Consumer Society Is the Enemy

Anyone within range of Western television during the 1960s to the 1980s was likely a fan of Jacques Cousteau's famous "underwater adventures" launched from the Calypso research vessel, which roamed the seven seas.
Not surprisingly, as an explorer immersed in the natural environment, Cousteau became a radical ecologist in his later life as the costs of industrialization and consumerism began to take their toll. In the summer of 1996 I sat down with the famed oceanographer at the Paris offices of the Cousteau Society.     

Use of lycode powders for the examination of documents partially written with erasable ball point pen inks

It was discovered by change that lycode powders adhere to erasable ball point pen ink strokes. A study of this phenomenon was carried out to determine what type of inks reacts physically with lycode powders. A further evaluation was made to learn if this effect continued after the erasable ink became indelible. It was also found that obliterated erasable ball point pen ink can be read by applying lycode powders and that the powders react in a similar way with typewriting from a conventional inked typewriter ribbon. Treatment in this case is completely non-destructive since the lycode powder can be wiped off the paper surface.     

Technology transfer legislation: An overview

This article provides an overview of the Federal legislation on technology transfer beginning with the Bayh-Dole and Stevenson-Wydler acts of 1980 and ending with the 1987 Executive Order, “Facilitating Access to Science and Technology.” The legislation and Executive Order provide the context for Federal laboratory technology transfer activities. The article covers the historic development of transfer legislation, the authorities given to laboratories, incentives for technology transfer provided by legislation, and the mandated duties and responsibilities of ORTAs, organizations, and agencies.     

Spreading the Word

<正>How a Canadian wine buff strives to tell Ningxia’s story to the world Jim Boyce,founder of Grapewallofchina.com,a website about Chinese wine,has been reporting on China’s emerging wine market for almost a decade.The 48-year-old consultant     

Who will guard the guardians? Amartya Sen's contribution to development evaluation

An Action Learning process integrated with Sen's Capability Approach can support development agencies to formulate interventions that enhance freedom. The authors show that putting this approach into practice has important implications for the manner in which ‘development’ is undertaken as an ideological project. It may help to examine and challenge those who hold power in development: the guardians. This finding is the result of an emergent Action Learning process that was initiated by applying Sen's principles to focus-group interviews with women who care for people affected by HIV and AIDS. One of the findings of these focus groups was that the participants valued the process because it opened a space for them to influence the work of the implementing NGO. Essentially, they could hold the implementing agency to account. Reflection on this outcome by the agency led to important shifts in processes that are more supportive of freedom.     

Les facteurs contributifs au leadership du Greffier dans la fonction publique du Canada1

Sommaire: Le titre de Greffier du Conseil privé s'accompagne maintenant d'aurres titres et responsabilités. Plusieurs personnalités différentes ont rempli ces responsabilités. Le leadership du Greffier s'exerce sur une variété de personnages politiques et administratifs de premier plan et dans des circonstances souvent paradoxales: il faut savoir implanter les changements tout en protégeant les conventions constitutionnelles. Cet article veut démontrer que la pratique de ce leadership ne peut être ramenée à la seule maîtrise des techniques relationnelles fournies par l'évolution des approches en leadership. Celles‐ci ne sont pas muruellement exclusives mais se complètent. Le dosage des approches dépend d'abord de l'évolution de la fonction et de ses défis, ce qui renvoie à l'approche des compétences. Enfin, l'article montrera que trois autres facteurs ont influencé la.pratique du leadership: le style de gestion du titulaire, sa reputation et le contexte specifique de l'exercice du leadership (soit la dualité des fonctions, les titulaires au sommet et la concurrence des autres acteurs politiques: chef de cabinet, autres ministres et conseillers spéciaux). L'article comporte quatre parties: le concept de leadership appliqué au secteur public; l'évolution du Bureau du Conseil privé et des fonctions du Greffier; les fondements et instruments du leadership et les facteurs de contexte; et la performance en matière de leadership. Abstract: The title of clerk of the Privy Council now includes several other roles and responsibilities. These responsibilities are fulfilled by several different individuals. Included within the clerk's leadership, sometimes in circumstances that are paradoxical, are a variety of leading political and administrative figures; it is, therefore, essential for the clerk to implement the needed changes while also protecting the conventions of the Constitution. This article seeks to demonstrate that the practice of this type of leadership goes beyond the simple mastery of relational techniques provided by the evolution of leadership approaches. These are complementary rather than mutually exclusive. The particular blend of leadership approaches depends first on the evolution of duty and its challenges, which relates back to the skills approach. Finally, the article will demonstrate that three other factors influence the practice of leadership: the management style of the incumbent; his or her reputation; and the specific context in which the leadership is practised (i.e., the duality of functions and incumbents at the highest level and the competition from the other political actors—chief of staff, other ministers and special advisers). The article has four parts: the concept of leadership as applied to the public sector; the evolution of the PCO and the duties of the clerk; the fundamentals and instruments of leadership and the contextual factors; and the performance of leadership.     

A Leading Edge

<正>Anhui is now at the forefront of science and technology innovationIn an exhibition hall in Hefei,capital of Anhui Province,a group of visitors were amazed as former U.S.President Barack Obama's baritone issued out of an LED screen and he was speaking impeccable Chinese!"With the help of Hyper Brain,I have learned to speak Chinese,"he proclaimed.While the audience stood in awe,their guide explained to them that it was not really the voice of Obama.but one synthesized using Chinese information technology company iFLYTEK's Hyper Brain intelligent voice technology.