Blogs

For some time, I’ve been working on an updated version of the Personal Futures workbook. I am just about ready to post the new edition (4th) at www.personalfutures.net. I’ve sent out some review copies to check for errors, but will have the new workbook posted by the 15th.

What’s new?

January 1, 2011 marked yet another milestone for the Baby Boomers. As of this New Year's Day, the first of the boomers turned 65, with an additional ten thousand becoming senior citizens every single day. This demographic shift will create pressures and challenges that all generations will have to respond to.

I just wanted to share these pictures from my New Year's Eve treat at the Kennedy Center - a chance to go backstage after seeing our "futurist" songwriter Nnenna Freelon perform with the Jon Faddis Jazz Orchestra of New York.

On a recent cold and windy December night, in an office park in northern Virginia, a group of technology industry professionals were holding a fashion show. Volunteers walked the runway in "geek chic" outfits that alternately displayed sophisticated gadgetry and referenced iconic pop culture franchises.

The New York Times has been adding blog content to its online site. One of the most interesting (and most surprising) additions to the unfortunately named "Opinionator" section has been "The Stone," a forum edited by Simon Critchley, chair of the department of philosophy of New School in New York, that began in May.

2010 is coming to a noisy end made by Julian Assange and his WikiLeaks. Regardless of positive and negative implications that Assange’s revelations may have for the future of mass media, the Internet, freedom of expression and global politics; different scenarios can be conceived in what I call: “Wiki-Futures”.

Smart systems are miniaturized devices that incorporate functions of sensing, actuation and finally control. They are capable of analyzing a situation or problem and taking decisions based on the available data in a predictive or adaptive manner. The goal is that these systems are able to act in a smart way without human interference.

Last night I dreamed (and don't blame me for my dreams) that I was about to address a diverse audience. I wasn't nervous at all (hey, it was a dream), but I was anxious about how to address the group.

"Ladies and gentlemen" seemed wrong. What if there were people in the audience who were gay? "L" and "G" are are still "ladies and gentlemen," but what about "B," "T," and "Q" (bisexual, transgender, and questioning or queer)?

Rising demand for medical services worldwide means, among other things, more patients in need of organs for transplant. Supply of organ donors in many countries has unfortunately not kept up. Growing networks of “organ traffickers” are entering the void and inducing impoverished adults in some developing nations to sell them their kidneys and other organs.

Big cuts by the UK government and a tripling of university tuition fees pushed British students to protest. Passing tuition fees rise by the British parliament may have implications that will affect the future of higher education in the UK and elsewhere.