The New Obamanation Auto

Live on BBC London

For the past month I've been listening to George Webley and Ray Khan, hosts on BBC London Radio 94.9FM. The timing is perfect for me: 2am - 6am their time, which is 6pm - 10pm my time. My most productive work time has long been in the evening but I feel the need to have some low level talk radio in the background.

I love these shows because:

• Real subjects are discussed
  
• The political correctness is minimal
• The hosts are fantastic
• There are no commercials

I find it absolutely fascinating to tap into the proverbial Zeitgeist of a society on the other side of the world. What shouldn't be surprising is that the same problems of crime, traffic, and poverty exist in London as in Vancouver.

So this evening I finally called in! Actually, I just wrote George and then his associate, Ollie, called me back. The topic I discussed with George was my perception that there's a much more established class system in England than in Canada. George pretty much confirmed this. It's somewhat sad to me that a young man or woman feels that they can't achieve the greatest professional heights simply because of the socio-economic strata they came from. But my Canadian naivety is clearly showing through because even in 2007 this is probably more common than not around the world.

Oh by the way, I may have said something about George & Ray being the Batman & Robin of BBC Radio. But I assure you it was done with great fondness & respect!

Now, more than ever, I will keep on listening, writing, and now calling into their shows!

Mark Anderson's Top 10 Predictions for 2008

BBC business journalist, Peter Day, recently interviewed American futurist, Mark Anderson, about his top predictions for 2008. You can listen to it here and read more about all of his predictions here. Some of the more interesting ones include:

1. The Users Revolt - with Facebook users leading the charge

2. The Walled Gardens (of cel phone carriers) come down

3. Internet bandwidth dramatically increases, especially in the U.S.

4. Fake Internets, such as those in China, become serious liabilities

5. Carry Along PCs become commonplace - ie. units much smaller than laptops
   

Anderson has others too, though his political bias seems to be reflecting more his hopes than any realistic predicting. For example, he seems to believe that 2008 will be the year that the U.S. Healthcare system gets an enormous overhaul. He's kidding himself that bureaucracies can move that quickly. Furthermore, I suspect that serious international events (ie. Pakistan et al) will more dominate the U.S. presidential election than anything else.

Generation Next

One of my favourite podcasts is from Peter Day's In Business radio programme on the BBC. The latest segment is called "Generation Next" and is all about how marketers are dramatically shifting gears to market [quite differently] to teenagers and 20-somethings. You can listen to it here.

One obvious change revolves around the omnipresence of mobile phones. As one marketer on the show said, "From the perspective of a young person, what kind of idiot would possibly have a landline?" [paraphrasing] I did a double-take when I first heard this, as I grew up in a household with just one phone (a big green one) and only had a second one when I reached my late teens. Nowadays, several people I know only have a mobile phone.

Global Warming: Been Feeling Guilty Lately?

Over the past year have you been feeling increasingly guilty about everything you do? Thinking twice about taking a flight somewhere?

There have been great forces at work to make you feel absolutely convinced that you are the source of the problem and that you must change your ways immediately or the world will be destroyed within the next few centuries. Al Gore wants you to feel this way. Stephane Dion wants you to feel this way. The Green Party everywhere wants you to feel this way. Indirectly, these same forces want the poorest people on the planet to remain in poverty for perpetuity.

Finally, in a breakthrough documentary, some sense and facts have been brought to the surface. I implore you to watch this important film and forward the link to everyone you know. Or just tell them to search Google Video for "global warming swindle". It's over an hour in length but well worth your time, I promise you!

Finally the wool is being removed from all of our eyes.