Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Only in California… I saw an article in the National Post today, Convicted sex offenders have a right to privacy, advocates say, that is repugnant on first (and second..n) read. The gist of it is that the ACLU is holding up a law passed by plebiscite  a California last month by an 80% majority. The “proposition,”…

So about a year ago, I think, I get a call out of the blue from this guy named Jay Shah.  I have no idea how he found me.  But he would like to tell me about this business start-up he and some friends at Waterloo have got going and get a bit of feedback.…

A few nights ago, I was graciously treated to the group dinner at the Identity North conference, in Toronto.  I had the opportunity to reacquaint with people I hadn’t seen since DigitalID World, in San Francisco, many years ago.  Returning readers might recall writings I’d done years ago on this subject (located here). Last night…

Props to Warren for pointing this Forbes article to me.  Steve Denning, contributor, adds:  What killed Michael Porter’s Monitor Group?  The One Force that Really Matters to the magazine’s offering.  First, the article is fairly long.  But stick with it.  Second, it exhibits some of the characteristics that it condemns in Porter and strategy consulting…

Recently, I listened to the audio version of John Kotter’s 1996 book, Leading Change.  It’s a good book–at least within the distractions of driving a daily commute and jogging on a treadmill.  But this isn’t a book review.  I only mention it because the book ends with an argument about how everyone’s a leader, etc.,…

Just finished speaking at CloudLaunch in Ottawa.  Addressed “The case for cloud computing in government,” with a speech that went straight at Canadian productivity and innovation.  We aim for entertainment and thought.  It may have been achieved.  A more fully thought-out treatment of the presentation is attached.  Thoughts?

Silly and abstruse headline, I know.  But some days are better than others.  What the title is supposed to lead toward is a comment about the pervasiveness of “the place is collapsing, but I’m OK”-ness going on everywhere.  The opportunities to find this run from gated communities in high crime areas to happy economic sectors…

Here in Ontario, the McGuinty government is presently at war with teachers.  I’m not going to get into the fray to betray where I stand on this issue.  It’s too complex to do easily and, besides, my wife and child would likely not appreciate the exposition.  It, along with the current to-do with those who…

This story that’s been everywhere (Edmonton teacher who gave 0s for unsubmitted work fired) is, first of all, a distressing commentary on the degradation of our society.  There is, apparently no bar too low that somebody in a position of authority can’t find a way to lower it further.  Great.  That’s how you reach the…

I read an article a while back in the MIT Technology Review, the gist of it was that the ‘big data’ power represented by Facebook was leading rapidly to true markets-of-one. Markets that are completely understood uniquely and do not have to be aggregated or averaged.  Markets that, thanks to the power of Internet and…

A few posts back (here), I made a suggestion that government could do better to support the economy, including innovation by investing for its own selfish needs rather than by tinkering around the edges with tax incentives, loans, and other assorted forms of public largess.  I have to admit, this is one of the examples…

The unfolding public argument that was kicked off by Bank of Canada governor, Mark Carney, and abetted by federal Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, over the past weeks, continues.  The Globe and Mail contributes the National Bank’s latest view of the corporate cash hoarding situation. What’s especially rich about all of these indictments and apologies is–for…