New Bertrand Russell Wiki
May 31st, 2007Have recently been working on setting up a wiki covering topics related to the British philosopher Bertrand Russell. RussellWiki, as it is aptly named, is now up and running, under the auspices of the Bertrand Russell research group at McMaster University. Go check it out at http://russell.mcmaster.ca/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
More Loud Planes, This Time Russian
May 15th, 2007A few weeks back I posted an entry about the loudest aircraft of all time. The discussion centered on U.S. and British planes, though I briefly alluded to their Russian counterparts. As a sort of continuation of that post, I just thought I would post some stuff I have come across on Russian military planes. Firstly, this YouTube clip of Russia’s big three bombers, the Tupolev 160 (Blackjack), Tupolev 95 (Bear) and Tupolev 22M (Backfire). Also, this YouTube clip shows a Sukhoi 47, an experimental supersonic jet fighter with wings swept forward, making for a cool, technological design.
By the way, has anyone reading this post seen any Russian military aircraft live? I have, but only once, and that was a Sukhoi 27, back at an airshow in the early 90s.
Dream Theater News
May 14th, 2007The mighty Dream Theater are set to release their latest album in the coming weeks. Check out here for more information. I just went to Dream Theater’s MySpace space, and sampled a song from the latest album. Need to hear it a few more times, but things are already starting to look good.
Also, I came across yet another petition to get Dream Theater to tour Australia. Seeing this band is on my ‘To Do’ list, so them coming down to Australia would be one of the greatest pieces of news I could receive. Even if you aren’t a Dream Theater fan, I urge you to take out 2 minutes of your time and head here to demand that they play in Australia.
Simpsons Good For Your Health
April 29th, 2007The humor of “The Simpsons” can reduce the stigma sometimes attached to mental health issues, a psychiatry conference will hear next week.
read more | digg story
Sustainable Melbourne: Winners of the Premier’s Sustainability Awards 2007
April 28th, 2007The winners of the Premier’s Sustainability Awards were recently announced on the 18 April 2007. The Premier’s Sustainability Awards, hosted by Sustainability Victoria, recognises “Victorian businesses, communities and individuals that demonstrate outstanding leadership in creating a more sustainable Victoria, now and for the future”
read more | digg story
Wordpress Plugin: Wordpress vCard
April 19th, 2007Overview
With this Wordpress plugin, you can add your vCard details via the Wordpress administration area and then display a link to your vCard via a vCard icon.
2007 Angus & Robertson Top 100 Unveiled
April 17th, 2007In February I posted here about the 2007 Angus & Robertson Top 100 survey. The results have just been released and Ray Feist’s ‘Magician’ comes in at #9, one place up from its 2005 ranking.
Quite simply, Magician is one of the all-time classics (in general and particularly in fantasy), obtaining a great position purely on its strength and without intensive popular media exposure.
The full list can be seen here.
Wordpress Video Plugin
April 17th, 2007I have just installed a plugin that allows you to easily add flash videos from various video sites to post content. This post is a demonstration of the plugin, primarily for testing purposes.
[youtube veLGBk1mE5U]
Raymond Feist News
April 13th, 2007From the man himself, sent to the feistfans-l mailing list:
- Just to let you know, this morning I agreed in principle to a new contract with HarperCollins (Harper/Voyager in the UK; Avon/Eos in the US) for six more books, plus a special project to be discussed.
- This will end the Riftwar Cycle. Two books in the Demonwar Saga and three books in the Chaoswar Saga. The sixth book will most likely be the first in a new series set in an entirely new environment.
- The special project will in one fashion or another wrap up the Krondor series, but at this point exactly what will be done and how we’re doing it hasn’t been decided.
- In any event, this means I’m going to be writing a little longer and you’re going to have to put up with me for a few more years.
- Best, R.E.F.
Triskaidekaphobia and KitKats
April 7th, 2007The title of this post is no doubt odd, but I have just been eating a pack of KitKats and the quantity of the packet caught my attention. The fun pack contains 13 miniature KitKats and I found it peculiar that Nestle decided to make a 13 pack. Perhaps this is the premium number of miniature KitKats that fit in the packaging, but from a marketing perspective, this is not the best of choices. Although not really serious and probably negligible, it occurred to me that the choice of 13 might deter potential customers with Triskaidekaphobic tendencies 
