Bruce Ambramson's Second Book, working title: The Secret Circuit

Many of you know FutureCatalyst Brainstorming Salon regular, Bruce Abramson. He's the author of Digital Phoenix. Why the Information Economy Collapsed and How It Will Rise Again.

Now he's working on his second book which he describes this way:

“The meta-theme of the second book is the same as the first: What does it mean for the world to transition from the industrial age to the information age? Beyond that, they diverge.

"Digital Phoenix was essentially about information business, as told through the lens of four front-page stories: the Internet Bubble, the Microsoft trial, the rise of Open Source, and the coming of Napster.

"The second book (working title, The Secret Circuit) is an institutional story about the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. This little-known and less-understood appellate court, located about a block from the White House, hears ALL appeals dealing with patent law, international trade law, and government business law (as well as a few other issues). In short, it is where we can see the rules governing innovation, globalization, and the role of government as an economic actor unfold.

"I've already got a contract with Rowman & Littlefield. I'm committed to manuscript delivery by the end of the calendar year, so I'm hoping for a 2007 publication date."

YouTube's Surefire Mood Lifter

I now know what to do to get out of a bad mood. Search YouTube for "funny cats." I can hardly get through some of them because I'm laughing so hard I'm crying.

Blurb, One of Time's "50 Coolest Websites"

The hits keep coming for Blurb. This time from Time. For all of you following the wonderful work Eileen Gittins and Blurb is doing, they've been named one of Time's "50 Coolest Websites." Time highlights Blurb's coming offering, "blog-to-book":

"SELF-PUBLISHING Blurb. Soon those old-fogy relatives of yours who still don't have Internet access (or even a computer) will be able to experience the brilliance of your blog without compromising their Luddite principals.

"Blurb's "slurper" tool uploads the contents of your blog (up to 400 8x10 printed pages worth) and reformats it into book form. You choose the design layout and other particulars; the company ships you the finished product (full color, hardcover, bound, with custom dust jacket for $29.95 to $79.95 depending on number of pages) then makes your book available on the site for others to buy.

"For now, the site's BookSmart software already can be used to make other types of books (cookbooks, baby books, poetry books) while the blog-to-book program, temporarily unavailable while 200 selected bloggers test it, makes it public debut in September. We're talking books you can page through and place on coffee tables. How retro. "

Do you know about Time Banks?

A good friend of mine just told me about time banks. As someone who started both a babysitting co-op and a food co-op back in the '70's at my (now ex) husband's grad school...I love this idea.

Have you had any experience with them?

Here's how they are described at www.timebanks.org:

Time Banks Weave Community One Hour at a Time

For every hour you spend doing something for someone in your community, you earn one Time Dollar. Then you have a Time Dollar to spend on having someone do something for you. It's that simple. Yet it also has profound effects. Time Banks change neighborhoods and whole communities. Time Banking is a social change movement in 22 countries and six continents.

WorldFX's first-of-its kind 15 ft. diameter Satellite Globe

This just in from Bonnie DeVarco: "Take a look at WorldFX's (http://www.realworldfx.com/) newest, first-of-its-kind 15 ft. diameter Satellite Globe. This stunning globe was printed with complete LandSat data beautifully mosaic'd at the highest resolution yet by WorldSat International http://www.worldsat.ca/ (Spaceship Earth just debuted at the annual ESRI Conference in San Diego last week).

"The spherical Earth artist is Todd Ulrich. At this beautiful scale, the 2006 Spaceship Earth satellite Globe offers a new appreciation of our planetary home and inspires us in our our role as stewards of Earth. SeeTake a look here: www.mediatertia.com/wfxSpaceshipEarth.jpg

"Also, the 5th annual conference on the Digital Earth (ISDE5) will be held in N. California in June, 2007 http://www.isde5.org & Digital Earth '06 Sustainability Summit in New Zealand this month http://www.digitalearth06.org.nz/

"To become familiar with the latest advances of satellite imagery on a large scale and Buckminster Fuller's Geoscope "Miniature Earth" concept go to http://www.stranova.com/ourcurrentpodcas.html or www.bfi.org to view beautiful digital visions of Earth."