RT @TechNexus co-working & conference facility where Chicago’s tech leaders connect & collaborate. http://technexus.org

Cancer impacts all of us (http://ping.fm/HSiIt). Cures are close. Post #beatcancer in status message or tweet.

RT Every tweet that has #beatcancer today raises money for cancer. Ebay, Coors and others are going for a world record today. #beatcancer!

An interesting recent poll… People often use metaphors to describe their life… Which ONE of the following do you think best describes your life?

A Journey: 51%
A Battle: 11%
The Seasons: 10%
A Novel: 8%
A Race: 6%
A Live Performance, Like a Play: 5%
A Carousel: 4%
Other: 2%
Unsure: 2%

The responses above were provided to participants and are well-known life metaphors from Western culture. For example, life as a journey is from Homer’s Odyssey (and the Epic of Gilgamesh should also be credited as well). Life as a battle is Homer’s Iliad. Life as the seasons is from Ecclesiastes and ascribed to King Solomon. Life as a race is from St. Paul. And life as a performance or play is from The Bard – Shakespeare.

Fascinating that there is minimal difference by age, gender or region… statistically the same percentage of 25 year olds and 55 year olds both see their life as a battle (or a journey, or whatever).

But I wonder if it’s the SAME people with the SAME outlook on life as they age, or if there’s some greater social balance at play. What if the the metaphor people used to describe their life evolved over time, but on a broader social scale this was a zero sum game?

Philips Electronics releases The Rationalizer, a bracelet that monitors your emotional state while you are sitting at the computer, about to make an irrational trade, or hit send on that email destined to set off a flame war.  The lights intensify and turn a brighter red when your emotions flare, offering what it calls a “mirror of emotion” to warn you that it might be good to take a breather and calm down before making any irrational decisions.

Karaoke @ the Blue Frog… Rocking to Queen, very, very badly

Redirecting 2016 Games efforts toward education Terry Howerton — chicagotribune.com

Chasing an Olympic vision brought together Chicago’s government, civic and corporate leaders in a way this town has rarely seen. It was an exciting, big idea for the city of Chicago.

There were questions about the real value of the Games, whether the city could afford them, or whether the current leaders could pull them off successfully.  But we heard how a generation of kids might benefit from the Olympic spirit, and how Chicago would build infrastructure to help our city and economy grow.

The amount of money, time and energy marshaled toward chasing the Olympics was unprecedented.  Major corporations stepped forward, local foundations donated money, and small shops proudly displayed their support for Chicago’s bid.

Refocus that effort toward meeting Chicago’s most pressing needs. Chicago 2016 should become an initiative for real education reform in Chicago. These same leaders should shift their focus and considerable heft toward creative ways to fix a failing system.  This is not a problem unique to Chicago, but Chicago could become a shining example for American education.

Make Chicago a world-class city by making our public education system actually work and align it with our city’s future. Instead of inspiring kids with the Games, let’s give generations of kids the skills to create and fill the jobs of their future. Let the infrastructure we build be a foundation to escape poverty and violence that traps many of Chicago’s families and limits Chicago’s economy and global competitiveness.

(more…)

An excellent article by Dennis Byrne in the Tribune, and well worth the read.  The civic support for this Olympic vision was significant… if we could channel that into meeting Chicago’s social needs then something great could be achieved.

Keep the name — Chicago 2016 — signaling the community’s intent to create a bright new city, without the motivation of securing the Olympics. Imagine if the same levels of skill and determination were put to use raising bushels of cash for the things that Chicago hasn’t been able to afford.

Money for cash-strapped civic and charitable institutions. Money for badly needed new ones. Not only would these institutions no longer have to worry about their own revenues from charitable contributions getting gobbled up by the Olympics, but also they would enjoy additional funds from the New Chicago 2016 effort.

Chicago’s a great, world-class city, and I’m proud it’s my home.  But there are far too many social needs unmet.

I’ve now seen first hand the abysimal state of public education in our community, and the news is full of crime and violence from kids without real stakeholders willing to engage them. 

If just a portion of Chicago 2016’s passion, organization, money and private sector effort were to go toward real education reform, the community could break cycles of poverty and empower generations of future leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators in the community.