probability, trust and the impossibility of security?

[Ian G Batten]

On Mon, 31 Mar 2003, Brian Beesley wrote:

> On Saturday 29 March 2003 03:04, Tom Thomson wrote:
> >
> > I see that you believe that a "Byzantine metering & billing
> > system" is not a characteristic of electricity supply.  For me,
> > that makes it hard to take your other remarks seriously.
> 
> I can read my own meter; given this plus a very few other facts (price per 
> unit & fixed charge) I can check my own electricity bill in seconds. It's 
> straightforward.

Yes, and simple mobile phone bills are simple as well.  However, you can
also have electricity tarrifs involving economy 7 (two meters for two
different rates representing different times of day), legacy white meter
(two meters on different rings with different rates), various deals for
the elderly (flat rate with some caveats), and I'm sure there are more.
And for any business buying electricity it's _amazingly_ complex: I had
some involvement in the power for our Belfast operation and it was
mindbendingly involved.

ian