The cleanup.

The photos above were taken a little earlier today; they show the environmental charity Thames 21, who, along with volunteers from FORGE (Friends Of Riverside Gardens Erith), the Explorer Scouts and the Army Cadets spent most of the day clearing up items dumped in the Thames mud. The event was scheduled so that the river would be at low tide during the work, and the record for the numbers of shopping trollies from Morrisons that were retrieved from the mud was broken. Last year they rescued a total of 21 trollies; by 1pm the volunteers had collected 25 trollies, and there were still several still in the river. In an improvement on previous years, the volunteers did not just clear up the river, they also collected dozens of bags of rubbish from the Erith Riverside Gardens, which were to be collected by Bexley Council's waste management contractors. I have been reliably told that the collected shopping trollies will be recycled by local scrap processors, the Manor Road based European Metal Recycling. It is not possible to properly clean the muddy trollies, even with a pressure washer, and the mud contains all sorts of harmful bacteria, so they will be melted down and repurposed instead. The trollies cost Morrison's £60 each, so the supermarket will have lost something in the region of £1500 through the thoughtless and malicious actions of local vandals, not to mention the potential danger to the environment and the wildlife inhabiting the river and the Riverside Gardens. The number of volunteers helping with the cleanup was the highest I have seen - something in the region of eighty young people were on site, supervised by Thames 21 and FORGE. Not many appear in the photos above, as I took them when lunch was being served. Morrisons, McDonalds and KFC all donated free food for the volunteers, who were able to use the facilities in Erith Rowing Club next door to the wooden river jetty. 

You may have recently seen in the national news that the British Government is being challenged over its supply of computer and phone surveillance equipment to governments with a poor record on human rights. The issue is complex, and a number of factors are involved. The government and agencies such as GCHQ and MI5 in the UK, and the NSA in America have not recently covered themselves in glory. A lot of classified documents originating in the American National Security Agency (NSA) have been leaked and posted online, initially by Germany's Der Spiegel newspaper. They have been independently verified as genuine by a number of sources, and they make for fascinating reading. Basically, between the American NSA and the British GCHQ every form of electronic communication in the world can be monitored, recorded and decoded. This has been suspected for some time, but this is the first time that it has been backed up with documentary evidence. I was not surprised, by that, but I was astonished as to the level of commercialisation that is now not just government departments spying on other governments, but a lot of it is outsourced to commercial organisations. More on this later. A clanger of jumbo scale was made by British Intelligence when Julian Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. MI5 deployed a device called a Typhon HX; this is a device that mimics a mobile phone providers’ base station and collects phone calls, texts and web traffic – effectively tapping mobile phones. The spying was uncovered as people in the area around the embassy started getting “Welcome to Uganda Telecom” messages on their phones. It would appear that the spooks had not correctly reconfigured the Typhon HX from a previous spying mission in Uganda! I would imagine that the individual responsible would be given a rocket for exposing the whole operation in such an incompetent manner. On top of this, the leaked documents show that no computer, whether it be a server, desktop, laptop or tablet is safe from intrusion. The same is true of mobile phones. The security services are able to remotely control your mobile phone – they can switch on its’ camera and microphone to watch what you are doing, and listen to what you are saying. The phone appears in standby, and there is no way of easily telling it has been hijacked, other than the battery life is far shorter. The documents even detail an exploit for the iPhone code named DROPOUT JEEP which can take complete control of any phone running iOS and is “one hundred percent” reliable. There is some speculation that Apple may have actually helped the NSA to develop the exploit in a bid to assist in potential counter terrorism. A lot of the documentation is quite technical and in great depth, so I will not bore a general readership with it, but you can see more by clicking here.  Earlier I referred to the commercialisation of surveillance; the NSA actually manufacture a wide range of electronic spying equipment which they sell to friendly (and sometimes not so friendly) governments to spy on their citizens. There is even a catalogue complete with price list – almost like a parody of the (now defunct) Maplin catalogue. The trouble with all of this is that the security services are (nominally) controlled by politicians – who almost to a person don’t have a clue about the technology that has been developed – there is a real issue as to who is actually in charge when it comes to digital interception and decryption. On the subject of the commercialisation of the intelligence domain, much of the sales documentation of the software and hardware suite designed to hack and remotely monitor “targets” – a euphemism for people - the documentation also makes it clear that the software is capable of monitoring "up to hundreds of thousands of targets" - if you were genuinely monitoring even the largest of terrorist organisations, I would have thought a couple of hundred "targets" would have been all that was required. It sounds to me like they are enabling repressive governments to spy on substantial proportions of their citizens. The Italian company “Hacking Team” behind it are one of a handful that sell their products all over the world; I wish this was some paranoid fantasy, but it is all too real. Please feel free to leave a comment below.

A mystery has been brought to my attention, and I know that some correspondence has taken place on social media, including FaceBook. For several weeks a large, quite old camper van has been parked outside of the main gates of Erith Hospital. There have been rumours and suppositions as to why it is parked there, and if indeed anyone is living in it. I have passed the site several times whilst on the B12 bus to and from Bexleyheath, and the camper van has mystified me. If anyone has any concrete background information about the strange, out of place vehicle, then please do let me know - Email hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

Much has been written - both by me, and others in respect of the threat that streaming video services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and even YouTube have made to traditional broadcasters. Linear video - as in, you have to remember to watch a TV show whilst it is actually being broadcast, is now far less of a factor than it used to be. The BBC have responded with BBC iPlayer, and other commercial stations have done similar things, with a greater or lesser degree of success. The one major broadcaster who seem to be still rooted in the past is Sky. Although they have announced that all of their services will eventually be available to be streamed on demand, they are still in my opinion culturally tied to their linear satellite services. Historically, before fast digital networking and the World Wide Web were in common use, the only way to send data over a large geographical area was either to build and operate a large and high powered network of terrestrial transmitters, or alternatively to purchase or lease a number of broadcast satellites in geostationary orbit. Each satellite costs somewhere in the region of £100 million to build and launch, so the financial commitment is extremely high, either way. Nowadays the requirement for very expensive broadcasting infrastructure is no longer present, but Sky don't seem to be moving anything like as quickly as I feel they should to respond to the changes in technology, and where the market is inevitably heading. Also, their pricing structure for their "standard" HD service is now prohibitive. A package with all channels minus the sports ones currently costs around £65 per month, and is due to increase to £68 per month in April. On top of this, Sky and the other broadcasters using the Sky platform all show adverts during the programmes. In essence you are paying to watch commercials. In contrast the newer streaming services such as Amazon Prime Video and Netflix offer unlimited viewing starting at around £7.99 a month, depending on the package desired. On top of this, the streaming video services have no adverts whatsoever. It seems to me that market forces will cause Sky to alter their business model; if they don't, then in time they will cease to exist.

Founders of not for profit organisation The Exchange, Sarah and Peter have made the front page of the Bexley edition of the News Shopper this week; their hard work in the ongoing refurbishment and repurposing of the old Carnegie Library in Walnut Tree Road, Erith has been recognised by the local paper. The Exchange are converting the former library into a community and arts centre. Phase one of the project - the opening of The Bookstore Cafe has already been completed, and phase two, the refurbishment of the ground and upper floor of the building will take place when further funding has been confirmed. You can read more about The Exchange by clicking here.

One of the few land based pirate radio stations to make a successful transition to a legal commercial radio station celebrated its fiftieth anniversary last week. Radio Jackie started life as a pirate in 1969, with occasional programmes. The first transmission was just 30 minutes long before it expanded to a weekly broadcast. It was created by current owner and founder Tony Collis. It pre-dated Independent Local Radio in the UK and was raided by the authorities on several occasions. After initial broadcasts from houses and flats, Jackie decided that these regular locations were going to attract the attentions of the authorities, so they became the first station to move transmissions to open spaces. While it meant that they couldn't broadcast live and no longer had access to mains electricity for the power-hungry valve transmitters of the day, it did make operations considerably less risky. The equipment could be set up in the undergrowth with an aerial between trees, while station staff could be on lookout from a distance, ready to either whisk the equipment away if they had enough warning of the arrival of the Post Office investigators – or to simply run away if they didn't. Gradually Radio Jackie refined its mobile broadcasting, at one time even making use of a pram to house all the heavy equipment. From initial broadcasts in Sutton's Nonsuch Park, for a long time they could be found every Sunday in a corner of Beddington Sewage Works. Transmissions moved to 227m, where they would continue for most of their part-time pirate life. In 1971 they also experimented with VHF transmissions every Saturday night, at first on their own and then as part of the London Transmitter of Independent Radio group. At this time the authorities found it hard to track VHF transmissions, but when they could they rapidly wiped them off the dial and in 1973 Jackie were back to AM-only broadcasts. 1975 saw Radio Jackie disappear from the airwaves for most of the year. Several of the staff had jumped ship to Radio Kaleidoscope, while founder Mike Knight was caught in a raid at another station and sentenced to 28 days in Pentonville Prison because of his previous four convictions. After their return the format of the station began to change, positioning Radio Jackie as The Sound of South-West London and with more content for their broadcast area – though mostly confined to local listings. In 1983 Radio Jackie launched a full 24 hours a day service with Dave Pearce and Paul McKenna amongst the people involved in their early careers. As a pirate, it operated with full-time staff, high street offices and the support of locals. In 1984 a petition, calling for the station to be given a licence, was signed by over 55,000 people and supported by many local councillors and the MP for Mitcham and Morden. Offices and studios were set up in Worcester Park, a more professional transmitter and aerial system installed in Cheam and Jackie registered as a proper business with PAYE-enrolled employees. There was even a Radio Jackie shop. After the introduction of the 1984 Telecoms Act, Radio Jackie seems to have known it was living on borrowed time. On Friday 1st February 1984 the new DTI Radio Investigation Service launched separate raids on Radio Jackie's offices and studios and at the transmitter site. They stripped the premises of every last piece of equipment and all the paperwork that was needed to prove individuals' involvement in the station. Concluding that they could not continue operating in the way they had before and that if they didn't then it would not be Radio Jackie, the station decided to close down. They came back on the air using makeshift equipment and prepared for a final farewell on Monday 4 February 1985. Hundreds of listeners turned up outside their offices at Central Road, Worcester Park to say goodbye, with programmes also going out on a VHF transmitter from the same location to ensure they could not be taken off. Even then the DTI couldn't resist raiding the medium wave transmitter site in the last minutes of the broadcast. Members of Radio Jackie continued campaigning for a licence. When in 1996 the Radio Authority finally advertised one for South West London they applied, only to be beaten by Thames Radio. When Thames ran into financial difficulties Jackie bought the loss-making station for £1, returning as Radio Jackie in October 2003, restoring live broadcasting and local news bulletins. Radio Jackie is now a successful legitimate commercial radio station serving South West London. You can see their website and listen to them online by clicking here. 

Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly from Barnehurst ward:- "Barnehurst are pleased to report there have been no burglaries in the past week. On Tuesday 12th March 2019 at 23.00 hours there was an attempted burglary in Erith Road whereby the victim heard someone tampering with the lock on the front door, the victim did not open the door. The following morning a small knife was found outside the address, this has been sent off for forensics. In Taunton Close on Thursday 14th March 2019 registrations plates were stolen from a Ford Transit. The team have been distributing Smart Water to all residents of Hillingdon Road following a spate of vehicle crime recently. We hope to continue in getting over areas of the ward covered in the near future. Coffee with cops at the Barnehurst Golf Club has been very successful in recent weeks. Following requests from residents we will be arranging some of these meetings at later times to accommodate those who are unable to attend earlier sessions. The next coffee with cops will be held at the golf club at 4.00pm, please join us to hear about what we are doing in your area and to discuss any concerns you may have". Belvedere ward:- "Throughout the last week, as part of Operation Sceptre, the team have continued to take part in ‘weapon sweeps' in several areas of the ward – Mitchell Close, Halt Robin Road, Salmon Road, Albert Road park areas, Parkside Road ad Franks Park to name a few…. .so far we have found no items of concern; On Thursday 14th March, PC Holmes and PCSO Worrall, during patrols of Picardy Street and in particular Mary Slessor House, discovered a motorbike in the rear courtyard of the building which (after checks were completed) transpired to have been stolen in the early hours of that morning. The vehicle was swiftly returned to a very happy owner. There have been four recent burglaries, three of which took place in the lower part of the ward – one in Gordon Road and two in Stanmore Road (these were thought to have taken place on the same day). The same method of entry was used here as rear patio doors where damaged / glass smashed in gaining entry. The fourth occurred in Milton Road and was an apparent attempted break in as the person(s) responsible do not appear to have entered the property after the house alarm sounded. Staff at the Lesness Abbey ruins site contacted the team recently as they happened to discover a discarded gun in the undergrowth whilst carrying out gardening duties around the site. The team attended and discovered that this weapon was in fact an air pistol. We have now removed this item to a safe location in order for it to be destroyed. Our next Community Contact Session is due to take place on Monday 25th March at Starbucks on the Belvedere Park estate from 4pm". Bexleyheath ward:- "On Thursday 14/03/2019 – There was a report of a burglary along Broomfield Road Bexleyheath. Alloy wheels had been stolen from the side gate access to the property; On Monday 18/03/2019.  There was a report of a theft of motor vehicle along Mayplace Road East that was taken from the driveway, taken by means unknown . This had taken place between 1am in the morning and 12 midday; Also on Thursday 14/03/2019 - There was a theft of a catalytic converter from a vehicle that was at the CIVIC office car park; Tuesday 19/03.2019 – Along Church Road Bexleyheath, victim had reported that their vehicle was scratched. There were four reports of theft from motor vehicles all on Monday 18/03/2019. The location are Midfield Avenue and Albion Road Car Park, two had taken place at each location and all of them seem to be during the day. On the Thursday 14/03/2018 – Victim had reported that they had their credit card stolen in Iceland's Store on the Broadway when the suspect had deliberately bumped into them. A person was stopped by the Premiere Inn with possession of cannabis and also 9 stop and searches conducted at the cinema car par. Also just to make you are, we have had problems with our ward phone and is now up and running again. We apologise if anyone was trying to call us and was unable to get through to us. Please note our contact number is not for emergency use and anything that does need reporting should ideally be via 999 or101 and online. If you do wish to pass on information to Police then please contact Crime Stoppers on 0800 555111. Please do not hesitate to contact us via Twitter, Facebook, email and the ward phone. If you are after crime prevention advice, please look at the Met Police website which has lots of information that you may find useful. Remember in an emergency please dial 999 or 101 for non-urgent reporting".  Crayford ward:- "On Wednesday 13th March at approx. 13.37 a laptop valued at £1600.00 was stolen from Currys, the cable ties securing it were cut. There was a business burglary in Crayford High Street at 3am on Friday 15th March, a significant amount of fishing equipment was stolen from the premises, entry and exit was via the smashed front door, a white van was used and two suspects were seen. A white Ford Transit, number plate BW11TWZ was stolen from a property in Stour Road overnight Sunday 10th to Monday 11th March, the van had work tools inside. Number plates KF07XMU were stolen overnight Friday 15th in to Saturday 16th March in Mayplace Road East. these should be on a black Vauxhall. Two Males were seen stealing number plates from a black 1 series BMW and placing them on a White Audi A5 at Church Hill/Perry Street. Number plates PF57FFP were stolen from a white DAF overnight Sunday 17th - Monday 18th March whilst parked in Swaislands Drive. A Black GTF Vespa was stolen along with the chain and padlock from Bourne Road on Thursday 14th March between 12.00 - 13.00. Please be vigilant if using Bookers at Thames Road. On Sunday 17th March a lady's vehicle was hit from behind at Thames Road, she got out to exchange details with the driver, the accomplice snatched her handbag and just purchased cigarettes off the passenger seat. On the same day a lady had her handbag stolen containing a large amount of cash, driving licence, bank and credit cards, the suspect in this instance was seen to get in to a black Landrover before heading off towards Dartford. Please keep bags secured and out of sight whilst in your vehicle. We will be at Beano's café on Wednesday 27th March between 11.00 and 12.00 if you would like to come along and speak with us. Our next ward panel will also be held on Thursday 28th March at 7pm. The venue will be Vintage Lindy Lou's". Erith ward:- "We have unfortunately had a few burglaries in Erith this last week, All areas have been and will be patrolled more both plain clothing and in uniform, we will be checking residents CCTV and offering crime prevention advise to residents as well as trying to set up more Neighbourhood Watchesin the areas. Tower Road - By suspect(s) unknown breaking into the rear of the premises by smashing a rear window and conducting an untidy search and appropriating items unknown at time of report and making off. Bexley Road - Victim reporting attempted burglary at home address. Front doors smashed, no entry gained. Park Crescent – suspect detained nearby to venue who opened unlocked front door with no legal reason or good cause before being disturbed by occupier and making off on foot. Riverdale Road - By suspect(s) unknown entering garden then smashing rear window of property and conducting an untidy search and making off direction unknown". There was also a contribution from a Neighbourhood Watch member who observed:- "'A somewhat unusual event to report from Tuesday (19th March). I was just picking up a few supplies from Morrison's and spotted a man apparently keen to set his own bonfire by Wharfside Close, apparently trying to burn some sort of papers and other material(?!) with the aid of what I believe was a jerry can'. We understand that the Fire Brigade was called and the incident reported" There will be a special report on this incident in next week's Maggot Sandwich update. Northumberland Heath ward:- "This week the team have continued target area patrols. The team had 1 horse seized by the RSPCA and have reported a second horse. The team have also recovered a stolen moped that was found in South Road, DA8. In the early hours of Thursday 14th March officers were called to York Terrace where it was reported a male was rooting around in a garden shed, police attended and arrested a male for burglary. Unfortunately we do have a few crimes of note this week :- On Thursday the 14th March a white ford transit van was stolen from Hurst Road. On Thursday the 14th March there was a shed burglary in Belmont Road. On Monday the 18th March we had a theft of number plates from a vehicle in Carlton Road". Slade Green and Northend ward:- "We had a burglary reported on Saturday 16/03/2019 on Elm Road whereby a suspect was able to gain access to the property via an open window on the ground floor. This serves as a timely reminder to make sure that all windows are secured when going out especially as the weather (hopefully) starts to improve. We have also noted a slight rise in the number of reported thefts of motorcycles and mopeds, some of which are preventable. If you own one then I would encourage residents to remember ‘LOCK, CHAIN, COVER'. For more information go to: www.met.police.uk/scootersecurity. The team have had an eventful week which has even including seizing a horse and leaving it in the capable hands of the RSPCA, seizing a stolen moped found on South Road, Erith as well as a number of stop and searches, mainly for drugs".

Thamesmead East ward:- "Good News - After a lengthily investigation and subsequent court appearance a male was found guilty of criminal damage and a public order offence. Male is awaiting sentencing. Reception years 1 and 2 Pupils from St John Fisher RC School enjoyed exploring the CCTV Van - see the above photos. CRIMES THIS WEEK - Theft from Motor Vehicle: WOLVERCOTE ROAD Monday 18/03/19 between 8:30am-3pm Vehicle broken into and property stolen from inside by person/s unknown. Burglary: OVERTON ROAD Tuesday 19/03/19 between 11:30pm-9am Wednesday unknown suspect/s entered the victim's rear garden and broken into victims shed". West Heath ward:- "There have been no reported burglaries for 16 days. However after a break of 24 days we had two theft from motor vehicles overnight on Friday 15th- Saturday 16th March. One was in Whitfield Road where a nurses uniform was taken and found later discarded at the end of the road. The other was in Knowle Road where the car was broken into using keyless entry, no damage was caused and nothing was taken. We have held two well attended street briefings one in Milford Close on the Friday 15th March where the only issue raised was some historical suspicious activity in the garages to the rear of Milford Close and today's street briefing was held in Heath Avenue junction with Marley Avenue. The main issue raised was possible drug activity from people in cars late at night. Two males in a car were moved on by the team on Sunday night. The team continue to patrol the area both in uniform and plain clothes at various times to disrupt and deter such activity. We have been busy assisting our colleagues on Crook Log Team with a dispersal zone over the last week end as well as attending the local Mosques and other places of worship following the recent terrorist attacks in New Zealand. The team assisted in patrolling the Crook Log leisure Centre during the Mayor's Peoples Question Time. The next Street Briefing will be on Friday 29th March at 11.30am on the Hurst Lane Estate".

The end video this week features South Thamesmead - an area that is undergoing a great deal of change and redevelopment. A number of the buildings featured in the video will soon be demolished; indeed a number of the locations used in Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" no longer exist. 

The "Our Erith" art exhibition.

This weekend saw the launch of the first "Our Erith" art exhibition, hosted by The Friends of Christ Church Erith within the confines of the listed church building. Over 120 original paintings, photographs, sculptures and embroidery were on show. The event was opened by the Friends of Christ Church sponsor, MP for Erith and Thamesmead, Teresa Pearce. It had been intended for the Mayor of Bexley to open the event, but due to a mix - up at the Mayor's office, the event was not recorded in her diary. This was not a major setback, and Teresa, along with Friends Committee Chairman Jim Bennett made a great job of opening the exhibition. You can get an idea of a small number of the many exhibits from the photos above and below - click on any one for a larger view. 

Housing concerns make headlines in the local press this week; the News Shopper reports that a Crayford based midwife by the name of Elaine Willis has submitted a Freedom of Information request to Bexley Council to find out how much of the housing being planned, or under construction in the borough will be available to affordably rent. The answer is disturbingly little. The Erith Park development has fifty six percent of affordable rental properties; the forthcoming Riverside Swimming baths site redevelopment will have twenty five percent for affordable rent, and the Howbury Centre site in Slade Green will have fourteen percent for affordable rent. Mrs Willis told the News Shopper “My main concern is about all the buildings going up in this area and only a minute amount is social housing.  It must be absolutely horrible living in temporary accommodation with all these properties going up in this area. There is nothing for the people on the waiting lists. It seems wrong to me.  I grew up on a council estate - how to hell are they going to buy a £250,000 house? It’s just going to get more and more expensive to live down here.  I am a qualified midwife and I earn a decent wage but I wouldn’t even be able to buy a place.  People are having their aspirations taken away because they can’t buy a home." Sadly many people are in this position. I have a well-paid job working for a multinational professional services firm, but even so, the pace of property inflation has been so high that I could not afford to buy my own house if I was in the market for it today. Mrs Willis also points out that none of the properties being constructed on the Erith Quarry or Tower Hill sites in Erith have any provision for affordable housing. I think she misses a point here, however. Both the Erith Quarry (The Anderson Group) and Tower Hill (Barratt Homes) sites are fully commercial ventures being constructed by private firms rather than housing associations. They are there to make a profit for their shareholders, and as far as the Erith Quarry development is concerned, I understand that it is being pitched as an aspirational location with two, three and four bedroomed houses – the developers are aiming at relatively wealthy professional people buying their second or third time around home, not at first time buyers. They are hoping that the influx of middle class people into the predominantly working class area will mean that money will come into Erith, and hopefully filter into the local economy. The costs of properties in both Tower Hill and Erith Quarry are indeed substantially higher than the norm for the area, but perversely substantially cheaper than equivalent properties in other areas with a similar commuting time into central London. Mrs Willis did omit one development from her information request – she forgot about the forty new apartments for affordable rent in James Watt Way, which will be ready for occupation very soon now. The entire block is one hundred percent available for affordable rent. I would imagine that interest in this site must be very high – it will be interesting to observe as tenants get to move in soon.

As I have mentioned in the past, I feel that I am not alone in seriously considering ditching my subscription to Sky TV, which I have had for the last twenty years. The quality of programmes and especially the selection of premium movies leaves much to be desired, and I seriously resent paying for premium channels like Sky Atlantic, and still have to sit through advert breaks. All Sky subscribers are actually paying a subscription to watch adverts – it makes no sense. In the USA, commercial TV companies are already feeling the pinch. Some are cutting back on the number and length of their commercial breaks to try and tempt back customers who are now voting with their feet and leaving the traditional broadcasters and moving to subscription based, advert free streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. Netflix knows their customers hate ads. "We know one of the benefits of an ecosystem like Netflix is its lack of advertising," Howard Shimmel, a chief research officer at Time Warner, told Bloomberg in an interview last year. "Consumers are being trained there are places they can go to avoid ads." In response to Netflix's advertising policy, many networks have actually cut back on the amount of ads they show in an effort to lure back in the younger Netflix / Amazon Prime generation. Media analyst CordCutting.com crunched some numbers and found that each Netflix subscriber saves themselves about 158.5 hours of commercials per year. The number will be somewhat lower in the UK and most of Europe, where fewer adverts are allowed per hour of broadcast television, but it is still a substantial number. As I have previously written, I consider the Sky business model to be fundamentally broken, and if they don’t move away from hugely expensive satellite broadcasting and convert to a streaming service, I think they will be dead and gone in the next five years. What do you think? Comment below, or Email hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Devices such as mobile phones and tablets such as the Apple iPad can use swipe based authentication to lock and unlock the screen. This is convenient and relatively easy to remember when compared to a password or pass number, as many also use. The problem is that swiping has proved to be relatively insecure. I have in the past successfully unlocked a Samsung tablet which used swipe authentication - after getting permission from the owner. I won't detail how here, but suffice to say it is very simple indeed. Alternative methods of securing mobile devices are now being identified by hardware manufacturers. Among the many clever post-password authentication schemes currently under development is multi-touch gesture analysis. The basic idea is to observe a user's movements on a touchscreen device for some period of time and to come up with a gestural profile unique to that individual. Then, based on this profile, the system can verify a user's identity continuously as they use the device. The idea sounds fishy, yes. Couldn't some hacker just observe those same gestures and then mimic them to gain access to a system? The answer should be no because the gestures read by the system are interpreted in such a way as to compile biometric profiles of the user's hand/wrist/etc, resulting in a model that can be used to interpret/verify new/different gestures down the line.  While gestural ID systems are getting a lot of research play these days thanks to error rates trending toward the low single-digits, they also tend to take a rosy view of the security world in which hackers attempt to breach such defences via crude impersonation, e.g. when one hacker-user attempts to mirror some target-user. This is called a zero-effort attack and it stands in contrast to an attack-by-forgery, in which an attempt is made to recreate (rather than mimic) the user-target. A DARPA -funded report titled "Robotic Robbery on the Touch Screen" published recently in the journal ACM Transactions on Information and System Security looks at gestural authentication through the eyes of a more sophisticated hacker. It presents two Lego-driven robotic attacks on a touch-based authentication system—one is based on gestural statistics collected over time from a large population of users and the other is based on stealing gestural data directly from a user. Both were pretty effective. "Both attacks are launched by a Lego robot that is trained on how to swipe on the touch screen," the paper explains. "Using seven verification algorithms and a large dataset of users, we show that the attacks cause the system’s mean false acceptance rate (FAR) to increase by up to fivefold relative to the mean FAR seen under the standard zero-effort impostor attack." To amass enough statistics to launch the first attack, the researchers took 41 subjects, mostly college students between 18 and 25 years of age, and had them accomplish various tasks on an Android phone representing fairly normal Android operation. 28 different swipe-features were tabulated, ranging from touch-pressure to swipe start and end locations to swipe duration. The resulting data was then compiled into a single ultra-generic power-user.  This power-user ultimately became the Lego robot, which was outfitted with a Play-Doh-moulded "finger." The robot was able to achieve a 70 percent FAR for the least affected gesture-recognition algorithm the experiment tested. In other words, the robot was usually able to trick a recognition algorithm using high-resolution statistical observations of actual smart-phone usage. The second attack involved the theft of actual gesture-recognition data from a collection of target-user's phones. This data was then used by the robot to recreate a specific target-user's swiping biometrics, with, as expected, even better results. FARs for this method hit ninety percent at the high end.  While continuous gesture-based authentication is really only meant to be a backup to other (one-time) authentication methods, its apparent leakiness should be concerning. Also of concern, the authors note, is the traditional usage of zero-effort attacks for representing the relative successes of gestural algorithms.  "Because the attacks require only basic programming skills and are launched using cheap off-the-shelf hardware, they represent a realistic threat that should be expected to be faced by a real deployment of a touch-based authentication system," the paper concludes. "The article not only calls for the incorporation of robotic attacks in the standard impostor testing routine of touch-based authentication systems but also calls for research into mechanisms that could defeat these attacks”.

As I predicted some time ago, the number of shopping trolleys and baskets that are being stolen from Britain's supermarkets has rocketed since the plastic carrier bag charge came into force last October. Some supermarkets such as Asda are fitting their baskets and trolleys with electronic security tags to try and prevent thefts. Some light fingered shoppers are even pinching trolleys from stores and then dumping them in the streets after removing their shopping. Trolleys cost about £100 to replace and baskets around £10 – while electronic security tags cost just £1 each. I have also heard evidence from the medical profession that reusing "bags for life" can be extremely hazardous, as cross contamination from raw and ready to eat foods can occur, and bacteria can live on the surfaces of the bags for several days. There is anecdotal evidence that incidences of campylobacter and salmonella are on the increase. In a recent press interview, Professor Anthony Hilton, head of biological and biomedical science at Aston University, said the public needs to be educated about the dangers of contaminated bags. Professor Hilton and his team worked out that millions of bacteria cells can survive on plastic bag for days or even weeks - including potentially deadly E. coli. He said: "Reusing plastic bags is hugely beneficial to the environment but the public should be mindful of the ability of bacteria to contaminate and survive on bags for long periods of time. Bacteria can easily transfer from different types of reusable bags to the hands and back again. What is more, using the same bag repeatedly for different purposes increases the risk of contaminating the bag with a whole host of harmful bacteria. For example, carrying fresh meat brings with it known contamination risks and if you then use the same bag for carrying ready-to-eat foods such as cheese or bread there is the potential for cross-contamination. Likewise, if you carry sports shoes one day and then shopping the next." He advises that people only use certain bags for certain types of food produce, and always wash hands and goods thoroughly.

I don’t normally pass comment on stories that get covered by the national press, as I usually don’t find that I have anything to add to them. In this case I will make an exception. You may have seen the story about the tiny flat in Thamesmead - In the online listing, on Hunters estate agents website,  is described as: "One bedroom flat, available immediately. There is a lounge, fitted kitchen, double bedroom and gas central heating."  It is exceedingly small, having originally been designed for a car, and the lounge is only 4.42m by 2.26m. To be honest I wonder if it is even a legal development; the garages are for the storage of cars and other vehicles, and are not designed for habitation. It strikes me as being very similar to the “beds in sheds” phenomenon where unscrupulous landlords cram as many tenants into a property as they can physically manage, in order to illegally increase their earnings. Planning regulations, health and safety and fire regulations are ignored.  This story sounds very similar. I wonder if the notoriety of the story, and how widespread it has become will cause the planning authorities to take action? It is in interesting to note that the estate agents are up to their old tricks – they say that the tiny flat is located in Abbey Wood, when it is actually situated in one of the less desirable parts of Thamesmead.

You may recall me writing a while back in praise of the Tesla model S electric luxury limousine car. Do you have a teenage child that likes to borrow your car and then destroy it in a spectacular crash? I sincerely hope the answer to that question is a resounding "no," but in the off chance that you do, you may want to consider changing your current vehicle for a Tesla model S. Last week in Germany, the joyriding daughter of a Tesla owner discovered first hand just how safe the electric vehicle is, after losing control at high speed and rolling into a field. According to German newspaper Merkur, the 18-year old and four of her friends were messing around in her father's Model S before losing control. The car flew more than 80 feet (25m) into a field before rolling once and coming to a halt. Although three of the occupants had to be helicoptered to hospitals in Munich for treatment, none of their injuries were life-threatening, a testament to the safety of Tesla's skateboard chassis. Unlike a conventionally powered car, the Model S (and the newer Model X) have no large engine up front to intrude into the passenger compartment during a collision. This means the front and rear crumple zones can effectively dissipate the kinetic energy of a crash, as seen to good effect in the photographs taken after the accident, which you can see here. While the Model S was heavily damaged, one does not need much of an imagination to think that a similar crash in a front-engined internal combustion vehicle would have had a much worse outcome for the car's five occupants. In essence, if the teenagers had been in a conventionally powered car, they would have very likely have been killed. 

You may recall my account of attending the Bexley Beer Festival that I published last week. The event was excellent, well attended and as always very relaxed and friendly. What I neglected to mention was that afterwards myself and three friends decided that we would walk into Bexley Village and have a curry. We ended up at the very pleasant Baltizer Restaurant, which is located in one of the railway arches in the town centre. A very nice meal was had by all; amongst the dishes we enjoyed was a large bowl of outstanding lentil dhall, which was shared by the party. I love dhall - it is a cheap, nutritious and tasty dish which anyone, carnivore, veggie or vegan can eat. There is only one problem with it, which normally arises the next morning. That is rampant flatulence - I ended up sounding like a badly tuned two - stroke outboard engine for most of the Saturday, and I was not the only one of the group so affected. This got me thinking - surely there must be a solution to this kind of embarrassing problem? I recently read that an inventor has come up with a material comprising of metallic silver chemically bonded to polyester, to make underpants that kill harmful microbes, and thus stop the pants from becoming smelly with wear. In addition to the antimicrobial properties, the underwear can also help regulate body temperature because of silver’s thermal conductivity properties. Inventor company Organic Basics says that the underwear is “elegant. It’s comfortable. It’s odourless. It’s the future of underwear.” The company is raising funds for manufacturing the boxers, as well as T-shirts and socks, on Kickstarter. However, while silver is effective at killing off foul microbes, it has no defence against the power of the fart. I had a think; as some will know parts of Lower Belvedere and Erith were at potential risk of Chlorine gas poisoning from the giant tank of liquified Chlorine which was located in the May and Baker chemical refinery in Lower Belvedere. In fact, back on the 22nd February 1986, some roads in Lower Belvedere were indeed evacuated following a Chlorine leak, though fortunately nobody was hurt. Parts of Erith are similarly affected by various chemicals stored in warehouses and yards in the in the Darent Industrial Park in Wallhouse Road, Slade Green. Consequent to all of these noxious chemicals in the local area, some time ago I purchased a brand new high end gas mask, seen in the photo above - click on it for a larger view. The gas mask is of the same type used by the United Nations Nuclear, Biological and Chemical weapons inspectors. I also have spare air filters. The air filters contain a number of elements designed to pass through only clean air - any gases, microbes or particles of radioactive material would be filtered out. One of the main constituents of the filters is Activated Carbon - this is the substance which removes gases and only passes clean air. I think you can see where I am going with this one. What if you were to equip silver bonded underpants with a "panty liner" incorporating a layer of Activated Carbon? You could produce a pair of pants that were flatulence filters. You could let rip to your heart's content, secure in the knowledge that not even the slightest noxious whiff would escape. It would not do anything about the sound however - so maybe the whole idea needs a little more development. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

At the "Our Erith" art show in Christ Church Erith, I spoke to numerous people who were not conversant with the history of Erith and the surrounding areas, and who had absolutely no idea of the historic connections Erith has with so many scientific and engineering inventions. Back in Edwardian times, Erith and Crayford were one of the arms manufacturing centres of the UK, mostly due tot he efforts of Sir Hiram Maxim. I thought that I would expand on a piece I wrote about Sir Hiram Maxim a while ago by publishing parts of his obituary, which was originally published back in November 1916 in the Times:- "Sir HIRAM STEVENS MAXIM was born at Sangersville, Maine, on 15th February 1840. His ancestors were Huguenots and came to England at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Early in the eighteenth century they emigrated to Plymouth, Mass., and a hundred years later went to Maine. At the age of fourteen his father apprenticed him to a coach-builder, and during this period he was credited with having constructed the first tricycle built in America. Soon after this he worked at his uncle's engineering works at Fitchburg, Mass., and later was at a philosophical instrument maker's, also at a shipbuilder's. He was for a time with Mr. Oliver P. Drake, a maker of gas-machines at Boston, and while so engaged invented in 1865 a machine for making lighting gas by means of vaporized petroleum. He also perfected an automatic sprinkler, and made improvements in feed-water heaters, steam and vacuum pumps, engine governors, gas-motors, etc. In 1878 he became chief engineer of the first electric lighting company in the United States, which was founded by Mr. S. D. Schuyler. While so engaged he invented the process of flashing carbon filament lamps in a hydrocarbon vapour, and took out patents for dynamos, lamp carbons, and secondary batteries. In 1881 he went to Europe to represent his firm in Paris, and while there he was made a Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur, on account of his invention of an electric pressure-regulator. It was at that time he became interested in machine-guns, and was introduced to Mr. Albert Vickers, who at once recognized the value of the invention, which surmounted the difficulty of cartridges jamming in the barrel. The Maxim Gun Co., with Mr. Vickers as chairman, was founded in 1884, and in 1888 amalgamated with the Nordenfeldt Co. Later, these were absorbed in the Vickers firm, which then became Vickers, Sons, and Maxim. The Maxim gun was adopted by the British Army in 1889, and by the Navy in 1892, and it has been supplied in large quantities to all the military powers of the world. When he ceased to be a director of the firm on his seventy-first birthday, in 1911, the title was again changed to Vickers Limited. It is reported that, on the suggestion of Lord Wolseley, he invented a smokeless powder, and evolved the Pom-Pom gun. The question of aviation had interested Maxim from his youth, but he never achieved successful flight. Many experiments were carried out during 1892-4 at Baldwin's Park, Kent, and the most novel features were the engines and boilers; but their weight, together with that of the feed-water and fuel, precluded their success. A Paper on this subject was read by him in 1894 at a Meeting of the British Association. The light motor, to which aeroplanes now owe their success, had not at that time been developed. One Paper he contributed to this Institution, namely on "The Maxim Automatic Machine-Gun " (Proceedings, 1885, page 167). Honours and decorations were accorded to him in most European countries, and he received the Order of Knighthood in 1901. He had a rare genius for invention, and, while discarding failures, took great pride in his successes, which ranged over a great variety of ideas. His death took place at Streatham on 24th November 1916, in his seventy-seventh year". His son Hiram Percy Maxim (1869-1936) followed in his father and uncle's footsteps and became a mechanical engineer and weapons designer as well, but he is perhaps best known for his early amateur radio experiments and for founding the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) - the American equivalent of the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) of which I am a member.

The end video this week is of a venue that is very popular and well - known by people outside of the local area, but almost completely unknown to many locals. The Abbey Wood Caravan Club site is an incredibly popular location for visitors to London. I have visited the site - it is clean, well run and you would not know that you were in South East London. Highly recommended if you are on a camping trip and want somewhere to stay locally.