COMMENT –Jared Diamond’s work, Guns Germs and Steel is a pivotal work in the understanding of past phase change within societies. Jared is unique in his cross-disciplinary approach combining many fields — biology, anthropology, history, medicine and others.
I haven’t finished Collapse yet but in this talk from TED, Diamond outlines the key principles of societal collapse.
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Diamond’s observations & books have been extraordinarily influential to my thinking and writing.
Especially my work on 2thinknow nascent trend analysis, allowing for the prediction of trends & events.
I started reading …

COMMENT, Global — Sometimes ideas matter. And to people all over the world.
How do I know?

Well simply, the most popular ideas 2thinknow tested online in 2007 were also the most intelligent. Not more Paris or Britney.
Readers, I’m proud of your intelligent choices…

ANALYSIS, Global – Satire has always been a weapon people use when they know most of the news they are watching is untrue or missing the point.
Whilst I applaud many fine Print Journalists, the fact is that the bias inherent in many publications and TV, means that media is increasingly untrusted.
The average person knows on some level that the mass media exists to propagate a message that is not about enlightening debate.They know Rupert’s media on some level is about Rupert…

ANALYSIS, Australia — The significance of Kevin Rudd beating substantively John Howard as Australia’s leader cannot be overstated in terms of global politics.
Background for our global readers: Rudd is from the Left, although a moderate. Howard was from the Right, and part of a NSW branches of the Right that are increasingly moving far-Right, by Australian standards (although not yet Neo-Conservative).
And Australia generally prefers moderates and punishes radicalism.
The true significance of this win, has been lost on some commentators. Here’s why…

ANALYSIS, Melbourne, Australia — We have to look at technology as something to utilize for a practical outcome.
Australia needs new ICT policies.
Why we don’t have an ICT Export industry!
According to the AIIA, domestic production of ICT is worth between 4 and 5% of GDP.
ICT exports were once around $7.8 billion per annum, in 2000, according to AIIA.
Now, under Howard, these have declined to $5.4 Billion according to Austrade.
There’s no reason we cannot more than double ICT exports in 5-10 years through government policy.
Canada is a country closes to Australia in …

COMMENT, Melbourne – Yet another Yarra Tram crash today. 4 people injured.
At the same time, on 3 occasions today I have seen ticket inspectors, and been asked for my ticket.
What may I ask are we paying for?
Unsafe, unclean and unreliable transport.
The woman behind me had the same idea. She told the ticket police, why did we have to have tickets, given the trams weren’t running this morning again?
Melbourne’s citizens are getting increasingly hostile to the transport inspectors, and the failling of another tram.
We the citizens of Melbourne, need a …

ANALYSIS, Global – We have a lot of goods. Cars, books, stereos, DVDs, printers, computers, Walkmans, toys, clothes, kitchenware, etc.
Even jeans (I don’t know about you, but I’ll never fit into them again!)

When we are finished with goods we throw them out. Doesn’t have to be that way…

ANALYSIS-IN-BRIEF, Global –Tim Berners-Lee is the father of the internet as a useful tool, in the form of the Web. He was there at the web’s birth, as the picture of the CERN web server following shows.

If you want to understand the future of the internet, as a communication medium then read Berners-Lee’s book, “Weaving the Web”.

COMMENT, Global — Become an Ideas Person Part II: [ratings]
Reading books is one of those few great things that no-one can take away. Ben Franklin used books to raise his intellect and become a great thought-leader and statesman of his day.
Ben Franklin was a lifelong avid reader, having being a tradesman-printer and never attended Harvard the university of the town of his birth.
Ben Franklin started the first lending library in the USA (or at least that is the popular wisdom). He also had a private scheme of a group …

COMMENT, Global – Often that is just too much information. Cell phone users in public often have little discretion.
Cell phones on trains.
Cell phones (or mobiles if you prefer) in restaurants.
Famously, I once heard a man chatting up a woman in a toilet cubicle with the door closed at a cinema. I first thought she was in there with him, then he came out holding a phone.
I wonder what she thought of the loud ‘flush’?
The Market Opportunity for Quiet
Expect a pendulum swing back to quiet and focus.
In the meantime expect a …

ANALYSIS, Sydney & Melbourne, Australia –
An open letter to visiting President Bush.
Mr Bush is in Sydney Australia at current for the APEC summit, this was written just after his joint speech with Mr Howard today.
Dear Mr President,
You spoke at the APEC Summit with our Prime Minister, Mr Howard.
I agreed with your remarks Sir, about freedom and human rights being critical to the world’s future.
But the Oil War is not the way to spread freedom.
This war is deeply unpopular because the people ‘get’ it was not an honest war.
Another’s freedom …