Paula Labrot

Decentralization…! Here We Come! On to Web 3.0! Decentralization…! Here We Come! On to Web 3.0! By Paula LaBrot English philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote in the mid-1800s, “The fraud is the pretense that the welfare of ordinary people matters to the el">...Read more Spiritual Topanga Spiritual Topanga Joseph Campbell said, “The seat of the soul is where the inner world and the outer world meet.” Here in Topanga Canyon there is an eclectic varie">...Read more The Yuck Factor The Yuck Factor Thanksgiving! It is not by accident that our national holiday centers around food. The original 102 Pilgrims, who arrived on the Mayflower in 1620, su">...Read more   Elusive Truths Elusive Truths Last November I told G that I dreaded 2020. “Why?” he asked. Because this election year is going to be so ugly, so divisive, so intellectually be">...Read more Tech and War Tech and War It’s hard to write as a futurist while civilization is spinning in chaos and brutality. How do we talk about progress in the face of the present des">...Read more The Fog of War Social Media Style The Fog of War Social Media Style October 27, 2023 It is so hard to know what information is true and what is not true in 2023. During a time of crisis, it is especially difficult. ">...Read more   Oh, Pioneers! Oh, Pioneers! October 13, 2023 On Sunday evening, Sept. 24, family members of the Topanga Elementary TK class set up some very fine telescopes on the ball field ">...Read more Influencers Influencers You have, probably, heard the expression “monetized.” Specifically, it means using something as a source of profit. A modern example of monetizati">...Read more A Little bit of Sugar Goes a Long Way A Little bit of Sugar Goes a Long Way Dear Editor, I just read our paper... what a great issue! Kathy [Gibboney], your article resonated deeply. I was autumn-born on Oct. 3, and grew u">...Read more   A Time of Elves A Time of Elves We may like to think that the world’s elves are busy at the North Pole making lots of toys for children to enjoy during holiday season. But there is">...Read more AI and the Writers’ Strike AI and the Writers’ Strike AI and the Writers’ Strike It’s unlikely that the writers who penned those sci-fi scripts, or the actors giving soul to a machine, ever thought t">...Read more Def Con Def Con There are world conferences, and there are world conferences. And then, there is Def Con! Forty thousand attendees gathered in Las Vegas this month at">...Read more   FedNow and CBDC: The Realm of Instant Payments FedNow and CBDC: The Realm of Instant Payments FedNow is an ambitious project undertaken by the Federal Reserve, aimed at creating a nationwide, instant payment network that operates 24/7, 365 days">...Read more The Commonality of Fourth of July The Commonality of Fourth of July If nothing else, Independence Day should bring our nation’s people together. One of the perks of visiting India was being caught up in the ubiqui">...Read more Don’t Give Me No Bad News! Don’t Give Me No Bad News! Humans have a cognitive bias known as the negativity bias, which means that negative or threatening information tends to have a stronger impact on our">...Read more   Scam Slime Scam Slime June 15 was Elder Abuse Awareness Day. In the spirit of that day, I dedicate this article to my beloved sister, Mari, one of the purest souls on this ">...Read more Outliers Versus the Bigs Outliers Versus the Bigs By Paula LaBrot I have always had a soft spot for outliers. I have lived my life closely with people who think and act outside of the Bell Curve. As challenging as th">...Read more The Loneliness Epidemic The Loneliness Epidemic A major curiosity of our times is the co-existence of the world’s greatest-of-all-times connectivity on one hand and the deep isolation manifesting ">...Read more   To AI or Not to AI To AI or Not to AI Not even their creators, can understand, predict, or reliably control Artificial Intelligence (AI). On March 29, while I was teaching the brighte">...Read more India is Leaping into the Future India is Leaping into the Future Dear Neighbors, I was asked to teach a media literacy class at IIT Mandi in India. The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are a group of autonomo">...Read more The Computer Electronic Show 2021 The Computer Electronic Show 2021 With all the craziness going on in politics, life still goes on. Politics is always decades behind the cutting edge of life anyway, and life is really">...Read more   The Hammer, Sickle, and the Heart The Hammer, Sickle, and the Heart Reviewed by Paula LaBrot Topanga is a community that, historically, includes a plethora of creative, productive artists, musicians, and writers in residence. Among our present">...Read more TikTok and the Info Wars TikTok and the Info Wars TikTok, like its Chinese counterpart Douyin, is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted vid">...Read more Bing Unhinged! Bing Unhinged! People holding secrets, personal or state, have been manipulated or tortured to reveal information since the beginning of the human experience. Many h">...Read more   Beware the Threat of Attention Engineering Beware the Threat of Attention Engineering Columnist LaBrot is hot on the trail of a design renaissance to replace, or at least compete with today’s social media dominance that hacks us wh">...Read more Education Evolving Education Evolving My magical grand-daughter Sidney comes to my house when she is too sick to go to school and her folks have to be at work. I can’t lie... I love thos">...Read more ChatGPT ChatGPT Brace yourself. I have to catch you up on some rapid changes (are there any other kind these days?). ChatGPT is important for you to understand. I">...Read more   A Cornucopia of Digital Wonders A Cornucopia of Digital Wonders The Computer Electronics Show (CES) was back, live, in full force in Las Vegas for 2023. This year, the event, which had been virtual during COVID">...Read more Honey—2007-2021 Honey—2007-2021 This week, Mike Cheney helped me dig a grave for my mom’s 14-year-old dog, Honey, her most loving dog who slept on her bed every night for 14 years">...Read more Modern Monsters Modern Monsters I knew this year was going to be tough because of the election. But it is a horror show to actually see communities, friendships and families ripped a">...Read more   Permanent Change Permanent Change We live in an Age of Disruption. People wake up every day to find old paradigms broken and replaced by new sets of assumptions, concepts, values, and ">...Read more The Dawning The Dawning By Paula LaBrot On Dec. 21, the time of the winter solstice and the shortest daylight hours of the year when the hours of daylight and darkness are equal, you will ha">...Read more Caveat Emptor! —Investigate Before Investing Caveat Emptor! —Investigate Before Investing As a documentary filmmaker I learned very quickly that real life is more fascinating than fiction. Nothing illustrates this more than the true tale of">...Read more   Electronic Records & the Lost Art of Medicine Electronic Records & the Lost Art of Medicine Dr. Paul Farmer, a pioneer in global medicine and champion of those for whom medical care is as remote a possibility as their locations, passed away i">...Read more The Devil’s Food Triangle The Devil’s Food Triangle By Paula LaBrot We have now sailed into the Bermuda Triangle for dieters: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Here, in the Devil’s Food Triangle, thousan">...Read more Welcome 2023! Welcome 2023! Months earlier, as we were building the lineup for the first issue of 2023, we had hope and some indication that we’d get rain this winter but not q">...Read more   Charter Pods to Enrich Learning Charter Pods to Enrich Learning We are going somewhere new and we are not going back to “normal.” The Covid19 pandemic of 2020 has created a sea change. It’s like we are in">...Read more Broken Chains Broken Chains Thanksgiving is my favorite, least materialistic holiday. Presence is required, presents are not. It is a time of connection, something we have dearly">...Read more The Big Digital Coin Trick The Big Digital Coin Trick I am a firm believer that all students should study magic. Magic is especially effective in teaching students to recognize the technique of distractio">...Read more   Day of the Undead Day of the Undead Do you remember in the movie “The Adams Family” when Fester takes the children outside to play “Raise the Dead?” Well, have I got a Halloween ">...Read more Understanding the LAUSD Ransomware Hack Understanding the LAUSD Ransomware Hack This year hackers have attacked at least 27 United States school districts and 28 colleges. The recent hack of the Los Angeles Unified School District">...Read more Car Culture’s New Chapter Car Culture’s New Chapter Look to the future! EVs will not be the only solution to carbon-free vehicles. Choosing which future fuel will be the winner now is not a good idea. ">...Read more   Student Apprenticeship Programs Student Apprenticeship Programs Baaaack to school, right? But some very good news about education! There is a movement afoot offering middle and high school students apprenticeship">...Read more Farm to Table—Past to Present Farm to Table—Past to Present Sometimes, in order to secure the future, we have to retrieve parts of the past. As we head into the emerging global food shortage already affecting l">...Read more Lithium and The New ‘White-Gold’ Rush Lithium and The New ‘White-Gold’ Rush Most of us barely remember the element Lithium from the Periodic Table. It is the third lightest element, coming in with an atomic weight of 3 after H">...Read more   The Hospitalists The Hospitalists Today’s medical care system is severely broken. When the bad thing happens, as patients, we need support and advocates to guide us. Millennials">...Read more Word Power 101 Word Power 101 Folks throw a lot of bewildering words around these days, so here is a vocabulary lesson covering terms of cellular and internet technologies so you k">...Read more Real, not Virtual Connections at Camp Cabaret Real, not Virtual Connections at Camp Cabaret What a night it was at Camp Cabaret on June 24! Topanga’s soul shone through the performances of campers culminating their two-week musical theate">...Read more   Digital Children: Nightmare or Dream Come True? Digital Children: Nightmare or Dream Come True? Real-time, virtual babies are coming to a metaverse near you and they may even have souls. What??? That’s what Catriona Campbell is predicting. Sh">...Read more It Happens Every Day It Happens Every Day “It is not for us to know those times, when people are wide open, and the lightest touch may wither or heal.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald By Pa">...Read more Under the Influence Under the Influence When I was a kid, I do not recall anyone ever saying, “When I grow up, I want to be an Influencer.” That entrepreneurial niche did not yet exist. ">...Read more   Food Scarcity Food Scarcity Spring planting! Ooops! Big problem, folks. There is a commercial fertilizer shortage in the world. According to Bloomberg, “For the first time e">...Read more Faith in the Metaverse Faith in the Metaverse By Paula LaBrot Religion is in the process of appearing in a Metaverse near you! COVID-19 catapulted digital worship to the status of “new normal,” and there">...Read more Digital Slang Digital Slang It’s spring, 2022. All around us a whole new language is blooming. This column is dedicated to bringing folks up to speed on the symbols of this new">...Read more   Facing Down the Drought Facing Down the Drought UCLA historian Norris Hundl once noted, “It is a mistake…to think of California in terms of averages and regular cycles of precipitation.”  ">...Read more Tech and The Fog of War Tech and The Fog of War In the present conflict between Ukraine and Russia, modern warfare has split into what is termed kinetic battles and digital battles. Kinetic battles ">...Read more Love in the Age of AI Love in the Age of AI Want to find your perfect valentine? It is a quest as old as humanity. Most people want love more than anything. But how to find it? How to meet t">...Read more   Who Wants to Live Forever? Who Wants to Live Forever? There is no doubt that modern medicine has made stunning progress in the treatment of previously hopeless medical conditions. It is predicted that any">...Read more Clean Up Your Apps! Clean Up Your Apps! Happy New Year, Dear Readers! Finally, 2022 has arrived. What better to do than clear out the clutter of the past? Start cleaning up your phones and">...Read more Christmas—The More Things Change… Christmas—The More Things Change… By Paula LaBrot Christmas 2021 is here! This wonderful holiday has been celebrated around the world for hundreds and hundreds of years. Throughout those years, Christ">...Read more   Entertainment Trends Entertainment Trends By Paula LaBrot Over the last couple of COVID-19 years, quarantined populations have relied heavily on home-accessed sources of entertainment to fill in their days an">...Read more Reconnecting Reconnecting Many of us will have spent the beautiful Thanksgiving holiday connected, once again, with loved ones. It has been two years since COVID-19 shattered o">...Read more The Digital Art Scene The Digital Art Scene Paula LaBrot You probably don’t remember, but in the early days of computers for the masses, around the early nineties, artists were the ones out in front using ">...Read more   Stars to the Stars Stars to the Stars William Shatner may have been the oldest person to travel to space, but he is not the first actor. On October 5, in an historic first, a Soyuz space c">...Read more In the Name of Love In the Name of Love There are so many articles to write for you. I just want to send a more personal message this time. I was thinking this morning that, all over the wor">...Read more Solar Farms Solar Farms By Paula LaBrot On our present road trip, we are seeing a new kind of farm—solar farms. Over the vast stretches of deserts and high plateaus, extensive acres of pho">...Read more   Back to Work In A COVID World Back to Work In A COVID World COVID-19 has changed the world. The effects of this devastating virus have made a return to life-as-usual unlikely. Dr. Vinayak Kumar, a physician at ">...Read more Have I got a job offer for you! Have I got a job offer for you! Paula LaBrot NASA is now taking applications in a search for people to live for a year in a Martian habitat called Mars Dune Alpha. To prepare for sending astro">...Read more Future Scouts—Forging A Preferred Future Future Scouts—Forging A Preferred Future Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the worldwide Scouts Movement, said, “We must change boys from a ‘what can I get’ to a ‘what can I give’ attit">...Read more   Farmers in Lab Coats Farmers in Lab Coats I am tired of all the dystopian, doomsday pundits. As a Futurist, I am reporting to you, dear Readers, there is a lot to look forward to. Good things ">...Read more Space for All! Space for All! I will never, ever forget being in the desert at Edwards Air Force Base to welcome the Columbia Space Shuttle home in 1981. G and I took Mom, Dad, my ">...Read more Sneaky Sidewalk Sneaky Sidewalk Don’t worry. Amazon has opted you in. It’s up to you to opt out. On June 9, Amazon quietly activated technology embedded, as far back as">...Read more   Ransomware Ransomware We are not under threat of war. We are in a war already. It’s a different kind of war, fought with ones and zeros, not guns. It is a cyberspace inva">...Read more Amazon Oligarchy Amazon Oligarchy Convenience is the temptress of Big Tech. Amazon can get you anything you want to buy and deliver it the next day. By providing such convenience, ">...Read more High-Tech Firefighting High-Tech Firefighting Fire spotting and firefighting have gone high tech in keeping with the cyber-times we live in. Given our latest episode with Santa Monica Mountain wil">...Read more   Human Barcode Human Barcode “IBM and the Holocaust” by Edwin Black is a stunning, shattering warning to the modern world of the dangers involved in data collection and a bitt">...Read more EMR—Electronic Medical Records EMR—Electronic Medical Records Remember when the wall behind the doctor’s office receptionist was lined with paper charts? Yours was filed there with everyone else’s medical rec">...Read more A Distributed Web A Distributed Web By Paula LaBrot There is so much craziness going on in the oligarchic tech world right now…so many politically entwined, power hungry, greedy scary, dark behaviors ">...Read more   The Dragon Flies The Dragon Flies All Things Connected I have had a love affair with the Columbia Space Shuttle and the whole NASA space program, but I was beyond pissed tod">...Read more Contract for the Web Contract for the Web I have been thinking about the internet a lot lately. The early inventors and users had such high ideals about its use. Tim Berners-Lee, Sir Tim Ber">...Read more Man, Machine and Musk Man, Machine and Musk If you think implants are just about teeth, ask Elon Musk about curing neurological disorders from memory and hearing loss to paralysis and">...Read more   Media Literacy and Civility Media Literacy and Civility On September 11, 2001, I woke up. I groped for the remote to ignite the television. I saw a plane crash into a building and heard lots of screaming. I">...Read more Sniffing Dogs and Covid Sniffing Dogs and Covid I love dogs, so, it is a great pleasure to bring this information to you, dear readers. Roger Caras, American wildlife photographer, wildlife pres">...Read more