The photo above (click on it for a larger view) shows the electric vehicle charging point in the car park of Morrison's at Erith. The charging point is regularly out of use, and electric vehicle users tell me it is somewhat of a lottery if they will be able to recharge their vehicle from it. I have done some research on the subject, and the results I found were quite disturbing. Shoppers hoping to charge their electric vehicles while doing their weekly grocery shop could be left frustrated, as new research has found that more than two in five devices in supermarket car parks are not working. Analysis of public charging data found that 43 per cent of chargers located at major supermarket sites have connection issues or are completely out of order. The study, conducted by car leasing comparison site LeaseLoco, found that half of chargers at the Tesco and Morrisons stores reviewed were not working, while two in five at Lidl were displayed as having a fault. The analysis was conducted using charging points app Zap-Map to review the status of devices located on site at seven major supermarkets on 14 and 15 January. The supermarket chains under review were Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Sainsburys, Tesco and Waitrose. The sample covered 20 major UK cities, and only looked at supermarket sites within a 12-mile radius of the city centre. Across the seven supermarkets, where the charger status was live and available on Zap-Map, an average of 57 per cent were showing as operating without issue. Morrisons had the most comprehensive charger status data on Zap-Map, but this revealed that only half (50 per cent) of the chargers were working on the dates reviewed. While only two out of 12 chargers were working at the four Morrisons stores within a 12-mile radius of Portsmouth, the report found. Asda had the highest percentage of working EV chargers at 74 per cent across all those reviewed where there was available status data on Zap-Map. Although Tesco sites had a lower percentage of working chargers than Morrisons at 49 per cent, LeaseLoco says this was based on fewer devices, as in many cases online status data wasn’t available for chargers, which were omitted from the study as a result. Tesco has also recently removed free charging for customers from the 1st November 2022, Pod Point, which manages devices in Tesco car parks in partnership with Volkswagen, said EV drivers will need to pay 28p per kWh to use the slowest 7kW devices, 40p for 22kW chargers and 50p per kWh to plug into its network of rapid 50kW charging points. The comparison website said that not having any charger reliability status available for many of the devices it checked will add to the frustration for EV owners, as it means it may not be possible to know in advance if particular chargers are working or not. For example, across all Aldi stores considered in this research, there was no live status data. Commenting on the study results, John Wilmot, CEO at LeaseLoco, said supermarkets should be an ideal location for charging, with the average person spending almost an hour in store while doing their grocery shopping, but reliability issues could cause a major headache for EV owners looking to boost batteries while they fill their baskets. 'This research shows that pinning your hopes on your local supermarket to top up your car battery could be a frustrating experience, It also highlights the challenges of relying on a public charging infrastructure - including charging stations at supermarkets - that is not 100 per cent reliable and where demand outstrips supply. Although some car owners will use public chargers infrequently, as they only need their vehicles for short distances and can charge at home, many will need to use the public network to keep their cars on the road. As more people switch to electric vehicles, the need for a fit-for-purpose charging infrastructure will intensify. And if we’re to avoid seeing a repeat of the scenes witnessed over Christmas, with drivers queuing for hours to charge their EVs, this has to be a priority.'
The burger chain In-n-Out Burger does not have regular restaurants in the UK, but it has operated a series if "pop up" restaurants - temporary food outlets in the UK in the past - it is said that this was to protect its trade mark registration in the UK. I would not be at all surprised if the US burger chain were to take a dim view of the UK MOT and vehicle servicing company using an almost identical name and very similar graphics to their very long established and well known brand. You can read about the In-n-Out Burger company by clicking here.
I had an amazing amount of reader feedback regarding the story I told last week concerning my negative experiences at Specsavers opticians in Bexleyheath. It turns out that a considerable number of people have shared similar issues as myself at both the Bexleyheath and Erith branches of the national chain of opticians. One regular reader and occasional contributor - who chooses to remain anonymous writes:- "The story in your latest blog reminded me of my own experience back in 2019, this time at Specsavers in Erith. I had an eye test & subsequently ordered two new pairs of glasses at quite considerable cost. After 3 weeks I picked them up & swapped the old & the new pairs over when I got home. After a couple of days wear I realised my vision was in fact worse than it had been with my old glasses. I went back & the store said I just needed to get used to them & to persist. A couple of weeks passed & it was no better so I made another appointment with the optician. He subsequently fiddled with the nose pads, pushing & bending them, & said I should see how I got along with the adjustments. Needless to say that still didn't help so a further appointment was made with the optician. I saw a different optician this time who performed a new sight test & said it was quite different to the previous one & I also needed a prism in the prescription. I handed over my 2 new pairs to have them remade. Three weeks later I collected them, took them home, swapped them over again but after a couple of days I still could not see properly with the new pairs. I went back again & asked them to check the prism was in the lenses, they checked & said it was. They again asked me to persist & get used to them. Well it was useless, I still could not see. I went back again & saw the same optician I'd seen the second time. I said the staff had checked the prism so she did the eye test all over again. She scratched her head & said the prescription was correct. At that point she took the glasses out of the room & came back a few moments later with a very red face. The prism in the lenses had been put in incorrectly, in one lens it should have been up & in the other it should have been down. In my lenses the prism was down in both. I handed the glasses over again to be remade. Another 3 weeks passed & I picked them up. Finally I could see...!! However, after a couple of days I noticed a very tiny chip at the bottom of one of the lenses. I took the glasses back in & they said I must have damaged them. I told them in no uncertain terms that I had not & they could only have been damaged in the lab. With a shrug of the shoulders they offered to have them remade yet again, but having waited almost 9 months to be able to see, I did not want to part with them again. I asked instead that they clearly document my file so in the event of any deterioration I would have a new pair made free of charge, which they did. Thankfully it was not very noticeable & over the years it did not deteriorate. I have just had a new eye test & ordered two new pairs from the same store. I will be collecting them in 2 weeks time, so....watch this space". Have you had problems with Specsavers or another high street optician? Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.
Last week an official announcement was made by leader of Bexley Council Teresa O'Neill. The wording of the announcement was as follows:- "We are continuing to campaign against the Mayor of London's plan to expand the ULEZ into the borough. Our opposition to the proposal was one of our manifesto commitments at the elections last May, so we have a mandate for the campaign from our residents. The response to the consultation the Mayor carried out last year – which he is choosing to ignore – made clear that our residents continue to oppose the proposal. We have refused to allow the Mayor of London to put his cameras on our street furniture, but he may have the powers to do so without our consent. We are working with other boroughs to gain further information from the Mayor to ascertain the lawfulness of the decisions he has taken recently. We are not currently engaging with TfL to progress agreements to allow works on our roads. We believe that the expansion of the ULEZ into outer London with have a hugely negative impact on residents and businesses, particularly those on low incomes". The expansion of the ULEZ to the outer London boroughs is a controversial and somewhat divisive one. It would seem that nobody disputes the need to reduce the level of air pollution throughout central and outer London, but the means and policy of how to go about this differ wildly, depending on who one asks. At this juncture I feel that I should point out to those not familiar with me, that I do not own a car, though I do have a driving licence - which I primarily use as a form of photo identification, as I do not have a passport. Therefore I am not influenced by personal considerations in respect of the issues being outlined. The ULEZ scheme is due to be expanded across the capital in August, meaning the drivers of older, more polluting cars will have to pay £12.50 a day to use their vehicles. But Mayor Sadiq Khan last week was facing a backlash against the plans that he argues will result in cleaner air for five million Londoners. The ULEZ was launched in central London in 2019 to reduce air pollution and expanding it to the suburbs requires installing 2,750 enforcement cameras that read number plates to check non-compliant vehicles. A spokesman for Conservative-run Harrow said that the borough “will not be co-operating with TfL” in putting up cameras, adding “the evidence that ULEZ will work is not there”. It comes as the borough announced it will offer one-hour free parking in all of its council-owned car parks at a cost of £1 million a year. Sutton Council has also confirmed it will block the installation of the CCTV for the ULEZ, arguing it will negatively impact small business owners and key workers. Hillingdon, Bexley and Bromley councils have also hit out at the scheme. In a joint statement the Outer London boroughs said: “Until we have seen compelling evidence to the contrary, it remains our position that this scheme will not translate successfully to outer London and the negative impact to local households and economies will far outweigh the negligible air quality benefits.” TfL commissioner Andy Lord has previous warned that blocking the cameras needed for the Ulez to operate is counter-productive. He said it could turn boroughs without enforcement into “rat runs” for the most polluting vehicles. “If boroughs refuse to engage and we get into a delay in one area, the risk is that those boroughs see increased traffic,” he added. The MyLondon news website published concerns that some residents have regarding the expansion of the ULEZ to cover the entirety of Greater London.The worry about the expansion is that it will exclude people from London and make it hard for those living outside London even more difficult to come into the city. When MYLondon posted this article about the expansion potentially "being blocked in court", this attracted a lot of comments from concerned readers. Many spoke of how the expansion that comes into force from August 29th will see them stop coming into London. One of their readers, Harleychevymick said: "It makes everybody living within the boundary a prisoner and their vehicle useless. We don't "choose" to go into London. I, for instance, live 1.5 miles within the boundary and only ever go out, but I will have to pay because my vehicle will be seen on camera, so a total of three miles and charged for a whole day. OK if spending the whole day polluting and earning, but not if you spend about three to four minutes and a pensioner. I also only travel through greenbelt, downs, commons and farmland, my weather app always states the air quality as excellent," they added. "We also have little to no buses, no Underground, no trams and sod all useful trains, not enough population to warrant them. This is the last car in my lifetime, and he wants to steal the last few years of my life. It's barbaric!" Another user wrote: "My husband and I both live just outside London and both work in London. My husband works in Wandsworth and has to start at 6.30am. There is no way he will ever get to work at 6.30am using public transport, he needs to take three buses and they don't start running that early! We both bought diesel cars after listening to the Government's advice a few years ago and now, surprise, surprise, neither of our cars are ULEZ compliant. My road tax is only £35 a year but my car is still not compliant. My husband has been forced to buy a new (second hand), petrol car, from the money we were saving for our retirement. His car tax is still over £165 a year, but it is now compliant (at the moment). I can get to work on the bus, it is six miles, but it takes an hour and 15 minutes. I can drive there in 20, so people using public transport is not always a viable option. This is just a money-grabbing scheme that targets working-class people - people who yes, have a car, but have perhaps had the car for a long time - and people who cannot afford to buy new cars. There aren't many reasonable new cars out there for under £20-£30k. We have worked all our adult lives, we haven't claimed anything from the state and now we are getting close to retirement, we are being forced to either pay extortionate amounts of money to go to work to serve the public - we are both public servants working for local authorities - or give up work. We don't get benefits, we don't qualify for scrappage or a bus pass or whatever and we didn't get a say in voting the Mayor in, yet we are being dictated to by someone who has nothing to do with us and who is totally oblivious of or ignorant to the opposition to his scheme or the hardship that it will cause the vast majority of everyone that is affected." Campaigners from the group Action Against ULEZ are planning to bring a legal challenge to the expansion plans but the Mayor said he "hopes they can defeat any legal challenge". Some users said they will stop coming to London entirely due to the expansion of ULEZ. A user wrote: "I will shop outside the ULEZ and no longer spend my money in Richmond, Kingston, Croydon or Greenwich and all those tourist spots." This was followed by another person saying that as a pensioner, "It's going to be hard to save money to change cars." Ironically, one of the biggest contributors to London's air pollution is not the motor vehicle. Home wood burning played a large role in the pollution peaks last weekend, according to data from Imperial College London on the chemical composition of the particle pollution in London, especially during the evenings. Analysis of the soot particles that Londoners were breathing showed that between 60% and 70% came from wood or solid fuel heating. Averaged over the whole year, home fires in the UK produce more particle pollution than the exhaust of all traffic on our roads. Comments to me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.
This month marks a significant anniversary in information technology. Few people at the time, and even fewer nowadays will be familiar with the Apple Lisa computer, which was an abject failure after its launch in 1983 - this year being the fortieth year since its launch. The Lisa may have been a failure, but it was one of the most important computers built to date. What is the Apple Lisa computer, and why was its release on January 19th, 1983, an important date in computer history? Apple’s Macintosh line of computers today, known for bringing mouse-driven graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to the masses and transforming the way we use our computers, owes its existence to its immediate predecessor at Apple, the Lisa. Without the Lisa, there would have been no Macintosh—at least in the form we have it today—and perhaps there would have been no Microsoft Windows either. Before the 1970s and even into the early 1990s, a majority of personal computer users interacted with their machines via command-line interfaces, text-based operating systems such as CP/M and MS/DOS in which users had to type arcane commands to control their computers. Quite some time ago I wrote at some length about two experimental computers created by Xerox - one - the Xerox Star was used by the typing pool at Bexley Council offices in Bexleyheath in the late 1970's and early 1980's. The computers - the Xerox Alto, and later the Xerox Star were the very first computers to have a graphic user interface (GUI) and use a mouse to control the screen. Xerox never intended the computers to be commercially available - they were constructed to be a research project with limited availability to end users - Bexley Council being a notable exception. In 1979, a delegation from Apple Computer, led by Steve Jobs, visited Xerox, and received a demonstration of the Alto. Upon seeing the GUI, Jobs instinctively grasped the potential of this new way of interacting with a computer and didn’t understand why Xerox wasn’t marketing this technology to the public. Jobs could see that all computers should work this way, and he wanted Apple to lead the way by bringing this technology out from the research lab to the masses.Lisa was released to the public on January 19, 1983, at a cost of £9,995. This was two years after Xerox had released its own commercial GUI-based workstation, the Star - as briefly used by Bexley Council, for £16,595, which was similarly targeted towards office workers. The high price of both machines compared to the IBM PC, a command-line based PC which retailed for £1,565, doomed them both to failure. But there were other significant problems too. The Lisa’s sophisticated operating system, which allowed multiple programs to run at the same time (“multitasking”) was too powerful even for its 68000 processor, and thus ran sluggishly. The Lisa shipped with a suite of applications, including word processing and charts, bundled with the system, which discouraged third party developers from writing their own software for it. The Apple Macintosh - essentially a cut down and cheaper version of the Lisa - shipped in January 1984 for £2,495. Eliminating a hard drive, multitasking, and other advanced features, and a greatly reduced memory made it much more affordable than the Lisa. An innovative marketing programme that sold Macintoshes at reduced prices to college students contributed significantly to the Mac’s installed base. The advent of Postscript-driven laser printers like the Apple LaserWriter in 1985, combined with the page layout application PageMaker from 3rd party software company Aldus, and later Adobe, created a brand-new killer application—desktop publishing—for the Macintosh. This new market would grow to a billion dollars by 1988, and the Macintosh became the first commercially successful computer with a graphical user interface and a product-line that continues to this day.
The end video this week is a long form documentary on the history of Thamesmead - detailing what went right, and importantly what went wrong with what was intended to be a showpiece development on the banks of the River Thames. Comments and feedback to me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.
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