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Diesel's future
Posted: 17 April 2014   1 Comment
Personally I am much more optimistic about the future of diesel, and don't think this scenario of diesel being banned will materialize. Diesel is a very efficient store of energy, and is the backbone of heavy trucking globally. While it might be feasible to convert some trucks to natural gas, converting them to petrol is not a proposition.

New technology is winning the day for diesel. In ...
New Generation of Clean Diesel Technology Is Fueling U.S. Economic Growth
17 April 2014
In The Past 10 Years, Emissions From Diesel Trucks And Buses Have Been Reduced By 99% For NOx And 98% For Particulate Emissions
MindBullet logo DEADLY DIESEL'S CENTURY ENDS ABRUPTLY
Germany first to put health before economy
Dateline: 12 July 2017
Germany's Berliner Zeitung put it succinctly: Diesel Backfires - Decades of government support can't hide the ugly truth. It was only three years ago ...
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DEADLY DIESEL'S CENTURY ENDS ABRUPTLY
Published on: 17 April 2014   2 Comments
MindBullet picture
Germany first to put health before economy
Dateline: 12 July 2017
Germany's Berliner Zeitung put it succinctly: Diesel Backfires - Decades of government support can't hide the ugly truth. It was only three years ago that government researchers began to admit that irritating private research may just be correct - the nitrogen dioxide emissions generated by diesel engines have increased substantially over the past two decades and there was no sign of a reversal. Tiny toxic particulates emitted by diesel engines, have been shown to pass through the lungs and enter ...
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Google gets its drone on
Posted: 16 April 2014  
Perhaps upstaging Facebook, Google has acquired Titan Aerospace, the maker of those solar powered drones that can fly high enough to act as comms satellites. Guess that means we'll be seeing the Googlenet come alive sooner rather than later.
Zucker punched: Google gobbles Facebook-wooed Titan Aerospace
16 April 2014
Web giant Google is buying Titan Aerospace, presumably to help it blanket the world in internet connectivity beamed from drones and balloons.
MindBullet logo LET G-DROIDS DO THE DIRTY WORK
Google's robots do the heavy lifting, drive the dump trucks and haul the garbage
Dateline: 17 July 2018
Now that Google has become the leading developer of robots, including humanoid robots, we can leave them to do all the unpleasant, dangerous, and boring ...
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Are you a servant or driver?
Posted: 15 April 2014  
"Gourley said that there are two types of relationships we are already used to, where we are the product or the owner. We are the product on sites like Facebook, where algorithms match us with ads. We are the owner when we subscribe to a service that serves up content we would like or automatically does a task for us.

Then there are two emerging categories: servant and driver. Humans may soon ...
Algorithms will do more and more of the thinking in the world
15 April 2014
“This is a world where the speed of light has to be factored into the equations for buying and selling,” Quid founder and CTO Sean Gourley said at the ...
MindBullet logo THE FUTURE IS ALGORITHM SHAPED
Cloud-based algorithms determine our daily routine and schedule - and our love lives
Dateline: 27 April 2017
We can't predict the future, but the clues are all around us. We're all connected, to each other, to everything, in so many ways. Our daily lives are part ...
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Thinking strategically and sense-making
Posted: 15 April 2014  
We have long espoused a process of rewiring executive brains to think strategically about the future, understanding the key drivers of change, the weak signals and the step changes. And then choosing an ideal future with the flexibility too adapt en route. This talk by Duke CE introduces 'sense- making' into the debate and that's exactly what thinking strategically is all about!
Watch "Jump in the Right Direction: Michael Canning at TEDxEncinitas" Video at TEDxTalks
15 April 2014
This video was filmed at an independently organized TEDx event and uploaded by the organizer. To flag a video (good or bad!), use this form.
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Collaboration drives abundance thinking
Posted: 15 April 2014  
In a connected yet challenged world we have so many more ways to discover new solutions to the world's big problems. The challenges of water, food, healthcare, energy, the environment and education all need radical innovation and radical solutions. We now have increasingly powerful ways of discovering new solutions...through massive collaboration enabled by ubiquitous connectivity. Fuelled by ...
PatientsLikeMe Gives Genentech Full Access | MIT Technology Review
15 April 2014
The most extensive collaboration between the patient social network and a drug company to-date is likely to be just the first of its kind.
MindBullet logo NOW YOU CAN HAVE FOUR BILLION WORKERS – FREE
Co-creation is the new business innovation
Dateline: 21 January 2009
Here's a conundrum: How can you employ virtually everyone in the world - and no-one at the same time? The answer lies in the definition of 'employment'. ...
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Paying a bonus to staff to quit
Posted: 14 April 2014   1 Comment
We all want the best, most-motivated people working for us. Yet, how many companies put up with mediocre performance, or moan that it is too difficult to get rid of weak players? Here's a different approach from Amazon, which constantly seeks to deliver only the best service to its customers. How about paying a bonus to people to quit?
Why Amazon Pays Employees Up to $5,000 to Quit
14 April 2014
In a letter to shareholders, Jeff Bezos revealed an interesting company policy that seeks to foster a passionate and dedicated workforce.
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Can the virtual office become a reality?
Posted: 1 August 2011   1 Comment
Making "the office" a better and more productive place has been going on for decades! Remember office automation? Remember the paperless office? The big buzz now is the virtual office - and this could be the breakthrough, because the tools are really there to make it happen.
FutureWorld, of course, has been a virtual company from the start - nearly 25 years ago! We have no offices. No staff. ...
The Rise of the Virtual Office - Technology Review
1 August 2011
As the definition of the workplace changes, dramatic increases in productivity could be ahead.
MindBullet logo iPA, YOU KNOW MY EVERY MOVE
Virtual PA re-writes the rules of office efficiency
Dateline: 14 November 2014
At the annual Service Excellence Awards banquet in New York, Electra Speed, a virtual personal assistant from Virgin Stars, won the top honour against ...
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Internet of CARING things
Posted: 11 April 2014  
Love the idea of an internet of caring things that will add real value to our lives.
INTERNET OF CARING THINGS | Trend Briefing from trendwatching.com
11 April 2014
Time to think beyond the ‘Internet of Things’. Consumers are embracing a network of connected objects that actively care for their physical and mental wellbeing, homes, loved ones and more.
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Imagine downloading a full-length movie to your phone in one second....
Posted: 9 April 2014   1 Comment
We're only starting to roll out 4G, or LTE, in our markets - but here's the big news, work has already started on 5G: download speeds that would let you download a full-length movie to your mobile device in....ONE second!
Now just stop for a moment and think of the implications, the business opportunities, the barriers that will fall, the established interests that will be threatened and the ...
5G: Set to Change the Game Again | Innovation Insights | Wired.com
9 April 2014
Image: Dell's Official Flickr Page/Flickr Remember when we had 1G back in the 1980s? No? That’s because back then so few thought there would ever be someth
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RACE TO BLAST SPACE DEBRIS FROM THE SKIES
Published on: 10 April 2014  
MindBullet picture
Radical plan after Great Space Crash of 2020
Dateline: 20 March 2022
Forget bonfire night! This year the heavens are lit up like fireworks as five companies race to blast dangerous space debris from the skies with powerful lasers. It all started back in 2010 when various scientists proposed ambitious plans to clear the skies of space junk that was threatening low orbiting satellites. And in 2014 Australian scientists came up with a concrete plan to track, map and zap the debris. But progress was slow as conservative space agencies weighed up possible risks, while ...
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The facts about who's doing what in nuclear energy
Posted: 9 April 2014  
Is nuclear power dead, in the wake of Fukushima, or is it undergoing a renaissance? The debate rages own between the pro- and anti- lobbies. What's needed are some cold, hard facts - and that's precisely what this info graphic provides. Who's investing in new nuclear power capacity and who's retracting? Will our MindBullet become a reality? Read on?
Nuclear Powers Ahead in Some Countries, Falters in Others | MIT Technology Review
9 April 2014
Three years after the Fukushima disaster, some countries are pulling back from nuclear power while others grow capacity.
MindBullet logo GERMANY POWERS DOWN ITS LAST NUCLEAR PLANT
New Energy replaces nukes, saves money
Dateline: 6 June 2020
Germany has shut down its last remaining nuclear power plant, two years ahead of schedule. Supporters of the Greens and the Pirate Party staged a peaceful ...
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3D printer for under $300 is a Kickstarter hit
Posted: 9 April 2014  
A 3D printer for under $300....now the game really starts! Remember when buying an ordinary paper printer for your home was a serious investment? And how home printers have become commoditised, to the extent where we print without a thought? The same will happen with 3D printing, but the real revolution will be in industry, as manufacturing is reinvented, and in health, as printing of body ...
Cheap 3D printer is Kickstarter hit
9 April 2014
An ultra-cheap 3D printer has hit its Kickstarter goal in just 11 minutes, with some lauding it as the first mass market version of the technology.
MindBullet logo PRINTING - THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING
No more paper or ink, but everything else goes
Dateline: 17 June 2012
I spent a frustrating few days at the World Printing Industry Showcase in Beijing this weekend. As an old-timer of the printing industry, I simply didn't ...
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Welcome to the new world of consumer and shareholder activism
Posted: 8 April 2014  
Connectivity is perhaps the greatest single force changing our world. It's enabling people to share ideas, knowledge, thoughts and issues. The impact on politics has been profound, from the Middle East to Brazil to Thailand, Europe, the US and the rest of the world.
And business is far from exempt! Customers have become more demanding than ever. And...shareholders are taking a new, ...
Preparing for bigger, bolder shareholder activists
8 April 2014
Activists are targeting more and bigger companies. Here’s what attracts them—and some tips on how to respond when they show up. A McKinsey & ...
MindBullet logo WE'RE ALL NAKED NOW
Business and government leaders adopt Naked Leadership as the benchmark for transparency and trust
Dateline: 9 September 2017
Five years ago Naked Leadership was an alien concept, but now leaders in all walks of life are preaching the benefits of a leadership paradigm that ...
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Future of wearable computing
Posted: 8 April 2014  
An interesting comment is that current wearable products are just a distraction...confusing form over function and in the process blinding us as to the real benefits to users and society.
Why Apple's wearable technology will be personal technology | Macworld
8 April 2014
The current crop of wearable devices focuses too much on form and too little on function, says contributor Marco Tabini. But that leaves plenty of room for ...
MindBullet logo TRACK ME ONCE, TRACK ME TWICE
New wearable tech is making (some of) us happier and healthier people
Dateline: 2 September 2015
Google Glass started it all, and now the viral spread of the Quantified Self meme is showing us the good, the bad and the ugly on the screens of our high ...
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Nigeria moves into the lead
Posted: 8 April 2014  
As we accurately foretold some years ago, Nigeria has surpassed South Africa to be come the continent's biggest economy. The sudden leap into the lead is the result of rebasing the 'real' GDP estimates, which might be construed by some as statistical trickery, but an earlier rebasing might have put Nigeria in the lead years ago.

Be that as it may, South Africa is still poised to be the ...
Base jumping
8 April 2014
Nigeria has become Africa's largest economy. FIGURES published on April 6th put Nigeria's GDP at 80.2 trillion naira ($509 billion) in 2013, taking it ...
MindBullet logo NIGERIA LEADS THE AFRICAN REVOLUTION
As the African Decade draws to a close, there is a very clear new regional economic leader, and it's not South Africa
Dateline: 16 December 2019
Africa, the dark continent of the past, has enjoyed a decade of growth and prosperity, due in no small part to the resource-hungry giants of the East. ...
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Sub-Saharan Africa set to become fastest-growiung region in the world.
Posted: 8 April 2014  
Some interesting perspectives on the global, African and South African economy from Standard Bank Chief Economist Goolam Ballim. In particular, he predicts that in 2014 sub-Saharan Africa will be the fastest-growing economic region in the world at 6%, outpacing greater Asia's 5.5%.
Also, says Ballim, for the first time in living memory the inflation rate is likely to fall below the growth rate ...
Economy Roadshow 2014
8 April 2014
To gain insightful knowledge on the economy in 2014, watch Standard Bank’s Chief Economist Goolam Ballim share his views by clicking on the videos below.
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A Google echo of FutureWorld!
Posted: 5 April 2014   1 Comment
We’ve worked with hundreds and hundreds of companies over 25 years, and our philosophy has not changed! To thrive in this changing, turbulent marketspace, you need to first understand the future, and then design and create the future you want.
So it was deeply gratifying to hear Larry Page, the CEO of Google, probably the most innovative company on the planet, express his philosophy in a TED ...
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See how your region fits into the Internet Tube Map
Posted: 7 April 2014  
A fun exercise that reveals just how we all fit into the big mosaic!
How the world's internet would look if it was a TUBE map
7 April 2014
The map uses data taken from Cablemap.info and was created by the Oxford Internet Institute. Many short links have been left out to make the visualisation ...
MindBullet logo LIFE AFTER THE INTERNET
Connectivity is now more than a human right - it's everywhere!
Dateline: 13 July 2018
We used to talk about Web 3.0, or the "Internet of things." And how quickly that vision has become a reality. No-one even calls it the web anymore, or ...
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Europe's gas guzzling problem
Posted: 4 April 2014  
The Crimean crisis brings into sharp focus the vast consumption by the EU of Russian gas. This lengthy article by the Economist reveals the complexity of the situation, but ultimately sums it up in one paragraph:

"Though making a real dent in Europe’s reliance on Russian gas will take political will, money and the best part of a decade, merely moving in that direction will shift the balance of ...
Conscious uncoupling
4 April 2014
WHEN Vladimir Putin was bribing Viktor Yanukovych, then the president of Ukraine, to turn down a trade deal with the European Union last year, one of the ...
MindBullet logo GAZPROM THE BIGGEST CASUALTY IN CRIMEA CRISIS AFTERMATH
Merkel declares Germany free of Russian gas
Dateline: 5 April 2019
Yesterday, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that Germany had achieved a new level of energy security and independence. "It has taken us five years to ...
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