10.10.12 Home, Sweet Home

I am glad that I have a roof above my head. Aside from my health (and my loved ones’ health), this is probably the thing that I am most grateful for. The very thought of lying out in the cold of winter with very little to cover myself or to wrap up in to keep warm is a frightening prospect indeed. The reason that this has come to the forefront of my mind is that I have discovered that today is World Homeless Day and it has again got me thinking of my good fortune.

The reason for the day is to draw attention to the problem of homelessness and make visible the needs and requirements of the homeless people in local areas. The aim is to try to actively involve the community in responding to the issue. Their slogan is ‘Thinking Outside the Cardboard Box’ and with a jump in homelessness in the UK of 14% in 2012 (up to 48,510 ‘households’ are homeless), it is clear that support and action is needed. Globally the number of homeless hovers at around an estimated 100m. The day aims to get organisations and communities to raise awareness for political reform but also to generate funds for homeless charities to help combat the problem. One of the most publicised fundraising events is arrange in London where people raise sponsorship to sleep rough for a night. I’d like to do it one year but from everyone I’ve spoken to about it, doing it for just one night (even knowing that you have a home to go to the next) makes it unimaginable to do it for life.

Tonight, before you go to bed, just be thankful of one thing, the roof above you.

DC

9.10.12 Room for 2

We covered the voyage of the titanic a few months back for its centenary year and learnt some impressive stats about the vessel, not least how ill equipped it was for any sort of disaster. As part of the post, I mentioned the James Cameron blockbuster movie and today we revisit the ending of the film for a learning that was directly from an IGN article that can be found here.

We all remember the end of the film with Jack slowly fading into the icy water with his love Rose firmly resting on a broken piece of wood/door. It’s the touchingly sentimental moment that the whole film builds and hinges on. There’s a moment where Jack tries to get on too but is worried that he will sink it and kill them both. James Cameron has been keen to point out that they think through the possibility and the only option is self sacrifice.

Well the good people of myth busters have recently revealed that they have researched this and found that there actually was a few ways that they could both have remained safe and survived to live a happy, love filled life. The guys from Mythbusters took the life vest and tied it around the plank, they then carefully balanced and survived the full 63 minutes (the length of time it took for Rose to be saved).

With a little ingenuity they managed to prove that if you really want to, love conquers all. Rose obviously didn’t love him enough to share.

DC

8.10.12 How to Rule the Court

As I think it has become clear, I am a man who loves a great variety of different sports. You only have to look at the number of Olympic blogs to know that. Well this Monday i watch Lucy rule the court at a local netball league and boy was it an eye opener to how little I know about the sport. After a while, however, I started to grasp it and here’s what I gleaned:

– A team consists of 7 players: Goal Keeper (GK), Goal Defence (GD), Wing Defence (WD), Centre (C), Wing Attack (WA), Goal Attack (GA) and Goal Shooter (GS)

– The court is divided up into thirds, A goal third at either end and a larger centre third.

– The defensive players aren’t allowed into the attacking third and the attacking players aren’t allowed into the defensive third.

– Only GA and GS can shoot and they must be inside the D to do so. No other player is allowed to enter the D on attack, the only defensive players allowed in it are GK and GD.

– When defending against an attacking player, you must stand a foot away and then not encroach forward. You can jump to block but your feet must not land nearer to the player with the ball, making it a risk.

– All successful goals are only worth one point, there are no additional points for distance such as with 3 pointers in basketball.

– The game is divided into four 10 minute quarters with the time running continuously.

Obviously these are just the very basics that I know now, but I’m hoping with more watching that eventually I will get some of the more subtle intricacies of the game and be able to understand some of the tactics too. All I can say is that I really enjoyed my first watch.

DC

7.10.12 I Hope You C-D-Point

Technology industries are constantly searching for the next big thing. You only have to look at the prevalence of smart phones and now mobile apps to understand that being ahead of the curve and being industry leading in innovation are where the big bucks are. The real interesting thing, however, is that at some point these technologies are just emerging, and some go on to succeed and some to fail. At this critical point some are seen as fads and then explode into the mass market and some are seen as sure fire successes and some are seen as having staying power only to fizzle out. You only have to ask Alan Sugar just how perilously fine a tight rope it is to walk.

Nowadays, no one would doubt the incredible invention of the cd, or compact disc, but much like the mp3, there was a time where people were reticent to move away from vinyl. In fact, to continue the Alan Sugar theme, he once claimed that the iPod would be a fad that would die a quick death and never be heard of again, but I digress! The reason I mention this interesting tipping point is that today I learnt the point that this materialised for the humble cd.

The first cd players weren’t commercially available until October 1982, at the time they were far from a sure fire hit. Until then people had obviously listened to music through the wonders of vinyl. Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits marked the first time an album was targeted predominantly at the CD market released in 1985. It was not until 1988, however that the tipping point finally came and CDs outsold vinyl for the first time in a calendar year.

When you think about watershed moments in the evolution of man they may not be the first to spring to mind, but the more you think about it, the more these incredible points of technological advancement are really incredible feats.

DC

6.10.12 I Packed my Mind and in it I Put

When I finished the blog post on the structural approach to building bridges, I thought that would be the end of that line of learning at least for a while. I’d like to add that a tip of the cap must go to my friend Alex Bunn who pointed out that acknowledgement for bridges structural integrity actually lies more with engineers than architects. Alex is, of course, and engineer. Perhaps today’s learning will go someway to appease the architects of some of the shine being taken off them.

In the modern day and age everyone offers tips to help control and manage your life, some of them very good, some of them not so good. We are definitely living in a world of attempted self improvement, you only have to look at the sales of self help books to know that. For anyone that has ever tried any of these tips to bring order to the chaos, you have almost certainly stumbled across the famous technique of compartmentalisation. The idea that to help order your life you should try to divide your brain into buckets and then place these things in the buckets. A way of structuring the chaotic, unstructured thought process of our brains. It also helps if problems arise as you can contain the problem to just one bucket and attempt to stop it ruining other areas of your life.

I, like I assume many others, always thought that this was a psychology thing, derived from study on how the brain works. Today I learnt that actually it’s an architectural method for designing buildings. Indeed the McGraw Hill dictionary for the nomenclature (check me out) of architecture and construction defines it as:

The division of a building into fire-retardant sections, each of which can be closed off from others, thereby impeding the spread of the fire beyond its place of origin

Now it all becomes clear and maybe, just maybe, I can separate some of these fires in my mind.

DC

5.10.12 What you thought they I-glooed it Together?

When I was younger (much younger), one of my favourite kids shows was Pingu. I’m not sure whether it was a result of my adoration for penguins (one of the best animals nature has to offer) or whether it was the stupid noises that entertained my childlike mind but it was an excellent way to pass 10 minutes. It also lead to a short lived desire to live in a nice little igloo because they looked awesome. I mean really awesome.

What wasn’t to love? A big dome to shelter you from the cold and winds made entirely out of big old ice cubes – Who wouldn’t think that that was cool? Although as I’ve grown older my aversion to being freezing cold has risen and dampened my desire to live in one of these igloos, I was still saddened by today’s learning. Despite common cartoons and comic books depicting them as such, inuits don’t usually make their igloos out of ice or even snow.

In fact, most igloos are made from a combination of whale bone (for structure) and animal hide such as caribou fur to protect from the elements. Snow is used to fill gaps in the structure as the air in the snow makes it a good insulator to aid the structure. Some Eskimos do indeed build them using blocks of snow/ice but it is far from common and isn’t the traditional way that these shelters were built. If I’m honest my childhood dream has now lost even more of its lustre – I may just put on a fur lined coat and get into bed instead.

DC

4.10.12 Running Out of Blackberry Juice

I suffer from a common ailment of our post modern society. A complete inability to remain with a sufficient level of charge to operate. Not me personally, although I do often feel like that, but in fact I’m talking about all of the electronic paraphernalia that we all carry around nowadays. I carry numerous items either for work or pleasure that require electric charging and there is nothing more frustrating than realising that you’re running out of battery.

In nothing is this more prevelant than in mobile phones. I’d love to pretend that I’m not addicted to mine, but due to using it for both work and keeping in touch with friends, it does lead to great stress when I’m stuck on the run and the battery light is flashing. It’s becoming all too uncommon that this happens as my phone battery now seems to only last for around 6hrs of use. As myself and Lucy both text each other realising that we were simultaneously running out of battery I thought, enough is enough, I need to see if there are any tricks to prolong the life of the battery without just stopping using it. Below are the top 10 tips from CrackBerry.com

[Editors note: I use a BlackBerry 9900… not a flashier iPhone]

1. Use Wifi when available but turn it off when you’re not using.
2. Dim the backlight in the options menu.
3. Change your backlight timeout.
4. Turn off Bluetooth when not in use
5. Change network settings in poor coverage
6. Use the auto on/off feature or bedside mode.
7. Lock your device or use a BB case with sleeper magnet
8. Exit unused aps or delete them.
9. Change app refresh settings.
10. Buy a spare battery.

I’m not going to lie to you fine folk, it’s looking like I may have to buy and charge a spare battery to carry with me. At least I’ve found one advantage to not owning an iPhone!

DC

3.10.12 Imagine That

It was prevalent at the Olympics closing ceremony, indeed it’s a feature of a huge number of events, montages and memorial video packages. John Lenon’s iconic Imagine is one of the most famous songs in the enormous back catalogue of music that the human race has produced through the years. I must admit that I, like many, loved the son upon first hearing it but now the song has started to grow weary on me and I find myself thinking that it is one of those clichés to be wheeled out at every grand opportunity. There is still, whatever your feelings, no denying that it is one of the most well know pieces of music going.

What most people don’t know, however, is the inspiration and origins for the song. It’s well documented that the song was written during Lenon’s years with Yoko Ono and many assumed that this state of love was at least the inspiration for some of the emotive lyrics, but her influence was even more relevant than the effect she had had on his mental state.

The song was based on a three line poem by Ono in her 1964 book Grapefruit entitled ‘Cloud Piece’. As a nod to their inspiration for the lyrics, the words of the poem were inscribed on the back of the album cover. The poem’s rather cryptic words are:

Imagine the clouds dripping.
Dig a hole in your garden
To put them in.

And with those short words, a legendary song was born. During an interview with Playboy magazine Lenon was quoted as saying:

“It is the concept of positive prayer … If you can imagine a world at peace, with no denominations of religion—not without religion but without this my-God-is-bigger-than-your-God thing—then it can be true … The World Church called me once and asked, “Can we use the lyrics to ‘Imagine’ and just change it to ‘Imagine one religion’? That showed [me] they didn’t understand it at all. It would defeat the whole purpose of the song, the whole idea”

It’s amazing that something now so widely recited, could come from such a small acorn of a beginning. Inspiration is such a funny thing.

DC

2.10.12 The Outer Reaches of the Competition

There are many fantastic things about football’s Champions League. I fondly remember sitting with my dad when I was a kid, watching Manchester United come back from 2 goals down to beat Juventus in the semi-finals. A Juventus team that featured Dechamps, Davids and Zidane in their midfield no less. Amongst all of the brilliant footballing reasons for the Champions League, there are also many educational reasons for its existence too. Don’t believe me? Every year I learn the location of a new European city or which country boarders which. Brilliantly, this year I learnt where somewhere very spooky is indeed…..

My beloved Manchester United took on CFR Cluj who play out of the lovely, scenic city of Cluj-Napoca. Here’s the twist that I should have linked together when I worked out all of my Dracula learnings but for some reason it just didn’t come up….. Translyvannia – Home of Dracula – Is part of central Romania, the area where Cluj-Napoca is located. So Manchester Utd had quite the scary trip indeed!

I can’t believe that I’m learning this now and not a few months ago when learning about the origins of Dracula, but I guess that’s part of the wonders of the Champions League!

DC

1.10.12 Upset Stomach? I Was Fuming

It was unavoidable. Today’s learning has come to me in the worst possible way. I am ill, and it is not going away. A trip to the doctor’s has confirmed that I do in fact have norovirus (after the ignominy of having to pee in a paper cup). So I have been laid up with such lovely ailments as insane abdominal cramps – Which by the way, I have never had before. Women you have my massive sympathy. It seemed only right that if nothing else, I could channel this pain and upset into a blog post at the least.

Norovirus is a stomach flu or virus that is highly contagious and can affect all age groups. The virus causes gastroenteritis that can onset diarrhoea and vomiting. The virus is easily spread through close contact with infected individuals and is difficult to avoid spreading even if rigorous hygiene standards are adhered to. It is particularly easily spread in environments like the work place, hospitals and schools. From contracting the virus to the beginnings of the symptoms tends to be 24-48 hours. The worst part is, your body will not build up immunity to it so you can contract the virus more than once!

Nausea tends to be the first symptom of the disease, followed by diarrhoea, vomiting, dehydration, fever and muscle aches/contractions. There is usually no need to test for infection as these symptoms are signs of a wide number of gastroenteritis so the treatments don’t need to differ specifically for norovirus. There is no cure for the virus, the only way is to let it work its way out of your system, however, there are a number of things you can do to help. It is important to stay hydrated, eat as regularly as possible and if necessary take antidiarrhoeal medicine.

Some of the side effects of the disease can lead to things such as an intolerance to lactose as a result of the stomach lining being damaged or irritable bowel syndrome. To avoid spread, it is best to stay away from work/school and to ensure that you regularly wash your hands and stay clean. All I know is that right now I have searing abdominal pains and just want to lie here and slowly die. I hope that this pain passes soon, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

DC