Firetop

Reading BBC online today I see that “a groundbreaking military satellite system” is being launched by the UK military to help the Navy, RAF and Army to pass data more quickly around the globe - it’s name? Skynet 5A. “Skynet?” I thought to myself… surely not the name of the computer network created by ‘Cyberdyne Systems Corporation’ in the Terminator film series - the one which gets too intelligent and begins to wipe out all of humanity? But yes… somebody at UK Military HQ obviously does have a sense of humour. I can picture it now “General, what shall we call this new military satellite?”, the General spins around in his big leather chair, his eyes glancing past his special edition Terminator DVD tin, his subconscious remembers the name of the fictional network for ’Strategic Air Command-North American Aerospace Defense Command’ and he answers “Skynet has a ring to it”. Those jokers.

Technorati Tags: skynet, satellite, military defense, the terminator

So today my wife and I went for the twenty week ultrasound at East Surrey Hospital to check on junior’s progress. Suzie_Q wouldn’t let me find out what the sex is, apparently rather than being able to plan, it’s more exciting to wait until D-Day. However, I think I definitely spotted something which gave away the sex as being a boy whilst the nurse was closely measuring the femur. With legs that are off the ‘above average’ scale it’s certainly looking like being very tall, so either it’s a mini-me or a supermodel. Other male indicators have been the chinese chart (which is apparently correct ninetynine percent of the time) and the needle on a thread direction test - conducted by a non blood relative on sacred ground whilst holding a bible and stroking a black cat… (more…)

When, in November, Suzie_Q and I finally set a January date for our wedding, we thought it would take a little while to get pregnant. There are entire books devoted to fertility treatment, dos and don’ts, life style changes etc. However, it would seem that Suzie_Q and I are just plain lucky, falling pregnant on our very first attempt. We didn’t exactly expect it to be so easy - I’m all in favour of the ‘practice makes perfect’ mantra… thankfully we will at least have been married for six months when junior arrives! On Friday morning we headed to the anti-natal department at East Surrey hospital for the first ultrasound scan. (more…)

When we breath we produce Carbon Dioxide (CO2), the more exercise we do the more we produce, so I thought I’d investigate how much CO2 could be saved if everybody in the world breathed half as much for a year. Al Gore has been having the same thoughts too: “We breathe out carbon dioxide, and this in turn causes global warming.  I’m going to start holding my breath for two minutes, thirty times per day, in order to combat global warming.  I would suggest everyone follow my lead and hold your breath every day.  It will prevent the earth from being destroyed.” By my own calculations if we all breathed half as frequently we could reduce CO2 emissions by over 1 billion tonnes per year - or around 4% of total global output (25 billion tonnes). (more…)

I read on the Google blog this week that they plan to begin installation of 1.6 megawatts of solar photovoltaic panels (PV panels) at their Head Office in Mountain View, California. They reckon it will be ‘the largest solar installation on any corporate campus in the U.S., and we think it’s one of the largest on any corporate site in the world’. But something puzzled me – do they have enough room for all those panels? (more…)