Had a naughty thought last night. Having heard that DTM will be broadcast on ITV4 and if that coverage is any good and if it’s in HD and if Eurosport keep showing FIA WTCC then I might, just might, give up watching Formula 1.
I only have so much time to myself to watch these things and I try to drag myself away from F1 but keep going back to that mistress. I feel kinda sick just thinking about leaving. Mind you I only watch about half the races all the way through and trying to avoid the result is very tricky. Oh no, where is this argument going?
Right.
Let’s see what Hockenheim is like on ITV4. Then I’ll think about deserting again! More to follow. . .
Published
In November 2009 I was moved to write a letter to the editor of Private Eye after the architecture critic, Piloti, suggested that living near electricity transformers was dangerous to human health. The letter was published and I have kept that copy of Private Eye for the future. Looking back through my emails it would appear that I have written to Private Eye 5 times. So that’s a 20% hit rate so far.
Sir,
I was disappointed to read that Piloti (Eye 1249) has reinforced the incorrect view that magnetic fields from electricity substations are a danger to health. There is no scientific evidence to link electricity substations with an increase of ill health. Piloti’s use of the specific term “radiation” only reinforces peoples’ prejudices against such structures. EM radiation covers everything from radio waves to X-Rays and beyond and does nothing to describe what is actually emitted. Should your excellent staff of humanities graduates want to further their knowledge I point you in the direction of: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/magnetic-fields
I shall, however, not be cancelling my subscription for this minor transgression.
Kent Rainbow
Here’s a rainbow I saw while out having a jog.
BBC Headline #8
Headline from the BBC website.
Scientists create “Dr Who sonic screwdriver”
This fails on the following levels:
Quotation in Headline
Extrapolation
Bull
Quotation in Headline
I’m pretty sure they used the quotation marks here to show that they “just made it up”. Having looked at the article the reference to Dr Who was made by one of the researchers who is obviously trying to get into the news cycle so he can keep his research grant. In reality it’s an ultrasound device that can turn objects under specific conditions not just make them move backwards and forwards as sound waves would normally do. Now this is very clever but I’m pretty sure that Dr Who doesn’t use an ultrasonic screwdriver. All the references in the shows are to a sonic screwdriver that is the biggest deus ex machina device I have seen and turned me off the show.
Extrapolation
The BBC writers researchers obviously got a little excited and decided that if they followed the technological line for a few thousand iterations then we could link this current device to the Doctor’s sonic screw driver. This is rubbish. It’s like saying that because cars have improved their fuel efficiency over the last decade we should be able to travel miles on a thimble of fuel some time in the future.
Bull
It’s just rubbish to suggest that this device is anywhere near a sonic screwdriver.
Looking Forward to Watching
I am really looking forward to watching the following things with my children when they are old enough.
- Star Wars episodes IV, V, VI
- The Back To The Future trilogy
- The Fifth Element
- Star Trek films
- Firefly – tv series
- Akira
- Battlestar Galactica
I hope they get the same enjoyment out of them that I have done for ages. The biggest problem is knowing when to introduce them to these wonders!
BBC Headline #7
BBC headline from the iPhone app from a while ago (18 March 2012).
Neutrinos “slow down” in new test
This headline suffers the following issues:
Quotation in Headline
Oversimplification
Bull
Quotation in Headline
As I have demonstrated many times you can get any old crank to say any old shit and then put it in a headline. Heck, you could even ask the desk jockey next to you to say something and then include their quotation. “He has a double direction reversible torch to see daylight, he’s that far up his own arse” says industry insider!
Oversimplification
Science and the method of science doesn’t follow a simple narrative or allow for simplification of its ideas. The original neutrino results were released because the scientists wanted criticism of their experiment, not because they believed the results to be true. Now, after nearly a year, they are closer to understanding the problems with the original experiment and are ready to try again. One scientific result does not a whole new paradigm make.
Bull
The neutrinos NEVER went faster than the speed of light and so they can’t have slowed down!
Thanks Jase
Many many thanks to Jase for this most excellent 40th birthday present for me. I got him a megalodon tooth!
Snap Shot
Here is a snap shot of the skies above Essex on the Easter Monday of 2012. You might find this interesting, you might not. I don’t care.
The picture is a screen grab from the iPhone Flight Finder app.
Welcome Jase
Congratulations to Jase on becoming a trainee firefighter. Even better is his diary and blogosphere contribution [edit – no longer active].
Welcome, another member of the Fulham Five to the world of websites and blogging.
Dusk
It’s a still evening in Kent.
In the still of the night.
April weather in Scotland
I swear on this day we had sun, snow, hail, rain and high winds. Talk about four seasons in one day! It probably does happen down south but it was just right for my second visit to bonny Scotland.
Skeptical Pat
Just watched an episode of Postman Pat, or rather, just turned over and caught the last little bit. I was feeding son #2 rather than enjoying the stop-motion for myself. The episode was called Postman Pat and the Magic Lamp.
Now I’m going to have to guess what the story was about but I think the kids (all with ginger hair, Pat’s hair is ginger, you figure it out) found a lamp that they considered magic. I think they made wishes and then waited for them to come true. When Pat spoke to them he said:
Wishes only come true like that in books and stories. If you want something to come true then you have to work yourself to make it come true.
This is surely an excellent lesson, not only for children but also for every person on the planet. What a skeptical chap.
What the son sees
This is what happens when you give a camera to a three year old. Eldest son took these while we were visiting family. I’m not going to give a commentary this is just what he finds interesting.
Hawaii 5-O Part 2
I still really like watching Hawaii 5-O, see my previous post. The scenery is great, the colour filters used show Hawaii off to the best and the camaraderie between the characters is good. The tech is over the top, but I can actually live with that. There’s a problem now though.
I think they jumped the shark!
The latest episode that I watched had 5-O invade North Korea to rescue their leader. He’d been lured there by a double agent of Wo Fat who is the series’ lead baddy.
Seriously?
A group of rogue coppers and hang-ins fly a Huey (wrong war for that helo) into North Korea across the DMZ (the most heavily armed 100 miles in the world) and not only get there alive but successfully capture their top man and make it back!
For some reason I can cope with them hacking into any database or CCTV stream in the world but invading North Korea really launched them over the cartilaginous hunter with supreme success.
Going to keep watching for the next little while to see if they improve. If not then I have some episodes of Alcatraz recorded and ready to watch. Perhaps that will be better?
Knowing your market
Getting together with companies who have the same customer base is a bonus for big business but needs careful arrangement. Never a clearer example:
Possibly this photo also clearly shows an example of standard Scottish weather. Snow tonight!
I think this post clearly shows my growing snobbery towards certain things. Will have to reign that in, it doesn’t do good for a so called liberal to be a bit of a snob (except for universities).
Bit of a comedown!
Since the T1000 it turns out Cyberdyne (or more correctly Skynet) have created an even worse monster than the T1000!
NAS Drive
For my birthday I bought a 2TB NAS unit. I spent ages looking at different types and was going to get a LG NAS until I saw an Iomega unit in PC World in BlueWater Shopping centre with quite a good price reduction. I did some internet searching that evening and went back the next day to buy the Iomega unit.
I got the Iomega StorCentre ix200 Cloud Edition there are some good things about it and some things that to be honest I don’t understand and can’t be bothered to invest the time to understand.
I use the NAS to store movies, iTunes libraries and eventually I will categorise all our photos on it. I can stream content to the PS3 and iPhones and laptop which is useful. I can also access it via the web should I feel like it! Here’s a list of functions I won’t be using:
- Flickr upload folder – automatically uploads to Flickr
- Bit Torrent download automatically
- Time Machine
- Print Server
- Cloud backup
- Facebook folder (see this about Facebook)
- You Tube upload
I have the two 1TB drives configured as RAID0 at the moment which, as far as I understand it, means they copy each other for data redundancy. If I ever need the extra space I’ll turn that off as I also back up photos and video files to DVD. Can you have too much redundancy?
Kent Sunset
The last sunset of the current spell of lovely weather.
48 Degrees
My newest favourite number is 48 or more accurately arccos (2/3). Other favourite numbers are 5,17, and 309. Although 48 is ten more that the Revolting Cocks song 38, the reason for 48 degrees is explained (mathematically) below, but essentially 48 degrees is the solution to the problem:
A smooth hemisphere with radius, r, is resting in a fixed position on a horizontal plane with its flat face in contact with the plane. A particle of mass, m, is slightly disturbed from rest at the highest point of the hemisphere. Find the angle to the vertical that the particle leaves the surface of the sphere.
Also this is independent of radius, particle mass and local gravity! Nice.
Toys of the Son Part 13
Today’s items of choice. A fire ladder truck, a Lego digger and a bouncy ball.
