Brian Gongol
A couple of news items
Jeweler with a 3D printer helps surgeons with models
Iowa City jeweler Mark Ginsberg has a 3D printer that he uses to produce models of hearts and other organs to help University of Iowa surgeons when planning tricky surgeries.
Microsoft has big plans for Bing
They're broadening access to the core services of the Bing platform, and trying to turn it into something that program developers can use to build applications and integrate seamlessly into more of the things that people use when connected to the Internet. It's going to start off mainly as a service for the refreshed Windows 8.1 to be released later this year, but it's likely to find wider application later on.
Reflecting on Independence Day in the Internet Age
I've been thinking a lot about the article we discussed last week which suggests that people feel exhausted because we're making too many decisions, often about meaningless things. While the power of totally democratic publishing on the Internet is a great gift to free speech and the right of peaceable assembly, it's also highly demanding of our own judgment.
There's little in the world that's better than a really, really good editor. One who can (a) refine the writing of others to make it clearer, more thoughtful, and more concise; and (b) select and point out to others what is really interesting from amidst all the noise. Great curators of thoughtful content aren't really popular now...but I suspect they will be in a few more years, as we get tired of drowning in Facebook news feeds and endless Tweets, Pinterest pins and Instagram shots of everyone's latest meals. LinkedIn may be getting a head start with its "influencer" posts. We'll have to see.
Can you imagine a Declaration of Independence crafted by a modern Congressional committee? It's largely the work of Thomas Jefferson, with input from John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston as the "Committee of Five". Jefferson can be considered the "editor" of the work, drawing it into a thoughtful, cohesive, and concise whole. Compare that to the EU Constitution, which weighs in at 474 pages (at latest count). We need great editors now more than ever.
Post-show materials