:: The-way-to-the-centre ::

:: Saturday, May 29, 2004 ::

hoojum

 

Small, perfectly formed and I really really want one, or i'll take any of these instead.

:: Ian 11:59 PM | Permalink | ::

 

"50,000 miles, 5 continents, 50 countries. Alone and on a bicycle. No buses, no hitching, no support vehicles."
A recently found and fascinating solo expedition by Alastair Humphreys.

:: Ian 1:29 PM | Permalink | ::

 

Still got those eclipse glasses from 1999? If so you might want them handy on June the 8th when Venus transits the face of the sun for the first time in 122 years. Clear skies permitting I shall be enjoying the sight of something that no person alive today will have seen. More information is here.

:: Ian 9:56 AM | Permalink | ::

 

In the 2 minutes before my intelligence was insulted so much that I couldn't watch anymore:
1. Faults splitting appart like a zip following a railway line.
2. Q: "Are you sure they are aftershocks?" A: "Yes, they have no epicentre".
3. The worst acting I have seen since accidentally leaving Eastenders on.

UPDATE: It got much, much worse...

:: Ian 3:29 PM | Permalink | ::

 

An install of a Wordpress powered photoblog (pictorialis) is here. I didn't take the photos and yes, they are copyrighted, but since I was one of the people dodging the explosions to let the fireworks off, I think the owner wouldn't mind too much.

:: Ian 5:27 PM | Permalink | ::

 

With the successful creation of the protoblog and protophotoblog, getting some £15 hosting at 34sp is looking pretty attractive. Should I?
1. www.the-way-to-the-centre.34sp.com
2. www.thewaytothecentre.34sp.com
3. www.icd26.34sp.com
4. Something else?

:: Ian 12:54 PM | Permalink | ::

 

Two new articles on vCJD from the BBC which will no doubt have the multitudes giving their big macs a slightly concerned look. The first extrapolates that up to 3,800 people in the UK might be habouring vCJD based on a sample of 12,694 people in which 3 were identified. I am not much of a statistical expert but to have 0.0237% of your sample test positive does not seem a stable basis for any hypothesis. If they had tested only 12,691 people they could have shown that nobody was a carrier.
The second states "The disease, which affects the brain, is believed to have passed from cattle to humans through infected meat." However, given this uncertainty I find it strange that this is the only avenue that main stream research is looking into.
The main issues I have with the CJD from beef theory are:
1. No one has proved it
2. If cattle got if from eating infected sheep derived feed, then why can't people get it from sheep?
3. One cow can produce a lot of beef, why aren't there more cases?
4. Why are there no multiple cases in the same family? Sunday roasts anyone?

If you have the inclination I suggest a good read of the work done by Mark Purdey which is pretty science heavy but enlightening and to my view, more credible.

:: Ian 12:32 PM | Permalink | ::

 

For anyone who is interested, the installation of Wordpress really does take about 5 minutes. I was always put off from trying MT because their installation looks pretty terrifying.
In fact I installed v1.0.2 and upgraded to v1.2 without trouble (and I must point out that I have no idea how mySQL, php or any of the other stuff work). If I can do it, anybody can.
This evening I might have a crack at importing all my Blogger posts.

:: Ian 2:29 PM | Permalink | ::

 

The Swiss R&D company prospective concepts have some very cool projects:
[...] spectrum of activities ranges from 3-D textiles, pneumatic structures, acceleration and antigravity suits to modular signal recorders, independent containers, and various projects in the vehicle and aircraft field [...]
Most impressive is the inflatable Flying Stingray.
[...] through 2000, the STINGRAY, packed with sensor electronics, has completed over 300 test flights in Hradcany, Czech Republic, and St. Stephan, Bernese alps [...]
Originally only in German, the site also has an English version.

:: Ian 12:54 PM | Permalink | ::

 

Well im pretty amazed that I succeeded, in my lunch hour, on a work PC.
I have as yet no Idea how the thing works though.

:: Ian 1:38 PM | Permalink | ::

 

che·lo·ni·an
adj.
Of, relating to, or belonging to the order Chelonia, which includes the turtles and tortoises.

ce·ta·cean
n.
Any of various aquatic, chiefly marine mammals of the order Cetacea, including the whales, dolphins, and porpoises, characterized by a nearly hairless body, anterior limbs modified into broad flippers, vestigial posterior limbs, and a flat notched tail.

This mistake was realised while solving an entertaining diversion from Alan.
The offending post has been corrected.
Mea Culpa.

:: Ian 9:56 AM | Permalink | ::

 

If you haven't yet, then I suggest you go here. Tracey's photographs are good enough to:
a. Inspire you to do more photography or
b. Make you burn all your camera gear because there is no way you will ever take photos like that.

:: Ian 11:51 PM | Permalink | ::

 

With this bilge taking up numbers 1 & 2 in the charts meaning twice as much wasted airtime, I ask the question:
"Am I the only person who wants to skin them alive and roll them in salt?"

:: Ian 10:51 AM | Permalink | ::

 

A multitude of animals including cats, dogs, emus and fish have been found on the London Underground since the discovery by Paul Middlewick of an elephant.



Mind you, I have always had a thing for cetaceans, even when they are exploding.

:: Ian 11:23 AM | Permalink | ::

 

Blogger have just redesigned themselves and now have new features (such as commenting) at last. With the upgrade have come some interesting new templates and since I don't have the ability or time to do my own, I am thinking of of transfering the-way-to-the-centre to something like this until I work out how to hack it around and make it into a 3 column layout.

:: Ian 1:19 PM | Permalink | ::

 

1. HGV - Please learn how to use roundabouts. Turning right from the left hand lane is not it.
   
2. Transit van (i) - I know yours is a Ford. I do not need the badge pressed against the back window to see it clearly.
   
3. Transit van (ii) - People love to slow down to 20mph when you pull out in front of them. If you got that engine fixed you might be able to exceed 45mph and not choke those following you with burning oil.
   
4. Noble M12 - You have a 2.5 litre V6 engine with 300bhp, I have 1.1 litres and 63bhp. The only way I am going to go faster round the lanes is if you get 2 inches closer and actually push me along.

Understand this and you are one step closer to enlightenment.

:: Ian 9:51 AM | Permalink | ::

 

Rather surprisingly the royal mail actually managed to deliver my tickets to China reasonably quickly, and the current SARS outbreak appears to be under control, which is nice. Now I just have to worry about sending my passport for a visa and getting it back. And there is also the small matter of a postcard sent to me over 7 weeks ago which is nowhere to be seen.

UPDATE: Naturally, said postcard was on the doormat when I got in last night. It was only postmarked 03/04/04, but it still begs the question 'If it takes 12 hours to travel to the city where it was posted, then exactly what has it been doing for the rest of the time?'

:: Ian 4:17 PM | Permalink | ::

 

I had hoped to post a picture or two of last nights lunar eclipse. However, I found out that the digital camera that I have at the moment has amazingly poor light sensitivity so I ended up with 10 frames of black. Maybe this would be better. I did take some with my SLR but I have no idea when I will get round to finishing and developing the film. The eclipse was excellent though, with the moon a deep red colour during totality.

:: Ian 11:14 AM | Permalink | ::