What kind of person wouldn't take a call from Nelson Mandela?

"We are really appalled by any country, whether a superpower or a small country, that goes outside the U.N. and attacks independent countries," said Mandela in a reference to Bush's threats to invade Iraq. "No country should be allowed to take the law into their own hands . . . What they are saying is introducing chaos in international affairs, and we condemn that in the strongest terms." [AP, Sept. 3, 2002]

For years I've wrestled with how I would have responded if I had been part of the German church during Hitler's rise to power. I'm sure the situation crept up on them . . . Would I have spoken out? Would I have had the courage of a Dietrich Bonhoeffer?

Now: Are we as people of faith in the process of being similarly tested?

I'm serious; do not go whipping out Godwin's Law on me.
10:17:55 PM |   

One of the reasons I develop for OS X [instead of Windows] is that, when it comes to user interface, this is the big leagues, this is the show . . .

To switch metaphors: imagine you think you're a good writer. You think you have the talent to write excellent novels. You also have the talent to be a really great sports journalist--you could probably get a column in some newspaper somewhere and be very comfortable, maybe even win a Pulitzer or two.

Which do you choose?

Writing novels is the bigger risk and the bigger reward, by far. I choose that (metaphorical) path. How could I not?

. . . to me it's the difference between an empty night sky and a night sky with all the stars shining and a big, bright bella luna. "Emotional appeal?" Oh yes indeed.

I can't see how organizations are going to progress with knowledge management unless the individuals in those organizations learn how to unpack what they know. Think back to the heyday of expert systems in the mid 1980s. The show-stopper was . . . getting experts to figure out what they were expert at and make it accessible.

[via Mathemagenic]
11:50:21 AM |