Sunday, August 04, 2013

Elitistreview's eighth anniversary dinner at The Bangkok Brasserie

Learn about paranoid schizophrenia (I certainly hadn't understood the nature of the symptoms until I read Elitist Review) and where to buy Thai food in Winchester.

For a couple of weeks now I have been seeing mouths open up in the pavement and road, with teeth trying to bite me and snake like tongues I could feel lick at my ankles.

Dear Daily Mail - Amanda Palmer

Great stuff. I'm not a fan of the Daily Mail.

Thursday, August 01, 2013

O2 4G mobile network launch

The launch date is August 29th but for reasons known only to O2 they aren't supporting the iPhone:

He also confirmed that unlike EE, O2's 4G network would not be compatible with Apple's iPhone 5, but said he "would be frankly gobsmacked if their roadmap didn't address that issue".

Strange decision, and extremely annoying for those of us with iPhones.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

UK GDP Rises in Second Quarter

A rare piece of good news on the UK economy.

The UK economy grew by 0.6% in the three months to June, according to official figures.

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23446056

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

London's Most Unusual Ice Cream Flavours |wjlondon

Interesting:

Coronation Chicken Ice Cream – Gelupo, 7 Archer St, Piccadilly

Created especially for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Kenedy, the creator said: "I didn't expect it to be so delicious. I thought it would just come out strange."

Source: http://whosjack.org/londons-most-unusual-ice-cream-flavours/

Follow the Pope on Twitter and spend less time in purgatory, says Vatican

The Vatican; leading our moral development for more than 1,500 years. 

The Vatican has taken another step in its efforts to embrace social media by offering "indulgences" to followers of Pope Francis' (@Pontifex) Twitter account. Italian newspaperCorriere della Sera reports that the church will reduce the time Catholics have to spend in purgatory if they follow official Vatican events on TV, radio, and through social media.

Stay classy, Vatican.

UK earmarks £60m for super-fast space rocket engine

Excellent news:

The UK is to provide £60m for a revolutionary new rocket engine that can send astronauts into orbit and accelerate aircraft to five times the speed of sound, a minister said.


UK earmarks £60m for super-fast space rocket engine
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/jul/16/60m-space-rocket-engine

The worst egg hunt in the world

Amazing story.

There are three eggs, each about the size of a mango. They are not any old eggs. They are emperor penguin eggs, a fragile reminder of an audacious egg hunt that became known as "the worst journey in the world".

The worst egg hunt in the world
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2013/jul/16/worst-egg-hunt-world-emperor-penguin

Sunday, July 14, 2013

SolePower: Power by Walking

This is very cool indeed:

Foot-powered, energy harvesting devices aren't anything new. What we're doing differently is building the device into a removable insole so it doesn't need to be embedded in a shoe. This means you can swap it between your favorite pair of sneakers and your hiking boots. 

$120 for a go-anywhere phone charging device sounds like a no-brainer.

BBC News - George Zimmerman not guilty of Trayvon Martin murder

It's difficult to see a society that thinks this is ok as anything other than broken:

The accused, who was legally armed with a pistol, had been sitting in his vehicle on a dark street when he saw Martin. Mr Zimmerman telephoned police to report a suspicious person, then left his vehicle in apparent pursuit of the teenager. Shortly afterwards, Martin was found dead, shot in the chest.

Something is deeply wrong in America.

Monday, July 08, 2013

Garmin launches a smartphone HUD for cars

Neat:

With a compatible Garmin or Navigon mobile app, the HUD projects driving directions right on a vehicle's windshield.

If you can't beat 'em, support 'em: Garmin launches a smartphone HUD for cars
http://gigaom.com/2013/07/08/if-you-cant-beat-em-support-em-garmin-launches-a-smartphone-hud-for-cars/

Saturday, July 06, 2013

The Undeniable Facts About The Safety Of Diet Coke.

Great article, especially if you have to put up with people lecturing you about food or healthy living or natural products.

We had a discussion about a similar topic at work, while on break, and a coworker came up with probably the best summation I could say in response to those who are hardcore anti-any kind of modern food, anti-vaccine, back-to-the-pioneer-times ideology: Typhus wasn't fun.

The Undeniable Facts About The Safety Of Diet Coke.
http://loneprairie.net/diet-coke/

London Cycling Campaign and ASLs

Good news:

The Metropolitan Police and Transport for London are preparing to increase enforcement against motorists who ignore Advanced Stop Lines. This week, 60,000 leaflets are being handed out to motorists at key junctions telling them to respect Advanced Stop Lines or face a £60 fine and three points on their licence.


Source: http://lcc.org.uk/articles/police-and-transport-for-london-prepare-to-increase-enforcement-against-motorists-who-ignore-advanced-stop-lines

Saggy pants are now a real crime at Jersey Shore town

If your police officers haven't enough real work to do, get them to enforce arbitrary fashion laws:

The police in Wildwood, N.J., are now on the lookout for pants sagging three inches or more...

Maybe they should just do what everyone else does when encountering people with ill-fitting trousers; laugh.

Wednesday, July 03, 2013

Rowan Atkinson's Comic Relief sketch did not breach codes, rules Ofcom

They said, amongst other things:

The intention of the sketch was to create humour rather than seriously deride Christianity

Maybe, but it's difficult not to be derisive about Christianity and there was a fair amount of mockery in the sketch. Which is good.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

EmoPulse Smile Bracelet Smartphone

Interesting, but I'm sceptical, not least because this isn't the sort of product that small companies tend to excel at and this is an ambitious project.

The main fea­ture of Smart lies in its Arti­fi­cial Intel­li­gence, this phone detects your mood, it can tell whether you're stressed out or relax­ing, it mon­i­tors your diet and health as well.

NeverWet Liquid Repellant

Want this:

Nev­er­Wet coat­ing com­plete­ly repels water and heavy oils

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

London Cycling Campaign - Safer Lorries

The London Cycling Campaign has an interesting suggestion: make lorries safer for other road users.

The London Cycling Campaign has published pictures and video of its new Safer Urban Lorry design, and is calling on the construction industry to adopt similar vehicle designs to reduce the shocking number of lorry-cyclist fatalities.

This is a great idea but I think we're missing something. The question shouldn't be "when can we have safer lorries" but "why don't the police stop obviously dangerous vehicles from being driven through our city".

If you were to drive a car with heavily tinted windows through London you would, sooner or later, be stopped on the not unreasonable grounds that you couldn't see enough of your surroundings to navigate safely through them. What is special about lorries that they should be able to drive around without taking a similar amount of care? 

Why We Should Never Fine Cyclists - Henry Grabar

Great article in The Atlantic Cities:

On balance, cyclists' illegal behavior—like that of pedestrians—adds much, much more convenience to life than danger. Aggressive enforcement of traffic laws could upend the fragile system of incentives that leads thousands of people to undertake a long and sweaty commute each day

I don't tend to jump lights or ignore one-way traffic restrictions but even the most saintly cyclist can be tempted to misbehave when faced with a queue of polluting and dangerous motor vehicles.