OPINION
You can be too smart for your own good
Let me say here that these are my own views and not those of the publishers of this magazine nor of Lockdecoders Ltd
Victor S . Southern
» THE TERRIBLE DEVASTATION AND casualties that Ukraine is suffering as I write will inevitably cause a great many changes in behaviour world-wide . We were already in great danger as regards our energy security because our government has pursued a Net Zero path ( which is probably unattainable anyway ) without regard to energy security . As a result , we were always vulnerable to fluctuations in the oil market both as to price and also volume of supply . Meanwhile we were denying oil companies the right to further exploitation of North Sea reserves and fracking for shale gas was banned as though the work of the devil . That meant that we were increasingly dependent on imported oil and gas whereas we could have been both self-sufficient and a massive exporter of gas . Some opinion says that we have enough gas underground to fuel the whole of the EU for 60 years !
The drive to popularise or even force electric cars on us ignores the fact that most goods imported , exported or moved around the country use heavy lorries , ships and large aeroplanes none of which can be powered by rechargeable batteries . They will need diesel fuel or , later , hydrogen cells but official policy ignores this vital fact .
The upshot of all of this means that everything becomes more difficult to get and everything increases in price . That is not to say that the fuel crisis is the only cause of inflation . In your business you are acutely aware of inflation as you pay more for rent , for wages , electricity , for vehicle fuel , for locks , keys , transponders and equipment . But there are other threatening factors as we will see . It is clear to us all that there is , Ukraine apart , a World War in progress every day as the clash of interest between the Western economies and those of Russia , China , Iran and tiny North Korea accelerates . We hear with awful frequency how hackers gained control of this or that computer system and stole trade and industrial secrets , money or personal details . But even that is not the total of damage since they can and do deny access to vital programmes , even to the Internet itself . In other words , malign operatives can shut your smart phone , smart car or smart house down completely . Those countries have thousands of hackers whose only job is to infiltrate Western computer systems and communications . At least our government eventually shut China out of our new 5G network . So , I am going to make a silly suggestion . Think about how you can continue to operate like we used to – landline communications , posted letters or postcards , cheques issued and received and banked ( if you can still find a physical bank branch ). Equipment that you buy – can it operate independent of the Web or are you tied to some sort of token system for access ?
Unsurprisingly we are right now threatened with the shut-down of the entire landline phone system – not by others but by BT !
I am very happy to sacrifice the ability to switch the central heating on from 30 miles way and to use a key to open my front door . Try cheating that over the Internet !
74
MAR / APR 2022
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