Archive for the 'Futurist Posts' Category
Futurist Event: FiRE Global
Earlier this year, I attended the FiRE conference in San Diego. It felt like half an almost-typical technology conference (yes, there was a cloud computing session), half a “making the world a better place with technology” and in total, was the best three days I’ve ever spent on either topic. Largely, the value was in [...]
Two Very Cool Futurist Events
I have been wearing my author hat lately because of book releases, but there are two very excellent futurist events worth discussing: one in the recent past and one in the recent future.
I’ll start with the recent past. The Seattle Times did a very nice article about futurists in the Sunday Magazine last week. They [...]
What’s Green, exciting, and then (hopefully) unnoticed?
In science fiction, we’ve long assumed that distance would disappear. We do it with FTL travel so we can take our characters between planets the way we now travel between cities, we do it with instant communication devices, and we use teleportation. We wave our science fictional hands at the challenges of communicating over great [...]
We Need Healthcare Reform Now
As a futurist, I’m often asked what I think we should focus on. I typically say health care, education, broadband, and saving the world (ecology/alternate energy and lifestyle).
We have a good chance at one of them right now. We can do health care better for millions of Americans. We can help our businesses, our global [...]
3D Printing: Are we moving into a design economy?
My latest futurismic column explores 3D printing. I’m convinced this is a wild card technology. That is, most people don’t actually see it coming, or understand its potential to change our world. Yet the current uses and capabilities are growing exponentially. If “fabbing” (as some aficionados call it) grows as fast as PC capability grew, and the [...]
Musings on the Lunar Landing Anniversary
I hope that people all over the world will stop and reflect – for at least for a moment – on the 40th anniversary of the lunar landing. It was history. For context, I’m forty-eight this year. I was an eight-year-old girl whose dad worked in aerospace in 1969 (for McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Corporation). [...]
Why I am Green for Iran
I bought green shirts and I am wearing them. I have turned my twitter icon temporarily green. I keep getting up from the middle of other tasks and checking on events in Iran, even though I am usually far more disciplined. But I thought I should write down some reasons since my family asked, and [...]
Twitter: A Trail of Transparent Breadcrumbs
I have been thinking about transparency, social media, and government accountability for a while. At the FiRe conference in San Diego, I ran into fellow sf writer and contrarian, David Brin, who authored the non-fiction book, The Transparent Society. This book made a difference in the way I think about government and life, and has [...]
When Reaching an Audience is Hard
I talked to the good folks at the National Association of Consumer Shows this morning in Memphis Tennessee. I walked away feeling as if I did a good job but not a great job. I did talk to quite a few of them individually and I enjoyed a nice barbecue lunch with a convention goer, [...]
The Power of the Net
If you’re not on twitter watching the #iranelection or just searching for “iran” which will catch it all, you’ve missed a worldwide conversation. A worldwide emotional reaction. This morning, I feel connected to the people in Iran. I’m glad they have this tool, which was missing from Tiananmen square. It may or may not be [...]
