The internet has become an indispensable tool for various aspects of our daily lives, such as banking, taking payments, and remote work.
So, being cut off from the internet for five days would undoubtedly present significant challenges in today’s highly interconnected world – wouldn’t it?
That’s what happened to the residents of Tring, when a rodent chewed through their internet cables.
In today’s MetroTalk readers are pondering whether this highlights the vulnerability of our techno-reliant society.
Do you agree with one reader who says it’s five days offline due to a dormouse today and held for ransom by cyberhackers tomorrow? Or is that all, a little far-fetched?
What do you think?
‘Tring is a good cautionary tale about cashless societies’
Do you bother with cash? Why or why not? (Picture: Bloomberg via Getty)
I found the tale of Tring brought to its knees by having no internet for days gleeful (Metro, Thu).
The Hertfordshire town was left offline for five days after rodents – thought to be a type of dormouse known as a glis glis – chewed through Openreach cables.
The internet started as something with endless possibilities but has permeated too deeply into everyday life.
And the experience of those in Tring exposes how too ‘plugged-in’ modern life has become and how useless society becomes without the internet.
Shops were forced to close because card readers stopped working and the local cash machine soon ran out.
These ignorant people who don’t bother with cash anymore (or hold too little for emergencies) hopefully learned their lesson in just how dangerous a cashless system – or any system totally dependent on technology – is.
This time it was rogue rodents, next time it could be a big cyber attack or extreme weather knocking out telecoms.
So, this was a good cautionary tale about cashless societies and relying too much on automation. Peter, London
METRO TALK – HAVE YOUR SAY
Let us know what you think…
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I felt sorry for the people of Tring but their experience could help us understand how to combat any possible threat from artificial intelligence.
Should the robots turn on us, we could train an army of these strong-toothed glis glis to go in and cut all their wires… Samuel, Tooting
What does Donald Trump have to offer?
Former US president Donald Trump was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction in the January 6 attack on the Capitol building (Picture: AP)
The Donald (Trump) rails against the ‘deep state’ as he faces yet another criminal indictment (Metro.co.uk, Fri). What is he offering, a ‘shallow’ state. Graeme, Glasgow
Steven from London (MetroTalk, Fri) complains about industrial action from rail union Aslef preventing him from travelling down to Brighton Pride.
Aslef aren’t on strike, as he said. They have an overtime ban. They did all last week and will do all this week coming.
It’s irritating for sure but they’re standing up for their rights – just as Steven says those from the LGBTQ+ community have been doing with things such as Pride. Deb, Brighton
To Steven, when you are allowed to get down to Brighton on the train, good luck finding the ‘99p ice-cream’ you mentioned! Nick Firth, Coulsdon
Probably not 99p anymore (Picture: Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty)
‘The rich and powerful get more support than the average person’
Ray from Romford (MetroTalk, Fri) says he struggles to have any sympathy for Liam Payne, who said his time in One Direction ‘definitely left scars on me’.
I agree. The rich and the powerful can struggle with their mental health just like anybody else But they don’t have to worry about losing their jobs or where the next pound is coming from.
They earn more money from their fans feeling sorry for them – yet that fan could have a neighbour who is about to take their own life due mental health issues and they will be none the wiser.
Media outlets have glamorised mental health and given an excuse to any celebrity to talk about mental health issues. So, no, I am afraid I cannot feel sorry for any celebrity. Their money gives them access to so much more then ordinary people for ways to recover. Tuba, Watford
‘Why is the bank of England putting onus on mortgage holders?’
Once again the Bank of England – supported by the Conservative government and, it appears, the Labour Party – pursues its policy of putting the onus for controlling inflation on to the shoulders of the same minority of the British population – the less than a third who have a mortgage.
Younger, working people are hit time and again with these interest rate rises, while those in comfortable retirement, like me, don’t have to lift a finger.
Why are the political parties never challenged about this narrow-minded and unimaginative approach?
There are other ways of taking money out of the economy, for that is the reason for increasing interest rates, but there seems to be a conspiracy of silence about alternatives. Can anyone explain why? Chris, Stockport
‘Maybe Keir Starmer might have woken up by the General Election’
Will you be voting Labour in the next General Election? (Picture: Ian Forsyth/Getty)
I think Rishi Sunak’s decision to delay the next General Election (Metro, Thu) could backfire.
By 2025, Sir Keir Starmer might have woken up and started offering some policies for change, rather than his current offer of nothing to change any of the lousy Tory policies that have brought Britain to its disastrous state.
This has earned him a nickname of Staremore in my home: the worse things get, the more he stares into the wide, blue yonder, with the emphasis on ‘blue’. David Reed, London
‘Well done Greenpeace: protest focused on man in charge rather than the public’
Greenpeace activists climb onto the roof of the Prime Minister’s £2million manor house in Yorkshire in protest at his backing for a major expansion of North Sea oil and gas drilling amidst a summer of escalating climate impacts (Picture: Greenpeace / SWNS)
Just Stop Oil should take lessons from Greenpeace. Security issues aside, the Greenpeace protest (Metro, Fri) on the rood of Rishi Sunak’s house over his granting of 100 North Sea oil and gas licences makes more sense because it targets those who can actually do something or are the culprits of the issues we are facing.
Just Stop Oil targets those who have no control or even those who are already doing their bit, hence nobody supports them. Pedro, Hammersmith
Good on you, Greenpeace. The man deserves nothing less for his shameful behaviour in reneging on our promises and, indeed, our duty, to reduce the production and use of fossil fuels.
And after it failed to win the Uxbridge by-election (seen as
a judgement on the London mayor’s ULEZ expansion), Labour has been disappointing. Jacqueline, Leeds
Rishi Sunak needs an education on consequences: if we all use our cars, world temperatures will go up, people in poor countries will suffer more and so decide to move to the UK for a better life – probably in small boats across the Channel. Ellie T, Leicester
Is a mobility scooter a good alternative to a car for the disabled?
Cheaper and greener than a car (Picture: Getty)
Anthony (MetroTalk, Fri) opposes ULEZ because his disabled wife and her elderly father rely on their cars to make the short trip to the shops.
Have they not considered that a mobility scooter might be the cheapest and greenest way to travel?
My disabled father maintained his independence for many years with one, at a fraction of the cost of running a car.
If we don’t think outside the motorised metal box, our roads and cities will become increasingly congested and polluted. Jon, Newcastle
MORE : How a town’s internet was sabotaged by a tiny creature linked to one of the world’s richest families
MORE : Greenpeace set up shop on top of Rishi Sunak’s mansion as he flies to Disneyland
MORE : Rishi tells man whose mortgage payments rose to £2,800 a month: ‘Talk to your bank’
Should a mouse incident in Tring make us more aware of our cyber vulnerability? What do you think?