Friday 23 November 2007
Tuesday 13 November 2007
Smoke from Warehouse fire in Stratford east London as seen from centralLondon
Smoke from Warehouse fire in Stratford east London as seen from central London
Originally uploaded by Fred Dawson
This shot was published on an online news site at
Saturday 10 November 2007
Bulters Wharf by Tower Bridge on the Thames, taken just before sunrise
Bulters Wharf by Tower Bridge on the Thames, taken just before sunrise
Originally uploaded by Fred Dawson
My first proper attempt at high dynamic range photography using Photomatrix. Thiswas taken just before sunrise using a single image. I like to think it has come out quite well
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=38339
Friday 9 November 2007
Tornado Strikes in Surrey
Tornado Strikes in Surrey
Yesterday a squall line passed through accompanied by some very strong winds.
A small tornado caused damage to our roof ripping off about 7 ridge tiles which were through about 20 feet across the roof into the road in front of the house. The sudden change in air pressure threw the loft hatch up into the loft. Besides this, damage was caused to garden fences and chairs etc.
A rare and very local event fortunately no one hurt.
Saturday 3 November 2007
Do you take this sexbot...?
David Levy deserves to be taken seriously. However some of you may find this statement from his new book Love and Sex with Robots a bit of a challenge:
"I expect marriage with robots to be legalized in some countries by the middle of this century."He says that in a few decades, artificial intelligence will be so sophisticated that physical and emotional intimacy between robots and humans will become the norm. And he's convinced they'll make great lovers. More importantly, he predicts couples will be able to improve their relationships by honing their love-making skills on robots. Seriously.
"I expect marriage with robots to be legalized in some countries by the middle of this century."He says that in a few decades, artificial intelligence will be so sophisticated that physical and emotional intimacy between robots and humans will become the norm. And he's convinced they'll make great lovers. More importantly, he predicts couples will be able to improve their relationships by honing their love-making skills on robots. Seriously.
Thursday 1 November 2007
PC Purtians to abolish Christmas
Christmas should be 'downgraded' to help race relations says Labour think tank
Christmas should be downgraded in favour of festivals from other religions to improve race relations, says an explosive report.
Labour's favourite think-tank says that because it would be hard to "expunge" Christmas from the national calendar, 'even-handedness' means public organisations must start giving other religions equal footing.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23418970-details/Christmas+should+be+%27downgraded%27+to+help+race+relations+says+Labour+think+tank/article.do
I dont think this will be a vote winner, but we could all, save a lot of money that we would otherwise spend on useless presents and too much food
Just for the record Christmas has been banned before, when Oliver Cromwell Banned Christmas
When Oliver Cromwell established the Protectorate in England in 1653, it was a much a religious revolution as it was political. Cromwell and the victorious Parliamentarians belonged to the protestant religous sect known as the Puritans.The Puritans were so named becuase of their attempts to "purify" the Christian church by adopting more basic forms of worship. And among their chief targets was anything that could be tied to the practices of the Roman Catholic Church -- and, by extension the Anglican, or Church of England.Including the celebration of Christmas.Driven by Puritan notions of religious purity, in 1647 Parliament banned the celebration of Christmas. Gone were such pagan ideas as Christmas Trees, feasting, caroling, and decorations (and, indeed, they were borrowed from Pagan winter celebrations) . Nativity scenes were banned as the worship of idols. Indeed, even the word Christmas was frowned upon as taking the Lord's name in vain.One thing that the Puritans objected to in particular was the idea of Wassailing, in which the underclass would go from house to house, begging for treats in exchange for drinking a toast to the family. The drink, wassail, was a hot spiced wine. The result of the wassailing sometimes was an out of control drunken revelry, which is why the Puritans objected so strenuously.The ban was lifted in 1660, after Cromwell was ousted. But the Puritans were not the first to discourage Christmas celebrations. In 1583, the Scotch Presybterians decided that there were no bibical foundations for a Christmas celebration. Christmas remained a normal working day for Scots until 1958.The anti-Christmas movement made its appearance in the New World when the Pilgrims (known then as the Separatists) banned Christmas celebrations in 1659. They, too, thought that it had too many pagan overtones. It also apparently reminded them of the Church of England, which they had left behind.The ban in Massachusetts lasted for 22 years.Today, Christmas celebrations still are banned by some religious groups, including the Jehovah's Witnesses.
Baa humbug :-)
Christmas should be downgraded in favour of festivals from other religions to improve race relations, says an explosive report.
Labour's favourite think-tank says that because it would be hard to "expunge" Christmas from the national calendar, 'even-handedness' means public organisations must start giving other religions equal footing.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23418970-details/Christmas+should+be+%27downgraded%27+to+help+race+relations+says+Labour+think+tank/article.do
I dont think this will be a vote winner, but we could all, save a lot of money that we would otherwise spend on useless presents and too much food
Just for the record Christmas has been banned before, when Oliver Cromwell Banned Christmas
When Oliver Cromwell established the Protectorate in England in 1653, it was a much a religious revolution as it was political. Cromwell and the victorious Parliamentarians belonged to the protestant religous sect known as the Puritans.The Puritans were so named becuase of their attempts to "purify" the Christian church by adopting more basic forms of worship. And among their chief targets was anything that could be tied to the practices of the Roman Catholic Church -- and, by extension the Anglican, or Church of England.Including the celebration of Christmas.Driven by Puritan notions of religious purity, in 1647 Parliament banned the celebration of Christmas. Gone were such pagan ideas as Christmas Trees, feasting, caroling, and decorations (and, indeed, they were borrowed from Pagan winter celebrations) . Nativity scenes were banned as the worship of idols. Indeed, even the word Christmas was frowned upon as taking the Lord's name in vain.One thing that the Puritans objected to in particular was the idea of Wassailing, in which the underclass would go from house to house, begging for treats in exchange for drinking a toast to the family. The drink, wassail, was a hot spiced wine. The result of the wassailing sometimes was an out of control drunken revelry, which is why the Puritans objected so strenuously.The ban was lifted in 1660, after Cromwell was ousted. But the Puritans were not the first to discourage Christmas celebrations. In 1583, the Scotch Presybterians decided that there were no bibical foundations for a Christmas celebration. Christmas remained a normal working day for Scots until 1958.The anti-Christmas movement made its appearance in the New World when the Pilgrims (known then as the Separatists) banned Christmas celebrations in 1659. They, too, thought that it had too many pagan overtones. It also apparently reminded them of the Church of England, which they had left behind.The ban in Massachusetts lasted for 22 years.Today, Christmas celebrations still are banned by some religious groups, including the Jehovah's Witnesses.
Baa humbug :-)
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