Monthly Archives: July 2009

Testing, Testing

By | | , ,
6 Comments

Fascinating. I am testing out a new method of posting to the blog. I replaced my ancient and frustrating ipod (I think enough time has been spent tinkering around in its innards (see e.g. here) and now I realize the hard drive itself is now damaged) and my old Palm Tungsten by one new device, an iPod Touch. It seems to work well, and is my compromise to the iPhone mania – I find the fact that you are forced by AT&T into an expensive data contract for the iPhone a bit objectionable, and I certainly don’t want to pay that much to be connected all the time, and moreover have no wish to be connected all the time, and my current phone is a really good phone that does more of what I want than the iPhone does (my phone has a radio for example – it is free and works whether you have a connection to the web or not – good old-fashioned FM) and I am not really one for getting new devices just for newness’ sake. (I’ve realized to my delight that this solution also means that I get to continue saying that I’m the last person in LA without an iPhone. 🙂 )

Since I needed to replace the other things and since the Touch does have Bluetooth and wireless, this seemed like a good move. I can reliably listen to music again, and It will help with productivity too, I can do some communication on the move […] Click to continue reading this post →

Tales From The Industry XXIX – Dune

By | | , , , , , , , ,
5 Comments

death_valley_shoot_2_1There was a 24 hour period from 3:30pm Monday to 3:30pm Tuesday where I was engaged in a seemingly insane enterprise. My original plan was to document it here as one of my “24”-style blog posts, but since about 9 hours of it involved nothing but me screaming along to various songs (there’s something marvellous about singing “Roooooxx–anne!!! You don’t have to wear that dress tonight!!!….” and repeating “Put on the Red Light! Put on the Red Light!…” while whizzing along – fast!- on a road trip. I don’t know why), and five and a half hours asleep, I’ll spare you the details of each hour.

So what was the mission? To head to Death Valley. Yes, one of the hottest places on earth at this time of year! Why? To film something for The Universe (that History channel series I sometimes appear on). After my experiences of last Monday, you’d think I’d swear off hot filming situations for a while, but there you go. The physics involved is interesting, and it was an opportunity to get across some rather fun and interesting material (that you don’t usually see on TV) and so I went for it.

So since I had an afternoon meeting at 2:00pm with a Dean and some other […] Click to continue reading this post →

The War Continues…

By | | , ,
13 Comments

early_figsWith about ten figs taken over a day and a half, the Great Tomato Atrocity still fresh in my mind, several chases and confrontations with yelling on both sides… It is clear. There is no other conclusion:

Fluffy must go.

After some experiments with small stealth items over the last few days, which, after some near misses (the Force is strong with Fluffy), Fluffy now routinely evades, I am deploying some heavy battlefield equipment:

[…] Click to continue reading this post →

40 Years Ago…

By | | , , , ,
3 Comments

moon_landing_630pxWell, it can’t have escaped your attention. I imagine that whatever news sources you use are full of stories about today being the 40th anniversary of the first landing on the moon. (Well, the first by human beings, anyway. 🙂 )

I won’t be writing a long thoughtful piece reflecting on the matter. Right now, I can’t really think of much to say that has not been said. Perhaps it is just because it is too hot here. I’m not sure.

However, I will encourage you to find a quiet moment sometime today, stop, look […] Click to continue reading this post →

Footprint Thoughts

By | | , ,
Comments Off on Footprint Thoughts

cfl_and_ink_refillFriday saw two satisfying discoveries that may be of interest to you if you strive to use less energy and to reuse rather than replace.

The first is that the incandescent light bulbs with the small fitting that I was despairing over being able to replace with compact fluorescent bulbs can be replaced! I found in my local hardware store that companies have now (maybe for a while?) started making CFLs with the small fitting! Hurrah! Having now found this fitting, I think most fittings, shapes and sizes of bulbs that I’ve seen (in this context) can replaced by CFLs of similar fittings, shapes and sizes.

The second is just as satisfying. I went to Staples to buy another package of ink cartridges for my printer, and while in the checkout line I noticed an odd package […] Click to continue reading this post →

Your Science Tweets Here

By | | , ,
26 Comments

science_tweetsHmm… so this PhD Comics episode* (image left… click will take you to their site) is a really good idea, but I’m underwhelmed by the actual execution.

This might be because it is hard to do, and not because the person (people?) at PhD comics, whoever they are, aren’t smart and funny people, since there’s a lot of evidence that they are.

So I find myself thinking that this is an opportunity for some fun reader participation! Surely there are more science-tweets to be thought up? Perhaps even […] Click to continue reading this post →

Heat Exhaustion…

By | | , , , ,
12 Comments

Well, that was a hugely tiring day indeed. I’ve just returned from a full day of shooting for an episode of the the leffeHistory Channel’s The Universe, and all I can do is collapse on the sofa for a long while.

I’ve grabbed the essentials (a nice cold Leffe, some tasty corn chips, a cup of tea – I made it before I got the Leffe idea – , some books I’m reading, etc) to have within easy reach so that I need not get up for a while. I simply don’t want to.

It was tiring mostly because it was so terribly hot for most of it. The first half of the […] Click to continue reading this post →

Witten Interview

By | | , , ,
7 Comments

Here’s an interview that I missed when it first came out back in April. It is with Edward Witten, the single most influential person in my area of theoretical physics for quite some time now. This is for no other reason than his off-scale abilities in every key area of theoretical physics. He was my mentor back in the early ’90s, and the […] Click to continue reading this post →

The Battle is Joined

By | | , ,
11 Comments

patty_pan_squashWhen I’m feeling muddled or somewhat low, one of the things that reliably helps me find my foundation is going out into the garden and doing some work here and there, or simply checking on how various plants or fruits and vegetables are coming along. The work, the sounds and smells, the surroundings, and the cycles of renewal that are all over the garden are wonderfully uplifting to me.

So imagine how I felt yesterday when, feeling down for one reason or another, I went out into the garden and discovered that the six or seven wonderful tomatoes (of various types) – that I was giving just another day or two to become perfect – had all been taken! […] Click to continue reading this post →

Science and Space on Mayo

By | | , ,
4 Comments

On the BBC’s Daily Mayo the other day there was a science focus! Scientists Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw joined Simon to talk about their new book Why Does [tex]E=mc^2[/tex]? that looks at Einstein’s famous equation which explores the principles of physics through everyday life. Commander Lee Archambault, currently on … Click to continue reading this post →