The Sign Your Children have Waited to See

Last week I read two news articles that made me think about "Tomorrow".

I don't mean "the Future". There's a difference between Tomorrow and the Future, constructed from decades of literary structure. Everyone yearns for Tomorrow, but many people fear the Future. Saying Tomorrow is here speaks of progress and stability, but saying the Future is here speaks of uncertainty caused by changes to which we must adjust. People strive to create Tomorrow, but only try to predict the Future. Tomorrow's theme song is as upbeat as the Jetsons, but the theme song of the Future keeps changing on us while retaining slightly dark undertones.

The first article told me that magnetic monopoles not only had been discovered but were being manipulated in labs.

If you were never a physics major then I can't explain why that's big news or seems like Tomorrow. But I think I'll remember the scene--the loveseat, laptop, open blinds showing a window full of Autumn colors--as vividly as the morning in high school when I woke up to my radio alarm clock telling me the Berlin Wall was broken.

The second article talked about the EU starting a new project, funded with the equivalent of ten million pounds, to monitor social networking.

I almost laughed aloud. Some bigshot in the EU must have asked for information from Project Echelon and been politely but firmly refused. So now the EU is starting a tiny and wimpy imitation? Meh. Computers won't be a Miniluv two-way entertainment device for years. Little Brother is watching.