You are currently browsing the monthly archive for April 2007.
I’ve been hearing more and more about the declining bee population from a number of my news sources- primarily NPR, NY Times and my email network.
The information coming in is fairly distressing. Researchers have found that during the past five decades, the domestic honey bee population has declined by fifty (50%) percent. Since honey bees pollinate between 15 and 30 percent of the foods we eat, conservation biologists warn that the declining honey bee population could mean that some of the fruits and vegetables we eat may not be available in the future.
The bee is an important part of the agriculture industry, but so is the declining population of bats. They pollinate a huge percentage of our crops and are the first species in forests that have been clear cut. Their guano supplies the seeds to the first growth vegetation in these barren areas, that then attracts birds with more seeds.
Bees and bats… love ‘em.
:: POTENTIAL CAUSES
- One camp is starting to point towards CORDLESS PHONE use (not necessarily cell phone use) in the U.S. and Europe as a cause. A recent study conducted in Germany found that a high percentage of bees couldn’t navigate back to the hive when a radio frequency device was placed inside the hive.
- Another camp indicates that a tiny MITE is causing the decline.
- Yet another, points to herbicides.
:: LINKS
Some recent headlines:
CNN Earth Matter
Pollinator decline puts world food supply at risk, experts warns
U.S. Congress
Honey Bee Decline Concerns Congress
National Public Radio
Declining Bee Population Threatens Major Growers
South East Farm Press
Loss of honey bee populations a threat to U.S. agriculture
China View
Study: Cell Phones Confuse Honey Bee Navigation
National Geographic
Bees Decline May Spell End of Some Fruits and Vegetables
International Herald Tribune
This is the article that interviews the scientific team that did the study in Germany on the cordless phones and bee homing impairment.
BBC
Decline of Island Bee Population
Botanical Gardens Conservation
The Plight of the Bumble Bee Affecting Plants
The Physics Forum
Bee Colony Collapse Disorder
MarketWatch
Crops and our Wallets May Get Stung by Declining Bee Population
Here is a way YOU can take action- build your own bee box!
NPR Starting Your Own Hive
I think I may try this at our property in Carbondale. There is a lot of clover in the fields nearby … A great experiment for our kids.
Wow!
Get the Glass is a new web campaign by the California Milk Processor Board. The same organization that issued the “Got Milk” campaign that has been quite successful. If it hasn’t improved milk sales, it at least has become a cultural phrase widely mimicked in the bumper sticker world. Reminds me of the “Where’s the Beef” campaign- picked up by the cultural with unknown affect on sales.
Again, this site, like the ownyourc.com, is wildly creative from a cinematic standpoint. It extends the expectations on the web of “rich content.” The ability to do a 360 degree fly around is beautiful and gets the mind thinking of similar executions for other products and storylines.
Check this out today!
I’m impressed…
With all the sites I review literally on a daily basis and the number of interactive firms I examine per month, I’m taken with Cactus. They’re a firm in Denver (close enough to tempt) that has been creating some strong work.
It’s the flash work that I find compelling. Yes, their company site is nice. It clearly presents their portfolio and news, while the use of the technology doesn’t trump the usability. It has a nice clean interface and provides enough cues to the user that explanations about how to navigate unnecessary.
It is a fairly scalable navigation concept that will serve them for a while. Additionally…
One of their portfolio sites is stunning. It provides a small model world of whimsy in such a fun and engaging way to communicate the teens the concept of CHOICE. I wasn’t aware, until recently, of the ability for Flash to create an almost claymation kind of environment. I want to talk with them on how they were able to develop so many varied movie clips within flash without being penalized by overly fat files.
This site is worth visiting. Look for another post on a new Got Milk campaign that is equally as impressive. I’m so psyched to finally witness such dimensionality on the web!!!
Inspire.
In a word, that is what the book I’m currently reading does for me. It’s called Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything
They are using digital tools to share and collaborate in highly creative ways that may seem senseless to those of a different generation. They are not interested in a hierarchical business model. They seek creative, stimulating experiences that are communal in nature.
Apparently, this is a huge population that will be entering the work force in the next five years. They will completely change the landscape by forcing companies to evolve. Corporate transparency will be required. Self-expression will be mandatory. Lifestyle will play an important role.
Companies can leverage the N-Gens only by embracing them. I was reading a few years back how HR departments were having to re-learn how to deal with the incoming 20-somethings whose need for mobility and self-expression led them to buck the internal management of established companies. Resentment and disbelief over that generations unwillingness to earn their stripes or pay their dues was causing massive managerial problems. It was a generational divide.
That is going to happen again. However, the next generation will require the very foundations of the companies business practices to alter, not just their management style.
Change is the wind… adapt or perish…
Last night, I read an excerpt from Lee Iacocca’s new book titled, Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
Here is a man who has nothing to gain, but something to lose- his credibility. He may be marginalized by being defined as an old man who is irrelevant and out of touch. His words, however, cannot be ignored.
They cut to the point about leadership and the lack of leadership this country currently suffers. It’s not name calling. It’s specific instances and examples of how “our” leaders don’t act the part. They deal out platitudes. They orchestrate their audiences. They manipulate the system for the gain of the few. They suspiciously act like fascists.
Let me be clear about that word- “fascism.” To me, it means government and corporations working in concert towards shared goals. Mussolini called it “corporatism.”
I’m not talking JUST about the Bush administration. Congress is also culpable. Here’s a direct quote from the book…
“
Read an excerpt from the book found at Borders.
Eight days a week… rehab is a constant job.
In ‘03 I launched a ski jump at the Canyons in Park City. After a 35′ high, fly-away experience, I landed. My left femur kept going and blasted through the tibial plateau. Shock set in as little pieces of bone began to float around the knee capsule.
After 3.5 hours of surgery performed by Dr. Horowitz at the University of Utah hospital and a week of initial recovery (and five catheters being removed and replaced), I left in a wheel chair to catch a plane back to L.A.. I wouldn’t be allowed to walk for another three months.
Rehab in 2003 involved learning how to fire my muscles again so I could learn to walk again. Complete atrophy in one part of your body results in accompanying amnesia on how to do fundamental actions- like walk. Descending a set of stairs was the scariest event of my life.
In 2004, the hardware was removed- 11 screws and two plates. Well… actually only 10 screws, because Dr. Pevny from Orthopedics Associates overlooked one of the screws. What was the nurse doing during surgery?
“Eleven screws on the x-ray, and we only have a baggy with ten … hmm … that’s weird. Oh well, it’s lunch time!”
Fast forward to 2007. The scar tissue has built up so much that the patella (knee cap) isn’t moving much and pain is experienced during heavy exertion. Dr. Pevny’s response = “early arthritis.” Dr. Sterett from the Steadman-Hawkins clinic = create space in there by removing the scar tissue.
April 4, I go in for surgery. Now its 2 hours of physical therapy each day in an attempt to recover properly from this. I’m hopeful that I’ll heal properly and be back playing hockey this summer.
Look for a future post where I share a video clip of the surgery!! How fun is that?!
Came across a WSJ video series on business leaders.
Felt that the Jet Blue CEO’s story was impressive and inspirational.
[wsjvideo="http://journey.wsj.com/blogplayer.swf?journey=neeleman"]
For some reason, I can’t seem to get the video to play in this window. Perhaps because it is a Flash movie…?
“Should I stay or should I go now? If I stay there will be trouble. If I go it will be double.”
The band’s name eludes me, but the tune is stuck in my head! Moving on is hard to do, but staying put could be a slow death.
Things have reached a simmering boil and a sudden watershed conversation may have relieved the tension over what comes next. For us, we usually come to an explosive atmosphere when great change is in the air. It tends not to be a smooth transition as there is much emotion involved. However, once we get it all out, then we can move forward with determination.
Four years. That is the time that has swiftly passed since our Colorado chapter begin. In that time, we have accomplished much on one hand and very little on the other. If we lay out the amount of creative work that has been produced, the knowledge gained, the real estate exchanged and the healthy environment our children have enjoyed- we have been busy. However, the price has been feeling shut-off from a purposeful path that feels “large.” A disconnect from the action. A loss of friendships that we hold dear built up over eight years in LA.
Whether this line of reasoning is ego or not is hard to say.
That said, I think a time limit will be soon posted on our future in the Roaring Fork valley. I sense a change in the air…
TWO in the MORNING and the affliction of most entrepreneurs strikes- insomnia.
The idea of “moving on” has resurfaced. After four years of design, development, manufacturing and marketing of our first product, the exhaustion of being every role is taking its toll. I entered in to a capital intensive business that, as a whole, was already suffering decline due to population shifts. The toy industry is fractured and evolving.
The old channels are in upheaval. New opportunities are arising from the ashes of the old if the mind is there to see them and the energy to pursue them… but my stamina is running out.
I was telling my partner just yesterday that in the face of my waining financial resources and that in four years I have yet to receive strong confirmation that we are on the right track, I am not as inclined to blindly persist as I once was.
Entrepreneurs must often keep their heads down and produce without distraction from industry know-it-alls who view your product and not immediately perceive the value. Simply, you tend to hear more “no” than “yes”, more “that’s interesting” and fewer, “that’s incredible.” It gets to the point that even when we have won awards, we aren’t sure how to take the news. We have to be our own cheer leading squad. We have to celebrate the small successes. There is always more to be done and always a list of self-critiquing, “I could have done that element better”, but taking the time to recognize small accomplishments and steps along the path is all to often overlooked.
The news of competing or closely competing products is always nipping at your heels or perhaps even sitting on your legs. Timing becomes crucial. Imagination may be more important than knowledge, as Einstein once said, but knowledge does have a real influence on the dissemination of the imagination’s manifestations.
The mere ruminations on “pulling the plug”, as we have so often described the act of beginning the final phase of quiting this endeavor, cause a variety of emotions to emerge. Sadness, despair, lowered self-esteem, grudging acceptance, fear of other’s interpretations, relief … all of these and more bubble to the surface.
In my particular case, I cannot be assured that my partner in this effort will even continue once my energy is directed towards new ventures. I need to have the remainder of our inventory sold. I need to know that at the very least, this one activity is being pursued so that we can slowly dissolve the business entity and remain with ONLY papers and files as artifacts of our journey.
Will the Faery Folk gain greater traction- and this year? Will the books be published by next year? I’ll build the website as soon as the information is there, but the proposals need to be created first so I can perceive the website’s role.
Out of interest, I’ll put a URL in this post to see if it ever gets spidered by search engines. The promoter in me is always present. The Faery Folk collectible dolls and booklets are available for online retail and wholesale purchase. The links are at our company site, Dervish Toys.
So that’s the first post- an anxiety riddled page short on images, long on defeatism.
