News, Musings, and Reading Recommendations from August website

News:
My mentor in the futurist business, Glen Hiemstra, just published a book called TURNING THE FUTURE INTO REVENUE. The core audience is anyone in business or that has resources to invest, but it's a pretty good general futures book, too. Glenn is a good writer, the book is easy to read so far (I'm about half-way through my advance copy).
It's worth reading for anyone because a core piece of creating a good future is understanding the economics of a better future. Some friends and I were talking about organic foods and stores the other day and the recent news that WalMart is "going green" and offering more earth-friendly products is a almost surely good economics. The Walton family may or may not have any altruistic bones, but they are the kind of businesspeople who now how to make a profit. They must see one in greener products.
There was an article in today's Seattle Times about electric cars. Given current gas prices, they are turning out to be hot sellers. Regardless of the fact that we may want to think of a future where humans suddenly and inexplicably do the right thing in business just because its the right thing (yes, it does happen occasionally), green products will become more available when it makes good economic sense for people to produce and them.
The book is about far more than that.
In other news, I'm getting ready to go down to San Diego for the annual ESRI conference in San Diego. I always really love this show, where thousands of Geographic Information Systems professionals gather from all over the world, and generally all want to save the world. I'll blog from there, so watch my blog link.

August Musings:
I saw seven fallen leaves on the grass this evening. It seems early, but then I never want summer to end. Each of these leaves was still deep green, bordered in yellow and brown. The weak ones, the ones that had trouble taking the late summer heat.
There has been awful heat waves this year. First on this coast and now on the other one. They've claimed lives that meant more than these leaves.
It seems a time of change.

July Reading Recommendations:
Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman
Fabulous. Really not much more to say. Read it.
I tend to always remember Neil's work, too. I got to see a movie that he directed at the Science Fiction Museum a month or so ago. It was hauntingly well done.
Blue Smoke, by Nora Roberts
A well-told tale of arson and the gal who fights it. As usual. by the time I'm half-way through a Nora Robert's book I just don't want to put it down at all, for anything. Trying to figure out how she does that.