New Blogger login help

Switched to New Blogger and can't log in? Well, exactly the situation that I found myself in for the past one week when some of the best stories inspired me in a long time!

Well, finally I am back. Here is how:

To log in, DON'T use www.blogger.com. Instead go to:

https://www2.blogger.com/login.g and log in with the Google ID that you used during the switch.

This tip came in when I finally turned to LinkedIn Answers for help. Amy Dullard, an advanced applications programmer at 1K Studios, gave this full tip:

Are you logging in here: https://www2.blogger.com/login.g with your Google ID? Or at the old blogger login? There is also info on having trouble with your Google login at: http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?answer=40548

Meanwhile, New Blogger has made the template editing stuff much easier. I am playing around with the template change that can now be done visually - through a WYSIWYG editor.

Zaadz.com: Conscious Capitalist Network

Zaadz.com is a social network, but it's not socialist. Instead, its "conscious capitalist."

According to Zaadz, this is what their business is:
"We're in the process of building THE most inspired community of people in the world…social networking with a purpose, a community of seekers and conscious entrepreneurs circulating wisdom and inspiration and wealth and all that good stuff. We're passionate about inspiring and empowering people to bring their dreams to life, learning and growing and getting paid to do what they love, using their greatest gifts in the greatest service to the world. (And having fun in the process!)"

Zaadz means "seeds" in Dutch. Created by self-described "friendly philosopher" Brian Johnson, a starry-eyed UCLA grad, Zaadz is to spread the seeds of love. If you want to understand what this means, you will first have to know about the growing global trend towards spiritualism and the need of a new point-of-view to replace the old.

Zaadz offers own blogs, photo collections, "pods" (communities), tagging of books, teachers, inspirational people, and all those
folksonomic features now a staple of Web 2.0 social networks.

Why is Zaadz.com a phenomenon to watch?
I discovered this community through a cyber-pal's recommendation and joined in curiosity. While I still figure out what this site means to me, I am glad (in some ways) that it confirms to my feeling that there is a general global unrest with prevailing social/ political/ capitalist/ old world/ new world order ideas; and that the young want change. Zaadz.com to me is the proof, if nothing else.

For now, Zaadz seems to have an idea that is born in the right time, but a need to be more "tangible." It is also billed as uber-positivist by some.

Whether Zaadz delivers on its ideas or not is another question best answered by time; what is truly significant about it is the fact that not only it exists, but it represents the ambitions of thousands of its often young members from over 110 countries. Young and connected, the members of Zaadz (called "Zaadzsters") and other similar network represent a very real way of thinking people are developing all over the world.

Taking notes, anyone?

Conscious Capitalism: Dirty Business No More

Muhammad Yunus, the Nobelist who created "micro finance," coined the term Conscious Capitalism. Patricia Aburdene saw it as a "moral transformation" and "today's greatest mega-trend" way back in fall 2005. Social networks such as Orkut have been abuzz with it. And now finally, Conscious Capitalism has arrived. It's here to stay. And it's changing the face of the way business is going to be done.

What is conscious capitalism?
According to BBC News E-cyclopedia , "Conscious capitalism stands for a more moral approach to what is often seen as the dirty business of business. Where once a company would bow only to the demands of its shareholders and customers, under the new order it must take on board its impact on everyone with a direct or indirect interest."

Ever heard the economic term "externalities?" This obscure term means costs that are traditionally external to business activity. Such as, pollution. Disturbance of personal lives of over-worked employees.

I've added the word "traditionally," otherwise, the traditional thinking never considered this cost the responsibility of business.

Conscious Capitalism factors these costs in. It makes businesses and executives responsible to more than financial stakeholders. The society itself is seen as a stakeholder. Which is why sometimes this term overlaps "socialism," which it is not.

As of Feb 2007, when this trend is going to press, a frantic search for a new business model that factors in the externalities is on. Micro-finance is one of the answers; but "conscious capitalism" intends to replace good old profitable business with a more responsible for-profit model.


Read More:
BBC News E-cyclopedia entry on Conscious Capitalism
Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism, by Patricia Aburdene. @ AMAZON