Paula LaBrot

Paula LaBrot is a 30-year resident of Topanga, a futurist with a special interest in the uncharted waters of cyberspace. plabrot@messengermountainnews.com

Connected Conservation

Technology is saving endangered rhinos and elephants in Africa. I am talking about a significant reduction of poaching through new programs like Connected Conservation. BACKGROUND Rhino horn is in demand in Asia,…

Emotional Machines!

Of all people, George Orwell said, “Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood.” What a prophet! If he only knew how “understood” we are getting!…

Future-Ed

According to Futurist Thomas Frey, a radical shift is occurring in education right now. We are headed for new territories to deal with the exponential growth of information available today. Students are…

Sky Glow

I once saw the respiration of the Earth. I could see trees breathing, the chest of the forest floor rhythmically heaving. The hues of sunset were all kinds of layered colors. The…

China Trade Talks: Cyber Foxes in the Henhouse

I really want to have chickens again, but Topanga is a tough place to have them. There are so many clever predators. No matter how careful you are, it seems impossible to…

The Facebook Furor

Are you wondering what the Facebook commotion is about? Here is the situation. It involves United States privacy laws, data mining and manipulation of the masses. What happened? There are allegations that…

Troll Farms

A whiff of spring this early March day. I long for rich, loamy dirt and a bag of heritage seeds. But forget corn, beans or tomato crops. Today, I am going to…

The High-Tech World of Fake News

In 1968, I went to work as an editor at The Film Group in Chicago. We made commercials for money and documentaries for love. I was a green kid from the suburbs.…

Heart and Seoul

I love the Olympics. When the games came to Los Angeles in 1984, my children and I hung out every day with the athletes at the Olympic Village in Westwood. The spirit…

Floating Doctors—What Ships are For

“A Ship in port is safe. But that is not what ships are for.” —Grace Hopper FLOATING DOCTORS CELEBRATES ITS NINTH ANNIVERSARY THIS MONTH. WE THOUGHT IT APPROPRIATE TO TAKE TIME TO…