The news regarding the phone quizzes scandal and the BBC left me truly concerned. 

I value the BBC above many things in this world and not only is this issue a breach of the fundamental trust that we the british people and I suspect the world have with the BBC it is suggests something nasty about the contempt that people within the BBC and its subcontractors must hold for the us the viewers.  Is this a sign of

A. The accountants cynical manipulation of editorial / prouct teams in order to reduce the cost of production of programmes creating the wrong message about what is important

B. The arrogance and contempt of programme makers looking down upon the very people they are meant to be educating, entertaining, informing and inspiring. Do they see themselves as above the little people in some way that this form deception is humourous to them.

C. Plain corruption of employees and suppliers taking prizes for themselves and defrauding the licence fee payers and the BBC of money in the form of prizes.  Is this seen as the acceptable subsidy to their income stream.

What ever the reasons, one or a comibination of all of them I would like to have it publicly understood and the consequences of such actions of the level and nature that most people in society would expect, if its fraud, it should be dismissal, if it is arrogance and contempt, the gross misconduct and demotion with loss of status and control, if it the financial controllers unreasonable influence, the this should be curtailed and they should be reducated about their role as assessors of value and control of funds not cost cutters.

Please do not brush this aside and please just admit that in any decent world what hyas been done is simply wrong and the average person in the street would know its wrong, its common sense and common decency, Well the done BBC on retraining but lets establish the root cause first and eradicate that.

What a fantastic trio, two guitars, and key board with excellent vocals.  These guys could play, sing and work the audience.  It was a small party but everyone was saying what a great band tapping their feet and wanting more.  Classics from all major guitar masters.

Suggest people start booking them now.  They are also part of a 5 piece band as well and on Myspace as           jesterjests

Keep it up guys

During some TV surfing the TV last week and came across Desi DNA, a great programme and very interesting.  Amongst the content Poetic Pilgramage appeared in front of me and performed "Defination of a Pilgrim".  to say that Rap has been lost on me is an understatement, until I heard this, for some reason, I wanted to hear more, have downloaded it and added it to the iPod.

Ladies, respect to you for your creativity, perserverance and focus on communicating in the way that works for you.

Recently read an article on Jason Stampers Blog at Computer Business Review about software companies who have developed and marketed programming languages for years now deciding that their 4GL products are just what the Web and Business 2.0 environments will need to bring the vision to reality.  I felt the urge to respond to this post with some thoughts about the reality of the challenge ahead for society and technology companies.  I wanted to share it here as well.

Some people say nothing is new, only repackaged, what goes around comes around again and again.  It seems to me the freedom that Web 2.0 and business 2.0 offer in terms of creating, syndicating,and integrating content and functionality are more about open standards and api's we society can all agree on, the ability of technology companies to ride the waves of fashion and style and deliver their products latest releases with compliance, compatibility, interoperability, conversion,and any other variation on transmutation you care to name are still heading in ever decreasing circles.
My vision and that of many others is that we rise above the notion of complex programatic languages through a layer of articulation that takes its meaning from the real world most of humanity occupies.  This will be the true empowerment for society when people no longer need to do more than express or draw their solution or requirement and the systems configure and align to these needs, either on a transitory basis for just the amount of time needed or as part of the start of something new.

This is not a pipe dream, there are people working to this end today, Intalio being one, K2 and Xsol being others I could name.  These represent a paradigm shift for all of us.

We will still need programming languages, I for one am not against them but they are a link in the chain from human creativity and need and the subsequent realisation of that in the real / virtual world that is Web Business 2.0.

Good luck to the product teams able to reap incremental revenues from programming languages whether 1,2,3 or 4 generation, no doubt someone will decide to market a 5GL at some point, but that to me misses the point of the future and the need we all have to express, and affect realisation of our requirements.  It is not long ago people had to get someone to connect them with another phone user on an internal and international phone system,  Technology and programming languages enabled all of us to do it for ourselves without the intermediary being visible.

Roll on self determination and creation within the on-line world.

Now the water utilities are lifting the hosepipe ban I would like to ask two specific questions that I have been unable to find answers for on their websites or elsewhere through my own searching.  These are:

1. Hosepipe charges - Given we have had a ban when will they provide a credit for the charges levied for using a hosepipe. As we have not had the benefit for the service charge paid. - If yes, when, if no why specifically, not just a NO.  We should all be asking this question becauses we simply would not put up with paying for something and it never being delivered, we would expect a credit not or the money back.  Why should water utilities be any different to any other supplier.  I don't care if they need money to invest in new pipes, reservoirs etc.... that is what their investors are there to provide, they are commercial organisations seeking to make a profit out of providing water and waste services.

2. Why did it it Happen? - What were the underlying causes of the shortage in what are the plans to proactively prevent such issues arising again.  I do not expect answers like "less rainfall or global warming" as the cause. I would like to know if this has been building up over years or if changes in policy by these corporations and their management have caused the issues we now face.  Key decisions have been made about the following areas since these organisations were privatised.  Each of these could have a major impact on the availability of water.

1. Reservoirs - Do we have enough, if there not full, what can be done to solve this problem

2. Investments in new technology to provide more effective water collection and treatment

3. Leakage prevention and repair - Surely a no brainer for anyone, stop it running away in front of our eyes, the technology is out there now to address this issue.

4. Waste water treatment and recycling - This can only get better if we invest in research

5. Development of a pipeline network to provide a national grid for water - I am sure someone will say it exists but why do key areas of the country have a surplus and others a shortage but we cannot move it around with ease

I suspect lack of innovation and investment have been at the heart of the problem.  Without innovation and investment as part of the solution for the future we will see an unacceptable future for all of us.  Surely the short term profit of a corporation that will no doubt be gone tomorrow as it merges with someone else is of no consequence compared to the need to provide humanity and all creatures with the very stuff of life.

We all need to decide what to do next about the performance of our suppliers and if we should invest time in lobbying for improvement via the means and resources at our disposal or give it up as a lost cause and do our own thing to provide adequate water for our family's needs that can ride the cycle of shortages we see appearing from the so called professional providers.

I watched the new series Skins last night on Channel 4.  I was drawn to it on the basis that I have a 3 year old and a range of nieces, nephews and god children who are approaching the age range of cast of the programme and it might just be useful and interesting to see what gets them going, secondly this series represents an interesting evolution of viral marketing and the use social networking to successfully create pull for a new product in this case a TV programme.  I suspect it will achieve cult status before most adults even know it exists.  to cap it all it is actually very funny, brilliantly scripted with excellent pace and wit without the too cool elements one can see in some programmes of this genre.  It took some convincing to get the good lady to watch it, as her reaction to the advertising was to dismiss it out of hand.  We both laughed out loud and saw in some respects a potential future for us as parents and Uncles and Aunts.  I am grinning about it right now, just thinking of several specific moments such as the meeting with Mad Twatter and the young lady who simply could not speak in plain English but rather the strangled version so preferred by a certain cultural cul-de-sac with our society.  Fraaunds!!!!!!!!!!!!!.  I also suspect that main character will have a voyage of discovery during the life of this series and may develop just enough humility to be loved by all.

Well done to the writer, the cast and the crew and Channel 54 for commissioning it.  I will continue to watch it and record it.  A classic in the making.

I have been reflecting on the nature of change in all its forms and have created a new set of lyrics or a poem on the subject.

Embrace Change

Change is like an irregular clock

With too many ticks and not enough tocks

Why does it turns up when you least want or reckon

Change is relentless and earnestly beckons

Chorus:

Embrace change like a blanket

Don't try to rank it

Use it to warm and protect you

Let change challenge inspire you

Options open up before you

How do you choose and follow through

Making the decision is fraught

Driving deep introspection and thought

Chorus:

Embrace change like a blanket

Don't try to rank it

Use it to warm and protect you

Let change challenge inspire you

Choice made your path is now set

Who knows if it's the right bet

Fear creeps in to haunt you

Surely people won't want you

Chorus:

Embrace change like a blanket

Don't try to rank it

Use it to warm and protect you

Let change challenge inspire you

You must move forward without being cynical

Simply let go of the umbilical

Passion, perseverance, and practicality

These are the qualities that create the new reality

Chorus:

Embrace change like a blanket

Don't try to rank it

Use it to warm and protect you

Let change challenge inspire you

Change is hope reborn

You can cease to be forlorn

You have a real chance to reform

But not necessarily to conform

Chorus:

Embrace change like a blanket

Don't try to rank it

Use it to warm and protect you

Let change challenge inspire you

© David Alexander January 2007, all rights reserved