Tag Archives: linkedin

Flood, wind and fire! – It's hell down under

On an eventful dive excursion to the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns 15 years ago

Some of the best memories from my life so far come from visits to Australia. From the Great Barrier Reef and rainforest of the north-east, down the Gold Coast via Brisbane to the amazing city of Sydney and across to Perth and the wonderful sunset coast of Western Australia. Sadly, all three of these areas have suffered considerable damage in the last month, with Brisbane consumed by surging floodwaters, Cairns – the gateway to the Barrier Reef – and the Reef itself, battered and bruised by cyclone Yasi and now, Black Sunday in Perth as raging bushfires destroy many homes in the Perth Hills – a fantastic, picturesque forest area I visited on a very memorable motorcycle tour less than a year ago.

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A Cartorcycle? – WOOT! (before 2020 please)…

I’m not particularly materialistic and hardly ever feel the need to have the latest and greatest gadget – be that a big expensive gadget like a car or a small one like a phone. And when I do invest in something, you can be sure that pragmatic practicality, robustness, economy and value for money are top of the list of considerations. So it is a rare occasion when I see an item, or the concept for one, and think – I really, really ‘Want One Of Those’.

With my current interest in the automotive industry and the gathering pace of innovation that currently surrounds it, I have researched and reviewed many different automotive ideas during the last 18 months or so. One that has stood out particularly is the increasing convergence of the car and motorcycle.

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Bionic Ear research targets the brain stem

The Bionic Ear Show presenter Tobin May

The lipreading course I attend each week helps its students understand more about hearing in general, as well as teaching vital skills in dealing with its loss. This week, we had a presentation called The Bionic Ear show which gave an excellent insight into the workings of the ear and also the research currently underway to help correct the things that can go wrong. Aside from the engaging physical demonstrations of how the human ear receives and processes sound, the electron microscope footage in an accompanying video showed how incredibly complex the inner ear structure is and also examples of what a healthy, fully functioning hearing system looks like versus one that has been damaged. Continue reading →

An omen – perhaps?

This year marks a once in a lifetime event that only happens once every one hundred years.

I’m talking about significant dates from a numerical  perspective. It’s not quite on the scale of 11.11.1111 – but close. This year brings some fun date combinations such as 9.10.11 and also 11.11.11

A recent article I read in The Economist highlighted the fact that the number 11 is significant with numerologists as although it isn’t officially regarded as a palindrome itself, it generates them like no other number. I particularly liked this massive palindromic example… Continue reading →