A plea for new thinking
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The Nobel Peace Prize winner links the pursuit of peace with environmentalism and a shift in humanity&#39;s thinking. BY DOUG MELLGREN.
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A new experiment sends a simple idea racing around the web, and tracks its progress. All of this has happened before; all of this will happen again. By Robert Lemos.
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A new book argues that nature is too complex and depends on too many processes that are poorly understood or little monitored to be modeled using computer programs.
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A modest proposal for a better world through 'Borat.'
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A philosopher makes a case for setting limits on self-improvement, genetic and otherwise.
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You can learn a lot from writing a newspaper column, especially when a reader calls in to say that you're wrong. I've just received a revealing critique that foreshadows a nasty new escalation in the battle over our digital rights.
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Another year, another opportunity to reflect and look forward.
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Jeff Jarvis, whose mind occupies the intersection of mainstream media and the blogging world, perhaps more than any other person, is having a conference in mid-October in NYC to bring together people from both worlds to present constructive ideas for working with each other. Me, my feet are firmly planted in the blogging world, but I've spent a lifetime reading and watching MSM, starting with the NY Times at the kitchen table with my parents and brother, when growing up. Some of my fondest memories as a child were our discussions of the days events, and the Times was our common structure. Everyone in our family read the newspaper, often from cover to cover.  As Jarvis councils us, never mind the mistakes, what can we do to make things work better? And I have a couple of proposals in that direction that I will try to present at the October 11 conference. In all cases, they involve the MSM opening up more to include not only the ideas of blogging, but also the bodies of the bloggers.  1. I've said it many times before, it's worth raising again. Any newspaper or radio or TV station with a good reputation in its community could embrace the fresh ideas of the bloggers in their community by offering free blogs to members of the community, who may be new to blogging. I suggested this to the Times in 2001 -- when a person is quoted in a Times article, a few days after the piece runs, contact them, and ask if they'd like to have a NY Times hosted blog. There would be no control over what appeared on the blog. It would have a nytimes.com domain (something like bullmancuso.nytimes.com). Build an aggregator, something very much like Twitter (which is after all, a river of news, not exactly a new idea, heh) that shows all the new posts from members of the community. Encourage (but don't require) your editorial people to read the blog posts. Let whatever happens happen.  2. Here's a new idea that I haven't proposed before. Open your newsroom to bloggers. Set aside a half-dozen desks for people who blog in your community, people you've gotten to know, and provide them with wifi, a water cooler, your coffee (no matter how bad it is) and chance to work alongside your editorial people and (very important) with each other. It's an incredible thing when bloggers get together in a physical space, the sparks can really fly. Now imagine what could happen if those sparks got flying between the remaining editorial people in a professional news organization and the bloggers. I believe the secret of scaling the news is right there, you just have to open the door and see what comes in.
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There looks to be more room for healthy growth.
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Bill Gates call at Davos for a new way of thinking among businesses has elicited a wide range of commentary.
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Comment is free: Timothy Garton Ash: An interdependent world faces many challenges. Britain should promote a coalition of democracies to tackle them.
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Head south for some fresh -- and potentially lucrative -- investing ideas.
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Head injuries usually come down to a judgment call and, inevitably, bad judgments are made. Itâs time for a new approach.
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Comment is free: John Harris: The government needs to look past middle England and address the harsh realities of an increasingly casualised workforce.
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Some mistakes are not always mistakes.
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Comment is free: Andrew Rawnsley: His ideas for modernising our democracy are both exciting and risky. Politicians can never be sure where reform will take them.
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Clifton Seabury requests that the truth be told regarding pollution of inland waters ("Ports are polluters and need subsidies," letter, Feb. 7). After reading his letter, I wonder from where he would seek the truth.