What a nice weekend it has been, with two major activities based on string, and a mental mindbend over intellectual property. So anyway, there was zipline first, I worked with the children to stretch string from near the ceiling in one corner of the room, to near the floor on the other corner, and I got a little brass pulley, and we were sending ( Read more... )

I was in Cambridge last week, and visited an old friend at one of the grand old colleges, and the first problem is getting into the college. In the olden days, anyone could stroll through whenever they wanted, so long as they kept quiet and kept off the grass. But now there are entrance charges and restrictive opening times at akll the colleges, a ( Read more... )

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My intentions for the summer. To calm down and enjoy my staycation days free of responsibility. To enjoy being with my family, ride bikes with them, build a spanky vegetable garden. To do non-family things like art galleries and antique stores and unhurried lunches. To build some furniture and some nice electronics and maybe try to combine the two ( Read more... )

Just got back from a tour of all 4 phone providers, looking for a new smartphone. Here are the results:

• AT&T: Doors locked. Line of 20 drongos waiting to be allowed entry by a ponce in a tie. Bye-bye iPhone obviously.
  
• Sprint: Polite and prompt salesperson, knew her stuff, Liked the HTC Evo.
  
• T-Mobile: Sales people unavailable because giggling ( Read more... )

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In Hannover this week for a workshop on gravitational waves. BUT just gotta post a little bit about the glory of the German breakfast bar that I have just finished enjoying. It is like a museum of food, and you can go back as much as you like, always pulled in two directions: the sticks and twigs table is where you *should* be, but of course there ( Read more... )

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Spent last week in Victoria, Canada, with an international conference. It was a smallish conference, with a lot of people that I have known for years, so it was really lovely to see all the old friends, especially the special friends who I am with so often remotely, but oh so rarely actually in the flesh. On a technical level, the Canadians are ( Read more... )

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