would cover up any missteps with its inherent magical powers. How wrong-headed that has proved to be.

Those who choose to ignore the necessity of having a robust strategy pay for its absence. Usually that cost is in poor quality products or services, missed customer deadlines, and eventually lost market share. All of which is in addition to the internal conflict, chaos and fire-fighting that arises when priorities are unclear across an organization. Strategy is the framework of choices that help an organization determine what it will become. It clearly defines what it will do, but more importantly it defines a much great category of things that it will not do. Without a strategy there is nothing against which an idea might be tested and found wanting. Strategy creates the constraints within which innovation thrives.

One of the reasons why Apple is so successful today is not only because they are so innovative (although it helps!), rather their success lies in an organization-wide capability for how to say ‘no.’ Focus and constraint are just as much a part of their design and innovation processes as is their attention to detail and the creation of things with which their customers fall in madly love.

Posted by DrewMarshal

The art of leadership is saying ‘no’, not saying ‘yes.’ It is very easy to say ‘yes.’ -Tony Blair
In a world awash in opportunities there is so much to be explored (and so much time to wasted.) Let’s spread ourselves too thin, shall we? There are so many ways in which energy […]

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The art of leadership is saying ‘no’, not saying ‘yes.’ It is very easy to say ‘yes.’ –Tony Blair

In a world awash in opportunities there is so much to be explored (and so much time to wasted.) Let’s spread ourselves too thin, shall we? There are so many ways in which energy may be spent, resources consumed, and money burned. For an organization with IADD (Innovation Attention Deficit Disorder) a world with multiple possibilities is not a good thing. Indeed it may be crippling.

How does this affliction manifest itself? Continuar leyendo «The Power of Saying No»

Innovative Vs Inventive

“Has any other company ever demonstrated a restlessness to stray from the safe and proven, and actually invent things like Apple?”

I came across this question and it made me pause for a moment. Has there been any other company that does what Apple does? But directly on the heels of that thought was a second—Apple doesn’t invent, they improve. They improve really well, and through design and marketing, they make their products wildly successful. They just don’t invent completely new products that haven’t been seen before.

Apple has a history of innovating products to make them better than before—more functional, easier to use, and key features that we couldn’t dream of living without now. They didn’t, however, invent the computer. They did bring it to the masses in an easy to purchase, set up and use system. How easy? I was using an Apple II before I could talk, or had hair for that matter. They didn’t invent the MP3 player, but creating an interface to purchase/download guaranteed music and making it sync seamlessly with their product? Ingenious. They didn’t invent the touch-screen tablet computer, but they’ve proven that their touch in design can make quite the stir.

: Image by lu6fpj – Facundo A. Fernández via Flickr

Posted by Erica Templeman

“Has any other company ever demonstrated a restlessness to stray from the safe and proven, and actually invent things like Apple?”

The Structural Dilemma of Creating an Innovation Culture

Definition & Control
As organizations grow and evolve over time their business functions and processes formalize in support of bringing their products and services to market. Over time authority consolidates so that there are agreed upon channels for communication and decision making. The strategic goals of the organization are driven from the top down into the organization through goal-setting and often those goals are directly tied to individuals’ performance expectations. Business processes and systems are defined and marked for vigilant management and incremental improvement. The organization becomes solid, tightly integrated, and an excellent platform for delivering a relatively stable mission.

It is possible to have too much of a good thing and when taken to their limits within these performance biases there are inherent drawbacks.

In the consolidation of authority the speed of decision making often decreases. The reason for this is that communication regarding the nature of the decision needs to rise to the appropriate level of the organization with the decision making authority. The further away from the point at which the decision needs to be made, the increase in the amount of information that needs to be provided to ensure that the decision is made with the appropriate data. This doesn’t take into account the communication styles of those requesting the decision, making a recommendation, or making the final decision. Often this communication process results in delay and missing information is provided and the decision intent is clarified.

The ownership of the strategy at the top of the organization may also be an impediment to effective innovation. If an organization’s strategy is primarily understood at the senior management level and enacted at lower levels in the organization hierarchy there may be a disconnection between environmental and marketplace awareness and the ongoing suitability of a particular strategy. A strategic blindness pervades. If clients’ needs change or technology shifts the chances are those most closely engaged with clients and the marketplace will see that first. If what they are seeing is at counterpoint to the organization’s established strategy the process of raising the alarm in order to modify performance to address the changing conditions in the field may be wanting.

The inability to respond swiftly has long been a hallmark of larger, well-established organizations. When faced with well-defined business processes and systems it can be a challenge to modify or remove them in the face of a need to change an organization’s business model. The beauty of a large organization is the ability to focus the appropriate allocation of limited resources to the best effect. Often management focuses on incremental improvement and the elimination of errors rather than wholesale change, especially when performance goals drive toward certain returns. This practice leaves little room for the exploration, let alone failure, required for meaningful and effective innovation. It is simply too hard to change the direction of a organization like this when everything about its configuration is designed to reinforce the structural integrity of that configuration.

The world’s largest oil tanker is the Knock Nevis; its size beggars belief*. It takes five and half miles to stop with a turning circle of over two miles. It takes nearly fifteen minutes to turn 180 degrees. Now, while you would rarely want to turn an oil tanker 180 degrees, as the likelihood of your going in completely the wrong direction is low, the effort involved is enormous. For a large organization their sheer size and complexity makes changing their culture a similarly challenging prospect. That does not mean that they are incapable of innovation, far from it. There are too many examples for large companies changing their culture to increase their innovation effectiveness; Proctor & Gamble and GE come to mind immediately. But accounts of their changes describe years-long efforts. Effective? Certainly. Nimble? Not so much.

: Image via Wikipedia

Posted by DrewMarshall

The struggle of creating an innovation culture, a culture that supports innovative thinking and output as compared to an innovative culture (one marked by internal differentiation), can readily be framed as a structural dilemma. There are two seemingly contradictory operating instincts that must be reconciled in order for an innovation culture to be sustained. The first is the bias, especially in larger, older organizations, towards definition and control of all aspects of organization life. The second bias, a start-up or entrepreneurial mindset, tends towards differentiation and creativity. As you can imagine this reconciliation process requires tough trade-offs. Continuar leyendo «The Structural Dilemma of Creating an Innovation Culture»

Do We Retire at 65? An Innovation Story

Here’s an interesting question:

Why is the Retirement Age 65 in most developed countries?

I’ll give you a second to think about it. Or google it.

Here’s a hint: the retirement age of 65 was first selected in 1880.

Here’s the answer: the retirement age was set at 65 because when it was first introduced by Otto von Bismarck, hardly anyone lived that long. Here’s a quick rundown on that:

The age of 65 was originally selected as the time for retirement by the “Iron Chancellor,” Otto von Bismark of Germany, when he introduced a social security system to appeal to the German working class and combat the power of the Socialist Party in Germany during the late 1800s. Somewhat cynically, Bismark knew that the program would cost little because the average German worker never reached 65, and many of those who did lived only a few years beyond that age. When the United States finally passed a social security law in 1935 (more than 55 years after the conservative German chancellor introduced it in Germany), the average life expectancy in America was only 61.7 years.

Posted by TimothyKastelle

Here’s an interesting question:
Why is the Retirement Age 65 in most developed countries?
I’ll give you a second to think about it. Or google it.
Here’s a hint: the retirement age of 65 was first selected in 1880.
Here’s the answer: the retirement age was set at 65 because when it was first introduced by Otto von […]

Here’s an interesting question:

Why is the Retirement Age 65 in most developed countries?

I’ll give you a second to think about it. Or google it.

Here’s a hint: the retirement age of 65 was first selected in 1880.

Here’s the answer: the retirement age was set at 65 because when it was first introduced by Otto von Bismarck, hardly anyone lived that long. Here’s a quick rundown on that:

The age of 65 was originally selected as the time for retirement by the “Iron Chancellor,” Otto von Bismark of Germany, when he introduced a social security system to appeal to the German working class and combat the power of the Socialist Party in Germany during the late 1800s. Somewhat cynically, Bismark knew that the program would cost little because the average German worker never reached 65, and many of those who did lived only a few years beyond that age. When the United States finally passed a social security law in 1935 (more than 55 years after the conservative German chancellor introduced it in Germany), the average life expectancy in America was only 61.7 years. Continuar leyendo «Do We Retire at 65? An Innovation Story»

¿Por qué la Comunicación Online es Vital para la Reputación Corporativa?

Habrás oído y leído ya mucho sobre reputación online. ¿Qué te voy a contar a estas alturas? Cierto. Lo que quiero compartir contigo puede que no te sorprenda, pero es posible que te amplie horizontes. Te invito a mirar más allá de Internet para comprender, realmente, la importancia de la comunicación online.

reputaciononlinePara empezar, no nos confundamos. La reputación online no vale por si sola. Funciona como una pieza más, eso sí: cada día más relevante, en el engranaje de la reputación corporativa.

Para entender este mecanismo, piensa en la reputación como el conocimiento y valoración que te haces de una marca cuando sometes a contraste cinco fuentes de percepción:

Habrás oído y leído ya mucho sobre reputación online. ¿Qué te voy a contar a estas alturas? Cierto. Lo que quiero compartir contigo puede que no te sorprenda, pero es posible que te amplie horizontes. Te invito a mirar más allá de Internet para comprender, realmente, la importancia de la comunicación online.

reputaciononline Para empezar, no nos confundamos. La reputación online no vale por si sola. Funciona como una pieza más, eso sí: cada día más relevante, en el engranaje de la reputación corporativa.

Para entender este mecanismo, piensa en la reputación como el conocimiento y valoración que te haces de una marca cuando sometes a contraste cinco fuentes de percepción: Continuar leyendo «¿Por qué la Comunicación Online es Vital para la Reputación Corporativa?»

Link bait: Half luck, half skill, half something else

by ian

Everyone thinks they have a great recipe for link bait. Make a list. Include pictures. Freak people out. Post it right at this specific time of day (different for every ‘expert’). Spam Digg. No, wait, spam Twitter! Ooops, try Stumbleupon! Or, my favorite, «Write really good stuff».

When you see hordes of experts all recommending different stuff, it means there’s a lot of luck involved.

My copywriting, search and social teams – which all deserve serious praise for kicking butt up and down the internet – just hit a couple of home runs that, combined with a few of my successes/failures, tell the tale: There is no secret recipe. There’s only persistence, skill and a healthy dose of luck.
The 9 Circles of Mel: Sometimes it just works

by ian

When you see hordes of experts all recommending different stuff, it means there’s a lot of luck involved.

The 9 Circles of Mel: Sometimes it just works Continuar leyendo «Link bait: Half luck, half skill, half something else»

You Know You’re a Freelancer When . . .

You Know You’re a Freelancer When…

1. You’re starting to grumble about your 5-step commute from the bed to your computer. The snooze button is soooo much closer…
2. The car stays parked in your garage for days at a time and somehow you continue to grow without sunlight.
3. You can vacation as often as you want now. Chained to your computer and phone, yeah, but hey: the ocean looks beautiful from here and yes honey, I’ll join you out there in a moment!
4. Working in the buff is actually an option! Just remember to switch your Skype chat default to “Answer with NO Video!”
5. Work begins stalking you around the house, skulking and whining like an unloved pup. Work is home is office is everywhere – ACK! I’m sure there’s a zen proverb around here somewhere…
6. You finally remove all the fart jokes and Mafia Wars from your Facebook Profile because your playground just became your chief marketing and advertising venue.
7. Laptop parties with your freelance buddies are your brilliant attempt at “having a life” and still getting things done.
8. You catch yourself bouncing ideas off of your apathetic cat and your chatterbox four-year old.
9. You start playing pranks on your unsuspecting canine because you miss the office shenanigans.
10. You finally get paid for knowing more than the person who hired you.
11. Strangling yourself with the laptop chord is a popular and approved reaction to client emails and phone calls.
12. Friends pimp you out for favors: “Oh yeah, I have a friend that can do that for you. I’m sure he’ll do it for super cheap. In fact, we’re good friends, I bet he’ll do it for free!”
13. You can justify anything to one client by simply referencing a vague “other client.” {Yes of course I’d love to have a 5am meeting for your East Coast team! Unfortunately, I’ve already booked that slot with my Australian client.}
14. Social sites your old boss banned aren’t even fun to visit now because they’re actually on your Client Acquisition To Do list.
15. You talk excitedly about the latest Wordpress plugin or Photoshop brush you just downloaded… and the barista was only asking for your coffee order. {“It’s just so lonely working from home, you see. Nice to have someone to talk to is all…”}
16. You’re actually nodding and laughing right now, filled with that warm and fuzzy feeling that “yes, I still fit in somewhere.”

Much love to my fellow freelancers! We may be spread out across the global office but our common world still unites us. 🙂

I’d love to hear any other items you’d add to this list. If I get enough responses, I’ll do an updated *2.0* post with the additional items. Just ask to be “Anonymous” if you don’t want me to attribute the item to you!

Jaime Mintun

Here’s a celebration of all the ways we are uniquely freelancers… set apart from our cubicle counterparts, yet aware that we are perhaps still not so different. Or are we? Enjoy! Continuar leyendo «You Know You’re a Freelancer When . . .»