The more I hear about the environmental situation regarding the ‘Thames Gateway’ redevelopment the more I wonder how the area is going to cope.

Even now we are hearing stories that this year there will be significant water shortages in SE England, never mind the additional demand of an extra million people and associated infrastructure. The lack of winter rainfall is undoubtedly a sign that a large amount of water is remaining in the sea (in addition to that being added by ice-cap melting) which can only worsen the situation of the areas being ‘planned’ on flood plains – we can at least rest assured that the insurance market will determine the value of such developments.

(Since I wrote that paragraph it has been reported that Kent Water will be allowed to compel residents to install water meters)

In addition to such concerns the utterly political excercise of producing a £60,000 house for ‘keyworkers’ is producing a number of lacklustre and shoddy designs for houses – the life expectancy of some of the cheaper ‘affordable homes’ is less than ten years (I am sure I read that a £30k home could be built but would have a 5 year lifespan), making the resale value negligible and not a sound investment by any means. If the government weren’t determined to tie developers to producing ownable homes rather than rented accommodation the quality of housing for key workers could be much improved.
Cheap, non-traditional housing types will have higher insurance premiums and probably more onerous mortgage requirements thus increasing the day to day costs for workers rather than reducing them. In addition to utility, transport and taxation costs rising above the rate of inflation.

Additionally the short term succouring of the demand for more key workers in the SE will just further increase demand down the line, it would be better to let individuals decide whether they can afford to live in the SE/London with expensive services or decamp north/westwards where the price of living is generally lower.

I could go on, and probably will in another post. (Can we have a Cassandra category?)

Technorati Tags: Thames, Gateway, water

Whilst I have a few condiments around the kitchen I tend not to use them that much so when it was suggested I use some old Worcestershire sauce on a toasted sandwich I was a bit sceptical – not least because I was using some nice Northumberland cheeses and not that bright orange ‘cheddar’ stuff. But I was won over by both the argument and the taste, a good compliment to the tangy taste of quality cheese rather than the overpowering spiciness I associate with the sauce.

But thinking about it this makes sense – the sauce’s recipe come from the Victorian era and is likely to have been balanced to accompany more robust foods than much of today’s processed blandness.

You will no doubt have read about CITGO selling cheap (ie Venezuelan government subsidised) oil to poor US households.

Whilst this undoubtedly shows off Chavez in a good light versus Bush, it lets the US regime off the hook and continue its real business concerns as normal, such as subsidising US oill companies as reported by Oligopolywatch:

Big petroleum companies are showing record profits through windfall gains thanks to supply shortages and increased demand. Top oil companies announces record profits, while consumers and businesses outside the energy segment, both big and small, suffer from higher energy prices.

Yet it turns out that US is giving away $7 billion in royalty payments for natural gas and oil the federal government owns in the Gulf of Mexico.. This money is going to major oil companies over the next five years […]

Technorati Tags: venezuelan, oil, subsidies

Someday I may publish a history of how OSx86 was originally hacked to run on PCs.
[…]

Yet why aren’t we dual booting already? Money. Most of you are undoubtedly aware of “The Contest,” a 12,000 dollar pot that will be going to the first person to provide a viable dual booting method to the site’s owner. Also note the “onmac” network – and advertisements – that the contest has bequeathed to the once minimalist site as well… another interesting commentary on money.

[…]

he problem with the contest is that it encourages poor geeks (like me) who could use the extra cash (like me) to try their hand at fixing the problem. In theory this would speed up progress. But in fact it’s had the opposite, somewhat paradoxical effect – it’s slowed things down.

[…]

It’s all quite predictable – nothing is getting done because the sharing of information has stopped. Were there no contest, IRC channels would be full of dedicated developers sharing what they’d learned through trial and error, swapping ideas and encouraging each other. I’ve talked with some people who are very close to success… but their efforts are not public. As it stands, sharing what you’ve learned could cost you $12,000

OSx86

This is exactly what is happening to the patent system in general and what has already happened to copyright (especially in realtion to DRM). People are putting an artificial value on the use of ‘their’ ideas and any utilisation of those ideas is being seen as a loss of revenue even when they have notmade any attempt to implement those ideas themselves.

The flow of ideas is steadily being dammed and innovation stymied for the sake of a few bushels of wheat.

I had a look at a DS at the weekend, it’s not exactly a pretty object, it looks bulky and feels light and plasticy. Especially compared to a cerftain black shiny object made by evil people. If the next generation is more appealing I may be tempted