Back online

Since the rebuild of the IDC server, my images have been off-blog, but now they're back in full features. Term has started and we have a nice new bunch of students to take through the year of study and research.

fivezero experience (part three)

Finally, I managed to invite the whole IDC++ for snacks and drinks in our house. Thanks! to all that enjoyed the evening. We’re still eating leftovers from the party, two days later. I enjoyed the evening immensely, including the opportunity to give a physics lecture in the kitchen.

fivezero experience (part two)

So this is it. It’s been a very intense day. The Amazing IDC really got me. I didn’t think it was possible to catch me off-hand like this, but they did. I was aware that there was The Mysterious Flash piece in progress (after walking into the lab and everybody standing around Ian’s desk pretending to whistle). The rest, I wasn’t prepared for.
As I had said before, my expectation was to keep on working and do the fivezero another day, so when the surprise happened, I found myself having very disparate feelings. The Working Man was very angry for getting his schedule wrecked, the Human Man was really wobbly, and in between those two my brain was trying to figure out what the hell to do. I guess I’ll live to see the photos.
I would just like to thank all the lunatics in the IDC asylum, the Masters students on the Insane Media course, and everybody else who made this day a – SURPRISE.

fivezero experience (part one)

I'm havingthe the fivezero experience. The clock just turned midnight and I'm officially 50. It's increadable! My brain still feels the same, my body is relatively OK. Do I feel wiser? Well, I've been feeling that for many years.
I just opened envelops and packages from my relatives. Great Stuff. At the end of the day, the prezzie from my brother's family is probably the best - a fully interactive weather station that can be hooked up to one of my PCs. It's the latest model, so they haven't even included installation instructioons! It's a real opportunity or the Olde hacker to get going and get it to work.

Oil, Life and Planet Earth

Last sunday, I filled my car with petrol. 110.9 cents per liter. Today, one week later, the petrol price is around 130 cents. It’s autumn in Ireland and eventually the temperature will drop and we’ll get winter. We’ll need oil (gas, turf, coal) for heating. Irish people drive here there and everywhere. “I’ll just go and get the Sunday newspapers”, drive for a few miles, get papers, and back. We are not understanding the real cost of our lifestyle. Some researchers (with whom I agree with) state that we have passed the peak in the oil economy and from now on we’re on the slippery slope. There are few new oil wells found, while demand is increasing exponentially, especially from India and China. My prediction is that by Christmas, oil prices will hit US$ 100 per barrel. At that point, we’ll have all the governments of the Coalition of the Willing declaring that oil should be reserved or prioritized for security purposes, i.e. for the military. When that happens, the citizens of the countries of the Coalition will either have to rely on public transport, bicycles, walking or horses and donkeys.
Another interesting fact is that the Alliance of the Willing who has joined George W. Bush in Iraq are also the countries with the worst (highest) deficit in Ecological Footprint, i.e. how much resources are used per capita in terms of usable space on the planet Earth.
We’re living in a time that’s more interconnected than anytime before in human history. We know when something happens at the other side of the planet within minutes (if we, or the news corporations so want to). We have the computing power to simulate what will happen if this or that decision is made. Humankind has never been so powerful before, having tools that allow us to predict or foresee the future, if we want to. Still, we neglect this, and keep on going in our old familiar ways.