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What are the perceived big issues, challenges, and stories of 2014?

Everybody loves to predict what could happen in the next year — and how those trends will shape both the short and long-term future. We do this every year. A year from now, we’ll be doing it for 2015, along… Continue Reading

It might be time for smart street lights like Tvilight. We’ll save money and things will remain beautiful.

You can read all about Tvilight at the Smithsonian’s website, but essentially the idea is simple: we have smart phones and we’re developing smart houses and smart umbrellas, so why not smart street lights? Tvilight’s lights will dim when no one is… Continue Reading

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Dr. Bernard Meyerson and the world in five years

IBM released its “5 in 5” report last week. It’s supposed to showcase how the world will look in five years via technology and smart computing; they also released a series of videos, which are embedded throughout this post (and… Continue Reading

Ananda Pradnya Paramita and the culture of the workaholic

30 hours of working and still going strooong. — Mita Diran (@mitdoq) December 14, 2013 After sending that tweet, the 27 year-old copywriter at Young and Rubicam Indonesia fell into a coma and ultimately died. Criticism of the ad industry was… Continue Reading

Mikhail Kalashnikov, creator of AK-47, dies; ironically, the greatest asset of the weapon might be longevity

Truth: the gun has played an incredibly important role in history. Truth: the AK-47 is, essentially, the most popular small arms weapon in world history. And a third truth: Mikhail Kalashnikov, the creator of said gun, passed away recently at… Continue Reading

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Human Resources: Sometimes excellent, sometimes a train wreck, often in the middle

The top-rated article on HBR’s blog right now is called “How Netflix Reinvented HR.” It talks broadly about the “Netflix Culture: Freedom and Responsibility” PowerPoint created by Reed Hastings and Patty McCord (who wrote the HBR article), that Sheryl Sandberg (of… Continue Reading

Let’s all talk about gifted and talented programs for a few minutes

This is an interesting topic, and a lot has been written about it recently because of a new study in American Economic Journal: Economic Policy that essentially says studying with other high-achieving peers has no real benefit. After 1.5 years of gifted and… Continue Reading

Tom Steyer could be the cage-rattler that liberals (and the Earth) need

Everyone has heard about the Koch Brothers by this point, it seems, but less people have heard of Tom Steyer, who is the liberal election-alterer of the moment. He made his money via hedge funds in the Bay Area, and now… Continue Reading