I was traipsing through an Air Canada lounge today and the latest issue of Technology Review caught my eye. I have been a subscriber, but was surprised to see issues lying around an airport lounge. There was the usual up-and-coming technology stories, but what got my neurons firing was a story by Stewart Brand, founder of ‘The Whole Earth Catalog’.

In “Environmental Heresies“, Brand posits a swing in views on population growth, urbanization, genetically engineered organisms and nuclear power. I was surprised to learn how rapidly the population growth rate is rapidly declining and the prediction that several industrial nations will have 30% fewer people in 2050 than today. Wow!

The environmental benefits of urbanization were not something I had realized. People are moving out of rural areas, nature is taking them back, and urban centers tend to be more efficient.

The story has been out for a while and there has been some blog dialog on TR’s blog site.

I have been reluctant to do as many posts lately. I didn’t want to shock the identity world with my personal rants; and didn’t want to bore my friends with lengthy technical identity discussions. This site will continue as my personal site, and my identity discussions will be at Identity20.com.

I went to Vegas last weekend with some tech buddies. You know it was fun since it is a week later before I am writing about it. Saw Ka from Cirque du Soleil. It has a great story line about two siblings coming of age. Something else you can blame Canada for. Amazing show, the stage is technically stunning, but if you have not seen the other Cirque shows in Vegas, see them first or you may be disappointed.