Arts
Pumpkin time
By now, you will doubtless have figured out that I have a very keen interest in glass, so while we were visiting the lovely Northeast of England for a few days recently, we took the [more…]
Technology
Computing
The Pocket Calculator
Introduction Some of you may know that the Doc has been ill after falling off of a ladder. A very bad accident and I was lucky not to break anything (other than my confidence at [more…]
19th Century
The Rise and Fall of the Needle Gun 1841-1874
The Needle Gun Every once in a while in all fields of engineering there comes along an innovation that so revolutionises the existing technology that it makes long accepted ways of doing things obsolete and [more…]
Business
“Real innovation and progress happen beyond Big Tech”, Part Two
Claudio Grass (CG): A lot people still consider it safer to go with a huge, established corporation, thinking these solutions would be more reliable and robust, especially for business applications. What is your take on [more…]
Business
“Real innovation and progress happen beyond Big Tech”, Part One
Those who know me and who have read my writings before will be very well aware of how important the topic of decentralization is to me and to my way of looking at the world, [more…]
20th Century
Erich Bachem – an engineer years ahead of his time (i)
Introduction In common with many boys who like me were fortunate enough to grow up in the 1950s and 1960s, I spent much of my spare time building and flying Keil Kraft balsawood & tissue [more…]
20th Century
The Board Now Departing
The truck now leaving a back lane behind your local railway station may well be removing the mangled remains of a giant departure board. Why so? Because they’re being replaced, and by creatures not even [more…]
Engineering
Imperial Measures
I am one of those fortunate people who understand both metric and imperial measurements. I am old enough to have had my early education purely in imperial but as an apprentice my college courses employed [more…]
Science
Ukraine’s Javelin, NLAW and TB-2
Javelin Javelin is an infrared (ie heat-seeking) guided anti-tank missile system. A previous generation of anti-tank missiles were wire-guided via a ‘semi-automatic command to line of sight’ (or SACLOS) system where the operator had to [more…]