Predictions For 2012

National Association for Business Economics (NABE).

The 42-member panel of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) forecasts the economy will grow 2.4 percent in 2012, a slight improvement from the 1.8 percent growth they expect for all of 2011. Both estimates are 0.1 percentage point higher than the NABE's September forecast.

Note: The world won't end on December 21, 2012. See you in 2013.

Flash

A 350-gigabyte solid-state Flash storage (SSD) drive.

''Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons,'' said Popular Mechanics in 1949. Right they were. We also read: ''Computers will get even smaller and thinner . . . consuming less power and running much faster.'' (You think?!) Memory keeps getting less expensive, too. Techland.time.com says by 2012 the price for solid-state Flash storage drives should drop to $1 per gigabyte, pause briefly, then drop lower still.

Ye Olde Telephone

The 1876 Bell "Centennial" telephone.

''This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication,'' said a Western Union internal memo in 1876. Smartphones, however, seems pretty practical. Internet analyst Mary Meeker predicts smartphone sales will surpass PC and laptop sales in 2012, and by 2013 will approach 650 million unit sales. Now, if only people kept getting smarter.

The Dream of Every ''Star Wars'' Nerd

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Leonard Carson and three of his colleagues at San Diego Composites have each built their own carbon fiber Stormtrooper suit.The company even footed some of the cost, so long as the techies built one to decorate the office lobby. The cost of a Strormtrooper suit was not revealed, only that it was the ''price of a car.'' What car, they did not specify.

Ipad 3

The iPad 2 was released in the U.S. March 2011. The iPad 3 release is expected in March 2012.

Rare Earth Elements Will Become Rarer?

Terbium, one of the valuable rare earth elements.

The auto industry, the military and green technologies (wind turbines, low-energy light bulbs, hybrid car batteries) depend on rare earth elements (e.g. terbium lanthanum, neodymium). Chinese mines supply 97% of the world's supply. Naturalnews.com warns China is prepared to simply stop exporting these metals in 2012.

L.A. Embraces New Stormwater Regs

The L.A. City Council unanimously passed stormwater management rules to require many new developments and some redevelopments to capture, infiltrate or reuse all runoff from a 3/4-inch rainstorm. The new regulation would also expand compliance to smaller projects. The development community anticipates 5-10 percent cost increases to meet the new rules. L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa must now sign off on the ordinance.