Category: Penguin

Posted on

It Says Nothing

I recently spent some time in the A&E department of a Kent hospital. This may or may not have been related to the previous communication. While waiting for the hours to pass I read every poster and most of the magazines in the minor injuries department. This is mostly foolish as none of it is interesting. I did see this though:

Hospital Report
Hospital Report

I will highlight some areas of this poster. You can click on the poster to see a larger version.

Apparently 72% recommend a service, maybe. We aren’t made aware of what those 72% are recommending. It could be the coffee from the machine [I didn’t see one]. Without knowing the question this set of data make no sense.

Next of note are the responses on a scale of 1 – 6.

Responses
Responses

The percentages for these have been given to two decimal places, just in case you were desperate to know. Again we don’t know what question was being asked. The poster doesn’t say.

As for the two charts, these tell us nothing new. Absolutely nothing. They replicate the data given in the list. They are utterly pointless. I’m not known for being a fan of pie charts and this one is terrible. In my opinion if you’ve used a pie chart you haven’t done the best you can in interpreting your data.

Then, most helpfully we get a list of the most recent types responses to a survey question WHICH WE DO NOT KNOW.

Comments
Comments

Now we can guess the question. We also have a pretty good idea of what all of this means, but we aren’t told. This poster could have been way more informative, way simpler to read and quite a bit clearer. It says the same thing THREE times.

I’m not really having a go at the hospital. I imagine that they have been told it’s a target to make sure they have these feedback responses pinned on the wall for all to see. The hospital doesn’t have enough time or money to do this well and so they rely on a bit of software or an external agency that then does a print run and these things are pinned up all over the place. If hospitals and the NHS could be left alone to get on with their jobs, if reform was stopped, if the staff were listened to then maybe, just maybe, things like this useless poster could be stopped and the service returned to the excellence it once was.

YES I blame the tories.

Much like the shit that is happening in education at the moment.

Posted on

It’s A Concern

This is just a tiny communication to get over in a basic way my concern about the next four years with Trump as president of the USA. I’m going to quote the current POTUS, it is part of his response to being asked about being black and how he manages that when talking to people:

My general theory is that if I was clear in my own mind about who I was; comfortable in my own skin; and had clarity about the way in which race continues to be this powerful factor in so many elements of our lives, but that it is not the only factor in so many aspects of our lives; that we have by no means overcome the legacies of slavery and Jim Crow and colonialism and racism, but that the progress we’ve made has been real and extraordinary; if I’m communicating my genuine belief that those who are not subject to racism can sometimes have blind spots or lack appreciation of what it feels to be on the receiving end of that — but that doesn’t mean that they’re not open to learning and caring about equality and justice — and that I can win them over, because there is goodness in the majority of people; I always felt that if I really knew that and I just communicated it as clearly as I could, that I’d be okay.

Now compare that with PEOTUS response to a question about saying he would lock up Hillary Clinton:

Well, I’ll tell you what I’m going to do, I’m going to think about it. Um, I feel that I want to focus on jobs, I want to focus on healthcare, I want to focus on the border and immigration and doing a really great immigration bill. We want to have a great immigration bill. And I want to focus on all of these other things that we’ve been talking about.

And also what he said when asked about what the Bushes said when they called:

Well, it was very interesting. I got a call from Father Bush, who is a wonderful man. And he just said, “Congratulations. It was an amazing campaign.” And then I got a call from George and he said– “Congratulations. It was great.”  And, you know, look, it’s– it’s a tough situation. I went to war with Jeb. And Jeb’s a nice guy, but it was a nasty campaign. It was a nasty campaign. And, I mean, I’m disappointed in one thing. He signed a pledge and I don’t know how you sign a pledge and then you don’t honor it. It was a rough primary. It’s a rough primary. Although I think the general was probably just as tough. Probably as a combination, it was the roughest ever.

I fear for the English language and I fear for the world.

Posted on

SMP

Recently had a good weekend at SMP near Folkestone. It was a training weekend giving skills to the CCF so they are ready to get on and enjoy some of the activities we do. On the first full day the weather was pretty poor and although warm [ish] it was overcast and drizzly. The second day was much better with brilliant sunshine and a glorious sun rise. There now follows a gallery of some of the best shots I took.

One night at SMP I had to accompany someone to hospital. Arriving at 23:00 we finally left the minor injuries section at 03:15. Given that reveille was at 06:00 this was harsh, got into bed at 03:45. The following day was quite hard although I did manage a kip in the drone training room.

Posted on

Future Plans

Yes, I made the title a tautology. Deliberately. Sorry.

Every now and then I create draft communications and hope to complete them at some point. There have been many that I have started but not completed. Some have died because I forgot what they were about and some have died because I simply don’t have the time to complete the communication to a good enough standard. Yes, there are standards on this site!

My current list of draft communications is:

Some of these are album reviews, which are going well but less often that initially. I’ll finish it one day.

“Advertising” may never get written because it’s about the complaints I have made to the ASA and a general rant about how terrible advertising is.

“Angels Within” is a classic take down of a bullshit magazine and website. It’ll be quite a rant but needs about two hours to complete to a decent level of shittyness.

“Flights Of Fancy” is a Fooyah investigation of the theory behind the common belief that the football at the Mile High Stadium travels further than at sea level. I have spent about an hour looking into this and I think the result will go against my initial scepticism but if that is where the evidence leads then so be it.

“Business Retreat” is a title I added but have no current idea what it is about or why I titled a communication so. I have a sneaky suspicion that it’s me ranting about Brexit. I need to rant about it. But I would also quite like the arguments to be coherent which I find difficult to express. That’s just me, I can get overwhelmed and struggle to form the best words in a good enough order to create a formal argument.

“Beat them Up” is me moaning at a news headline on the BBC and taking the article apart. It’s the education system being shat upon, surprise, surprise.

So, there, keep your eyes open or your twitter feeds running with alerts. These may or may not get written.

Posted on

Desktop

Sometimes you work with or know people who don’t use the correct terminology. It can occasionally be a minor irritation but also is a problem because using specific language is important to be able to communicate or understand a particular topic. So, in the past, people I have worked with have used the term “screen saver” when they meant “desktop background”. It’s a minor problem but they are wrong. Screen savers are quite specific and no longer necessary although possibly fun.

Below are the pictures I use as my desktop background at home. All were taken by me and so I own the copyright on them. Yes, I am rather proud of all the pictures. Yes, I like aircraft.

I will probably change these over time, but I do want to see many more flying machines. It’s a fascination and passion. Somewhere in these erstwhile communications there are pictures of my iPhone backgrounds, somewhere. Use the search box.

My phone background is currently an obsession with the M’Era Luna festival in Hildesheim.

Posted on

Furthest East

So the previous communication about places of abode consisted of a group of friends who grew up on the Hertfordshire borders. Two of us lived in Essex, although A only live in Essex by about 20 metres, and two of us lived in Herts.

I have another bunch of friends from university and there are parts of the internet dedicated to them. We are further spread around the world as follows:

  • Me in Kent
  • M in Fulham
  • J in West End
  • R in Houston, TX
  • A in Atlanta, GA

It’s a more interesting question about cardinal extremities for this bunch.

Here’re the numbers [to within a few miles each]

  • Me –  51°19′ N   0°28′ E
  • M –  51°29′ N   0°11′ W
  • J –  51°20′ N   0°37′ W
  • R –  30°10′ N  95°30′ W
  • A –  34° 01′ N  84°14′ W

So, in summary R is furthest south and west by a long way. M is furthest north by about 10′ and I am furthest east. Yippee, I’m first to see the sun and more than likely the first to be asleep!

But, the plot thickens very slightly as there is another who should be included in this group but he isn’t part of the Fulham Five. K lives in the Midlands and given his approximate location is:

52°26′ N   1°34′ W

K is clearly the furthest north of all of us.

I am the only one in the eastern hemisphere though!

Posted on

Who’s North

Recently in a discussion with a group of friends D ended by saying that all was quiet on the southern front. He lives in Offenbach and so, therefore, not that you know just yet, he lives furthest east of that particular group of friends.

friends map
Some Friends – Map

So, D gets the furthest east and also south but not by a great deal. I’ve got some calculations to do in a minute. J lives in Saltash and is clearly the furthest west, and close to being the southern most!

Now some numbers:

  •   J –  50° 24′ 21.78″N
  •   D –  50° 6′ 32.47″N

The north-south distance between these two is:

0° 17′ 49.31″

Which turns out to be 33km.

I was more interested in who is the furthest north and by how much. The numbers for those, are:

  •  Me – 51° 19′ 5.60″N
  •  A – 51° 20′ 6.24″N

You can see that’s pretty close. The north-south distance for these two is:

0° 1′ 0.64″

Which turns out to be 1.872km.

It’s much closer than the difference between the other two, but I am neither the most north, south, east or west. Boo.

 

 

[The domiciles of D and J have been approximated but with 33km between them that’s not particularly an issue].

Posted on

Arrival

I sauntered out to the old haunt of the Cineworld at Rochester. I watched Arrival and, of course, I rated it on IMDB after watching it. You can see my scoring system explained in this communication.

This film was very good. I think the trailer somewhat over played the thriller aspect, but then that’s largely what sells I think. It’s nice to see an intelligent science fiction film. Something that makes you think and wonder. There’s too much dross and simple stuff out there at the moment. I’m not entirely sure I like the premise of this movie but it was a good watch anyway. It was the second film I had seen with a child’s death in it and I don’t like that kind of stuff, I’d rather not have those possibilities exposed.

The main thing we know about contact is how to communicate. What form or style of language will we use. This is important. For the best treatment of this read Contact.

Overall, this film is worth watching.

Posted on

One More Time With Feeling

Last night I went to Canterbury to the Curzon independent cinema there. I find Canterbury an odd place. The centre, where the shops are, is cut off by a Roman wall and a ring road from the reality of the rest of the town.

I’d not been to the Curzon cinema there before although I probably have been to those cinemas but too long ago to remember or be specific. The cinema was off a back street near the Marlowe Theatre. Inside it was quirky with an old fashioned book shop feel to it. People were drinking coffee and playing scrabble in the foyer area. The screen room itself was wide but not deep and the seats were quite comfortable with some being sofa style!

I went to see One More Time With Feeling. A documentary film about Nick Cave creating and recording music since the death of his son.

It was mostly shot in black and white and it was a very touching movie. I know nothing about Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and I’m not sure I know much now. The interviews were interesting and partly an insight into the music making process but on reflection I’m not convinced they were very revealing. The film seemed to contain about 6 or 7 music videos. I’m not sure if the band were actually recording while they played in these scenes, I would like to think so but it looked a little too staged. The scenes and interviews in between the set-piece song videos were dark, amusing and pretty much what you would expect.

I was utterly compelled for most of the film. As a terrible song writer and someone who probably should spend more time using his creative side it was interesting to hear a musician talk about the process, but I’m not at all sure it was a major revelation.

To hear someone talk about the death of a child is horrible.

Anyway, this is worth a watch. It’s musically interesting and lyrically haunting. It’s a good film.

Judge for yourself:

Posted on

Virtual Radar

A while back I wrote about setting up an ADS-B detector in the loft. There are six communications I think.

And this one makes seven.

What’s the point in having an ADS-B receiver if you aren’t going to use it when you are out of your house? So, I managed to set up some wizardry on parts of my home network and now I can see the display from outside the confines of my wireless network. I’ve done some port forwarding and other lovely stuff which is easy enough if you are adept at googling, which I am.

So, I now have a Virtual Radar Service for the area around my house that I can log in to from anywhere in the world. I did have to set up a Dynamic Domain Name Service for my modem as I am not lucky enough to have a fixed IP from my broadband supplier. My router even informs the DDNS service what its new IP is whenever it restarts and because this just seems to work it makes me happy.

I did have some minor issues with the radar service as it uses Google Maps to provide a nice background and because I was using this outside of my home network I needed an API key to make this work. That was reasonably easy to set up but then it turns out that Google recommend you secure the key to a particular site so that other people can’t use your key and steal your Maps data, which would then mean Google would charge me.

It took a little while to get the formatting of this securing correct but I think I finally managed it. I guess I’ll soon find out if Google send me a massive Google Maps API bill soon!

So, I can log in to my radar server from anywhere and view it on a desktop or mobile device. That way I can see what my home system sees. It doesn’t catch all planes because some won’t be broadcasting position, see the MLAT communication. Below is a picture of a browser with my radar server running.

Virtual Radar Server
Virtual Radar Server

If you want access I can allow it to you. Just let me know and I’ll arrange a login and password and also give you the URL.

Privacy Policy Proudly powered by WordPress