The House of Flying Software

Secrets of the ultimate car

2009-10-09T10:25:00.002+01:00

Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, commissioned Kirkham Motorsports build the ultimate, cost is no object, roadster.The result is this car and you can see how it was built.This car looks lovely with a capital LOVE, I want one, not that I'm likely to be able afford it. The chassis and most of the hardware is milled out of billet aluminium and it looks incredible. The body is made from sheet aluminium

Cheep Cheep Cheep

2009-09-15T07:47:00.003+01:00

People who know me will know I like to check comparison websites in order to make sure I'm getting the best deal. My broadband provider is plusnet, they are pretty good value for money (the best I can get from my exchange) and their customer service is top notch, they have responded quickly to my queries and I don't hesitate to recommend them. Oh and they do my landline too. I also use

Wow

2009-09-10T08:31:00.001+01:00

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1137883380?bctid=21337502001 All I can say is 'wow'

What is 'Good' energy?

2009-08-27T13:05:00.002+01:00

What exactly is Good energy? is Wind better than Solar? Is Hydro ok? What about Nuclear or Carbon Capture and storage?Most forms of renewable energy are generally thought of as good and most fossil fuels are thought of as bad. Where does nuclear fall in this range? Atomic energy after all emits no C02 (at least during power generation) but it is not normally seen as all that safe. Is it suitable

At seat power?

2009-08-24T10:03:00.003+01:00

I read this blog whenever it is updated, he works for the mozilla foundation and is involved in Firefox - so he knows a bit about user interface design. I normally take what most people say with a pinch of salt, but this analysis of the A380 interface is very telling.Just to be clear - I have nothing to do with the design of this system.Link

How small is too small?

2009-08-11T08:11:00.002+01:00

Is it just me or are somethings just made too small, miniaturisation can give you some incredible looking pieces of work. Like this stove.I have long been a fan of the beverage can stove as it weighs next to nothing and works really well. This stove is so tiny it can be worn as a necklace, there isn't any detail about how long it will burn for but I don't care. it is worth it even if only for

When is French British?

2009-07-10T11:31:00.003+01:00

Team Green Britain is the new advertising campain launched by EDF energy. EDF stands for Électricité de France and is owned by the French government. Of the Big six energy providers they sit at the bottom of the green spending league. So ... not Green ... not BritishWhat is worse is that they have hijacked the logo of Ecotricity who are (as far as I can tell) one of the greenest energy providers

Microsoft Furniture

2009-07-07T08:47:00.003+01:00

A salesperson walks into your office today and tells you that you have to buy a new, pre-built, expensive desk for every one of your employees. You have to buy a new desk today and replace it every three to five years. Additionally, there are no options for the desk and you may not alter it in any way - one desk is all we make and you have to buy it from us. You see, you don’t really own the desk

Crazy theories

2009-07-06T10:13:00.003+01:00

Sometimes I read about geo-engineering ideas and I think, 'that sounds like a fantastic idea' assuming of course there is no unforseen side effect; other times I hear about a scheme that makes no sense at all. I have just read about an idea to reduce ocean acidification, which is absolutely bonkers. In essence the problem is this - too much Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere means more is absorbed

Mii Fit?

2009-06-12T08:43:00.002+01:00

I have previously posted about using my wii to try to get fit. I have to say it worked for a while - ok a very short while. My wife has just got a new mobile phone which came with a Wii Fit balance board, so far I have used it three days running (lets see how long I can keep it up).Link

Fix the economy?

2009-06-09T08:39:00.004+01:00

Any one think this is a good idea?Dear Mr. Darling,Please find below my suggestion for fixing Britain 's economy. Instead of giving billions of pounds to banks that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan :There are about 20 million people over 50 in the work force. - Pay them £1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following

Adverts

2009-05-26T11:01:00.002+01:00

Do you find yourself annoyed by them? Do you enjoy some of them? Do you ever click on web adverts? Or do you have some strategy for avoiding them? Adverts can often provide some much needed income to keep a website going (this isn't just a shameless ask - but if you see an advert that interests you and you click it I do get a (very very) small reward). Do you use tools like Adblock. Just trying

Specification

2009-05-26T09:01:00.002+01:00

What makes a species a species?Are dog breeds different species?There are many definitions of what kind of unit a species is (or should be). A common definition is that of a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring, and separated from other such groups with which interbreeding does not (normally) happen. Other definitions may focus on similarity of DNA or

Transformational truth

2009-04-30T11:22:00.006+01:00

The Rev. Canon Sally Bingham certainly knows about the environment and how that connects with spirituality. In her new book "Love God, Heal Earth : 21 Leading Religious Voices Speak Out on Our Sacred Duty to Protect the Environment" she has collected a great series of inspirational essays from Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist leaders that address the the moral responsibility we all have to

Unisex connector

2009-03-26T11:50:00.016Z

As well as being a software engineer I am a keen (strictly amateur) sound engineer for my church. We use XLR cables for a lot of stuff, microphones, amps, keyboards. I occasionally can't find quite the cable I'm looking for, would this solve some of my problems? I think it might. Of course the real question is how much it costs - there is no point shelling out twice as much money as for a 'normal

How secure is secure?

2009-03-19T09:41:00.002Z

Picture by: Ian Britton - FreeFoto.comFreeFotoFreeFotoComputersComputer Printed Circuit Board Network cable RJ45 Hard DiskTwo separate research teams, from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne and security consultancy Inverse Path have been studying the electromagentic emmisions of keyboards. Every time a computer keyboard is tapped, it produces a small radiative emmision. It turns out

>Click breaks the law

2009-03-13T07:57:00.003Z

A report due to be broadcast on the BBC News channel will demonstrate journalists breaking the law. The BBC News programme Click, which is "The BBC's Flagship technology programme" really should know better. In order to expose the risk of cyber crime, Click managed to acquire its own low-value botnet after visiting chatrooms on the internet.Click claim that "If this exercise had been done with

Even Fairer Trade

2009-03-04T14:49:00.001Z

According to the guardian website, "Britain's most popular chocolate bar, Dairy Milk, is to become Fairtrade certified in Britain and Ireland in a move that will double the amount of cocoa bought from smallholders in the developing world under the sustainable farming scheme.The decision - the highlight of Fairtrade Fortnight - will transform Fairtrade chocolate from a niche preference to a

Sculpting Nature

2009-03-03T08:11:00.002Z

I saw Alastair Heseltine’s art at Treehugger which is one of this sites I have in my RSS reader.Alastair is a Canadian sculptor plying his craft in the Pacific North West. He designs and photographs cool stuff relating to the environment. According to his website, Heseltine’s imagery is “guided by the inherent nature of material and by construction systems evolved through mindful observation and

I want one of these

2009-02-16T15:12:00.002Z

I have always wanted a lightsaber - those cheap plastic ones never really felt right. I even thought about making one on my Dad's lathe, a solid hefty peice of metal with a decent light source. now there is a place that you can order the bits from They don't look too pricy either. Most importantly they look really coolLink

Evolution leads us

2009-02-12T10:17:00.002Z

Today is Darwin's birthday, Let us celebrate by singing the Evolutionary Hymn. Wether you believe the theory or not this is an amusing song to the tune of Lead Us, Heavenly Father, Lead UsLead us, Evolution, lead usUp the future's endless stair;Chop us, change us, prod us, weed us.For stagnation is despair:Groping, guessing, yet progressing,Lead us nobody knows where.Wrong or justice, joy or

Max your life

2009-02-10T14:24:00.003Z

Do you want to live a light life? It just doesn't sit well with me.John 10:10 says “…I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Life shouldn’t be lived “light”. God gave us life that we might live it and enjoy it. Living life light is life without God, like diet coke, its pretty good, sometimes you can even mistake it for the original, but really, its not the real thing."I

Mission One EV - Mission Accomplished

2009-02-05T08:47:00.002Z

What do you get when you combine lithium-ion batteries with a high-performance electric motor and components straight from the racing circuit? Answer: The fastest production electric motorcycle in the world.Mission Motors has just revealed its all-electric sport bike it looks great and has great specs immediately by the sound of our jaws hitting the floor. After a couple of years of staying

Cusrory flying

2009-02-04T14:52:00.002Z

I have always enjoyed kites, big one small ones. You name it I like them. This kite is a really clever design, looks like it would be difficult to fly. Apparently it has Quad-line control, asymmetrical framing, stainless fittings, and opposed-bow tensioning for the sail. They come together to make this incredible kite look like it has been digitally pasted right into the sky. It isn't. Carefully

Logical delusion

2009-02-03T07:05:00.002Z

I don't want to steal this guys thunder as he explains this so well. Just click on the readlink and read it for yourself.He endevours to "show that atheism - i.e. the belief there is no, or cannot be, a God is an untenable position to hold, and self-contradictory."Link