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Is it time for all motor vehicles to be fitted with a black box?

are you a city centre HEI?

We are a campus HEI, with huge numbers of commuting students. Despite really good rail and bus connections (we have our own bus company on routes from where our students live), there is increasing demand for scarce car park spaces on campus.

Guildford, so sort of, we have a cathedral next door, but not really a big city. Students are actively discouraged from car ownership if living on campus, but years ago most had driving licenses but not cars at uni, now many less actually have the license at all.

Most students are on campus, if you are in Guildford, it's cycle/walkable. Cycling through morning traffic was never fun though with kids bring driven half a mile to school.
 
Or Charles Babbage...

A computer with storage was a significant development. And indeed for many ZX81 owners with 16k RAM packs was something to be cherished
 
I would think the number of new drivers in the UK is declining, the increase in traffic is probably at the other end of the age range, where people are driving for longer.

From the RAC foundation.

From 2015 traffic is forecast to grow by between 17 per cent and 51 per cent by 2050. The growth in traffic levels is predominately driven by the projected growth in population levels (and thus the number of trips) and decreases in vehicle running costs

Car traffic is forecast to grow between 11 per cent and 43 per cent by 2050, whilst van traffic is forecast to continue growing significantly in all scenarios (between 23 per cent and 108 per cent). HGV traffic growth is forecast to be lower than 7 other vehicle types, with growth ranging from 5 per cent to 12 per cent by 2050.

Congestion is forecast to grow as a result of increases in traffic. The proportion of traffic in congested conditions in 2050 is forecast to range from 8 per cent to 16 per cent depending on the scenario. The average car journey taking 17 minutes in 2015 could increase to 20 minutes in 2050.

The average speed during all periods is forecast to fall from 34mph in 2015 to as low as 31mph. The average delay per vehicle mile during all periods is forecast to increase by up to approximately 11 seconds per mile (69 per cent) by 2050.
 
Colossus - World's first programmable, electronic, digital computer.
Manchester SSEM (Baby) - World's first Stored program computer. Actually a test bed for the Williams Tube random access memory.

Both firsts in their own way.

I'm close to the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park. I think @Tony L can tell us a lot about the Baby, too.

Back to the OP, I'm not a fan of Black boxes as I foresee a future in which any insurance payout is going to be questioned because you were driving 0.1 MPH over the speed limit, or didn't stop long enough at that Stop sign. I see the value in dash-cams, but they seem to only exist for shaming purposes on YouTube these days.
 
I'm close to the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park. I think @Tony L can tell us a lot about the Baby, too.

TNMOC is an amazing place, I’ve only been once, but got the full geek tour, got to play with the Harwell Dekatron etc. I really need to get back there as I want to play with their new EDSAC replica (I know people involved in the build).

Colossus - World's first programmable, electronic, digital computer.
Manchester SSEM (Baby) - World's first Stored program computer. Actually a test bed for the Williams Tube random access memory.

Yes, though I’d personally argue describing Colossus as ‘programmable’ was a bit of a conceptual stretch. It was a bespoke device designed from the ground up to tackle a very specific problem; breaking the Lorenz code. A fixed process machine with adjustable parameters. It is an amazing thing, genuinely astonishing (I’ve seen it demonstrated at length), but conceptually it is an entirely different thing to the SSEM/‘Manchester Baby’. If you think of the basic building blocks of computing (Von Neumann Architecture) Colossus doesn’t make the grade, whereas Baby does. It was the first over that line.

PS The optical paper tape drive of Colossus is astonishing. It is so much faster than one would ever believe possible, especially if your mental image is of paper tape clacking slowly away being read by mechanical feelers (as mine was). Certainly something to see demonstrated at a visit to TNMOC.
 
Well said. Apparently you can't even walk up the street these days without being filmed by numerous door-bell cameras!
I don't recall giving my email address to the gov or my phone number but I've had emails and phone calls addressing me by my name in reference to covid jabs! I refuse my permission for the gov to know anything at all about me... including where I am, where I'm going and where I've just been (ANPR and general surveillance CCTV) for a start!

I'm disappointed that this has not so far prompted a thread https://www.theguardian.com/news/20...isclosures-prompt-political-rows-across-world
... and even more disappointed.. and surprised I must say, that seemingly a majority have no problem with being monitored, watched. measured, collocated, rated, tracked etc etc by a conglomeration of big brother and big business.

I predicted over 20 years ago that with the march of technology it would become easier each year for big brother to keep an eye on us all, and that they would not be able to resist the lure of linking up various sources of data (unofficially of course:rolleyes:) and develop a virtually full spectrum surveillance of the entire population.

The internet of things (IOT) has made it all so much worse and I have no doubt that as it is now possible for GCHQ/NSA/IDF etc (google? amazon? :rolleyes:) to hack into and link up things like peoples door bell cameras, shop CCTV etc along with use of credit cards, bus pass swipe cards etc, that in places like that London especially, it could happen that if they want to they could watch you from leaving your house, getting on a 45 bus, where you sat in the bus and where you paid to get off at, going into the tube network, which train you were on, and then follow you around Tesco's and know from the visa card record and till record exactly what you bought!! There have been all sorts of recent crime dramas and thrillers showing nearly that extent of surveillance tech in use, and seemingly based on actuality in many cases.
As they CAN, then if they think they have a reason to I have no doubt they probably do! In the cases of people who are whistle-blowers, or dissidents, or in political opposition or investigative journalists raking muck on "the powers that be".... be careful! Be very careful... cos probably big brother IS watching you!

There has even been suggestion that such tech and techniques, and particularly the Pegasus tech linked to above, has actually been used in the state sanctioned murders of eg that Iranian general and a few others by drone etc when it seemed their security was watertight and non of their staff had leaked in any way. If we know Pegasus exists and was developed by a private company then what else don't we yet know about that may have been developed with far higher funding and secrecy by the likes of the NSA!?

Some of the plots in "Black Mirror" were so scary because they were sometimes set only say 10 - 40 years in the future and they were careful to show that the tech was only a little more advanced than what we now have... Too close to reality and getting more so as time passes!

... and while am at it... how long, with the march of tech, and self driving cars already being tested, before this black box etc locks all your doors, takes over the controls and drives you to the nearest police station as soon as the speedo hits 74 mph!?:rolleyes:
Law abiding citizens generally have nothing to fear from surveillance or national identity cards and are grateful for it in anticipating or following up on crime…
 
I'm happy to have a black box fitted in my 1.5 ton Discovery so long as all cyclists wear an exploding neck collar with a 'cycle like a ****er' detonator
Ouch Ian, many cyclists deserve that and embarrass cycling en masse but some of us really try to be good pedalers. Visible clothing, lights even in summer on tree lined country roads, helmets, insurance, patience, sensible riding, thanking car drivers etc.
 
Buy a MX-5, drive with the top down (or the RF Targa open) even at the speed limit and it's fun and feels far faster than you are actually going. Mind you I still get annoyed being stuck behind a Prius doing 5MPH under the speed limit. Oh, and you really don't have to be a hairdresser to drive one... (well perhaps a Prius, yes).

Black box? I got one fitted to my MX-5 but it doesn't sent data back to big brother :)
Same here with my TT roadster, speed not a priority as every journey feels like an adventure. I joke with my mates I’ll probably get thrown out of any Audi club as I’m averaging about 45mpg!
 
..are grateful for it in anticipating or following up on crime…

Is that a joke? I had no help what so ever from the police when I had my bag stolen, but it took no time at all to issue a £133 fine for parking outside a shop for less that 5 minutes.
 
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Buy a MX-5, drive with the top down (or the RF Targa open) even at the speed limit and it's fun and feels far faster than you are actually going. Mind you I still get annoyed being stuck behind a Prius doing 5MPH under the speed limit

Ahem, as the old cliche says, it's a limit, not a target!
 
Ahem, as the old cliche says, it's a limit, not a target!
We’ll yes, to a point. The thing is, though, that if conditions are such that driving at the limit is safe and responsible, driving significantly below the limit is driving without consideration for other road users. Whether the conditions are safe is a matter of personal assessment, but if you regularly drive well below the 30mph limit, there may be a question as to your overall fitness to drive.
 


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