http://blog.andrewsteele.co.uk Words, wise and otherwise, from the half of the Statto-JTA Publishing Corporation whose name begins with 'S'. Sun, 08 Oct 2006 23:45:38 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I’ve finally got around to programming enough of my new ’blogging engine that this ’blog should be no more. Its contents will, when I get a moment, be moved across to andrewsteele.co.uk. In the meantime, those desperate for a regular dose of rambling should check out Statto’s ’Blog at andrewsteele.co.uk/blog. It will ... http://blog.andrewsteele.co.uk/2006/10/bye-bye-blogandrewsteelecouk/ Not many posts lately, a fact for which I apologise. Many complaints at the lack of updates, plus something almost worth reporting, have brought the ’blog back from the dead. Though hopefully if I get a bit of free time it won’t be long before it’s incorporated in the revamped ... http://blog.andrewsteele.co.uk/2006/10/update-2/ I’ve been feeling inexplicably cheerful for the last few days. It’s getting quite annoying. Inhabiting my mind is like having the constant company of an overly exuberant office joker who finds forced entertainment in the World’s quotidian minutiae. Luckily, this annoying persona has the restraint to only present himself in my ... http://blog.andrewsteele.co.uk/2006/08/googlelondonwk6/ Let no-one underestimate the power of conditioning to overcome the rational human mind. I discovered to my cost the other day that wearing trainers to work is a mistake. For some reason, they seem to react unfavourably with some of the office furniture (probably the carpet) and I end up charged ... http://blog.andrewsteele.co.uk/2006/08/shocking/ Last week I started an internship in London with Google. London Coming to London has been something of a culture shock. On Saturday 15th July, I worked a fifteen hour day at Newport Show, my local agricultural show, where I sold plants grown by my parents. Newport Show exudes parochial charm; it’s the ... http://blog.andrewsteele.co.uk/2006/07/googlelondonwk1/ This is a test. This test continues. http://blog.andrewsteele.co.uk/2006/07/11testhello/ The teleological argument is one of the oldest and most popular arguments for the existence of God. The World, claim its proponents, is an amazing place full of such complicated, intricate and clearly therefore designed things, that there must be a designer. If you find a watch on the floor, ... http://blog.andrewsteele.co.uk/2006/07/teleology/ Sandi Thom’s disingenuous lament to her belated birth demonstrates that including downloads in the single charts has been yet another pitch in the downward spiral in quality of popular music. The title, I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair), heralds a catalogue of muddled analogy, and ... http://blog.andrewsteele.co.uk/2006/06/iwishiwasapunkrocker/ This year's £10,000-plus-huge-publicity Aventis Prize for popular science writing has been scooped by David Bodanis for his book Electric Universe: How Electricity Switched On the Modern World. "It's such a treat to win—it is a genuine surprise," he told the BBC News website. "Many people take electricity for granted, but there's electricity ... http://blog.andrewsteele.co.uk/2006/05/electricuniverse/ Today, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Visitor of Christ Church, fulfilled her title by visiting Christ Church. She popped into the Deanery, proceeded to preside over the doling out of posh nosh to lucky sods who won tickets in Hall ("Lunch with Liz"), and then had a whistle-stop tour of Christ ... http://blog.andrewsteele.co.uk/2006/05/queen/ So, you want a lot of power and don't like the nuclear option. Here's an easy answer: why not use the Sun? It's been going for nearly five billion years and will probably burn for about as long again. It rises every day and delivers nearly 200 petawatts (200 thousand trillion ... http://blog.andrewsteele.co.uk/2006/05/sunpower/ It's now 01:02:03 04/05/06. This feat will not be replicated for 100 years, by which time Halley's comet will have returned, there will have been another solar eclipse on the UK mainland and I, in all probability, will be dead. Revel in this consecutive chronological spectacle while it lasts! You've got precisely ... http://blog.andrewsteele.co.uk/2006/05/010203040506/ After the death of George Washington, a parson named Mason Locke Weems wrote a fanciful biography to illustrate that George had been the embodiment of the American dream, from a morally perfect childhood under principled parents, through an honourable (sorry, honorable) presidency to death, which was presumably inevitable even for ... http://blog.andrewsteele.co.uk/2006/05/cherry/