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Antony

Did You Know? (Part 6 – Technology)

By Technology, The WebNo Comments
did-you-know

Did You Know?

 This is the sixth and final in a series of Did You Know? blog posts. Each blog post gives fascinating facts on a particular topic. In part 1 the topic was science. In part 2 the topic was history. In part 3 the topic was geography. In part 4 the topics were art & music. In part 5 the topic was animals.

Today, I give you ten facts about Technology:

1. The first mobile phone call was made by Martin Cooper in 1973.

2. The first iPhone was released in the UK in 2007. Today there are more than 682m iPhones in the world.

3. Alan Turing is most well-known for being an excellent code-breaker in World War 2. He happened to be gay and was castrated by the UK state for his sexuality. But he also proposed founding theories about how to make computers work and computer science.

4. The World Wide Web (WWW) was invented by Sir Tim Berners-Lee in 1989. Today £1.7trillion is spent online in a year, 3m emails are sent every second (mostly SPAM) and there is countless amounts of data on the internet.

5. The X-ray was invented by Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen in 1895. The idea for the CT (Computed Tomography) scanner was first imagined by Godfrey Hounsfield in 1969. Hounsfield presented his idea to Dr. James Ambrose and they worked together to make his idea a reality. The MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanner was developed by a number of people. The X-ray, CT scanner and MRI scanner have all revolutionised medicine, by allowing doctors insight to what it going on in a patient’s body, without the need for invasive surgery.

6. Google deals with 1 billion searches a day.

7. Someone using a computer will blink 7 times a minute, rather than the normal 20 times a minute. This is because they are concentrating more on the screen.

8. Technology of Sci-Fi TV shows and films is now becoming a reality. For example, in Star Trek computers respond to verbal commands and its responses were relatively intelligent. Today we have Siri (Apple), Alexa (Amazon), Contina (Windows) and Android Voice Commands (Google/Android).

9. The operating system Linux is huge across servers, computers, tablets and smartphones. The chances are you use it without even realising. Linux is on every Android device, along with being on most serves (computers that host websites) in the world. Facebook, Google and Pinterest all run on Linux servers.

10. The people at Wired.com were the first to come up with banner advertisements, which are now used on most commercial websites.

Write soon,

Antony

References
Know Your Mobile – The History of Mobile Phones From 1973 To 2008: The Handsets That Made It ALL Happen
BBC News – Apple iPhone debuts in UK stores
{Life} Buzz – 25 Things You Didn’t Know About Technology… Almost No One Knows About #7.
Alan Turing: The Enigma
The Daily Beast – The Castration of Alan Turing, Britain’s Code-Breaking WWII Hero
Computer Hope – When was the first computer invented?
World Wide Web Foundation – History of the Web
Sunday Express – Top ten facts about…the internet
How Stuff Works – Science – Who invented the X-ray?
Eureka – When Hounsfield Met Ambrose, The Invention of Computed Tomography
Thought Co. – Magnetic Resonance Imaging MRI
Did you know? Technology fast facts
Techlila – 32 Computer Facts and Interesting Facts About Technology
The Guardian – Technology – Voice Recognition
WIRED – Linux Took Over The Web. Now, It’s Taking Over The World

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Monday 21 August 2017

A List of Things I’ve Done on a Week of Annual Leave

By Amazon, Books & Authors, Friends & Family, Games, Gay, Happiness & Joy, Health, Life2 Comments

I’ve just been off work for a week on much needed annual leave. I’ve had a great week off, the weather has been warm, but with intermittent sun and showers. Here’s a list of things I’ve done:

  • Had plenty of rest and relaxation – including some naps here and there.
  • Finished reading Carrie by Stephen King and reviewed it.
  • Attended Wigan Pride (gay pride event), organised by BYOU+. It was a great event which included: a parade led by the legendary Sir Ian Mckellen (better known to some as Gandalf or X-Men’s Magneto), a stage with local performers performing (also opened by Mckellen) and a marketplace of information stalls. BYOU+ and the residence of Wigan did Wigan proud and it is an event that I shall look forward to attending again in the future. Here are some photos from the day:
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Wigan Pride Parade (1)
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Wigan Pride Parade (2)
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Wigan Pride Parade (3)
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Wigan Pride Parade (4)
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Wigan Pride Parade (5)
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The closest I could get to Sir Ian Mckellen (under the rainbow brolly).
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Wigan Pride Main Stage
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Sir Ian Mckellen opening the main stage (1)
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Sir Ian Mckellen opening the main stage (2)

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A photo of a rainbow from my bedroom window.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Saturday 19 August 2017

Book Review: Forever is the Worst Long Time by Camille Pagan

By Amazon, Books & Authors, Reviews2 Comments
forever-is-the-worst-long-time-camille-pagan-book-cover
View on Amazon.co.uk
 Forever is the Worst Long Time by Camille Pagan is one man’s story of his life, his love and his loss.

James’ life is pretty ordinary until he meets Rob’s (his best friend) girlfriend Lou. James and Lou have an instant attraction.

The more James learns about Lou, the more fascinated he becomes and the more her wants to know. To James everything about Lou is perfect (even her imperfections) and he comes to love her.

Then James and Lou do the unthinkable and they set out on journey that is filled with love and loss.

The story is told from James’ perspective, his voice engaging and likeable, but is a little longwinded at times.

This first person perspective is good for the story, which is essentially about the ups and downs of his life set over seventeen years.

Use of this perspective made James’ voice, actions and motivations come across clearly. But for the same reason, left the reader feeling that other characters were lacking at times. Pagan could have improved the novel by switching to some of the other character’s perspectives.

The plot moved along at a reasonable pace. But because it was about James’ ordinary life, that mostly lacked anything extraordinary, it felt like not a lot happened. It also felt like reading a biography of someone who is a complete stranger and has done nothing to attract the reader’s interest.

The last few chapters are likely to elicit an emotional response from readers, which is a credit to Pagan’s writing.

The description and dialogue were excellent throughout. The idea was all right, but more thought and imagination could have been inputted into the story. I really wanted to like Forever is the Worst Long Time, but it just wasn’t for me. Perhaps because it was a story told by a mediocre main character.

Forever is the Worst Long Time is available to buy on Amazon and at all good book shops.

Review soon,

Antony

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Wednesday 16 August 2017

Book Review: Spellcraft for Hedge Witches by Rae Beth

By Amazon, Books & Authors, Paganism, ReviewsNo Comments
Spellcraft-for-Hedge-Witches-by-Rae-Beth-book-cover
View on Amazon.co.uk
 Spellcraft for Hedge Witches is a remarkable book about natural magic, spell craft and paganism by Rae Beth.

It is aimed at Hedge Witches (solitary practitioners) of all levels who are in need of healing for themselves or others.

Beth’s part-conversational and part-instructional writing style is engaging and informative.

Spellcraft for Hedge Witches covers all things natural magic including:

  • The basics: tools, visualisation, magic as energy, how to raise – intent – release energy and the importance of having a strong emotional resonance when spell casting.
  • Throughout brief mentions of the history of the Craft.
  • Magical Correspondence (along with why they’re important).
  • More advanced ways of working (nicely done as the book progresses so does the spell craft).
  • How to communicate and work with: the Fae, elemental spirits and the God/Goddess.

Here’s a list of spells in the book:
1. Spell to Heal Anything.
2. Chant for Power.
3. Spell to Banish Abuse from a Relationship.
4. Spell to Banish Humiliation.
5. Spell to Counter an Ill Wish.
6. Spell to Gain Psychic Protection.
7. Spell for Transforming Destructive Feelings.
8. Spell to Heal Psychological Trauma.
9. Spell for Justice.
10. Spell to Consecrate Your Life to a Chosen Purpose.
11. Spell to Gain the Right Home.

Dotted throughout Spellcraft for Hedge Witches are superb illustrations and purely on a visual front, these would have been even better if they had been in colour.

I’ve been pagan for well over a decade and still learned many things from Spellcraft for Hedge Witches. Beth also reminded more of many more things that I already knew, but had forgotten about. I found the ideas in this book inspiring.

Throughout Spellcraft for Hedge Witches Beth encourages the reader to be creative when spell casting and do what works for them. Beth truly is a wise-woman and this book is bursting with her wisdom.

I would highly recommend Spellcraft for Hedge Witches to any Witch, pagan or other follower of an earth-based religion. I bought it from The Goddess and the Green Man shop on a recent trip Glastonbury (read about it and see photos by clicking this link). It is available to buy on Amazon.

Review soon,

Antony



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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Tuesday 15 August 2017
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