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This is odd. I'm working with someone I've never met.
One of the new 21st century experiences for me. We hired Gaurav about 5 months ago. I did not interview him; have never met him. No one in our organization has ever met him. He's doing a great job. Gaurav lives in Bangalore, India. He does web design for us.
It is probably unusual for any organization to hire someone full time and no one has met the person. But it is one of the opportunities/challenges of this century.
That's what a BBC reporter recently asked the creator of the World Wide Web (as in http://www.______).
Here's Tim Berners Lee's concise and insightful answer.
What is the achievement of the web?
"It's a new medium, it's a universal medium and it's not itself a medium which inherently makes people do good things, or bad things. It allows people to do what they want to do more efficiently. It allows people to exist in an information space which doesn't know geographical boundaries. My hope is that it'll be very positive in bringing people together around the planet, because it'll make communication between different countries more possible."
And, we might add, Berners-Lee's invention is determining life in the 21st century.
More Nine Shift happening.
This time in Denver.
One of our major predictions is that people in this century will live near a light rail line.
A new development project is being built next to a new light rail station. It will have lots of houses, shops, and pedestrian friendly walkways. But the big plus - - it's near the light rail station.
From the Denver Post story:
"What really happened is that the southeast corridor of light rail has been developed," Inverness principal George Beardsley said. "It was a hope then; it's a fact now."
The demand for housing near transit is expected to double over the next 20 years, with one in every four homebuyers looking for housing within a half-mile of transit stations, according to a study by Reconnecting America, a nonprofit group that promotes transit-oriented development.
Info on how we, and you, can help aid Hurricane Katrina victims.
Our organization, LERN, has adopted a lifelong learning program across the street from an evacuation center in Lafayette, Louisiana, for aid to Hurricane Katrina victims. Click on comments for details.
(photo of Cajundome in Lafayette, where evacuees are)
Been a wonderful summer.
Best wild blueberry picking season in memory, the canoeing was great, and saw Trumpeter Swans and a Lynx for the first time. 
Gone too fast? not for us. We've picked up a few tips on how to slow down time.
* Get outside.
When you spend time out of doors, you slow down time. An hour walk seems like 2 hours, a 2 hour picnic like 4 hours.
* Look for micro-experiences.
Clouds, the Milky Way at night, butterflies, looking at flowers. Experiences that may last only a few seconds make the day special.
* Try 19th century activities.
Anything from the 19th century seems to last forever, and be so pleasant. Here's our top picks:
1. Harness racing. At the top of our list, watching the surreys and the beautiful horses race is wondrous, occasionally exciting, and lasts a long time.
2. Go to a baseball game. They seem to last forever. Minor league or semi-pro just as good (some say better) than Major League games.
3. Try the county fair. Look at the vegetables, the sheep, the floral displays, the handicrafts, have a locally made ice cream cone, sit at the beer tent a bit.
