I've written before about music I adore, such as the great folks over at Pomplamoose, and OKGO!, so I thought I'd share my latest experience with you.
Working in a relatively open plan office I inevitably find myself wearing thick headphones when I need to focus on something. I had some reports to write so put them on and cranked up Grooveshark and decide to listen to some classical music. A good channel called 'Instrumental FM - Music to Study, Work and Relax' had in the past been a good way to block out the background noise without the distraction of catchy tunes or new music.
Suddenly I stopped working and realised that I knew the tune being played. It wasn't the theme tune to Game of Thrones, nor was it a Pomplamoose album as there were no words.
And then it hit me, being played by no less than the London Philharmonic Orchestra:
Click on the link to play
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Michael Schumacher Showing Signs of Improvement
Back in the end of December, Michael had a nasty skiing accident that left him in a medically induced coma.
In April, we were informed:
"There are short moments of consciousness and he is showing small signs of progress," Schumacher's manager Sabine Kehm told German broadcaster ARD.
"There are moments when he is awake and moments when he is conscious.
"Of course I am not a doctor, but medically, there is a distinction between being awake and being conscious, the latter meaning there is an ability to interact with his surroundings.
"I don't want to disclose details out of respect for the family, but we have no doubt at all in the abilities of the doctors treating Michael, they are experts in their field."
So, many weeks have passed and sadly there is still no further news.
kthanxbai! Jumblerant
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
What Is 3D Printing Anyway?
The relatively new, old joke is: "I'm going to start a new business, I'm going to buy a 3D printer and print my own 3D printer!"
3D printing is quite simply the layered printing of an object in 3 dimension (height, width and depth). So who actually 'needs' this 3D printing? We've done quite well until now without it, so who can benefit from it? I guess people who are far from home or away from the normal lines of production can get unique items printed for them. A model replica of an expensive car, like a 1960 Aston Martin DB5 in a 1:3 scale could be built and then crashed and burned for entertainment, like how the makers of the James Bond flick,Skyfall did.
What can be made and why print it as opposed to buy it? Money. Filthy lucre. Dollars, Pounds, Euros and even Zlotys. The cost of certain items makes them unavailable to the larger market, printing them is cheap and even though the quality won't be the same, the result is still better than nothing:
A Perfectly Functioning Rifle Magazine
Magazine restrictions is the way in which the US government has restricted the proliferation of automatic firearms. So will gun laws ever be enforceable? Not any more I guess:
Your Unborn Baby
Parts For Decommissioning A Nuclear Power Plant
Sellafield, western Europe’s largest and most complex nuclear waste site, is using 3D printing to help them decommission some of the most potentially hazardous plants in the world.
It will use 3D printing to replace parts that are no longer made – many of which were one-off designs from 50 years ago – to save time and money when those running the nuclear facility have faced growing criticism for soaring decommissioning costs. These are estimated to total £70bn.
3D printing could save millions of pounds at Sellafield, with the company already identifying several hundred thousand pounds worth of benefit. It is believed to be one of the first nuclear sites to use 3D printing to manufacture parts.
A House - For $5,000
A Chinese company harnessed 3D-printing technology to build 10 one-story houses in a day — a cheaper, faster and safer alternative to more traditional construction.
Or there is the Dutch company that is building a canal house (which can be seen here), where each room is being made individually. A great idea!
A Knife
So who cares about printing a knife? Well I guess the TSA or FBI because x-ray machines can no longer rely on such implements being made of metal. We all know that prisoners make all kinds of lethal weapons using nothing more than a toothbrush and a paperclip - so will the knife cut paper?
Your Face
The survivor of a serious motorbike crash has made surgical history after his entire face was rebuilt using 3D printed parts.
Stephen Power is thought to be one of the first trauma patients in the world to have 3D printing technology used at every stage of the medical procedure to restore his looks.
Doctors at Morriston Hospital, Swansea, had to break his cheekbones again before rebuilding his face in an eight-hour operation.
Despite wearing a crash helmet Mr Power, 29, suffered multiple trauma injuries in the accident in 2012, which left him in hospital for four months.
“I can't remember the accident - I remember five minutes before and then waking up in the hospital a few months later. I broke both cheek bones, top jaw, my nose and fractured my skull," he said.
___
3D Printing in medicine - 3D Printed Cast Speeds Bone Recovery Using Ultrasound
How to manufacture your 3D Printed object: http://t.co/Hc2pwrWA1v
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
3D printing is quite simply the layered printing of an object in 3 dimension (height, width and depth). So who actually 'needs' this 3D printing? We've done quite well until now without it, so who can benefit from it? I guess people who are far from home or away from the normal lines of production can get unique items printed for them. A model replica of an expensive car, like a 1960 Aston Martin DB5 in a 1:3 scale could be built and then crashed and burned for entertainment, like how the makers of the James Bond flick,Skyfall did.
What can be made and why print it as opposed to buy it? Money. Filthy lucre. Dollars, Pounds, Euros and even Zlotys. The cost of certain items makes them unavailable to the larger market, printing them is cheap and even though the quality won't be the same, the result is still better than nothing:
A Perfectly Functioning Rifle Magazine
Magazine restrictions is the way in which the US government has restricted the proliferation of automatic firearms. So will gun laws ever be enforceable? Not any more I guess:
Your Unborn Baby
Parts For Decommissioning A Nuclear Power Plant
Sellafield, western Europe’s largest and most complex nuclear waste site, is using 3D printing to help them decommission some of the most potentially hazardous plants in the world.
It will use 3D printing to replace parts that are no longer made – many of which were one-off designs from 50 years ago – to save time and money when those running the nuclear facility have faced growing criticism for soaring decommissioning costs. These are estimated to total £70bn.
A House - For $5,000
A Chinese company harnessed 3D-printing technology to build 10 one-story houses in a day — a cheaper, faster and safer alternative to more traditional construction.
Or there is the Dutch company that is building a canal house (which can be seen here), where each room is being made individually. A great idea!
A Knife
So who cares about printing a knife? Well I guess the TSA or FBI because x-ray machines can no longer rely on such implements being made of metal. We all know that prisoners make all kinds of lethal weapons using nothing more than a toothbrush and a paperclip - so will the knife cut paper?
Your Face
The survivor of a serious motorbike crash has made surgical history after his entire face was rebuilt using 3D printed parts.
Stephen Power is thought to be one of the first trauma patients in the world to have 3D printing technology used at every stage of the medical procedure to restore his looks.
Doctors at Morriston Hospital, Swansea, had to break his cheekbones again before rebuilding his face in an eight-hour operation.
Despite wearing a crash helmet Mr Power, 29, suffered multiple trauma injuries in the accident in 2012, which left him in hospital for four months.
“I can't remember the accident - I remember five minutes before and then waking up in the hospital a few months later. I broke both cheek bones, top jaw, my nose and fractured my skull," he said.
___
3D Printing in medicine - 3D Printed Cast Speeds Bone Recovery Using Ultrasound
How to manufacture your 3D Printed object: http://t.co/Hc2pwrWA1v
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Oh, The Good Old Days
I can see it now, my grandson on my knee, a hovercar zipping past our 345rd floor window, as I explain to him that people used to have talent:
And then there were the British, who were misunderstood:
And of course, what video blog would be complete without a Game of Thrones parody?
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
Post by Yardie News.
And then there were the British, who were misunderstood:
And of course, what video blog would be complete without a Game of Thrones parody?
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
Friday, April 18, 2014
Storytelling in 2014
Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales in the end part of the 14th century. The stories (mostly written in verse, although some are in prose) are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at an inn on their return.
Storytelling is a way of sharing and interpreting experiences and are universal, insofar as they involve the sames basic tenets - hero + goal - baddie = story.
According to Wikipedia;
But where does this leave us in 2014 when technology means that we can be told stories 24/7? Well, StoryCorps has come up with a great way of combining oral storytelling and video imaging. And I think it hits the nail right on the head;
Why there have only been 370,000 views at the time of this going live, I do not know, but what a story and what a great vehicle for telling it.
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
Storytelling is a way of sharing and interpreting experiences and are universal, insofar as they involve the sames basic tenets - hero + goal - baddie = story.
 |
| English: The Boyhood of Raleigh, 1871 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
 |
| Sketch of "The Story of the Bunyip", an Aborigine telling the story to two European children (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
According to Wikipedia;
Human knowledge is based on stories and the human brain consists of cognitive machinery necessary to understand, remember, and tell stories. Humans are storytelling organisms that both individually and socially, lead storied lives. Stories mirror human thought as humans think in narrative structures and most often remember facts in story form. Facts can be understood as smaller versions of a larger story, thus storytelling can supplement analytical thinking. Because storytelling requires auditory and visual senses from listeners, one can learn to organize their mental representation of a story, recognize structure of language, and express his or her thoughts.So there you go. Man was made for stories, and stories were made for man.
But where does this leave us in 2014 when technology means that we can be told stories 24/7? Well, StoryCorps has come up with a great way of combining oral storytelling and video imaging. And I think it hits the nail right on the head;
Why there have only been 370,000 views at the time of this going live, I do not know, but what a story and what a great vehicle for telling it.
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Playing Catch Up
Since I last blogged a few fun things have happened:
Pomplamoose released their interpretation of James Brown's 'I Feel Good', which is pretty awesome, with an even more stunning video.
My favourite April Fool's joke did the rounds - and with 26 million views, I guess I'm not alone in liking it!
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
Pomplamoose released their interpretation of James Brown's 'I Feel Good', which is pretty awesome, with an even more stunning video.
My favourite April Fool's joke did the rounds - and with 26 million views, I guess I'm not alone in liking it!
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
The 1st of April, part 3
So far we have seen Airbnb create an offshoot - Aibrb, seen the Queen rock-climbing the White Cliffs of Dover, and we have 'The Others', what else is happening today, the 1st of April:
1. What happens if Scotland secedes from the UK?
4. Tech site Pocket-lint have clearly given some thought to the biggest problem with Google Glass - it just makes you look daft. With merely a tinge of creepiness, they announce the Google Glass Solo, all the fun of Google Glass, but in a monocle.
5.Piers Morgan is to take up a media-consulting role for the Liberal Democrats ahead of the next general election, according to a senior party figure.
6. Huffington Post UK's 2014 April Fools' joke is an apocalyptic, frighteningly possible vision of the Lib Dems' future.
7. Square eggs being laid in Suffolk
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
1. What happens if Scotland secedes from the UK?
2. As a result of regulatory pressure, the Choir of King's College Cambridge is to stop using boy trebles, it was announced today.
The high voices in the choir have been provided by boys for more than five centuries. In future, high vocal parts will be performed by altos breathing helium.
3. Who will replace The Queen on the pound coin if Scotland secedes?
5.Piers Morgan is to take up a media-consulting role for the Liberal Democrats ahead of the next general election, according to a senior party figure.
6. Huffington Post UK's 2014 April Fools' joke is an apocalyptic, frighteningly possible vision of the Lib Dems' future.
7. Square eggs being laid in Suffolk
8. Golden eggs laid in Devon
9. And Amazon, oh Amazon, when it turned out that the drone delivery dream had died, you came up with this, the newer, older Kindle.
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
The 1st of April
As its the 1st of April, here is the funniest April Fool's joke I could find.
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
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| Airbnb logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Jumblerant
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Now Why Didn't Anyone Think of That Before?
In the past I have waxed poetic about Sugru and how it is changing the world, one small step at a time. In the post I mentioned how, and showed the video of, an electric wheelchair being personalised for a young lady with an atrophic disease.
Taking that concept a step back, an ingenious Professor, James Galloway of the University of Delaware, has come up with a cheap and cheerful way to help all manner of disabled children, around the world:
Props to this man - and feel free to spread the word.
Hopefully we can help change kids lives for the better.
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
Taking that concept a step back, an ingenious Professor, James Galloway of the University of Delaware, has come up with a cheap and cheerful way to help all manner of disabled children, around the world:
Props to this man - and feel free to spread the word.
Hopefully we can help change kids lives for the better.
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Colourful Semitism
Antisemitism is on the rise. Whether it is from the rocks and firebombs thrown in the Caucuses, the salutes of French comedians and soccer players or the ink from newspapers, it is all against the Jews.
No-one is surprised. There are no cries of 'leave the Jews alone'. I've written about it before here and here. That's fine. That's why Israel exists, you know like all other religions have their own country because they've been the recipients of hatred so much, like the Christians who have....sorry. The Muslims have...
Anyhoo, I was reading a few articles about the rise of antisemitism from such august bodies as The Guardian, The BBC, The New Statesman, The Jerusalem Post and of course, The Times of Israel and realized that if only the Jews had followed the more colorful of their ancestors, maybe the hatred wouldn't be so fanatical?
Over at Buzzfeed they have some great photographs of Russia in the early 20th Century from the Library of Congress, and I found this amazing image that would have made antisemitism nothing if not more colourful!
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
 |
| Image of New Statesman Cover from wikipedia commons (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Anyhoo, I was reading a few articles about the rise of antisemitism from such august bodies as The Guardian, The BBC, The New Statesman, The Jerusalem Post and of course, The Times of Israel and realized that if only the Jews had followed the more colorful of their ancestors, maybe the hatred wouldn't be so fanatical?
Over at Buzzfeed they have some great photographs of Russia in the early 20th Century from the Library of Congress, and I found this amazing image that would have made antisemitism nothing if not more colourful!
kthanxbai!
Jumblerant
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