Monthly Archives: May 2009

Understanding complex arguments, improving group decision making

May 13, 2009 – 12:01 am

Good post from Jim Fallows on the use of visual “thinking tools” for understanding complex issues. Argument mapping, the subject of the post, is like the structured, ultralogical sibling of graphic recording — both seek to distill the work of groups into a coherent, easily understandable form. For more on the need for such thinking [...]

By Chris Coldewey | Posted in Observations | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

iPhone as platform for automated species identification

May 10, 2009 – 5:19 pm

The NYT ran a quick “novelties” story on smartphone applications for identifying species of trees by matching cameraphone images of leaves to a database of leaf shapes — Foliage Field Guides for Cellphones. I hope the EOL project is taking notes. Lightweight iPhone-type apps may be the quickest development path towards some exciting new citizen [...]

By Chris Coldewey | Posted in Observations | Tagged , | Comments (1)

Demography (revised) is destiny (re-envisioned)

May 3, 2009 – 11:20 pm

Informative piece from the Wilson Quarterly on recent demographic projections. With such a long-term view, it is typical for small changes in assumptions (e.g., country birthrate shifts) to register major changes in actual numbers. What is atypical, however, is how quickly many of our demographic assumptions have shifted over the past few years. Something dramatic [...]

By Chris Coldewey | Posted in Observations | Tagged , | Comments (0)
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