Category Archives: Technology

On happiness and the jobs of tomorrow

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TIME Magazine has put together an interesting infographic based on a person’s happiness while working. Considering work, along with sleep, is the activity we spend most of our time on, the degree of enjoyment during the daily grind is crucial to living a fulfilled life.

As we look back on the last couple of centuries and the leaps and bounds society has made through various economic revolutions, a fair assumption can be made that we will naturally continue to eliminate or outsource the jobs we dislike doing. In the Western World, we’ve shifted over time from primary and secondary sectors to the tertiary service economy and are seeing the beginnings of the quaternary knowledge economy. In this transition, thanks partly to globalisation, we passed on the primary and secondary economies to the Third World – primarily in Asia and Central America.

But things are changing, and the Third World is rapidly developing; again, passing the baton of the “dirty work” to South America and Africa.

As China and India become economic hotbeds, influence and power will no longer be controlled solely by the United States, and will have to be shared across continental economies: Asia, India, Oceania, the EU, and America. Eventually, South America and Africa will join the game. Competition is always a good thing in a fair market.

The problem arises though of who will then do the dirty work; when there is no Third World left to throw it off to. Nobody will want to do those jobs anymore.

My theory is two-fold.

1. We will always need the primary and secondary industries to maintain a solid foundation for the economy. Nothing will run without the raw resources.

I suspect that, as the global education level rises, it will be the trades sector that will become in extremely high demand.

And the pay will be worth it, as business men will always rather pay someone else to do the so-called “dirty work”, than do it themselves.

These jobs will be available and well worth it, money wise that is, for those who want them.

2. As the knowledge economy develops, human kind will repeatedly invent technologies to simplify or completely handle the “dirty work”. We’ve seen this for a while; it’s not like the trend is new by any means.

But that trend I suspect resulted more from the drive to produce goods and services on a global scale, which meant efficiency that only machines can provide.

In the future, the drive to build more complex and sophisticated machines to handle the “dirty work” will result simply from the understanding that the human brain was meant for so much more than flipping burgers, or data entry, or driving buses.

There’s only so much advancement that can be made in the primary and secondary industries. It’s the tertiary (service) industry that will soon transform thanks to technology – and allow a huge segment of the population to move into the quaternary sector.

We see it happening already. Everything from automated checkouts at the bank, libraries, and grocery stores, to online shopping, to computerized customer service help lines.

Don’t think for a second that any typical service job today can’t be automated in the future. In Japan, the aging population has driven demand for the R&D of robots designed to replace the role of nursing aids.

All in all, I’m tremendously excited to see the day when this transition really picks up and transforms our society. The real purpose behind the change will be an understanding that human potential and capacity to innovate is too valuable to waste on meaningless, tedious jobs. And that future, in which nourishing and stimulating work is available to all who seek it, I predict will be nothing short of the second Renaissance of human kind.

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Here is, based on TIME Magazine’s data, some of the jobs that make people the least happy. AKA: the jobs that will soon go the way of the dinosaurs as we make this transition.
  • Gas station attendants
  • Automobile repair and mechanics
  • Amusement park attendants
  • Freight and stock handlers
  • Bartenders
  • Messengers
  • Food preparers
  • Construction labourers
  • Payroll and timekeeping clerks
  • Laundry service
  • Maids
  • Sales counter clerks
  • Packagers
  • Private guards
  • Janitors and cleaners
  • Cashiers
  • Door-to-door sales
  • Telephone operators
  • Librarians
  • Correctional institution officers
  • Administrative support
  • Typists
  • Machine operators

TransLink suggestion: “Vote Today”

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As everyday transit riders know, TransLink regularly uses its buses’ digital displays to show community spirit. It’s been used to celebrate the Vancouver Canucks, BC Lions, and even the Winter Holidays – just take a look at the photos from flickr below.


I’ve been quite disappointed in Canadian democracy, considering voter turnout continues to drop. There’s many reasons for this, but based on my personal experience in the past two elections, if one is busy/unorganized enough, it’s actually not too hard to forget which day is “election day”.

TransLink has already set a wonderful precedent of creatively using their digital displays to enhance their brand and the community.

With the coming provincial election on May 12th, I can’t help but think how many people would be reminded to get out and vote if, on that very day, all TransLink buses and SkyTrain screens displayed a revolving message to “VOTE TODAY”.

It would certainly be one more piece of the puzzle to restoring a stronger sense of democracy and citizenship in our region.

Defending Ray Lam and his facebook pictures

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This weekend, the NDP candidate for Vancouver False-Creek, Ray Lam, was forced to resign after “inappropriate” photos from his Facebook profile were made public. This hasn’t been the first time that political candidates’ dirty laundry has surfaced during a campaign – I recall this exact situation occurring a number of times during the federal election. Not to mention, in years to come, this is simply going to happen more and more as our use of technologies such as Facebook increases.

That said, there are a number of issues surrounding this whole story, and I firmly believe that Ray Lam should not have resigned.

1. These were private photos

The pictures in question were on Ray Lam’s private Facebook profile. These photos were not made available to everyone on the internet for a perfectly good reason. They should be just as inaccessible to the public as Joe Schmo’s box of Woodstock Love-In pics from the 60′s. They are both private media.

Now I know that once something goes online, it’s bound to never leave the internet again. However, Facebook is a locked-down social network, meaning people can only see what you want them to see – everything else is automatically privatized.

These photos weren’t public. They were leaked. And that is completely unfair to Ray Lam, his personal reputation, and the NDP.

We should all have the right to post whatever we want on our private Facebook profiles to share with our friends, and not worry that that media will get into the wrong hands.

This is an affront not just to Ray Lam, but to our collective online privacy.

2. The leaked photos were posted by News1130

Now I know we’re going down the rabbit hole here into the unregulated territory of the wild, wild web, but there is something absolutely unethical about the fact that News1130 posted the leaked photos in their report on the story.

I repeat – these were private photos. Ray Lam has rights to them, Facebook has rights to them – News1130 does not. They have no right whatsoever to replicate these photos in any manner without permission.

To post them without that permission is despicable. This will have terrible ramifications for Lam, who I believe should sue the company for this, and just goes to show how low our journalistic standards have dropped.

UPDATE: The Globe has posted them as well. The Sun, CTV, and The Hook haven’t.

3. The photos weren’t all that “inappropriate”

One photo had Lam grabbing a woman’s breast while dancing. Considering she’s smiling, and the fact that Lam is gay, I doubt this is cause for alarm. I don’t know about the Boomers, but Gen Xers do this all the time. And there’s nothing wrong with it as long as it was consensual.

The second photo had Lam in underwear posing with two friends. How is it okay to have nearly nude models strewn across TV, magazines, newspapers, billboards, and storefronts – but because Lam is a candidate for public office, suddenly this is not acceptable?

Have people seen what is on the Internet? Has the public ever gotten drunk and taken some fun pics? And who hasn’t shown some skin – whether at a club, on the beach, at a party, on the web, or in the privacy of your own home?

Neither of the pictures are inappropriate. And the material in them certainly wasn’t illegal.

And, again, judging what’s in these pictures is none of our business, considering they were private to begin with!

4. Elected officials are normal people

This just goes to show that elected officials, or people that choose to run for public office, are normal human beings.

Whether it’s leaked Facebook photos, driving drunk while on vacation, or being the former leader of the National Citizens Coalition, our politicians have long histories, with different experiences, stories, and adventures. They’ve all encountered happy, wacky, absurd, and disappointing situations in life.

Just like the rest of us.

And while we may sometimes like to think of them as the clean cut leaders of society, they aren’t. Not even one of them. Because they are human.

They make mistakes.

The question is, do we want to accept our politicians are normal people who’ve decided to serve the public, and respect the line between their public and private lives, or do we want to set the bar so high as to expect Gods as our leaders and up end with nothing less than a bitchfest during elections based on who can scoop up the most dirt – leaving us with no good candidates left to vote for.

A departure board for bus loops

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I travelled a fair bit during the holidays and loved examining and comparing the design of the departure boards in various airports. While I wouldn’t call myself a design geek, I am fascinated by good design and how it can help facilitate a better life for us all.

There are a number of problems I encounter on a regular basis riding transit, including:

  • Knowing which bus leaves from which bay
  • Being able to compare my transit options easily
  • Knowing whether the route I’m trying to connect with is the right bus I want (i.e. routes that cut short, such as the 320, which either goes to Fleetwood or Langley Centre). There’s currently no easy way to find this out while on the go
  • Knowing whether the bus I’m trying to catch has left the bay yet, is just about to leave (meaning I need to run), or is leaving in a while

Faced with these problems, I’ve always thought the best solution would be real-time departure boards at transit loops. So here’s my amateur mockup of what such a departure board might look like:

The white version. Note the time and date at the top. The buses that leave in 2 minutes or less flash red.

The white version. Note the time and date at the top. The buses that leave in 2 minutes or less flash red.

Heres the all black version

Here's the all black version

Heres one where the route, destination and bay also flash red if the bus is set to depart in 2 minutes or less

Here's one where the route, destination and bay also flash red if the bus is set to depart in 2 minutes or less

These mockups were made entirely from real departures and routes based out of the Surrey Central bus loop.

Imagine their usage though.

Catching a bus from SkyTrain

Let’s say I’m coming home, about to disembark the SkyTrain at Surrey Central and I know that my bus is scheduled to leave almost immediately.

Normally, I would run down the stairs, to see that it’s still there, or that it’s just left.

With the departure board in the station, I could immediately scan the sign as soon as I’m off the SkyTrain. If it was set to depart in under 2 minutes, my route would be flashing, and I would have a real time estimate, based on GPS data, of when it’s set to leave. If it’s already boarding, it would flash “DUE”, letting me know that, yes, I in fact do need to run to catch it.

Comparing departure options

Let’s say I’m at a bus loop, headed to Langley.

Normally, especially with the poor signage we have already, there’s literally no easy way to find out my options. I would have to walk around the whole loop, reading the signs and the infotubes.

With the departure board, located at various spots in the loop, it’s much easier. I simply find the board, check which buses go to Langley, see which is coming first, and find the bay number. Coupled with a new map, the whole process is simple and seamless. And based on the mockup, the next bus for Langley is in 8 minutes, leaving me with just enough time to grab a coffee.

Conclusion

As you can see, the departure board concept has a variety of applications. It would dramatically improve the transit experience for users without access to the TransLink mobile site, which is obviously the majority of riders. It helps people with wayfinding, time management, overall safety (discouraging the running out-the-station-to-catch-the-bus without the need), and awareness of routes and options.

The board could even have a scrolling info space at the bottom for notifications, alerts, ads, or more, similar to many airport boards.

In my mind, having these departure boards at the transit loops and at major transfer areas would have been a much better installation than those ridiculous video screens with ads – a major waste of space and completely useless to the average rider.