Brad Rourke

Category: innovation

  • Timeline Of A Frictionless Life

    Today I came across a relatively new (month-old) feature in Facebook Messenger: you can hail an Uber from within the app. Both Facebook and Uber act as (and have aspirations to be) interesting “front door” or “gateway” apps. For instance, for more and more people Facebook is not a page on the World Wide Web: it…

  • Using Square: Another Step Toward A Cashless Lifestyle

    Yesterday, after long delays, I finally got my Square card reader, so I thought I would put it through its paces. What is Square? It’s a way of accepting payments from regular people using credit cards. You get this little card reader that just plugs into your smartphone. It is dead simple. Let’s say you…

  • New Collaborative Governance Council Mandated By Law in MN

    One of my very first clients when I started working independently (I hung out my own shingle back in November 2003) was a group called the Policy Consensus Initiative, along with its sister organization the National Policy Consensus Center. I will always be grateful to PCI’s founder Chris Carlson and NPCC’s director Greg Wolf for…

  • 20 Jobs Of The Future

    Here are twenty jobs we may be doing in the future, according to a new report. “Body-part maker,” anyone?

  • Review Of Livescribe Smart Pen: Good For Leaders And Professionals On The Go

    My latest piece is posted at Public Square Today, my blog at Washington Times Communities: Review Of Livescribe Smartpen Livescribe Smartpen For Christmas this year, some family members fulfilled a long-standing desire I’d had and got me a Livescribe Smart Pen. I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks now, and I think this product is…

  • Wikipedia And What To Do About Growth

    My latest piece is posted at Public Square Today, my blog at Washington Times Communities: Wikipedia And What To Do About Growth According to the Wall Street Journal, at least for those who pay to subscribe, the number of volunteer contributors to the massive Wikipedia has plummeted. 49,000 editors dropped out in Q1 2009, compared…

  • Navigating The New Push-Pull World

    This morning, as I went outside to pick up the many newspapers to which I subscribe to home delivery (I’m old school that way), I saw an extra bundle in the middle of the driveway. It was a free print version of a new online newspaper, being helpfully delivered to my doorstep. My immediate thoughts…

  • Gift Cards And Back Alleys

    My latest piece is posted at Public Square Today, my blog at Washington Times Communities: Gift Cards And Back Alleys In the bribery case against embattled Baltimore mayor Sheila Dixon, the allegations revolve around gift cards. The prosecution says she misused “dozens” of gift cards originally meant for needy families. She says she thought the…

  • How Can Government Work With Philanthropy?

    In a recent discussion with a number of Michigan based foundation heads and staffers, respected Brookings Institution scholar Bruce Katz discussed the tough economic conditions and what government responses to it can look like. The notes from his conversation suggest that it was wide ranging. Katz, who runs the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings, was…