What would you do? I am faced with a dilemma. Here are the basic details: (all true)

• My family has a long term house guest … now a friend … who is legally in the USA. In less than two months, our friend should receive his citizenship papers. For the purposes of this post, I will call my friend "Olaf".
• Olaf advocated for democracy in his homeland. The ruling military dictatorship ultimately imprisoned Olaf … tortured and shot him. For obvious reasons Olaf and his family fled to a neighboring country.
• Monday afternoon, Olaf was pulled over by the police in the neighboring town and issued a minor traffic citation (not even speeding ticket). Unlike me, Olaf is not white. It's pretty obvious that Olaf is not from the land of Garrison Keillor … no Scandinavian Minnesota heritage in his background.
• The racial profiling was apparent. We live in a modest middle class neighborhood. The policeman in question did a quick U-Turn to pull over someone who did not match his expectations for the neighborhood.

Here is my dilemma. I have told Olaf he should not contest the ticket; he should pay the minor fine. My recommendation is based upon the fact that he is within weeks of receiving his citizenship papers. My feeling is that under the circumstances it is not worth the battle or risk (ten years of legal work and residency requirements).  It makes me feel small for giving such advice. After all, I've never been shot for what I believe in. It's not like I'm someone who goes through life not getting involved. The fact Olaf is my house guest, and my efforts in China show otherwise. Before you quickly come down too hard upon me, one final note. US Citizenship will provide Olaf some measure of protection and the ability to travel back to his home region to visit his family. Without his papers, he is a "man without a country".

Via my friend, Raphael Sidi and his blog (Really Simple Sidi – RSS), I recently learned about DSpace. At it's most simple, DSpace is just a software service which encourages the creation of digital libraries which give open access to research. However, DSpace is becoming much more than just a open source library service. With the MIT Faculty's recent announcement to have all research available without charge, this service may finally mean that the world's scientific research will be freely available to everyone. The IEEE and ASME should start quaking in their boots given how much they charge for their research libraries! Here are some important DSpace links:

• DSpace at MIT
• DSpace Organizations / Links

Here are two example MIT queries …

• Research focused upon: Mems | Wireless Sensors

While the repository is not yet huge, it's building and MIT will be a fantastic addition. Please support this idea! Knowledge should be free. I also plan to add a link to the home page of my engineering learning portal.

The mindless net sometimes proves otherwise. Via the blog, Endless Innovation, I've been introduced to a fantastic new site from McKinsey & Company, What Matters! Although this service appears to be only a month old, the content repository is phenomenal. In short, McKinsey has brought together thought leaders on a diverse set of topics, and asked them to chime in on "what matters". There are ten different subject areas, but given my own interests, here are my favorites:

• Innovation
• Internet
• Organization

In a unique and fair way of presenting data, McKinsey has created the Debate Zone. You will find two alternative, well thought out viewpoints, which you may then read and join the debate. The current debate focuses upon Carbon Tax vs. Cap and Trade. RSS is linked all over the site; thus subscribe to your desired content (learn more about how to use RSS)

What attracted me first to "What Matters" was their review of Innovation Clusters. Using research conducted by Professor Juan Alcacer of Harvard Business School, you will find a dynamic Flash based animation which lets you review where innovation is occurring in the world, and where it is not. While there are obvious hot spots of innovation (Silicon Valley), would you be surprised to learn than my home in Minnesota (Minneapolis) may be cold in temperature, but it's hot in terms of innovation.? Here is how McKinsey describes their animated chart.

When you link to the McKinsey Innovation Cluster Description, use the "continue arrow" in the bottom right corner to actually reach the animation. Here are two screenshots which gives you an idea of the innovation cluster tool. When you visit the actual McKinsey tool, you may select your own desired regions and zoom levels. Click upon either graphic shown below to view full sized. My thanks to the Map Scroll Blog for providing some labels.

I've been trying to understand how to make a "social network fly" … as opposed to the alternative. In my case, I've assumed the leadership mantle (with permission) of a LinkedIn group which revolves around my high school (LinkedIn: Phillips Exeter Academy group). Although we have 440+ members, getting folks to engage has been difficult. This process has been an excellent learning experieince for me, which I hope will benefit my ability to better manage my company's internal social networks.

Another LinkedIn group to which I subscribe, Social Media Today, had an update earlier today with a link to this post: How to Create a Successful LinkedIn Group. The article is worth reviewing. For professional work, LinkedIn is the benchmarking site which has the most potential (not Facebook). The number of individuals, particularily professionals who don't network and list their data elsewhere, is huge. The trick is to learn how to manage that resource. I'm trying!

Would you like to read today's newspaper front page from …

• Vilnius, Lithuania
  (or)
• Mumbai, India
  (or)
• Duluth, Minnesota
  (or)
• The Big Apple (New York City)

Well … you can via Newseum! Use an easy graphical user interface to browse by geography … zooming in and out to focus upon specific cities … and then click and voila!

• Your front page loads
  (and)
• You may download a hi-res pdf version via a top right corner link!

The cost to you? Nothing … it's free (and cool). You may also explore back issues. Click to expand the image given below to better understand the user interface. I've also included a sample of the hi-res version … today's paper from my home town of Duluth, Minnesota. Enjoy the photo and story of timber wolves on Lake Superior.