Finding someone with the X Factor is almost a mathematical certainty

X Factor the reality competition that searches for a singer or singers developed by Simon Cowell is a very simple concept to success. It takes into account a mathematical theorem developed by a Swiss Mathematician known as the Law of Large numbers. In essence the more people the  judges see the more likely it is they are going to come across someone with the so-called X Factor.

Its a very simple principle to success and almost guarantees that they will get their desired outcome. Most notably in the current UK series they have decided to have a larger live audience which inevitably will aid them in their decision making process, after all  if you take a random sample of a population and allow them to decide which ones are the best and worst, you are bound to choose someone which the population are going to like and ultimately create a hit single.

The Simon Cowell equation to determine a successful record is almost a mathematical certainty and all he has to do is sit there and let everyone else decide who it is.  No wonder he has an enormous grin on his face.  A nice position to be in I would imagine.

The cult of Simplicity

I'm very much an advocate of simplistic elegant design.The user is king and I'm pleased that Facebook is redesigning their application and moving towards a lighter version.  I hate applications that are hard to set up and take ages to learn. I'm lazy and will always go for the easiest thing to learn and use.  Take a page out of David Pogues philosophy and be motivated by the fact "Simplicity Sells!"

The uniformity of work and society

I was asked yesterday if I worked for the Telegraph & Argus a local newspaper. I was wearing a business suit made in New York and a Christian Lacroix tie, I did look pretty smart in it. I was due to go for a meeting in Leeds, however the train had been cancelled so I apologised for my absence and decided to have a drink in a local pub. The person who asked me this question was wearing a checked short sleeve shirt. I have to admit he did look like the typical local journalist, So I replied "If I did I'd probably be wearing a checked shirt". It didn't go down very well as you can imagine, Ive never really looked for a job as a comedian. Although I think the others sat with him found it amusing.

Anyway, it got me onto thinking about the uniforms we wear. They've always been a fascination of mine, and I do find the whole idea of uniforms an interesting concept. I always had to wear a uniform for school and later always had to wear a suit when I started work at sixteen. Later as time passed by and I worked for various other firms I became more acutely aware of the way suits and ties were worn as an expression of cultural identity.

Consider UK political parties, labour is to red as conservatives are to blue. Margaret Thatcher was well known for her blue suits and so you will find these means of identity expressed with ties too. I did work for a company and the managing director must have had about fifty different ties, and wore a different one each day. I guess he must have worked for many organisations over the years. Uniforms are a means to express cultural identity, determine values, ideals and political allegiances.

Its also interesting to consider other means of identity, in fact wearing no uniform could be classed as a uniform. You will find many people in IT don't wear uniforms - I guess its a way of saying , I'm different and don't want to stick with the old school tie rules. Academics even have their own uniform. Loose trousers, a sports jacket with an open neck shirt seems to fit the bill.

I'm not sure where I fit into all this, I suppose we all wear different hats at different times and the same goes for the clothes we wear. You wouldn't wear at a funeral what you wore at a wedding would you?   If you want to study what to wear for a particular occasion then take a leaf out of the royal familys' book and you wont go far wrong.  So when you are getting dressed in the morning think about what it is that you are doing and wear the appropriate uniform, even if it is a t-shirt saying 'you would never guess I am a geek' .

You can judge a book by its cover.

The UK NHS one of the best healthcare systems in the world

Its good to read that America is having a heated debate concerning health care reforms. In the UK the NHS was established over fifty years ago and I can tell you it has changed considerably since then. Not only do all UK citizens have access to the best medical care found throughout the world we actually have a choice too.

To say that it is free is unfair. The NHS costs the UK taxpayer billions each year, but I believe it is a price worth paying. We can all go through hard times especially during periods of change, however the NHS remains constant ensuring that when we are in need of care they are always there and it is available to everyone. If you are working you have to pay for your own eye care, prescriptions and dental care. So the NHS has undergone reforms of its own over the years.

Not everyone in the UK uses the NHS it has to be said. Many corporate organisations use private health care systems as a means of remuneration. I have been the recipient of various private health care systems over the years and I have found that the experience wasn't much different.

My mother is having an operation right now so you could say its kind of personal. She visited her doctor twice and was referred to a specialist, who advised her to undergo keyhole surgery. She even had the choice of which hospital she could go to. The UK NHS is an amazing organisation one of the largest in the world and many of the hospitals are universities to. It is for this reason the UK NHS is not only benefiting us but the rest of the world too, that is something to be proud of I think.

So if America thinks the NHS is free, you would be wrong the services have to be paid somehow and this is through our National Insurance system. This accounts for around 5 pence for every pound earnt, a small price to pay I think to ensure that whether you are working or not you will always be cared for.  It hasnt been easy the NHS like any other organisation has gone through good and bad times, however America can learn from our mistakes and should benefit from health care reform.

The security of cyberspace in a better connected world

Its great to read how the UK govenment is taking action to ensure the security of cyberspace by recruiting young hackers. Not only does it help the disenfranchised youth undertake meaningful roles to ensure everyones security but also to send a message to potential hackers out there that rather than carry out rebellious acts of cyber terrorism, your skills can be better utilised through positive meaningful acts rather than outright distruction and the desire to create chaos.

Emotions run deep and with the net generation these can be taken out on unsuspecting networks. Interesting to think that human feelings do count even more so in cyberspace, where one persons chaotic behaviour can have disastrous consequences for the whole world. That's the real power of the Internet. Whats more interesting to me however, is the reassurance that it is humans that are still in control and that as we create and develop new technologies we are able to adapt and change to incorporate these within our everyday lives.

Its never been such an exciting but dangerous time to be alive and our security and privacy is of the utmost importance if we are going to make the world a better place. The internet is all powerful and all knowing, our new god you might think, but it only takes one person who may be technically brilliant but lacks the experience and wisdom to destroy it. Everyone is important and everyone can have their say in a better connected world, however one thing is for sure agreement will not come easy and emotions will always bring life to our networks.

Read the running notes on Loretta Napoleoni and how terrorism interacts with our everyday lives.

http://blog.ted.com/2009/07/loretta_napoleo.php

Facebook is getting lighter and so are we

I was just reading how Kelly Clarkson is In the middle of a new celebrity scandal for having her picture airbrushed from self magazine - For my UK readers it is an American publication, but that is nothing to what people have been talking about recently concerning Airbrushing Facebook photos, so where is this all going and why now?

I know we are all fairly proud of the way we look, but airbrushing facebook photos? Don't you think that is taking things a bit too far. I guess the reality is that we are all Z list celebs these days and so even if you are at the bottom of the list, we all do care about what we look like and how we are perceived by others, even if it is Facebook profile pictures.

I suppose its not as bad as Second Life where you create a persona from scratch, however I can see Facebook heading in that direction - where does reality finish and fantasy begin? The lines it seems are becoming increasingly blurred. We all want to be someone else, like our heroes, idols and the celebrities gracing the front of glossy magazines. Is it really a bad thing to airbrush a Facebook picture. Well we have a lot to live up to don't we?

Facebook is evolving as we speak. Even it is wanting to lose inefficiencies by producing a lighter version. I suppose it is simply a reflection of the wider economic climate and anything that makes us leaner and meaner is going to be done, quite simply because we can. That's surely not a bad thing, is it?

Everything is going lite even Facebook

It seems everything is going lite and Facebook is no exception. They are currently testing out a lite version of their online social networking site.  Its currently in the beta stage but apparently it s extremely fast. According to some users who are involved in testing Facebook lite it's a bit like Twitter. This it seems is a natural evolution for people who do not want to be bogged down with all the applications that create so much noise with Facebook at present. 

The lite version will enable it to be more portable and increase accessibility allowing user improvements in responsiveness for basic twitter-type tasks.  I'm very much looking forward to the lite version and I'm sure we'll all be adding it to our networking box of tricks.

My blog will evolve naturally and then what?

If you are going to create a blog, most people advise that you should have a specialism. That's fine but if you are not interested in anything in particular but want to write about anything and everything then perhaps a blog is not for me. Wrong, a blog is for me but it just means that I wont get loyal readers. I'm happy with that for now. I'm kind of mind searching at the moment - and Ive decided to do that through my blog.

I'm going to talk about anything that interests me and then over time I hope that a topic or related topics will emerge naturally. Will it be too late then? No for information is around us twenty four hours a day and so I expect I will have developed some niche that I can talk about on a new blog.

Well if a particular niche does not emerge, I might just stop blogging if I get bored and find something better to do. So watch this blog and lets see what happens. Its a blogging experiment on a global scale.

Ryanair to set up new base at Leeds Bradford Airport

According to recent news reports Ryanair the low cost airline is set to create a base at Leeds Bradford airport creating up to 1000 jobs. Good news if you need one and lets face it more and more of us do in these uncertain and difficult economic times.

Ive always wondered why many of us in the West Yorkshire region have had to travel to other major airports such as Manchester. Strange really when we have our own airport only a couple of miles away. I know some of you will be thinking - We don't want a load of noisy aeroplanes flying over us and spoiling our peace and quiet - That's why we live in Yorkshire! I say get over yourselves and stop being selfish. The majority of us that don't live in the golden triangle of West Yorkshire would like not to have to travel over the pennines or indeed for that matter down the M1 to Heathrow or Gatwick

As far as I am concerned bigger is better and if that means a few more aeroplanes flying over me occasionally then so be it.

New Jobs for a new generation

I have been asked on occasions do you get paid for doing this?  The answer to that is simply no. Ive not received one shilling from creating this blog, but who knows if you the zeitgeist decide that it is good enough then maybe, you never know and lets face it, when people get paid thousands just to have their picture taken maybe its time for someone to get paid for putting pen to paper - well not literally.

I suppose you could say I'm a writer, yes I am writing this blog right now but I'd rather describe myself as a blogger - Its more personal.  Blogging has been around for sometime now and is nothing new, so get used to it. Theirs some pretty smart people out there, I'm not sure if I'm one of them but who knows where life takes us.

Heres a talk on how social media is changing everything.

Bradford city and its historic buildings

Sometimes I can walk through Bradford and my head can be in the clouds. Not that I have a massive ego - far from it. I am infact looking upwards at many of Bradfords amazing buildings, many of which are under threat. Did you know there are over 5700 listed buildings in Bradford and many are at risk. According to the Bradford Preservation Trust their are over three hundred buildings which are 'at risk ' simply through neglect and misuse.

A survey of Bradford's listed buildings is being carried out at the moment, So I guess its going to take a while to complete. I hope when its finished the best will be preserved for many generations to come. Leeds has taken the lead in this respect. Have a walk round Leeds city centre and you will notice many old buildings have had a good clean. Bradford needs to do the same. They're pretty dirty if you ask me and when you have visitors round to your house what's the first thing you do. Yes, give it a good clean. Bradford can be proud of its old buildings as it is a glimpse into a bygone era when she had a foot on the world stage.  I'd love to know what City Hall looks like after a good clean. It dates back to 1873 so I guess you could say its pretty old. One of the oldest buildings in Bradford, Bowling Hall dates back to the 14th century I wonder what life was like then, fairly grim I would imagine.

Bradford Cathedral was completed in the eighth century, I love to go and visit occasionally if only to get some peace and quiet. If I was asked what I would do to make Bradford a better place I would say forget the park in the city and give our Architectural heritage a new lease of life. I'm sure it would give some people a job to do too in these difficult economic times

The future of work in the information age

I was fascinated to read how robots will have their own operating systems to enable them to fully utilise their specialisms. Which got me on to thinking about how robots will be used and what they will be used for. Technology is advancing at such a rapid rate it is some how mind boggling to think how anyone manages to keep up with it all.

I was then thinking about where will all this lead. Inevitably as technologies advance their evolves a division of labour i.e. work becomes more diverse and specialised, new roles emerge and older ones become extinct. It is now suggested that individuals will experience three or four careers in their lifetimes, good news I think for it certainly will make life more interesting. Long gone are the jobs where after ten years you will find yourself in the same position.

Inevitably more and more people will need to become self employed and self relient as the newest fads evolve and the oldest ones diminish. But hold on catch your breath for one second. Do we really need development at such a rapid pace? When people are looking within themselves and find that their quality of life over the so-called rat race is becoming increasingly important. I think it is simply a paradigm shift driven by technology with society adjusting to accommodate the new information age.

So what about the robots and where does it leave us? The optimist will argue that robots will take the heavy labour away from the low level jobs and enable people to develop their creative side and lead more satisfying lives. The pessimist will argue that their will be no need for humans to carry out work and that we will be left redundant.

Their needs to be a significant shift in the whole system. This has initially seen a divergence in the development of technologies. On the one hand you have the creative commons - the loony left you might say and on the other hand the conservative right - the money makers seeking a financial reward for their labour. As in other business realms where you find the for profit and the not for profit interests the same games will be played within these new technologies.

Books will always be your friend

Why is it I love  books?  I can buy a book and then never read it, but then can never put one down.  Books take you away from yourself and into the unknown.  

A book does not expect anything in return.  You can go to bed with it, wake up with it,  have dinner with it, or simply relax on an empty beach in a far off land.  A book can be your closest confident and yet can give you insights into things that you never knew were possible.

Books can challenge you without having to be agressive, it will just lie there and throws things at you that provokes, suggests and demonstrates.  Books do not need electric or batteries are produced naturally and are good for the environment.  

A book offers comfort when you are alone at night.  I can always rely on my books and they will never hurt me.

Books will tell me everything I need to know, they will never need to rush off to do something else.  They are patient and tolerant and will wait until I understand what they are telling me. I can be angry with my book, throw it around and it will never judge me.

Im so grateful books will always be my friend.

The two faces of facebook

Social websites such as facebook are going through an evolution if not a revolution in the age of twenty-four hour business and the information age.

When I first joined facebook you looked up old friends chatted about old times and kept in touch. It seems however facebook is changing and it has to change for we are now in the information age where business is conducted twenty-four hours a day, and why not? So facebook and other social networking sites are prime targets for people to promote their businesses and other interests. This is an inevitable evolution of the pleasant land that social networking sites held.

We are all ready to accept applications to see how much of Michael Jackson you know or what type of car you are but behind these funny games there lies a deeper desire to do what is inevitable and thats to receive a reward for sharing information with friends or otherwise.

You only have to look in the property section of publications such as The Mail on Sunday to see how people are moving to all corners of the globe to live the life they had always wanted to. David and Mary in Kenya, David and Celia moving to Cornwalls Kensington and Jean-Christophe with Michelle forgetting the Rolls Royce and the Rolex and moving to their new home in Spain.

So when you are accepting the next fad for finding out your real star sign or finding out your IQ dont forget that its also a business working twenty-four hours a day.

Another addition to my CV

Im always changing and adapting my CV.  Its not that I'm never satisfied with what is in it but the fact that Im eager to find new things to do and new ways to do what I would like to do.  In some ways I'd like to rename my CV or curriculum vitae and called it my 'struggle to freedom' for thats what it seems to have been ever since I was born I suppose.

Well, I wanted to further add in my CV  another activity which I just happen to have found myself doing. Not through choice I may add but because I felt driven to do it in a desire to find myself a voice on the net, away from the noise of facebook and at a place which I think has more of a peaceful feel.  Where is that place you may ask?  My blog ofcourse.

So not only am I writing about things that mean something to me and I hope over time may mean something to you but I'm also adding something to my CV -  not bad eh?  Another positive and good reason for all you non bloggers to get your thinking caps on and start blogging.  You truly can make a difference in the world.

Richard St. John's 8 Secrets of success

Nice one richard and it was fun learning that, don't you agree?

A blog about blogging

The founding mother of the blog revolution, Movable Type's Mena Trott, talks about the early days of blogging, when she realized that giving regular people the power to share our lives online is the key to building a friendlier, more connected world.

What motivates you?

It was on the first day of training at a company I had just started for, I have to admit it was some time ago now  - I am respectful of privacy so won't mention the companies name but I don't work there anymore - and was extremely saddened to hear the reply from all the other trainees when asked the question "what motivates you?"  I thought I have either ended up with a bunch of sad losers or I'm in the wrong job.  Guess what each persons reply was...... Money!  I blinked and had to look around at the other people in the room. The question came to me and I was asked the same question What motivates you?  I said "Im unable to answer that question for so many things motivate me we would be here all day".  The others looked at me as though I had the IQ of a moron.  I have to say I learnt alot that day and funnnily enough I learnt it with the first three words that came out of the trainers mouth.

What motivates you?

Positive emotions are good enough

Another talk from the ideas generators at www.ted.com part of the creative commons network have produced this talk on positive psychology. I've always been interested in why we are happy why or should we be optomistic? what is the good life all about? what does it mean to have a meaningful life and what is the point in it all? Martin Seligman provides an insight into all of these questions. Many of which most people I'm sure ask themselves at some time or another.  The outcome to this talk makes me think of why I have worked since I was sixteen and at times had three jobs? Why do I do things for other people I dont really want to do. I hope at the very least this talk will help you to find out for yourself what truly makes you happy.

Ideas worth spreading

I love new ideas and find myself  sometimes unable to sleep because my head is literally obsessed with ideas churning around in my brain.  Recently I descovered a new website www.ted.com  - Ideas worth spreading and so throughout my blog I will share the ideas which I find most intersting.   I love technology and the combination of new ideas and technology gets me so excited -  This you may think is a bit sad but maybe for you but not for me.  I do hope you find the time to watch some of the videos which I will post to my blog.

Heres a fascinating short talk on how the brain works to enable creativity. I hope you found it as interesting as I did.  Guess what? I never watch soaps.

Why you need to have an attitude

Have you ever been described as having an attitude? If so then you know who you are. You are conscious and awake and understand the truth, hold values which are dear to you and are not wanting to compromise those values with others that seek to manipulate and control you.  Thats right people or groups who claim you have an attitude merely are suggesting your values dont match theirs - It doesn't mean you are a bad person or does it? Well I suppose it depends why they claimed you had an attitude in the first place. Successful people have positive attitudes and so-called bad people have negative ones.

In the information age and the emergence of The New World Order you need to understand attitude and why you may be told occasionally you have an attitude. Consider the gay community - If you look on the shelves of newsagents you will find a magazine called Attitude or even bent - these are gay publications with words that the main stream population would consider as being negative. So why do they use these words to promote their publications? It is called being positive about who you are as a person. Having a positive mental attitude. You will hear this phrase many times by athletes in the world of sport. These could be some of the leaders of tomorrow. So if you are told you have an attitude think why that is and turn it into something positive

The New Cults of the Information Age

Ive always been interested in the rich and famous - I suppose most people are.  I've never had a desire to be rich and famous myself but I have to admit to be successful in life its probably a good bet that if you adopt some of the traits rich and famous people have you're some way on your way to leading a relatively successful life.  You may then think well success means different things to different people and you would be right, however for many they all have similar traits which you could identify.

You may probably be surprised that many famous people usually have very low self esteems and have learnt to overcome or hide these aspects of themselves by adopting positive behavourial traits.  They are usually excellent communicators, understand people very well and hold values which hold constant throughout millennia.  These values are simple really - If your religious then you will definately understand some of these values to success.  Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddism are world religions that explain these values through their religious text and enable people to lead happy successful lives - I guess thats why these religions have so many followers.

In the age of mass collaboration however and the information age, Business at the Speed of Thought and internetworking these old values that have held true for so long seem to be coming into question.  There is an emerging group consciousness where tribes form globally and locally, have there own leaders and followers.  These tribes identify themselves with their own culture and values.  It could be argued that these are the new cults of the information age.

Check out this insiders view of cults