Odds and ends ...

Sorry about the sparsity of posts lately. A combination of the summer doldrums and finishing up my new CD.

There never seems to be enough hours in the day.

A couple of things though ...

Congratulations to the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce on their new Web 2.0/3.0 project with Karma 411 , General Sentiment and others. I was happy to play a small part in getting that off the ground.

Also, please check out the new Long Island Blog Posts site by Bruce Chamoff's company.

Also I've been formulating and expanding my "dynamic legislation" concept.

I just find it incredible that we can't "normalize" of simplify (simplify, NOT make simplistic) and construct algorithms (fixed and ad hoc) that will allow legislators and the general public to analyze and determine the reasonable outcomes of legislation as a stand alone measure and in concert with existing legislation.

The very idea that local, state and federal bodies are passing legislation without reading it or understanding its impact should frighten even the most cold hearted cynic.

Good article

"In other words, the government and its citizens have to learn—as the Obama campaign did—to see information technology less as a service to be provided, someone who fixes BlackBerries and fine-tunes spam filters, and more as a process, a sort of techno-civic game of Marco Polo. "Look at the Gallup polls—the number of people who believe the government is doing the right thing most of the time has historically fallen from about 70 percent to about 15 percent," Mechling says. "There has been a huge erosion of trust. The idea that says, ‘Government has all this data, let’s just make that available, and show them we have nothing to hide,’ that’s the big thing. [It] is potentially a game changer. The game has yet to be played"

Solution to the problem?

"The way forward

So, how do we keep what we have and bring in more? One small bit of hope: The Long Island Regional Planning Council is calling a July 29 summit of key players. Good idea: Use the still-fresh pain of the OSI loss as a catalyst for action.

That's one baby step. What we need is the will and the sense of urgency to flex our regional muscle and grow a biotech cluster that will be a world-beater. We need to be like San Diego, where Helicon fled. That city has enough biotech companies so that a scientist can feel safe in signing on with one, because if it fails (and many do), there are other jobs in the area. To grow companies and attract scientists to the Island, we need that same synergy here.

If the great science emerging from our world-class research institutions is to create companies that start and stay here, it's a lead-pipe cinch that we must speak with one voice, more loudly and persuasively than the competing regions. That's the real lesson of OSI"

The "One Long Island" series of ideas are designed to do what the above commentator proposes.

No, it's not a "bolt of lightening" that will solve out problems overnight. But then again we didn't arrive at this position overnight either.

Long Island needs to be "reorganized." Methodically, deliberately and based in real data and collaborative analysis and action.

Isn't it lucky we have the talent here on Long Island already to do this work. Give them some minor initial funding and some cooperation and let them get the job done.

You'll be amazed how quickly it can come together.

Put aside the "old ways of thinking" about the issues and dissolve old alliances where necessary.

This is a new day and age. The tools are available if the mind and heart are willing.

There's really nothing left to talk about.

There's nothing left to do, but to do it.

Spending money wisely ...

"More than $2 million in Local Government Efficiency (LGE) grants were awarded for Long Island, Gov. David Patterson announced on Tuesday. The LGE funds will support projects that consolidate local government services to cuts costs, remove waste and make operations more effective."

It's good that the state is "spending money to save money."

A better use of the money, however and one that will have long term effect, is to help develop a system along the lines of "One Long Island."

Accurate information and objective analysis is the key to long term, positive change.