PenguinSix » United Kingdom

The history of “Keep Calm and Carry On”

Andrew — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 04:08:32 +0000

Fascinating little video here on the history of “Keep Calm and Carry On”, the iconic World War II poster that has been reprinted and parodied all over the world.

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London’s new Routemaster bus runs out of gas

Andrew — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:53:01 +0000

For those who don’t follow me on Google+, I’ve talked recently about the new buses that are to be introduced in London based on the iconic Routemaster designs. These new buses, built in Northern Ireland, will be placed into service over the new few months years and will bring a hint of the old style with a liberal dash of the new design. Personally I think it’s a beautiful looking bus.

The first bus was “introduced” to London the other day with Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, gallivanting all over town with it. Then they decided to take it back to the HQ and it ran out of gas.

I’m not mocking the new bus or the rollout, but bringing this up as an example of even the best laid plans sometimes fall apart. So many in the tech industry see a new product get launched and then go absolutely bat crazy bonkers when something doesn’t work immediately, on day one, the way it should work after three years of beta-testing. I’ve had to deal with this as well when creating some new product or site and having little bugs pop up unexpectedly that we didn’t have the time, money or staff to debug properly.

That’s kind of why whenever I see a major site like Google or Yahoo or CNN go “down” I take a screen capture of the page. Even they have problems now and then such that my own foibles don’t seem quite as bad.

Anyway, can’t wait to get to London and try out this new bus.

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The Scoops are Coming…I mean the Jankels.

Andrew — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 12:25:39 +0000

Not Yet in London

London and much of the UK is in a mess right now but help is on the way in the form of a really ugly but functional armored vehicle.

The Jankel is based on a Ford pickup truck but heavily modified to suit a variety of purposes. They also just look downright mean. They aren’t as functional as “The Scoops” from Soylent Green however, but I suspect they’ll be a number of these types of vehicles throughout London tonight. They were deployed in an area near Croydon last night and there is talk this evening of ‘baton rounds’ being used should circumstances warrant.

You can read more about the Jankel at their website or from other forums.

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Iceland volcanic ash map

Andrew — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:28:48 +0000

Did you know the UK has a Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, on constant duty to protect the skies from the threat of volcanic ash?

Well, they do. And those guys are working pretty long hours today to keep up with a volcanic eruption in Iceland which is causing havoc with European flights. Here is a good map to give you an idea of what is in store for Europe this weekend.

The French VAAC also issued an advisory, and we’ll see how far this plume goes over the next few days.

Interesting warning: Volcanic ash (by itself) is not poisonous, but inhaling it may cause problems for people whose respiratory system is already compromised by disorders such asasthma or emphysema. The abrasive texture can cause irritation and scratching of the surface of the eyes. People who wear contact lenses should wear glasses during an ashfall, to prevent eye damage.

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The Greatest Raid of All Time–St. Nazaire in 1942

Andrew — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:24:58 +0000

No, I haven’t heard of it either. I was flipping around Youtube watching some Top Gear clips when I happened to see a Jeremy Clarkson video of a documentary called “The Greatest Raid”. I started watching, and boy was I glad I did.

The Greatest Raid was essentially a suicide mission of British Commandos on the docks at St. Nazaire along the Atlantic coast of France in 1942. Designed to knock out a drydock facility for the German battleship Tirpitz the raid played an important role in ensuring the Atlantic convoys continued to feed England in the dark days following the Battle of Britain. Loaded aboard an old US destroyer and tiny patrol boats, the Commandos made their way up an estuary to the heavily defended docks.

It’s all up on Youtube, and it’s a pretty amazing story worth 45 minutes of your life.

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The Queen goes Swan Upping–what the heck is Swan Upping?

Andrew — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 11:12:13 +0000

So I signed up to receive Twitter alerts from the Queen and noticed that one of the things they’ll be doing shortly is going ‘Swan Upping‘ this week. Great, wtf is swan upping?

Apparently about 800 years ago the Monarchy declared ownership of all untagged Mute Swans on the Thames. Every year these Swan counters go up and down the river claim what is rightfully the property of her Majesty. Of course they no longer take them for dinner or funny hats, it’s more of a census that is used for environmental purposes.

This year the Queen will be joining the count, along with several school children. This is actually the first time she’s watched the census. Guess she was too busy.

Anyway, for those in England here is where you can see the count.

Monday, 20 July 2009
Eton Bridge to Cookham

Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Cookham to Marlow Lock

Wednesday, 22 July 2009
Marlow Bridge to Sonning Bridge

Thursday, 23 July 2009
Sonning-on-Thames to Moulsford

Friday, 24 July 2009
Moulsford to Abingdon Bridge

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Because I’m a Londoner

Andrew — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:31:18 +0000

Just watching this ad makes me want to go back. Soon…

The outtake made me laugh though.

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London Mayor nearly dies in bike / truck incident

Andrew — Sat, 23 May 2009 15:02:55 +0000

How random is this?

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Is everyone in Sweden a sex-crazed homicidal maniac? My thoughts on Wallander

Andrew — Mon, 11 May 2009 11:52:58 +0000

The Swedish Version

The British Remake

You might get that idea in the media. This month I finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which in Swedish was called Men who Hate Women Menn Som Hater Kvinner. It was about some murders of women…well I won’t spoil the plot other than to say sex and murder had a pretty big role.

Last night I watched the first episode of Wallander on Masterpiece Mystery. Wallander cop stories have been a staple of reading in Europe for the last decade, and a Swedish tv version has been around for nearly as long. The BBC took a shot at making some films and the result was pretty good, though it also dealt with the same weird sex / violent murder that seems to be particularly Swedish this month.

Wallander was pretty good. I suspect I’ll watch the next few episodes and maybe read a book or two (heck, without cable I don’t have much of a choice besides PBS). I don’t think I’ll be visiting Ikea anytime soon. Too much weird Swede stuff this month.

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Digging up the World War I dead

Andrew — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:46:00 +0000

The British military has commenced a recovery operation of British and Australian soldiers who fell in northern France but were never given a proper burial. The remains will be recovered, sorted and a proper individual military funeral will be given for all the fallen.

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