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« Previous EntriesAnalysis of climategate emails
Monday, January 18th, 2010I have always been sceptical about the more extreme claims of the Global Warming True Believers. However, despite news media and left wing politicians using the climate change issue to bludgeon the economy, I really had believed the underlying science.
However, many people saw the climategate emails as proof that the science had been manipulated. [...]
Les Paul, NOT the inventor of the electric guitar
Sunday, August 16th, 2009Almost all the reports of the death of American electric guitar pioneer Les Paul, give the impression he was single-handedly responsible for the creation of the solid-body electric guitar that made rock and roll possible. It’s as if Adolph Rickenbacker, Paul Bigsby, Merle Travis or Leo Fender never existed.
The Electric Guitar was not invented, rather [...]
Apollo 11 Apollo Guidance Computer
Monday, July 27th, 2009I came across an article on how someone built a copy of the 1964 prototype of the Apollo Guidance Computer (or AGC). It’s hard to compare these, which had a clock speed of 1.024 MHz (that was internal – the external signaling was half that), to modern desktop / laptops with speeds of [...]
Share on FriendFeed Tweet ThisApollo 11 and the Laser Ranging Retroreflector
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009Do a google search on lunar landing hoax and you get thousands of hits. Some claiming the landings were faked, some refuting these ‘hoax’ claims. One thing I’ve never seen mentioned on the hoax sites is the experimentation packages left behind.
The official goal of Apollo 11 was simply to land men on the [...]
Apollo 11 Source Code on GoogleCode
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009The Google Code guys have been busy getting some of the source code for the Apollo 11 spacecraft online.
On this day 40 years ago, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon. This was quite an achievement for mankind and a key milestone in world history.
To commemorate this event [...]
Celebrating 30 years of mainframe support
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009You may know that CSC hit the big 50 this year. A local 30 year milestone has been reached as well.
In 1978 the Port Kembla steelworks (then called Australian Iron and Steel or AIS, now owned by Bluescope Steel and supported by CSC Asustralia) received a water cooled IBM 3032 mainframe with [...]
Gen Y: Slackers or Looking for Mentors ??
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009According to AccountancyAge, there is a new breed of employees who job hop and are unwilling to volunteer:
Generation Y also have little job loyalty.
….
‘There can be a sense of “I am better than that” or, somehow, what you asking is beneath them. …. They don’t volunteer, or the ones that do really stand out,’ complains [...]
ACMA blacklist leaked online
Thursday, March 19th, 2009Too many people knew of the existence of the blacklist. Too many people had motives to see it leaked. Of course, MEGAUPLOAD text file of the ACMA blacklist.
By the way, there are serious issues at stake here.
There is a also PDF version of the ACMA blacklist at whatsup.
Update:
Update of Australian government secret ACMA internet [...]
Alan Kay Computing History Overview
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009This is a great historical overview of the computer. Quite long video, but worth watching the first hour, with Alan showing how most ‘modern’ computing ideas had been invented and tested in labs in the 60s. Via the
Share on FriendFeed Tweet ThisWhat DO Economists Agree on ?
Friday, February 20th, 2009In chapter two of his first year economics textbook, economist Greg Mankiw includes a table of propositions to which most economists subscribe, based on various polls of the profession. Below is the list, together with the percentage of economists who agree:
A ceiling on rents reduces the quantity and quality of housing available. (93%)
Tariffs and import [...]