Category Archives: Thinking allowed

Copyright conundrum

First an apology to all those subscribers who received multiple emails on the first Monday in October.

Occasionally at certain times when I don’t have a suitable image actually taken by me, I make use of pictures hosted on a site published under a Creative Commons Licence.

CabbieBlog is committed to respecting copyright law and other intellectual property rights. To support this approach CabbieBlog takes every reasonable effort to ensure rights holders are contacted for permission before reproduction of their work on the pages of this website, on the comment sections and for all other uses.

Unfortunately, not all webmasters have been so meticulous regarding copyright ownership. As the publisher, I am held to be liable, even when the photo supplier has made the omission.

Since this blog started much has changed in the cyberverse and today we now have Copyright Trolls who scan the internet for infringements, and according to the excellent IanVisits website, they can charge the site owner £400 per incident.

Back to the apology

To ensure that CabbieBlog doesn’t infringe on the hard work of other creatives, post pictures that I cannot ascertain their origins are now password protected.

All is not lost

Many of CabbieBlog’s ‘best bits’ are reposted (without illustrations) every Saturday under the Previously Posted banner. But should you have an overwhelming desire to read any other old missives, some stretching back 15 years, please contact me and I’ll check out the post for copyright infringement and then send you a unique password enabling you to view that article.

The small print

CabbieBlog is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Any omissions or errors are inadvertent and will be corrected for future publication on written notification by the rights holder or their representative.

 

An apology

A short apology for 17th August whinge is necessary. After receiving a parking ticket by Havering Council I vented my spleen on CabbieBlog over the sheer crass assumption that I deserved to be penalised. Well, after challenging the ticket I’ve now received this response:

Thank you for your correspondence challenging the issue of the above Penalty Charge Notice. I am pleased to inform you that upon considering your challenge and your comments, I have decided to cancel this Penalty Charge Notice on this occasion.

Thank you Havering, common sense has prevailed.

Cash Cow Cameras

Two TfL cameras have appeared nearby on a straight road which is one of the only means to leave our estate. Motorists often drive at over 50mph past this spot (a primary school), whilst every street branching off to the north is a cul-de-sac due to thousands of acres of arable land and forestry beyond. With no Boris Bikes, two buses both going in the same direction, the nearest train or Tube some three miles distant, no cabs passing displaying their for hire light and the Superloop bus an hour’s travel away, what is the point of the camera? It’s a rhetorical question, not being a speed camera, it can only be used to fill the coffers of TfL, the local cows around here produce more pollution.

Clipper Conversions

As featured elsewhere on CabbieBlog, Clipper Automotive takes a perfectly serviceable second-hand cab, gives it a thorough overhaul, installs an electric motor and new drive train and replaces the dashboard. This work produces a much more economical vehicle with zero emissions.

Now that we realise the issues associated with waste, you’d have thought that re-purposing a vehicle recognised all over the world as London’s iconic form of public transport was to be commended.

Not so TfL and London’s Mayor who refuse to licence these vehicles, preferring to send parts of 12-year-old vehicles to landfill.

So much for their claims ‘Saving the Planet’.

Tube map comparison for ULEZ

TIt is now two weeks and two days since Ulez came into force and its purpose is commendable, you can certainly smell London as you approach the M25 from the sticks.

The main thrust of criticism is the lack of public transport on the outskirts of the capital. Mayor Khan claims to have solved this issue with the Superloop stating:

The Superloop is the jewel in the crown in our plans to strengthen alternatives to the private car ahead of the ULEZ expanding London-wide and is a game changer for outer London.

So given we in Havering have seen no new buses, I thought I’d compare Harry Beck’s early map that I grew up with the ‘improved’ network to see what additional rail links have been added some 70 years later.

1960

2020

No Victoria Line, Jubilee Line, London Overground, Waterloo & City Line, DLR, or Elizabeth Line, in fact, no new routes or extensions to existing lines, just the charging zones added.