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NY Times continues to deliver great perspective on the modern economy.

There's plenty of average on the landscape and it's there for the taking around the world.

"But, today, average is officially over. Being average just won’t earn you what it used to. It can’t when so many more employers have so much more access to so much more above average cheap foreign labor, cheap robotics, cheap software, cheap automation and cheap genius. Therefore, everyone needs to find their extra — their unique value contribution that makes them stand out in whatever is their field of employment. Average is over."

Average Is Over

In the 21st-century economy, everyone is going to have to find a little something extra to stand out in their field of employment.

Anonymity on the web is so old school. From user comments, future-commerce and legions of trolls, there are several reasons this is an important consideration to humanize a civil web.

Former NYTimes designer and Facebook CEO deliver interesting perspective…

….Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, speaking at the DLD conference in Munich this week, attributed the trend "from anonymity to authentic identity" on the Web as one of the main reasons that social media has become such an important part of daily life. "What we do online is increasingly about who we are," she said. "We are our real identities online."

Who Will Win the Race to Build the Web's Best Real-Name Identity Service?

When Mixel ? an iPad-based collage app &#151 launched last November, one of its features quickly caused frustration: Its requirement that users log in with Facebook before they could start creatin…

More proof the machines are taking over

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Apple is making more iPhones than humans are making babies.

Apple makes more iPhones than humans make babies

Apple moved over 37 million iPhones in the last three months of 2011, a higher rate of production than humanity's rate of reproduction. Read this blog post by Eric Mack on Crave.

Each of us have highly inspirational crossroads and my own intersection with Kingsport native David Sieg was important waypoint for my career. Dave is part of our city's original digeratti and continues to inspire from his new home in Asheville, NC. He recently spoke at a TED conference about time machines and his new interest with obsidian digital archives. – http://youtu.be/gG1prwOx2U4

Kingsport has plenty of interesting historical moments, but the legacy of J. Fred Johnson is fundamental to understanding our community's DNA.

A native of Hillsville, Virginia, J. Fred Johnson came to Kingsport in 1915. He was hired by John B. Dennis as a one-man Chamber of Commerce and fell in love with the land, the people and until 1944, set in motion a spirit that continues to this day.

The essence of Kingsport begins with J. Fred Johnson's "spirit"

The Times News Online 2012

Artificial intelligence may take on a different perspective when it comes to care for the elderly. A new Sundance film brings a soft touch to the idea of companions in the future. Given that most people shy away from intimate care of the elderly, are bots better than a pet?

Shows Softer Side of Robo-Helpers at Sundance

PARK CITY, Utah — Not every robot helper ultimately turns into a vengeful Cylon.

That's the message of Robot and Frank, a touching and …

More Sundance goodness. Sean Penn as a goth rocker looking for vengence.

Nice.

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I'm trying to stay out of the GOP fray… but this is priceless…

Mind reading is up next at Live DLD Conference in Sweden – Nice interface for live stream today. – http://new.livestream.com/dld

DLD Conference on Livestream

DLD Conference on the New Livestream. Live, Redefined. DLD (Digital, Life, Design) is an inspiring community for the 21st century which features digital innovation, science, and culture.