Amazon's listmania has become my own. A few of my own...

• The best books on social networking
• The philosophies of freedom
• My favorite children's books
• Films for those in search of favorites
• Fiction that causes friction

For the business-minded, Juanita Brown and David Isaacs share their research and theories in "Conversation As A Business Practice".

Since the house is on fire, let us warm ourselves.

If you have questions or suggestions or links for Gabe and his crew, send them along in an email to dotell@memeorandum.com.

• A low-cost global network will be thriving and creating new opportunities in a “flattening” world.
• Humans will remain in charge of technology, even as more activity is automated and “smart agents” proliferate. However, a significant 42% of survey respondents were pessimistic about humans’ ability to control the technology in the future. This significant majority agreed that dangers and dependencies will grow beyond our ability to stay in charge of technology. This was one of the major surprises in the survey.
• Virtual reality will be compelling enough to enhance worker productivity and also spawn new addiction problems.
• Tech “refuseniks” will emerge as a cultural group characterized by their choice to live off the network. Some will do this as a benign way to limit information overload, while others will commit acts of violence and terror against technology-inspired change.
• People will wittingly and unwittingly disclose more about themselves, gaining some benefits in the process even as they lose some privacy.
• English will be a universal language of global communications, but other languages will not be displaced. Indeed, many felt other languages such as Mandarin, would grow in prominence.
  
  
  At the same time, there was strong dispute about those futuristic scenarios among notable numbers of 742 respondents to survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and Elon University. Those who raised challenges believe that governments and corporations will not necessarily embrace policies that will allow the network to spread to under-served populations; that serious social inequalities will persist; and that “addiction” is an inappropriate notion to attach to people’s interest in virtual environments. The experts and analysts also split evenly on a central question of whether the world will be a better place in 2020 due to the greater transparency of people and institutions afforded by the internet: 46% agreed that the benefits of greater transparency of organizations and individuals would outweigh the privacy costs and 49% disagreed.
  

You can download your own copy of the Pew Report here.

2006 Oct 1st - Sun at 11:00 AM
DANIEL GREENBERG, Ph.D. - Sustainability Education, by the director of Living Routes – How to Study Abroad in Ecovillages.
Potluck brunch & presentation by the creator of the most successful college-level educational program based in ecovillages around the world that are striving to model cooperative, sustainable lifestyles.
Location: Jean Harris residence - 1944 Meadow Road, Walnut Creek, CA
www.LivingRoutes.org

2006 Oct 6th - Fri at 6:00 PM
MICHAEL H. SHUMAN - Author of Going Local and The Small-Mart Revolution, How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition
Potluck dinner & presentation by one of our best economists, showing us how simple and sensible actions – by consumers, investors, entrepreneurs, policymakers and organizers – can make a new era of localization possible.
Location: Arturo Maimoni residence - 134 Crestview Dr., Orinda, CA
www.livingeconomies.org

2006 Oct 12th - Thu at 6:00 PM
JARED ROSEN & DAVID RIPPE Authors of The Flip - Turn your world around.
Potluck dinner and presentation by the authors of The Flip, the book Patricia Aburdene called: “A blueprint for living a meaningful life in the 21st Century”.
Location: Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) - 101 San Antonio Rd. - Petaluma, CA
www.theflip.net

2006 Oct 17th - Tue at 6:00 PM
DECLAN KENNEDY - Designing eco-villages around the world
Potluck dinner, presentation and discussion with the founder of the European Permaculture Institute and one of the most enthusiastic promoters of sustainable living.
Location: At the Swatts - 1234 Cambridge Dr, Lafayette, CA - 925-323-8531
www.declan.de/Englische/index_en.htm

2006 Oct 28th - Sat at 8:00 AM
PanTerra Gallery - Meet the Artists Gathering, hosted by Maralyce Ferree & Chuck Feil
Reception and informal presentations by the artists represented by PanTerra
Location: PanTerra Gallery - 54 Brewery Avenue - Bisbee, Arizona 85603
www.panterragallery.com

2006 Nov 2nd - Thu at 6:00 PM
MARK S. ALBION, Ph.D. - Author of the New York Times Best Seller: Making a Life, Making a Living®, and True to Yourself: Leading a Values Based Business
Potluck dinner & presentation by the co-founder of seven organizations, including Net Impact, a global organization of 13,000 MBAs. An evening to help individuals build more meaningful careers and more sustainable organization.
Location: At the Dakins, 3456 Jackson St., San Francisco, CA - 415-346-0666
www.makingalife.com

2006 Nov 13th - Mon at 12:00 PM (noon)
DAVID KORTEN - Chair of the Positive Futures Network and author of: When Corporations Rule the World; The Post-Corporate World: Life After Capitalism; and his newest: The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community
Bring your own brown bag lunch so you can nourish your body as well as your intellect.
Location: Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) - 101 San Antonio Rd. - Petaluma, CA
www.greatturning.org

2006 Nov 13th - Mon at 6:00 PM
DANIEL PINCHBECK, author of Breaking Open the Head, how shamanism can help the process of discovery, and produce a paradigm shift
Potluck dinner and presentation by one of our most adventurous journalists and explorer of the limits of our prevailing orthodoxies.
Location: Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) - 101 San Antonio Rd. - Petaluma, CA
www.breakingopenthehead.com

2006 Nov 16th - Thu at 6:00 PM
BHAVIA CAROL WAGNER - Founder of Friendship with Cambodia, author of: Soul Survivors - Stories of Women and Children in Cambodia and former director of Mt. Diablo Peace Center
Potluck dinner and slide presentation: Journey Through Cambodia
Location: At the Mt. Diablo Peace Center - 55 Eckley Lane, Walnut Creek, CA
www.friendshipwithcambodia.org

Thanks to Sergio from Favors.org for sharing these events with me and the other subscribers to his newsletter. Send him an email at sergio@sergiolub.com if you would like to get involved with Favors.org.