Daily Thoughts 01/23/2013
This morning, I checked the libraries Twitter and Facebook pages.
I read a book called Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear. It follows the classic generation ship gone wrong story. However, it has some different twists to it. All of the robots have broken down and now there are only people and monsters. The generation ship is at war with itself. There are some unique twists to the story which I don't want to spoil. The main character has more than one version of himself running around. This is entertainingly done. I enjoyed reading the book. I read it one sitting.
I also took some time to read more of Librarians as Community Partners. I am reading about class visits right now to schools as well as literacy projects with immigrants. There is a literacy program at the Mount Vernon Public Library.
I checked the library Facebook and Twitter pages. I also checked the displays. February is African American History Month. I am preparing for it.
On the way home, I finished reading Librarians As Community Partners. There were more than 66 different ideas. Each of the 66 different activities often embraced more than one program. It was interesting and engaging reading. It reminded of some things like Summer Reading in Hartley Park, the Adult Summer Reading Program, and some of the programs sponsored by the Friends of the Mount Vernon Public Library.
This is a very important article it may not be about books. But it is about many peoples futures. The whole structure of manufacturing and service is about to change in ways people are not ready for. The whole economic structure around the world is based on scarcity. When it costs less to manufacture virtually everything, and there is increasing amounts of crowd sourced intelligence, it will mean less people doing more with more goods produced. A cycle happens where companies get richer, more wealth is produced and less people have jobs.
AP Impact Recession, Tech Kill Middle Class Jobs
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ap-impact-recession-tech-kill-middle-class-jobs-18290146
If you read the article, it tells you that startups and new businesses are one of the few places where people can find a job. The businesses are smaller usually. This has made me realize the importance of basic computer classes, books on computers, and books on small business and entrepreneurship. One of the few places left to find a job is to create one. It is why we see the growth of spaces like New Work City and other coworking spaces.
People have to increasingly create their own jobs. It is why books like the $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau have come into existence. It is also why there is such a focus on innovation with books like The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries which is basically how to innovate a company into existence with very little money up front.
This process is going to accelerate. There are new developments in manufacturing, specifically 3D printing and open source manufacturing which will make things cheaper and more efficient to produce. This will not just be small things. It will be things like cars, Urbee, The Worlds First Printed Car Rolling Off the 3D Printing Press, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2041106/Urbee-The-worlds-printed-car-rolling-3D-printing-presses-.html, and buildings, The Worlds First 3D Printed Building Will Arrive in 2014 http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/20/the-worlds-first-3d-printed-building-will-arrive-in-2014-and-it-looks-awesome/. Other things will be manufactured from open source like Local Motors http://www.localmotors.com/
This process has been discussed in books like Fab: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop-- from Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication by Neil Gershfield, and Makers The New Industrial Revolution by Chris Andersen.
Crowdsourcing, artificial intelligence and big data will replace many service jobs. Already there are virtual assistants which can perform customer service. There are also may soon be other more technical jobs which are replaced. http://www.technologyreview.com/news/429118/artificial-intelligence-powered-by-many-humans/ This is why I read books like How To Create a Mind by Ray Kurzweil.
It is also why I read books like You Are Not a Gadget by Jaron Lanier which have a more humanist view of computing.
Web Bits
Americans Call for Libraries to Provide More Ebooks
http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/americans-call-for-libraries-to-provide-more-ebooks/
Just a bit over half.
'Obscurity': A Better Way To Think About Your Data Than 'Privacy'
http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2013/01/obscurity-better-way-think-about-your-data-privacy
Exclusive Interview With Ray Kurzweil On Future AI Project at Google
http://singularityhub.com/2013/01/10/exclusive-interview-with-ray-kurzweil-on-future-ai-project-at-google/
Looks like he might build a mind at Google. I am still thinking about Ray Kurzweil's book How to Create a Mind.
We Want to Hear Your Thoughts: How Can Libraries Best Serve Their Communities?
http://www.impatientoptimists.org/Posts/2013/01/We-Want-to-Hear-Your-Thoughts-How-Can-Libraries-Best-Serve-Their-Communities
I took the survey
No comments:
Post a Comment