A new idea has emerged in Norway that we think could be the precursor to things to come in the way our societies interact and develop. The general gradual demise of traditional gathering places such as town halls, community centers and churches has seemingly gone in hand with a generational shift and sharp increase in online virtual communities. However, humans still need to rub shoulders at some point to get things done, until, say, we perfect the sensitive hologram. In the meantime, places like Transplant could be the gathering points. With an increasing set of mobile businesspeople, places where idea creation and collaboration can occur will be jewels in the landscape. These individuals are not interested in carrying or owning much more than a mobile and laptop. So a place to gather with other minds, with shared resources such as material rooms, material workshops, prototype workshops, design shops, food and a bar, seem to us to be very attractive. With creativity becoming a broad future currency, these kinds of places could form the basis of progressive communities.

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Now, this is fun. We have five awesome 3 Skypephones to give away to randomly selected Lost At E Minor subscribers. These stylish mobile phones call, text and take pictures, but also enables you to do Instant Message and make calls through Skype too. For free. The 3G 3 Skypephone has a 2-megapixel camera, mp3 player, mobile TV and internet. The giveaway is open to residents of the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Hong Kong, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, and Republic of Ireland.

To be in with a chance of winning a 3 Skypephone, be a Lost At E Minor subscriber, and leave a message under this post saying: ‘Ah, yeah. I will take that, thank you very much’. Entries close Monday morning New York time and the winners will be announced shortly thereafter.

Oh, and to celebrate the power of the phone, Aussie girl Rebecca Campbell has been given the best job going. The Skype Nomad challenge has seen Campbell embark on a 33 day round-the-world trip across 15 countries including China, Australia, America, Italy and Estonia to product test and demonstrate how Skype can be used wherever you are.

She is constantly blogging, video blogging, facebooking, podcasting, twittering and using Skype to keep people up to date with her travels live, using a variety of Skype enabled gadgets from 3 Skypephone to the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet to keep in contact.

Yup, it’s a tough life …