About 1248 Institute and the Prototype Virtual Think Tank
What is 1248 Institute?
1248 Institute was established in 1998 by Richard Brown to perform research projects. The institute is physically located
in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. The focus of research is in those areas of interest of Mr. Brown. A scan of the Table of Contents can give an idea of the range of interests. Press Table
of Contents at the bottom of the page.
What is Mr. Brown's background?
Mr. Brown has over thirty years of research experience at the
University of California, the General Electric Company, and other research organizations. He has worked on projects such as the early ARPA projects that led up to the internet, a long term project on world population growth, studies in applied mathematics and economics,and reseach on corporate finance and
retirement planning. A detailed cirriculum vitae is available. Check out Richard Brown's Cirriculum vitae
What is a Prototype Virtual Think Tank?
A prototype is the first or the intial one. A virtual think tank
is a place on the internet where an idea nutures and grows. For
example in the section on Mars Bonds is a discussion of how Mars
exploration could be accelerated by a private insurance company
owning the planet and selling lots on it. It is an idea that Mars maniacs might find interesting, but that Wall Street Investment Bankers might implement. Do we want a private corporation to own Mars? That is an interesting question. Do
we want humans on a second planet? That too, is an interesting question. Now we can have an internet discussion about Mars bonds. Ideas, exchange of ideas, actions. Looks like a Virtual
Think Tank to me.
How does a Think Tank Nuture Ideas?
Now here is where my experience comes in. A new idea is like
a new product. Once a new product is conceived it has to go through a long process before it hits the street or much less is successful. Computers have been around since the 1930s, the idea of computers for at least several hundred years. So even as new ideas are refined and readied for wider dissemination, the virtual think tanks that nuture them will evolve, and this will increasingly happen on the Internet as it has over the last generation in an almost exclusively academic setting.
Where does the 1248 Institute need work?
This is a sensitive area. We are still learning how to use the internet more effectively. We are still learning how to develop
home-pages, use e-mail, shop on the web, do research on the web,
invest on and in the web, play bridge on the WEB, and network on the internet moreeffectively. We are in a state of total immersion using the WEB up to ten hours a day. Increasing use of the form of the WEB is where we need our biggest work. How to get an idea out to the world through the WEB. All suggestions appreciated.
Your ideas? Please E-mail me Charlestonideas@Hotmail.com
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