Welcome to this 37th issue of our newsletter “Weak Signals and other Trends”. Each week, I sift through hundreds of sources of inspiration to track where we’re heading. We discuss those trends and signals every Saturday at 9am EST on Clubhouse (this week will be our last edition before 2022…)

You can subscribe to this weekly newsletter here to get it directly by mail.

This is what I noticed this week, thank you for reading and sharing this newsletter to those who look into the future.

Competitive Intelligence

This week, we focus on new search engines competitive intelligence professionals are exploring:

A RSS feed generator. Runnaroo, a private engine. An open repository of web crawl data. Searx, a privacy-respecting metasearch engine. Investigate inbound links. Cut through the clutter of scholar articles. Reverse image search. Marginalia search. The largest open database of companies ( and their tax havens…)

Strategic blindspots

Looking at the familiar with “alien eyes” allows you to unlock new opportunities and avoid missing emerging risks

Double-decker airlplane seats. A major outage on some Amazon Web Services. Hackers Are Spamming Businesses’ Receipt Printers With ‘Antiwork’ Manifestos. A 1997 Wired Article Predicting ’10 Things That Could Go Wrong In The 21st Century. Investing in Fine Art. Why Do DVDs Still Exist? Amazon Patents “Anticipatory” Shipping.

We have scheduled the dates for our “Strategic Blindspots” course which will take place in Montreal, Canada, on January 18th and 19th, 2022. There are two seats left.

Our future

The virtual land boom. Ranking the art world’s 100 most influential people and trends. The top 0.01% of individuals own 11% of global wealth. Accelerating Martian and Lunar Science through SpaceX Starship Missions (pdf). With Decentralized Identity, Your Reputation Travels With You Across Cyberspace. Engagement ring buyers are taking a shine to man-made diamonds.

Trends reports coming out for 2022:

2021 Technology Digital Transformation Survey.
The Future 100: 2021.
2022 timeline contents.
Tech Trends 2021.
Global Trends 2021: Aftershocks and continuity
Pinterest Predicts 2022
Year in Search 2021 by Google

Weak signals

Weak signals are indicators of a change, a trend or an emerging risk that might become significant for the future. They allow us to run hypothesis, expand our thinking, and challenge assumptions. How will you interpret those in your industry or field of expertise?

Blazing a new trail in barndominiums. It’s Time to Reimagine the Future of Cyberpunk. Tik Tok’s streetart. Investors Snap Up Metaverse Real Estate in a Virtual Land Boom. Debt collectors can now text you, email you and DM you on social media. British Olympic diver and gold medalist, opens online knitting shop. Potential Matches to Compare Music Taste. The Era of the Celebrity Meal. Virgil Abloh and Mercedes-Benz create solar-powered car with transparent front hood. New Zealand Will Ban Cigarettes for All Future Generations. Mouse movers. Amsterdam introduces mandatory register for sensors.

Join us to discuss those trends and signals every Saturday at 9am EST on Clubhouse. We have a panel of futurists that illustrate what those signals might mean, and an enlightened group of curious minds in the room.

Down the rabbit hole

This is a new section. It highlights a subject that lead me to many useful threads, or a single site, that opened many doors.

The 24 dimensions of emotions.

On our radar

I was working this week on a project for a European client on the design of future of cities: Augmented aging in place. The Future of Urban Tech. 26 Case Studies in Design for Impact. Sponge cities. Resilient corridors. Biomimicry and the hopeful city. This Architect Is Transforming Cities With His Nature-Inspired Designs. Biophilic cities. Beds and sheds.

Hodgepodge discovery

Articles for the curious mind and the polymaths …

World’s vast networks of underground fungi to be mapped for first time. 52 things Tom learned in 2021. A human collective memory. How we came to depend on the week.

Feeling Good

Light pillars. Infrared Light Enhances Versailles. Alienscapes ( or how to re-enchant your virtual backgrounds…). Hasselblad winners. Museum of Endangered Sounds.