Big brother really is watching you. From a discrete plane fitted with military spy equipment. Unlike the Big Brother from Orwell's 1984 though, the version of Big Brother the local councils are producing is more of an intrusive, nagging, holier than thou mother in law. Incredibly, spy cameras are being used to monitor the energy efficiency of our homes. This information is then being put on a website, presumably so mobs of green nutters can come and throw stones at your window and sing songs about flowers and the sun gods.
Haringey Council, in London, has become the first authority in England to place house-by-house thermal maps on the web, after the example of Aberdeen in Scotland. Apparently it is supposed to raise awareness of how much energy is being wasted from our homes. The maps will include colour coded ratings for each property. This is name and shame stuff. If they want to let people know, go and tell them and while your there give them constructive advice as to what to do. Don't publish pictures of their house on the internet for all these nutters to see. And how much has this all cost? A fancy website with a few colour codings and nothing else, not even advice on what to do about it. Great use of council time and money. Do something useful instead like collect the bins or clean the streets.