My Errant Mind

Just some random thoughts and musings this morning. I’m going to make a lite day of it so I can do some market research and go over some ideas with a friend. Then I have to finish fleshing out some ideas for a project or two I have in mind.

Neuroscience Learns About Learning

I came across an article about how neuroscientists are making great strides in understanding the learning process. Seems that the TrkB receptor molecule is the key to learning—or not.

The presence of a defective TrkB molecule (or the absence altogether of a working one) would mean an inability to learn, as long-term protenation wouldn’t work. That’s a particularly strong and long electrical impulse that signifies learning is taking place. Think of it as a phone call. You make a really brief one and you have only time basically for pleasantries. Talk for an hour and you might learn something.

I won’t go into how this is merely a wildly simplistic analogy, or how if it’s certain women on the phone I might have to rethink my analogy altogether…

Basically, we now have a much greater understanding of the neural pathway and process of learning. They were able to actually monitor changes in the hippocampus. That would have fascinated me enough, but to actually create a map of neural activity and the learning process is amazing. Just imagining what this might mean for those with learning disabilities down the road as other advances in science and medicine begin to converge is enough to make one giddy.

Check out the original article over at CNET’s News.com site.

Newspapers Discover Internet?

I came across an article about how newspapers are reacting to pressures from reduced ad revenues, decreasing readership and circulation, and an increase in the use of the Net as a primary source of news. For quite some time, I’ve been interested in this particular issue, and have been pointing out some interesting examples of what papers have been doing to cope.

One of my favorite examples of an innovative approach is the Atlanta Constution-Journal, which has a full-blown eCommerce enabled site. You can stop by and grab some news and some new shoes all at once. Not just happy to pull ad revenue, they’re making great use of income stream diversification.

Community Building And Covered Dish Suppers

One thing I find myself wondering about, is how smaller circulation newspapers will fair with the changes that the Net is bringing about. In smaller, rural communities where papers are often weekly, the paper is more than just a news aggregator. It’s part of an identity, just as much as covered-dish suppers and town-hall meetings.

Seniors still enjoy reading the paper, and people who grew up in small towns often like to maintain a subscription to stay in touch. As time goes by, however, more people in smaller communities will be inclined to get their local news online if papers succeed in managing localisation and find models that foster a strong sense of community.

A lot of small papers are really struggling to stay afloat these days, and find themselves scrambling to find a solution that will somehow preserve that spirit of community which is as much part of their business model as is news. Still, bottom lines can’t be ignored. In Massachussetts, an interesting idea is the TownOnline.com news site, which acts as a central clearninghouse for papers from across the state. It’s a great idea and I can think of several ways the basic premise could be extended.

There’s a lot of good discussion online these days about community building for websites. However, building a good community online for a small rural community where everyone knows everyone else is something a bit more difficult to do. There’s a good opportunity in this niche for entrepreneur’s who understand the nuances of tight-knit communities.

Some good ideas are coming of all the change that the Net is creating, however. Ironically, as globalization slowly gains headway, it has helped foster a rediscovery of community values. Ideas based around asset utilization are creeping to the forefront of governments, businesses and individuals. Rural community development is big business on one hand, and yet it’s also trying to create new economic models for improved living.

Oh, and if you’ve never been to a covered dish supper, you’re missing out. Good way to discover who is a great cook nearby, and thus, to know whose home you need to be visiting when you don’t feel like cooking.

Oh Yeah, Coffee

Since I’m sitting here enjoying coffee, I thought I’d share some of my favorite coffee related sites with you:

• CoffeeGeek.com
• CoffeeUniverse.com
• GlobalExchange.org — Fair Trade
• Coffee, Beer, and a little DSP
• Open-mag.com

Time for a refill. Later…