The Future Now

Resurrecting the American Dream

The good folks who hosted my recent visit to the United States have just posted a recording of one of my lectures on youtube.  So thanks to them, and here it is:

The lessons of Boris

Johann Hari has this excellent piece in today's Independent.  It's an accurate assessment of the pluses and minuses of the Boris Johnson's first year as Mayor of London.  His conclusion: not withstanding some surprising policy initiatives on the part of the mop-haired one, Johnson remains a largely unreconstructed right winger.  Hari suggests we should be very worried about the prospect of David Cameron winning the next election.

Oy Oy Oyster

It seems that London's automated travel payment system, Oyster, has today suffered another severe technical break down, resulting in thousands of commuters having to be waved through open barriers and thus gaining free travel.

Good for them, but this is the second time in a month that this has happened, although last time it was worse, with thousands of Londoners suffering data corruption on their oyster cards.

Now I might be wrong about this, but I don't remember this happening before.  The system was introduced by former mayor Ken Livingstone, who, untypically for a politician, clearly knew what it takes to get complex technology-driven systems up and running without too much fuss.

Is it a coincidence that the Oyster system has crashed only since Boris Johnson took over as mayor?  I'm not suggesting a Phd in systems engineering is a prerequisite to running London, but you do, at the very least, have to understand that you need the right people in the right jobs if a large and complex city like London is to run smoothly.

Ken this week announced his intention to run again in 2012.  Many more screw ups like this, and the people of London might just be happy to have him back.