I see that the answers to the King William’s College quiz have now been published. As expected, I did miserably, and am kicking myself that I did not get more, particularly in the Grimm’s section. I should have just slowed down and thought about the questions, instead of dashing through them…
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Gaia’s Not a Well Woman
Is James Lovelock over-egging the pudding, or is he right to give his warning? The cynic in me sees a connection between the article and the fact that his new book is due. Still, part of me thinks that all is not well with our ecosphere, and that the balancing act is at risk. Will it become morbidly apparent during my lifetime? Probably not, but I do worry for today’s youngsters. My great-nephew had his birthday yesterday. What sort of world will he take over from our stewardship?Leave a comment
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Transmutation
There’s an increasing use of digital techniques to encode analogue signals all around us. Despite what I wrote about Digital Radio, it doesn’t necessarily have to be worse than the analogue FM broadcasts – it all depends on what the broadcaster does. And while there are plenty of Hi-Fi buffs who detest digital per se (“CDs can never sound as good as LPs”), I’m not one of them. I’m quite happy to buy CDs instead of continuing with analogue LPs.In preparation for our move to the farmhouse in April, I’m currently transcribing my old LPs and tapes into digital form and storing them on computer hard disc and DVDs. This will have the twin benefits of saving us some precious living space and allowing subsequent archive copies to be made without further degradation of quality.It’s been a fascinating wander down memory lane during the transmutation process. I’m hearing things that I haven’t heard for years. For example, yesterday I heard radio plays from the BBC from the early 1970s – Penthesilea (by Heinrich von Kleist, adapted by Robert Nye), The Hero Rises Up (with Paul Daneman and Fenella Fielding) and Cries from Casement as His Bones Are Brought to Dublin (by David Rudkin). And I came across some tape recordings that I made some 35 years ago of organ pieces played by a university colleague. l made the recordings on my trusty Revox A77 recorder, which, when I fired it up yesterday for the first time in 20 years, performed as well as ever. The Swiss built those machines to last.Leave a comment
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Ambient Intelligence
Philips Research is experimenting with something it calls Ambient Intelligence. It’s where you are surrounded in your home by a network of devices (lights, air-conditioners, entertainment systems, curtains, chairs, etc.) that all communicate with each other and are aware of what you are doing.There’s a scenario that Philips has put together to describe what storytelling to your children might be like in such an environment. Sounds more like the first step to the dystopia described by Paul Di Filippo to me…Leave a comment
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Digital Radio Worse Than FM
I see the dirty little secret of Digital Radio has been let out of the box – its quality is usually worse than that of FM Radio. The digital radio industry is hastily backpedalling – "Mandy Green, of the Digital Radio Development Bureau, said the industry no longer promoted digital on sound quality". Hah. The BBC seeks to reassure us: "We believe we are providing good sound quality on all our digital radio networks and recent research bears this out. The majority of people are very satisfied with the sound quality with around 95 per cent of digital radio listeners rating it ‘excellent’, ‘good’ or ‘satisfied’". Well, yes, if you’re listening to a portable radio in the kitchen, then I don’t suppose you’ll notice a thing. But if you’d like to listen to a classical music concert from BBC3 on your hi-fi system, then tough – you’ll often hear the difference, because the BBC will drop the bit rates to below CD quality.As usual, I find myself in the minority, and, as usual, we’re the ones that get screwed via the "9 billion flies can’t be wrong" mode of thinking that is so typical today. Why is it always the lowest common denominator, and never the highest common factor that is pursued?Still, I can indulge in a little bit of schadenfreude here – I’ve never invested in a digital radio set, but kept tight hold of my trusty old FM tuner. So I, at least, can continue to hear music as god intended – via FM.Leave a comment
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huey – Calibrate Your Monitors
Here’s another gadget that, if I had the money, I would definitely get. It is huey, manufactured by Pantone, a device that will help calibrate your computer display(s) for proper colour balance. If you’re serious about your photography and use your computer as a digital darkroom, then this is definitely a device to consider. I have two LCD displays on my main computer, and even to my untrained eye I can see that the colour balance on the two screens is not the same. It’s tricky, though, to correct it by hand. That’s where a device like huey comes in.Leave a comment
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Erwin Olaf
Erwin Olaf has a new exhibition of photographs showing in New York. They are redolent of the US of the 1950s. You can see them on his site; click through to his portfolio pages via the Art link. The series have the titles "Hope" and "Rain".Leave a comment
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Butterfly Cakes
Squeezeweasel, over at the Gastronmy Domine blog, publishes the recipe for butterfly cakes. My mother used to make these by the dozens. I must have a go myself to stem the pangs of nostalgia.Leave a comment
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Falling Behind…
Damn, I’m no longer in the top 50 largest libraries catalogued in LibraryThing. I’m currently at joint 51st with junglemom (waves). I wish Amazon would hurry up and deliver the books I ordered before Christmas, then I might have a chance of clawing my way back into the top 50 again…3 responses to “Falling Behind…”
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Well as I popped into you space it would be rude to leave without saying hello…you have some interesting links… nice (for the want of a better word..lol) space..I will leave as I came, ‘quietly’…Eth 🙂 x
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Hi, Eth. Thanks for dropping by. Hope to see you again sometime…
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LOL… they were kinds words Geoff I don’t ‘do’ ironic…I did actually mean what I said… Eth 🙂 x
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Transgenic Pigs That Glow
Fascinating story, although doubtless ammunition for those who think that scientists are either a) mad, b) have far too much time on their hands to be able to think up bizarre experiments or c) both of the above.(hat tip to Mike, over at CoffeeCorner, who, naturally, is worried about the culinary implications)Leave a comment
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Another Book Review
But clearly, not a recommendation. Just to be sure, I used Amazon’s nifty "Look Inside" feature to read an excerpt. Yep, it’s every bit as bad as the recommendation says. Thanks for the tip, I won’t be adding Moral Armor to the reading list.Leave a comment
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Noel’s Book Reviews
There’s a chap called Noel Hurley who is writing pithy reviews of items on Amazon. His tongue must be pushed so firmly into his cheek that it is in mortal danger of bursting through. Laugh-out loud stuff.(hat tip to Goosing the Antithesis)2 responses to “Noel’s Book Reviews”
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I’m glad you liked Noel. He is the product of my bored mind!Best regardsChristina
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Christina – it just goes to prove: "On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog". If indeed you are Noel, then great job – keep it up!
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Hassan’s Postcards
Rachel, over at her blog, publishes Postcards From Tavistock Square, a meditative piece written by Hassan, a young British Muslim. It’s a wonderful piece of writing. Go and read it.Leave a comment
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The Hairy Bikers
Last month, I mentioned that The Hairy Bikers were starting a food series on TV this year. I’ve just learned (from the designer of their web site) that the series begins on BBC2 on January 17 (my birthday!). Can’t wait! Hey, they’re going to visit the Isle of Man as well! Bliss.Leave a comment
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Who’s Arrogant Here?
I would love to be able to watch Richard Dawkins’ new TV series on Channel 4: The God Delusion. Alas, I can’t receive the broadcasts here. So I’ll just have to content myself with snippets. Here’s one – an extract of an exchange (I wouldn’t really call it a conversation) between Dawkins and Ted Haggard, a US evangelical who apparently has regular talks with George Bush. Scary stuff.Leave a comment
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A Delicious Irony
The trial of Leo O’Connor, accused of breaking the Official Secrets Act, has started. The document at the centre of the trial, you may recall, is the record of a meeting between Bush and Blair in which the former is alleged to have suggested the bombing of the al-Jazeera TV station, while the latter is alleged to have suggested that this would not be a good idea.The Guardian reports today that O’Connor’s lawyer has now read the document and says that "I don’t think there was anything in it that could embarrass the British government". Brilliant. If the alleged contents of the document are true, then he is perfectly accurate. The fact that it confirms that Bush is a few marbles short is not the British government’s fault and is merely a delicious irony.Leave a comment
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Wine Collector
If I had the money, this is a gadget that I would probably waste it on…Leave a comment
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Not Worthy Of Respect
Whatever happened to "Respect"? No, I don’t mean it in the way Tony Blair means it, I mean whatever happened to that perfectly innocent little word? How come it’s been appropriated by New Labour’s army of management consultants and spin doctors, and turned into some kind of Frankenstein’s monster?The latest example is the publication of Labour’s Respect Action Plan, an appalling piece of management-speak from beginning to end. What makes it worse is that all the ridiculous verbiage ("Everyone is part of everyone else") has successfully driven out any useful content that might actually be part of a plan of action.Justin McKeating, over at the Chicken Yoghurt blog, gives the document a fine old fossicking* and fails to come up with any nuggets of value in its 44 pages. Simon Jenkins, in the Guardian today, also blows the plan a well-deserved raspberry. His opening paragraph is a model of well-aimed derision at the mindset of the people that seem to have infiltrated New Labour.I’ve been watching The Thick of It on TV recently. It’s painfully funny and, judging by the antics of New Labour, painfully accurate.* To fossick – to search for gold in abandoned claims, or to rummage around for anything of value.Leave a comment
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Google Earth
Google Earth is out of beta status as of yesterday. What’s more, there is now a version for the Macintosh. So those of you who are Mac users can download this amazing free program and find out what you’ve been missing out on. Frank Taylor, over at the Google Earth Blog has some navigational tips for new users.Leave a comment
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