Visual Aide- Visualization for Business, Education, Communication, Engineering, Fun

Have you ever drawn a knowledge map? With the help of visual expression we can break down complex issues and ideas, like climate change and resource scarcity, by putting it out right in front us. From that data, just add water and salt as desired.

Picking up a pen and staring at a board can be new and intimidating, so here are a few suggestions from a right brained guy;

1. Get a large piece of paper, whiteboard (preferable), chalkboard, and a pen (get colorful and creative).
   
2. Pick up pen, apply desired pressure.
3. Don't be afraid of failure. Deciding that your thought is wrong or untrue is ok. Don't hesitate get part of the idea out!
4. If you can't start try this; close your eyes and think about the purpose of the project, assignment, or task of your visual aide.
5. Create an environment that allows you to practice as a habit, because it takes work to some.
   

Here is a organization called Visual-Literacy.org, that will help you get started.
http://www.visual-literacy.org/

Be sure to check out their Periodic Table of Visualization!
http://www.visual-literacy.org/periodic_table/periodic_table.html

The Tool Revolution is Upon US!

Clive Thompson wrote an interesting piece in Wired this month about reviving American innovation through our grassroots Do It Yourself revolution. I believe the web 2.0 revolution will allow us to figure out innovative solutions to a growingly complex and difficult future ahead of us.

Here is what Clive had to say;

"Why am I so inept? I used to do projects like this all the time when I was a kid. But in high school, I was carefully diverted from shop class when the administration decided I was college-bound. I stopped working with my hands and have barely touched a tool since. "

". . . it's a problem for America. We've lost our Everyman ability to build, maintain, and repair the devices we rely on every day. And that's making it harder to solve the country's nastiest problems, like oil dependence, climate change, and global competitiveness."

"If you can't get under the hood of the gadgets you buy, you're far more liable to believe the marketing hype of the corporations that sell them. "

"Neuroscientists have shown that working with your hands exercises different parts of your cerebrum than sitting and cogitating. "

"They aren't ripping open cars to see what's possible, the way those amateur ultra-mileage Prius hackers do (some of whom, by the way, have modded their hybrids to get 100 mpg)."

"A counterrevolution is afoot"

"Notably, all this is happening outside our broken educational system. America is healing itself at the grass roots — rediscovering the mental joy of making things and rearming itself with mechanical skills. "

So apparently as a developed society we've taken a short vacation from our DIY mentality and we dove headfirst into the information economy. It has brought about new, exciting, and beautiful technologies. Now we need to start incorporating a culture that is a hybrid of the two. It's a true win win situation if we can leverage our new information seeking/publishing abilities on the web and get start coming up with some real solutions to the coming climate crisis and resource depletion.

So here are some resources to do it yourself:
For plans and ideas:
Make Magazine


Ready Made


Videos
Expert Village


Zipidee


Read Clive Thompson's full article

Or comment with your favorite builders paradise.

Web 2.0 - Best Explanations Ever by Common Craft

We learn in many different ways; seeing, doing, hearing, and saying. CommonCraft does a good job of making complexity simple. They do it by creating videos harnessing the power storytelling and low tech visuals to teach various topics. By the way they're available for hire.

Here are some of their videos presenting Web 2.0. Which is basically "user-generated" content. So here we go web 2.0 tools made simple by CommonCraft:

Blogs-


Want to do now?
Blogger.com
Typepad.com

Wiki-


Want to do now?
Google Groups
Wikispaces

Social Bookmarks-


Want to do now?
Del.ic.ious--> check out my del.ic.ious bookmarks.
Digg

RSS feeds-


Want to do now?
Google Reader
Bloglines

Social Networks-


Want to do now?
Facebook
Myspace
See my other post for more

Just for fun. . .Zombies-

Have a resource you want to share? Comment back and let 'er be known!

Footprint? Shouldn't it be Feetprint?

Yeah I know the footprint is old (2002), but have you taken it?
http://www.earthday.net/footprint/

Here's how I'm doing: 2.5 planets,


CATEGORY ACRES
FOOD 4
MOBILITY 0.5
SHELTER 3.2
GOODS/SERVICES 2.5
TOTAL FOOTPRINT 10

vs. 24 for my location.

Want to Invest in the Future? 3 Cool Funds for a Warm Planet

A year ago I did a search for socially responsible investments. As I searched away on Google I felt like a tree falling in the forest and nobody around to hear me.

But today. . . After a brief search I see the tides truly have changed. Sure my searching skills have increased, but so have the number of socially responsible investments out there.

Socially responsible investing is a way to back companies that have sustainable business models. Meaning they design their business to be good for the environment, good for people, and they make a profit, and if they don't do all those things, then at least they go beyond business as usual.

Here is a short list of some places to take your money and leverage your power toward saving the world.

Pax World Mutual Funds-
"We believe it’s our unique investment approach. We call it Sustainable Investing – the full integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into our investment analysis and decision making. By combining rigorous financial analysis with equally rigorous ESG analysis, we seek to identify better-managed companies that, among other attributes, are leaders in their categories, meet positive standards of corporate responsibility and focus on the long term."
-letter from the president, Joseph Keefe

Calvert-
"With approximately $2.29 trillion in assets in the US today1, SRI is catching on with many individual and institutional investors who seek to:

* Align their investment portfolio with their personal values by avoiding companies that do not meet certain standards.
* Encourage improved corporate social and environmental performance through an active investment strategy.
* Identify companies with better long-term financial performance through the analysis of social and environmental factors.

SRI was first formally practiced by religious investors who, nearly 100 years ago, avoided companies involved in tobacco, alcohol, and gambling. More recently, however, SRI has evolved beyond such simple avoidance screening to include the following four aspects:

Social research

Shareholder advocacy

Social venture capital

Community investing"

Winslow Green Mutual Funds-
"Today, Winslow is widely recognized as a pioneer in the rapidly growing field of green investing. Winslow and our portfolio managers are regularly featured in a wide variety of media, such as Time, Barron's, Kiplinger's, SmartMoney, Outside Magazine, Marketwatch.com, TheStreet.com, Forbes, Investment Advisor, CNBC, Bloomberg TV & Radio, and the Christian Science Monitor. In 2007, Winslow's Jack Robinson was recognized in the annual Barron's / Value Line mutual fund manager survey as one of the top 10 equity fund managers in the U.S. for the 2nd year in a row, earning the #2 ranking in the aggressive growth category and the #10 ranking overall. The Winslow Green Growth Fund was also named Best Socially Screened Fund of 2006 by Kiplinger's Personal Finance."

Refering site: Social Funds

The Green Team like never before

Hilarious Will Ferrell & co.





off to go tracking. . .