Robert Sawyer takes a look at our lives in 2014:

Your cubicle will have a smart wall of its own, giving every worker the appearance of having a window; yours might show real-time footage of Lake Louise, assuming that global warming hasn?t melted the adjacent glaciers and flooded everything. And no matter which office chair you sit on, it will adjust automatically to your body?s proportions.
Of course, we?ll all live in an enhanced reality. Today?s bulky virtual-reality goggles will have been replaced by contact lenses that overlay textual information on your vision; the lens will be in constant communication with the computing powerhouse in your wristband. You?ll never be in the embarrassing situation of not remembering the name of an acquaintance you happen to run into; facial-recognition technology will identify the person, and provide you with all pertinent details instantaneously.

Terry Gross interviews Dr. Rowan Gillies, president of Doctors Without Borders, just back from Sudan. Donate.

James Lileks fears a “catastrophic fashion meltdown”, not seen since the 1970’s:

“Does this make you want to spend money? No, didn’t think so. Sell your Marshall Field’s stock. The fools are back in charge.”

FOUR SURPRISES IN GLOBAL DEMOGRAPHY by Nicholas Eberstad identifies some interesting global demographic trends:

• The rapid spread of sub-replacement fertility
• The emergence of unnatural gender imbalances among the very young
• Sustained increases in death rates
• American “demographic exceptionalism.”

Gratitude Journals & Lowenstein’s Challenge:
How many times have
You heard someone say
If I had his money
I could do things my way
But little they know
That it’s so hard to find
One rich man in ten
With a satisfied mind
…
Money can’t buy back
Your youth when you’re old
Or a friend when you’re lonely
Or a love that’s grown cold
The wealthiest person
Is a pauper at times
Compared to the man
With a satisfied mind
Fascinating reading at Marginal Revolution….

The Economist continues its series on swing states for this fall’s presidential elections. This week, they visit Wisconsin.

An interesting place that John Kerry is desperate to cling on to, but where independents tend to prefer George Bush
IT IS a quiet-looking state, a land of rolling hills, family farms and a few medium-sized cities in the middle of the northern stretch of the country. But, when it comes to politics, Wisconsin is more dramatic than it looks.

Then there’s this shot of reality (college grad retention and a generally ageing population):

Unfortunately for Mr Kerry, young liberals moving to Wisconsin are the exception rather than the rule in a fast ageing state. Without a smart urban centre of its own to attract young professionals, Wisconsin has seen an exodus of college graduates in the past two decades. It ranks 43rd among the 50 states in the share of college graduates in its workforce, says Terry Ludeman, a jobs expert. Meanwhile births are plummeting in its largely white population, down to about 65,000 a year from 93,000 at the height of the baby boom. As Wisconsin gets greyer, it is probably getting a little more conservative.

Fitting commentary, given my post yesterday on our state politicians poor priority choices…..

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Doug Moe’s Saturday column: “Hope and Doom on I-26” reminded me of the well known Jesus Parable: The Good Samaritan. I wonder how many of us would do what Chuck Stiles and his son did last Sunday in South Carolina?

Writer Debra Dickerson chimes in on Bill Cosby in “America’s Granddad gets ornery“.

“The Institute for War and Peace Reporting details on the exploits of Ghulam Sediq Wardak, a 62 year old semi-literate Afghan with 341 clever inventions to his credit. His first was a radio powered by the low voltage produced by the human body. His most recent is a 1980 Volkswagen rigged to run on solar power. A handful of others are mentioned. Like many a Slashdotter, his parents were once very worried and he eschews patents. ‘The main purpose of my inventing is not to earn money,’ he says. ‘I want to render a service to my countrymen and to all people in the world.'” From Slashdot.