Daily Archives: Tuesday, 30th January 2007
I didn’t expect that
After yesterday’s unexpectedly low weight, I was expecting to see a small rise today. But instead, I managed a small fall instead. I can only think that the exercise I’ve been doing has started having an effect on my metabolism or something.
I had planned to go out tonight, but that’s been postponed to next week, but I’m taking a night off the exercise anyway, as I’m a wee bit tired. I’ll try to get an early night, and I’ll be back on the exercise bike tomorrow.
Westgate House – in the media
While you’re waiting for me to sort out the last batch of Westgate House photos, here’s some reading material:
BBC report – with a nice set of links on the right of the page, where you can see how long it took to agree to knock it down.
Evening Chronicle report – with comments from John Thompson of Thompson’s of Prudhoe, who planned what has been described as Britain’s trickiest demolition job. Note – the Chronicle link may expire at some point.
One thing I learned from these reports is that 96% of the material removed from site is being recycled into new building materials. Nice to know that Westgate House will finally serve some useful purpose.
Call the Police!
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Police to reunite for Grammy gig
I’m always a bit dubious about bands reforming after so many years apart. But it’s a popular trend[1], and I’m sure lots of people would be prepared to pay lots of money to see the Police play live. They made some great music in their time, much of which still sounds good today[2].
[1] Listings for a local concert venue looked like they’d drifted in from the late 70s….
[2] You know how it is with music – some things are so much of their time, that when heard years later you find yourself wondering what the photon you liked about it back then, and other things still sound wonderful decades later…
Related posts
No more Floppies
BBC NEWS | Technology | PC World says farewell to floppy
Well, I suppose it had to come. Floppy disks used to be so important. I remember buying piles of “cheap” unbranded disks for my Atari ST in the late 80s and very early 90s. Cheap at the time was around £1 for a double-sided single density floppy, total capacity 720k, or half that of the standard floppy we all knew and errr, knew. They have been becoming increasingly irrelevant, as file sizes have grown and grown and grown to the extent that hardly anything fits on a floppy these days.
I have “happy” memories of installing applications from floppies back in the days of Windows 3.1. An office suite came on around 30 of the things, and installation took ages. Actually, installations still take ages, but at least you can generally wander off and do something else rather than having to keep changing floppies.
While they’re not quite going away yet, PC World’s decision to stop selling them does show that demand has dropped dramatically. These days, of course, even CDs, which once seemed huge, now seem a bit inadequate to deal with modern volumes of data.
Hubble Trouble
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Hubble’s main camera shuts down
Not good at all…
The main camera on Hubble has been responsible for not only some actual proper science, but also lots of quite beautiful images. The failure of the camera is a significant loss. A new instrument is due to be fitted in next year’s repair mission, which is some consolation…
That’s Handy
Fresh Pics: Amazing Hand Painting Art
I’ve seen some similar work before, quite possibly by the same artist, but these are quite incredible. Guido Daniele paints amazingly lifelike animals on human hands, and when the hands are positioned just right, the effect is stunning.
And there’s more work on the artist’s own site.
