Ebooks: Scarcity, abundance and economy

A recently revived subject by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Scarcity and Abundance, examines the ebook industry in terms of the shift from a “scarcity” economy, in which things are valued and priced due to their limited availability, to “abundance,” in which items are available in effectively unlimited supply, turning the old economic model upside-down or destroying it entirely.

Worldfarm One and the End of the American Century

When I originally wrote Worldfarm One—the story of a man from the United States who travels to Brazil to work, and learns the hard way how hard immigration can be—I expected there to be comments about the characters, about the sexuality and sex-role-reversals, the casting-couch business practices, the feed-the-world model, the prejudice, even my descriptions of Manaus and the surrounding Amazonian regions in the book.

I was surprised, therefore, to discover the greatest number of comments generated by the book were about the idea that the United States would, in the future, lose its status of “greatest nation of the world,” and because of economic hardships, American citizens would be forced to immigrate to other countries with greater opportunities to make a living.

How biking can save us

Oh, look… another infographic! One of these days, I have to make one of these myself… but for now, you can enjoy this one about the power of bicycles to transform our world.

I can attest to some of the data below… for instance, weight loss.  I lost about 20 pounds in a year of riding just 2 miles from home to the local MARC station, then another 1.5 miles from Union Station to my office.  I admit I do little biking to shop, but I tend to combine trips, and if the store I want to hit is between the station and home, I stop along the way.