Westminstenders: Summer Season

[RedToothBrush]

No its not the weather making your brain rot and stop thinking.

Thats just Brexit.

I believe that existing satnav, as used by your phone, TomTom etc will still work without it (or have access to the positioning aspect) but the Galileo system has other 'capabilities' built into it which will not be available to the UK.

Samsung 9s specs are : GPS, Galileo (ltd), Glonass, BeiDou (ltd).

The main problem with GPS systems has been who pays the piper. Originally the US system had the ability to deliberately skew the positioning by 100m for non-military users when they wanted to. (One of my first projects after graduating was to bypass that). Which pretty much encapsulates one reason why the EU/Russia/China/India all want their own system that they control.

(Clinton abandoned the selective accuracy feature just in time to make my work redundant).

So the EUs super accuracy mode won't be available to the UK. Which won' the end of the world for you and I (I mean 10m is pretty impressive for navigation). However the enhanced accuracy (which is down to centimetres) is essential if you are planning on using it to drive cars or lorries on roads. (Remember the UK has dreams of pioneering autonomous cars ? There's a reason that's all gone quiet. No Galileo - no autonomous cars).

I'm not a military wonk, but there are more classified features nestling in Galileo too. The UK won't be allowed access, as a non member as the EU won't trust the UK not to blab to the US. (Which we're already guilty of as EU members).

Returning to the theme of insurance ... no insurer on any planet, let alone Earth, is going to underwrite an autonomous car where one components performance - arguably the most critical - can't be guaranteed.

Thanks BCF, as a 'muppet' I bow to your properly thought out assessment. I am supposed to be gardening today, maybe I should concentrate on something.
When scandals get exposed it is a rush for the shredder to get rid of evidence. I wonder if the UK has been doing the opposite and rushing to the 'photocopier'?

twitter.com/i/status/1033515074889994241

Video of John McCain. This is the kind of politics we need to get back to.

No deal is the policy with the momentum - because it is the only one that doesn't immediately tear apart the Tory party

But it does surely tear the unhinged swivel eyed Tories apart from the saner ones?

Returning to the theme of insurance ... no insurer on any planet, let alone Earth, is going to underwrite an autonomous car where one components performance - arguably the most critical - can't be guaranteed.
So the almost autonomous cars in the USA aren't insured? (just a question).
I was always suspicious of satnav telling me to turn right or make a U turn while driving in the overtaking lane of the M1 just south of Nottingham.

@MrsR8
Like the butterfly in the forest, or whatever the saying is, practically everyone in the world will be impacted by Brexit at least slightly.
Sadly you, I and the majority in the UK will be impacted negatively.

as with everything brexit the galileo story is odd. The original rationale behind galileo was to remove reliance on the USA gps, specifically the possibility of the US removing/degrading the public signal in time of war/hubris.

As i understand it our exit from the program won't remove access to the public and commercial signals - but would preclude access should the galileo public signal be switched off.

Originally the US gps signal had different accuracy (public vs military) but that became irelevant once public receivers capable of analysing signals from 3 or more satellites were produced - so the difference became moot.

Galileo's commercial offering will be of the order of 1cm accuracy - but it is precisely that - commercial - any business in the world will have access if they pay - its not free to EU members. Given the public signal is 1m accuracy i suspect that receiver technology will get closer to 1cm eventually anyway.

So the argument for a uk only galileo equivalent would be solely for military use in the event that US and galileo public/commercial signals were turned off.

Given the primary military use case is for cruise missile/ordnance guidance (which use the encrypted US signal today) then developing an independent gps is nonsense - the circumstances where both us and eu systems are switched off are near enough armageddon that independence is irrelevant.

its not just the build and launch of the (30 satellites) but the ongoing support and replacement - we dont have launch capability so would have to develop that or pay EU/US/China etc.

I imagine care work of some description would be available - shortage of eu workers. Would expect the hourly rate to suck. Care homes might close due to financial strain but there is always care work somewhere else either other homes, hospitals or people's houses.

But a singular you have a job for life bullet proof? Hard to find as it is.

crossed reply with DG - who covered it better :)

Is anyones job brexit proof? I mean, aside from the Tory ultras and likes of spits farage?
Because I keep hearing/seeing the words "my job is brexit proof"

Is it?
Why?

DH yes. Because whilst he is expensive, he's leading his field and he's responsible for leading a lot of the future direction of the company and has been getting lots of accolades for it. Substantial amount of hisfirm overseas, but need access to uk market.

Senior, highly sort after skill set, unique experience in a field with a skills shortage. Has personal reputation.

Worst case, they'll move him overseas, though god knows where or a competitor will snap DH smartish.

He's IT. I don't think everyone in IT will be ok. Only those who prove themselves to be exceptional.

Beyond that: security looks a good career move right now.

Think about who does well in authoritarian states which focus on space and defence industries. Sports people and anything that might be vaguely patroic are good bets too.

May's prospals for a British state satelitte sound a lot spending on a Soviet era space race whilst the peasants starved and died of minor ailments or were otherwise 'silenced' for their difficult 'attitude'.

So the almost autonomous cars in the USA aren't insured? (just a question).

No idea. However, when (for example) Tesla go to an insurer and lay out the spec for the car, they can point to any agreement they have with the US DoD that the GPS accuracy needed for autonomous operation is guaranteed.

Out of Galileo, the UK can't. Unless it buys into that capability of Galileo, which - to be blunt - isn't for sale. It's intended for the sole use of the EU - to give the EU an advantage, or at the very least to remove the disadvantage of relying on Someone Elses System.

There are analogies about bands, drummers, and whose van is it ?

afaik, insurance is why the "autonomous" cars still have a person - called the "safety driver"- sitting in the driver's seat, who could take over.

Without the person, the vehicle would not be insured and could not drive on public roads

But, a lot of improvements are needed:
https://www.popsci.com/human-drivers-and-self-driving-cars

A recent, tragic incident in which a self-driving Uber struck and killed a 49-year-old pedestrian, while a safety driver sat behind the wheel,
has stirred up many conversations about blame, regulations, and the overall readiness of autonomous tech
...
emergency braking maneuvers are not enabled while the vehicle is under computer control to reduce the potential for erratic vehicle behavior.

The vehicle operator is relied on to intervene and take action.
The system is not designed to alert the operator.) on May 24.

It reveals that Uber's self-driving systems detected the woman before the crash, but had difficulty classifying her as a person.

The system decided 1.3 seconds before the impact that an "emergency braking" even was required.
However, the self-driving system isn't equipped to initiate that kind of action, or even alert the driver in any way.

"According to Uber emergency braking maneuvers are not enabled while the vehicle is under computer control to reduce the potential for erratic vehicle behavior.
The vehicle operator is relied on to intervene and take action.
The system is not designed to alert the operator,"

While computer systems can be very reliable, the fact your satnav goes into a 'mild panic' mode when going through a tunnel doesn't encourage me to want to have to rely on it. If you want to do something else while traveling, get a train, bus or a chauffeur.

whatever 'military' services galileo offers wont be for sale but i undetstood the high accuracy commercial signal would be? www.gsa.europa.eu/newsroom/news/galileo-commercial-service-implementing-decision-enters-force

it msy be thst we had hoped to tender to be one of the commercial service providers - that wont be permitted and will probably represent loss of significant commercial opportunities.

(given the 28 nation bit i wouldnt expect any 'secret' capabilities to be secret for long!)

(given the 28 nation bit i wouldnt expect any 'secret' capabilities to be secret for long!)

The UK doesn't have a very good reputation for keeping secrets - or acting on secret information discreetly. Operation Ore springs to mind.

whatever 'military' services galileo offers wont be for sale but i understood the high accuracy commercial signal would be?

You betcha ! With caveats, obviously ...

My understanding is that the UK wants to retain access to highly sensitive data from Galileo that is only for defence / security applications

BUT
before the EU ref, the Uk was one of the countries who pushed for the current restrictions to access for countries outside the EU !

The UK has paid 12% of the 10 billion Euro cost of Galileo, but the lawyers or even courts may have to decide how much the non-sensitive data is worth

The UK had also pushed for lower rights for non-EU members in other fields,

e.g. electricity supply, where the UK successded in pasing the agreement that EU countries would have first dibs in the case of short supplies
and non-EU countries would only have their connectors switched on after EU countries had sufficient supply.
The UK receives up to 10% of its supply from the EU in winter, so winters after Brexit may be challenging.

only 10%? that seems low...

There's not much UK backup supply, so potentially losing up to 10% is very worrying if there is a long cold winter to follow our heatwave

• let's hope the EU has the spare

Do you know how much of our elec and gas comes from Russia, BigChoc?

Jacob Rees-Mogg suggests that after Brexit, people crossing the Irish border should be subject to 'inspections, just like during The Troubles'.

https://mobile.twitter.com/stephen_rth/status/1033033628303941638

Speaking of Electricity, the French 'switched off' some of their nuclear power stations during the heatwave. IIRC it was to prevent the cooling water, taken and returned to rivers, from distressing the already suffering fish.
This wouldn't be the case in winter obviously!

Seeing that yesterday I suggested that as a trial JRM himself should take a clipboard and stand at one of the busier 'border' crossings and stop traffic. Maybe run a sweepstake on his survival time?