shake the asphodel – collect i…
September 29, 2009 by Tony · Leave a Comment
shake the asphodel – collect its rancid pollen – then break my website
Just found this site http://ww…
September 29, 2009 by Tony · Leave a Comment
Just found this site http://www.immobilier-danger.com/ with information on french property sales
Bonjour Paris
A very good newsletter and valuable website for anyone thinking of visiting or living in Paris is . Karen Fawcett puts a lot of love and effort into these friendly and helpful pages
Nanocrystalline titanium dioxide photoelectrodes
September 27, 2009 by tony · 6 Comments
Titanium Dioxide – interesting stuff. Google tio2 and get a glimpse of what photovoltaic technology might be morphing into.
I am spending a quiet Sunday thinking about this as I was shown some interesting technology last week which is making me mull over some of the ‘indispensable’ things in our lives today. I see from my email that more people I already know write to me through Facebook than direct to my email address – more – the majority of these people are emailing me from their iphone or blackberry.
I have a problem with phones, I find it difficult, often impossible, to use one. I am happy to meet anyone any time anywhere – I have met and spoken to Princes, Dukes, gangsters and muggers – I have even argued with bank managers in their marble pleasure domes and enjoyed the experience – but, I cannot talk to people on the phone.
I liked my iphone as it could do most stuff without me actually having to speak to someone. Texting should be the answer, but I like the clunk and speed of a keyboard (as long as it is an Apple one) – I know I am a tiny minority (read stupid) there must be a word for phone phobia – just looked it up, it is called phone-phobia or telephobia, about 20,000 googlies) – so the melting together of technologies is great for me.
What I saw is a pocket sized solar powered Uninterrupted Power Supply – this would energise a phone, laptop, kindle etc – although small, it has lithium batteries, so is not feather-weight. What i am sure is eveloving is just one product – basically a phone, with keyboard (laser projection perhaps) – all my applications and storage in a “cloud” – a screen which emulates a book, like the Kindle and a detachable cover which acts as a solar panel/collector/back up battery.
I doubt I will like speaking on phones though.
Kwiqq me a Tripbod
September 27, 2009 by tony · Leave a Comment
The Internet is fascinating – it is like watching a million years of evolution condensed into a month with a time-lapse camera. I have been writing on the Internet, one way or another, for over ten years – before broadband, wifi, ADSL or even ISDN – my first communications were with an acoustic coupler (ask your grandmother) – writing had to be economic and efficient, like the first computer games, and sending an image was a rare treat taking many minutes and crashing phone lines. What I wrote was short, simple and, hopefully, relevant. Ummm – like Twitter I suppose – so we go full circle
As things speeded up and storage got plentiful and cheap, we could send out newsletters – blogs evolved – advertising was added – the Internet society generously gave open source blogging platforms, Drupal, Spip Typepad, Wordpress – then came, the naming of names, social networking – MySpace (remember that), Youtube – now Facebook and Twitter are the el-supremos.
Two years ago I spent a lot of time researching the social networking scene – I planned a site of sites – a mashup of services and joined over 150 different social networks – I still get charming ladies asking me to be their very best friends ever – tongue in cheek, I called the site Portable Soup – a satisfying mixture of nourishing ingredients – (OK 200 years old and tasted horrid) – I still believe the next step or three in Internet development is a mash of information, you put in a couple of pointers and are delivered a total, correct and relevant result from the zillions of extant infobytes gleaning your wishes into a virtual hamburger.
Meanwhile a lot of very nice and clever people are already supplying parts of this future – I picked up on a Facebook comment from Raj Anand
from his bog at Kwiqq about Tripbod .
I love the idea – for the price of a Starbuck (OK two Starbucks) visiting somewhere will be more real and your valuable time wisely used. if you are traveling is is worth visiting Tripbod and if you want to get a glimpse of the future, follow http://blog.kwiqq.com/ – I am not associated with either in any way.
Bonne Route
Raisins to be Cheerful
September 26, 2009 by tony · 2 Comments
My regular dog walk is alongside the river Thonge through vineyards – the dogs chase rabbits and hares and I see kingfishers (well one) – but for the past couple of months part of the pleasure has been discovering the cleverly hidden grape varieties which are (or were) for the grape pickers.
The wine varieties are not the same as table grapes, sour and sharp – but here and there a generous landowner would plant refreshing eating grapes for the pleasure of his workers – along with figs (17 varieties), pomegranate, quince and pears, there is a bounty of fruit. Blackberries (the fruit) are plentiful, but in this climate tend to be small and bitter.
Today was probably the last dog walk where I could have plenty of grapes to refresh myself – at the turning point of our walk, I discovered a row of vines with ten or twelve different varieties of eating grapes – today there was just about enough – tomorrow I doubt there will be any – still, next come the figs – it must be Autumn
Haiku on Wiring a House
September 22, 2009 by tony · Leave a Comment
Wire has its own rules
We say it has its own mind
This is our excuse
My Personal Dream
September 22, 2009 by tony · Leave a Comment
It is over ten years since I started writing posts on my Internet sites (they were not called blogs then) and nearly a quarter of a century since I first encountered the very first glimmer of the Internet and understood a little of what it was to become (at Cebit, Hanover, in 1986).
I started the Internet sites because I had a dream – to teach Zone System, black and white photography, from our home with accommodation in the South of France – I got sidetracked and ended up making websites and renting the accommodation for the planned students as vacation rentals – it was a lot of fun.
I still have that dream.
Trafficator
September 18, 2009 by tony · Leave a Comment
A word getting lost in the mists of time – I was fascinated to learn the shape of the Trafficator arm is closely based upon the shape of the semaphore signal arm used by the Royal Bavarian Railway beginning in 1890. The only difference from the railway arm is that it is halved down its length so as to flushly fit with the vehicle’s exterior.( )
Not many people know that!
If you don’t know what a trafficator is – don’t worry, it means you are young enough never to have had to use a starting handle and have always had speed limits.
