Fear has played a part in politics for a long time, and it is going to get much worse. One party or the other, or sometimes both, want to scare us into voting one way; their way! So, they say, "beware the terrorists, the war, the economy, your health", or whatever serves the needs of the candidates. It is sometimes a lobbyist group, as in the case of a currently running advertisement by the AARP, (American Association for Retired Persons): "Congress is going to meet next month and they may cut your Social Security or Medicare". As if! Congress has difficulty doing much of anything and touching the third rail of politics can be deadly to a career. What they should be saying is that at some point we will have to seriously  re-evaluate our entitlement programs, and that cuts may be necessary. But that requires leadership and we are short of that quality in Congress.
If any group really wanted to scare us they should be talking about the debt ceiling that is looming large, and will shut down the government. But there is no value in that, as it is both parties that will not compromise and get the peoples work done. When the politician's careers are more important than the people needs, we should clean house. It's them who should be afraid. And it is not even an election year. Look for much worse to come!

Info-lust is a word that has been floating around the web for quite a while, but it is usually spelled "Infolust". I have used it for years along with infohog. It basically describes those of us who seem to be unable to get enough information about almost everything. And, the WWW seems to have it all, or very close to it all. And, the quality  provided is everything from fluff, all the way to scholarly articles. A little something for everyone. But the number of people "searching" has been growing exponentially.
In the majority are the people who are looking for the best, the cheapest, the most trendy, and the very coolest of gadgets. So how do we search and what are the pitfalls? By far, if we are buying an item either online or in a store, we go to review sites for that kind of product. And, there are hundreds of sites that do nothing but reviews. But, it is sometimes difficult to know when the review is objective and when it is a sales promotion. Careful reading is really required to identify a product that sounds too good to be true. There is a lot of money to be made for endorsing products. So, read as many sites as possible to look for the downsides. We can also read customer reviews and they are generally a good indicator of product value. But again, watch out for planted information. Even social sites may mislead for any number of reasons.
It appears, and seems reasonable, that we spend time searching reviews based on product price. If a gadget is $20 we may not spend much time at all. An air conditioner may take days or weeks of investigation. And the problem will become more cloudy as more smart phone applications are introduced. Never has the term "caveat emptor" been so true. Not sure what that is? Wikipedia says it is "buyer beware"!

This period in time as far as digital communication is concerned is the most volatile that it has ever been. The sales of wireless phones, tablets or pads, are up, while PC sales are down. Growth of wireless is not just fast, it is exponential. And the problem is simply that the wireless services are stressed to the limit and there is little that they can do. The wireless services need increased bandwidth and the only way to do that is through the FCC. (Federal Communication Commission). Good luck with that!
So where will this shake out in the future? With the increased marketing of the wireless services, cheaper smart phones, and a culture that demands keeping up with the latest technology, the trend for rapid growth will continue. But, the wireless providers will eventually reach capacity and service will have to suffer.
Meanwhile, Google, Amazon, and Apple are pushing "cloud computing" where all of our music, photos, and documents will be  stored in a remote server and it may be a competitor to wireless. It can eliminate the need for gigabytes of hard disk storage in a device, but it raises some real questions. What about security, cost, and the availability of open source material? For example, instead of your current word processing program, the cloud would have a program that does not have to be downloaded and installed on the device to be used. It is too early to see a clear trend with the cloud, but it bears watching.
Most analysts paint a rosy picture for the PC and I guess that I am in this boat alone. I think that PC sales will continue to decline with a real bottom next year. Of course, existing PC's will be around and supported for a long time but sales will decline. It is like VHS tape recorders when TIVO and DVR's existed together.
The bottom line is this: I would urge all reader's to follow this closely and check with reputable sites like CNET and others. It is too important to rely on a blogger for information that may be critical! Just another thought...

I really have to state up-front that I am not a financial analyst, broker, or money guru. But I am a reader of tea leaves. I have learned that over time when things look too good to be true, something is going to happen! All of the stock market analysts that I have read say that the stock market is strong and the future is rosy. When the pundits all agree, something is in the wind and I think that it may not be a good sign. Remember that the stock market is not controlled by the small investor. It has always been manipulated by the people with money. I suspect that today more than ever, the smart money is not on the steady growth markets, but in the risky businesses. The best question to ask a broker who is trying to sell the new "hottest stock" is, if it is so good why aren't you buying it? That's the problem in a business that works on commission. Please remember that my thoughts  as to what I consider to be an upcoming downturn in the market, is simply a trendcast, not a certainty. There is no good way to forecast the future of the market. But much like Las Vegas, the house always wins!