Personal – Page 83 – Fooyah

August 1 2011August 22 2011

Frank and Dave

Here are Frank and Dave. I bought this cactus from the Fresher’s Fair at Imperial College in Sept 1991. They are named after the two main astronaut characters from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
I have only had these twins in my possession for around half of their lives though. In 1996 I left them in the flat at 9 Daver Court, Ealing, where I lived while doing my PGCE. I then moved to Kent. Lost and gone but never entering my thoughts so not lost really. Then in 2004 I moved into my current home and a friend came over. She brought Frank and Dave with her as they had been living in her mum’s bathroom since 1997!
Frank and Dave now live in my dining room and occasionally get watered and hoovered! The spines catch quite a bit of dust.
More about another Frank and Dave another time.

July 31 2011August 22 2011

Nearly fully grown

My vegetables nearly ready to eat.

July 29 2011August 22 2011

Road Names

No, not silly road names like Cock Lane or Red Rose Close. They are very boring. What my wife and I do is name sections of road depending on what parts of race tracks they remind us. This allows us to talk about what idiot pulled out or drove too close and easily describe where this incident took place. No more “you know just past that corner after the big house” now we talk about “just past Petit Eau Rouge”.

So now I need to share these names with you.
A – Heading east along Pilgrims Way – small up movement in road and a turn right – Petit Eau Rouge
B – Heading west along Pilgrims Way – The Esses
C – Heading south along A229, the slip road turning onto the M20 east bound. It can be taken many different ways and hence – Graham Hill Bend
D – A roundabout which is very wide – Speedway
E – There’s a slight kink before a normal right turn around a roundabout hence – Mulsanne
F – A wide right turn at a T junction and so – Arnage

There’ll be more after my wife and I name them. Coming soon: the M25 southbound on to the M20.

July 28 2011August 22 2011

PS3

This is probably the definition of irony.
Decided to cancel my Continuous Play PS3 insurance policy. Although it was only £5 a month I had been paying it for a few years and could have bought another PS3 with that amount of money in that time. The issue is that I have a 60Gb Fat PS3 and the specification is so good I don’t want to lose it. I bought a few SACDs when they were released and the PS3 is the only thing that will play them since I upgraded my amplifier. So, 11am I phoned the insurance company and cancelled my policy with them.
I started playing on the PS3 and actually had it doing some GT5 B-Spec races while I was watching TV. Later on while my baby son was sleeping I thought I would have a go at a Japanese GT race at the Nurburgring Grand Prix circuit. I was doing really well and catching first place at about 3 seconds a lap with 2 laps to go and a gap of 4 seconds. This was going to be a fun last lap.
BLANK. The TV picture died, I could hear the HDD and fan of the PS3 running down and playing the sounds of death. Suddenly there’s a red light flashing on the PS3. I google, as is the modern way, and it turns out to be bad. OK, no panic. Surely everything will be ok.
Phoned the insurance company: Yes, my cover is still valid and yes they will stop my cancellation order.
Phoned PlayStation support: Yes, you are covered and we’ll send a reconditioned unit to you tomorrow.
Result: I am now playing GT5 (managed to get the save file) and loving it still. Won the GT race and now, as I type the PS3 is racing a B-Spec race for me but rather badly.
Hopefully, that is the end of the story.

July 23 2011August 22 2011

Bombs

Following the bomb that went off in Oslo, I decided to write down my experiences of terror.
During my time as a student in London there were 15 bombs or left packages left either by the IRA or by middle east terrorists. I lived there from 1992 to 1996. There were some huge explosions and many people died, but 99.999% of the population were safe. I always checked in at home after an explosion, calling my mum from a phone that was attached to the wall via a cable! I never really understood the worry she would face but now I have my children I get it at last.
The first bomb I heard was during my first year at Imperial College. I was asleep in student halls in South Kensington (actually they were in Westminster but I’m being picky!). I woke to the sound of a blast of thunder and I turned sides. When I became a little more conscious I realised it was sunny outside and so the noise must have been a bomb. I mentally shrugged and then went back to sleep. I don’t know what time I then woke up but I remember not being really bothered by the bomb. Fortunately no one was injured or killed. Those sort of things happened. It was 10th January 1992.
The second bomb I heard was more of a shock. By this time I was working for the students’ union of Imperial College and we had offices in the Beit building. There had been a fire alarm and so we were gathered in the quadrangle waiting for the all clear when there was a very loud boom. I knew it was a big bomb and quite close. I was worried about people and hoped that help would arrive. I also knew there was nothing I could do. There would be many people gathering to help. Some other members of the student union staff were visibly shocked and moved by the bomb. This time it was a big car bomb planted by someone from the middle east as they had just blown up the Israeli embassy. 20 people were injured and there was a lot of damage. It was 26 July 1994.
These days it seems we are more worried about terrorism without having the terrorism. It bothers me that we have lots of hype from the press and the government. The rigmarole we go through to get on a plane or visit a tourist attraction bothers me. The data show that no threats have been beaten through these security measures, the plots that have been stopped were caught by old fashioned police and intelligence work.
Time to get real on terrorism I think. Yes, there is a threat, but there always has been. We are a global power and so will always face having to deal with disgruntled people.

July 16 2011August 22 2011

Jumping the shark?

This is me jumping the water sprayer. It was a cold day, hence the fleece. I was quite worried that I was going to slip on landing and end up looking the fool. Maybe I look the fool anyway!

July 15 2011June 22 2018

Icons

Just put new icons on the mobile version of my website. They are from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. I like them and many thanks to the person who made them. ~~When I remember I’ll link to that site~~. Link here.
Going to try and find some way of having the icons on my main site, I think that’ll look really cool. At the moment I am still bothered by time out errors and 500 errors. I think my server shares its time with other sites or it spends a long time doing site maintenance. Will try to find out.
I secretly hope that this site will take off and be very widely read but in reality I don’t want that responsibility. I could, of course, post stuff that isn’t well written and doesn’t make sense but in reality I want to use this to improve my writing skills which are currently poor.
Here’s to the web allowing me to indulge myself and make writing feel like fun, even with the iPhone touch pad.

July 14 2011August 22 2011

More work

Been spending some time trying to lower load times for the site and seeing if I can customise the look. All of this takes a lot of time, which I am willing to give. It is not difficult though. I have to say I have found that WordPress is pretty good. I google things when I am not sure and the answer is pretty much there. Editing php files and the such is quite enjoyable even though I have no idea what I am doing.
One thing though, people. I am using the Twenty10 theme and not another because I like it and not because it is the default theme. I have tried other themes and I don’t like them. Maybe I’ll create my own theme.

July 11 2011August 22 2011

Yellow flowers

More nice stuff while walking the dog. Isaac Asimov has been mentioned twice in my day. Once by me, once by the SGU. What are the chances?

July 7 2011August 22 2011

How do you washup a sieve?

The short answer is: you don’t get it messy in the first place

A sponge or cloth is not very good at getting the food detritus from the sieve. You wipe and just move the particles around. A running tap might work if the upturned sieve is washed through with running water but you have to ensure that the whole surface area has been douched. The bristles from a brush might be pushed through the grill on the sieve, but this is somewhat tiresome and tends to move dirt from one place to another.
Ultimately it is a lengthy job and not one that need be done. Drain the veg with the saucepan lid. Maybe use coffee filter inserts but never use a sieve. It’s just not worth the cleaning effort. That’s why you never see them in Star Trek.

July 6 2011August 22 2011

Mathematics – the path to understanding

Science is about observing our world, making predictions and then seeing if we are correct. What a wonderful and beautiful method for understanding our world. Much preferable than relying on an ancient book and a mystical bearded man in the sky.
Mathematics is the key to science. Understanding mathematics gives you the tools to probe scientific models and to make predictions. It’s also how we know what we know and allows us to decide what works. Bit by bit our models of the natural world change and improve and feed on the evidence presented by our research.
Be good at mathematics, or at least be hard working. It can be rote learnt but it’s much better to have the flair and natural ability. This system is rather hard on those who can’t follow the maths, but there are plenty of people willing to popularise science in TV shows and books. There’s just not an excuse for trying, or trying to find out.

I advise my students to listen carefully the moment they decide to take no more mathematics courses. They might be able to hear the sound of closing doors.
James Caballero

July 4 2011August 22 2011

Hawaii 5-O

This re-imagined TV show is brilliant.
A friend, Jase, really likes CSI Miami and I have tried to watch it but find it extremely clichéd. CSI Miami is poorly scripted, it is poorly shot and poorly acted (apart from Emily Procter). However, Jase finds something to enjoy and thoroughly raves about it.
I now understand what he means. Hawaii 5-O is poorly scripted, reasonably acted and extremely clichéd. The scenery is brilliant. The technology used is rubbish. The actors are glamorous and the plot appalling. I love it.
I vaguely remember the original series, watching it with my dad when I was younger. I do not remember whether it was any good. I am worried that if I went and watched the original series it would be like seeing 1980s Dr Who or Blakes 7. In my mind these shows are brilliant but if I was to see them I know I would be disappointed. I have recently seen some episodes of Space 1999 and it is amazingly dated!
5-O is shot in Hawaii and makes the islands look fantastic. It is a brilliant advert for a visit. I can’t help feeling that Hawaii is somewhat wasted on the Americans! The actors are very glamorous and include members of the cast of Lost (good early on) and Battlestar Galactica (all good). The premise of immunity of the 5-O crew is somewhat bothersome for a humanist, but a brilliant plot device. The relationship between the main two characters is well scripted with them arguing like a married couple. I love them driving between crime scenes for the discussions they have. The idea that a police group can hack into any bank account, any phone account, utilities, CCTV system or triangulate a mobile signal is rather far fetched but I guess some of the population believe it.
This show is a great find and well worth watching as it is brain dead TV. It takes no brain power to watch but entertains.

July 3 2011August 22 2011

Vegetable Plot

This is the vegetable plot. I had thought it looked better in the photo than in real life but I might be wrong. Anyway, I don’t like gardening but have found myself tending to the plants on a regular basis. The plants are: beetroot, carrots, lettuce and pak choi. Hopefully my son will enjoy harvesting our goodies and eating them. He seems to be in an apple mood at the moment!
I also have six tomato plants on the go in pots. There are some toms appearing and so hopefully soon my family can eat those. Lots of, very slow, fun. Not quite PS3 really.

June 27 2011August 22 2011

How to eat an apple

Apart from using a knife (or not) and cutting up an apple I can think of predominantly two ways of eating an apple. This does matter because one way is correct and the other is not so correct.

Circumferential or the Segment method?

A circumferential eater will take a bite, rotate the sphere using the core as the axis and take another bite. This will result in a curve of apple exposed around the great circle of the apple. Then another line of bite is taken from each end (assuming that the eater has a big enough mouth to bite to the core)
A segmental eater takes bites out of the apple from stalk to opposite pole. This results in a segment being eaten and then the apple being rotated to start the process again.
The problem is exposure of the flesh of the apple to the air to turn brown and this needs to be minimised. In the segment method the area exposed for significant time is constant. For the circumferential method the area exposed increases with time.

Which leads to:

The analysis shows that if your bite radius is greater than 0.140 of the radius of the apple then you should eat in segments. Apart from small mammals the bite radius is going to be more than 14% of the apple radius, unless there is a huge apple variety waiting to be discovered.

This post was necessary because every time I eat an apple my wife tells me I am eating it the wrong way.

June 25 2011August 22 2011

Sky+HD sound

You would think it’s simple.
Sky box has HDMI output. My amplifier has HDMI in with full HD sound and 7.1 decoding. So why does Sky box only output stereo sound through the HDMI cable? I have optical cable connected which does work fine ( DD 5.1 only). The installation tech told me the HDMI does do 5.1, he was wrong although it’s hard to find a definitive answer.
After about an hour of googling I finally found what I hope is the correct answer.

http://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Sky-HD-Picture-Sound/Sky-HD-5-1-via-HDMI/m-p/2183#M300

Why make a piece of kit that doesn’t do what it can? Is it that you can’t send HD sound over satellite signal? Perhaps they only have space for compressed Dolby digital rather than the more pure 48khz CD or better standard.
Sky need a tech page for people who know their stuff to help make decent equipment decisions.
Oh well.

June 24 2011August 22 2011

Flowers

See, it’s nice down South! Another dog walk another lovely view. Probably going to rain in a bit.

June 23 2011February 18 2020

Time Consuming

Just managed to upload the parish website version 2. This was started in about 2004 and then I had a re-imaging in about 2010. There’s quite a but there. I was really proud of it and like the colour scheme. Some pictures are missing and I doubt I’ll find them as I changed computers in that time, whoops.
Link here.
It brings back some wonderful memories and what you can do when you have the time and aren’t running around after two kids.