Alpha Beta Greater Data

Data seems to be the big topic these days.  How are we going to manage this infinite amount of data? What will storing all this cost us?  Who is going to manage it all?  Should it be stored indefinitely and if so where?  These are the increasingly big questions academics and leaders are asking themselves.  Web-bots are trawling the internet gathering the biggest global issues of the day; digesting the global consciousness and making decisions for the future.  Ultimately, humans will not and cannot analyse so much detailed data in such a complex environment and it will be highly evolved number crunching computers that will increasingly do the hard work.  

We all will be left to use our creativity to resolve the issues of the day and produce solutions for future generations. The concern for many ordinary people throughout the world will be the issue of divergence between the powerful individuals in control of  corporate strategic decision-making and the workers left on the ground believing everything will turn alright in the end.

It seems to me we are going through a second renaissance on a scale in which no one could have ever imagined. One in which I for one am glad will not be around to see the end result.  The technological race is now definitely on - No one knows for certain who will get to the finishing line first. Tic-Tac-Toe comes to mind in this respect.

I just hope that we all will ultimately benefit from this technological paradigm shift and for those who are unable to join in the race, that they are not enslaved for future generations to come.

Disagreements are essential to a progressive society

You know, I don't agree with many people, well not at first anyway. I usually enter into discussion over the subject matter before i make any final decision. Discussion is all part of free, open society.  Yes if you feel you need to tell everyone, even if you are wrong, your contribution does matter and overtime you will find you are able to make more important contributions. I find I'm usually questioning bills sent to me, decisions made by politicians and other leaders of our so-called free society.   Watch the parliamentary channel and see just how much leaders argue openly in heated debate.  Laughing at each other, infact passion fuels these dabates and good for us we are all free to do that.

Why The BBC did not have any choice but to allow the BNP onto Question Time

As the BNP have 2 MEPs in the European Parliament, like them or loathe them they do have power and therefore they need to be included in public debates. It will then be left to the democratic process to determine what is right and what is not.  It is an important part of the democratic process to allow people freedom of speech whether you agree with their arguments or not.  They clearly do represent opinion from the voting electorate and therefore the arguments of the BNP must be listened to and debated.  It actually demonstrates the unfairness of the current British electoral system which needs to change.  The Liberal Democrats are leading the way in this respect.

Extreme opinions do matter in a free democratic society, because otherwise how do you determine what is an extreme opinion and what is not.  The internet has also changed the politic landscape and as people are better connected, debate will go on over the internet anyway.  The BBC had no choice but to allow the BNP onto Question Time and simply reflects a paradigm shift in technology which in turn has affected every other part of our lives.

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 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.