Apart from Mrs and Ms T scanning the Saturday papers for in depth commentary on yesterday's event, I mercifully escaped the continued media follow up of yesterday's royal wedding.
News is returning to the stalemate in Libya, with threats of continued attacks against the besieged city of Misrata by Libyan forces and the death of Colonel Gadaffi's youngest son and several grandchildren. The violent suppression of protesters in Syria continues. The multiple tornadoes striking the USA and causing over 340 deaths also finally received attention. The images of tornadoes a mile wide and the aftermath were truly awe inspiring and tragic for those involved.
For me, the day was predominantly domestic, with two exceptions.
I had to dash out to Mrs H-T's establishment to sort out her mobile broadband. Frustratingly, whilst I had organised continued payment for continuation of the service online, for the venerable Mrs H-T, this did not immediately feed back to her mobile device attached to the computer and further effort on location was required. Whilst technology is supposed to make life easier, it often does precisely the reverse.
The other exception was the inability of my desktop to boot up, leaving a screen blinking the unhelpful message "cannot find NTLDR". A search on another device accessing the internet came up with a simple guidance, that resolved the issue within half an hour, much to my relief.
Miss T departed back to her University today, by train from Ely. This afforded an opportunity to test out my audio recording device with a newly arrived microphone windshield at the station. It did dramatically reduce wind noise, however, since the wind was whistling down the station, there was still sufficient to impact on the microphone. Best recording was of train departing from Ely towards Peterboro!
I also sampled the audio recordings from Thursday in London and was amazed by the quality of the recordings and the stereo effects. Walk from NHM to the Petrie Museum worked surprisingly well, despite the microphone being in my shirt pocket under jumper and coat as I walked along.
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Friday, 29 April 2011
The Royal Wedding
Today was the Royal Wedding of Prince William with Catherine Middleton.
IT was a solemn, very public and yet personal event that was seen by circa two billion people worldwide on television, our family included.
Afterwards, we joined the Hall End Barbecue which continued till the early evening, in response to - the wedding.
The evening news continued with - the wedding and the post wedding parties.
The reviews of tomorrow's newspapers dealt almost solely with - the wedding.
Finally at midnight, Miss T. and I sat down to enjoy a film that was - not about the wedding.
The time was also used to produce a children's photo story of - Monty Bear and the Easter Egg - which made no mention of the wedding at all..
IT was a solemn, very public and yet personal event that was seen by circa two billion people worldwide on television, our family included.
Afterwards, we joined the Hall End Barbecue which continued till the early evening, in response to - the wedding.
The evening news continued with - the wedding and the post wedding parties.
The reviews of tomorrow's newspapers dealt almost solely with - the wedding.
Finally at midnight, Miss T. and I sat down to enjoy a film that was - not about the wedding.
The time was also used to produce a children's photo story of - Monty Bear and the Easter Egg - which made no mention of the wedding at all..
Thursday, 28 April 2011
Pickled specimens and painted ceilings at the Natural History Museum
Miss T. had expressed an interest to visit London, to combine a foray into Oxford Street with a visit to a museum previously unknown to us, the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/petrie). So we, the three remaining family members in Cambridge, set off this morning for the capital, by train from Cambridge, on the last day of sanity before the total mayhem surrounding the Royal Wedding tomorrow.
At King's Cross we separated as I was headed for the Natural History Museum. Laden with different recording technologies – trialled the audio recorder on the tube to gain travel noise, as well as the sounds surrounding the walk from South Kensington Tube station, through the tunnel to the Natural History Museum.
Emerging into the cold wind, the massed queues at the main entrance were visible, so, I entered through the lesser known and therefore queue-less Geological Museum entrance. My destination was the Darwin Centre on the far wing of the Natural History Museum. Having divested myself of equipment, coat etc., I was lucky enough to gain a last place of eight on the 11:45 Spirit Collection Tour.
Today's guide was biological researcher and science communicator at the NHM, Ms Jessica, who gave us an informative and interesting commentary as we descended into the depths of the Darwin Building. Today, the flesh eating beetles, as seen remotely on screen, were snacking on a killer whale tooth, roped into service for science in this instance, rather than romping destructively through the museums exhibits.
The NHM holds over 70 million specimens, many of them original species type reference examples. This is an incredible resource that promises to provide further centuries worth of novel research. The interesting aspect for me was the use of simple industrial methylated spirits (IMS - ethanol – methanol mixtures ) for samples stored in spirit. As a microscopist, the usual immediate preservation mixtures contain fixatives such as formalin (e.g. as in formol acetic acid -FAA for plant samples). However, from a DNA extraction perspective, the IMS has permitted recovery of functional DNA (for sequencing and analysis) from samples over a century old, according to our guide.
We passed the chilled rooms with banks of sample cabinets, kept below the flashpoint of alcohol, to the large sample room. Here I and the group were reacquainted with Archie, the female giant squid, the length of a London bus. It was also a thrill to see the Coelocanth, one of the first to provide real evidence that these living fossils still existed.
Of course, as a biologist, there was a special frisson to see some of the original samples collected by Charles Darwin during his trip on the Beagle; I've read the book, now I've seen some of the actual specimens!
I think this personal interaction between a museum scientist was the highlight of the visit as it brought the exhibits much more vividly to life. Even as a biologist, there is a limit to the excitement engendered by the static collections of pickled animals and plants in jars.
This positive feeling through interaction was repeated when I entered the Cocoon exhibition. The interior spiral path was very reminiscent of the Philips Evoloun Museum that used to exist near Eindhoven in The Netherlands.
But the innovative feature was the giant window into a working lab where a researcher was studying New Forest Blowflies. As visitors, we could see the specimens via a TV feed from the microscope and the researcher was actively talking about what she was doing and open to questions. The fact that blowflies could be used in forensic cases gave an immediate relevance, even for non-scientists.
Memories of DNA sequencing returned when seeing a later exhibit of eppendorfs with autoradiographs of sequencing gels. The initial trials with Maxam and Gilbert chemical sequencing; the gradual transition to Sanger dideoxynucleotide PCR based methods; the shift from using radiolabelled phosphate to the dye based systems. How in the mid eighties I was proud to sequence a few hundred bases of viral sequence, to then routine clone and sequence genes by the end of the nineties. Now, silica based methods allow genome sequencing in a matter of weeks.
On exiting the Cocoon, I chatted with another researcher, Ms Amy, who was specialising in science communication for her PhD and gathering data by interviewing visitors. It looks as if the NHM is again at the forefront of new approaches to communicating science effectively and accessibly for a public otherwise shunning the subject.
Retrieving my recording equipment, I tried taking a short video of the main hall with the old friend , the Diplodocus under Charles Darwin's thoughtful gaze. Then I turned my gaze upwards to the ceiling.
This was actually the result of an aside by Ms Jessica about the construction of the building and the hand-painted ceiling of the main hall with botanic motifs. As previously with Ely Cathedral, I attempted to photograph the ceiling panels in sections along the length of the hall. As ever, the column decorations caught my eye as the Victorian exuberant decoration meant that each aisle had different column designs.
Before I departed, I also took some photos of the Reeves commisioned botanical illustrations by Chinese artists and one or two of the modern examples – both to show Botanical illustrator, painter and friend Mrs Heather Maunders and as references relevant to my current Chinese Brush Painting course with artist Jane Evans.
The afternoon was then spent in reunion with the rest of the family at the Petrie Museum, where, on this first ever visit, I mainly recorded the pottery relative the different epochs. Something I will write upon when having evaluated the images.
At King's Cross we separated as I was headed for the Natural History Museum. Laden with different recording technologies – trialled the audio recorder on the tube to gain travel noise, as well as the sounds surrounding the walk from South Kensington Tube station, through the tunnel to the Natural History Museum.
Emerging into the cold wind, the massed queues at the main entrance were visible, so, I entered through the lesser known and therefore queue-less Geological Museum entrance. My destination was the Darwin Centre on the far wing of the Natural History Museum. Having divested myself of equipment, coat etc., I was lucky enough to gain a last place of eight on the 11:45 Spirit Collection Tour.
Today's guide was biological researcher and science communicator at the NHM, Ms Jessica, who gave us an informative and interesting commentary as we descended into the depths of the Darwin Building. Today, the flesh eating beetles, as seen remotely on screen, were snacking on a killer whale tooth, roped into service for science in this instance, rather than romping destructively through the museums exhibits.
The NHM holds over 70 million specimens, many of them original species type reference examples. This is an incredible resource that promises to provide further centuries worth of novel research. The interesting aspect for me was the use of simple industrial methylated spirits (IMS - ethanol – methanol mixtures ) for samples stored in spirit. As a microscopist, the usual immediate preservation mixtures contain fixatives such as formalin (e.g. as in formol acetic acid -FAA for plant samples). However, from a DNA extraction perspective, the IMS has permitted recovery of functional DNA (for sequencing and analysis) from samples over a century old, according to our guide.
We passed the chilled rooms with banks of sample cabinets, kept below the flashpoint of alcohol, to the large sample room. Here I and the group were reacquainted with Archie, the female giant squid, the length of a London bus. It was also a thrill to see the Coelocanth, one of the first to provide real evidence that these living fossils still existed.
Of course, as a biologist, there was a special frisson to see some of the original samples collected by Charles Darwin during his trip on the Beagle; I've read the book, now I've seen some of the actual specimens!
I think this personal interaction between a museum scientist was the highlight of the visit as it brought the exhibits much more vividly to life. Even as a biologist, there is a limit to the excitement engendered by the static collections of pickled animals and plants in jars.
This positive feeling through interaction was repeated when I entered the Cocoon exhibition. The interior spiral path was very reminiscent of the Philips Evoloun Museum that used to exist near Eindhoven in The Netherlands.
But the innovative feature was the giant window into a working lab where a researcher was studying New Forest Blowflies. As visitors, we could see the specimens via a TV feed from the microscope and the researcher was actively talking about what she was doing and open to questions. The fact that blowflies could be used in forensic cases gave an immediate relevance, even for non-scientists.
Memories of DNA sequencing returned when seeing a later exhibit of eppendorfs with autoradiographs of sequencing gels. The initial trials with Maxam and Gilbert chemical sequencing; the gradual transition to Sanger dideoxynucleotide PCR based methods; the shift from using radiolabelled phosphate to the dye based systems. How in the mid eighties I was proud to sequence a few hundred bases of viral sequence, to then routine clone and sequence genes by the end of the nineties. Now, silica based methods allow genome sequencing in a matter of weeks.
On exiting the Cocoon, I chatted with another researcher, Ms Amy, who was specialising in science communication for her PhD and gathering data by interviewing visitors. It looks as if the NHM is again at the forefront of new approaches to communicating science effectively and accessibly for a public otherwise shunning the subject.
Retrieving my recording equipment, I tried taking a short video of the main hall with the old friend , the Diplodocus under Charles Darwin's thoughtful gaze. Then I turned my gaze upwards to the ceiling.
This was actually the result of an aside by Ms Jessica about the construction of the building and the hand-painted ceiling of the main hall with botanic motifs. As previously with Ely Cathedral, I attempted to photograph the ceiling panels in sections along the length of the hall. As ever, the column decorations caught my eye as the Victorian exuberant decoration meant that each aisle had different column designs.
Before I departed, I also took some photos of the Reeves commisioned botanical illustrations by Chinese artists and one or two of the modern examples – both to show Botanical illustrator, painter and friend Mrs Heather Maunders and as references relevant to my current Chinese Brush Painting course with artist Jane Evans.
The afternoon was then spent in reunion with the rest of the family at the Petrie Museum, where, on this first ever visit, I mainly recorded the pottery relative the different epochs. Something I will write upon when having evaluated the images.
Wednesday, 27 April 2011
The early bird gets late to work. On focal depth.
A very short night, arising at 5am to take Mr T to Stansted Airport. Arriving at 6:15am, the airport seemed remarkably quiet, without the usual massed queues around the check-in desks of the bargain flight airlines. Even the queues through security were shorter. Having ensured that there were no last minute glitches to Mr T's departure, I wandered outside to the viewing area to the south. The intention was to record the noisy take-off of the passenger jets with my new audio recorder. The wind noise was too great and I lacked the microphone windshields, which were still in the post, so I desisted from further recording attempts.
I was therefore back in Milton by 8am and went back to bed for a couple of hours catch up sleep.
Ironically, this meant a late start to work, despite an early rise. Working on a design for a German client's flyer therefore extended into the evening, with the draft not entering the internet till past 8pm.
Yesterdays photos of patterns created by airbubbles in microscope slides were uploaded. Each scene was photographed as a series of images at different foci. Using an indispensable tool, the program Helicon Focus, These were assembled and a composite generated, featuring all elements that were in focus. The results were pleasing on the most part but the process was time consuming.
The process is necessitated because of the very narrow depth of field at high magnification, a consequence of the microscope objective lens being so close to the sample (the higher the magnification, the closer the lens is to the subject). The principle can be illustrated simply. The reader is invited to look out of the window and fix their gaze on a plant or object 30 or forty yards away. Without shifting the centre of attention, note that objects behind the centre of attention are in focus for a considerable distance beyond.
Now peruse a book or screen at a reading distance of about 18 inches and attempt to gauge the clarity of objects beyond without changing the focus on the nearby object. In this instance, objects such as a finger held closer to the nose or flowers at the other end of the room are out of focus. The focal depth, equivalent to the distance over which objects appear in focus, is decreased.
A low power microscope objective may be a couple of centimeters from the sample and the focal depth is reduced to no more than a millimeter above or below the focal point. At higher magnifications, the focal depth is within a tenth to a hundredth of a millimeter, so that in effect one is viewing optical slices through a transparent object.
With a microscope, the viewer gains a perception of the subject by moving the focus up and down. The phenomenon can be mimicked by a video or film recording of the same process. However, a still photograph will be a slice at one focal plane. Software such as Helicon Focus computes the areas in focus from a number of different images of the same object at different focal planes, creating a so called focus stack. It works particularly well with opaque objects and generally well with transparent ones.
I was therefore back in Milton by 8am and went back to bed for a couple of hours catch up sleep.
Ironically, this meant a late start to work, despite an early rise. Working on a design for a German client's flyer therefore extended into the evening, with the draft not entering the internet till past 8pm.
Yesterdays photos of patterns created by airbubbles in microscope slides were uploaded. Each scene was photographed as a series of images at different foci. Using an indispensable tool, the program Helicon Focus, These were assembled and a composite generated, featuring all elements that were in focus. The results were pleasing on the most part but the process was time consuming.
The process is necessitated because of the very narrow depth of field at high magnification, a consequence of the microscope objective lens being so close to the sample (the higher the magnification, the closer the lens is to the subject). The principle can be illustrated simply. The reader is invited to look out of the window and fix their gaze on a plant or object 30 or forty yards away. Without shifting the centre of attention, note that objects behind the centre of attention are in focus for a considerable distance beyond.
Now peruse a book or screen at a reading distance of about 18 inches and attempt to gauge the clarity of objects beyond without changing the focus on the nearby object. In this instance, objects such as a finger held closer to the nose or flowers at the other end of the room are out of focus. The focal depth, equivalent to the distance over which objects appear in focus, is decreased.
A low power microscope objective may be a couple of centimeters from the sample and the focal depth is reduced to no more than a millimeter above or below the focal point. At higher magnifications, the focal depth is within a tenth to a hundredth of a millimeter, so that in effect one is viewing optical slices through a transparent object.
With a microscope, the viewer gains a perception of the subject by moving the focus up and down. The phenomenon can be mimicked by a video or film recording of the same process. However, a still photograph will be a slice at one focal plane. Software such as Helicon Focus computes the areas in focus from a number of different images of the same object at different focal planes, creating a so called focus stack. It works particularly well with opaque objects and generally well with transparent ones.
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Book proof editing and microscopic life in the marine tank
The cloudy day was less of a distraction on the return to work. It is said that it is the last five percent of any task that are the most time consuming and this is certainly the case with Mr McArthur's book, which required minor edits and re-generation of a cover design for renewed checking and approval. Also had to go through the digital text to identify page numbers for text amendments required, to be passed on to the printer. Since this book has numerous colour photographs, there was also an ongoing discussion on colour reproduction and the quality of the printing. Todays task ended with a trip to the post office to post the 5 pounds weight of printed material back to the printers. By this time it was early afternoon and time for a late lunch.
The marine aquarium was still engendering interest in the evening. Whilst the Idotea linearis and Gammarus had not been in evidence for several days now, the minute bivalves were visibly increased in size and the barnacles could be seen actively feeding. The latter having single arms that emerged with a net like "hand", grasping in rapid sweeps through the water. No matter how vigorously the water was stirred, once the coarse sediment settled out, the fine turbidity was rapidly cleared by the filter feeders, leaving the water glass transparent within the hour.
Shining a torch beam through the tank at night showed a myriad of small motile spots spiralling towards the light in the tank. So tonight, I took some sediment and placed it under the microscope for a quick glance. It was brimming with life when viewed at 40x magnification, with a few larger crustaceans, nematodes and many smaller animalcules. An attempt to use higher magnification was initially unsuccessful, primarily because the creatures were all moving so fast. It will be interesting to see what emerges from this soup of organisms over the coming months.
The microscope out, I also looked at a collection of pollen samples from the Postal Microscopical Society box that was due to be passed on to the next member in the circuit. The pollen had been prepared in glycerine jelly on slides and the slides had not all been sealed. In the intervening twenty years, the slides were slowly drying out. Whilst his was frustrating from a biological point of view, because the pollen was now obscured by air bubbles, the fine filigree patterns of encroaching air in the glycerol and minor interference effects created stunning patterns when viewed using phase contrast illumination. The camera was put to good use!
The marine aquarium was still engendering interest in the evening. Whilst the Idotea linearis and Gammarus had not been in evidence for several days now, the minute bivalves were visibly increased in size and the barnacles could be seen actively feeding. The latter having single arms that emerged with a net like "hand", grasping in rapid sweeps through the water. No matter how vigorously the water was stirred, once the coarse sediment settled out, the fine turbidity was rapidly cleared by the filter feeders, leaving the water glass transparent within the hour.
Shining a torch beam through the tank at night showed a myriad of small motile spots spiralling towards the light in the tank. So tonight, I took some sediment and placed it under the microscope for a quick glance. It was brimming with life when viewed at 40x magnification, with a few larger crustaceans, nematodes and many smaller animalcules. An attempt to use higher magnification was initially unsuccessful, primarily because the creatures were all moving so fast. It will be interesting to see what emerges from this soup of organisms over the coming months.
The microscope out, I also looked at a collection of pollen samples from the Postal Microscopical Society box that was due to be passed on to the next member in the circuit. The pollen had been prepared in glycerine jelly on slides and the slides had not all been sealed. In the intervening twenty years, the slides were slowly drying out. Whilst his was frustrating from a biological point of view, because the pollen was now obscured by air bubbles, the fine filigree patterns of encroaching air in the glycerol and minor interference effects created stunning patterns when viewed using phase contrast illumination. The camera was put to good use!
Sunday, 24 April 2011
Australian invading barnacle and Alzheimer delay from daffodils
Working on the video recordings taken on Saturday, I endeavored to correctly identify the assortment of life captured therein with the aid of Barrett & Yonge's Collins Pocket Guide to the Seashore and the Handbook of British Birds. This closer retrospective look revealed some unexpected surprises.
The first was in the identification of the barnacles observed on the shell of a periwinkle. Rather than the indigenous Balanoides balanoides or Chthamalus stellatus, they appeared to be Elminius modestus. E. modestus is an antipodean invader, thought to have arrived from Australia in British waters on ships in the 1950's. Due to its greater tolerance of variations in salinity and water temperatures, as well as fecundity, the invader has spread rapidly though British waters.
The second surprise was that the birds presumed to be Knot was not Knot but Turnstone, an avian winter visitor which would be departing these shores again in May.
Video editing is still not complete as a voice-track is yet to be added.
An item on the television program Countryfile, on Daffodils,caught my attention. It may be recalled that in March, I accompanied Mrs Kabitzsch to London, who promulgated the use of edible flowers and flower dishes, recorded in my business blog article "Von Blythen, flower liqueurs, syrups and condiments to the UK" at http://miltoncontact.blogspot.com/2011/04/von-blythen-flower-liqueurs-syrups-and.html. Amongst some personal trials of edible flowers, there was also the provision of a list of plants that should definitely not be eaten. Daffodils were amongst them as they contain harmful alkaloids.
The Countryfile article reported on the cultivation of daffodils in Wales at altitude for the production of a particular alkaloid, galantamine, reportedly efficacious in the early stages of the debilitating, memory robbing disease, Alzheimers.
Galantamine was first investigated medicinally in the Soviet union in the 1950's and it was there that Mashkovsky and Kruglikova-Lvova demonstrated the cholinersterase inhibitory properties of the compound. (Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galantamine#Clinical_use).
Galantamine, also known as galanthamine, can be synthesised via a variety of routes, each protected by pharmaceutical companies. These routes were primarily followed because the intitial extraction from plant sources such as snowdrop and daffodils proved low yielding.
However, a Welsh company, Alzeim (http://www.alzeim.org/Default.htm), is currently developing a purification process utilising commercially grown special daffodil varieties. Growth of the plants above 1000ft (330m) above sea level apparently puts the plants under stress and increases the proportion of galantamine amongst its alkaloids.
There is a small risk of increased mortality associated with galantamine use. However, British guidelines by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, though amended recently give clear guidance and support for the use of galantamine for the early stages of Alzheimer's disease (downloadable here: http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/13419/53619/53619.pdf).
The first was in the identification of the barnacles observed on the shell of a periwinkle. Rather than the indigenous Balanoides balanoides or Chthamalus stellatus, they appeared to be Elminius modestus. E. modestus is an antipodean invader, thought to have arrived from Australia in British waters on ships in the 1950's. Due to its greater tolerance of variations in salinity and water temperatures, as well as fecundity, the invader has spread rapidly though British waters.
The second surprise was that the birds presumed to be Knot was not Knot but Turnstone, an avian winter visitor which would be departing these shores again in May.
Video editing is still not complete as a voice-track is yet to be added.
An item on the television program Countryfile, on Daffodils,caught my attention. It may be recalled that in March, I accompanied Mrs Kabitzsch to London, who promulgated the use of edible flowers and flower dishes, recorded in my business blog article "Von Blythen, flower liqueurs, syrups and condiments to the UK" at http://miltoncontact.blogspot.com/2011/04/von-blythen-flower-liqueurs-syrups-and.html. Amongst some personal trials of edible flowers, there was also the provision of a list of plants that should definitely not be eaten. Daffodils were amongst them as they contain harmful alkaloids.
The Countryfile article reported on the cultivation of daffodils in Wales at altitude for the production of a particular alkaloid, galantamine, reportedly efficacious in the early stages of the debilitating, memory robbing disease, Alzheimers.
Galantamine was first investigated medicinally in the Soviet union in the 1950's and it was there that Mashkovsky and Kruglikova-Lvova demonstrated the cholinersterase inhibitory properties of the compound. (Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galantamine#Clinical_use).
Galantamine, also known as galanthamine, can be synthesised via a variety of routes, each protected by pharmaceutical companies. These routes were primarily followed because the intitial extraction from plant sources such as snowdrop and daffodils proved low yielding.
However, a Welsh company, Alzeim (http://www.alzeim.org/Default.htm), is currently developing a purification process utilising commercially grown special daffodil varieties. Growth of the plants above 1000ft (330m) above sea level apparently puts the plants under stress and increases the proportion of galantamine amongst its alkaloids.
There is a small risk of increased mortality associated with galantamine use. However, British guidelines by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, though amended recently give clear guidance and support for the use of galantamine for the early stages of Alzheimer's disease (downloadable here: http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/13419/53619/53619.pdf).
Saturday, 23 April 2011
Video editing and a potential Balsam Post article
Another gorgeous day. A quick glance into the aquarium revealed the the barnacles were actively feeding, so a quick stir (mimicking the returning tide) to make the water turbid for them and the small molluscs that were now almost 2mm in diameter.
Domestic chores were completed with the mowing of the lawns and then onto editing the videos taken on the beach yesterday. I had a range of short films, covering birds, starfish, hermit crabs and others. Their editing with Corel VideoStudio began. It is amazing how what might seem reasonable when recorded would turn out to be too poor to use on a larger screen. So each recording required editing where only a fraction might end up being used. The other element is also to try and arrange a series of short scenes into a thread that might have little bearing on the chronological order of their being taken. A fit of nausea and headache in the afternoon put paid to completion today.
Feeling better in the evening again, there was another task to complete; an article for the Balsam Post, in response to Mir Ives', the editor, request for entries before the submission deadline for the next quarterly edition. I chose to write about the invitation by Miss Fleming and Mr Snoswell to investigate the small threads in their pond as these turned out to be the fascinating giant single celled organism, Spirostomum ambiguum. A suitable subject for the Balsam Post, the quarterly newsletter of the Postal Microscopical Society. Article written and posted to Mr Ives tonight.
Domestic chores were completed with the mowing of the lawns and then onto editing the videos taken on the beach yesterday. I had a range of short films, covering birds, starfish, hermit crabs and others. Their editing with Corel VideoStudio began. It is amazing how what might seem reasonable when recorded would turn out to be too poor to use on a larger screen. So each recording required editing where only a fraction might end up being used. The other element is also to try and arrange a series of short scenes into a thread that might have little bearing on the chronological order of their being taken. A fit of nausea and headache in the afternoon put paid to completion today.
Feeling better in the evening again, there was another task to complete; an article for the Balsam Post, in response to Mir Ives', the editor, request for entries before the submission deadline for the next quarterly edition. I chose to write about the invitation by Miss Fleming and Mr Snoswell to investigate the small threads in their pond as these turned out to be the fascinating giant single celled organism, Spirostomum ambiguum. A suitable subject for the Balsam Post, the quarterly newsletter of the Postal Microscopical Society. Article written and posted to Mr Ives tonight.
Friday, 22 April 2011
Birthday trip to the seaside, a child lost and found and the great Belzoni in Egypt
Today was Miss T.'s birthday and she had requested a visit to the seaside in the company of her friend Miss Garner. The sun shone favourably upon us as we set forth by car shortly before eleven am up the A10 to Hunstanton. In contrast to the same journey a fortnight ago, we found ourselves joining an ever increasing queue of sun-seekers with the same destination in mind. This necessitated a detour via Dersingham to avoid the crawling traffic.
On arrival, we first descended, or rather ascended to the Lighthouse Cafe for a luncheon and beverage. During our meal, the proprietress returned with a young girl, about three to four years of age, who had been found wandering lost and alone outside on the cliff path. Staff comforted her and kept her company till the arrival of the police in the shape of two reassuring young men who put the child at ease and carried the girl down the hill, reuniting the child with the relieved parents.
The first task on the beach was building a dam, something the ladies took to with alacrity and determination until in time honoured fashion, the rising waters in the blocked channel broke through.
The tide was ebbing and we had a long walk to find the actual sea. The feet sensed the transition from different sands, through silt to the final mud that oozed between the toes. I ventured further as the mussel and tube worm banks were gradually being exposed leaving pools.
Having seen Idotea linearis for the first time on the last visit, I encountered several more this time. To my delight, hermit crabs in periwinkle shells scurried across pools. If two encountered each other there would be a shocked pause and a scurrying apart.
Other finds included a periwinkle with barnacles that could be seen to be feeding in the still waters. Whilst the mussels appeared resolutely closed, the occasional cockle on the surface could be seen feeding with the shell slightly agape.
This being a particularly low tide, Miss Garner and I found no less than four common starfish. I thought the first dead until I turned it over and the tuber feet emerged questing vigorously for purchase until I returned the echinoderm right way up. I had just commented to Miss Garner on the regenerative ability of starfish to regrow lost limbs when she found a four armed specimen with a small fifth arm beginning to grow back.
Despite the disruption of people wandering along the shore line, feeding avocets and possibly knot wandered across the shell mounds. The gulls were still nesting in the cliffs and this time I made sure that I recorded these successfully (my previous photographs failed to capture them) with the camcorder.
Back home, I tried separating the light shell fraction from sand collected from the beach by washing it off into a dish from a plate, in a reverse of panning for gold. This was quite successful on first investigation with the stereomicroscope and the enriched fraction is now drying for future study on the window sill.
My marine aquarium also had three new additions; some red algal fronds, a mussel shell with two small barnacles and a stone with strange encrustations for future study.
For her birthday, Miss T had received a video set on ancient Egypt and we watched an episode, recounting the story of Giovanni Battista Belzoni and his recovery of the head of Rameses the great for the British Museum in the early 1800s. The program frequently referred to Belzoni's diary and I was delighted to find that Google Books had both a facsimile and a text version of "Narrative of the operations and recent discoveries within the pyramids, temples, tombs and excavations in Egypt and Nubia: and of a journey to the coast of the Red Sea in search of the ancient Berenice, and another to the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon, Volume 1" by Giovanni Battista Belzoni. Something I will have to read later.
On arrival, we first descended, or rather ascended to the Lighthouse Cafe for a luncheon and beverage. During our meal, the proprietress returned with a young girl, about three to four years of age, who had been found wandering lost and alone outside on the cliff path. Staff comforted her and kept her company till the arrival of the police in the shape of two reassuring young men who put the child at ease and carried the girl down the hill, reuniting the child with the relieved parents.
The first task on the beach was building a dam, something the ladies took to with alacrity and determination until in time honoured fashion, the rising waters in the blocked channel broke through.
The tide was ebbing and we had a long walk to find the actual sea. The feet sensed the transition from different sands, through silt to the final mud that oozed between the toes. I ventured further as the mussel and tube worm banks were gradually being exposed leaving pools.
Having seen Idotea linearis for the first time on the last visit, I encountered several more this time. To my delight, hermit crabs in periwinkle shells scurried across pools. If two encountered each other there would be a shocked pause and a scurrying apart.
Other finds included a periwinkle with barnacles that could be seen to be feeding in the still waters. Whilst the mussels appeared resolutely closed, the occasional cockle on the surface could be seen feeding with the shell slightly agape.
This being a particularly low tide, Miss Garner and I found no less than four common starfish. I thought the first dead until I turned it over and the tuber feet emerged questing vigorously for purchase until I returned the echinoderm right way up. I had just commented to Miss Garner on the regenerative ability of starfish to regrow lost limbs when she found a four armed specimen with a small fifth arm beginning to grow back.
Despite the disruption of people wandering along the shore line, feeding avocets and possibly knot wandered across the shell mounds. The gulls were still nesting in the cliffs and this time I made sure that I recorded these successfully (my previous photographs failed to capture them) with the camcorder.
Back home, I tried separating the light shell fraction from sand collected from the beach by washing it off into a dish from a plate, in a reverse of panning for gold. This was quite successful on first investigation with the stereomicroscope and the enriched fraction is now drying for future study on the window sill.
My marine aquarium also had three new additions; some red algal fronds, a mussel shell with two small barnacles and a stone with strange encrustations for future study.
For her birthday, Miss T had received a video set on ancient Egypt and we watched an episode, recounting the story of Giovanni Battista Belzoni and his recovery of the head of Rameses the great for the British Museum in the early 1800s. The program frequently referred to Belzoni's diary and I was delighted to find that Google Books had both a facsimile and a text version of "Narrative of the operations and recent discoveries within the pyramids, temples, tombs and excavations in Egypt and Nubia: and of a journey to the coast of the Red Sea in search of the ancient Berenice, and another to the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon, Volume 1" by Giovanni Battista Belzoni. Something I will have to read later.
Thursday, 21 April 2011
Not exercising your vote, Misrata and cluster bombs
Today contained two contrasting attitudes towards the freedom of expression and effectively civil responsibility. The local radio show by Mr Harper attempted to inject some interest in the local elections due on the 5th May, yet when the inimitable Mr Dee went a-interviewing amongst the populace, a surprising number declared an intention not to vote.
I should of course rejoice, as my vote will have a correspondingly greater response, yet I am saddened by the apparent devaluation of an important right and role in our society. The freedoms that we take for granted are due in part by the democratic consensus that, ultimately, it is a vote that decides who represents us in local or national government.
The current siege of Misrata in Libya, with the accompanying deaths and destruction, borne primarily by the civilians trapped in the city, illustrates the other end of the spectrum - where people wish to have a voice and are being countered by guns.
The conflict is unlikely to decline in the near future with both the West introducing further weaponry, for example the remotely operated armed drones and "advisors" to the rebels on the ground, to the mounting evidence of the Libyan forces using cluster bombs.
Cluster bombs are comprised of a large container that has a multitude of small bomblets within. These are spread over a wider area. Their indiscriminate spread causes civilian casualties. With a significant proportion not exploding (5%), they remain a hazard long after any conflict.
Here in the United Kingdom, we have an ambiguous record. We have been involved in conflicts such as the Gulf War and action in Kosovo where cluster munitions have been used by our allies and UK arms manufacturers have apparently prduced cluster bombs within the UK. According to the Wikipedia article on cluster boms, the UK still has stocks of these weapons. The British Government has ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions, agreeing to ban their use, which is a great leap forward. Sadly, the major superpowers USA, China and Russia have not yet committed themselves in the same way.
I should of course rejoice, as my vote will have a correspondingly greater response, yet I am saddened by the apparent devaluation of an important right and role in our society. The freedoms that we take for granted are due in part by the democratic consensus that, ultimately, it is a vote that decides who represents us in local or national government.
The current siege of Misrata in Libya, with the accompanying deaths and destruction, borne primarily by the civilians trapped in the city, illustrates the other end of the spectrum - where people wish to have a voice and are being countered by guns.
The conflict is unlikely to decline in the near future with both the West introducing further weaponry, for example the remotely operated armed drones and "advisors" to the rebels on the ground, to the mounting evidence of the Libyan forces using cluster bombs.
Cluster bombs are comprised of a large container that has a multitude of small bomblets within. These are spread over a wider area. Their indiscriminate spread causes civilian casualties. With a significant proportion not exploding (5%), they remain a hazard long after any conflict.
Here in the United Kingdom, we have an ambiguous record. We have been involved in conflicts such as the Gulf War and action in Kosovo where cluster munitions have been used by our allies and UK arms manufacturers have apparently prduced cluster bombs within the UK. According to the Wikipedia article on cluster boms, the UK still has stocks of these weapons. The British Government has ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions, agreeing to ban their use, which is a great leap forward. Sadly, the major superpowers USA, China and Russia have not yet committed themselves in the same way.
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
Square eyes and mist in a drought
Design work today interrupted by a visit into Cambridge, to pursue the purchase of new spectacles. Unfortunately, this appears to be a time where the mode for eye-wear is square or rectangular. Rows of rectilinear frames, posters of masterful men and women, strangely unaffected by the modern affliction of obesity, wearing the parallelograms of power. I am an antediluvian relic of more curvaceous period.
Three optician stores later and I had retrieved a frame design with a slight hint of roundness, located towards the more pecuniary challenging end of the spectrum. Maintaining the momentum, I was able to secure a sight test within the hour.
I derive a perverse sense of enjoyment from eye tests and the intervening years since my last one had introduced some new delights; the device that puffs into your eye to measure pressure in the eye, the randomly appearing spot testing for peripheral vision and, for a mere ten pounds extra, the retinal photograph! The latter evincing a distinct impression of what the unsuspecting audience would see when Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in The Men in Black flashed them to erase their memories.
Thence to the comfort of the opticians chair, the reassurance of the red and green lights, the accumulation of lenses, twisted this way and that as the optician honed in on his or her prescription and of course, The Chart. The last line always eludes me, those tiny letters surely beyond the reading skill of any but a superhuman. I had to stand up and go closer just to satisfy my curiosity of what I should have seen.
Thereafter, I was given my results and passed into the hands of the establishment's priestess who, with the guidance of her computer, performed the equivalent of reading the runes to finally establish what my donation to the establishment would be this time. Surprisingly, it was about £100 less than when I had last been to purchase spectacles as I became the beneficiary of the Two for One offer.
The local news, dissatisfied with the run of current good weather, had grabbed hold of the fact that we were now in the grip of an impending drought. The water companies were beginning the dirge of the need to conserve water just as the nation's gardeners were about to leap into action over Easter.
So it was with some surprise that I found myself driving through low lying shrouds of mist across the fields to Cottenham, to pick up Miss T. Having investigated the matter, I can confirm that this was mist as the visibility was still more than a kilometre. Had visibility been less then this would have been fog.
The mist was a direct consequence of the hot yet still day generating prolific transpiration by the vernal foliage of plants in fields and hedges. With a cloudless sky, the daytime temperature plummeted from 23 degrees Celsius to a night-time low of 10 degrees Celsius or less. At some point the temperature fell below the dew-point for the airborne humidity, causing it to condense into fine droplets and create the mist. Yet the balance between temperature and humidity was in the balance as, on the return journey, the mist had again dissipated.
Three optician stores later and I had retrieved a frame design with a slight hint of roundness, located towards the more pecuniary challenging end of the spectrum. Maintaining the momentum, I was able to secure a sight test within the hour.
I derive a perverse sense of enjoyment from eye tests and the intervening years since my last one had introduced some new delights; the device that puffs into your eye to measure pressure in the eye, the randomly appearing spot testing for peripheral vision and, for a mere ten pounds extra, the retinal photograph! The latter evincing a distinct impression of what the unsuspecting audience would see when Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in The Men in Black flashed them to erase their memories.
Thence to the comfort of the opticians chair, the reassurance of the red and green lights, the accumulation of lenses, twisted this way and that as the optician honed in on his or her prescription and of course, The Chart. The last line always eludes me, those tiny letters surely beyond the reading skill of any but a superhuman. I had to stand up and go closer just to satisfy my curiosity of what I should have seen.
Thereafter, I was given my results and passed into the hands of the establishment's priestess who, with the guidance of her computer, performed the equivalent of reading the runes to finally establish what my donation to the establishment would be this time. Surprisingly, it was about £100 less than when I had last been to purchase spectacles as I became the beneficiary of the Two for One offer.
The local news, dissatisfied with the run of current good weather, had grabbed hold of the fact that we were now in the grip of an impending drought. The water companies were beginning the dirge of the need to conserve water just as the nation's gardeners were about to leap into action over Easter.
So it was with some surprise that I found myself driving through low lying shrouds of mist across the fields to Cottenham, to pick up Miss T. Having investigated the matter, I can confirm that this was mist as the visibility was still more than a kilometre. Had visibility been less then this would have been fog.
The mist was a direct consequence of the hot yet still day generating prolific transpiration by the vernal foliage of plants in fields and hedges. With a cloudless sky, the daytime temperature plummeted from 23 degrees Celsius to a night-time low of 10 degrees Celsius or less. At some point the temperature fell below the dew-point for the airborne humidity, causing it to condense into fine droplets and create the mist. Yet the balance between temperature and humidity was in the balance as, on the return journey, the mist had again dissipated.
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Ram raided Milton Post Office and crustaceans in my tank
A respite from translation and flyer design in the form of a walk to Milton Surgery took me past the Milton Post Office. It had been the target of a ram raid on the 14th of April that left the entire shop front staved in but the thieves unable to remove the cash machine. Today, the windows were boarded up but the post office was open. I stopped for a chat with the proprietor, Mr Lakhani, who is a respected part of the village community.
Mr Lakhani's post office and village store had been the subject of criminal attacks in 2005 and 2003 and one must admire his resilience. He was resigned to the event and sceptical as to the likelihood of the criminals being caught and adequately punished. As ever, even with insurance covering the damage, there are associated costs and delays as the rebuilding of the shop front will take several weeks. Reassuringly, there was still a stream of customers coming to the post office.
It is now about 10 days since I returned with sand and sea-water from an outing to Hunstanton North Beach. Today, when the sun shone brightly into the small fish tank, there was a sudden flicker of movement. Moving closer, I could see that there were three unexpected crustaceans scurrying close to the front of the tank and the previous Idotea was also active. The creatures were still small, at only several millimetres length, so difficult to identify, irrespective of their lively movement.
I attempted to record the creatures with my camcorder, with some success and you can see the results here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LirD40TDDrg. Enlarged, the creatures appeared to be Gammarus species. The genus is renowned for a variety of species that can be used as indicators of salinity, each species prefering a particular habitat.
I could not find out much more about them on the internet but would like to add an observation of my own. The creatures were very active with incident sun in the tank. When I shaded the tank with a sheet of card, they immediately stopped and buried into the sand and did not emerge again. Removing the shading card and the creatures one again emerged to scurry around and feed.
Mr Lakhani's post office and village store had been the subject of criminal attacks in 2005 and 2003 and one must admire his resilience. He was resigned to the event and sceptical as to the likelihood of the criminals being caught and adequately punished. As ever, even with insurance covering the damage, there are associated costs and delays as the rebuilding of the shop front will take several weeks. Reassuringly, there was still a stream of customers coming to the post office.
It is now about 10 days since I returned with sand and sea-water from an outing to Hunstanton North Beach. Today, when the sun shone brightly into the small fish tank, there was a sudden flicker of movement. Moving closer, I could see that there were three unexpected crustaceans scurrying close to the front of the tank and the previous Idotea was also active. The creatures were still small, at only several millimetres length, so difficult to identify, irrespective of their lively movement.
I attempted to record the creatures with my camcorder, with some success and you can see the results here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LirD40TDDrg. Enlarged, the creatures appeared to be Gammarus species. The genus is renowned for a variety of species that can be used as indicators of salinity, each species prefering a particular habitat.
I could not find out much more about them on the internet but would like to add an observation of my own. The creatures were very active with incident sun in the tank. When I shaded the tank with a sheet of card, they immediately stopped and buried into the sand and did not emerge again. Removing the shading card and the creatures one again emerged to scurry around and feed.
Monday, 18 April 2011
Book print proofs, translations and Icelandic horses
An early morning delivery brought a mighty package from the book printers, containing the digital proof of Mr McArthurs book. At a potential spine width of several inches, this was in marked contrast with the expected 18mm. The mystery was explained by the use of thicker photographic paper, printed on one side - a relief! Mr McArthur dropped by to collect the draft for review.
The days activities concentrated on translations of German texts into English for two companies. The first translation suffered a delay as I had tried using an Open Source program OmegaT for the first time over the weekend. Saving the translated file into the same directory as the origination file resulted in wiping the source file clean. Lesson learnt, I created a separate destination folder and finally obtained the literal translation.
Then begins the more difficult task, converting the literal translation, with the idiosyncrasies of grammar and sentence construction of the source language, into more native English. One task completed, the next translation beckoned.
This evening, a meeting with Mrs Guðbjörnsdóttir from Iceland, who was travelling through the UK on business for the company Ishestar, a bespoke Icelandic holiday specialist. What came through was an abiding undercurrent of love for Icelandic horses.
The first ancestors of the Icelandic horse arrived with the Vikings in the 10th century and were subsequently bred into the current small horse. From 982 AD the Icelandic parliament banned the import of horses to Iceland, so that the breed has been pure bred for over 1000 years. Also, once an Icelandic horse leaves the island, it is not permitted to return.
As a microscopist, I noted the double coat for thermal insulation in the no doubt chill winters. An immediate endearing feature is their bred ability for an additional gait, the tölt, which is apparently ground covering yet comfortable at a variety of speeds for the rider.
The television news appears to be divided between the increasingly dire situation in the besieged Libyan city of Misrata and the impending Royal Wedding. The wedding dominates today with the momentous news that there are commoners in the bride to be's lineage on her mother's side.
The days activities concentrated on translations of German texts into English for two companies. The first translation suffered a delay as I had tried using an Open Source program OmegaT for the first time over the weekend. Saving the translated file into the same directory as the origination file resulted in wiping the source file clean. Lesson learnt, I created a separate destination folder and finally obtained the literal translation.
Then begins the more difficult task, converting the literal translation, with the idiosyncrasies of grammar and sentence construction of the source language, into more native English. One task completed, the next translation beckoned.
This evening, a meeting with Mrs Guðbjörnsdóttir from Iceland, who was travelling through the UK on business for the company Ishestar, a bespoke Icelandic holiday specialist. What came through was an abiding undercurrent of love for Icelandic horses.
The first ancestors of the Icelandic horse arrived with the Vikings in the 10th century and were subsequently bred into the current small horse. From 982 AD the Icelandic parliament banned the import of horses to Iceland, so that the breed has been pure bred for over 1000 years. Also, once an Icelandic horse leaves the island, it is not permitted to return.
As a microscopist, I noted the double coat for thermal insulation in the no doubt chill winters. An immediate endearing feature is their bred ability for an additional gait, the tölt, which is apparently ground covering yet comfortable at a variety of speeds for the rider.
The television news appears to be divided between the increasingly dire situation in the besieged Libyan city of Misrata and the impending Royal Wedding. The wedding dominates today with the momentous news that there are commoners in the bride to be's lineage on her mother's side.
Sunday, 17 April 2011
Somnolence, painting lessons and Ubuntu ran
An increasingly somnolent day day due to an emerging migraine that fortunately could be addressed medicinally and through a temporary return to bed in the afternoon.
In between, there was an art lesson for Mrs and Miss T on my accrued Chinese Brush painting skills after our satisfying Sunday roast. I first demonstrated and then the two ladies endeavoured to follow, with fair success. We tried three of the four seasons; Plum Blossom, Bamboo and Orchid and I was most pleased to find that my persistence and practice throughout my course had paid off when compared to the passable efforts of the others in the family.
The late evening brought on a reminder of the weakness of the otherwise excellent open source Linux system when compared to Windows, namely deficiencies in some easy solutions, for example in running the BluRay player on my laptop.
Linux cannot currently play BluRay using the Ubuntu standard installations as of this date. This is apparently primarily due to attempts by the BluRay producers and other operating systems to limit access through Open Source software.
A search on the internet did suggest solutions using, amongst others, software named DumpHD. The false sense of security engendered by finding this amongst the applications in the easy to use Ubuntu Software Applications centre, was shattered by the non functioning of the software, primarily made additionally difficult by not being immediately apparent on any program menu.
However, I persisted and downloaded a separate version that required unpackaging and then running through "The Terminal". Being a novice in the use of the terminal language, i am reliant on instructions from others, with which I was able to finally install and run the DumpHD software, only for it to cease progressing due to its inability to access a further component. I did delve a bit further but came upon the wall of jargon and incomprehensible notes that made me give up in disgust.
Now, the cynical devotees or occasional readers of this blog my raise an eye brow at my comments to follow on the necessity for providing clear and simple information in a readily assimilateable form. After all, this blog delights in using superfluous vocabulary and convoluted sentences. However, this blog aims to do precisely that as an antidote to the more communicative and effective simple language in my other blogs - it is just for entertainment.
In contrast, the technical blogs that frequent the solutions panels surrounding Linux and other software solutions are often so far removed from the capabilities of even the modestly competent computer operator as to be near useless to anyone other than a few select acolytes in the chosen field. Personally, iI feel a Gold Award system should be introduced to give public recognition to those who can provide software solution descriptions at my meagre competence level!
In between, there was an art lesson for Mrs and Miss T on my accrued Chinese Brush painting skills after our satisfying Sunday roast. I first demonstrated and then the two ladies endeavoured to follow, with fair success. We tried three of the four seasons; Plum Blossom, Bamboo and Orchid and I was most pleased to find that my persistence and practice throughout my course had paid off when compared to the passable efforts of the others in the family.
The late evening brought on a reminder of the weakness of the otherwise excellent open source Linux system when compared to Windows, namely deficiencies in some easy solutions, for example in running the BluRay player on my laptop.
Linux cannot currently play BluRay using the Ubuntu standard installations as of this date. This is apparently primarily due to attempts by the BluRay producers and other operating systems to limit access through Open Source software.
A search on the internet did suggest solutions using, amongst others, software named DumpHD. The false sense of security engendered by finding this amongst the applications in the easy to use Ubuntu Software Applications centre, was shattered by the non functioning of the software, primarily made additionally difficult by not being immediately apparent on any program menu.
However, I persisted and downloaded a separate version that required unpackaging and then running through "The Terminal". Being a novice in the use of the terminal language, i am reliant on instructions from others, with which I was able to finally install and run the DumpHD software, only for it to cease progressing due to its inability to access a further component. I did delve a bit further but came upon the wall of jargon and incomprehensible notes that made me give up in disgust.
Now, the cynical devotees or occasional readers of this blog my raise an eye brow at my comments to follow on the necessity for providing clear and simple information in a readily assimilateable form. After all, this blog delights in using superfluous vocabulary and convoluted sentences. However, this blog aims to do precisely that as an antidote to the more communicative and effective simple language in my other blogs - it is just for entertainment.
In contrast, the technical blogs that frequent the solutions panels surrounding Linux and other software solutions are often so far removed from the capabilities of even the modestly competent computer operator as to be near useless to anyone other than a few select acolytes in the chosen field. Personally, iI feel a Gold Award system should be introduced to give public recognition to those who can provide software solution descriptions at my meagre competence level!
Saturday, 16 April 2011
Last bus and a disconnected day
Today, Saturday 16th April, was the last day on which the Citi 2 bus service would run to and from the village into Cambridge. I boarded one of the city bound buses today to mark this occasion. From next week onwards, we will have to rely on the less frequent Number 9 service.
Disembarking near the Round Church and wandering into the city past St John's College, I encountered a scattering of well dressed ladies sporting fancy hats. From a college porter guarding the entrance to the St John's from marauding tourists, I learnt that an old fellow was having their wedding in the college chapel. Mystery solved, it was to the backs to take some photographs before the clouds fully covered the sky.
As the walk progressed, I had an increasing feeling of disconnectedness. Migrating through the mass of tourists and shoppers, the surrounding bustle and buzz lost meaning. This was briefly reversed by a chance meeting and conversation with Mr Foster, who was in town with his companion. Once we parted, the disconnection returned and continued as I migrated to the Grafton Centre to catch the Park & Ride back home.
Reality returned to my consciousness with the rest of a domestic day.
Disembarking near the Round Church and wandering into the city past St John's College, I encountered a scattering of well dressed ladies sporting fancy hats. From a college porter guarding the entrance to the St John's from marauding tourists, I learnt that an old fellow was having their wedding in the college chapel. Mystery solved, it was to the backs to take some photographs before the clouds fully covered the sky.
As the walk progressed, I had an increasing feeling of disconnectedness. Migrating through the mass of tourists and shoppers, the surrounding bustle and buzz lost meaning. This was briefly reversed by a chance meeting and conversation with Mr Foster, who was in town with his companion. Once we parted, the disconnection returned and continued as I migrated to the Grafton Centre to catch the Park & Ride back home.
Reality returned to my consciousness with the rest of a domestic day.
Friday, 15 April 2011
Spring wasp, book cover and architectural services
When retiring to bed at 2am, there is a certain amount of disgruntlement at being awoken at 6am by an invading wasp in the bedroom, especially as this appeared to be a repeat visit from the previous day. Presumably this was a Vespula species queen, looking for a place to nest. I am afraid that this visit was third time unlucky for the wasp which is now a sample awaiting microscopy.
The cover of Mr McArthur's book required urgent editing, a task conducted in conversation over the internet, sharing screens to ensure that we had agreement on the final alignment. Technology also facilitated the upload of the edited image file and the provision of the link to the printers. For posterity it should b stated that this will still be a printed, paper book. I say this as the most recent statistics show a dramatic rise in electronic books and a 25% decline in US printed book sales. The argument goes that printed books will ultimately go the way of film photography. I remain sceptical, though as a small publisher, i will be embracing digital book technologies.
The Huntingdonshire Business Network's Committee meeting was briefly interrupted by Ms Helen Drake, the photographer from the Hunts Post Newspaper. Ms Drake was here to take a picture of Mr Mervyn Foster, who was supporting the newspaper's action on behalf of service men and women. Ms Drake escaped with only a short introduction to QR codes and the required pictures of Mr Foster, featuring the HBN banner.
Mr Ben Strangeways took the opportunity to practice his presentation skills before the HBN attendees at the regular meeting. His 15 minute discourse was on the architectural services that he provides and he was ably supported by his illustrations and slides. He demonstrated his professional expertise and also impressed upon us the depth of knowledge required to keep on top of the innumerable regulations. We also enjoyed a brief play with his digital laser measuring device, which had additional functionality such as measuring angles and heights.
As I write, the poll that I had initiated through Linkedin, on the relationship between different colours and the association with quality food products, has gained 26 plus respondents, making it statistically valid. Interesting result as two colour combinations battle it out for the lead. I will not mention which to prevent bias. Do have a go on the poll if you read this in April 2011 - go to http://linkd.in/fp9fZq
Wasp now steeped in 10% sodium hydroxide to begin cleaning for microscopy.
The cover of Mr McArthur's book required urgent editing, a task conducted in conversation over the internet, sharing screens to ensure that we had agreement on the final alignment. Technology also facilitated the upload of the edited image file and the provision of the link to the printers. For posterity it should b stated that this will still be a printed, paper book. I say this as the most recent statistics show a dramatic rise in electronic books and a 25% decline in US printed book sales. The argument goes that printed books will ultimately go the way of film photography. I remain sceptical, though as a small publisher, i will be embracing digital book technologies.
The Huntingdonshire Business Network's Committee meeting was briefly interrupted by Ms Helen Drake, the photographer from the Hunts Post Newspaper. Ms Drake was here to take a picture of Mr Mervyn Foster, who was supporting the newspaper's action on behalf of service men and women. Ms Drake escaped with only a short introduction to QR codes and the required pictures of Mr Foster, featuring the HBN banner.
Mr Ben Strangeways took the opportunity to practice his presentation skills before the HBN attendees at the regular meeting. His 15 minute discourse was on the architectural services that he provides and he was ably supported by his illustrations and slides. He demonstrated his professional expertise and also impressed upon us the depth of knowledge required to keep on top of the innumerable regulations. We also enjoyed a brief play with his digital laser measuring device, which had additional functionality such as measuring angles and heights.
As I write, the poll that I had initiated through Linkedin, on the relationship between different colours and the association with quality food products, has gained 26 plus respondents, making it statistically valid. Interesting result as two colour combinations battle it out for the lead. I will not mention which to prevent bias. Do have a go on the poll if you read this in April 2011 - go to http://linkd.in/fp9fZq
Wasp now steeped in 10% sodium hydroxide to begin cleaning for microscopy.
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Life in the Aquarium and immigration furore
The mundane tasks of the day involved correspondence regarding past company visits, the initiation of marketing material design for another German client, collating material and organisation of Mr McArthur's book with the printers.
After a quick luncheon of pineapple slice topped with cheddar grilled on toast, it was off to Stansted Airport to collect Master T, returning from Bonn for Easter.
Upon my return, my curiosity about my small aquarium reached a critical point. Set up on Saturday with sea water and sand from Hunstanton, the initially turbid waters had cleared within a day. A small 2mm rod like crustacean had been in evidence on Sunday and Monday but not seen since. My concern was that the incident heat on the sunny days might have caused a tank sterilisation.
Lateral illumination into the tank did reveal the occasional microscopic motile mote, but was there more there? I arranged the tank under the stereoscopic microscope, the water depth in the aquarium being such that the focus could reach right down to the sand layer.
Looking through at the bryozoan skeletons planted in the tank, I was astonished to see at least two sub-millimeter bivalves in the branches. Their long tube-like feet were actively extruded and questing the surrounding environment and the molluscs were actually climbing around the branches! The rod like crustacean also made a brief appearance befor going back into hiding. I was reassured!
The news today reported the apparent disagreement between Mr Cameron, the Prime Minister and Mr Cable, Business Secretary, on the issue of immigration. The comments sent in and made by listeners to Mr Harper's Radio Show, were predominantly anti-immigrant, with accusations of taking jobs and benefits from the resident UK population.
Being more comfortable with facts, I conducted a search for more reliable information on the effects of immigration and found three interesting references:
The harsh current economic climate has sharpened the more xenophobic feelings towards new immigrants within the general population, portraying the immigrants as job and benefit snatchers. Unfortunately, the solution, which is a better educated UK workforce able to take up available job vacancies, is too remote to impact on these views.
After a quick luncheon of pineapple slice topped with cheddar grilled on toast, it was off to Stansted Airport to collect Master T, returning from Bonn for Easter.
Upon my return, my curiosity about my small aquarium reached a critical point. Set up on Saturday with sea water and sand from Hunstanton, the initially turbid waters had cleared within a day. A small 2mm rod like crustacean had been in evidence on Sunday and Monday but not seen since. My concern was that the incident heat on the sunny days might have caused a tank sterilisation.
Lateral illumination into the tank did reveal the occasional microscopic motile mote, but was there more there? I arranged the tank under the stereoscopic microscope, the water depth in the aquarium being such that the focus could reach right down to the sand layer.
Looking through at the bryozoan skeletons planted in the tank, I was astonished to see at least two sub-millimeter bivalves in the branches. Their long tube-like feet were actively extruded and questing the surrounding environment and the molluscs were actually climbing around the branches! The rod like crustacean also made a brief appearance befor going back into hiding. I was reassured!
The news today reported the apparent disagreement between Mr Cameron, the Prime Minister and Mr Cable, Business Secretary, on the issue of immigration. The comments sent in and made by listeners to Mr Harper's Radio Show, were predominantly anti-immigrant, with accusations of taking jobs and benefits from the resident UK population.
Being more comfortable with facts, I conducted a search for more reliable information on the effects of immigration and found three interesting references:
- There was no immediate net benefit to immigration according to the House of Lords Select Committee report at http://goo.gl/EjDaw. Benefits would accrue with time due to the overall expansion of the economy, but without affecting the wealth of the average individual
- Employment & wages for newly arrived ethnic minorities were dramatically lower than for UK and non-UK white individuals, as reported in Home Office Online Report 05/03 http://goo.gl/ZY9k4
- Four times as many non-UK born individuals gained employment that UK-born in last quarter of 2010. Labour Market Statistics http://goo.gl/LH8QE
The harsh current economic climate has sharpened the more xenophobic feelings towards new immigrants within the general population, portraying the immigrants as job and benefit snatchers. Unfortunately, the solution, which is a better educated UK workforce able to take up available job vacancies, is too remote to impact on these views.
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
Broadband, Philippino help centre and spider duty
Completed the three interconnected blog articles for the Miltoncontact blog, on the visits by Mrs Kabitzch of Von Blythen and the Mrs Regentin-Hassenstein of Der Pommeraner to London last month.
Thence to Mrs Hales-Tooke, the lady whose request for help with her autobiography initiated my entry into publishing for local authors. We were trying to ascertain the most effective way of continuing our mobile broadband use.
The internet help pages of the provider being singularly unhelpful, we availed ourselves of the telephone assistance. We were guided through the labyrinthine process to achieve our goal by a very helpful lady. She actually resided in the Philippines, which meant that she was working well into her night (around 11pm) whilst we were still in the middle of the afternoon.
What impressed me most was her patience and continued positive nature during what must have been nearly half an hour to achieve our goal. I made a point of thanking her as excellent service is still not as prevalent as it should be.
The onset of Spring has re-awakened the onerous duty of Spider Catching. The past week has seen my being called to action thrice to remove the offending arachnid. Currently, these are not the long legged Tegenaria species that scuttle across the living room floor in a mad dash from one shelter to the next.
The current three offenders (or is it one persistent returnee?) are all of a short legged variety and prefer a nocturnal excursion upon our bedroom ceiling. The closest type that I can identify so far is to assign them as possible Salticidae. Perhaps, I need to retain a specimen for future examination under the microscope.
Arachnophobia, according to Wikipedia, appears to be a gender biased phenomenon, with up to 55% of women affected, in contrast to 18% of men. The strange element of arachnophobia is that it is in disproportionate response to the actual threat by such small creatures and therefore difficult to explain evolutionarily. It may well be a socially conditioned response.
Just seen the pound-euro currency rate at a depressing Euro 1.27 per £1. However, should any client payments in Euros come through, this will be in my favour. Thus, life equilibrates the positives and negatives.
Thence to Mrs Hales-Tooke, the lady whose request for help with her autobiography initiated my entry into publishing for local authors. We were trying to ascertain the most effective way of continuing our mobile broadband use.
The internet help pages of the provider being singularly unhelpful, we availed ourselves of the telephone assistance. We were guided through the labyrinthine process to achieve our goal by a very helpful lady. She actually resided in the Philippines, which meant that she was working well into her night (around 11pm) whilst we were still in the middle of the afternoon.
What impressed me most was her patience and continued positive nature during what must have been nearly half an hour to achieve our goal. I made a point of thanking her as excellent service is still not as prevalent as it should be.
The onset of Spring has re-awakened the onerous duty of Spider Catching. The past week has seen my being called to action thrice to remove the offending arachnid. Currently, these are not the long legged Tegenaria species that scuttle across the living room floor in a mad dash from one shelter to the next.
The current three offenders (or is it one persistent returnee?) are all of a short legged variety and prefer a nocturnal excursion upon our bedroom ceiling. The closest type that I can identify so far is to assign them as possible Salticidae. Perhaps, I need to retain a specimen for future examination under the microscope.
Arachnophobia, according to Wikipedia, appears to be a gender biased phenomenon, with up to 55% of women affected, in contrast to 18% of men. The strange element of arachnophobia is that it is in disproportionate response to the actual threat by such small creatures and therefore difficult to explain evolutionarily. It may well be a socially conditioned response.
Just seen the pound-euro currency rate at a depressing Euro 1.27 per £1. However, should any client payments in Euros come through, this will be in my favour. Thus, life equilibrates the positives and negatives.
Monday, 11 April 2011
The niqab and social normalisation
The media are currently obsessing on today's enforcement of a ban on covering the face (with exceptions) in France, seen as a veiled attack on the wearing of the niqab, the Muslim face covering, by women.
The arguments raging backwards and forwards cover contrary views, from religious expression, male suppression of women to political symbol. Convoluted philosophical, religious and legal arguments are thrown into the fray.
I take a much more simplistic view, that this issue is the result of the normative pressure of a local majority. Ever since the first caveman donned a fur, there was a judgement, an interpretation of what that particular throw said about him or her. Because of the external values working on the individual within any society, there is a strong pressure to conform, generating a signature uniformity within a particular social grouping.
For example, in the event that I had a sudden urge to wear a koteka, or penis sheath, as traditionally used by some highland New Guinea tribes, and decided to take the Citi2 bus into Cambridge thus attired, there would be a dual reaction.
The first would be within my own mind, becoming excruciatingly aware of the inappropriateness of the dress. This would occur even in the absence of any other human being nearby, before I stepped across the threshold.
The second would be a temporally delayed response, from the first sighting to the rapid arrival of The Gentleman in Blue and subsequent arrest for indecent exposure!
The niqab of course is the total opposite, a covering of the face, apart from the eyes. Combined with a burqa, the all enveloping cloak, it also contrasts very starkly with the European norm and national sub-norms prevalent in the majority culture of the population. All that is needed is then a rationalisation for the instinctive social/cultural unease to justify enforcement, by law if deemed necessary.
Much is made of the niqab having no place in western society, by reason of it being an instrument of patriarchal suppression.
But spare a conscious thought for the woman who wears the niqab whilst wandering out in our society; feeling the intense external societal pressure brought to bear upon her, through the glances and other subconscious "tells" of those she encounters, as she goes about her business in town, shopping, travelling.
What courage it must take to even cross the threshold, wearing a niqab!
The arguments raging backwards and forwards cover contrary views, from religious expression, male suppression of women to political symbol. Convoluted philosophical, religious and legal arguments are thrown into the fray.
I take a much more simplistic view, that this issue is the result of the normative pressure of a local majority. Ever since the first caveman donned a fur, there was a judgement, an interpretation of what that particular throw said about him or her. Because of the external values working on the individual within any society, there is a strong pressure to conform, generating a signature uniformity within a particular social grouping.
For example, in the event that I had a sudden urge to wear a koteka, or penis sheath, as traditionally used by some highland New Guinea tribes, and decided to take the Citi2 bus into Cambridge thus attired, there would be a dual reaction.
The first would be within my own mind, becoming excruciatingly aware of the inappropriateness of the dress. This would occur even in the absence of any other human being nearby, before I stepped across the threshold.
The second would be a temporally delayed response, from the first sighting to the rapid arrival of The Gentleman in Blue and subsequent arrest for indecent exposure!
The niqab of course is the total opposite, a covering of the face, apart from the eyes. Combined with a burqa, the all enveloping cloak, it also contrasts very starkly with the European norm and national sub-norms prevalent in the majority culture of the population. All that is needed is then a rationalisation for the instinctive social/cultural unease to justify enforcement, by law if deemed necessary.
Much is made of the niqab having no place in western society, by reason of it being an instrument of patriarchal suppression.
But spare a conscious thought for the woman who wears the niqab whilst wandering out in our society; feeling the intense external societal pressure brought to bear upon her, through the glances and other subconscious "tells" of those she encounters, as she goes about her business in town, shopping, travelling.
What courage it must take to even cross the threshold, wearing a niqab!
Sunday, 10 April 2011
Apple blossom syrup and pond dipping
Ms Kabitsch's "Bluetenmenues" (Flower menus) continue to fascinate and the tedium of mowing the back garden lawn brought the first flowering apple tree to my notice.
Whilst MS Kabitsch recommends harvesting flowers shortly after the morning's dew has evaporated (by a young virgin in a diaphanous gown as an optional extra), my weekends tend to start somewhat later. In order to preserve the floriferous splendour of the tree, I harvested only one flower per flower head, yet still accumulated a good bowl full.
The petals were stripped from the flowers, placed in a jar and then had 60%w/w boiling sugar solution poured over them. They were left to perfuse in the sealed jar for a couple of days. A quick taste in the evening already detected a subtle flavour, though not quite the apple fruit expected.
Later the in the afternoon, we accepted the invitation of Ms Fletcher and Mr Snoswell for some pond dipping in their garden. It was a most fecund water feature, with a profusion of water plants and frog spawn, rams horn snails and dragonfly nymphs. Smooth newts slithered across and feasted on the frogspawn like miniature antediluvian monsters.
What intrigued Ms Flemming however, was a colony of 2 to 4mm white rods that slowly migrated up and down with the light but were to small to identify by eye. I had brought along my microscope for precisely this purpose. At 80x magnification, the organisms were revealed to be elongated motile ciliated beings.
The Herren Stebler and Krauter's identification guide "Das Leben im Wassertropfen" pointed to a likely candidate, a giant single celled ciliate Spirostomum ambiguum. This could be confused with planarians but for one vital feature, S. ambiguum could swim forwards AND backward, a feature frequently displayed in Ms Flemings specimens.
Ms Ann Bishop FRS wrote an extensive article on S. ambiguum, its culture and physiology in 1923, in the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science 1923 s2-67: 391-434, "Some Observations Upon Spirostomum ambiguum (Ehrenberg)".
You can find an excellent picture of S. ambiguum on Dr Ralf Wagner's page of ciliates.
Whilst MS Kabitsch recommends harvesting flowers shortly after the morning's dew has evaporated (by a young virgin in a diaphanous gown as an optional extra), my weekends tend to start somewhat later. In order to preserve the floriferous splendour of the tree, I harvested only one flower per flower head, yet still accumulated a good bowl full.
The petals were stripped from the flowers, placed in a jar and then had 60%w/w boiling sugar solution poured over them. They were left to perfuse in the sealed jar for a couple of days. A quick taste in the evening already detected a subtle flavour, though not quite the apple fruit expected.
Later the in the afternoon, we accepted the invitation of Ms Fletcher and Mr Snoswell for some pond dipping in their garden. It was a most fecund water feature, with a profusion of water plants and frog spawn, rams horn snails and dragonfly nymphs. Smooth newts slithered across and feasted on the frogspawn like miniature antediluvian monsters.
What intrigued Ms Flemming however, was a colony of 2 to 4mm white rods that slowly migrated up and down with the light but were to small to identify by eye. I had brought along my microscope for precisely this purpose. At 80x magnification, the organisms were revealed to be elongated motile ciliated beings.
The Herren Stebler and Krauter's identification guide "Das Leben im Wassertropfen" pointed to a likely candidate, a giant single celled ciliate Spirostomum ambiguum. This could be confused with planarians but for one vital feature, S. ambiguum could swim forwards AND backward, a feature frequently displayed in Ms Flemings specimens.
Ms Ann Bishop FRS wrote an extensive article on S. ambiguum, its culture and physiology in 1923, in the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science 1923 s2-67: 391-434, "Some Observations Upon Spirostomum ambiguum (Ehrenberg)".
You can find an excellent picture of S. ambiguum on Dr Ralf Wagner's page of ciliates.
Natural history on the North Beach of Hunstanton
It being a glorious day, Mrs T and I assayed to the coastal town of Hunstanton on Saturday, in particular, to the North Beach. (Pictures here at https://picasaweb.google.com/miltoncontact/HunstantonApr11#)
For the first time in several decades of visits to this coast, we walked northwards along Peddars Way, in part to escape the chill wind burning our ears, despite the brilliant sunshine.
The first part of the walk was along the rows of gaily painted beach huts, some in use for the day. Beyond, the route wound its way through the dunes.
Sea Buckthorn grew in profusion on the dunes on either side of the path and many of the plants were decorated with silk nets protecting hatched Brown-tail moth caterpillars. These are increasingly regarded as pests, in particular as the caterpillar's numerous bristles break off easily and can be airborne irritants and allergens.
As is my natural inclination, natural history continued to be a preoccupation on the far more agreeable walk back with the wind behind us. Reaching the sea at the moment of low tide, I collected water and sand to take home for the small aquarium.
For the first time, I saw a live starfish on the sand, Asterias rubens, the common star fish.
Movement at the water's edge revealed an arthropod with the form of a foreshortened centipede, with long antennae, but friendlier in a appearance, to anthropomorphise. I later tentatively identified it as Idotea linearis, an isopod (relative to the wood louse).
There were also small balls of jelly, tinted algal green, scattered here and there along the beach. They could have been a type of jellyfish or a gelatinous egg sac, unfortunately I cannot find further information on them.
Before going home, the older 3m long HBN banner was put to use for a photo-story, enlisting the help of three young ladies on the beach. Back at home, the photos were linked to text in the style of a small childrens's book - you can view the conceit here on issuu.com: http://issuu.com/miltoncontact/docs/ms-banner.
For the first time in several decades of visits to this coast, we walked northwards along Peddars Way, in part to escape the chill wind burning our ears, despite the brilliant sunshine.
The first part of the walk was along the rows of gaily painted beach huts, some in use for the day. Beyond, the route wound its way through the dunes.
Sea Buckthorn grew in profusion on the dunes on either side of the path and many of the plants were decorated with silk nets protecting hatched Brown-tail moth caterpillars. These are increasingly regarded as pests, in particular as the caterpillar's numerous bristles break off easily and can be airborne irritants and allergens.
As is my natural inclination, natural history continued to be a preoccupation on the far more agreeable walk back with the wind behind us. Reaching the sea at the moment of low tide, I collected water and sand to take home for the small aquarium.
For the first time, I saw a live starfish on the sand, Asterias rubens, the common star fish.
Movement at the water's edge revealed an arthropod with the form of a foreshortened centipede, with long antennae, but friendlier in a appearance, to anthropomorphise. I later tentatively identified it as Idotea linearis, an isopod (relative to the wood louse).
There were also small balls of jelly, tinted algal green, scattered here and there along the beach. They could have been a type of jellyfish or a gelatinous egg sac, unfortunately I cannot find further information on them.
Before going home, the older 3m long HBN banner was put to use for a photo-story, enlisting the help of three young ladies on the beach. Back at home, the photos were linked to text in the style of a small childrens's book - you can view the conceit here on issuu.com: http://issuu.com/miltoncontact/docs/ms-banner.
Friday, 8 April 2011
HBN QR codes, promoting solutions not services and Road traffic limits
Todays HBN meeting was a relaxed affair with many attending also having been at the Wood Green Business Fair yesterday. The latte was deemed a great success in terms of the interest and impact that we had there. I had uploaded the photos of the stand to https://picasaweb.google.com/HBNPhotoManager/WoodGreenFair2011#.
In particular, we were the only organisation with members sporting and promoting the use of QR codes. Member Martin Straus, whilst manning his own stand, was also using his QR code prolifically on banners and bottle labels.
The debate then shifted to the perennial problem of all businesses that provided services or advice to other companies. The better approach in theory is to offer solutions to client problems. Our discussions swirled around how this could be achieved in practice for experts in diverse areas from inheritance to logistics.
Back on the A14 road travelling south towards Cambridge, traffic numbers were coursing through my mind as these are a real issue on this stretch. A surprising fact that I had picked up, was that irrespective of speed, the average distance between cars in free flowing traffic is about 2 seconds. This effectively means that the carrying capacity of a single traffic lane is about 1800 vehicles per hour, or 3600 vehicles on two lanes in the same direction.
The frequent chaos and queues on the A14 at peak rush hours then become eminently understandable. Just north of Cambridge, the M11 joins the A14 Northwards with a possible conjunction of traffic from four lanes (2 from the A14 from the East and 2 from the M11 from the South) - this means that potentially up to 7200 cars per hour converge on a stretch of road with a capacity of only 3600 vehicles per hour in one direction.
The increased traffic load can be accommodated by reducing the traffic speed, as the carrying capacity per mile is doubled if the vehicle speed is halved, say from 60mph to 30mph. Traffic does not however flow in a truly laminar manner, especially at high traffic densities; slight changes in vehicular speed can result in waves of stasis being generated, causing an overall slowing of traffic flow even further.
Back home tonight, I wrote two blog texts in addition to this one, one still in draft form and the other published as "The continuing evolution of QR code design".
In particular, we were the only organisation with members sporting and promoting the use of QR codes. Member Martin Straus, whilst manning his own stand, was also using his QR code prolifically on banners and bottle labels.
The debate then shifted to the perennial problem of all businesses that provided services or advice to other companies. The better approach in theory is to offer solutions to client problems. Our discussions swirled around how this could be achieved in practice for experts in diverse areas from inheritance to logistics.
Back on the A14 road travelling south towards Cambridge, traffic numbers were coursing through my mind as these are a real issue on this stretch. A surprising fact that I had picked up, was that irrespective of speed, the average distance between cars in free flowing traffic is about 2 seconds. This effectively means that the carrying capacity of a single traffic lane is about 1800 vehicles per hour, or 3600 vehicles on two lanes in the same direction.
The frequent chaos and queues on the A14 at peak rush hours then become eminently understandable. Just north of Cambridge, the M11 joins the A14 Northwards with a possible conjunction of traffic from four lanes (2 from the A14 from the East and 2 from the M11 from the South) - this means that potentially up to 7200 cars per hour converge on a stretch of road with a capacity of only 3600 vehicles per hour in one direction.
The increased traffic load can be accommodated by reducing the traffic speed, as the carrying capacity per mile is doubled if the vehicle speed is halved, say from 60mph to 30mph. Traffic does not however flow in a truly laminar manner, especially at high traffic densities; slight changes in vehicular speed can result in waves of stasis being generated, causing an overall slowing of traffic flow even further.
Back home tonight, I wrote two blog texts in addition to this one, one still in draft form and the other published as "The continuing evolution of QR code design".
Thursday, 7 April 2011
Letters, Wood Green Business Fair and Interview
Two contrasting correspondences to be written today. The first concerned the propitious rewording of a client's letter to future partners, adding some positive elements to promote their cause. The second was a more difficult proposition, taking a critical correspondence and drafting a constructive reply that would allow a positive outcome for both parties.
After a speedy lunch, it was off to the Wood Green Business Fair near Godmanchester, to relieve the morning shift of Huntingdonshire Business Network members who had volunteered to assist on the HBN stand at the event.
The exhibition was in full flow and well attended, both in exhibitors and visitors. The afternoon team comprised at least 5 or 6 HBN members, who performed a complex social dance of conversation with visitors, discourse with fellow members and occasional forays into the general melee from our stand.
This was a positive collaborative experience for all of us, promoting both the network and our own businesses. I did not have much chance to do the latter, however did have the opportunity to photograph quite a number of examples of my graphic designs in use by at least three clients.
This year, HBN was the sole stand demonstrating the QR code technology!
I had to retreat from the exhibition hall to listen to the recorded request to comment on Radio Cambridgeshire's Drive Time on my mobile phone. The subject was to opine on the Local Economic Partnership's (LEP) intention to apply for an Enterprise Zone. Fortunately, I was able to quiz Mr Plant from the LEP and my business colleagues on their views on the matter. A more cynical interpretation was that devaluation had hit TLAs, converting them from three letter acronyms into two letter acronyms.
As usual, my recollection of the actual interview, when it took place later that day, was hazy.
After a speedy lunch, it was off to the Wood Green Business Fair near Godmanchester, to relieve the morning shift of Huntingdonshire Business Network members who had volunteered to assist on the HBN stand at the event.
The exhibition was in full flow and well attended, both in exhibitors and visitors. The afternoon team comprised at least 5 or 6 HBN members, who performed a complex social dance of conversation with visitors, discourse with fellow members and occasional forays into the general melee from our stand.
This was a positive collaborative experience for all of us, promoting both the network and our own businesses. I did not have much chance to do the latter, however did have the opportunity to photograph quite a number of examples of my graphic designs in use by at least three clients.
This year, HBN was the sole stand demonstrating the QR code technology!
I had to retreat from the exhibition hall to listen to the recorded request to comment on Radio Cambridgeshire's Drive Time on my mobile phone. The subject was to opine on the Local Economic Partnership's (LEP) intention to apply for an Enterprise Zone. Fortunately, I was able to quiz Mr Plant from the LEP and my business colleagues on their views on the matter. A more cynical interpretation was that devaluation had hit TLAs, converting them from three letter acronyms into two letter acronyms.
As usual, my recollection of the actual interview, when it took place later that day, was hazy.
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Migraine revenge and sychronicity
A vengeful, malicious imp had moved back in to my skull overnight for a bit of sledgehammer practice, after yesterday's ill advised comment on it's absence. Fortunately, the naratriptan proved efficacious by morning rise.
The mornings work was enlivened by an interlude retrieving a lost photograph on a computer 500 miles away using screen sharing technology. Sometimes technology provides opportunities for time consumption you could do without.
Then, in compensation, it permits design at a distance to the printing establishment. The only problem is that you still have to travel to the printer's to pick up the final product, as was the case this afternoon, where I traveled to Godmanchester to collect the Huntingdonshire Business Network banners prepared by Mr Burt's company, Jamy Ltd, from my digital template.
This did however bring me closer to the evening's Toastmaster meeting near Hemingford Grey. An inspirational meeting of speakers, with Ms Symons talking on coincidence and, in the case of multiple coincidences, leading to synchronicity.
The conventional view of events is causality, where there is a direct connection between subsequent or parallel events. In 1920, Carl Jung defined synchronicity as the experience of two or more events, that are apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance, that are observed to occur together in a meaningful manner (source Wikipedia).
Synchronicity does not conflict with causality as the meaning of the occurrence of two events is a complex creation of the conscious and unconscious mind. However, percieved synchronicity can have a profound effect on an individual.
A lovely example of synchronicity was the search for and purchase of a genteel but battered coat from a second hand store, for the Wizard in the cinematic film "The Wizard of Oz". When the actor Mr Morgan turned the coat pocket inside out on a hot day, he found the name Frank L Baum within, the author of the book, "The Wizard of Oz" (source Snopes.com). The coat was identified by the original tailor and by Mr Baum's widow as once belonging to the author.
The mornings work was enlivened by an interlude retrieving a lost photograph on a computer 500 miles away using screen sharing technology. Sometimes technology provides opportunities for time consumption you could do without.
Then, in compensation, it permits design at a distance to the printing establishment. The only problem is that you still have to travel to the printer's to pick up the final product, as was the case this afternoon, where I traveled to Godmanchester to collect the Huntingdonshire Business Network banners prepared by Mr Burt's company, Jamy Ltd, from my digital template.
This did however bring me closer to the evening's Toastmaster meeting near Hemingford Grey. An inspirational meeting of speakers, with Ms Symons talking on coincidence and, in the case of multiple coincidences, leading to synchronicity.
The conventional view of events is causality, where there is a direct connection between subsequent or parallel events. In 1920, Carl Jung defined synchronicity as the experience of two or more events, that are apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance, that are observed to occur together in a meaningful manner (source Wikipedia).
Synchronicity does not conflict with causality as the meaning of the occurrence of two events is a complex creation of the conscious and unconscious mind. However, percieved synchronicity can have a profound effect on an individual.
A lovely example of synchronicity was the search for and purchase of a genteel but battered coat from a second hand store, for the Wizard in the cinematic film "The Wizard of Oz". When the actor Mr Morgan turned the coat pocket inside out on a hot day, he found the name Frank L Baum within, the author of the book, "The Wizard of Oz" (source Snopes.com). The coat was identified by the original tailor and by Mr Baum's widow as once belonging to the author.
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Chinese Brush Painting of orchid and chrysanthemum
The morning's labour was replaced in the afternoon by attending my lessons in Chinese brush painting. First came a reminder of how to paint orchids in the xieyi style. This was followed by learning to paint chrysanthemums in the same style. Mrs Evans, my teacher, had to show the process several times as, whilst appearing deceptively simple - an accumulation of similar strokes - sufficeint variation had to be introduced to give a natural appearance.
This was also the first day without a headache since last week! Bliss.
This was also the first day without a headache since last week! Bliss.
Monday, 4 April 2011
Age, work and the arrest of Mr Weiwei
I was moved to comment on Mr Harper's radio program today, on the developing controversy with regards on the one hand to the requirement for more people with disability to seek employment, and on the other, the apparent unemployability of those attaining the age of fifty. The latter presaging a Panorama program this evening.
My expressed opinion on air being that one could find work and regain or maintain one's dignity, even at the age of fifty or above, if one broadened one's horizons. It did bring to mind the more restricted view of one's employment capabilities whilst in a long term position, one that I too had initially held.
Taking control of one's own destiny, to whatever degree, after losing a job, did broaden horizons for me. Yet it appears that many others are still straight-jacketed by past experience. Digby Marritt Jones, Baron Jones of Birmingham, Kt, expressed a similar sentiment in the Panorama program itself.
Late news on the television reported the arrest in China of the artist Mr Weiwei. The arrest is postulated as due to the Chinese government's apparent concern that more critical voices such as that of Mr Weiwei might form the nucleus for the revolutionary flame in the Middle East jumping to China.
It was a poignant news item as I recalled visiting the Weiwei "Sunflower Seeds" exhibit at the Tate Modern gallery with Mr Eber last week. Consisting of one hundred million painted pottery seeds, it depicts his comment on mass consumption, Chinese industry, famine and collective work. At the time, the occasional depression caused by footsteps across the sea of seeds also reminded me of small pockets of individuals being crushed underfoot in a large population.
My expressed opinion on air being that one could find work and regain or maintain one's dignity, even at the age of fifty or above, if one broadened one's horizons. It did bring to mind the more restricted view of one's employment capabilities whilst in a long term position, one that I too had initially held.
Taking control of one's own destiny, to whatever degree, after losing a job, did broaden horizons for me. Yet it appears that many others are still straight-jacketed by past experience. Digby Marritt Jones, Baron Jones of Birmingham, Kt, expressed a similar sentiment in the Panorama program itself.
Late news on the television reported the arrest in China of the artist Mr Weiwei. The arrest is postulated as due to the Chinese government's apparent concern that more critical voices such as that of Mr Weiwei might form the nucleus for the revolutionary flame in the Middle East jumping to China.
It was a poignant news item as I recalled visiting the Weiwei "Sunflower Seeds" exhibit at the Tate Modern gallery with Mr Eber last week. Consisting of one hundred million painted pottery seeds, it depicts his comment on mass consumption, Chinese industry, famine and collective work. At the time, the occasional depression caused by footsteps across the sea of seeds also reminded me of small pockets of individuals being crushed underfoot in a large population.
Sunday, 3 April 2011
Mothers day and photographing plant sections
Mother's day in the United Kingdom. In our country, the tradition has been linked to the 16th Century Mothering Sunday, when apprentices and maids were given the day to return to their Mother Church by their masters and there to also be reunited with their mothers.
Modern Mother's day in other parts of the world received it's inspiration from the campaigning Anna Jarvis, at the start of the 20th Century in the United States of America, and many countries have adapted it to their culture as comprehensively described in the Wikipedia page on Mother's Day.
In Germany, Mother's Day was adopted due to the dwindling birth rate in the 1920's. The Third Reich took this further and awarded fertility with medals. My mother recounted how, as a child, she had implored my grandmother to give her another brother or sister so that my grandmother would receive a Gold medal!
My sympathy is actually with the philosophy of some Moslems, the mothers should be recognised and respected every day, and not just on one. Mrs T. did however receive her recognition today.
The evening was spent at the microscope, perusing Mr McDougals's box of plant sections, sent through by the venerable Postal Microscopy Society. This was a remarkable first boxed contribution by Mr McDougal, with the sections generally being of good quality and ultra-thin throughout. Some commentators in the accompanying notebook referred to the weak safranin staining, however the samples more than adequate for study.
Where detail was not obviously apparent, I endeavored to enhance the visibility of features through additional lighting techniques. Some slides benefited more from the use of polarised light, others from using a method developed by Reichert, namely Anoptral phase-contrast. I took numerous photographs of each slide, changing the focus slightly, in order to obtain a so called focus-stack of images. Success will be judged when the photographs can be viewed and edited on a larger computer screen. All in all, four hours were taken up, late into the night, in this engrossing pursuit.
Modern Mother's day in other parts of the world received it's inspiration from the campaigning Anna Jarvis, at the start of the 20th Century in the United States of America, and many countries have adapted it to their culture as comprehensively described in the Wikipedia page on Mother's Day.
In Germany, Mother's Day was adopted due to the dwindling birth rate in the 1920's. The Third Reich took this further and awarded fertility with medals. My mother recounted how, as a child, she had implored my grandmother to give her another brother or sister so that my grandmother would receive a Gold medal!
My sympathy is actually with the philosophy of some Moslems, the mothers should be recognised and respected every day, and not just on one. Mrs T. did however receive her recognition today.
The evening was spent at the microscope, perusing Mr McDougals's box of plant sections, sent through by the venerable Postal Microscopy Society. This was a remarkable first boxed contribution by Mr McDougal, with the sections generally being of good quality and ultra-thin throughout. Some commentators in the accompanying notebook referred to the weak safranin staining, however the samples more than adequate for study.
Where detail was not obviously apparent, I endeavored to enhance the visibility of features through additional lighting techniques. Some slides benefited more from the use of polarised light, others from using a method developed by Reichert, namely Anoptral phase-contrast. I took numerous photographs of each slide, changing the focus slightly, in order to obtain a so called focus-stack of images. Success will be judged when the photographs can be viewed and edited on a larger computer screen. All in all, four hours were taken up, late into the night, in this engrossing pursuit.
Saturday, 2 April 2011
Plum blossom, film violence and Star Trek
Enjoyed the first slumber into late morning after a hectic week of early starts, paying the usual penalty of an impending migraine attack, medicinally reversed.
It being the weekend, without pressing engagements, the available time afforded the opportunity to return to practicing some Chinese Brush Painting of plum blossom. From past London travels, I had photographs of several cherry trees in bloom and set myself the challenge of using a section of one as the nearest model for a flowering plum tree.
The fortnight's absence of practice became apparent, whilst the overall structure of the painting could be established, its realisation in practice was somewhat inadequate! The practice did serve its purpose of reiterating and reviving some of the skills gained in lessons from my tutor Mrs Evans.
The evening's television promised an interesting film, Wanted. However, the graphic violence was not to my liking. Having watched for about half an hour, reluctance to continue caused me to switch off and instead satisfy my curiosity as to the storyline by reading the film spoiler found on the internet.
Requiring a more sedate and relaxing alternative, I instead watched the DVD of the very first Star Trek film, 'Star Trek - The Motion Picture'. The screen play is by Alan Dean Foster. Less action packed than later films, some critics gave it a mixed reaction. I personally enjoyed the story that involved one of the 1970's Voyager space probes returning as an electronic supermind looking for answers - to life the universe and everything!
It being the weekend, without pressing engagements, the available time afforded the opportunity to return to practicing some Chinese Brush Painting of plum blossom. From past London travels, I had photographs of several cherry trees in bloom and set myself the challenge of using a section of one as the nearest model for a flowering plum tree.
The fortnight's absence of practice became apparent, whilst the overall structure of the painting could be established, its realisation in practice was somewhat inadequate! The practice did serve its purpose of reiterating and reviving some of the skills gained in lessons from my tutor Mrs Evans.
The evening's television promised an interesting film, Wanted. However, the graphic violence was not to my liking. Having watched for about half an hour, reluctance to continue caused me to switch off and instead satisfy my curiosity as to the storyline by reading the film spoiler found on the internet.
Requiring a more sedate and relaxing alternative, I instead watched the DVD of the very first Star Trek film, 'Star Trek - The Motion Picture'. The screen play is by Alan Dean Foster. Less action packed than later films, some critics gave it a mixed reaction. I personally enjoyed the story that involved one of the 1970's Voyager space probes returning as an electronic supermind looking for answers - to life the universe and everything!
Friday, 1 April 2011
Mechanical problems, projectors and squeezing
Our automobile had acquired an unfortunate knocking note upon starting and in motion, suggestive of a serious malfunction by the engine exhaust. This naturally on a day the vehicle was required!
I cautiously navigated around the pot-hole riven roads to the nearest reliable specialist exhaust centre, envisioning a costly repair. In my luggage was a projector, required for todays Huntingdonshire Business Network Seminar, in the vain hope that repairs could be effected in time to permit a timely delivery.
The mechanical engineer in charge at ATS bore a remarkable resemblance to the actor Mr Ray Winstone, engendering the surreal image of Henry VIII in a boiler suit. An avuncular wag, he put my mind at ease after the vehicle inspection, the repair merely required three new rubber rings to hold the exhaust. My supposition of a rapid escape was however dashed as these rings had to be ordered.
If you have no steed, at least you can hire one. My modern equivalent to Mr Hobson and his choice duly picked me up and provided an automobile at short notice. I arrived for the seminar with minutes to spare and the relieved speaker had the projector for his slide show.
Mr Wiid gave an illuminating presentation on effective communication through the medium of electronic mail for businesses. The audience was not only captivated by his delivery but also inveigled into a group exercise on finding offers that might attract and retain potential customers. A key tool in this endeavor was to generate squeeze pages which, I hasten to reassure the concerned reader, does not refer to generating literature of an titillating nature. Rather, a squeeze page is a focused text aimed at persuading the reader to provide contact details, in order to obtain further useful information from the page's author.
The sad news of the day was the attack on the United Nations Compound in Afghanistan, by a mob incited to rage by the burning of a copy of the Koran in The United States of America by the cleric of a minority radical Christian group last month. Twelve UN workers and their Nepalese guards were murdered. A dark day.
I cautiously navigated around the pot-hole riven roads to the nearest reliable specialist exhaust centre, envisioning a costly repair. In my luggage was a projector, required for todays Huntingdonshire Business Network Seminar, in the vain hope that repairs could be effected in time to permit a timely delivery.
The mechanical engineer in charge at ATS bore a remarkable resemblance to the actor Mr Ray Winstone, engendering the surreal image of Henry VIII in a boiler suit. An avuncular wag, he put my mind at ease after the vehicle inspection, the repair merely required three new rubber rings to hold the exhaust. My supposition of a rapid escape was however dashed as these rings had to be ordered.
If you have no steed, at least you can hire one. My modern equivalent to Mr Hobson and his choice duly picked me up and provided an automobile at short notice. I arrived for the seminar with minutes to spare and the relieved speaker had the projector for his slide show.
Mr Wiid gave an illuminating presentation on effective communication through the medium of electronic mail for businesses. The audience was not only captivated by his delivery but also inveigled into a group exercise on finding offers that might attract and retain potential customers. A key tool in this endeavor was to generate squeeze pages which, I hasten to reassure the concerned reader, does not refer to generating literature of an titillating nature. Rather, a squeeze page is a focused text aimed at persuading the reader to provide contact details, in order to obtain further useful information from the page's author.
The sad news of the day was the attack on the United Nations Compound in Afghanistan, by a mob incited to rage by the burning of a copy of the Koran in The United States of America by the cleric of a minority radical Christian group last month. Twelve UN workers and their Nepalese guards were murdered. A dark day.
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