Meets Fresh at the library

John's company asks him to attend a workshop at one of its offices in Stockholm in two months. The workshop will be in English, but John wants to learn a little Swedish before he goes. He stops at the public library on the way home, where he checks out a book on beginner's Swedish and an accompanying audio book. He also picks up a travel guide for the region. At the check out counter, John hands over the items. As the librarian scans them, the computer sends their ISBN numbers to a Fresh Web service that looks for patterns or groupings in the books. There is a clear pattern, and the service sends back a Real-time Link, which is printed out at the bottom of John's receipt. It reads, "Want to find out what's happening in Newark about Sweden? Come to http://www.freerangelearning.com/find.asp?062369"

At home, after dinner and putting the kids to bed, he shows the receipt to his wife and decides to look it up. He logs on to the Internet, opens his browser, and types in the URL. He is taken to a page showing the different local groups and activities about Sweden. He had no idea there was anyone else interested in it right there in Newark. He joins up on a trial membership. He follows a link to the beginner's Swedish learning circle. He ends up in a chat room talking to others about their experiences. Over the next few weeks he also decides to visit one of their regular weekly lunches at IKEA near the Newark Airport for speaking practice.

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