*** The Gurteen Knowledge-Letter (Issue 77, 4 November 2006) ***
Every so often I learn of something that really excites me. What
makes it exciting? Well it is often when someone has defied all the
odds and critics to implement an idea they feel passionate about
that has gone on to have a huge impact on the world.
I had come across Dr. Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank on several
occasions but did not take the time to really understand what this
man had achieved until he recently won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2006
for the Grameen Bank. I then set out to learn more about him and his
work.
What has he done that is so remarkable? Well - loaned money to poor
women in Bangladesh and thus helped lift many of them out of poverty!
Some statistics:
+ An amazing 97 percent of the bank's 6.6. million borrowers are
women
+ An estimated 17 million individuals have received $5.72 billion in
loans since bank's inception in 1983
+ The average loan is only $200
+ 94% of the bank is owned by its borrowers - the farmers, the women
entrepreneurs, the beggars - the remaining 6% by the government of
Bangladesh
+ No collateral or credit history required to take out a loan
+ A staggering 99% repayment rate
Everyone told him he was crazy.but he went ahead anyway and proved
them wrong. What's your crazy idea?
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/id/mp?open&mf=L002757
*************************** CONTENTS ***************************
1 - Are you ready for social software?
2 - Google buys YouTube
3 - Citizendium
4 - Diversity & Inclusion
5 - KM and IM Job Vacancies
6 - Lesson of the Month from Fifty Lessons
7 - The Birth of the iPod
8 - Enron Internal Email Archive
9 - KM Event Highlights
************** ARE YOU READY FOR SOCIAL SOFTWARE? **************
So what's the difference between more traditional collaboration tools
and social software. Stowe Boyd puts it like this
"Social Software is the opposite of project-oriented collaboration
tools that places people into groups. Social software supports the
desire of individuals to be pulled into groups to achieve goals."
http://www.stoweboyd.com/message/2006/10/are_you_ready_f.html
Love it! I had been struggling with that difference for some time and
Stowe has got it one.
I caught Stowe on video at Unicom's Social Networking tools
conference recently where I asked him "What are social tools?:
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/id/mp?open&mf=L002713
********************** GOOGLE BUYS YOUTUBE **********************
On October 9th Google paid $1.65 billion in stock for YouTube. What
did they buy? Not the technology nor the people, nor their know how
- they already had Google Video. But the eye-balls!
YouTube delivers more than 100 million video views every day with
65,000 new videos uploaded daily and an estimated 20 million unique
visitors a month.
It seems Google do not plan to merge YouTube and Google Video so it
will be interesting to see where it all goes from here.
YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, 29, and Steve Chen, 27
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCVxQ_3Ejkg
The story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6034577.stm
Analysis of the acquisition:
http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/10/10/google-youtube/
************************** CITIZENDIUM **************************
I have had many a conversation with people about Wikipedia and
people's concerns about the quality of its content given that anyone
can edit it. Well now there is an alternative in the form of
Citizendium where you must apply to be a contributor.
It has been created by Larry Sanger who worked with Jimmy Wales on
the creation of Wikipedia.
Its going to prove interesting to see over time which model works
best.
http://citizendium.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizendium
********************* DIVERSITY & INCLUSION *********************
If Diversity and Inclusion interests you then I think you will enjoy
the following:
http://www.i-t-l.com/v2020
You will find there two video recorded conversations with subject
matter experts. Daniele Joly from the University of Warwick, talks
about her views on diversity particularly in relation to France.
The other expert Dr Rachel Pillai talks about diversity -
particularly in relation to England
The interviewer has generated an interesting list of 50 Questions
about Diversity and Inclusion which you can gain access to by
emailing Brad Meyer at [email protected]
******************** KM AND IM JOB VACANCIES ********************
I am surprised that so few people have registered for my e-mail job
alert - I would have thought it would be far more popular.
If you did not know about them then you can see the jobs here:
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/id/jobs
register for email alerts here
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/id/jobs
or monitor them via an RSS feed here
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/id/rss-feeds
************ LESSON OF THE MONTH FROM FIFTY LESSONS ************
This month's 50lessons video is "Luck, Timing And Industry Trends"
by Brent Hoberman, Co-Founder & Chief Executive of lastminute.com
In this lesson Brent talks about how luck and timing are a part of
any business and while they cannot be controlled, you can capitalize
on industry trends to your advantage, and then make your move when
the market timing is right.
http://gurteen.50lessons.com
********************* THE BIRTH OF THE IPOD *********************
If you love your iPod - you will love the story of its birth.
http://www.wired.com/news/columns/cultofmac/0,71956-0.html
***************** ENRON INTERNAL EMAIL ARCHIVE *****************
It seems that in 2003 the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
placed 200,000 of Enron's internal emails from 1999-2002 into the
public domain as part of its ongoing investigations. The archive is
quite fascinating:
http://enron.trampolinesystems.com/
So think twice when you write that next email you never know who will
eventually get to see it! And that's true regardless of regulatory
commissions!
Thanks to Graeme Burton of InsideKnowledge who pointed me to this.
********************** KM EVENT HIGHLIGHTS **********************
This section highlights some of the major KM events taking place
around the world in the next 3 months and ones in which I am actively
involved. You will find a full list on my website where you can also
subscribe to both regional e-mail alerts and RSS feeds which will
keep you informed of new and upcoming events.
Events:
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/id/events
RSS Feeds:
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/id/rss-feeds
KM Asia 2006
07 - 09 Nov 2006, Singapore
http://www.kmasia.com
I will be giving a talk at this event and running a workshop. Also on
the Tuesday evening running a Knowledge Cafe at the National Library.
KM Singapore 2006
10 Nov 2006, Singapore City, Singapore
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/id/ikms-2006
While in Singapore could not miss attending this event though
attending purely as a participant.
Online Information
28-30 November 2006, London
http://www.online-information.co.uk
I will be chairing the Social Tools stream (Dave Pollard is one of
the speakers) and also giving one of the free short floor talks. If
you are at the event come along and say hello.
KMAP 2006
11 - 13 Dec 2006, Hong Kong, China
http://www.kmap2006.com
I will be running a conference knowledge cafe. My first time to China
so eager to meet lots of people.
The Knowledge Worker
Learning, Sharing & Collaboration: The keys to success in the
knowledge based organization
18 December 2006, Dubai, UAE
http://www.eraminternational.com/eventone.html
I will be running my 'effective knowledge worker' workshop in Dubai
on my way back from Hong Kong and hopefully a regional knowledge cafe
too.
Braintrust International 2007 - Annual Knowledge Sharing Summit
26 - 28 Feb 2007, Cambridge,Maryland, United States
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/id/braintrust-2007
I will be running a knowledge cafe workshop at this event. Looks like
being a great event - more on this later. Their website is up - go
take a look.
******* S U B S C R I B I N G & U N S U B S C R I B I N G *******
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Also see this page if you wish to become a community member and
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***************** THE GURTEEN KNOWLEDGE-LETTER *****************
The Gurteen Knowledge-Letter is a free monthly e-mail based knowledge
management newsletter for Knowledge Workers. Its purpose is to help
you better manage your knowledge and to stimulate thought and
interest in such subjects as Knowledge Management, Learning,
Creativity and the effective use of Internet technology.
It is produced in association with the Knowledge Management Forum of
Henley Management College, Oxfordshire, England.
http://www.henleymc.ac.uk/kmforum
You may copy, reprint or forward all or part of this newsletter to
friends, colleagues or customers, so long as any use is not for
resale or profit and I am attributed.
David Gurteen
Gurteen Knowledge
Fleet, United Kingdom
