Going Overground?

Getting across the Thames from Canary Wharf can be an arduous process. Grumble numero uno is that the Ship and Whale remains out of reach because of its distance from the nearest tube, Canada Water. There is the Hilton ferry of course but it stops early on the weekend and is in anycase expensive and not covered by the usual travelcards -except for a small discount.

Now we read of a proposal ripped from the pages of The Eagle circa 1968 to build a giant cable car to The Dome (via Londonlogue)

"The American sports entertainment company AEG(Anschutz Entertainment Group), the new owners of the Millennium Dome are planning to build a cable car from the Dome, west across the River Thames to South Dock at Canary Wharf."

Cool, a bit Tomorrow's World, but cool. I doubt they'll build it, but then if you'd told me they were going to build a giant bike wheel in front of county hall I'd have been pretty sceptical too.

New Toys for Santa's Big Brother

Kids are admonished with the warning that Santa knows whether you have been naughty or nice, and Canary Wharf shoppers are being given the same message (see pic) with the aid of CCTV. Wharfer's probably don't need to be reminded that their every move is captured on the state's version of Candid Camera. But they may have missed recent news that terahertz wave scanners were to be installed at Canary Wharf Tube to deter potential suicide bombers. The Sunday Times observes that the whole security set-up at running project Nemesis, a reassuring name if ever there was one, is like something out of a Bond movie:

system’s underground control room, which is reminiscent of the bunker in Dr No, the Bond movie. It is bomb-proof and has secure radio communications to patrol officers on the ground and to Scotland Yard and other emergency services. It is designed to withstand the impact of an airliner hitting Canary Wharf Tower, and has food rations and its own supply of air and water. The room is dominated by five wall-to-wall television screens, each split into a patchwork of smaller screens that relay footage from hundreds of CCTV cameras around the site

There will inevitably be a trade off between security and civil liberties - but do the new systems make us safer - will they prevent crime or merely assist in its detection after the event. Tube users are now catalogued, monitored and tracked to an unprecedented extent: our Oyster Card data is logged and may be used by the police, CCTV cameras proliferate, we have even been tested for explosives.

The scanners add to a list of hi-tech security devices piloted at the Wharf, including explosive trace detection systems Controversy has stalked the use of Terahertz wave scanners because of the potential to see through clothing and produce a detailed body image

Some controversy surrounds the use of terahertz scanners for routine security checks due to the potential capability to produce detailed images of a subject's body through clothing. Souce Wikipedia

We're told that the scanners on use at the Wharf will not give that detailed an image. Nonetheless to be effective they must see beneath clothing even if that doesn't produce a detailed body image.

An under-reported risk from these new technologies are the way in which false positives are handled. Every new system is going to have bugs, and every security system will throw up false positives sooner or later. Should any of these new gadgets incorrectly identify someone as a suspect what happens? How will officers respond? And how will that incident be recorded - will the innocent party have his/her DNA and/or prints stored? These are issues that merit an open public debate.

Shall I cut myself a slice of cake?

We went in search of puddings. West of the ocean and east of the pudding line ( For they make no decent deserts east of the Urals or south of the tropics) this should not be a grave undertaking but the options in The Wharf proper are a little limited, Nero, Starbucks, anonymous chain coffee shops (and I omit Biera whose cakes are like the fragile metal of 50's Fiat, apt to disolve into flakes at the merest pressure). A recent arriviste on the scene is Paul a rustic french confection tucked under the rustic British escalators. But if you ignore the back drop, the faux wood and faux nicotine staines, and focus on the puddings it does look like the real deal. We were tempted by the tarts and distracted by the framboise slices. An indulgence that left us nil points short of a tenner. The cakes were good though, very good..but such pleasures are passing; I have almost forgotten the yeilding sponge, the crisp raspberries and the rich black foamy coffee. And it occurs to me that in purchasing a top slice of cake I have bought an expensive experience that is unlikely to last. I will not , for example, say to my putative grandchildren, "I remember that trip to a posh cake shop." No the true gourmet of experience shopping buys things that are not to be forgotten...like a bunch of flowers for example.

This is the Docklander Blog

Docklander has been living here for a while and seen it change from the Brazillia of the East End to the new heart of London. The spirit of the city has stepped outside the old walls and caught a cab down the Highway. We are intoxicated by this place, from the empty warehouses of Tobacco Dock, to the lunchtime crowds in Canada Place. London is the river and the river is Docklands - it's free, bold and eccentric an Engish Manhattan whose aspiration in the tops of it's steel and glass towers is rooted in the soft wharehouse brick of its past. This is our home and this is our chronicle of its daily life.

Tagged docklander : docklands.