Services 2020

looks like a pretty cool futures project, good to have this as background knowledge. "Societies are developing and investing in technological and scientific innovations that have ever longer-term consequences for human and non-human life. Current future-producing practices include biotechnologies, nanotechnologies, and nuclear technologies. Such developments unleash futures that we cannot predict, and set in motion processes that will affect untold generations to come. "

describe current use of oil as using 22 billion free slaves - echoes thomas homer dixon's metaphor

looks like an example of emerging public science and science communication - attempting to do science in a way that influences the public

latest thiing i've learned about from Darren. need to go through and actually have a play!

An open market for services - price fixed at $5.

gets people involved in a variety of creative challenges - a way of crowdsourcing behavioural change

this is connected to panoptic and cyber civ

Did you have a look at the "We live in public" video link.... v. interesting. Great idea that we are all big brother...

An open market for services - price fixed at $5.

Another story highlighting the emergence and movement of BRIC nations

interesting critique of social networking - and good articulation of alternative approach.

David Armano's view of what's likely in 2010

Keep a gratitude journal. Write down and record what you are grateful for, and then when you need to reaffirm your good lot in life, look back on the journal.Remember the bad. If you do not remind yourself of what it was like to be sick, unemployed, or heartbroken, you will be less likely to appreciate health, your job, or your relationship.Ask yourself three questions every evening. Fill in the blanks with the name of a person (or persons) in your life. What have I received from ___? What have I given to ___? What troubles and difficulty have I caused ___?Learn prayers of gratitude. One Emmons suggests in his book from the Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh: Waking up this morning, I see the blue sky. I join my hands in thanks; for the many wonders of life; for having 24 brand-new hours before me.Appreciate your senses. One approach: Practice breathing exercises.Use visual reminders. For example, Emmons has a refrigerator magnet in his home bearing this quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery … today is a gift."Make a vow to practice gratitude. "Swearing a vow to perform a behavior actually does increase the likelihood that the action will be executed," the psychologist notes.Watch your language: It influences how you think about the world.Go through the motions. Research shows that emotions can follow behavior.Be creative. Look for new situations and opportunities in which to feel grateful, especially when things are not going well.Though he practices these techniques, Emmons acknowledges that maintaining an attitude of thanksgiving is hard work even for him."Most psychologists study what they're bad at," he says.

Cascio does a bit of analysis on the Knight-Ridder tablet newspaper project and talks about why futures get ignored.

"With little fanfare, the State Department has abandoned America.gov - an ambitious digital project launched three years ago to promote Democracy abroad - and shifted its resources to social media projects."

Mosman council in Sydney offers open datasets to the public.

"China saw $54.5 billion invested into its clean energy sector, mostly to wind power projects, according to analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Germany was second with $41.2 billion of investment, largely in small-scale solar. Some of the biggest growth in investment was in India and Latin America."

More evidence that the future needs to slow down or we need to write faster.....

"They are computer scientists, statisticians, graphic designers, producers and cartographers who map entire oceans of data and turn them into innovative visual displays, like rich graphs and charts, that help both companies and consumers cut through the clutter. These gurus of visual analytics are making interactive data synonymous with attractive data. "

Really great summary of future themes at SXSW. The less sensational headline is "the internet considered as something distinct from everyday life is over".

There are two people, and only two, whose ideas must be taught to every MBA in the world: Michael Porter and Henry Mintzberg.  This was true more than 25 years ago, when I did my MBA at USC. These are two academics who have had real impact for a long time.  Part of their success, beyond having big relevant ideas, is due to their clear and concise writing skills (There is certainly a lesson in there for many of us business school academics). Both have been very influential in the study of strategy, an area of considerable interest to many Forbes readers.  You can contrast their two views as Porter's taking a more deliberate strategy approach while Mintzberg's emphasize emergent strategy.   Both are still taught, in fact, I taught Porter's 3 Generic Strategies and his 5 Forces Model not two weeks ago in an undergraduate strategy course at McGill. Which is most useful today?