Every day starts with open eyes.  If you’ve had what you need to keep going, the world has been turning for about 8 hours and the news stories piled up around our humble ball that is spinning and pitching through space.  This information comes to you over airwaves or the internet or a newspaper that greets you on the porch, however you choose.

When the world is close to equilibrium, the news stories are easy to understand.  We all have our own frames that allow us to filter our world and make sense of it, assuming that today is a lot like yesterday and tomorrow won’t be that different.  The institutions that keep the world truckin’ on while we sleep operate more or less the same way.  But what happens when an awful lot happens at once?  That depends equally on the events of the day and the smugness that we greet it with.

Today is one of those days.  An awful lot is happening.

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Users of the internet are supposed to be used to change, but like any chaotic system it has its bounds.  Recent developments at two large ‘net companies, google and facebook, have done more than feed the usual chatter – and may be significant developments in the evolution of how we connect.

What is clear, however, is that they have demonstrated that complete reliance on one big company is dangerous for users, advertisers, and internet businesses alike.

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In a world with a short attention span, the long grinding story of our economy rarely comes up for any significant discussion except when there is something new.  Lately the only genuine “news” related to financial conditions is how states are being dragged down and how their problems can be used as a bludgeon.  While today’s fights play out in state capitols and the streets around them, tomorrow’s stories might be a bit different.  Those stories won’t change until we see improvement in jobs.

While there are some good signs, we’re still in a holding pattern near what looks like a bottom.  Here is a detailed explanation of the problem – and what to look for.

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