Technology Revolution: The Future of Now

The Buzz 1: Drones are now, literally, out of this world. NASA successfully landed the Perseverance rover on Mars earlier this year, and it carried an important payload: the Mars Helicopter, Ingenuity.… Similar to Electronic Automobiles, drones offer another important option in fending off greenhouse gasses and becoming carbon neutral. (forbes.com) The Buzz 2: Start a game-changing career working with dynamic drone technology.…One of the first drone degree programs in the United States: Cal U's associate of science degree in unmanned aircraft systems/drone technology will give you comprehensive training in aviation principles and drone avionics. (calu.edu) The Buzz 3: Google's air delivery service, Wing, will soon begin to deliver library books to kids living in Christianburg, Virginia…A middle school teacher received groceries through the drone delivery service last year and petitioned the company to start also sending books. (popularmechanics.com) We'll ask Chuck Byers, Ryan Walsh, Pharns Genece and Steven Philpott, Sr. for their take on The Future of Drones: Landing on a Porch or Planet Near You Soon?

The Buzz 1: "In a study of 34 rhesus monkeys, males strongly preferred toys with wheels over plush toys, whereas females found plush toys likable. It would be tough to argue that the monkeys' parents bought them sex-typed toys or that simian society encourages its male offspring to play more with trucks…The role of culture is not zero. The role of biology is not zero." (stanmed.stanford.edu) The Buzz 2: "Estrogen is an asset…A new study from music researchers has found that women are engaged in creative fields like art, music and literature at higher rates than men. (www.rollingstone.com/ ) The Buzz 3: "If we could follow the brain journey of a baby girl or a baby boy, we could see that right from the moment of birth, or even before, these brains may be set on different roads. Toys, clothes, books, parents, families, teachers, schools, universities, employers, social and cultural norms – and, of course, gender stereotypes – all can signpost different directions for different brains." (theguardian.com) We'll ask returning guests, STEM women Alison Morgan, Cali Bird, Louisa and Sandra Estok for their take on The Future of Women vs Men in STEM: Technology, Passion, Creativity – Part 2.

The Buzz 1: "Consumers today don't just want their beverages to taste good and help them stay hydrated…Consumer interest in functional beverages over the last one year alone increased by a whopping 272%." (spoonshot.com/blog – Dec 2020) The Buzz 2: "The fastest growing categories in healthy beverages are sparkling and enhanced water, plant-based dairy alternatives like oat milk and almond milk, and probiotics…added functional benefits from soft drinks…clean labels, zero calories and sustainable packaging formats." (Ross Colbert, Director of Global Beverages, KPMG, insights.figlobal.com) The Buzz 3: "For Australians.…Sales of fruit juice had a greater rate of decline than sugar-sweetened soft drinks…Drinks of the future won't just be sugar free, but booze free too…Kombucha's reign as the health drink of choice looks set to continue…US soft drink manufacturers have embraced regulatory change and are creating drinks infused with cannabidiol (CBD)." (Australian Beverages Council CEO Geoff Parker, bodyandsoul.com.au) We'll ask Lisa Allen, Beryl Solomon, John Wiseman and Jill Portman for their take on The Future of Healthy Adult Beverages – Good Taste and Good For You!

The Buzz 1: "There is no royal flower-strewn path to success. And if there is, I have not found it, for if I have accomplished anything in life it is because I have been willing to work hard." (Madam C.J. Walker (1867 –1919), America's first female entrepreneur millionaire) The Buzz 2: "You're not in competition with other women. You're in competition with everyone." (Tina Fey, actress, comedian, writer, producer, playwright) The Buzz 3: "The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it." (Roseanne Barr, actress, comedian, writer, producer) The Buzz 4: "Entrepreneurship is the last refuge of the troublemaking individual." (Natalie Clifford Barney (1876–1972), playwright, poet, novelist) The Buzz 5: "More women than ever are starting businesses – yet so few are sharing how they do it. Why? Because being a successful female entrepreneur is hard work and comes with a unique set of challenges…whether it's lack of experience, not knowing where to begin, money issues, or not understanding how to turn your purpose into profit…women need to lean into their zone of genius and create a business they love…" (Female Entrepreneur's Playbook: Secret Strategies From 20+ Women for Building a Business You Love and Getting Paid for It – October 2021) We'll ask Cindy Zuelsdorf, Patricia Wooster, Lindsey Ardmore and Tamra Andress – contributors to this book – for their take on The Future for Female Entrepreneurs: Level or Raise the Playing Field?

The Buzz 1: "Since the creation of bitcoin, hundreds and hundreds of crypto assets are gradually finding their place in society…many companies are already accepting virtual currencies as a form of payment (KFC, Subway...). Others have considered creating their own cryptocurrency, such as Amazon." (daviescoin.io/blog) The Buzz 2: "Once a hard-to-grasp concept, cryptocurrencies are experiencing their "arrival"…More than three in 10 Americans describe cryptocurrencies as the future of money, according to a recent national Harris Poll…nearly 28% of millennials own or have owned some form of cryptocurrency…a growing number of retailers are now accepting the currencies. (forbes.com) The Buzz 3: "Belgian milk chocolate Bitcoins…Imprinted with the rallying cry of the rise of Bitcoin, "Vires in Numeris" translated to the dual-meaning "Strength in Numbers.…[you can] be the coolest kid on the blockchain." (foiledagainchocolate.com) We'll ask Darren Hunter at Rizing, Prabhudev Konana at Robert H. Smith School of Business / University of Maryland, Brian Cederborg at Rizing and Jimmy Kilpatrick at Amazon for their take on The Future of Cryptocurrency in Retail: Pay Now, Pay How?

The Buzz 1: "Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." (Charlie "Yardbird" Parker, 1920–1955, jazz saxophonist, band leader, composer) The Buzz 2: "Musicians want to be the loud voice for so many quiet hearts." (Billy Joel, born 1949, musician, singer-songwriter, composer, Piano Man" ) The Buzz 3: "People ask me how I make music. I tell them I just step into it. It's like stepping into a river and joining the flow. Every moment in the river has its song." (Michael Jackson, 1958–2009, singer, songwriter, dancer, "King of Pop", the most awarded music artist in history) The Buzz 4: "I've always said music should make you laugh, make you cry or make you think." (Kenny Rogers, 1938–2020, singer-songwriter, musician, actor, record producer) The Buzz 5: "Music kept me off the streets and out of trouble and gave me something that was mine that no one could take away from me." (Eddie Van Halen, 1955–2020, musician, songwriter, one of the all-time greatest guitar players in rock history) We'll ask musicians and music educators Serge Hoffmann, Dr. George Viney, Rebecca Armstrong and Jessica Baron for their insights on The Future of Music Education, Musicians and Technology.

The Buzz 1: "We can fly! we can fly! we can fly!…All it takes is faith and trust. Oh, and something I forgot. Dust! Dust? Yep. Just a little bit of pixie dust." ("You can fly" song, Peter Pan, 1953 American animated adventure fantasy film) The Buzz 2: "What do you need to start a business? Three simple things: know your product better than anyone, know your customer, and have a burning desire to succeed." (Dave Thomas, Wendy's founder) The Buzz 3: "Don't worry about failure; you only have to be right once." (Drew Houston, Dropbox co-founder and CEO) The Buzz 4: "he best startups generally come from somebody needing to scratch an itch." (Michael Arrington, TechCrunch founder and co-editor) The Buzz 5: "I knew that if I failed I wouldn't regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not trying." (Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO) We'll ask startup gurus Don DeLoach at Rocket Wagon Venture Studios, Chris A. Morgan at Lantern Partners, Jim Gagnard at Industrial IoT Studio, and Eric Simone at ClearBlade Inc. for their insights on The Future of Tech Startups: When Is THE Right Time?

The Buzz 1: "The greatest scientists are always artists as well." [Albert Einstein] The Buzz 2: "At first glance, the words "science" and "creativity" might not seem like natural companions.…. But…the greatest scientific discoveries in history were born out of creative curiosity, and a desire to do things differently." [Creativity in STEM – a contradiction in terms? Not for Europe's girls!", news.microsoft.com] The Buzz 3: "…I want to tell the young generation that the fields of STEM are innovative, inventive and visionary; all of which takes a lot of creativity…" [Shweta Agarwala] The Buzz 4: "How many of us use the term creative to describe a person who is good at math? But new research calls that perception into question, finding that the same amazing human creativity is at the root of both." [Alison Escalante] We'll ask creative professional women and novelists Leslie Wheeler, BJ Magnani, PhD, MD, S. Lee Manning and Ursula Wong for their take on The Future of Professional Women, Creativity and Technology: The Impossible Dream?"

The Buzz 1: "All it takes is faith and trust. Oh, and something I forgot. Dust! Dust? Yep. Just a little bit of pixie dust." (Peter Pan played by Bobby Driscoll, 1953 film song You Can Fly!) The Buzz 2: "It's all right. I understand. Why trust a shark, right?" (Bruce, a great white shark voiced by Barry Humphries, Finding Nemo, Disney/Pixar 2003 animated film) Cyber-hacking on a huge global scale is challenging our institutions, organizations, public and private infrastructure. Today, cybersecurity is more than just a checkbox; good is good enough is no longer adequate. What to do? The term 'Zero Trust' was coined by/before April 1994 by Stephen Paul Marsh…trust transcends human factors such as morality, ethics, lawfulness, justice, and judgment. Zero trust surpassed distrust when it came to securing computing systems, applications, and networks. (handwiki.org) With Zero Trust, you assume threats come from everywhere, even inside your organization, your family, your friends. It questions why tech support and company administrators do or do not need to see your private information, from passwords to personal data. We'll ask John Walsh, Chuck Byers, Chris Rezendes and Matthew Erickson to share their predictions about applying Zero Trust to applications on our phones and computers, how rethinking 'trust' will impact us, and why we should care, on The Future of Digital Security: Will Zero Trust Finally Keep Your Private Info Safe?

The Buzz 1: "Self-publishing is an ever-changing industry and big changes can come seemingly out of nowhere…Trend #2: More indie authors will collaborate or consolidate in collectives. Trend #3: Authors will benefit from competition in the eBook marketplace between Amazon, Apple, and Google." [www.writtenwordmedia.com/the-top-ten-publishing-trends-every-author-needs-to-know-in-2021] The Buzz 2: "Ten years ago, e-books made up less than 1 percent of the trade book market, yet they now make up 40 to 50 percent of units sold…In genres like fantasy, romance, and science fiction, traditional publishers have lost their former iron grip on the industry…Successful major authors are even choosing to self-publish.…As smartphone ownership expands internationally, so will the market for e-books.…As digital books move away from the traditional paper format which inspired them, books could take advantage of the capabilities of digital devices by offering color, interactivity, connectivity, share ability, and new features we can't even imagine yet." [https://izzardink.com/future-of-self-publishing] We'll ask publisher Eddie Vincent, novelist Ursula Wong, ghostwriter and novelist Jeff Deck, novelist Barbara Eppich Struna, and indie writer Dale T. Phillips for their take on The Future of Self-Publishing: A Real Page-Turner – Part 2!