A thought for a Sunday

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young".


Henry Ford (1863 – 1947) Grow into these trousers... >>

Blogoversary!

2 years, 876 posts, about 42,000 visits from 20,000 different people. Over 140,000 page views - Wow, that's almost 200 views per day on average.

Where does everyone come from? Mainly the US (17,744 visits) and the UK (11,376), then surprisingly Pakistan (1,526) followed by Canada (1,351) and India (916). Close behind are New Zealand, Germany, Australia, the Netherlands, Spain and South Africa, with substantial numbers (over 200 visits) from Sweden, Malaysia, the Philippines, Tunisia, Brazil, Argentina, Romania and Singapore.

133 different countries in total - I welcome you all and can't express my thanks enough.

I still have a lot of work to do for world domination though. The notable gaps are: Botswana, Chad, Ethiopia, Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe in Africa. Afghanistan, Syria, Turkmenistan and Yemen in the Middle East. Burma and North Korea in Asia. Guyana, French Guiana and Surinam in South America. Papua New Guinea in Oceania and Greenland.

The top 5 posts?
Of course the homepage is top with 91,700 hits but I would never have predicted the rest:

1) Red Dwarf: Series 3 -Episode 1 (1,420 views - now pulled by YouTube)
2) Why do some people never think things through? (1,230)
3) Clement Freud dies at 84 (1,181)
4) Another version of Sundance (1,080 - pulled)
5) Red Dwarf: Series 5 -Episode 1 (981 - pulled)

Damn the entertainment police, but at least I still have my theme tune.

Madness - Baggy Trousers


Does all this make me a Bottom Dwelling Blogger? If so I'm among the best of great company and proud to be a part of this community.

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Stats from Google Analytics. Grow into these trousers... >>

Science fiction comes one step closer

A vertical take off rocket engine which can hover, but then it shuts down and re-ignites the engine in flight! Truly awesome engineering to maintain control and attitude. I can't get over how important this is. Conserving fuel in the decent phase of a spacecraft lander is, well, crucial. Especially if you need to be able to lift off again.

Xombie flying rocket shuts down and restarts in mid-air


It's akin to one of these little babies:

Masten Space Lunar Lander Challenge Flight 2


I am impressed. Grow into these trousers... >>

If you ever feel you're sick of your job

Spare a thought for Stevie Starr who's job is regurgitation! How does he do it?

Stevie the professional regurgitator...

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Via GrrlScientist. Grow into these trousers... >>

Late night music - John Martyn

Steve, this is for you...

How would you feel, like, if you and me had a bash at one of your favourite JM songs? Big Muff of course, do you think we could do this version?

John Martyn "Big Muff"


Erm, maybe leave Big Muff for another time. Grow into these trousers... >>

A thought for a SundayMonday*

"A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep".

Salman Rushdie (b. 1947)

*It was too gloriously warm and sunny yesterday to do anything but sit in the shade and drink cold beer! Grow into these trousers... >>

Music for a hot sunny afternoon

I don't know why but this just suits my mood. Best played loud!

Doobie Brothers - China Grove (HIGH QUALITY BEST VERSION)
Grow into these trousers... >>

Quick, Quick, Quick

Go to Google for a quick game.

Note: Use the arrow keys. Grow into these trousers... >>

I missed this yesterday

Sure, I knew it was Everybody Draw Mohammed Day. You could hardly miss the promotion all over the tubes, notably: Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia and Flickr. Which inevitably lead to the sites being banned in Pakistan; the 21st century equivalent of book burning.

To me, childish cartoons based on an ancient fable hardly warrant attention, though I uphold people's freedom to draw whatever they wish. I do not uphold the 'freedom' to issue threats of death or violence against such artists, or indeed anyone else.

I decided not to comment and thought it too trivial... That was until I saw the contribution from a true master:

Click to read on

Game, set and match to JC. Grow into these trousers... >>

Trust your car's computer system?

Then get ready to be hacked.
The Center for Automotive Embedded Systems Security will present a study at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy tomorrow to show vulnerabilities in the electronic control units which drive modern cars.

Says the BBC:

"The researchers showed how to kill a car engine remotely, turn off the brakes so the car would not stop and make instruments give false readings".

Currently such attacks need direct access to the car's communications ports which could be by a mechanic or a deliberate break-in. But as cars become increasingly internet connected, remote access will be a looming threat.

Firewalls and AV software for your car, whatever next? Grow into these trousers... >>