(no subject)
Feeling thoroughly miserable thanks to a combination of a summer cold and hayfever. Thanks to a pollen influx - or plant bukkake, as fluffymormegil charmingly puts it. I must have lead a sheltered life as I only recently discovered what that meant.
Oh God! Not a thing I should be thinking about when I'm feeling slightly ill!
Just read Y The Last Man, The Road to Perdition.
Currently reading Barry Trotter and the Dead Horse - though I think I'll give up on it. I'm not in the mood.
Currently incensed over: The Governments plans for road pricing. Oh wonderful! ID Cards for cars. They plan a 24/7 mass surveillance system of the movements of every motor vehicle in the UK in order to replace the, current, annual road tax and fuel tax system with road usage charges.
So what will happen...
Drivers of gas-guzzlers will have a field day! Taxes will be based on the mileage driven, not on the fuel consumed.
Everybody will be looking for minor routes away from the heavily congested main roads that'll have a high charge. The motorways will empty as everybody tries to get from A to B down minor rural and suburban roads that really can't cope with the traffic. The government will try to juggle the charges to discourage this but expect software and web sites to appear almost instantly that can tell you the cheapest route between any two locations. The government will always be one step behind.
And speeding will be impossible. OK, speeding is bad, it's dangerous. But for the first time ever, we will have a system of surveillance so perfect that it is impossible to commit a certain type of crime without being caught. I would rather have the speeders.
More Outrage Apparently the government want's to extend record company's copyright from 50 to 100 years. I assume this has nothing to do with the expiry of Elvis' and the Beatles' early copyrights in the next few years.
Oh God! Not a thing I should be thinking about when I'm feeling slightly ill!
Just read Y The Last Man, The Road to Perdition.
Currently reading Barry Trotter and the Dead Horse - though I think I'll give up on it. I'm not in the mood.
Currently incensed over: The Governments plans for road pricing. Oh wonderful! ID Cards for cars. They plan a 24/7 mass surveillance system of the movements of every motor vehicle in the UK in order to replace the, current, annual road tax and fuel tax system with road usage charges.
So what will happen...
Drivers of gas-guzzlers will have a field day! Taxes will be based on the mileage driven, not on the fuel consumed.
Everybody will be looking for minor routes away from the heavily congested main roads that'll have a high charge. The motorways will empty as everybody tries to get from A to B down minor rural and suburban roads that really can't cope with the traffic. The government will try to juggle the charges to discourage this but expect software and web sites to appear almost instantly that can tell you the cheapest route between any two locations. The government will always be one step behind.
And speeding will be impossible. OK, speeding is bad, it's dangerous. But for the first time ever, we will have a system of surveillance so perfect that it is impossible to commit a certain type of crime without being caught. I would rather have the speeders.
More Outrage Apparently the government want's to extend record company's copyright from 50 to 100 years. I assume this has nothing to do with the expiry of Elvis' and the Beatles' early copyrights in the next few years.