You know the old joke - "I'm a sex object. I ask for sex, and people object"? No, well, now you do... Boundary objects are, according to wikipedia - "In sociology, a boundary object is information, such as specimens, field notes, and maps, used in different ways by different communities. Boundary object are plastic, interpreted... Continue Reading →
Planes, Claims and Automobiles – #masculinity, #cars and #advertising
Two adverts have been on the idiot's lantern at the gym (I am one of those tremendous bores who doesn't have a television and lets you know at every opportunity) Briefly, the plots; In one, a generically handsome (quietly athletic, mid-30s, stubbly; basically the male equivalent of the beige cheeky-boney woman you see in the... Continue Reading →
Book Review: “Innovation For A Low Carbon Economy”
Foxon, T, Kohler, J. and Oughton, C. (2008) Innovation For A Low Carbon Economy Economic, Institutional and Management Approaches Cheltenham: Edward Elgar This one is a corker, if you like that sort of thing. There are nine chapters, including the introduction, and every single one of them is worth some or a LOT of attention. ... Continue Reading →
Social Media Advice for Conferences
A while back I went to a "how to 'do' social media for (academic conferences). Typed up stuff and... left it on my desktop... Good advice includes; start early have a separate email address (also makes it easier to get a twitter account) don't overcommit to stuff (if you're not populating a blog/updating a twitter... Continue Reading →
Happy Days are here again (aka “don’t kick the Beckett)
I'm the “Potsie.” And I've got to figure out a way for happy days.... Potsie was the dweeb. Nice, but dim. And in the May 15, 1979 episode of Happy Days, he is about to flunk out of college, because he just can't get things right. He can't remember his anatomy. But his friends (including... Continue Reading →
Book Review: The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Duhigg , C. (2012) The Power of Habit: Why we do what we do in life and businessNew York: Random House This is one of those books by a middle-class middle-aged American where (Gladwell, Gawande, Hertsgaard etc etc). They interview lots of people, they read lots of academic literature, they write very well (with knowingess... Continue Reading →
Of Leviathans, the Tube and #climate crisis.
The last post was about what happens to technologies that challenge the “Leviathan” - of hierarchy, class, habit and the external and internal oppositions. It's worth a read, and I can say that because there are big slabs of quotations from two brilliant articles (about the 1970s industrial-policy-from-below Lucas Plan, and the present problems of... Continue Reading →
“Technology versus the Leviathan”. But does it need a Leviathan? #innovation #democracy
TLDR: It's a dilemma that has never gotten old. How do you overthrow an ossified system of control without becoming that same thing? “Met the new boss,” and all that. Or, worse and more likely, you run out of steam, lose heart, your best ideas get “borrowed” and prop up the thing you were trying... Continue Reading →
The only way is ethics – principles for scientists
Seems about right to me. The topic of having professional ethics for scientists isn't new. Here is a list of principles proposed by the then chief scientific adviser in the UK, Professor Sir David King - in 2007: Act with skill and care, keep skills up to date Prevent corrupt practice and declare conflicts of... Continue Reading →
Prelude in LNG major: Of Shell, #climate change and innovation
Innovation is double plus good? Well, depends... The oil giant Shell is building a new ship, the BBC reports. Half-way through the story, after manfully capturing the scale of this big boy (it's the biggest ship EVER. Over 400m long) we get, as they say in Hollywood, the “reveal.” It's going to be the FNG... Continue Reading →
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