The Troubles With HMS Astute
These are reported in several papers like here in the Telegraph.
But then this is always the case with new defence projects. I always remember a non-working radar for the Tornado, that was known as Blue Circle, because it was just a concrete dummy. The story is in the Wikpedia entry for the aircraft.
Because of some delays to the radar, some development aircraft flew with a concrete weight in place of the radar assembly. In a nod to some other radar names of the day (Blue Parrot, Blue Fox) this was nicknamed Blue Circle – cynics suggested that at leastBlue Circle gave more consistent results. Unfortunately, the ‘Blue’ series radars were made by Ferranti – and the AI24 Foxhunter for the Tornado was made by GEC. At least one senior civil servant thought that the AI24 was a Ferranti-made radar as a result… (Ferranti made the antenna mounting assembly as a subcontractor to GEC. At least that bit was delivered on time and to budget, although they later discovered that GEC was blaming them for delays. Cute trick.)
British defence contractors never seem to get it right first time.
On the other hand new products usually don’t work a hundred percent of the time. I’ve seen a New Bus for London, that has broken down and they are rumoured to have the odd air-conditioning problem.
But then you could probably get 5,000 New Buses for London for the price of HMS Astute. And anyway with the bus, there’s usually another along in a few minutes.
Continental Trains
The train I travelled on between Brussels and The Hague was a fairly new one. There are differences between these trains and what we expect in the UK.
Traditionally, continental trains have always had a few steps up.
Too Many Steps
We do have our bad examples, but usually it’s step-free or just one step from the platform.
It was interesting to compare the trains to the one I took yesterday to go to Leicester.
The East Midlands train had a visual display which told you the next station, whilst the European one had announcements in various languages.
But what annoyed me particularly, was that when I moved around the European train, the doors didn’t open either automatically or by just pressing a button. I bumped into two doors, before I realised you pulled the handle.
There is a lot wrong with our railway system, but in some areas we’re better than Europe.
France Looks To Cable Cars
This article from the Guardian tells how France and other places are looking for cable-car solutions to urban transport problems.
As with many things, the way to a better future is to innovate and use good design.
What A Load Of Old Boulders!
My trip south of the Big Sewer today was to see Croydon’s latest attempt at art, parking control or bad taste at New Addington.
They are certainly not my idea of good design.
I Want Several Of These!
I need some grab rails in my shower. Just look at this.
Grab-Rail On A New Bus for London
It is absolutely ideal and the texture is great. Although I might prefer a different colour. I could also use them on the side of this stair-case.
My Staircase
Are they a standard item or are they made specially for the bus?
If they’re the latter, they could be sold as souvenirs in the London Transport Museum.
A Building For Eureka Moments
The winner of the Stirling prize was announced last night and it’s reported here on the BBC’s web site. I particularly liked this bit, about the winning building; the Sainsbury Laboratory at Cambridge University.
Stanton Williams received a £20,000 prize. Director Alan Stanton described the design as a 21st Century cloister, which encouraged scientists to interact and exchange ideas.
“Two scientists working on two pieces of research could bump into each other in the corridor and have a eureka moment, and say, my God, there’s the possibility of some really interesting scientific breakthrough here,” he said.
“Quite often, accidents are important, in science as they are in any creative endeavour. The building is there to try to ambush scientists into meeting and talking.”
I’ve worked in some crap buildings, most notably the electronics lab at Enfield Rolling Mills, but some good ones too, like ICI’s state-of-the-art offices for the 1960s in Runcorn. But then until probably about 1980, I rarely saw a scientist, researcher or innovator in anything pleasant. Even banks in those days had some really grim premises, if Lloyds Bank’s offices in Lombard Street were anything to go by. The Chief Management Accountant, who I effectively worked for, had a dingy office tucked away on a mezzanine behind a stair-case.
Could all of this, explain our dismal economic performance in those years? Anybody with a brain felt unwanted and went where they were appreciated.
We really don’t take working conditions for researchers and innovators seriously. Hopefully, this new lab in Cambridge will set the new standard.
My First INR Self Test
I’ve just taken my first INR self-test. Or should I say successful one, as I tried yesterday and couldn’t get a proper sample onto the machine.
But today, I thought it through and sat at the table with everything on a clean face flannel. I actually used my gammy left hand to take a sample from the right
I recorded a value of 2.2, which is in my target range of 2.0 to 3.0.
The major problem other than getting the sample quick enough was trying to read the manual whilst I was using both hands to do the test.
The Non-Spiral Bound CoaguChek Manual
My father would be fuming now, as he believed after fifty years in the printing business that all instruction manuals should be spiral bound.
I just proved him absolutely right.
Some people might have worried about making yourself bleed. I didn’t as I spent fifty years badly-biting by nails and fingers. Often until they have bled!
It’s generally all stopped now, although my nails aren’t good, but that’s down to the humidity!
Cool Brands
The BBC is also reporting the coolest brands.
Top is Apple, which proves P. T. Barnum‘s statement of “there’s a sucker born every minute”. In fact of the top twenty brands, I only use five; YouTube, Google, BBC iPlayer, Sony and Nikon.
Surely though, the coolest brand in post-Olympic London is Heatherwick, who designed the Olympic flame and the New Bus for London.
Who’d have thought a bus could be cool, but then, who’d have thought that the BBC, would have designed, something that features highly on the list produced by Cool Brands.
The Designers of the New Bus for London Missed a Trick Here
This picture shows the roof detail downstairs on the New Bus for London.
Roof Detail on a New Bus for London
The strip is just a moulding and design detail, but on some buses in the sixties and seventies, this strip was soft and if you pressed it the bell rang to stop the bus.
Paying For Plastic Bags
There is talk this morning, that we’ll all have to pay five pence for a plastic bag.
I’m not against the charge, but a total ban, as some are proposing, would create problems for me.
I usually shop once every day and never take a bag with me, as that is just something else to forget, when I go out. As too, I have a gammy hand, I find carrying an empty bag difficult and have dropped a couple on occasion.
But the biggest impact on me would be on my kitchen rubbish system. Here’s my waste basket.
My Kitchen Bin
It’s actually a large plant-pot from IKEA. As you can see in the next picture, it’s the ideal size for the standard Waitrose plastic bag.
My Fuller Kitchen Bin
The trouble with bought bags is that they are far too big or too small for my bin.
I have designed my own bin and sometime, I’ll get round to making it.
The Anonymous Widower 