Archive for 2008
Cheers to saving the British pint 17 Dec 2008
However, for her partner – 30-year-old New Zealander Martin Laurence – there was no argument: “Britain wouldn’t be Britain without pints,” he said. He may be a Kiwi, but I couldn’t agree more.
A curiously French complaint 15 Dec 2008
Interesting to see the differences in English and French ideas of health care and that the old stereotypes of the English soldiering on while the French stop and moan may actually have a grounding in fact. Maybe.
Nigeria ‘child witch killer’ held 4 Dec 2008
Seriously, this is the sort of story you expect to find in some archives from the 12th Century, not the 21st. I would say it doesn’t surprise me a member of the church was behind this, but I’m not sure religion is the sole reason for what these people believe (which seems to be that [...]
Amazon launches music downloads in UK 4 Dec 2008
They’ve been available in the US for some time but they’ve now come to the UK and about time! I have been buying fewer albums, more individual tracks and so I’m buying more electronically (I tend to buy albums on CD). I usually use iTunes and have been very satisfied, I have an iPod and [...]
How Dangerous Is A Little Knowledge When Writing Sci-Fi? 2 Dec 2008
Two interesting quotes with contrasting views on whether you need to know the science to write Science Fiction.
Trevor Baylis Mini Pro Torch Review 28 Nov 2008
Some time back I bought myself a wind-up torch, I kept finding the batteries in my ordinary torch had either gone or where so low the weak light it emitted was next to useless. As we’d had a few powers cuts not long back it seemed a wise idea to go wind-up. There are a [...]
Freeplay Ranger Review 26 Nov 2008
I have a tendency to listen to the radio in the mornings while getting ready and I used to use an attachment for my iPod, the problem was it got in the way, it’s not always convenient to have headphones in. So I decided to buy a portable radio, but that meant batteries, so I [...]
We’ll Fill This Space, but First a Nap 16 Nov 2008
Article about the importance of sleep in decision making, especially creative decision making.
Extract from Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: Is there such a thing as pure genius? 16 Nov 2008
Even this small excerpt is enough to get you thinking on what is, essentially, the long-standing argument of nature vs nurture, in this case, specifically aimed at achievement and, as has really been said before, finds it’s a case of both, but that, contrary to most people’s opinions, genius isn’t all about natural ability.
Microsoft aims Windows 7 for 2009 holiday season 8 Nov 2008
Is it just me that’s a little excited about a new version of Windows? Looks to have some more nifty features and, most importantly, tackles performance. I’ve been running Vista quite happily for some time after switching back from OS X, so my suspicion with the people that have been unhappy with it is that [...]