Posted at 11:00 AM in Entrepreneurism, Innovation, Knowledge economy, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
For some marvelous exploration of the Gigapan technology [see previous post], visit Ron Schott's Geology Home Companion Blog. Zoom in and zoom out to get the full potential of the photography.
Posted at 01:07 PM in Innovation, Knowledge economy, Logistics, Technology, Websites | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Under the category of Paranoid? Who Told You I Was Paranoid? check out Gigapan.
Posted at 10:34 AM in Knowledge economy, Privacy, Technology | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Well, it would seem that this whole futurist thingie is taking off and even Business Week is asking futurists for their opinions. The writer Damian Joseph asked what sorts of innovations and inventions will come about because of the recession. I read somewhere along the line an article suggesting that the USA will get through this economic mess faster and better than other economies because we've got so many people who know how to start over and reinvent themselves. They're not as held back by legacy concepts. I'm certain that people here can reinvent themselves but today with so few connections to the past and any sense of enduring principles, I wonder if they can still reinvent themselves with any endurance. It's one thing not to be bound by history. It's quite another to dismiss it. If someone reinvents themselves are they basing the invention upon something specific or upon whatever has caught their attention most recently? Lily Tomlin once said that, When I was growing up I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific. 
Posted at 09:42 AM in Business, Design, Innovation, Logistics, Technology | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
And, for what it's worth, computing in this future is also a description of life in the future because in this scenario the two are inseparable. Resistance is more or less futile, but we're going to love it so I guess it's OK.
As I have been a devoted companion to my new Amazon Kindle 2, and find myself carrying around three sleek devices (Kindle, iPhone and MacBook Air - four if you count my iPod Shuffle) my mind has now been effectively trained to be immediately dissatisfied with whatever I have right now because I just know that the next version is going to be soooo much better. As cool as I think the Kindle is, I can't help but imagine what it's going to be like as a Kindle 3. And what about color, larger touch screen, a better (a much better) keyboard.
Microsoft imagines what this future of upgraded devices will be like. Watch the video on this page here:
Posted at 11:35 AM in Automation, Design, Futurism, Knowledge economy, Scenario, Technology | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Mike Zach, Professor at UW-Stevens Point is doing some amazing things in nanotechnology. What I like to note about his (humble) sense of his work is that he doesn't claim they are inventing anything new, but rather they're figuring out how does nature do things and then emulating that in the lab. Innovation shouldn't always be about inventing something entirely new, more often it's about discovering something entirely old.
Posted at 11:54 AM in Innovation, Nanotech, Science, Technology | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Posted at 07:01 PM in Attention, Demographics, Knowledge economy, Technology | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
I just spoke at the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) and at one point quoted a woman at another conference who warned audience members to stop doing email during her talk — with the rather assertive expression, "Multitasking makes you stupid!" I then suggested that perhaps young people can multitask, but adults are not so good at it. I've read a few articles suggesting that the "software" of youngsters is actually different from those who grew up in a linear world. Young people can be doing ten things at once and still be bored because there's still available bandwidth, needing to be filled and/or distracted.
Posted at 09:28 AM in Attention, Demographics, Knowledge economy, Technology | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Yeah, this is good. Politicians cheaply rail against the drift of jobs to India and China, but not so much to the machines no matter where they are. The question is not so much how do we save our old jobs, but how do we push innovation towards helping to create jobs that draw out of people some sense of intelligence and dignity?
Reason TV has host Drew Carey explain here where the jobs are really going.
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.reason.tv/embed/video.php?id=451"></script>
For some reason that is beyond my limited sense of coding, the above link does show up as a video box. Here's the direct link to that page on Reason TV.
A question to ask is not what can be automated, but rather what should never be automated? When it is said that work is good for the soul, I would suspect that's only true if that notion is applied to work by people who actually believe in the existence of the soul. I've seen a lot of work that seems to crush the soul — and I'm not talking about tough, manual labor, but rather the softer, cubicle farm-type jobs where people are measured in every way possible, from how many seconds did the task take to how many seconds were you gone to the restroom? Jobs were they are just a cog, not asked to think, but only required to do what they are told.
A few weeks ago I spoke at the AEO Annual Summit in Anaheim. This is put on by the Association for Enterprise Opportunity. (Locally, we've got the Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corporation.) Basically, they're an umbrella organization for efforts to help poor and disadvantaged start and sustain their own businesses. Let me repeat that: START AND SUSTAIN THEIR OWN BUSINESSES. A fairly liberal group with very conservative goals. Helping people take their ideas, run them through the mill of objection so that they can build those dreams and can live out their own dreams, not have them either crushed or minimally replaced by television.
The best source of jobs in the future is not the government nor is it large corporations. The best source of jobs is the imagination. If we can prevent education and modern culture from stomping on imagination, there's unlimited jobs right here at home or anywhere you find yourself.
The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. Eden Phillpotts
Posted at 04:58 PM in Automation, Entrepreneurism, Innovation, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Digital Inspiration is a website that gathers articles and other websites on how to use technology and access the digital world around you. Check out the TimeTube that makes a timeline of your search terms as they have shown up on YouTube. What becomes more and more obvious is that as the flood of innovation continues, and we get the feeling of being more and more overwhelmed, that these innovations will drive other innovations in design of interface and presentation.
Elegance and eloquence should rule the day. The goal of the Age of Information is not more information, it is less information, or perhaps all the information filtered, refined, aged (think of fine wine, not old newspapers) to the point where what actually reaches you has more style than it does bulk. It is beauty that should kill the beast.
Posted at 10:36 AM in Design, Innovation, Technology, Websites | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)