I have just finished the book - Pompeii by Robert Harris.
This is good quick read - two overriding impressions
1. Good grief these Romans were decadent
2. They knew a thing or two about engineering.
The book, in the closing pages, claims that the Aqua Augusta continued to flow for centuries after the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD. I find it hard to believe that it could survive earth-quakes and the lava flows.
I searched for some collaborating evidence but haven't found any. There is technical information here
Friday, March 30, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Lumpy Ride
A few months ago after cycling to at work I found a fabric place mat inside the lining of my cycling jacket. I felt rather sheepish pulling it out in front of other cyclists and quickly stuffed it in my bag.
So it was with some in trepidation when, while cycling on Tuesday, I noticed another lump forming in my cycling trousers. I find it hard to call them "trousers" but in the UK it's either that or "jogging bottoms" - which I can't say without picturing a bottom literally jogging. Perhaps cyc-bots will do.
The lump slowly worked its way down to the knee, at which point I feared it would fall right out. I thought it unlikely that this was another place mat but I did think it likely that it was a pair of misplaced underwear that had used the opportunity provided by the last washing load to good effect and attempted an escape.
Imagine the complete lack of sympathy engendered in the passing motorists, by the sight of crashed cyclist sprawled across the road with a pair of woman's kickers stuck within the chain and fouling up the spokes. I consequently modified my riding style such that my left leg never entirely straightened and lump remained at knee height.
After limping into the change rooms at work I removed the culprit - one sock.
The lesson - always shake out your clothes, even when half asleep in the morning.
So it was with some in trepidation when, while cycling on Tuesday, I noticed another lump forming in my cycling trousers. I find it hard to call them "trousers" but in the UK it's either that or "jogging bottoms" - which I can't say without picturing a bottom literally jogging. Perhaps cyc-bots will do.
The lump slowly worked its way down to the knee, at which point I feared it would fall right out. I thought it unlikely that this was another place mat but I did think it likely that it was a pair of misplaced underwear that had used the opportunity provided by the last washing load to good effect and attempted an escape.
Imagine the complete lack of sympathy engendered in the passing motorists, by the sight of crashed cyclist sprawled across the road with a pair of woman's kickers stuck within the chain and fouling up the spokes. I consequently modified my riding style such that my left leg never entirely straightened and lump remained at knee height.
After limping into the change rooms at work I removed the culprit - one sock.
The lesson - always shake out your clothes, even when half asleep in the morning.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Sweet Success
So the other night tried to make fudge again ...
I used to believe there were only two categories of people in this world, those who have read "War and Peace" and those who have not. Well now I realise how arrogant and self centered this thinking was. I now appreciate that there is at least one other significant division in the world - Those who can cook a desert and those who cannot or have not.
Just as in the instant of completing of War and Peace I gained immediate understanding of world affairs, history, the fate of man and Russian social order I now also understand the sweet taste, texture, smell of fudge unburnt, un-unset and looking, tasting and smelling just like fudge should.
Now the kids want in on my chocolate business again.
Life is good ......
I used to believe there were only two categories of people in this world, those who have read "War and Peace" and those who have not. Well now I realise how arrogant and self centered this thinking was. I now appreciate that there is at least one other significant division in the world - Those who can cook a desert and those who cannot or have not.
Just as in the instant of completing of War and Peace I gained immediate understanding of world affairs, history, the fate of man and Russian social order I now also understand the sweet taste, texture, smell of fudge unburnt, un-unset and looking, tasting and smelling just like fudge should.
Now the kids want in on my chocolate business again.
Life is good ......
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Little Miss Sunshine
We watched the DVD of "Little Miss Sunshine" last night - very good and very funny.
Some other good movies we have seen (at the cinema) in the last couple of weeks
The Page Turner (French story of revenge)
Pans Labryinth (Dark Spanish story set during the war in Spain)
I can recommend all of these.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Maps Mashup
Fixed for IE (although still looks better under Firefox)
Click through for the interactive map.
I've been wanting to create this for a while now - A trail of places we have lived in the last 15 years. Sadly google earth doesn't have very good imagery for parts of South Africa or Wales so the accuracy of these points may not be as good as the others.
When we include places not plotted we have lived in around 20 places in the last 16 years. This seems a lot but when plotted on a world map there are sooo many places we haven't lived :-( China, South America, Greenland .......
Click through for the interactive map.
I've been wanting to create this for a while now - A trail of places we have lived in the last 15 years. Sadly google earth doesn't have very good imagery for parts of South Africa or Wales so the accuracy of these points may not be as good as the others.
When we include places not plotted we have lived in around 20 places in the last 16 years. This seems a lot but when plotted on a world map there are sooo many places we haven't lived :-( China, South America, Greenland .......
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Fudge - followup
So I now know where the fudge went wrong, at least some of the reasons:
Update on cycle accident - The bike is fixed and fit for use. No more head-aches since Wednesday although I am still in almost constant neck and shoulder pain. Tomorrow is my "no park day" so I have no choice but to ride - I wonder if there will be more snow, like today.
- It should boil for about 30 minutes - not 2 (my case)
- Add the flavoring afterwards, not initially
- Allow to cool afterwards before pouring out
- Stir after it has cooled
- Heat slowly
- Place in fridge for a long time afterwards
- The thermometer should not be resting on the bottom of the pan
Update on cycle accident - The bike is fixed and fit for use. No more head-aches since Wednesday although I am still in almost constant neck and shoulder pain. Tomorrow is my "no park day" so I have no choice but to ride - I wonder if there will be more snow, like today.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Genome
Earlier this week I finished Genome.
Some closing observations:
A longitudinal study of UK Civil Servants showed that the likelihood of mortally due to a heart condition is inversely proportional to your rank. That is, lower staff are MORE likely to suffer from a heart attack than senior staff. The theory is that we are MORE stressed when we do not have control over our lives. The more senior you are, the less likely you are to being micro-managed. I heard the same on the radio today coming home from work.
He also makes the claim that genetics are a better predictor of
I have always fallen slightly on "nurture" side of the "nature/nurture" debate but this was a very good and very provocative read.
Some closing observations:
A longitudinal study of UK Civil Servants showed that the likelihood of mortally due to a heart condition is inversely proportional to your rank. That is, lower staff are MORE likely to suffer from a heart attack than senior staff. The theory is that we are MORE stressed when we do not have control over our lives. The more senior you are, the less likely you are to being micro-managed. I heard the same on the radio today coming home from work.
He also makes the claim that genetics are a better predictor of
- Child abuse
- Divorce
- Alcohol abuse
I have always fallen slightly on "nurture" side of the "nature/nurture" debate but this was a very good and very provocative read.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Fudge - (*&(^*^$%$%"*&&*^
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 tsp syrup
Melt in sauce pan, heat until 112C - drop blob in water and when it forms a soft blob then pour into pan to cool.
How hard can this be ? First batch - toffee. Ah maybe I heated it to much. Second batch, burnt and failed to set !
This has cost me credibility as a chef - should I be suing the receipe publisher for lost of status within the family ?
Anyway how did anyone ever stumble onto the recipe and process for making fudge - it is not like tea or cooked meat that can happen by accident ?
My head and body still hurt from the tree yesterday (slept badly). Today is mothers day here in the UK today and I did eat a large quantity of Roses chocolates - these seemed much more effective than the pain killers. Possible treatment for brain trauma - chocolate ?
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Cycle Wipe-out
My neck, arm and bum hurt, oh also my head - but can't say this otherwise I'm pressured to go to emergency room.
How did this happen ?
Well I rode into a tree on my bicycle while illustrating to Stephen how to take a jump. The front wheel is bent and I can only get it fixed on Wednesday - so no cycling until at least Thursday :-(
Some pictures - guess which are from after the wipe-out.
This was not the tree i question.
Nor was this one.
The moment before the jump
Ihis was this tree
And if the pain wasn't enough to round the day off - Stephen was conscripted into cycling, after dark, to the local Kebab shop to pick up dinner. I'm not sure if it was the fall but I had visions of him being taken out by a car after dark so forced myself to drive him there.
We had a crappy meal - I would be loath to feed it to my dog (No I don't have one).
Would you eat this ?
How did this happen ?
Well I rode into a tree on my bicycle while illustrating to Stephen how to take a jump. The front wheel is bent and I can only get it fixed on Wednesday - so no cycling until at least Thursday :-(
Some pictures - guess which are from after the wipe-out.
This was not the tree i question.
Nor was this one.
The moment before the jump
Ihis was this tree
And if the pain wasn't enough to round the day off - Stephen was conscripted into cycling, after dark, to the local Kebab shop to pick up dinner. I'm not sure if it was the fall but I had visions of him being taken out by a car after dark so forced myself to drive him there.
We had a crappy meal - I would be loath to feed it to my dog (No I don't have one).
Would you eat this ?
Friday, March 16, 2007
BT Home hub HTTPI broken
For serveral weeks now we have noticed problems with blogger and large posts.
The symptoms were as follows:
Sure enough I checked to the logs of my BT Home Hub and the HTTPI module is reporting
If you have a BT Home Hub you can get detailed logs as follows
URLfiltering is under menu -> dsd (also using the command line)
As a bonus I added my USB memory stick to the USB slot of the hub and am now listening to "Modest Mouse". The Linux 2.6.8 kernel on the device includes support for USB mass storage and USB printers :-)
The symptoms were as follows:
- On large posts there would be failure to sucessfully save or publish and instead giving an empty web page.
- Trim the post a bit and things would work.
- Post from another ISP and no problem.
Sure enough I checked to the logs of my BT Home Hub and the HTTPI module is reporting
[HTTPI] (error) HTTP header does not fit buffer ?!HTTPI is a small, light weight perl HTTP server. I turned on url filtering on the BT Hub a few weeks ago and it appears to require this module to intercept each web request. Disabling this service and problem is solved.
If you have a BT Home Hub you can get detailed logs as follows
telnet to 192.168.1.254
user: admin
password: admin (unless you have changed it)
Cntrl-Q
URLfiltering is under menu -> dsd (also using the command line)
As a bonus I added my USB memory stick to the USB slot of the hub and am now listening to "Modest Mouse". The Linux 2.6.8 kernel on the device includes support for USB mass storage and USB printers :-)
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Global Warming due to CO2 Levels
When I moved from from the US to the UK I was immediately struck by the greater attention paid to environmental issues, most notably global warming. Starting over in a new country provides one with the unique opportunity to attempt to correct life style imbalances. One of these for me had been a stressful and time wasting commute to work.
I have thus taken to cycling the 11 km to work most days. I've benefited from the "brain time" this provides as well as the increased fitness but fundamental to these commutes has been a smugness engendered by knowing to I was doing nothing to add to CO2 emissions and other pollutants each day and consequently helping the environment.
It is often a struggle on days when it is dreary and cold outside and it is all to easy to choose to instead commute by car especially given a substantial hill between home and work. So it was with some irritation a few days ago when work colleagues were discussing a documentary, on Channel 4 I think, which disputed the link between CO2 levels and global warming. The theory goes, as heard second hand, that while global warming is "fact" it is unrelated to CO2 levels and instead related to solar activity.
The implications of this, if true, are somewhat staggering:
Confronted with this challenge I am trying to review the science behind global warming.
There seems to be no doubt that it is indeed getting warmer see Levels since 1960
Most (all) models are based on greenhouse gases as being the major contributor to warming since 1970 but the are worth seeing on the same graph. Some warming models plotted together on the same graph
I'm still reading and trying to understand the various conflicting view points, many scientists seem to argue that solar activity has contributed less than 20% to global warming, but will follow up in future entries.
I have thus taken to cycling the 11 km to work most days. I've benefited from the "brain time" this provides as well as the increased fitness but fundamental to these commutes has been a smugness engendered by knowing to I was doing nothing to add to CO2 emissions and other pollutants each day and consequently helping the environment.
It is often a struggle on days when it is dreary and cold outside and it is all to easy to choose to instead commute by car especially given a substantial hill between home and work. So it was with some irritation a few days ago when work colleagues were discussing a documentary, on Channel 4 I think, which disputed the link between CO2 levels and global warming. The theory goes, as heard second hand, that while global warming is "fact" it is unrelated to CO2 levels and instead related to solar activity.
The implications of this, if true, are somewhat staggering:
- There is no need to limit or cut back on CO2 emissions.
- There is a failure on the part of the worldwide scientific community.
- Global warming is irreversible unless solar activity returns to previous levels
Confronted with this challenge I am trying to review the science behind global warming.
There seems to be no doubt that it is indeed getting warmer see Levels since 1960
Most (all) models are based on greenhouse gases as being the major contributor to warming since 1970 but the are worth seeing on the same graph. Some warming models plotted together on the same graph
I'm still reading and trying to understand the various conflicting view points, many scientists seem to argue that solar activity has contributed less than 20% to global warming, but will follow up in future entries.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
More from Genome
Somewhere in the middle of chromosome 12 lies a series of genes known as homeotic genes. These are known to be responsible for the specialisation of cells during growth into various body parts. All of these homeotic genes share a common sequence 180 'letters' long.
These are laid out along the chromosome in an order that mirrors the body ie head next to neck next to upper body etc.
But these genes are common to the fruit fly, mice and humans (and presumably other animals as well). It is possible to take one of these genes from a mouse and use to replace a defective gene in a human or fruit fly even though we look so dissimilar.
wow !
These are laid out along the chromosome in an order that mirrors the body ie head next to neck next to upper body etc.
But these genes are common to the fruit fly, mice and humans (and presumably other animals as well). It is possible to take one of these genes from a mouse and use to replace a defective gene in a human or fruit fly even though we look so dissimilar.
wow !
Monday, March 12, 2007
Junk Mail - Another Hoax
I recently got an email that included the following text:
If you delete this ... you seriously don't have a heart. Hi, I am a 29 year old father. Me and my wife have had a wonderful life together. God blessed us with a child too. Our daughter's name is Rachel, and she is 10 years old. Not long ago the doctors detected brain cancer and in her little body. There is only one way to save her...an operation. Sadly, we don't have enough money to pay the price. AOL and ZDNET have agreed to help us. The only way they can help us is this way, I send this email to you and you send it to other people. AOL will track this email and count how many people get it. Every person who opens this email and sends it to at least 3 people will give us 32 cents. Please help us. Sincerely
The most recent two headers are shown below
<-----Original Message----->
From: Rozanne [ rozanne@elliesdbn.co.za]
Sent: 3/9/2007 6:59:54 AM
To: Chantel \(E-mail\); Elida \(E-mail\); Irene \(E-mail\); Jennett
\(E-mail\); Nicole \(E-mail\); Tam \(E-mail\); Theresa \(E-mail\);
Tracy Freeman \(E-mail\); Wendy \(E-mail\)
Subject: FW: Can you assist a family working for COIN security? This
email is not for the faint hearted - it was sent on 7th March so has
not been doing the rounds for years - very sad
-----Original Message-----
From: Rose Morrow [mailto: rose@elliesdbn.co.za]
Sent: 09 March 2007 08:27 AM
To: BILL (E-mail); CAMILLA (E-mail); Cathy Tilly (E-mail); FRANCI
(E-mail); JOANNE HUNTER (E-mail); JUSTIN STIRTON (E-mail); LEIGH &
DAVID (E-mail); MARION (E-mail); MORROW RACHEL (E-mail); SARAH
(E-mail); YVONNE & JOHN (E-mail); 'ALASTAIR CAMPBELL'; 'CATHY UK 2';
'Julie and Vernon'; 'ASINA'; 'CHANTEL'; 'JENNETT'; 'KENNY'; 'KESHREE';
'KUBEN'; 'MELANIE'; 'PRAVISHA'; 'REGINA'; 'ROZANNE'; 'SALLY'; 'VINO'
Subject: Can you assist a family working for COIN security? This email
is not for the faint hearted - it was sent on 7th March so has not
been doing the rounds for years - very sad
Importance: High
Lets see what we can find out about this in 10 minutes:
But the forgery is apparent anyway by looking at the email headers above. Note both messages are from " elliesdbn.co.za" yet the sent
headers are formatted differently. One in US date format and another in South African data format - someone has edited one of these.
Lets apply some common sense here
If you delete this ... you seriously don't have a heart. Hi, I am a 29 year old father. Me and my wife have had a wonderful life together. God blessed us with a child too. Our daughter's name is Rachel, and she is 10 years old. Not long ago the doctors detected brain cancer and in her little body. There is only one way to save her...an operation. Sadly, we don't have enough money to pay the price. AOL and ZDNET have agreed to help us. The only way they can help us is this way, I send this email to you and you send it to other people. AOL will track this email and count how many people get it. Every person who opens this email and sends it to at least 3 people will give us 32 cents. Please help us. Sincerely
The most recent two headers are shown below
<-----Original Message----->
From: Rozanne [ rozanne@elliesdbn.co.za]
Sent: 3/9/2007 6:59:54 AM
To: Chantel \(E-mail\); Elida \(E-mail\); Irene \(E-mail\); Jennett
\(E-mail\); Nicole \(E-mail\); Tam \(E-mail\); Theresa \(E-mail\);
Tracy Freeman \(E-mail\); Wendy \(E-mail\)
Subject: FW: Can you assist a family working for COIN security? This
email is not for the faint hearted - it was sent on 7th March so has
not been doing the rounds for years - very sad
-----Original Message-----
From: Rose Morrow [mailto: rose@elliesdbn.co.za]
Sent: 09 March 2007 08:27 AM
To: BILL (E-mail); CAMILLA (E-mail); Cathy Tilly (E-mail); FRANCI
(E-mail); JOANNE HUNTER (E-mail); JUSTIN STIRTON (E-mail); LEIGH &
DAVID (E-mail); MARION (E-mail); MORROW RACHEL (E-mail); SARAH
(E-mail); YVONNE & JOHN (E-mail); 'ALASTAIR CAMPBELL'; 'CATHY UK 2';
'Julie and Vernon'; 'ASINA'; 'CHANTEL'; 'JENNETT'; 'KENNY'; 'KESHREE';
'KUBEN'; 'MELANIE'; 'PRAVISHA'; 'REGINA'; 'ROZANNE'; 'SALLY'; 'VINO'
Subject: Can you assist a family working for COIN security? This email
is not for the faint hearted - it was sent on 7th March so has not
been doing the rounds for years - very sad
Importance: High
Lets see what we can find out about this in 10 minutes:
- Search on Snopes.com - a good starting posting when suspecting an urban legend. A search for doctors detect brain cancer Gives this response : Search results
- Search on google and I got this Hoax Warnings
But the forgery is apparent anyway by looking at the email headers above. Note both messages are from " elliesdbn.co.za" yet the sent
headers are formatted differently. One in US date format and another in South African data format - someone has edited one of these.
Lets apply some common sense here
- How is AOL and/or ZDNET going to count the number of times the email has been opened and forwarded to another person?
- If these companies were moved to donate money wouldn't they just like pay the bill or give them a check. Why would they embark on a crazy scheme of email forwarding while a child is in need of urgent surgery.
- Lastly the attached image showed a picture of a child with various body deformities. The actual picture is included on the Snopes.com site. I am not a doctor but I can't believe these are the result of a brain tumour.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Bouldering at High Rocks
Weather was so good this week-end so we all had to get out yesterday. That is except for Stephen who claimed to need to do Chemisty and Maths but I suspect wanted to watch the FA cup game between Chelsea and Tottenham (Game analysis if you are interested).
Given that we haven't climbed all winter we thought a little gentle bouldering might be in order.
We went to High Rocks close to Tunbridge Wells which is the closest outdoor climbing to us.
Working out the boulder problem
I did set up top rope but here
Neat thing is the pub across the road
Annalise soaking up some sun afterwards at the pub.
There entire album is here
Given that we haven't climbed all winter we thought a little gentle bouldering might be in order.
We went to High Rocks close to Tunbridge Wells which is the closest outdoor climbing to us.
Working out the boulder problem
I did set up top rope but here
Neat thing is the pub across the road
Annalise soaking up some sun afterwards at the pub.
There entire album is here
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Bike Ride - Reigate Hill
I took Sophie on a bike ride today. I nearly killed her by suggesting we go down a rather steep hill, lots of mud and groves from running water. She did suggest a really odd thing - "Why don't I just push down this hill?" Yeah like we should cycle up and then push down! Anyway we survived and we now have a much better idea of some of the public footpaths and cycle tracks around the house.
You can see the area around us here Google satellite image
We also spent some time riding around a BMX track.
And because I now have a camera backpack suitable for the bike I managed this shot
Friday, March 09, 2007
Genome - blood groups
More on Genome
Different blood groups provide immunity to different diseases. Blood group AB is immune to cholera while people with type O are less susceptible to syphilis.
This accounts for differences in the relative proportions of each blood groups around the world.
Different blood groups provide immunity to different diseases. Blood group AB is immune to cholera while people with type O are less susceptible to syphilis.
This accounts for differences in the relative proportions of each blood groups around the world.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Navigation using a paper map - really
Our car navigation system was stolen a month ago and we have been reduced to navigating using a paper based map book. So what you may ask ? Well we haven't done this for the last 6 years.
Strange thing is that it feels somewhat liberating, I am gaining a greater sense of spatial connectedness. I have had to figure out finding north using clues like shadows and position of sun in the sky. It's a bit like camping or doing grocery shopping without the Internet.
I think I'll wait a couple of months before replacing the Nav system so that I can re-develop the navigation skills of a pigeon and/or salmon.
Ultimately though I want to know the closest place to eat, how to recover from a missed turn and traffic updates and speed camera warnings would be nice. Oh and how to get home after a long day when everyone else has gone to sleep.
Strange thing is that it feels somewhat liberating, I am gaining a greater sense of spatial connectedness. I have had to figure out finding north using clues like shadows and position of sun in the sky. It's a bit like camping or doing grocery shopping without the Internet.
I think I'll wait a couple of months before replacing the Nav system so that I can re-develop the navigation skills of a pigeon and/or salmon.
Ultimately though I want to know the closest place to eat, how to recover from a missed turn and traffic updates and speed camera warnings would be nice. Oh and how to get home after a long day when everyone else has gone to sleep.
Genome
I am busy reading "Genome - The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters" by Matt Ridley.
This is an excellent book - kind of makes me wish I had studied evolutionary biology.
Interesting observation. I had understood that natural selection favours mutations that were in the "best" interests of the entire species. Well not so, because X-Chromosome mutations are sometimes only in the interests of women and are to the detriment of men (not enough to wipe them out entirely - at least not yet). The Y-chromosomes are pathetically small, encode for many genetic disorders and because there are 3 times more X chromosomes than Y chromosomes in circulation there is more opportunity for them the undergo change.
I quote
Also men have only one Y thus there is no redundancy like women have with their two X chromosomes.
sigh ...
This is an excellent book - kind of makes me wish I had studied evolutionary biology.
Interesting observation. I had understood that natural selection favours mutations that were in the "best" interests of the entire species. Well not so, because X-Chromosome mutations are sometimes only in the interests of women and are to the detriment of men (not enough to wipe them out entirely - at least not yet). The Y-chromosomes are pathetically small, encode for many genetic disorders and because there are 3 times more X chromosomes than Y chromosomes in circulation there is more opportunity for them the undergo change.
I quote
In the past the ability to seduce a women was good for Y-chromosomes but the ability resist seduction was good for X-chromosomesThus we've had a genetic conflict of mutations and counter mutations.
Also men have only one Y thus there is no redundancy like women have with their two X chromosomes.
sigh ...
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Ethical Question
Hypothetically Speaking of course:
Suppose a person is in Borders books store on their birthday (although this is not relevant), and they pick up a book on ethics - a very thick book. Then they drop this book and it snaps a plastic book shelf and another two books go crashing to the ground.
Should this person
a) Seek out an employee and fess up
b) Figure they are buying several books anyway - no need to fess up.
c) Decide that this is only an issue because it was a book on ethics they were browsing.
d) Buy the damn ethics book even though it was boring as hell.
All hypothetically speaking
Suppose a person is in Borders books store on their birthday (although this is not relevant), and they pick up a book on ethics - a very thick book. Then they drop this book and it snaps a plastic book shelf and another two books go crashing to the ground.
Should this person
a) Seek out an employee and fess up
b) Figure they are buying several books anyway - no need to fess up.
c) Decide that this is only an issue because it was a book on ethics they were browsing.
d) Buy the damn ethics book even though it was boring as hell.
All hypothetically speaking
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