The ArcelorMittal Orbit Is Now At Full Height
I took this picture of the ArcelorMittal Orbit on Saturday from the train to Ipswich.
The ArcelorMittal Orbit at Full Height
I think it’s now at its full height.
Where Is This Spammer?
This was the start of a spam e-mail, I received.
We wish to inform you that the diplomatic agent conveying the consignment box valued the sum of $2.5 Million United States Dollars misplaced your address and he is currently stranded at JFK QUEEN AIRPORT NEW YORK USA now. We required you reconfirm the following information below so that he can deliver your consignment box to you today Because his flight ticket is about to expire.
If you fall for this one, you deserve to be fleeced. Especially as it finishes with.
NOTE : The Diplomatic agent does not know that the content of the consignment box is $2.5 Millions United States Dollars and on no circumstances should you let him know the content. The consignments was moved from here as family treasures, so never allow him to open the box.and the package was registered here by Collins Emma since three moths ago and travel out of this country.
Obviously, as it mentions moths, it is a rather old message. His punctuation isn’t that good either.
A Proper Map at Ipswich Station
I’ve never really checked out Ipswich as to how easy it is to get around by walking or public transport, so I checked on Saturday.
A Proper Match at Ipswich Station
There is no excuse for maps of this quality and size to not be displayed at the railway station. And probably several other places in the town or city as well.
Note that the map has a five minute walking ring and an index to all the streets. The tourism information office is also properly shown.
About the only thing not on the map is the hospital, which is some way on the other side of the town from the station. To be fair to the hospital, they have a page, which describes how to get there by train.
One thing that is different at Ipswich station to many I’ve visited in the last few weeks, is that you walk out of the station and you can see the town in front of you.
Ipswich Town Centre from the Station
The picture, shows the bridge over the River Gipping, the council offices and the football group. You are naturally drawn the right way towards the town centre.
I know, I know Ipswich well, but few towns I’ve visited draw you in in a purposeful way from the station. Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Wolverhampton do to a certain extent. One of the best was Huddersfield, which also had a free town centre bus. But others such as Bristol, Manchester and most of the new towns haven’t got their acts together. Burnley was one of many places where a simple map, some fingerposts and a bit of thought could really improve things.
The Sir Bobby Robson Bridge At Ipswich
The bridge spans the River Gipping at Ipswich.
It effectively connects the new housing on the west bank to the offices, waterfront and football ground on the other.
Note that the River Gipping becomes the Orwell at Ipswich. The name might come from the same source as Gippeswyk, the old name for Ipswich.
Analogue Computing at the Science Museum
There were reports in the papers this week about James Lovell selling the checklist that he used to correctly setup the lunar module to get them back home.
What is always missed out in these discussions, is that all of the calculations for the Apollo moon landings were done on a simulator, built using two PACE 231R analgue computers linked together.
At the Science Museum, they did have Lord Kelvin’s differential analyser, but although it was impressive, with lots of impressive engineering and brass gears, there was little to indicate, what this type of machine grew into by the 1960s. Without analogue computers to solve the complicated dynamics of the moon landings, the Americans wouldn’t have been able to get there when they did. Digital computing didn’t have the capability to match a PACE 231R to solve the simultaneous differential equations involved until the mid 1970s.
I was lucky enough to work with a PACE 231R and there are pictures of the one I used here.
There doesn’t appear to be a working PACE 231R anywhere in the world. But to get one to work would be a lot easier than say to get an early digital machine working. An analogue computer is basically a peg board that links a series of amplifiers together. Now I know that these amplifiers are thermionic valve and not transistor, but a typical machine would have a hundred or so of them. And as they use something very akin to 1960s audio technology, finding someone to fix them would not be difficult. Our machine at ICI Plastics in Welwyn Garden City, was carefully looked after by one Eddie Kniter, a Pole, who walked his way to Switzerland to escape the Nazis.
I wonder if the Science Museum has one of these machines in its reserve collection. Getting it working, would really show kids how differential equations are useful in real life.
Returning to Apollo, I remember that the magazine, Simulation, published by Simulation Councils Inc., had a detailed description in one issue of all the simulators and simulations done in connection with the project.
I’d love to get hold of a copy.
Where is the Printing at the Science Museum?
They used to have a Wharfedale and an Original Heidelberg plattern. But there’s nothing now!
Considering that letterpress printing was the greatest information revolution of all time, it is very sad.
But then I’m biased as my father was a printer.
The UK needs a comprehensive printing museum.
Hidden Heroes At The Science Museum
I went to see Hidden Heroes at the Science Museum yesterday. It was quite an interesting little exhibition documenting the stories behind a selection of everyday objects.
As you would expect most of the items shown, had been invented or designed in the major industrial countries like the UK, the United States, Germany, France and Sweden.
But what was surprising was that only one had been designed or invented by a woman. and that was the coffee filter, which was invented by a German housewife called Melitta Bentz. Could it be that she was fed up with her family’s comments on her bad coffee?
In some ways it’s strange, but one of Britain’s most successful and well-known female engineers of the mid-twentieth century, Tilly Shilling, made her name in the field of getting liquids to flow properly. She designed a device, which meant that the Merlin engines in Spitfires and Hurricanes could perform negative-G manoeuvres and thus not be shot down by German fighters.
Another Reason To Hate Junk Mail
I hate it even more now, as when I came home yesterday, my letter box was stuffed with rubbish, so much so, that I couldn’t open the box to get it out.
Luckily by tearing it up on the outside, I was able to release it enough to clear it all.
And I have a message on the door saying, that I don’t want junk mail.
Looking For Maiden Lane Station
After reaching York Way, I carried on going north, with the intention of seeing, if I could find any trace of the old Maiden Lane station on the North London line.
It was quite a walk and I think those who are proposing that the station be reopened to serve Kings Cross Central are mistaken. On the other hand reopening York Road Underground station, shown in the pictures, might be a possibility.
So did I find any trace of Maiden Lane station? There’s just a little of it left by a railway bridge. After I took these pictures, I took the North London line past the spot and couldn’t see anything by the track-side.
King’s Boulevard
These pictures show the new King’s Boulevard which leads from King’s Cross station to the Central St. Martins College of Art and Design.
It is the first part of the development at Kings Cross Central to be completed. Note the maps, which set a whole new standard.
The Anonymous Widower 