A Tale of Two Tails…

The pace of change in the world is increasing. Therefore primary skill – the type of literacy that we need to teach – is the ability to teach oneself. My wife and I have homeschooled our four sons. Two are still at home being homeschooled, two are in college. A particular episode with my oldest […]

5 Reasons the Internet of Cars Changes Everything

The big data industry has witnessed any number of tipping points in recent years as once-obscure ideas and technologies have quickly achieved dominance. Hadoop. Spark. Data Lakes. Big data itself. And now comes the Internet of Cars (AKA the Internet of Automobiles), a phenomenon with huge potential impact both in the industry and in society […]

The Sentient Enterprise

How can businesses stay agile and competitive in the face of massive data volumes, exponentially increasing complexity, and the growing need for real-time answers, decisions, and responses? In his new book The Sentient Enterprise, technologist and visionary Oliver Ratzesberger, along with co-author Mohanbir Sawhney, outlines a revolutionary methodology for aligning data, systems, and people within […]

Sunrise, Sunburn, Sun Tea

How does the future happen? Well, maybe it doesn’t. That is, maybe the future doesn’t just “happen.”  Let’s look at some future events. Take tomorrow’s sunrise.  Get up early and go watch it if you like. You have nothing to do with it. Every day, it just happens. It’s the future, and it just happens. […]

Visions for a World Transformed Now Available

Available now on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback formats: Visions for a World Transformed 99 Ideas for Making the World a Better Place — Starting Right Now How different will the future be from today? As different as we can imagine, and possibly stranger and more wonderful than we ever HAVE imagined. The key […]

No Good Disney Role Models for Boys?

Writing at The Federalist, Allison Hull has a bone to pick with Disney: Why Does Disney Hate Boys So Much? All Their Male Characters Are Losers. There is much here that I agree with, especially the Disney Channel’s overwhelming preference for girls over boys. I mean, wouldn’t it be nice if they could find a […]

Kaizen!

Occasionally on Facebook I get to point out that anything I post without comment is likely something I intend to read later because it strikes me as potentially interesting. These posts often result in comments, which then remind me that I meant to read the thing. It’s a way of outsourcing a reminder to read something […]

A New Way to Distribute Books

An alternative way of distributing a book: rather than going through the normal distribution channels, just give some away. Ask the recipients, if they don’t find the book to their liking, to please pass it on to someone whom they think would like it. And ask them if they do like it to consider purchasing […]

Old Body, New Parts

Researchers and practitioners are making dramatic progress in producing usable human tissues via (highly modified) 3D printers. Although we aren’t there yet, eventually we can expect to see whole kidneys, livers, hearts, and lungs produced in vats or via printer-like devices. These will be a godsend for patients who otherwise would be looking for an […]