Editor’s note: Writing today’s Skinny and filling in for LTW Editor Rick Smith this week is Noah Garrett. You can reach Noah directly at noah@thinkngc.com.

A wonderful story was posted this week by Steve Lohr at The New York Times who commented on an unbelievably large report just released by Gartner revealing the outlook for information technology spending worldwide for the rest of the year and the next few.

He writes, “It is a number-laden tome whose overall findings aren’t particularly surprising.”

I have to agree – both in the drastic size of the report and its results.

According to the report, Gartner projects that IT spending will grow 10 percent to $3.4 trillion this year worldwide. The softness of the U.S. economy right now will be offset by the strength in emerging economies like Brazil, Russia, India and China. In the Middle East and Africa, Gartner expects

Editor’s note: Writing today’s Skinny and filling in for LTW Editor Rick Smith this week is Noah Garrett. You can email Noah at noah@thinkngc.com.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK — The National Science Foundation (NSF) has put together a truly awesome production on its Web site that tells the story of the birth of the Internet, using videos, presentations and documents from its archives.

The history is divided into decades, and it definitely should be on your list of things to do this week.

It begins: There was a time in the not-so-distant past when the world was not connected. But then a small group of visionaries created the Internet; and changed the world.

That alone, should intrigue you to check out this puppy.

I have only just started going through all of it, and already I am mesmerized. The scary thing is remembering first-hand a lot of the

Editor’s note: Writing today’s Skinny and filling in for LTW Editor Rick Smith this week is Noah Garrett.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK - It is an honor to fill in this week for WRAL Local Tech Wire Editor Rick Smith. His tireless effort in providing technology news in the Triangle is an inspiration, to say the least. I hope to do half as good of a job as he does while he enjoys some time off this week.

Speaking of inspiration, I would be remiss not to say something about Michael Phelps. The Baltimore-native secured his name in Olympic history this weekend, winning eight gold medals to become what Internal Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacque Rogge labels, “the icon of the games.” But, what I find interesting in his epic quest to greatness is how technology played a critical role – especially in the race where he secured his seventh

Editor’s note: Writing today’s Skinny is Chris Morrison, who covers high tech for VentureBeat.

SILICON VALLEY - A few years ago, it was still a subject of regular outrage. Jobs were headed to Mexico. Factories moving to China. Everybody hated globalization, without quite understanding it. But with a flood of news coverage — the slightly nauseating peak being an all-too-popular book about the about the world being flat — people finally figured it out: The manufacturing jobs were gone. Get a job banking, or flipping burgers, but don’t expect to be building cars or making clothes.

The idea is that we should switch to a knowledge-based, service-oriented economy. And Silicon Valley, for one, long ago pinned its hopes on brains over brawn. Just take a look at the companies that get funding. But now that everyone’s getting used to the knowledge economy, manufacturing may make its comeback.

Here are the

CARY, N.C. – Take heart, Triangle entrepreneurs. Another venture capital firm with roots in Silicon Valley is looking to do more business in North Carolina.

John Burke of True Ventures was in the area this week checking up on the firm’s one local investment – DataCraft in Durham. He then did some shopping for other possible investments before stopping off at the PricewaterhouseCoopers venture breakfast to participate in a panel discussion.

“I’ve made productive use of my time,” a smiling Burke said in an interview after PwC’s quarterly review of venture investing and trends. ”We’ll be spending more time here.”

Why the Triangle rather than Silicon Valley or in the Mid-Atlantic? Not only is the area a tech-heavy market; it also is flush with veteran entrepreneurs who in Burke’s view reflect a community he sees in the Valley – the nirvana for VCs and startups.