I had a dream a couple nights ago where I was sitting in a meeting with some people and we were all to share our “most trusted” information/media sources (yes, clearly–all blog and no play makes Bob a very dull boy indeed–not the most thrilling of dreams…) and when it was my turn I said “NPR and The Economist“

Well, when I woke up and recalled my dream, I thought to myself–well, that’s actually what I’d probably say in my waking life….I just hope that I wont be spending my future dream times doing searches on Google…

Well, anyway, the Economist is in fact one of my absolute favorite sources, and I was quite pleased to discover today that its excellent archive search, normally available only to print or online subscribers can now be accessed by anyone, as long as you don’t mind sitting through a 10 second commercial. You then get a day pass, and can search the print and online archive back many years, with several nice advanced search and filter options.

So if you’re in the midst of researching anything at all, and want to see what the Economist has to say about it, just link to the site, watch the little ad, and search on your topic.

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I’ve heard the name on and off for a couple of years now–that the sharpest observer of all things cyberage and future technology is actually scifi author by the name of Bruce Sterling. If you’re one of the true digerati, or a regular reader of Wired, it won’t be much news to you to hear me tell you he’s an amazing writer–but for the rest of you, I hope this is useful news.

I’m actually reading one of his few non-science fiction books, called Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next 50 years, which is about his take on upcoming trends. Its totally unlike your typical trends forecasting book, though for lots of reasons. For one, it’s incredibly well written and clear; it’s funny as all get out; and the insights are more compelling because they are coming from a slightly different angle.

Tomorrow Now is one of Sterling’s newest books, published in 2003. But I wanted to see what he was saying about Web 2.0 and blogs and Net phenomena that have really taken hold since then. So I found these two audio interviews: from IT Conversations and from the New Media Awards 2006 and I plan on listening to both.

Let me know what your impressions of Sterling are too. I’m very pleased today with this discovery!

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Like many, I’m of two minds on Wikipedia–I love it, and I’m always a bit nervous about it. But as time goes by, I’m more and more impressed by its unique capabilities. Here’s one reason why–there is already a detailed and seemingly comprehensive page on the Montreal shooting yesterday here.

Right seemingly. Sure, I have a feeling that some details are going to be incorrect, but it’s up to us as informed readers to get that second source or confirm data in some way before we rely on it, or use it in any important way. Think of all the initial mainstream journalism accounts that have had some factual errors, especially early on in the reporting cycle.

When we see what Wikipedia can do for a general current event like this, it makes me think that the potential for Wikipedia for a source for business and other substantive researchers is still nowhere near its potential.

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While browsing in an excellent bookstore in the Coolidge Corner neighborhood of Boston yesterday, I came across and browsed through one of those books that immediately seem like a “must read” for those in the digital information industry. It’s called Infotopia: How Many Minds Produce Knowledge, and so now it’s on my short list for reading.

Its written by Cass R. Sunstein, from the School of Law and Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago, and published just a few weeks ago by Oxford University Press. Here’s the description of the book on Amazon:

The rise of the “information society” offers not only considerable peril but also great promise. Beset from all sides by a never-ending barrage of media, how can we ensure that the most accurate information emerges and is heeded? In this book, Cass R. Sunstein develops a deeply optimistic understanding of the human potential to pool information, and to use that knowledge to improve our lives. In an age of information overload, it is easy to fall back on our own prejudices and insulate ourselves with comforting opinions that reaffirm our core beliefs. Crowds quickly become mobs.

The justification for the Iraq war, the collapse of Enron, the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia-all of these resulted from decisions made by leaders and groups trapped in “information cocoons,” shielded from information at odds with their preconceptions. How can leaders and ordinary people challenge insular decisionmaking and gain access to the sum of human knowledge? Stunning new ways to share and aggregate information, many Internet-based, are helping companies, schools, governments, and individuals not only to acquire, but also to create, ever-growing bodies of accurate knowledge.
Through a ceaseless flurry of self-correcting exchanges, wikis, covering everything from politics and business plans to sports and science fiction subcultures, amass-and refine-information. Open-source software enables large numbers of people to participate in technological development.

Prediction markets aggregate information in a way that allows companies, ranging from computer manufacturers to Hollywood studios, to make better decisions about product launches and office openings. Sunstein shows how people can assimilate aggregated information without succumbing to the dangers of the herd mentality–and when and why the new aggregation techniques are so astoundingly accurate. In a world where opinion and anecdote increasingly compete on equal footing with hard evidence, the on-line effort of many minds coming together might well provide the best path to infotopia.

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