Welcome to 02.19.2010 - Items of Interest and Resources for The Global Futurist (and for all Futurists)
Dear Friends and Fellow Futurists:
I have some news, trends and ideology (I am told that I get preachy at times) to share with you. In lieu of my usual "rant and ramble" approach to writing, I have decided to provide you with more of a listing of items and related links. This is a wonderful thing for both (all) of us...I just had some surgery on my left arm so I have very limited abilities at the moment, and you get spared my decidedly old-school, academic Honor Society essay! Not one to use cliches, I would call this a "win-win situation." [Sadly, the surgeon informed me that the operation was a qualified success, in that he had fixed the neurological problem, but that the sarcasm was so widespread throughout my system that he could not get it all out -- that part was inoperable.].
1. Senator Evan Bayh walks away from a promising future in the Senate because he believes that the political machinery of the United States government is so badly broken, that nothing meaningful can be accomplished unless it is totalled scrapped and replaced. He might be leading a small but frightening trend amongst those few politicians who are seriously concerned with the betterment of society (and the quality of life for every Human Being) than for the opportunity to make a lot of money by playing a compromised and corrupt game. Read Walking Away, at http://thenationalnetworkerweblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/walking-away.html.
2. The DaVinci Institute (http://www.davinciinstitute.org) produces a prognostication publication that I receive which covers some interesting trends and hypotheses regarding the future. I am adding them to our GLOBAL FUTURIST list of resource links, although I do not necessarily endorse or agree with their findings. Nonetheless, their trendspotting, publications and events might prove a worthwhile resource for every Futurist. More data from more sources gives every aspiring Futurist a broader and better perspective. Some links to recent information include these, and they are certainly worth looking at:
Entrepreneurs Using 401(k) Savings to Start Businesses
Don Poffenroth paged through a magazine on a flight several years ago when an article grabbed his attention: Entrepreneurs could use 401(k) savings to start a business without getting hit by taxes and early- withdrawal penalties.
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More Computers Hacked in China Than Any Other Country
More private computers were commandeered by hackers for malicious purposes in China in the last quarter of 2009 than in any other country, including the United States, according to a new study by an Internet security company.
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The Future of Social Media
In the few short years that social media has been a marketing vehicle, it has already had an enormous effect on the way companies do business. In the coming years there will be even more changes, as social media marketing extends from the marketing department to nearly every aspect of a companys business.
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Worlds Fastest Train Opens In China
The worlds fastest train opens in China just in time to whisk people away for the Chinese New Year celebrations. Wow, it is faster than a helicopter, exclaimed Luo Rongguang as the G1049 Harmony Express eased its way out of Wuhan train station and instantly began to gain speed.
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8 Key Trends in Food Marketing
Todays consumers have a taste for everything that is local, organic and healthy. Our very own time-honored and distinct local foods will soon receive their well- deserved attention as a recent study revealed that regional and community brands are the ones being welcomed and sought after by most Filipino consumers.
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Number of Marriages in Britain Has Fallen to Lowest Level Since 1862
For the first time ever fewer than 2 in 100 women, over the age of 16, got married in a single year. In 2008 the marriage rate for women fell from 2 per cent to 1.96 per cent, less than half the rate 25 years ago.
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Biofortification Will Become a Trend in the Future
A Yarrawonga farmer believes biofortification of grain with trace elements will become a trend in the future.
Evan Ryan said trace element biofortification of grains supercharging them with elements such as zinc, boron, selenium or other micronutrients was a novel way of solving human health and nutrition problems.
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Nielsen: Teens Text an Average of 10 Times per Hour
American teenagers send an average of 10 text messages per hour they are not in school or sleeping, according to research by The Nielsen Company. By analyzing more than 40,000 monthly U.S. mobile bills, Nielsen determined American teens sent an average of 3,146 texts a month each during Q3 2009. Their tween counterparts (ages 9-12) sent an average of 1,146 monthly texts each, or four per hour not spent asleep or in school. In comparison, the average number of monthly texts sent by all mobile users combined was a little more than 500, writes Marketing Charts.
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5 Skills That Make a Successful Trendspotter
Who should be deciphering the future and helping shape how a business understands and prepares for it? The first inclination might be to think about a specific part of an organization for the function. Its important though to identify the individuals well-suited to this challenging role. From that perspective, five capabilities are vital to successfully champion this effort:
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Electric Bikes Struggle To Take Ground In U.S.
In Xiamen, China, Zhou Debao weaves his electric bike through the busy city streets to pick up dried noodles and candy to sell at his familys convenience store. His wife sometimes borrows it to run errands, and his son, to go to work.
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3. There are some major developments in medicine regarding oral drugs which may well have the potential to delay the progression or greatly reduce the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis in its earliest stages as well when the condition has advanced. I think that we will see major advances in the prevention and treatment of MS, other demyelinating diseases, and various autoimmune disorders. Read The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has some promising info on Ampyra. http://bit.ly/UpdateMS.
4. Anti-Aging and the Longevity movements, as well as their associated research, products and protocols are becoming increasing well-known (under the labels of alternative medicine, nutritional supplements, cognitive-enhancement drugs, mind-enhancement drugs, and cosmetology), and the use of nootropic drugs for the slowing down of the aging process (as well as for their potential effects on focus, concentration, retention, creativity and the like) is increasing. The growing markets are curiously stratified: 1) university students and 2) Baby Boomers. Look for an increase in consumer investment in these products in both markets. While some of these items (topically-applied and non-prescription skin treatments, herbal "supplements" and biologicals) are manufactured and sold in the United States, most of them are made elsewhere in the World, and have to be imported in limited supplies. Here's a sample article, excerpted from an IAS Newsletter which I just received (International Anti-Aging Sytems, at http://www.antiaging-systems.com ):
Nootropics - A Smarter Way
"Recent press attention in national newspapers and magazines such as Wired, on both sides of the Atlantic has focused on student’s use of ‘Nootropics’ and other ‘smart drugs’ to improve their studies.
In the pressure cooker environment of top universities, students have looked to products like Piracetam and Modafinil to optimize their mental performance for revision and exams. You don’t have to be an Ivy League or Oxbridge student, the wish to improve our minds or fight some of those everyday signs of aging, such as forgetting where you put the car keys is universal.
As use of cognitive enhancement products for recall, concentration and focus increases, the current wave of interest is just the tip of what has been described as the ‘age of cosmetic neurology’.
IAS has been at the forefront of supplying these for nearly 19 years, we currently stock the following cognitive enhancers..." ####
You can read the rest of this bulletin at http://www.antiaging-systems.com/?utm_source=YMExpress&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Live%201%20-%20Smart%20Drugs%20-%20Reclaim%20your%20Brain%20With%20Nootropics.
You can also expect more and more regulatory attention on the part of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the recently elevated and largely self-governing Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and U.S. Customs (now a part of the Homeland Security Agency) to every aspect of the use, sale and importation of any of these substances. This will be big news during the course of the next three years, while many government agencies are aggressively taking advantage of the lack of oversight by any citizen-empowered groups (or government agencies which ostensibly protect consumer rights), and in the names (pretexts, really) of "The War on Terrorism," and "The Protection of the US Domestic Economy". The marketplace within the EU and Asia will continue to grow, with less encumbrances by regulatory agencies.
5. Author/reporter John Myers of Bob Livingston's ultra-conservative publication, The Personal Liberty Digest, writes a fascinating article (regardless of your political inclinations and agenda) about the U.S. Government's purported reasoning and efforts to make the United States into a "cashless society". The article, Titled
Banker, Butcher, Spy: Who Our Government Bullies And Bribes to Make This Their Cashless Society is definitely worth reading. Again, I don't lean left or right politically...I am an Internationalist, a Futurist and a Compassionate Capitalist...and I don't frequently agree with or endorse any of the investment advice or predicitions offered in this publication (in the same way that I don't always agree with the Progressive folks at BuzzFlash, but I follow them). I hope that you get some utility out of the information and resources listed above, and, more importantly, I hope that you will take action in response to ideas with which you agree. Just reading the news and not applying the knowledge that you glean from it doesn't make you any more than a willing victim. When I was in college, there were two sayings spray-painted on the side of one of the administration buildings at Stony Brook University. They were: "If you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem," and, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." Student activism...how I miss it. If you care about Humanity and Human Society, then you should help to shape the future anstead of passsively waiting for it to sweep you away. A futurist with a social conscience finds it difficult not to be an activist. Faithfully, Douglas Castle |
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