The web I experience is probably very different from what you do, and even more from what people I don't know do.

From a connecting platform for the globe, it is becoming a personal bubble. Some of it by our choice, more than we realise by search engine optimisation.

Become aware of this with this talk, and try to avoid living in a bubble.

Wonderful [essay](http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2009/12/13/gaming_the_ system.html) on how geeks think, with an emphasis on computer games.

The speaker defines the ethnosphere as all the human cultures in the world. They are going extinct at a rate that no biologist would consider acceptable for the biosphere.

If for nothing else, you should watch this for the very useful advice on how to make a knife out of nothing in cold weather. The best example of the persistence and ingenuity of the human spirit I have heard!

This is an amazing proposition. Current 21 year old gamers have spent almost as much time at school as playing online games. Whatever they learn while playing these games, they are very good at it. And their potential to apply it to the real world remains untapped.

Jane McConigal calls their skills 'superpowers'. They are Blissful productivity, Social fabric, Urgent optimism and Epic meaning.

A very refreshing, thought-provoking 20-min video I highly recommend.

Here is an interesting idea. Humans respond best to messages conveyed through humans communicating as in real life i.e. with the sound, expressions, personality, tonality, accent, passion and all other parts conveyed when another human speaks in front of us. Video is the best medium we have at capturing these, and the ability of the internet to serve video to everyone is changing the way people influence each other.

The invention of printing replaced humans in spreading ideas because it was possible to multiply a message. Messages spread through writing became influential because they reached a larger audience faster.

Chris Anderson believes that online video is the medium by which any idea can be communicated, not only those that are communicated well in writing. Dancing, music, acting, scientific experiments, cooking and so many other ideas can be conveyed easily from the best and inspire people to become even better.

This is a powerful idea. We may be witnessing a revolution in the speed by which progress can be made, made possible by online video.

Fascinating talk on the evolution of computer viruses by the head of research in Symantec. People can sell infected computers to other people these days, all through the internet! Great showmanship too.