Education is the solution

Here is an interesting article about education.
Education is important for many reasons and it is also a means to an end. From that point of view it is very important that we don't only look for impressive credentials and certificates but for the capability to address real issues. This is something schools, universities and students as well as teachers need to keep in mind because as the economy becomes more and more global there will be intense competition for people who can solve real problems.

What do you think about color coded email messages based on their stress potential?

Here is an interesting audio recording (5min). At first I thought it was just funny because I get many emails every day and many of the important ones might have a higher stress level. So I could already see my inbox being red to a large extend. That would for sure increase my stress level.  But when I listened to the whole recording I learned that they have some very interesting points regarding communication automation towards the end. That is partly fascinating and scary. There are so many tasks that get automated and it is mostly good. In this case I'm not so sure it's good because someone has to write the applications to show you what to think (e.g. in this case to see a message has a high stress potential). By using the apps don't you allow the app provider to influence and guide your thinking, to think for you?  Why would you trust the app provider (which you most likely don't even know personally) to tell you what to think?

Climate change is a huge opportunity

Wow! Isn't that a very provacative statement? When I first read the headline of this article with Richard Branson I was stunned. Anyway once I got over the first surprise I thought he has a very valid point. The only way to achieve change and to have many people actively driving that change is that people can benefit from it economically.
To say "just do less of what is harmful" is not enough. In this article that would be flying. While I think it is good to say "I want to fly less" it is very unlikely that this will actually happen. Everyone has some interesting places they want to see, people they want to visit or some business travel they have to go to. Do you stay at home to save the climate?
It's easy to expect that from others but there is always a reason why we have to travel. So it's a noble but futile gesture that doesn't really drive change. Instead I like Branson's approach to say let's use our brains and come up with something new. We can't and really don't want to go back to the past, so let's take the future in our own hands and make it a good one.