Not So Gay Paris!
This story is the most shared this morning on the BBC’s web site. here’s the first paragraph.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Paris over plans to give gay couples in France the right to marry and adopt children.
France seems to be getting in more and more messes, what with the taxes, jobs and the economy in general. Will they come to regret their incursion into Mali.
And Now The iPotty!
I didn’t believe it, when I heard this on the radio.
But the iPotty is here.
I think it’s one of those ideas that might work for girls, but boys tend to spray everything in front, after the experience of our three sons. Or in some cases stand up and poo on the floor in front. I wonder, what that would do to an iPad!
Marks And Spencer Go Dutch
The instructions on my dinner tonight from Marks and Spencer are in English, French and surprisingly Dutch.
Does that mean their food shops are going to The Netherlands and/or Belgium?
This old news item in the Independent confirms that they are looking in The Hague and Rotterdam.
But then the CEO of Marks and Spencer is Dutch! Is that a form of nepotism to open in your own country?
The National Portrait Gallery Was Quiet
There has been a lot of criticism of the new portrait of the Duchess of Cambridge. Here‘s the Independent’s view.
So I went to have a look this morning.
The National Portrait Gallery Was Quiet
The gallery wasn’t busy and I was able to see the portrait by myself just after ten.
It was alright I suppose, but it was the sort of painting, that was made for a biscuit tin or a chocolate box. In some ways, it was too photographic, and as I like photographs for portraits I slipped into the Taylor Wessing Photgraphic Portrait Prize, to see some good ones.
I was not disappointed and the exhibition was well worth the two pound entrance.
As to Her Highness’s portrait, I’ll give a final verdict, when I see it on a tin.
Puppies Will Be Puppies
Another story from the BBC web site, shows that puppies love to chew anything they can get their teeth into.
The worst dog, we ever had for chewing was a dachshund, that really liked C’s expensive shoes.
But then so many of these short-legged German terriers, are itching to start World War 3. She was also very racist and would immediately take on any black dog, who walked past her. Even a friend’s Doberman was frightened of her. Luckily, she didn’t have the same feelings for black people.
What’s Wrong With Snooker?
The news from Pakistan just seems to get worse.
The latest was this bombing of a snooker hall in Quetta.
I doubt that any religion or sect could be against such an innocent game of snooker and it looks like Sunni Muslims were attacking Shias.
I just can’t understand anybody wanting to kill anybody, except in exceptional circumstances!
Is This EL James’s DIY Store?
I passed this shop today on a 141 bus.
Is This EL James’s DIY Store?
I wonder if they sell chain and rope?
The Onward March of ARM
I’ve always kept a watching brief for ARM Holdings. Partly because it was local to where I lived, but mainly because one of the founders was Robin Saxby, who was in my year at Liverpool University.
I have just read this report in Forbes. There are some facts in that report, that will shape the world. Consider this abstract.
East (The ARM CEO) notes that by some estimates IT equipment now suck down 10% of the world electric power already; he also notes that there are estimates that in the next few years that the amount of data creates could increase 100x, or maybe 1000x. Even at 10x, he notes, we’re going to run out of power at the current consumption rates. “They are going to switch to ARM because it is all about the power,” he says. “The digital world is not going to become a reality unless servers and network infrastructure is designed in a different way….ARM is a tool in the toolbox for making this stuff more sustainable.”
Generation of electricity is one of the causes of global warming, as so much is generated by fossil fuels. So a small company in Cambridge will become a major player in the fight, just because its chip designs are so much more efficient.
Reading the Forbes article, says to me, that ARM can only get an awful lot bigger. But it is all about brain power and not about manufacturing in the traditional sense. On the other hand, ARM has been and will continue to be a company, whose technology enables other companies to start up in innumerable fields.
The Mpemba Effect
I was alerted to this tale of a scientific curiosity by The Times.
A Tanzanian student; Erasto Mpemba, found that hot water freezes quicker than cold water, contrary to what would be expected. It is now called the Mpemba effect.
I don’t find it surprising that no-one has fully explained the phenomenon, despite it apparently being known to such as Aristotle.
I think it does show though, that sometimes anybody can make a scientific discovery with the most basic of equipment. And in most cases, to be taken seriously by the establishment.
There are some curious phenomena out there in the real world.
One is that when water freezes it expands and thus ice always floats on ponds. If it didn’t you wouldn’t get any fish in water that could freeze.
And then there is the odd property of the speed of sound in air and water. In the former it is 343.2 metres/second and in water it is 4.3 times as fast at 1484 metres/second. Now I know my physics and when asked what the speed of sound in a bubbly mixture of air and water is, I did what I thought was obvious and said somewhere in between.
I was of course wrong, as surprisingly it is less than 50 metres/second. There’s an interactive display here.
I have used this phenomenon to mix oil and water. They do mix, if you get the parameters right.
An Incident In Walthamstow
I was walking to Walthamstow Central station yesterday, when I passed the building site, where they are building a new hotel. outside the gate were four builders, in fluorescent jackets and hard hats, chatting to each other. The sort of thing you always see.
one of the group was obviously a woman and then the biggest and oldest man in the group picked hold of her shoulders and gave her a good shaking. This looked to be odd behaviour and possibly inappropriate.
A few seconds later, when I looked back, the woman had grabbed hold of another of the group and was repeating the shaking.
It was only then, that I realised what was happening, as I noted all of the group, were wearing full body harnesses and they were going to go climbing on the tall unfinished building.
Certainly, Health and Safety was being taken very seriously.
The Anonymous Widower 