Ian O'Byrne provides a comparison between privacy and security: > **Privacy** is often defined as the right of an individual to keep his/her individual information from being disclosed. This is typically achieved through policies and procedures. Privacy encompasses controlling who is authorized to access your information; and under what conditions information may be a...

Rachel Nuwer makes some predictions about the collapse of Western Civilisation. One of the points that she makes is the challenge of 'complexity': > According to Joseph Tainter, a professor of environment and society at Utah State University and author of The Collapse of Complex Societies, one of the most important lessons from Rome’s fall is that complexity has a ...

American libertarian activist Patri Friedman thinks that the future of the city-state are 'seasteads': > Patri is taking the Silicon Valley mindset and applying it to the nation-state. There are all these things you could now do that didn’t exist when our current system of government was invented, he told me. Constant online direct-democracy voting, building smart-c...

Tim Wu reflects on the rise of Bitcoin and wonders about the wider implications for society. He suggests that it may herald a move away from trust in sovereign entities to a trust in code: > Yet as Bitcoin continues to grow, there’s reason to think something deeper and more important is going on. Bitcoin’s rise may reflect, for better or worse, a monumental transf...

In response to a presentations from Ray Adams (ACER), Sara Ruto (PAL), Anil Kanjee (Tshwane University of Technology), Sue Thompson (ACER), Hans Wagemaker (ex-IEA), Sam Sellar (MMU), and Barry McGaw (ex-ACARA), Greg Thompson asks the following questions: > If NAPLAN is impactful, and I think on this we agree, why is it only ever impactful in positive ways such as in t...

Blogs change over time: > I was recently asked by someone online how they could get their blog up and running again, beyond simply posting more often. My initial ideas were to tell a story about what you are learning right now, make something new, be the connection that gives other’s a voice or return to why. However, what matters most is where you are at right...

Tom Barrett shares an insight from Larry Prusak: > Knowledge only flows if trust is present - information can flow without trust, but not knowledge...

Reflecting on the collaboration between Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Austin Kleon talks about the importance of playing different roles. He suggests that when working alone that one strategy is to be conscious with your time: > This is a terrific argument for collaboration, and the power of two, but for those of us who work solo, we have to try to split ourselves ...

Audrey Watters writes down a series of questions to consider when thinking about data: > Is this meaningful data? Are “test scores” or “grades” meaningful units of measurement, for example? What can we truly know based on this data? Are our measurements accurate? Is our analysis, based on the data that we’ve collected, accurate? What sorts of assumptions are...

Simon Sinek discusses the difference between rationalising a decision and finding real purpose: > Providing jobs, driving the economy, serving the shareholder are not purposes. They are rationalizations used when a greater cause or purpose is not clear or not there.  Real purpose has a clear and definitive direction. It is a path that points towards a very specific ...