Category Archives: Policy

Snow blocks railway company websites

We knew it was coming. Met Office kept talking about. Heavy snow across the South East of England. Regardless, this morning is a complete mess, as expected, and the country comes to a halt, as usual.

And to a degree, it is normal. It is very difficult to size transport for peak emergencies. Possible, but costly to the tax payers. So, in a way, I understand we are stuck today.

But what I don’t understand is how all the web infrastructure associated with network railways is basically down.…

Posh-Wannabes: Wannabe-A-Fly?

This 70s sunglasses retro-look inspired by our very own Victoria Beckham, “posh”, and America’s greatest exhibitionist Paris Hilton, is starting to become annoying. Strikingly similar to a fly’s eyes, generally esthetically unpleasant sunglasses are taking over London this summer. People covering their eyes with black lenses of the size of satellite dishes. Men and women, alike, being fashionable human flies.

I had never seen flies in the London underground, until now. A pest of human flies with big dark black eyes has taken over.…

On Levying ISPs for DRM-Free Content

It should not be a surprise by now to see lawyers and politicians arguing bizarre things about the Internet. First, it was the infamous Senator Ted Stevens and his “series of tubes“, and now it is the Spanish Authors Association (SGAE) proposing to charge the ISPs and operators for illegal P2P downloads. Sort of a road-tax, but on the ISPs.

The challenge with SGAE’s proposal is that it is highly short-eyed and not understanding of the nature of the internet.…

Transport and Housing: Chicken and the Egg?

The British policy makers seem to have a tendency to first develop land and then put suitable transport infrastructure in place. Obviously, a significant factor for people choosing their next residence is road infrastructure and, to a lesser degree, public transport. Current government plans include creating over 100,000 new houses in regions like the South East, partially to release some pressure from the already overcrowded London. In cities like Ashford, in Kent, the local job market is almost non-existent, and the only population that can potentially be attracted to these new developments are London commuters which move their residence but keep their jobs in London.…