Tasteful Conversion

In Faversham today and I was really impressed with how Tesco had converted an old industrial unit into a supermarket. It looked nice.

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Not Really Necessary

Snuck into a Costa Coffee this morning to while away the time before attending a course. This was at the Costa inside Tesco’s in Faversham.
Now, I’m quite impressed with Faversham really. It has a crazy road system and a lovely provincial feel and look. Very nice and a little weird! Perhaps this phenomenon is just a Kent thing but they were selling super size biscuits in Costa! They are your classics; a bourbon, a Jamie dodger and a custard cream.
This picture tells you all you need to know! For scale, the bourbon is about 13cm long. Crazy times. I’m pretty sure it’s a ploy to make the world (or at least Faversham) a fatter place.

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BBC News Comments

It had been my intention a while ago to comment on BBC News articles every now and then. See my initial news communication. I am going to try and resurrect this over the next while but if I am being honest I think that:

There’s just too many stories on the BBC News website that are clearly sensationalism and non-stories.

So, I will comment on some over the next few weeks and see if I get a severe reaction to the general anger that these “news” stories give me. If I find that I am too angry and can’t stop moaning about these things then it will be time to quit and find another niche for my considerable intellect and comment.

Analytics

Since creating the www.whatuseismaths.com website I have been trying to increase my understanding of who might be visiting this website. You can see a widget on the right giving page views and from where they are being accessed but I am currently trying to get a better picture.

Step forward, Google Analytics. Hopefully with this I will be able to satisfy my curiosity as to who reads this stuff. I know some friends in the USA do and a few people in the UK but the others come as rather a surprise.

I have added a little plugin to this site to help me track via Google Analytics what is going on. I’m just curious. Also, my site seems to be happy to cope with the plugins. There was a period of about a month last year when the site seemed to be running very slowly but over the last six months I haven’t had any issues with it.

So, a more analyitical approach to my ego awaits!

Vindication

The BBC News website carried a story yesterday about a high speed yacht that broke the world record. I was instantly interested as my final year project at university was the conceptual design of a high speed yacht.

The major design innovations of my yacht were:

  • outrigger
  • hydrofoils
  • aerofoil shaped sail

Here’s a picture of my concept: 

High Speed Yacht Concept - Drawn By Richard Oussedik
High Speed Yacht Concept – Drawn By Richard Oussedik

Here’s a technical drawing of the main body of the yacht:

Conceptual Yacht - Drawing

And so, to compare, here’s some pictures taken from the Vestas Sailrocket website.

High Speed 1

High Speed 2

So, the sail is in a different place and at an angle but I think my original choices for my final year project have been vindicated. I feel quite pleased that I managed to conceptualise a design that, in general, has worked.

Well done to the Vestas Sail Rocket Team.

Cleared For Landing

In the field at the back of our house there rests a large number of geese. They come at this time of year and chill out over night before going on their way somewhere. The can be hundreds possibly thousands. Tonight I caught some on final approach but you might have to squint to see them.

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Also, here’s the moon. It looks bigger in real life but then that’s just an optical illusion.

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Two Rules

My personal rules for the bands in which I have played are:

  • No Girls
  • No Keyboards
  • Pretty much anything else goes. I don’t think I have to justify these either, the rules stand by themselves!

    First Gig

    It was the first live performance of the band Disaster Area today. We played the MGS Battle of the Bands as guests.
    So for prosperity it’s the 16 November 2012 and the venue was the MGS Great Arena.
    Here’s the video:

    Pod Bay Doors

    The T-shirt I am wearing today has a 2001 film quotation on it. This is so I can quickly see the video.

     

    Executive

    Thanks to Hilton at Canary Wharf we just got upgraded to an Executive Suite. It’s nice! Top floor overlooking London’s Docklands.

    Here’s our room:

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    The bathroom:

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    Here’s the breakfast table:

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    Dodgy Websites

    Thank goodness for the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority). If we didn’t have them then the country would be full of misleading claims about products and services. However, there is an issue, adverts and websites can only be adjudicated once the ASA have received a complaint. This means that the misleading claims (lies) have to be made public before there is any action. Therefore most of the population aren’t aware of the fact that an advert might have been withdrawn. The damage will have been done. Perhaps adjuducations should be carried in a short segment at the end of the main TV news shows on ITV, BBC and Sky. This would cut some of the issues of publish and then retract, maybe making advertising even better than it is now.

    If you are unsure of what sort of adverts have had adjudications then click here. This should take you to a page with the most recent rulings. Look carefully as this is a list of adverts and claims that have been ruled upon and not just those that are lies. Check the complaint to see what the issue was with the original advert.

    The ASA also has a page of non-compliant online advertisers. The list is here. It will probably come as no surprise that a lot of these websites are for products or services that must be considered “woo“. If you can’t substantiate your claims then the chances are you are peddling bogus products or SCAMs.

    I am proud to let you know that a complaint I sent to the ASA was acted on for print versions but the website of this company still (as of 7 Nov 2012) promotes amber necklaces for toddlers as a way of soothing teething pains. There is no good evidence that this works. The ASA page on this non-compliance is here. Avoid their products!

    Sandy

    My Shatism on Storm Sandy.

    Attention To Detail

    Just so you people know how good GT5 is here’s a changelog for the latest update:

  • The [Tire/Fuel Consumption] settings under [Event Settings] of the Online Lounge can now be set in four levels; “None”, “Normal”, “Fast”, and “Very Fast”.
  • The view during 3D display has been improved.
  • The speed of tire wear varied too greatly depending on the vehicle in some cases, and this has been balanced.
  • Improved the scoring method in drift trials to prevent cheating
  • The maximum RPM of the Honda Weider HSV-010 (SUPER GT) ’11 has been changed to 10300rpm. The engine sound has also been improved.
  • Fixed an issue where enemy cars were hitting the pit entrance wall when pitting in at the Twin Ring Motegi Road Course East.
  • Fixed an issue where fuel was not being consumed when entering an endurance race with a Prius, or when setting tires and fuel to be consumed in the online lounge. Affected cars: Toyota Prius G ’02, Toyota Prius G ’09, Toyota Prius G Touring Selection ’03, Toyota Prius Touring Car.
  • Fixed an issue where the online control characteristics differed from the offline characteristics.
  • That’s why I think GT is one of the best game series ever and why I love it. Just a shame I haven’t played for about 3 weeks! Too busy. Need to be a student again!

    Temporary Temporal Location

    The Theory Of Relativity and the space-time continuum must be having a joke. It is Guy Fawkes night here in the UK and it is traditionally the time of year when people spend their hard earned cash and buy fireworks to explode in celebration of the destruction of a Catholic plot to take over the country. Every year we ritually burn a Catholic effigy on a fire, just to make a point.

    Fireworks are not just limited to the 5th of November as they can be let off anytime from about a week before to a week after the actual date, or so seems the tradition in areas I have lived.

    This sudden need for fireworks to burn has a strange effect on the existence of shops that sell fireworks. All of a sudden, shops exist where none have existed before. It is almost as if the universe knows that we need fireworks and obliges by creating these quantum spaces where money can be exchanged for coloured explosives. For the rest of the year these shops do not exist. I have no idea where you can buy fireworks at any other time of the year.

    It seems strange that the will of the people is satisfied by the universe in allowing  these shops exist. Yet, prayers for health and wealth go un-listened!

    I imagine that fireworks shops are floating around in hyperspace just waiting for a critical mass of “need”. This “need” gives the shops the energy binding to fix their position for a short while so they can serve their reason for existence. As soon as that “need” passes the shop can no longer maintain its bind to reality and it is forced back into hyperspace. Perhaps they follow the need of Earth’s population around the globe and end up following the seasons! Early November in the UK, Diwali in India and New Year everywhere. The number of fireworks stores for the Olympics must have been immense!

    Just imagine, a world where the needs of the people are served by a wonder of shops and services just floating outside existence until the “need” reaches critical mass. That’s my sort of universe!