The State Newspaper ran an editorial last month highlighting both the good that is being done to develop a “Knowledge Sector” in South Carolina and the need to keep improving the education level of our students. (see the article here) Folks all over the US need to heed the call to do more in educating young people and in re-educating workers. The US needs to be leading in the education “business” more than we need to be in the car assembly business. Lower wage countries will continue to marginalize manufacturing and other labor intensive industries. We need to improve the financial rewards for teaching and otherwise developing “Knowledge Sector” workers.
Speaking of good ideas, have you seen Google’s pending patent application for a Water-Based Data Center? (to see a PDF that is easier to read than the USPTO version of the application, copy and past application number 20080209234 in the blank at www.pat2pdf.org) I have not researched the novelty of the wave action power generation system but I like the way the inventors were thinking. If enough people read this patent application and are inspired by the creative thinking it shows, there is no telling what kind of improvements will be invented next.
Did you hear that several more corporations have recently joined the Eco-Patent Commons? The latest press release from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) can be found at www.wbcsd.org/web/epc. “The Eco-Patent Commons is an initiative to create a collection of patents on technology that directly or indirectly protects the environment. The patents will be pledged by companies and other intellectual property rights holders and made available to anyone free of charge.” This and all similar steps to protect the environment are steps headed in the right direction.