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. 

How affordable is "affordable"?

The dramatic photo above was taken by a local chap called Daniel Fee; he took the shot of the demolition of one of the remaining tower blocks on the old Larner Road Estate using a flying drone equipped with a camera. The skyscrapers are being demolished to make way for the second phase of Erith Park - the large development of mixed social and retail housing and low - level apartments that is now replacing the worn out and no longer fit for purpose late 1960's tower blocks. Daniel writes:-  "Being an Erith resident for 50 years, and an Erith Plumber for 33 , I've witnessed many changes in that time, I've always considered the Larner Road estate to be a blot on the landscape, so was delighted to hear that they were to be demolished. Around the time of the first phase of demolition I was not in possession of drone, but took snaps from the ground of the muncher biting into the concrete, I was keen to take snaps of the old Erith College being munched down too, I attended there in the early 80s for my apprenticeship course, but before I found the time to pop up there the thing was already flattened. It's an amazing thing to be able capture such aerial images, Wates the builders in charge of the demo looked on enthusiastically and I have forwarded several images to the site foreman who was thrilled to see the muncher in action from such a height. Even though I hated the sight of them when they were there, it's slightly sad to see this last one making its way down. The sun was very bright today making filming difficult to see and there was a fair cross wind up at that height making it a little tricky to manoeuvre, I'm hoping to have another go next week if I get a break from my work, I plan to fly across the top with the camera looking straight down". Excellent stuff Daniel - please continue sending me the great photos!

This week,  the London Evening Standard reported that an “affordable” flat in Hackney has gone on sale for more than one million pounds. The shared ownership apartment, between the trendy Old Street roundabout and Regent's Canal, is listed for £1,025,000 on Sharetobuy.com - a website geared towards properties available on a part-buy part-rent basis. For the three-bedroom flat, which the website describes as being part of an "affordable housing scheme", buyers need to purchase a minimum 25 per cent stake in the property. With a deposit of £12,813, the website's calculator estimates the monthly cost of the home to be in excess of £2,700 - of which £1,352 comprises mortgage payments and £1,121 is rent payable on the stake the tenant does not own. The sixth-floor property is being offered by the Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association. It said the flat was one of only three shared ownership properties to have been valued above £900,000, and all of them were on the edge of the City of London. The problem of high property prices is not just one affecting inner and West London – the typical areas for high end accommodation. Now East and South East London are also seeing prices rise way above inflation, a situation which will only get worse when the Crossrail project nears completion in 2018. It is anticipated that people who have formerly lived in other parts of the London suburbs will be tempted to move into the local area because of the relatively “cheap” housing – prices in the London Borough of Bexley have historically been lower than average due partly to the lack of tube or DLR trains – commuters into central London have been limited to overland train travel, which has depressed the housing market. Crossrail will change all this – and the prospect that it will almost certainly be extended from the current planned terminus at Abbey Wood and on down to the proposed Paramount London Theme Park at Swanscombe. This rise in house prices has prompted London Mayoral candidate Dame Tessa Jowell to undertake some research. It turns out that that in twenty nine out of thirty two London boroughs, the house prices are rising so quickly that the cost of a house deposit is outstripping the ability of first time buyers to save for it. For example, in Hackney – the location of the so called “affordable” shared ownership flat mentioned earlier, the cost of a ten percent deposit in a fairly average priced property has risen £6,000 in a year, whilst an average paid saver putting aside seven percent of their earnings could only raise £2,200 in the same time. This means that the number of years needed to save for a first time deposit has risen from 17 to 19 years in twelve months. Bexley is still one of the most affordable boroughs in which to live, but I feel that this situation is about to end – and anyone wanting to get onto the property ladder locally should do so as soon as possible.

Erith made the headlines for all the wrong reasons this week; More than seventy people were arrested after Scotland Yard set up a second-hand clothing shop trading in stolen goods to target thieves and burglars. Undercover detectives opened the store in a formerly empty shop unit in Londonderry Parade in Stelling Road, Northumberland Heath and offered cash for clothes and what a judge described as “less legitimate items” as a part of a sting operation. The shop,  was called “Ward’s Cash 4 Clothes” and staffed with two undercover detectives known as Dan and Charlie. It even had its own Facebook page.  Deals with customers for goods ranging from stolen passports, laptops, jewellery and watches to a shotgun were recorded by hidden equipment. In the latest in a series of convictions following the operation, two brothers and their father were jailed for offences including possession of a 1924 shotgun, handling stolen goods and burglary. Mark Pearce, 31, of Erith, and his brother Matthew, 29, of Thamesmead, were each jailed for six years and three months after admitting 58 offences including possession of a shotgun, fraud, burglary and ID crimes. Their father James Pearce, 58, also of Erith, was sentenced to three years and eight months imprisonment after admitting thirteen offences. Sentencing at Inner London crown court, the Judge said the officers “let it be known that besides buying second-hand clothes, they would also buy less legitimate items. The whole purpose of the shop was in fact to buy stolen goods or other illicit material and to apprehend those who were selling them. All three of you were prolific, professional offenders. None of you had legitimate paid employment. You were literally living from the proceeds of crime. There has been no expression of remorse from any of you. In those circumstances, lengthy sentences are inevitable.” The three were among forty men and a woman arrested in mass raids at addresses in Bexley, Lewisham, Greenwich and Bromley in March. The covert operation was run by Bexley police and Scotland Yard’s Serious and Organised Crime Command, the operation tackled criminal networks suspected of being involved in burglary, theft, fraud, motor vehicle crime, drug dealing, money laundering and violent crime. A further thirty one people were also arrested as a result of the initiative, codenamed Operation Belmont. So far fifty people have been convicted, with sentences totalling more than one hundred years years. Brilliant stuff from the Police. I hope we see more of this kind of operation against the criminal scum that prey on the vulnerable in society.

After my article last week in regard of Ultra High Definition 4K television, I have had several readers ask me for more information about how the UHD content will be delivered, as Sky have just announced a new UHD set top box capable of delivering 4K video content to the home. The knack with any digital video stream is the way the data is compressed. High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265, promises twice the compression possible with current Blu-ray’s best video compression methods. But how does it work, and is it enough to get us better-looking 4K content? It is the new successor to Advanced Video Coding (AVC), also known as H.264, which is one of the compression schemes used by Blu-ray. The idea of HEVC is to offer the same level of picture quality as AVC, but with better compression, so there's less data to deal with. This is key if we want 4K/Ultra HD broadcasts (including satellite services such as Sky), 4K Blu-rays, and more. The amount of raw data coming out the back of a professional HD camera is a massive. There is no way to conveniently transport it to your home. Instead, the video is compressed to reduce the amount of data into a more manageable form. There are many ways to do this, one of the easiest being reducing the quality. In some cases this is OK. Think of your average YouTube video quality. Not great, very often. This is usually the case that because the video is highly compressed (either before or during the upload); heavy compression might keep the resolution technically the same, but the image can appear softer, noisier, or have strange distortions known as digital artifacts. The other option is to use better compression. In this case, you can basically think of "better" compression as "smarter" compression. So it's taking the same original (the video), and finding out better ways to make the amount of data less, without sacrificing quality. Every few years the processing power of gear has improved enough to let more processor-intensive compression algorithms to be used, and further compress the data without making the image worse. This distinction between "more" compression and "better" compression is important, as really, the terms aren't interchangeable in this context. You can decrease the amount of data required for a signal either by cranking up the compression and making the image ugly (just "more" compression), or using a more efficient compression technique ("better" compression). An example; you have a theoretical basket of apples. You need to fit 100 apples inside. You can do it with more compression (reducing the apples to sauce), or with better compression (finding a better way to make them all fit, but preserving their appleness). More compression = apple sauce. Better compression = more apples, same space. The Moving Picture Experts Group and the International Telecommunication Union's Telecommunication Standardisation Sector (ITU-T) were already starting work on the next generation of video compression, with an eye on the future. Not wanting to mess around with small, incremental improvements, whenever a new compression standard is introduced, it has to be a sizable change. With each jump, the general rule is half the bitrate for the same quality (or greater quality at the same bit rate). How does it do this? Largely by expanding on how the compression technique works. Firstly, it looks at multiple frames to see what doesn't change. In most scenes in a TV show or movie, the vast majority of the frame doesn't change much. Think of a scene with someone talking. The shot is mostly their head. The background isn't going to change much for many frames. For that matter, most of the pixels representing their face probably won't change much (other than their lips, of course). So instead of encoding every pixel from every frame, an initial frame is encoded, and then after that only what changes is encoded. HEVC then expands the size of the area that's looked at for these changes. Larger and smaller "blocks" essentially, which offers additional efficiency. Ever seen blocks in your image, when the satellite picture goes foul during heavy rain or snow? Those can be bigger, smaller, and differently shaped with HEVC than with previous compression methods. Larger blocks, for example, were found to be more efficient. Then other things were improved, like motion compensation, spatial prediction, and so on. All of these things would have been done with AVC or even earlier, but it required more processing power than was economically feasible at the time. As processor speed has gone up, and price gone down, it is now possible to implement compression algorithms that would have previously been too complex or expensive. While this arrangement offers flexibility, it also means that "4K" and "UHD" won't necessarily guarantee better picture quality any more than "1080p" or "HD" do today. A highly compressed 4K signal could, in many ways, look worse than a less heavily compressed HD signal. In other words, streaming 4K might look worse than current 1080p Blu-ray, depending on how much compression is used - in a similar way to a current standard definition picture can look remarkably good when it has a low level of compression when compared to an HD picture with poorly chosen compression. As with many of these things, in the "real world" your mileage may vary. 

As many readers will know, I am not only a fan of properly produced real ale; I am also a real devotee of Erith’s own Bexley Brewery on the Manford Industrial Estate in Manor Road, right at the foot of the Erith Wind Turbine. The photo above, which was taken on Friday afternoon shows head brewer Cliff as he prepares a unique green hop ale from hops which were only picked hours earlier from a farm in Faversham. They produce an excellent range of hand crafted real ales, which are on sale in draught and bottled form in a number of local outlets. One of their competitors is the somewhat larger Meantime Brewery in Greenwich which has recently  had a bit of a public relations disaster. An investigation by Beer Insider and London 24 has revealed that Meantime’s London Lager, famously brewed in Greenwich, is occasionally part-made at the Grolsch brewery in Enschede in The Netherlands. Meantime is one of London’s best-known real ale breweries, and London Lager is their flagship beer. The labels proudly claim that it is ‘Born and Brewed in London’. But now the brewery has admitted to Beer Insider / London 24 that the bottles sometimes contain a blend of locally-brewed and Dutch-brewed lager when their London site cannot  keep up with demand. Meantime stress that “the liquid was brewed to the precise specification and recipe of London Lager and has the exact profile and microbiological makeup as any batch of London Lager brewed here at our brewery in Greenwich.” This is actually quite a common practice – Doom Bar Bitter, reputedly brewed in Cornwall is sometimes made in Burton on Trent. Similarly, Young’s, who for centuries brewed beers in the Ram Brewery in Wandsworth infamously sold off the site to property developers and relocated all of their brewing to the Eagle Brewery in Bedford back in 2006, as Young’s merged with Charles Wells to form a new company Wells and Young’s. The only brewer who can genuinely claim that their beer is brewed in central London is Fuller’s, whose Griffin Brewery has been located in Chiswick since 1845. What should qualify a beer in respect of its provenance? If you consider wine, the region that the grapes are grown is quoted. Some may be made on the estate, but quite often wine is made in a different geographical location to the vineyards. Incidentally, Wine, Cider and Perry are made, rather than brewed. Only in brewing are some of the raw ingredients boiled. Wine, Cider and Perry making involve no application of heat in the process.

Regular Maggot Sandwich reader Teresa, a resident of the West Country, wrote to me last week after I commented on the slowdown in sales of tablet devices such as the Apple iPad; she said "I bought an iPad, but quickly donated it to my grandchildren who are much more adept at using it than I could ever be.  My uncle's widow carries her ipad everywhere.  She even produced it at the table at my mother's wake (one of my sisters had organised a sit-down meal as many of those attending had travelled a considerable distance for the funeral ) and proceeded to show my children her holiday snaps and pictures of her latest birthday party with her friends, none of whom we know. Whilst it was not a sad occasion (Mother's passing was a blessed release) I did think that was inappropriate. On the way back to my house, she sat in the car and proceeded to take pics of rainbows and showing them to me (my son was driving).  She is in her eighties - who said it was only the young who are fixated...?! I wonder if any of your readers have encountered anything like it?" Interesting observations Teresa - I wonder if anyone else has their own thoughts that they would like to share?

Malcolm Knight of the excellent “Bexley is Bonkers” blog has been covering the building works that have been going, very slowly at Lesnes Abbey. I suspected that he knew far more than he let on about the reasons for the delays to the works, and I was correct. On Tuesday Malcolm published an update which explained what had been going on. Following this, Bexley Council issued a press release, the wording of which you can read here:- “Significant archaeological artefacts have been unearthed close to the foundations of the old 1930’s amenity building in Lesnes Abbey Woods Park during works to improve the site. Some of the artefacts found, which include human remains, are currently being examined offsite by specialist professional teams. In order to safeguard the find the foundations and steel structure for the new Lesnes Lodge building have been redesigned. This redesign has impacted on the timings for construction of the new building which is expected to be complete in early 2016. Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Environment and Leisure Councillor Peter Craske said, “This is an exciting discovery that highlights the historical significance of Lesnes Abbey Woods which we want to preserve for the local community. The find was made a while ago but it was imperative that we protect the immediate area before releasing any information on it. We are continuing to work with specialists to manage and safeguard the site’s unique archaeology and will update the local community as things progress. In the meantime we would urge people to treat the park with respect and refrain from metal detecting, in particular, as this is illegal and could cause irreparable damage.” The construction of the new Lesnes Lodge on the site of the old amenity building is just one of a number of significant improvements which are being made to Lesnes Abbey Wood Park to encourage more visitors and to unlock the rich history of the site. The improvement work is on schedule to be completed by summer 2016. Work to highlight the Lesnes Mulberry tree as a feature is almost complete. New fencing and temporary information lecterns have been installed to share the tree’s special history with visitors. Landscape work will begin in the autumn on other new facilities which include a new trim trail, outdoor gym, table tennis and picnic tables. In addition several outdoor learning experiences such as a heathland classroom, a Monk’s Garden and a new skyline viewing point, will be created. The Lesnes Abbey Woods Enhancement project team will be holding another of the regular ‘Meet us at the Park’ sessions on 28 August to update the community on how plans to improve the park are developing. The event is free and will feature activities such as medieval tile making, stone masonry and guided walks around the semi ancient woodland at Lesnes. The Meet us at the Park session will also include demonstrations of parkour activities along with workshops to introduce people to the sport and enable them to make full use of the parkour zone at Lesnes, which is the first of its kind in the borough. These will be run by Parkour Generations, the largest UK professional free running organisation, who have performed all over the world and whose previous work includes performances in Hollywood movies such as District 13, Babylon A.D, and World War Z. The improvements at Lesnes Abbey Woods have been made possible by a ‘Parks for people’ programme grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). The £4.2m project is funded by the London Borough of Bexley and the Heritage Lottery Fund (which is investing £3.5m)”. This is all great stuff, but it does beg the question, if they can afford to do this in Abbey Wood, why are Bexley Council so keen on closing down Belvedere Splash Park for good? I am firmly of the opinion it is mainly about revenue, and the fact that the Conservative led council do not need to chase votes in what is a primarily Labour voting area – it does not matter if the locals are annoyed, as they generally did not / would not vote for the incumbent councillors anyway. Coupling this with the value of the land freed up when the Swings Park on the opposite side of Woolwich Road moves over to the former Splash Park site, leaving a large triangular piece of land, including Belvedere Library, and the Pop in Parlour – something which would be ripe for selling off to a developer. No official plan has been announced, but I would not be at all surprised if something of this nature is actually intended. Locals are deeply cynical of Bexley Council, and their emphasis on promoting events happening in the South of the borough. For example, at least half a dozen public events were scheduled in relation to the launch of the new, subscription system for the collection of garden waste, yet not one of the events was scheduled for a venue anywhere North of Bexleyheath. I think this says a lot about the powers that be, and their attitude towards those of us who live in Belvedere, Erith, Northumberland Heath, Barnehurst or Slade Green. What do you think? Do you feel hard done by if you are a resident of the London Borough of Bexley? Do let me know; you can leave a comment below, or alternatively you can Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The News Shopper are reporting the story of a teenager named Ashlee Fowler, was killed in a road accident in Mottingham last week; whilst Mottingham is rather outside of the Maggot Sandwich normal area of remit, some facts in the case got me thinking. The teenager, who was a passenger on a motorbike, which crashed,  left an 18-year-old dead and another teenager fighting for his life after they both allegedly were not wearing helmets. The incident in Mottingham Road, near its junction with William Barefoot Drive, happened just after 4.30pm on August the 24^th. It is thought the teenagers crashed into the central reservation, which has a mounted speed camera, before flying ten feet over the handlebars, and landing in the middle of the road. Emergency services rushed to the scene, but despite the best efforts of paramedics the 18-year-old died.  He is believed to have been the pillion passenger on the motorcycle. This behaviour – riding illegally without helmets and weaving in and out of traffic sounded very similar to the irresponsible biker behaviour exhibited in Lower Belvedere recently. One of the riders got killed on the 9^th of July, when he lost control of his bike whilst racing,  and collided with a lamp post at the roundabout which joins Eastern Way junction with Yarnton Way, opposite the Morgan carvery restaurant /  Pub. The London Air Ambulance attended the scene to take the critically injured motorcyclist by air to the Royal London Hospital where he later died. The biker gang he was with were identified as part of Bike Life TV UK group who have previously been seen riding in large numbers in both Thamesmead and Lower Belvedere. They usually don't wear helmets, wear bandannas around their lower faces to hide their identities and many of their bikes are stolen and have false number plates. They post videos of their members pulling wheelies, performing stunts and racing on public roads, often weaving in and out of law – abiding traffic. Their Facebook page contains a large number of videos showing their members engaging in illegal activities, and they are even stupid enough to make occasional drug references. I have spoken to a couple of local law – abiding bikers, both of whom were concerned that members of Bike Life TV UK were giving responsible bikers a bad name. I wonder if the Mottingham incident involved Bike Life TV UK members? The behaviour shown certainly matches that exhibited nearer home. If anyone has further information on this group, please let me know.

This week marks the twentieth birthday of Windows 95 - almost certainly the most widely used and influential desktop operating system of its' time. A contemporary video review below gives an idea of what people back in 1995 thought of the then revolutionary operating system, and also gives viewers today an idea of the huge amount of marketing hype that Microsoft used to launch their then brand new product. Feel free to comment below, or Email hugh.neal@gmail.com.