It’s a fascinating idea. That human beings are inherently sensitive to future trends, and drop hints about what is coming our way through their everyday internet activity. What if you were smart enough to send out internet software spiders programed to harvest emergent memes, and then attempted to interpret the results from a global perspective? Would it be a techo crystal ball and allow you to look into the future? That’s the question being explored by Cliff High over at www.halfpasthuman.com, a brilliant experiment in tracking future trends through human casual conversation.

Cliff wryly notes that his intention in developing this software technology was originally to look for a way to predict stock market trends and make a little money. But he says he soon became entranced in the potential of how vast amounts of data could be organized into various meaningful domains or “entities”: areas of common interest which he labeled “Markets”, “Populace/USofA”, “GlobalPop”, “TPTB” (The Powers That Be) and even a mysterious segment of UFO/ET or space-based influences named the delightful “SpaceGoatFarts”. Awesome.

If you are curious about predictive linguistics you can find Cliff giving interviews on several internet radio shows this year, such as  Coast to Coast AM, and the latest Journeys with Rebecca (Nov 15, 2008). You can also subscribe to the ALTA reports on Cliff’s web site. What to take away from all of this? Probably it is time to really pay attention to what is barreling down on the US of A this Winter: a huge financial meltdown that will prove immune to President Obama’s charismatic smile.

It’s the last day on Yakushima Island in Japan. I’m face to face with unmistakable evidence of my addiction to the Internet. Our rental cottage lies forty minutes from a store offering broadband access for my laptop. With my website and blog still under construction, and the WordPress 2.5 update mischievously littering each web page with typos, it has been frustrating to be disconnected from the electronic nervous system of the planet. Yui , however, insists the experience has been good for my personal growth.

Instead of poring over global news sites each morning, I’ve been restricted to a diet of headlines and quick scans. I can now imagine that this is how it is for most people, in a busy world of work and raising children. Instead of having the time to read, digest, and compare different opinions about world events, there are only fleeting glimpses of information, always without context and usually without opposing commentary

As I think about what has grabbed my attention this week (from twenty minutes a day or less of news reading) what stands out is:

* Oil in the West increased in price to $129 a barrel, and gold is at $920 an ounce. This seems due not to any commodity price hike, but because of the decreasing value of the US Dollar.

* With the approach of summer in the US the reports are that many Americans will stay close to home, due to the high cost of gasoline and fuel surcharges on air travel. Projections of $5-$6 per gallon of gas are in for the coming future, with associated commodity price rises.

* Barrack Obama has gained an unbeatable delegate count, but Hillary Clinton refuses to quit.

* George W. Bush compares Obama to Nazi sympathizers in a speech to the Knesset while visiting Israel (Obama+Iran=Neville Chamberlain+Hitler). Huh?

* Gore Vidal on an interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! says there was a military coup on 9/11, and states that the US White House is run by idiots who know nothing. See above.

* The death rates in Myanmar and in China keep rising as we get more news despite governmental reporting restrictions. I don’t know what to get more angry at: Myanmar’s military junta and their pilfering of foreign aid, or reports of non-earthquake planning and shoddy construction that has tremendously increased the body count in China. Awful news.

* Rice production this year has been hit badly by these two disasters. Also, corn production for food is down in the US due to crop problems and emphasis on ethanol production. All in all, world food shortages seem inevitable, with food riots probably following in their wake.

I have been reading the US news blogs along with The Asia Times and a few other non-US news sites. Interestingly, Japanese TV mostly ignores these topics, with the exception of the Chinese earthquake. Right now the Japanese are focusing on the tremendous fear of a secondary disaster in the making. Chinese dams have been severely weakened by the past earthquake, and some of them may break.

Naturally, each country will have its own priorities for news and views. My internet rehab on Yakushima has forced me to face my Western news hunger, and also brought my habitual news bias to my attention. I will definitely broaden my news reading. I am also determined to remain in denial as to the extent of my internet addiction.