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"David Brin is a scientist and best-selling author whose future-oriented novels include Earth and Hugo Award winners Startide Rising and The Uplift War. (The Postman inspired a major film in 1998.) Brin is also known as a leading commentator on modern technological trends. His non fiction book -- The Transparent Society - won the Freedom of Speech Award of the American Library Association. "

"Google Tech Talks October 17, 2006 David Brin Sheldon Brown ABSTRACT Western Civilization famously changed everything with innovations like market economics, democracy, education and science -- methods that empowered millions to compete, cooperate and invent as never before. Only, accelerating change also means that we must now adapt faster than ever, just to stay even. Some believe this will happen naturally. Flattened hierarchies will empower knowledgeable citizens to converge quickly and attack problems, with greater agility than 20th Century governments and corporations did. A dawning era of "smart mobs." Perhaps the Era of Professionalization will be replaced by an Age of Amateurs. But is this rosy vision plausible? What systemic obstacles prevent today's electronic "mobs" from attaining their smart potential? More specifically, are we missing some key elements? Can innovative visualization and collaboration tools help to empower millions of new problem solvers? Let's spend an hour or so exploding some preconceptions together"

David Brin's blog on Open Salon

A system, method, and computer program for interactive communication among a plurality of users. The invention, called Holocene Conversation Mode ("HCM"), takes advantage of the observation that human beings have developed or utilize a number of real-world characteristics to participate in,... Inventor: Glen David Brin Primary Examiner: Raymond J. Bayerl Attorneys: Jaquez & Associates, John F. Land, Esq., Martin J. Jaquez, Esq.

"Holocene offers a quantum leap beyond old-fashioned online interface, with a patented suite of methods for business meetings, virtual worlds, chat, collaborations, social nets, games and e-communities of all kinds. As our devices and connections grow more powerful, users suffer a "firehose effect" - trying to drink a torrent with the one thing that is fundamentally limited... human attention. This problem isn't new! In real life, our brains use many subtle techniques to pick and-choose among a myriad inputs, prioritizing some while keeping a "gist" of others. Alas, very few of these tricks have ever been emulated in the world online. Rescuing the attention economy - we need a revolution that will empower users while unleashing hosts (corporate and private) to reach out with platforms ranging from PCs to networks to mobile devices. Returning to our roots, Holocene empowers you to prioritize speakers, use dimensional cues, track the conversational 'gist' and efficiently get to the point. It also offers unique ways to link real-world settings with virtual environments, to find others with shared interests, and to collaborate inexpensively across great distances."

slides that accompany 2006 Google Tech Talk

"I still do science, but civilization seems more interested in my perspectives on the future. (Who am I to argue with civilization?) Let's face change with agility and hope, and meet the challenges ahead."