Guido Beach – please let me never have to go there August 2, 2008
Posted by Al in : people,scary , add a commentI live in Swansea, which has beaches and idiots in good measure, this I cannot deny. I was about to claim that they were nowhere near as bad as the idiots in this clip, but then I realised that a lot of them probably were. I like Swansea, as long as I stay away from the idiots and if I visit a beach I will go to one that requires a bit of effort to reach, as this way I will avoid most of the idiots. I never want to visit Guido Beach as it would appear that life is one long frat party and it would be very hard to avoid the idiots.
I cringed when I watched the clip I found here.
ps – if you are planning on visiting Swansea and you find this clip as horrible as I did – please don’t visit Caswell Bay on a sunny day.
Kids no longer know what nature is
Posted by Al in : nature,scary , add a commentA recent survey of 700 children has alarmed David Attenborough (and me as well) with its results which show that kids have lost touch with the natural world. I find it worrying that only 62% could identify a frog, and even more worrying that a deer was identified as an antelope – reminds me of Fawlty Towers and its “herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plains” of Torquay.
Anyway, I do find it worrying that kids are not getting out and enjoying the countryside as that’s how I spent my entire youth – roaming fields and beaches. I can understand that there are more things to do indoors these days, what with games consoles, TV and DVD’s, but there’s a whole world out there that parents really need to send their children out to explore – because you really don’t get time when you’re older. However, I can understand that the emphasis the media has placed on the risk to unattended children means that parents will be reluctant to let their kids step outside without knowing where they are going, who they will be with and when they will be back. Shame, because as these kids lose connection to nature then they will also lose respect for it as well – which will lead to a lack of care when yet another piece of greenfield gets developed, or when another species says farewell to this world.
Cadet forces in schools to restore order… July 29, 2008
Posted by Al in : educational , add a comment… or to try to recruit more kids into our struggling armed forces? I agree wholeheartedly that the current situation for teachers is getting worse, with kids manipulating their new rights to bully and harass teachers; and I also agree that cadet groups within schools might well give some order to the lives of some kids. However, I wouldn’t like to think that we have reached the stage where we have to start brainwashing youngsters in order to keep up the staffing of our armed forces, especially when they are committed to conflicts that the majority of the UK would not like to see them involved in. I think that if we started to bring troops back home and deployed them more wisely, then cadet forces in schools would be acceptable.
But that’s Old Testament…
Posted by Al in : personal,video , add a commentI have a few friends who are Christians. Some are more devout than others, but all will say the same thing when I start to question certain aspects of the Bible: “But that’s Old Testament…”. They use this to excuse some of the more brutal or conflicting messages given in the Bible, as though the Old testament should not be counted as part of modern Christianity. Given this: I’ve always wondered why the Old Testament is still included as part of the Bible, since it is not representative of the actual preachings of Jesus (apparently). I’m glad to discover that I’m not the only person to hold this view, and that some people have managed to articulate it very well.
Blacklight – revolutionary power source or con? July 28, 2008
Posted by Al in : educational,future,interesting , 2 commentsIf the claims of Blacklight Power are borne out then they may have created an answer to our growing energy problems. Their brand new fuel cell designs could generate electricity at the cost of just 1p per Kilowatt-hour, which would slash costs for power generation, relieve the current Peak Oil situation we are facing and really kick start the growth of electrically powered transport. It’s fair to say that such a technology could revolutionise the world.
However, the current consensus of the scientific community is that this is not possible, and that the specifications that have been given for Blacklight seem to violate quantum physics as we know it today. This could just be the standard inertia that exists in academia, particularly when something as basic and widely accepted as quantum mechanics is threatened, or it might be the case that all these other scientists are correct and Blacklight might just be a con (conscious or not). I would expect to see the establishment attempting to disprove such an invention as not only does it violate principles physicists hold dear, it would also massively threaten the current status quo in the power industry, especially the oil producers. These guys have a lot of money, and I’m sure they wouldn’t be adverse to encouraging anyone who might feel the need to attempt to prevent such an invention getting financial backing.
Since Blacklight are now into the final phase of commercial negotiations for installations for their fuel cells, we can look forward to learning more over the next year. I really hope that this works, because I’d much prefer to have power plants running on water than running on nuclear fuel. Let’s hope for a revolution.
The world’s highest swing
Posted by Al in : scary , add a commentNow this would be breathtaking – but in a terrifying way. Watch the video and learn more about it here.
Virgin Galactic unveil their mothership
Posted by Al in : interesting,space,travel , add a commentMothership sounds awfully impressive for what is, in effect, a twin hulled plane; but when you consider that it will carry the rocket section of the space trip to a high enough altitude to make it easier to get into space itself, then Mothership doesn’t seem so bad. White Knight 2 will carry it’s load 15Km into the atmosphere, then release Space Ship 2 which will then use it’s rockets to climb a further 35-40Km to leave the atmosphere and so carry its occupants into space. For only £100,000 the trip is actually quite reasonable, and is something that I may well be considering if I ever come into that kind of money.
new job
Posted by Al in : Announcements , add a commentThings are looking up for me, despite redundancies for the rest of my department. I’ve just been accepted for a totally different role within my company, so I’m relieved of the need to go job-hunting. I’m really going to miss my team when they’re gone, though.
Beaker performs "Ode to Joy" July 25, 2008
Posted by Al in : bizarre,funny,music,video , add a commentBrilliantly bizarre!
Lucky escape as car crashes into diner
Posted by Al in : bizarre,video , add a comment
Car Crashes Into Diner Guy Walks Away – Watch more free videos