Isn’t it time our past will stop trying to prevent a better future?

Seth Godin writes:

You don’t charge the search engines to send people to articles on your site, you pay them.

Maybe Murdoch should learn from others how to re-invent his business model. Maybe we all will. Trying to resist is just futile. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be able to do it (link in Hebrew).

Elad

Scanning tunneling microscope image of the two-dimensional porous polymer (left side of image) with a model of the material structure superposed (right side: blue-green — carbon; white — hydrogen; gray — silver surface). (Credit: Image courtesy of Empa)

Graphene consists of a two-dimensional carbon layer in which the carbon atoms are arranged on a hexagonal lattice, resembling a honeycomb. Carbon nanotubes are rolled-up sheets of graphene, and thick piles of graphene sheets form graphite. Graphene boasts some very special characteristics — it is extremely tear-resistant, an excellent thermal conductor, and reconciles such conflicting qualities as brittleness and ductility. In addition, graphene is impermeable to gases, which makes it interesting for applications involving air-tight membranes. Because of its unusual electronic properties graphene is viewed as a possible substitute material for silicon in semiconductor technologies.

y inserting holes of a specific size and distribution into graphene sheets, it should be possible to impart the material particular electronic characteristics. For these reasons intensive research is being conducted worldwide into the synthesis and characterization of two-dimensional graphene-like polymers. Graphene and graphene-like polymers are currently hot research topics in materials science, with this year’s Körber European Science Award being awarded to the Dutch physicist Andre Geim for his pioneering studies in the field of two-dimensional carbon crystals.

New manufacturing method: “bottom-up” synthesis on metal surfaces

Together with colleagues from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, scientists from Empa’s “nanotech@surfaces” laboratory have for the first time succeeded in synthesizing a graphene-like polymer with well defined pores. To achieve this feat the researchers allowed chemical building blocks of functionalized phenyl rings to “grow” spontaneously into a two-dimensional structure on a silver substrate. This created a porous form of graphene with pore diameters of a single atom and pore-to-pore spacings of less than a nanometer.

Until now, porous graphene has been manufactured using lithographic processes during which the holes are subsequently etched into the layer of material. These holes are, however, much larger than just a few atoms in diameter. They are also not as near to each other and significantly less precisely shaped as with the “bottom-up” technique based on molecular self-assembly developed by the Empa and Max Planck group. In this process the molecular building blocks join together spontaneously at chemically defined linking points to form a regular, two-dimensional network. This allows graphene-like polymers to be synthesized with pores which are finer than is possible by any other technique.

Story Source:

Adapted from materials provided by Empa.

1. Bieri et al. Porous graphenes: two-dimensional polymer synthesis with atomic precision. Chemical Communications, 2009; (45): 6919 DOI: 10.1039/b915190g

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091120084337.htm

You’re going to have to excuse the rather frightful poster if there ever was one. It is however entirely relevant to its morbidity, Pandorum definitely lives up to the hype of its horror, especially with a tagline such as ‘Don’t fear the end of the world. Fear what happens next.’ The German/American sci-fi horror was one of the better films I’ve had the pleasure of seeing within the last couple of months, and definitely worth a look at. But why?

Pandorum is one of those fist-clenching, mind-warping, jump inducing films where you are literally on the edge of your seat for a good minute at a time. Directed by newcomer Christian Alvart, whose only earlier works include ‘Curiosity & The Cat‘ and ‘Antibodies‘, but who will also be directing the upcoming ‘Case 39‘ featuring Renée Zellweger. Filming staff also includes Paul W. S. Anderson, director and writer of ‘Alien VS Predator‘, and Jeremy Bolt, both the producers of the ‘Resident Evil‘ trilogy. Stick AVP and Resident Evil in a blender and what do you get? Pandorum. Throw in a little sprinkle of ‘Sunshine‘, and you have the complete movie smoothie. However, was it a good idea to put all of their eggs in one basket? I’m afraid it wasn’t entirely. Many gamers are calling it a Dead Space wannabe.

The plot of Pandorum, a rather nice one at that for sci-fi fans, is set around the human race overpopulating the Earth. As a result, the first sleeper ship to head for Earth’s replacement, Tanis, holds 60,000 humans, except as the film opens up… You can’t see any of them. It is notably a unique blend of psychological thrills combined with action packed sequences filmed in classic, sci-fi grated-floor corridors. At times, Pandorum forces you question your OWN sanity, and explores some of the deep-rooted fears within its viewers. Specifically some of the more frightening fears which often take host, such as; a fear of the dark, loneliness, claustrophobia, lack of memory and it definitely plays upon those fears throughout the film. However whilst it was excellent in provoking thought, it was not exceptionally well constructed, despite the fact there was a plot (unlike most films these days!). This, alongside its lack of publicity, marketing and such may have been why it didn’t even make half of it’s $40 million budget.

A good film if you’re a sci-fi-aholic, or even if you enjoy video games, harnessing a strange familiarity to a first person shooter. However if you’re not that into chasing and racing in space, this isn’t the film for you. A possible DVD buy.

You’re going to have to excuse the rather frightful poster, if there ever was one. It is however entirely necessary in its morbidity, Pandorum definitely lives up to the hype of its horror, especially with a tagline such as ‘Don’t fear the end of the world. Fear what happens next.’ The German/American sci-fi horror was one of the better films I’ve had the pleasure of seeing within the last couple of months, and definitely worth a look at. But why?

Pandorum is one of those fist-clenching, mind-warping, jump inducing films where you are literally on the edge of your seat for a good minute at a time. Directed by newcomer Christian Alvart, whose only earlier works include ‘Curiosity & The Cat‘ and ‘Antibodies‘, but who will also be directing the upcoming ‘Case 39‘ featuring Renée Zellweger. Filming staff also includes Paul W. S. Anderson, director and writer of ‘Alien VS Predator‘, and Jeremy Bolt, both the producers of the ‘Resident Evil‘ trilogy. Stick AVP and Resident Evil in a blender and what do you get? Pandorum, throw in a little sprinkle of ‘Sunshine‘, and you have the complete movie smoothie. However, was it a good idea to put all of their eggs in one basket? I’m afraid it wasn’t entirely. Many gamers are calling it a Dead Space wannabe.

The plot of Pandorum, a rather nice one at that for sci-fi fans, is set around the human race overpopulating the Earth. As a result, the first sleeper ship to head for Earth’s replacement, Tanis, holds 60,000 humans, except as the film opens up… You can’t see any of them. It is notably a unique blend of psychological thrills, which at times forces you question your OWN sanity, combined with action packed sequences filmed in classic sci-fi hallways. Pandorum explores some of the deep-rooted fears within its viewers. Specifically some of the more frightening fears which often take host, such as; a fear of the dark, loneliness, claustrophobia, lack of memory and it certainly plays upon those fears throughout the film. However whilst it was excellent in provoking thought, it was not exceptionally well constructed, despite the fact there was a plot. This, alongside its lack of publicity, marketing and such may have been why it didn’t even make half of it’s $40 million budget.

A good film if you’re a sci-fi-aholic, or even if you enjoy video games, harnessing a strange familiarity to a first person shooter. However if you’re not that into chasing and racing in space, this isn’t the film for you. A possible DVD buy.

]]> http://inwardsun.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/kids/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:51:57 +0000 inwardsun http://inwardsun.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/kids/

Is it me or are there suddenly more babies around? I seem to notice them more than before…

I think probably since about half a year the thought of children have began to cross my mind more frequently. I’ve always known I am supposed to be a mother and I am looking forward to the day when the time is ready. It is by no means in the nearest future, but still my head is getting used to the idea. I guess it’s only natural.

I guess it’s biological. Tic, tac…

I guess it is because more of my friends are becoming parents these days than travelling around the world. Even the least likely ones, like my girl friend from back home who used to be the typical single party chick. We were crawled up in Bibbi’s couch when she dropped the bomb and announced that she was pregnant. She has changed a lot in the last year and gotten very serious with her boyfriend so it wasn’t that unexpected.

I found myself looking at her in awe while she spoke of mood swings and physical changes and then I saw it; the glow of a pregnant woman.

She had never been more beautiful.

Speaking of children, I’ve been hanging out with Frida and her son, Mio, 18 months. He is a cool kid. Easy going and a lot of fun!

We went to Junibacken, Astrid Lindgren’s museum. She was the author of Pippi Longstocking and basically every Swedish traditional children story that I grew up with. The sound of her voice is as familiar to me as my own grandma’s. Mio is too young to appreciate the awesomeness of the museum but he liked the story train almost as much as me, Frida and Beatrice did.

At work there are kids around all the time. I hear them talk with their parents and I smile at their cleverness and wonder if I will truly realize the greatness of those moments, when those children are my own.

I will be travelling the world first. But I will be a mother one day. And I hope I will glow.

What’s the future of music industry? Hmm…

When we initally started working on this project, we were on wrong track. We started coming up with weird ideas like, there will be music when we strum the air, there wouldn’t be a need for musical instruments, soundwaves will be travelling in the air. . . I know. Have a good laugh.

But after much thought and research, we realised that we were on the wrong track. Such ‘amazing’ things would not happen just 3 to 5 years down the road. It had to relate to what was going on now. Hence we analysed..

In the beginning years, sheet music was being introduced, followed by music records. But right now, everyone is downloading music online from file sharing applications such as Ares, Limewire, Kazaa and more. These are illegal!  But on the contrary…

Recently, a new software has been launched called ‘Spotify’ which is legal. Through this software, one can listen to free streaming of songs. However, there will be advertisements that will be played in the midst. This software is now available in a few phones from Nokia, Samsung and Sony ericsson. Enjoy!

There was more that I learnt while working for this project. There is a website called MySpace where junior artists like you and me can create albums and upload them online for the public to hear. The famous singer Colbie Caillat had record companies knocking on her door only after she showcased her talent on MySpace! Who knows, tomorrow it might be me. =)

So in future, relating back to the problem about people downloading songs online rather than buying cds, probably there might not be any record production. Instead, all tracks might just be uploaded online for downloading. You may still have to pay though due to the digital and legal downloading of tracks. You can digitally download tracks from iTunes.

The music trend sure is evolving from time to time.

Sheet music to Records to Online music downloads.. What comes next? We’ll wait and see..

I too attended the ritzy high school in an extremely wealthy part of town.  You know when you’re watching television and a rap video comes on and all you see are rows of fancy cars, Louis Vuitton and cold Dom Perignon overflowing a $5,000 champagne flute?  That was what it felt like walking into my high school.

 School wasn’t a responsibility, it was a party.  You came to class to be with your friends and to make sure that the teacher marked you as present for the day.  What if you weren’t in the mood to attend class?  It was simple.  Just bring the gate guard a Chik-fi-la #1 breakfast combo and drive out of the parking lot.  On the weekends, it was all about letting loose and playing even harder just to go back to school on Monday to do it all over again.  I was living in a fantasy world where I just didn’t care, nor did I have a reason to because everything was handed to me on a diamond encrusted platter.  My biggest concerns entailed what I was doing that weekend, who I was going to date next, and where I was attending Spring Break.

 High School finally ended and I went away to college.  I grew up a bit during this life-altering experience and realized that in order to reach any goal or dream I’d ever had, I was going to have to actually try.  During the next four years, I slaved over intricate school work, endless projects and challenging tests to earn my Bachelor’s Degree.  It was an indescribable feeling to finally earn something that I had worked very hard for.  Although I was among the many from my high school that attended college, I was one of the few that actually finished. 

 I have been out of High School for almost six years and out of college for almost two.  When life used to be a giant playground for all who step foot into our high school, I was now running into former classmates who are in their early to mid-20’s, doing absolutely nothing with their lives.  They are now living off of their families and trust funds, dropping out of college, getting pregnant, doing drugs and/or wasting their lives away with no sense of purpose or being.  Surprising perhaps?  I thought so too at first.  But then I really began dissecting the situation at hand.  Let’s level here, wealth does not necessarily give someone class.  You can wear all of the Burberry and Michael Kors that you want but when it comes down to it, what you actually own does not give you emotional, moral and mental value.  There for, when you have had no obstacles in life and everything has been given to you without any effort on your part, you will eventually panic and in turn, fail because you have never had to try a day in your life. 

 Maybe some of my former peers felt that they would eventually take over their father’s real estate empires or other businesses and didn’t feel the need for an education.  Or perhaps they were too busy binge drinking and spending their money on hard drugs and in the haze of their young lives, didn’t realize that their future was slipping away.  Truth be told, it doesn’t matter what high school you attend, how much money your family has or if you drive a Mercedes-Benz.  What matters is if you let your environment and surroundings make you or break you.  For me, I refused to go under without putting up a fight.  I would not allow this “bubble” that I was living in break me.  I drove through the speed bumps and potholes on this road called life and remained true to myself.  I didn’t want to see myself struggle although close ones around me were crumbling.  The funny thing about this town is it will either make you or break you.  If you let it eat you alive, it surely will.  The one imperative thing to remember is you deserve a fighting chance, so don’t give up so easily.  Do not take the road that requires the least amount of work.  Choose to be something.  Break through world of gumdrops and designer dresses and put your life into perspective.  What is really important…material things with a makeshift fantastical life or a person to be proud of and a life worth living?

I chose a life worth living.

By Amy Hitt:

I’ve never been good at sales. Maybe, because I don’t believe in it. I mean, I believe in money…we all need money. And, I believe in creating things…I’ve spent my whole life doing that. Unfortunately, it hasn’t made me much money, which brings me back to not being very good at sales. The…not believing in sales part just goes back to a lifetime of absorbing over-the-top commercials and print ads.

Perhaps, it should be called, “sails,” instead. Our creation is the boat, and we must lift a sail into the wind to move the boat forward. The sail just needs to be solid and strong…no holes. And sometimes, like during a rough economy…the wind doesn’t blow and we remain still. It’s in that stillness we ponder why we want to move in the first place and where we want to move to, which is the whole point of sails and sales.

I’m not psychic, but as I look into the future there are a few things that seem certain to me. I believe the bulk of big business we be run on sponsorship…like it always has been…but the companies who can afford to sponsor will dwindle. No worries for the top wireless companies or the top laptop companies. No worries for the top shipping companies. No worries for most of the makers of alcohol and perhaps green car makers…we will all have to find a way to use less gas…and liability car insurance will remain out of sheer necessity.

Social networking companies are strong but really need no sales…we do that for them. And, that is truly the key to commerce. Find a product or service that is so relevant…it sells itself.

But that’s big business. What about little business? I’d say it’s the same model only smaller…local.

To get sponsors you must have eyeballs…dedicated eyeballs and lots of them. And that is where passion and relationship come in. No longer are there going to be empty dollars poured into projects on a whim by bloated companies…like big record companies. No more gluttonous radio tours. The days of the divas are probably gone in music…and may go in film and sports, who knows?

So, with a strong sail and some wind…your boat will move along to its destination. But what is a sail? And what is the wind?

A sail, I’d say, is your brand promise. The wind is the public that catches the sail, your promise, and speaks of it to others…viral marketing.

I still hear words like “angle” and “I need to see the customer’s body language,” but these are truly outdated modes of selling…much less sailing…sailing is hard…you must know the ropes…there is no manipulating the wind…anymore…there never really was…the public was just used to being bullied into things they never wanted in the first place. Hence, our enormous debt and the death of the credit card.

But the days of the bully are done. We are all flat…the playing field is leveled.

So, back to the drawing board I go to erase my outdated thinking…authenticity marketing is here…dare I become that intimate with others and myself? I’m afraid I have to…and so do you. Truth shall set us free.

http://www.amyhitt.com/

What do you think about global warming ? don’t you feel that everywhere feels hotter than 10 years ago  ?
in my place , the temperature rise around 3 or 5 C from last 5 -10 years .

this is a picture that i get from a website . i think this is how earth looks like if human always destroying nature .
about this photo ” A dramatic picture taken by Michael Nolan has been dubbed the face of Mother Nature crying on a canvas of melting ice and cascading water on a Norwegian Glacier. Randy Schutt discovered this amazing photo which shows a crying face in an ice cap located on Nordaustlandet, in the Svalbard archipelago of Norway. The tears of this natural sculpture were created by a waterfall of glacial water cascading from one of the face’s eyes, thus painting an alarming picture warning the world about the effects of global warming. Michael Nolan is a marine photographer and environmental lecturer. He has captured this picture while on an annual voyage to observe the glacier and surrounding wildlife.”

this is a quote from Michael Nolan

This is how one would imagine mother nature would express her sentiments about our inability to reduce global warming. It seemed an obvious place for her to appear, on a retreating ice shelf, crying.

because we are talking about human and nature , i just wonder how can we prevent or erase global warming in our world ?
do you think if we plant a tree in our house , can we help earth to prevent global warming ? how about reducing our car usage ?
yeah may be it can help a little bit , but i don’t think we can erase global warming in our world if we still have a factory that always have a ton of waste everyday , or a man who always cutting a tree for his living .

about earth future , which one of these choice is the most appropriate for earth?

1. space colonization
2. computer will be decision maker
3. full of humanoid
4. a computer implanted in human brains
5. speed above light speed
6. back to nature
7. time travel
8. mass extinction

A lot of people haven’t even heard of the movie “Moon” with Sam Rockwell.  In fact, if you google “Moon movie poster” it actually brings up “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” search results.  It’s like this movie kinda doesn’t exist.  ”Moon” is a science-fiction indie flick that was released this past July.  It was fantastic.  Brilliant.  Beautiful.  The main movie poster was pretty gorgeous too.  Making my search rounds today, I stumbled across a couple of unreleased posters made for “Moon” that are 100 times better than most posters today.  Seeing posters like these give me hope that commercial design isn’t without talent and creativity.  Then I remember that these were trashed ideas.  And I feel sad again.  Enjoy work like this…while it lasts…

9to5Mac is reporting that Wired isn’t the only place getting ahead of the fabled MacTablet. In fact, seems like everyone is in on this!

The reports claim that some of the bigger publishing companies (you know, the places that PRINT and DELIVER those paper products) have been working together to create a uniform platform to be able to be provided on a future tablet platform. Time Inc, Conde Nast and Hearst were mentioned in the article by name and were looking to expand their magazines to a digital format (oh do tell).

The report says that these companies will have these Digital versions ready within “WEEKS”! While we may not see a Mac Tablet this year, we may see it poke up through the merky rumor water as fact Q1 2010!

So this is wordpress huh?! I read somewhere there was no delete option on wordpress. I guess that was a crock considering I am queen of typos and you could never guess.

Ok so, as said in my biographical information, I am a ‘little’ worrid about life after Uni. At the moment I study English Literature (waste of time), Creative Writing and Film.  When I started Uni I wanted to be a screenwriter. Two years later, I am realising I really don’t have that passion for it that most of these Graduate lecturers talk about all the time. Passion, zilch. Drive, nada. Enthusiasm, …please.  So I’m at a bit of a dead-end. Yet I feel like I am being fearmongered into making decisions about my future. An associate (best term I can think of to use here. Not an enemy, don’t really dislike her, but wouldn’t  consider her a friend) of mine at Uni came in last Thursday charged with enthusiasm over her future MA degree, having just attended a Graduate Futures lecture. (Which, she got paid £20 to attend..how’d I miss that memo?)

So after she had successfully made me feel like a worthless student, I went University hunting online that evening and ordered a bunch of prospectus’ for postgraduate courses. What a waste of paper. I suppose I’ll scan through them and I may even get carried away by the romanticised photos and ’social life’ pages. But, when it really comes down to it I am so very done with academic learning.

I asked myself a few months ago, what am I good at? I couldn’t really think of much, being 23 and a female I’m programmed to shy away from confidence and self-love.  But the one thing that came to mind was cooking. I cook everyday for my brother and Dad and they enjoy every meal I cook for them. I’m not talking sausages and beans on toast here, I’m talking meals that differ week to week and require preperation and time.  I spend more time planning the weeks meals and cooking them each day than I do studying. The great thing is, I really enjoy doing it. Of course, that doesn’t stop me bringing up the fact that I voluntarily cook daily for my brother and Dad to bargain with them for a cuppa tea now and then, but that’s kind of expected!

I always figured I was a believer in pursuing your own happiness, so I’m looking towards pursuing that career choice after Uni I hope. So this is the beginning of my journey to become what everyone least expected. There’s more to tell on how I got to this point, so a few blog entries will be ‘flashbacks of my former life’. Hah.

More tales to follow.. even though I have no followers, technically I am talking to myself right now, good start.

Is finally released today in theatres! So make sure you go see the sequel to Blue Harvest.

]]> http://lillebobble.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/loads-of-blablabla/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:33:50 +0000 lillebobble http://lillebobble.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/loads-of-blablabla/

Baaaaaaah are my first words to day, not if ever. Did not get my ass out of bed, i was stupid last night, i played around with my old computers. I just needed to do something fun. And it was, im trying to get this old piece of shit computer to work. Dell optiplex100, found it in a dump.

At first I could not even turn it on, but now it runs windows xp, diskette drive works, usb port is fixed and the sound works! Only thing not working is the cd-rom. I stayed up all night trying to fix it, my professional opinion is broken! So im going back to the dump to find a new cd-rom or buying a usb one. Nice to have anyways.

I miss working with computers…

I’m defiantly not going to be a Graphical Designer… Designing fucking commercials, shampoo bottles, diet products.. To bad am actually good at this.

Thing is if I go down this road I would not have time to see my friends, boyfriend, nor ever having fun.. Always some fucking deadline hanging over my head. Not the way I want things to be. I want to be done at work by four or five like most jobs, also the pay sux for most “arty jobs”! And there is big completion surrounding every graphic job. I don’t want my job to be my life!

The truth is im only here to get a diploma I need so I can get into computer technology school, not really what it is called though.. I want to work with computers, im not really sure what kind of computer job though.

I sort of want to be a high school computer teacher, the pay is nice and I get to work with teenagers. I think I would like that, and the good thing is I don’t need to be at that military hacking level when it comes to computer skills (needs about 7-years of school) And network administrator would do just fine too.  And at many schools in this country I could be an art teacher and computer teacher at once, having numerous subjects.

I used to be an amateur network administrator for a small company before I started at this school, im sort of sad how things ended.  I don’t think they understood why I left, cause I never told them about my dyscalculia, or mental problems. Not good commercial.. I never hear form them, and they did not send me a diploma even though they promised me one.. And I have been asking for it, twice.. I’m thinking about giving up, but. Then.. I don’t know.. Makes me nervous. Maybe I should send them another e-mail. Im not good at this keeping in touch kind of thing, I really should try to get better at it..

I lost contact with all the people I worked ever.. But it’s sort of normal here, people don’t have time for so much social life. I heard most of the people at the phone job quit :p And all the people i worked with at the kindergarden still work there

Life moves on, and further

Always changing.
I’m going to be fine, I am fine.

Now I need to work on with this task! Okay
C-mon, you have a big presentation on Friday, right after the presentation im going to this big course all weekend in special cartoon drawing. COOL! I’m one of the lucky qualified 15! Oooshiiii…. I’m getting nervous again. Wow..

This day started rather nice actually even though I missed my morning classes, I ate the best meal in a long time at the student senter. Cheap nice salmon wrap full of vegetables and other jummy stuff. I red the paper, drank a nice cup of coffee and straight to school after that.

I’m going to start swimming again, and working out some at home. And im going to try antibiotics for my skin condition… stupid pimples, its not really that bad though.. Or yeah it is.. I think it is. I want a pimple free nice back till the summer. I deserve that! And im going to eat healthier, less alcohol and no party smokes for a long time now. I sometimes light a sigarette.. I hate that i sometimes smoke.. So stupid!

I’m starting a better life

I want to stay in shape, and save money fore a Mac.

I’m starting right now

Wiiiiii

“People do not seek news”- a worrying declaration indeed from innovative Times Web Development Editor, Joanna Geary.

This comment really struck a cord with me. For a few months I have glowered at the doom and gloom pervading newspaper journalism and resented the ever-growing ignorance and disinterest of the consumer (or non-consumer of news).

News=Product, Journalist=Salesman

But what right do I have to claim this privileged position over what are essentially customers. There is a fundamental lofty misconception that we are the gatekeepers of democracy when in reality we are no more important to the consumer than a sales assistant- we are there to serve.

The typewriter has evolved into an iMac, the copy writers have disappeared and yet we are still producing a similar product to what journalists have always churned out. Admittedly we have changed the content, but we are only just getting round to shifting away from what some consumers might see as an archaic medium.

“Business models are one of the biggest talking points in newspaper journalism.” The question is not: how can we make people pay for news? But: what product will people want to pay for?

Like any other salesman we are subject to consumer demands. Our attitudes and in turn our product must adapt if we are to succeed.

We have heard the problems, now we need some answers. Perhaps Rob Andrew, UK editor of paid content, and this Thursday’s lecturer will shed some light on the possible way forward.

Found at http://trendwatching.com/briefing

Forget the recession: the societal changes that will dominate 2010 were set in motion way before we temporarily stared into the abyss. More »

Urban culture is the culture. Extreme urbanization, in 2010, 2011, 2012 and far beyond will lead to more sophisticated and demanding consumers around the world. More »

Whatever it is you’re selling or launching in 2010, it will be reviewed ‘en masse‘, live, 24/7. More »

Closely tied to what constitutes status (which is becoming more fragmented), luxury will be whatever consumers want it to be over the next 12 months. More »

Online lifestyles are fueling and encouraging ‘real world’ meet-ups like there’s no tomorrow, shattering all cliches and predictions about a desk-bound, virtual, isolated future. More »

To really reach some meaningful sustainability goals in 2010, corporations and governments will have to forcefully make it ‘easy’ for consumers to be more green, by restricting the alternatives. More »

Tracking and alerting are the new search, and 2010 will see countless new INFOLUST services that will help consumers expand their web of control. More »

Next year, generosity as a trend will adapt to the zeitgeist, leading to more pragmatic and collaborative donation services for consumers. More »

With hundreds of millions of consumers now nurturing some sort of online profile, 2010 will be a good year to introduce some services to help them make the most of it (financially), from intention-based models to digital afterlife services. More »

2010 will be even more opinionated, risqué, outspoken, if not ‘raw’ than 2009; you can thank the anything-goes online world for that. Will your brand be as daring? More »

Read more at http://trendwatching.com/briefing

Related articles by Zemanta

• Resolutions for 2010: Getting Ready for 2010 now (fredzimny.wordpress.com)
• Resolutions for 201X: Bruce Sterling’s scenario’s for the future (fredzimny.wordpress.com)
• Resolution for 2010 Customer effort score: Shifting the loyalty curve by reducing customer effort (fredzimny.wordpress.com)
• Resolutions for 2010: Top Ten Integrated Marketing Trends according to Branding Strategy Insider (fredzimny.wordpress.com)
• Resolutions for 2010: Enhanced Marketing (fredzimny.wordpress.com)
• Resolutions 2010: the personal computer personal again (fredzimny.wordpress.com)
• The New Way to Work: Top 5 Trends to Watch in 2010 (futurelab.net)
• The Source of Trends (socialhallucinations.com)

I missed blogging in the beginning of the week due to a Web 2.0 conference. I’m a hybrid-luddite. I know nothing of how the computer works, but am fascinated by the potential it offers. I am also horrified by that same potential.

I ramble around a lot of odd places, picking up ideas and trends, and so it was the same at this conference. Each conference has its “hot” topic and it was augmented reality for this event.

If you are still struggling with e-mail, hold onto your hats because it is about to become Mr. Toads Wild Ride.

Augmented reality refers to anything that aids your experience of reality. AR doesn’t have to involve a computer- looking at a historic trail lighting up on a museum screen is augmented reality. But the really wowy stuff is with a computer. Take a look at shopping for an apartment in Amsterdam, then think about shopping for a horse. Thoroughbred and  Standardbred sales or getting more information on a horse at a competition; point your phone or goggles at the animal and there’s breeding and performance history as well as price if it’s for sale.

What are we going to do about our shortage of vets in the future? How about putting on your medical goggles that will walk you through stuff you can do yourself. (assess a wound, clean it , dress it, take a shoe off,  give a shot) You can bet in 20 years your surgeon will have some AR training like this BMW repair video.

It was an AR on-line shopping presentation that got me thinking about horses. What changes would we like to be able to view on a horse? Well, blankets and saddle pads just seem like a decadent waste. But, what about shoes? What if you could film a horse’s movements, coming, going, side to side, and then click on a different shoe to try and see how it would affect the gait.

The logarithms to do this would make my hair hurt and it isn’t even in the ball park of doable at the moment. Ten years out, though- an interesting thought. Imagine a computer screen with a video of your horse trotting at you and then away from you. At the bottom of the screen is a selection of bar shoes, wedges, trailers, lifts, aluminum, etc. Click.  You get to see bar shoes on your horse, but more importantly, you get to see how your horse would move in bar shoes. Your farrier could even show you how different trims would affect your horse’s angles. All of this before he even lifts up the first hoof. So instead of taking six months to try different shoes on your horse to find the best shoe and trim for his problem you can accomplish it in two.

Here’s another day dream. They are now developing software that allows for real-time monitoring of  thousands of items simultaneously. The preemie in critical care can have multiple systems monitored and take extensive calculations so that there is real time information that will allow you to make corrections and avoid disaster.

What if they could do that for a hoof. If you could put sensors in critical areas and monitor the temperature, blood flow, vasoconstriction, pressure, laminar stretching, etc. If you could tell the pressure was building before having to wait for a visual sign, would that help treat the disease?

Would it be a competitive training edge to have an AR run through of your horse’s performance? Take a look at this MIT video of a professor drawing out a motion flow. Now imagine drawing out a jumper or barrel course, put in your horse’s stride length and look at where you need to bend him, slow him, what happens when take off is at point A, B or C.

We never know where the future will actually end up. Augmented Reality is here to stay. The questions become “is this a useful concept for the equine industry and if so how best to use and not abuse it.”   AR horse racing—-hmm.

This isn’t augmented horsing, but a fun video [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=DytqyLjJd0A&feature=PlayList&p=785F8E7A08273943&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=37]