Harvard Business Review's daily stat for December 27 shows that Catholic men make more than non-Catholic men. More specifically: 6.7% more in Australia (among those aged 25-54) 7.1% more in the USA (among those aged 26-34) So What? The brief article mentions that the research suggests that the difference may be accounted for by "a Catholic upbringing (that) instills attitudes and work habits that employers value." What other factors do you believe could account for or Read More …
Trends
Top 11 Posts of 2011 (#0589)
Based on the number of unique hits, the following are my top 11 posts in 2011 Best Church Logos Contemporvant Worship: Too Close To Reality? Review of Not a Fan Preferred Frequency for Communion / Lord's Supper / Eucharist Managing the Social Network Map The Influence of Technology The Presbyterian (PCUSA) Church is Deathly Ill Review of The Jesuit Guide To (Almost) Everything The UCC, General Synod, and the Trinity The Acceptable Year of the Lord - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther Read More …
Facebook Friending Trends (#0585)
Earlier this week Mashable featured a post by Zoe Clark wrote an article about friending trends on Facebook based on recent research by NM Incite. This research suggests that offline relationships drive online friending while offensive remarks and attempts to leverage Facebook relationships to sell goods or services are significant reasons for defriending. The detailed infographic of why people friend and defriend others on Facebook appears at right. So What? The number Read More …
Christmas Spending by Country (#0584)
The Economist published a chart comparing the anticipated average Christmas spending in and per person GDP of several countries. So What? American's plan to spend more on Christmas this year than citizens of any country apart from Luxembourg. Of course, once one considers the spending as a percentage of per capita GDP, the United States leaps well in front of Luxembourg. While there is considerable publicity given to Christmas gift giving and the spending associated with such, Read More …
The Happiest Job (#0569)
Steve Denning's article on Forbes is one of many that report on the ten happiest jobs, based on the recent General Social Survey by the National Organization for Research at the University of Chicago. The top five are #5 - special education teachers #4 - authors #3 - physical therapists #2 - firefighters #1 - clergy So What? The original article in the Christian Science Monitor notes that psychologist, firefighter, and clergy all make the top ten: Since experts say that social Read More …
The 2nd Most Popular Person in America (#0567)
A recent national survey by Public Policy Polling sought to determine the most popular person in America. Only two people included in the survey received a 90% or greater approval rating: #1 Abraham Lincoln (91%) and #2 Jesus (90%). Of course, one could argue the survey data actually ranks them #2 and #3 since the survey respondents gave themselves an even higher favorable rating (93%). A select group received favorability ratings in excess of 80%: George Washington (86%) Read More …
Becoming a Tablet Family (#0566)
My wife purchased her first tablet, an ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, on Black Friday. I purchased my first tablet, a Lenovo Ideapad K1, a few days later for the same price. In the matter of a week we went from living in a tablet-free home to each having a 10.1 inch Android tablet of our own. And, of course, we both know we have the better tablet. Spec by spec the machines are relatively similar: mine weighs more, has more internal memory (32MB vs 16MB), and slightly better battery Read More …
Reverse Mentoring (#0564)
Leslie Kwoh's Wall Street Journal article, "Reverse Mentoring Cracks Workplace," describes the practice and benefit of reverse mentoring in the workplace. A reverse mentoring relationship involves young employees mentoring old senior level staff. The relationship offers executives the opportunity to learn technology and social media skills while providing the younger workers with "a rare glimpse into the world of management and access to top-level brass." So What? The church, Read More …
Internet Technologies for Discipleship (#0563)
Kelly Walsh, Chief Information Officer at the College of Westchester and seasoned IT professional, recently updated his list of ten internet technologies about which educators should be informed. Walsh's current list has changed dramatically, including only five items from his original list. The new list, in order, follows: video and podcasting resources, digital presentation tools, collaboration and brainstorming tools, blogs and blogging, social networking tools, Read More …
Review of You Lost Me (#0561)
Meet the Author David Kinnaman is best known as the co-author of the bestselling book UnChristian: What a New Generation Thinks About Christianity and Why It Matters (2007). Since joining the Barna Group in 1995, the 37 year old Kinnaman has designed and analyzed nearly 500 projects and supervised more than 350,000 interviews for client projects. Currently, he serves as president and majority owner. Book Basics UnChristian (2007) is an incredibly insightful, timely, and well Read More …