Yesterday I was introduced to the Webinar – a seminar on the web. At UC Berkeley I loved taking part in seminars. If the weather was fine, we might go out and sit on the freshly mown lawn. The occasional hummingbird would join, hover, and move on. Dogs drifted in distractedly, lay down – head… [Read more…]
January 25, 2012
by Aldo Matteucci
It’s official – capitalism is in need of reform. Martin WOLF, the Head Economics Commentator of the Financial Times, has proposed “seven ways to fix the system’s flaws”[1]. In commenting such news, one could argue substance – query e.g. why Mr. WOLF’s proposals fail to include reform of capitalism’s core: bankruptcy laws. Survival of the… [Read more…]
January 23, 2012
by Aldo Matteucci
The shipwreck of the Costa Concordia has attracted much attention. Some will feel anger at the incompetence of key people; others will enthuse about the integrity of the Coast Guard. As emotions swirl around the catastrophe, I simply look for interesting lessons to be drawn. There are heaps of them, for this is one catastrophe… [Read more…]
January 19, 2012
by Aldo Matteucci
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as H.R. 3261, is a bill that was introduced in the USHR on October 26, 2011. The bill, if made law, would expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods.[1] The Constitutional basis for SOPA… [Read more…]
January 17, 2012
by Aldo Matteucci
The most recent “Black Swan” event – the foundering of the Costa Concordia off a small Italian island – allows me to reflect on what might happen when “command and control” structures are confronted with the unexpected. “Command and control” or “principal and agent” management philosophies are much the rage these days, and even the… [Read more…]
January 16, 2012
by Aldo Matteucci
I’ve just received this breathless alert[1]: a law is being passed in the New Zealand to take away the “God-given human right freely to cultivate food”. I don’t want to dwell into the specifics of the New Zealand law, but comment on the likely drive behind such laws. Food security has become a major government… [Read more…]
January 15, 2012
by Jovan Kurbalija
If a new law is adopted, South African independent weather forecasters who get it wrong could face imprisonment. Although, according to the Daily Telegraph article, the law has specific local context of reinforcing the state’s monopoly in weather forecasting, it opens many questions….. What about the responsibility of government weather forecasters for their mistakes, especially… [Read more…]
January 13, 2012
by Aldo Matteucci
The following report from India[1] has reached me: “The Delhi High Court on Thursday warned social networking site Facebook India and search engine Google India that websites can be “blocked” like in China if they fail to devise a mechanism to check and remove objectionable material from their web pages.” (…) “The case centres on a… [Read more…]
January 27, 2012
by Aldo Matteucci
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