Monday, February 22, 2010

Pub Quizzes in the UK

Lynch Mob - angry Mob - Pitchforks and torches

Here in the UK we have this venerable tradition of the Pub Quiz, an evening where people compete to answer questions often for a cash prize. Well on March 25th the Family Holiday Association(UK charity) are attempting to create the Worlds Biggest Pub Quiz!

I have to tell you about one of my experiences...

It was an isolated Pub on the Isle of Wight (a small island off the South Coast of the UK) and we chose it because it seemed quite popular and therefore probably served good beer or food.

When my wife, eldest child, and myself walked in a thick silence suddenly descended as all eyes swiveled to inspect us. I swallowed hard. This treatment would be about right for an isolated pub in North Wales where the locals all spoke a different language, but for a friendly English Country Pub it was all wrong.

When I walked up to the bar to order, I realised why. The Barman pointed to the sign that said 'Quiz Night - Entry Fee £5 per team. Prize £200' and asked me if we were going to compete. Apparently the event was held monthly and the pubs champions were also the Island champions. I declined.

Unfortunately my wife was of a different frame of mind, since I can remember all sorts of dodgy facts, she knew a lot about politics, and my eldest had that obsessive knowledge of sports that many pre-teen males of a certain age do. She marched up to the bar, handed over a fiver and returned clutching a piece of headed paper and a pencil.

Soon the quiz began - every two minutes or so the Bell behind the bar was rung and a new question was shouted out. An hour later we had answered twenty five questions as disparate as "What is Cilla Blacks real name?" and "What is the chemical formula for Sulfuric Acid?" and the forms were given to neighbouring tables for initial checking. The barman read out the answers for people to mark the papers.

"Put your hands up if the paper you just marked has the score I shout out!" Yelled the Barman.

"Twenty Five?" Nobody put their hands up.

"Twenty Four?" Two hands shot up. A draw.

"Looks like its the Champions Versus Overners, " declared the barman. A mixed chorus of whistles, boos and cheers subsided slowly.

We were the Overners - an Island word for Tourists and anybody really who is not born there. So it was to be a sudden death tiebreaker question.

The champions, six large full-bearded guys who looked like they either sang folk music or danced in a local Morris troupe, glared at me.

"What is the exact height of Salisbury Cathedral Steeple? The nearest answer wins, Champions first."

The champions muttered together while my wife tried to suppress a fit of the giggles. The largest of the Beardies got up and fixed me with a beady eyed glare. He thrust out his chin, pointing his beard straight at me agressively.

"Well we reckon," he said in a thick Island accent, "its got to be nigh on four hundred feet. Thats my answer."

The barman looked at me. I swallowed. Dare I give them the exact answer or should I deliberately fluff the question. What my wife knew, and they did not, was that I had played a cruel trick on the Religious Education teacher at high school and he had retaliated by making me learn off by heart the heights of the spires of all the major Cathedrals in England. Oh damn it, two hundred quid is two hundred quid.

"Exactly four hundred and four feet to the top of the stonework," I said quietly. "The top of the weathercock adds another twelve feet - it used to be fourteen feet but the tower was struck by lightning in 1741 shortening the spike by two feet."

There was a silence broken only by my wifes undiplomatic snikkering.

"Well right you are then... Heres your two hundred quid!" Said the barman, handing me the envelope and retreating hastily behind the bar.

I think the only thing that saved us from a lynching that night was that I put fifty pounds behind the bar to buy drinks for the Champions!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Dalai Lama meets Obama For First Time


If I had enough space for such a long title it would read - Dalai Lama meets Obama For First Time ...but then gets put out with the rubbish!

Sensitive (as ever) to some of the demands of Beijing, Obama had a meeting with the Dalai Llama that was just about as unofficial as a Whitehouse meeting with Obama could get. The Oval Office was not used, the poor old gentleman once described as 'an elderly and very political monk in Gucci loafers' was escorted out of a side entrance normally used for rubbish afterwards and Obama went out of the front door on his way to fly in Airforce One.

Well Obama has now ticked the 'all US Presidents must meet the Dalai Lama box and can relax. After all they both hold the Nobel Peace prize, though even Obama it seems does not seem to feel he should have it. He said afterwards that he was surprised and deeply humbled by the award and that he did not feel he deserved to be in the company of some of the "transformative figures" who had won the prize. Presumably this includes the Dalai Lama.

Full marks to Obama however for actually meeting the Tibetan Leader in Exile despite Chinese demands and warnings.

Believe it or not I have shared a lift with the kindly Lhamo Döndrub (birth name) in a New York Hotel. He had been scheduled to give a talk that evening in a New York theatre but a mob of demonstrators outside the theatre had caused enough public safety fears for the event to be cancelled. He stood robed in Orange in one corner of the lift with two rather large and burly 'minder monks' on either side. Despite what had obviously been a horrible evening he positively radiated peace and serenity. When I left the lift he gave me a very slight, knowing smile as the doors closed.

Maybe this is the secret of the Dalai Lamas power. Whoever he meets, wherever they are, for just one tiny moment he makes them feel a little bit special. I wonder what he did to Obama?

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

On Gmail ... then you could be at risk!


US and Canadian privacy law regulators are to investigate Google's new social networking service Buzz, one week after its launch. The Electronic Privacy Information Centre (Epic) complained the US Federal Trade Commission saying that Buzz - which is part of Google's Gmail service - is "deceptive" and breaks consumer protection law.

"This case illustrates a lot about Google's corporate culture where a company is run by computer scientists whose operating method is don't ask for permission when you can always ask for forgiveness," said Consumer Watchdog's John Simpson.

With other social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook users know what they are signing up for. Users signed up for Gmail expecting only an e-mail service. The new social networking site Buzz has been automatically rolled out to Gmail's 176 million users whether they want it or not. With no opt-in requirement. Including visibility to people on your address book of all your other contacts.

The regulators have been asked to require Google to provide notice to and request consent from Gmail users before making material changes to their privacy policy in future. It is worried that journalists, undercover police and serial adulterers who use Gmail now have all their contacts exposed to the outside world. This could result in divorces, financial losses and even torture or death for users in some countries. Google does not seem to take their responsibilities very seriously.

These worries would seem to be well founded. Recently an accountant was stabbed to death in a frenzied attack after her boyfriend saw her with another man on Facebook Camille Mathurasingh of Bow, East London was stabbed 20 times by her ex, Paul Bristol who travelled all the way from from Trinidad to England in order to get even.

Unfortunately Google seems to be hell bent on using 'private' Gmail address book contacts to make up social networking lists so we can all be sure there will be more cases like this.

Are you at risk? Its probably best to delete your Gmail account now if you are.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Barclays Bank Directors fiddle while Small Businesses Burn

fat cat bankerOur banking friends Barclays posted record annual profits of £11.6 billion today which, helped by the governments credit crunch busting efforts are up a staggering 92 per cent on the previous year. Bonuses all round then.

Yep across the group as a whole, Barclays paid out a staggering GBP 2.7 billion in bonuses, for our American friends thats USD 4,600,000,000! Lets put this in perspective. Thats enough to give every family in the UK a one off payment of about £160, enough to launch four space shuttle missions, enough to pay for 14 new hospitals to be built, or for 16 new schools. In bonuses... yeah. And we were promised that big bonuses were a thing of the past...Hah!

Unfortunately new figures show UK banks are still refusing to lend to small businesses in desperate need of finance. Some viable businesses are going to the wall for want of a few thousand pounds working capital. Two out of three businesses have approached their banks for capital and been turned down, forcing them to fund their short term borrowing with credit cards ... which of course inflates the bank profits even more. Hmm... do I sense a pattern here? Business as usual in Fat Cat Britain I think.

Mr Algius Chairman of Barclays said that the bank would be judged by “how we lend and how we pay”. We are watching Mr Algius... We are watching!

PS: It has just been pointed out to me by email that not all Barclays staff got bonuses since 2500 branch staff have been sacked.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Climate Change Theory in its last throes...


Professor Jones, the academic at the centre of the row over the leaked Climate Change emails has admitted that he has trouble ‘keeping track’ of the information that was crucial to the graph used to show human impact on climate change.

Professor Phil Jones who has refused Freedom of Information requests may have actually lost the relevant papers according to online sources.

Professor Jones admitted to the BBC that he lacked organisational skills and that his record keeping is ‘not as good as it should be’. The missing data is crucial to the graph used by climate change advocates in support of the theory.

Professor Jones has now also conceded the possibility that the world was warmer in medieval times than now, and even more critically that for the past 15 years there has been no ‘statistically significant’ warming. This rather blows man-made climate change out of the water, see my previous climate change article.

There are obvious and serious flaws at the heart of the science of climate change, and the dogmatic claims that temperature rises are largely man-made.

You read a lot of this here first...in 2009!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Fraud is easier with Chip and Pin Cards - and thats Official

Dr Murdoch's Computer Security group at Cambridge say they have been shocked at just how easy it has been to subvert the security of chip and pin transactions.

Using a simple piece of electronics and some hair thin wiring an extra circuit can be inserted between the chip on the card and the card reader. The fraudster can then enter any PIN he likes and the transaction will be accepted. You might think that this would be noticable in-store but no, the wiring can be hidden easily and the electronics plus a battery can sit in a small bag or could even be worn under clothing.

Dr Murdoch said "We have tested this attack against cards issued by most major UK banks. All have been found to be vulnerable."

Victims of this attack will have a very difficult time convincing their bank because the receipt produced will state "Verified by PIN", and the bank records will show that the correct PIN was used. Banks will (as they try to now with fraudulent cash card withdrawals) argue that the customer must have been negligent and had allowed the fraudster to know their PIN.

Dr Drimer says: "The technical sophistication for carrying out this attack is low, and the compact equipment will not be noticed by shop staff. A single criminal can develop and industrialise a kit to be used by others who do not need to understand how the attack works."

Victims of fraud are commonly told that bank systems can be relied upon. However, this attack shows that criminals are able to not only defraud customers, but cause bank systems to make the false assertion that the PIN was verified correctly.

Professor Anderson says: "Over the past five years, thousands of cardholders have had stolen chip and PIN cards used by criminals .... we've shown that it's easy to use a card without knowing the PIN ...This is not just a failure of bank technology. It's a failure of bank regulation. The ombudsman supported the banks and the regulators have refused to do anything. They were just too eager to believe the banks."

And the banks reaction? They believe that the fraud is too complex to become widespread - this despite the computerised sophisticated custom built equipment the police remove from cash machines in this country every week. Their other line of attack is that the Customers own card has to be used. Well how many customers are ill in hospital? Bedridden? On holiday? Would these people even know if a card were missing?

This is just not good enough. I believe that the Cambridge Method is probably only the simplest one of a number of attacks that would work. American Banks have always maintained that Chip and Pin is in fact LESS secure than Signature checks which is why they do not use it.

One thing we do know and that is that the banks are unlikely to change a system which they have spent many millions on installing and implementing. Perhaps they will implement a requirement for people to wave their arms about in between inserting the card and inputting the PINS to prove there are no wires. Should make for an entertaining trip out to the supermarket! Ah well maybe not. Its time to start checking your card bills and bank statements carefully... Very Carefully!


Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Snow Snow Snow! Big Freeze Part 3

Here is Washington currently languishing under 30 inches plus of snow, running out of places to put it and having to build snow mountains. People are snowed in so badly that those on the ground floor are unable in some areas to leave their houses, having to climb through first floor windows instead. Oh yes and most importantly to us Brits - doggies are being mugged in the streets for their coats!

People are suggesting that Washington could get rid of its Snow mountains by exporting the white icy stuff to Canada where they are having to buy snow for the winter olympics - you couldn't make it up could you?

You have to laugh at the boys from the Met office though - see pic below.


Here is a 'Severe Weather Warning' from the UK Meteorological office warning us that a few centimetres of snow 'could' accumulate with a low risk of up to 15cm accumulating. Well whoopy do. Maybe its time they retitled their weather warnings - I would call this a moderate weather warning myself!

One thing I do know is that if we get 30 inches of snow in London they will never spot it coming. Does anybody remember the Hurricane that the UK would never get?

PS and on the 11th of Jan - the results of the Severe Weather Warning? Nothing, no snow. Nada. The council did grit the road though which was fantastic if a waste of time. Its more than they did yesterday when it did snow!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Valentines Day Ideas



Its that time of the year again when all us guys try to think of something different to do for Valentines day other than the obvious (ie a Massacre or the quiet night in...). This list of things to do on Valentines day even includes things you can do if you have no partner this Valentines day.

  • Rather than take her out serve a meal that you have actually cooked - preferably with a valentine themed menu. A great menu is here.
  • Ok so you are taking her out for a meal - be sure to book the restaurant well in advance. Take her someplace impressive, and not to anywhere you usually go. Why not book a hotel for the night while you are at it?
  • If you are away from home on Valentines day and cannot be there then dont send her A gift send her SOME gifts. Rather than send her one big present send her several small gifts - some chocolates in the morning, flowers in the afternoon, and post something to a neighbor and make them swear to deliver it in the evening. this way she is thinking about you all day.
  • If you can afford to push the boat out then hire a limo, find a really good hotel near you, if you are in the UK De Veres are great. Have your meal at the Hotel and stay the night (or longer).

DONT buy her underwear, sex toys etc unless she has indicated she wants this type of gift.

If you are on your own this Valentines day and fancy some company all is not lost. For a few pounds/Dollars you can have some virtual company whether you want female company or you want male company.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

SETI - when could we expect a result?

When can we expect a result from SETI? This was the question I was asked this morning by email. After some thought I came on the idea that the best place to look for life are similar stars to our own. G type stars - G-type stars are are main sequence stars of spectral type G and luminosity class V. Such a star has about 0.8 to 1.2 of our suns mass and a surface temperature between 5,300 and 6,000.

So I have compiled a list, sorted by year of all the 'local' G type candidates and especially those with known planets. I then took the distance away in light years and doubled it - this being the time taken for our radio waves to get to them, and theirs to travel back. Starting in 1953 when hugely powerful radio transmitters were used for TV and American AM stations this gives a range of dates for possible contact back. Here is my table below.

Contact Distance Star Name Star In  Known
(Lt Yrs) Class Facts
1961.8 4.4 Alpha Centauri AG2 V Centaurus
1976.8 11.9 Tau Ceti G8 Vp Cetus
1991.8 19.4 Eta Cassiopeiae G3 V Cassiopeia
1992.6 19.8 82 Eridani G5 V Eridanus
1992.8 19.9 Delta Pavonis G5-8V Pavo
1996.6 21.8 Xi Boötis A G8 Ve Boötes
2001.8 24.4 Beta Hydri G2 IV Hydrus
2002.2 24.6 Mu Cassiopeiae AG5 VIp Cassiopeia
2007.6 27.3 Alula Australis G0-5 Ve Ursa Major
2007.6 27.3 Chara G0 V Canes Venatici
2007.8 27.4 Mu Herculis Aa G5 IV Hercules
2008.6 27.8 61 Virginis G5-6 V Virgo Planets
2009.6 28.3 Chi1 Orionis A G0 V Orion
2010.4 28.7 41 Arae A G8-K0 V Ara
2012.8 29.9 Groombridge 1830G8 VIp Ursa Major Unstable
2012.8 29.9 Kappa Ceti G5 Ve Cetus Unstable
2013.2 30.1 HR 4523 A G3-5 Ve Centaurus
2015.2 31.1 61 Ursae MajorisG8 Ve Ursa Major
2019.2 33.1 Alpha Mensae G5-6 V Mensa
2021.8 34.4 Iota Persei G0 V Perseus
2023.4 35.2 Zeta Herculis B G7-K0 V Hercules
2023.8 35.4 Delta Trianguli G0.5 Ve Triangulum
2026 36.5 11 Leonis MinoriG8 V Leo Minor
2027 37.0 Muphrid A G0 IV Boötes
2029.6 38.3 Lambda SerpentisG0 V Serpens Caput
2029.8 38.4 Iota Pegasi B G8 V Pegasus
2032.8 39.9 Zeta2 Reticuli G1-2 V Reticulum
2032.8 39.9 Zeta1 Reticuli G2.5-5V Reticulum
2033.8 40.4 85 Pegasi Aa G5 Vb Pegasus
2034.8 40.9 55 (Rho1) CancriG8 V Cancer Planets
2035 41.0 HR 3259 G7.5-K0VPuppis Planets
2035.4 41.2 HR 483 A G1.5 V Andromeda


So for example in 2008 we could have got a reply from 61 Virginis, our next strong candidate would be in 2034.

As to why we cannot see anybody else broadcasting the answer is simple, as communications move on less and less brute force is needed. The planet becomes quieter and quieter until with the advent of satellite and cable communications we cannot be detected easily, if at all, beyond a few light years away. So our best bet for somebody to find us is the 15 light year thick 'shell' of radio communications when TV and Radio were in their infancy in 1953-1978. Similarly we would probably only have a ten to twenty year period to listen to broadcasts from elsewhere.

Consider this. If a civilisation has a lifespan of 10,000 years and is only detectable at a distance for 20 of them then our chances of spotting emissions from a particlular civilisation is one in 500. In other words we would have to study on average 500 stars that did have intelligent life like us before we found a single one by radio.

This being said SETI did intercept what they called the WOW signal which may well have been a tight band starship to base type radio communication which just happened to beam our way. It was too short to be regarded as proof but it had all the right characteristics.

So the best answer is that if another civilisation is looking and if they spot the thin shell of radio waves then they may send us a tight beamed signal directly which we would easily pick up in the years indicated above. Preferably that than the 4000 ship invasion fleet eh?

Friday, February 5, 2010

Very Narrow Escape for Ireland

Last night (Thurs 4th Feb 2010) across Ireland sightings of a meteorite were reported. At 6PM people from across the country saw the blazing chunk of space-rock travelling at around 100,000 miles per hour streak across the sky before lighting up like a small nuke and vanishing.

Ireland was lucky - this is exactly the same sort of event thought to have caused the Tunguska incident. The distance such a meteorite penetrates into the atmosphere depends more on its physical make-up than its size. If it is oddly shaped it heats up quickly and if it has internal faults can shatter and explode with great force equivalent to a tactical military Nuke (say 1 Kiloton).

According to David Moore of Astronomy Ireland .. 'This is a huge event.'

Well it could have been more huge. Apparently witnesses who saw it were facing inland at the time which indicates that any fragments of rock landed on ground and not at sea. This could spark a mini Irish Gold Rush since the last such meteorite fetched around $500 per gram - better than its weight in gold!

This is what is known as putting a positive spin on things since to penetrate at all the meteorite must have been rocky and a rocky meteorite even a 'small' one can do a lot of damage if it does not explode high up.

Space Rocks of up to 500 meters in diameter are quite common - luckily it is doubtful if the Irish meteor was bigger than a football. A fifty meter sized asteroid would have produced a 1000 meter crater in the old country and unleashed a shock wave big enough to destroy a small town.

Statistical research by Professor Mark Bailey shows that an object large enough to cause a 10km crater (a 6-700 meter chunk of rock) hits the earth on average every 80,000 years. This would be like pushing the 'reset' button on civilisation - such an impact has global effects being able to cause ice-ages and Tsunamis big enough to scour whole countries. Thats without the increased vulcanism.

There are 1500 objects of size 1km and over that we know about which regularly cross earths orbit - and god knows how many more that we have no clue about because their orbits are odd, or long-period.

Time to buy an umbrella...

Thursday, February 4, 2010

List of Towns and Villages Susceptible to Flooding in the UK



With the flood season about to start (March-July is peak risk time) my friend who is moving to West Yorkshire tried to find a list of UK Towns and Villages prone to flooding. Having been rescued from one before in Turkey this is a particular horror of his.

Try as I might I could not find a single comprehensive list of towns and villages in the UK affected badly by flooding over the last few years. Its typical of the government and insurance agencies that they should hold this information close to their chest.

I am not talking here about a paltry inch or so in your living room or a flooded basement (though lord knows that can be distressing enough) but a three foot plus surging morass of water that carries away cars and knocks down bridges and homes.

After searching through archive material I managed to construct the list below. Please note that its very often only a PART of the town or village that is affected and in some (very few) cases the government might have actually done something in the way of flood prevention.

I would suggest you look at the list carefully if you have just moved into an area or are planning a move into a new area. If you find your town on the list look to see if your property is in a low lying area of the town, or close to a river, stream or lake. If it is then have a quiet word with the neighbours or do some research at the local Newspaper.

List of Towns and Villages Susceptible to Flooding in the UK

Abingdon
Alcester
Alston
Ambleside
Aston
Banbury
Barnoldswick
Barry
Barton
Bedford
Bettws Cedewain
Betws y Coed
Blackburn
Bladen
Boscastle
Botley
Bromyard
Builth wells
Burghfield AWRE (Worryingly)
Burnley
Burton Joyce
Calow
Chesterfield
Clayton West
Cleethorpes
Coal Aston
Collingham
Corwen
Covenham St Marys
Crackington Haven
Dalkieth
Darlington
Earby
Felmersham
Gilling west
Gloucester
Grantham
Grimsby
Hampton Bishop
Hampton Lode
Harrogate
Hartforth
Henley
Hessle
Horncastle
Hucknall
Hull
Keswick
Kidlington
Kilmarnock
Kirby Hill
Knaresborough
Lambley
Lampeter
Lincoln
Llanwrst
London (South West)
Louth
Luton
Lynmouth
Maidenhead
Mansfield
Mayfield (Scotland)
Melsonby
Middlesborough
Middleton tyas
Newbury
Newmilns
Osney
Oxford
Penwortham
Pershore
Peterlee
Reading
Retford
Ribchester
Ross On Wye
Rossendale
Sawley
Scissett
Sheffield
Shifnal
Shipston on Stour
South Ulverston
Stoke Goldington
Stony Stratford
Stratford upon Avon
Swindon
Tenbury Wells
Tewkesbury
Tintern
Torfaen
Tregynon
Turvey
Wakefield
Walton Le Dale
Water Orton
Witney
Woodborough
Worksop
Wrexham
York

Please if you know of a village or town not on this list then add it as a comment and I will research it before placing it on the list. Of course what should happen is that the government should publicise such a list....

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Obamas America Abandons Space to the Iranians...

Tehran has just launched a new rocket Kavoshgar-3 (Explorer-3) built entirely in Iran into space. Ahmadinejad, said the Islamic Republic hoped to send astronauts into space soon.

The Chinese space agency are planning to land its first few astronauts on the moon within a decade and explore the moon totally.

Congratulations to Barack Obama who just announced that he wants nothing to do with the space program and has cancelled the US re-landing. He thinks that the future of mankind should be controlled by industry and private enterprise. Well heck that has never worked before so why should it now?

Congratulations Obama for being the American who handed the galaxy over to the Islamic Fundamentalists and the Chinese. Oh and we will probably find out for sure when the Chinese land exactly whats up there - not. They are a closed culture and will not share most of their discoveries with the rest of mankind.

We will remember you when we see the first Islam only planet colonised. We will remember you when we take the Chinese Spaceplane to a Chinese owned Lunar resort for our holidays. It could have been so different.