The Futures Foundation

My Dot-Green Future Is Finally Arriving
Written by Bruce Sterling   
Thursday, 15 March 2007
I was standing among a crowd of radical Serbs in front of the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade last week when it dawned on me: As a futurist, things are really going my way! It's 2007, and the old world has backfired so comprehensively that a new era is truly at hand. I actually knew this would happen. I guess, for a prophet, this is what victory feels like!

Back in 1998, the Mexican state of Chiapas caught fire and the smoke from its rainless "rain forests" stretched all the way to Chicago. In Austin, my home town, the sky was the color of a dead television channel. Living under that hideous gout of smoke, I realized that the much-anticipated greenhouse effect was as real as dirt. Most people didn't grasp that at the time. That's okay by me: If everybody got it about issues of that sort, I wouldn't get paid for being a futurist. As it happened, though, five years earlier I'd written a science-fiction novel about climate change. So I was fully briefed.

Last Updated ( Thursday, 15 March 2007 )
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Frankenstein foods: the rice with human genes
Written by Sean Poulter   
Wednesday, 07 March 2007
647225_pumpkinsThe first GM food crop containing human genes is set to be approved for commercial  production, reports the UK's Daily Mail (06 03 07).

The laboratory-created rice produces some of the human proteins found in breast milk and saliva.

Its U.S. developers say they could be used to treat children with diarrhoea, a major killer in the Third World.

The rice is a major step in so-called Frankenstein Foods, the first mingling of human-origin genes and those from plants. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture has already signalled it plans to allow commercial cultivation.

The rice's producers, California-based Ventria Bioscience, have been given preliminary approval to grow it on more than 3,000 acres in Kansas. The company plans to harvest the proteins and use them in drinks, desserts, yoghurts and muesli bars.
Last Updated ( Thursday, 08 March 2007 )
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Collaborating for value added services
Written by Sheila Moorcroft   
Thursday, 22 February 2007
spiderswebWikipedia, Web 2.0, Linux, Open Source have become bywords for new ways of working and collaborating on the web. The Rise of the Pro-Am, as [Shaping Tomorrow] called it in April 2006, is continuing to make its presence felt in new markets and challenging existing business models. It is also creating new opportunities, blurring boundaries and making money.

Fun is best - Google has recently pulled out of the 'Answers' market, beaten off by its arch rival Yahoo. The difference is that Yahoo's service is completely free, while Google's involved money. As a result, the motivations, perceptions and rewards were seen differently: Free equals for fun; Paid-for equals work.
Last Updated ( Thursday, 22 February 2007 )
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