These are my links for April 13th 2009 through May 14th 2009:
- Annals of Innovation: How David Beats Goliath: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker – David’s victory over Goliath, in the Biblical account, is held to be an anomaly. It was not. Davids win all the time. The political scientist Ivan Arreguín-Toft recently looked at every war fought in the past two hundred years between strong and weak combatants. The Goliaths, he found, won in 71.5 per cent of the cases. That is a remarkable fact. Arreguín-Toft was analyzing conflicts in which one side was at least ten times as powerful—in terms of armed might and population—as its opponent, and even in those lopsided contests the underdog won almost a third of the time…What happened, Arreguín-Toft wondered, when the underdogs likewise acknowledged their weakness and chose an unconventional strategy? He went back and re-analyzed his data. In those cases, David’s winning percentage went from 28.5 to 63.6. When underdogs choose not to play by Goliath’s rules, they win, Arreguín-Toft concluded, “even when everything we think we know about power says they shouldn’t.”
- The Three Poisons, Institutionalized by David Loy According – txtbin – According to Buddhism the three roots of evil are lobha greed, dosa ill will, and moha delusion. Traditionally these are personal problems, but today they must also be understood more structurally, as institutionalized.
- Management idea: Kaizen | Kaizen | The Economist – Kaizen is a Japanese word meaning, roughly, continuous improvement.
- Eric Hobsbawm: Socialism has failed. Now capitalism is bankrupt. So what comes next? | Comment is free | The Guardian – "Whatever ideological logo we adopt, the shift from free market to public action needs to be bigger than politicians grasp". The worst thing about the crisis is that it has given respite to old socialists windbags. We were so close to them all having died out…
- Ergonomic Workspace Planner, Workstation Installation Tool – Follow the three steps below when planning your workstation. The values displayed will help you place your equipment for optimum ergonomic comfort. Also try the interactive Workspace Assessment tool to evaluate your current working conditions.
Things to remember: Eye height should be level with top of the screen. If using bi-focals, lower the monitor and tilt the screen upward to avoid neck strain. Elbow height should be level with the top of the keyboard. Seat height should allow your feet to rest flat while maintaining a 90–110° angle at the hips.
Values are derived without clothing allowances. Always add shoe height to figure proper measurement. Additional factors may apply. Consult with an ergonomist for more detailed information.
