Category: Uncategorized

Now they have patented your genes

Apparently one company has been issued a patent which basically says if you want to get tested for breast of ovarian cancer, tough! You will need to fork over $3000 for Myriad Genetics.

Seriously the patents at issue give Myriad Genetics a virtual monopoly on such predictive testing for breast and ovarian cancer.

I wonder when people will wake up and see what is going on here. I am glad the courts are intervening. See Wired for the whole story.

Recessions and Learning (Management Systems)

So how is your organization holding up doing this recession? Are you investing in your most potent weapon – your human capital, your employees?

Or are you joining the bandwagon and just cutting costs because its become fashionable? Don’t get me wrong, you should always strive for efficiency, you should always ask “how can we do this better?”, How can we get more effective with our resources?”. What I don’t seem to get is why all of a sudden everyone and their brother is claiming we need to let people go bla bla bla.

Anyways back to my original point. You should be investing more in your human capital. Now is the  time to get effective with training and learning. Now is the time to be looking at opportunities and positioning your organization for the recovery and upturn. Oh and its going to be tough to compete effectively if you lack the competent employees and resources.

So have you considered online training or web based training? Have you considered using learning management systems to help you create, launch and manage and track training and e-learning.

Costs for learning management systems (LMS) are going down, technology has vastly improved and flexibility has been enhanced so an organization regardless of size or sophistication can now leverage the power of online learning management systems to conduct and track training and e-learning.

Of course like anything else, you need to know what you are doing, who are you dealing with and several other questions of effectiveness and reliability. Check out this lms article on what to consider when selecting a learning management system.

Bottom-line.

Now is the time to get creative and leverage the potential of all your resources – human, capital, marketing, technological. Use some of the systems identified in this article to get started.

Also check out eLeaP LMS & Training Software System at www.eleapsoftware.com.

Its been 7 years since 9-11-2001

September 11th, 2008

I can’t believe its been 7 years already. I must confess but it looks like the public is already forgetting this tragic and bloody day.

So perhaps I moment of introspection after 7 years:

  1. The perps of this tragic event are still at large … oh yes we know they are holed up on the mountains of Pakistan so why the *&#@ haven’t we finished the job?
  2. The al-queda organization has reconstituted itself and some intelligence reports indicate is at pre-9-11 strength.
  3. We have a resurgence of the insurgency in Afghanistan.
  4. Pakinstan has a new president (not sure how he will deal with taliban).
  5. Iraq war may be winding down … or lasting another 100 years …. depends who you ask.
  6. We need all the help we can get in Afghanistan — can we muster 2 or 3 brigades to help with the effort over there?
  7. Russia has re-emerged as a “superpower’”?

Sounds grim doesn’t it?

What could we have done differently — after 9-11

  1. Finished the job in Afghanistan.
  2. Killed or captured Osama and his henchmen
  3. Turned world solidarity and support into an international effort to defeat global terrorism.
  4. Deploy economic and diplomatic tools to stem other global challenges like HIV, global climate change, and poverty and genocide.
  5. Opened channels of communication with the moderate Islamic world.
  6. Created a “Manhattan project” to end the causes of terrorism – ignorance and hate mongering and the Israel and Palestinian peace process.
  7. Never forget!

My prayer for the families devastated by this tragic event is for healing and resilience.

God Bless!

Are you linked-in?

I just updated my public profile in Linkedin. Why you ask ?? Well in truth .. a wee bit of curiosity and the inevitable self promotion it so modestly provides ..

Alas in truth, LinkedIn is a nifty little tool for research and reconnection with friends and business associates alike. Check it out and let me know what you think.

While you are at it, join Facebook and signup for eLeaP group. You might learn something!

Cheers!

Don

Conflict management over natural resources capacity building program under the community-based rural development project

The purpose of this training manual is to provide a capacity building framework and tools to support the technical and operational implementation of the conflict management training component integral to the Capacity Building and Community Based Natural Resource Management Components of the World Bank-financed Community Based Rural Development Project. The initial outline for this training component was completed during a FAO mission in February 2005 based on a conflict management training package developed and tested in Ghana under the Livelihood Support Programme (LSP) sub-programme 3.4 “Natural Resource Conflict Management.” The training manual was designed and finalized during an FAO-World Bank cooperative agreement technical assignment in July 2006, led by Pamela Pozarny (Rural Development Officer, FAO Regional Office for Africa) with Bizoola Gandaa and Conrad Weobong, both from the University of Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana.

Download the report here