ME and Ophelia

DINNER IN THE DARK
New dating experience

Dinner in the Dark event by Yahoo! Personals is billed as the new dating experience.

The organisers say people do not have to worry about what they look like or are wearing. They can relax over a five-course meal and concentrate on showing off their personality.

It is so dark that you cannot see your hand in front of your face. Everyone speaks loudly as they are not sure who is listening. Diners dissect the food with their fingers. Candles are brought in after the fourth course.

Could be a bit messy.
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2020 VISION OF COMPUTER LOVE

The Britons of 20 years' time will no longer use "chat-up" techniques as they find love via their computers, a report has predicted.

There will be more arranged marriages, with matches made over the internet and through computer dating agencies, says the Tomorrow Project, an independent study from publishing consultants The Lexicon Group.

Computer dating is the future says the study.
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THE TOMORROW PROJECT
The Tomorrow Network and Sense Worldwide Pollen Network

The Tomorrow Project is an independent, registered charity undertaking a programme of research, consultation and communication about people's lives in the next twenty years.

Established in 1996 by Michael Moynagh and Richard Worsley, the Project's work currently addresses ten topics:
People and ....social exclusion, work, consumers, government, learning, well-being & health, places, the physical environment, families, faith & values, crime.

Its aims are to help individuals and organisations to think and learn about the future of people's lives, in order to gain a better understanding of the present and, to learn about the choices which will influence the future.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is one of the Patrons and our Prime Minister Tony Blair wrote the foreward.

The Tomorrow Project is collaborating with Sense Worldwide (who provide market knowledge, forecasting and corporate intelligence) to produce Précis - a bite-sized account of factors affecting Britain's present and future - every other month, in addition to the thrice-yearly Tomorrow Bulletin for the members of both Networks.

The Tomorrow Network is a group of 1,650 individuals with an interest in futures thinking and the work of the Tomorrow Project. There is no subscription. Each edition can be downloaded by Network members free of charge.

There is also a Scottish section of the Tomorrow Network for whom events are arranged in Scotland.
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MOBILE INTERNET CAFE
Surfing in the scorching heat and dust of the desert in Nevada, USA

A brilliant bunch of people designed and built their own mobile "Roam-Net Cabinets", put them on their ingenious "Roam-Net Technomadic Trailer" and roamed the Burning Man gathering of 30,500 people camped out for a week in the Nevada desert earlier this month.

Their internet access was great and they had no computer failures. They had a great time helping people check their email and access the PlayInfo Digital Directory. The $15 sealed keyboards worked wonderfully and they only had one mouse failure.

I wonder if theTomorrow Project people and others concerned over poverty and social exclusion, in the UK and abroad, ever get to see such amazing things and talented people.