Posts by David Haywood

Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First

  • Southerly: For Those in Need of Sleep,

    Deborah wrote:

    It passes. It all passes.

    I certainly hope it does! All ages may be good ages, but I am not so keen on the age of screaming and projectile-defecation. Although, it has to be said, what a shame we can't compare your child's projectile-vomiting with Bob-the-baby's projectile-defecation. During nappy change last night he managed a magnificent fountain right across the room. The spray of diarrhoea was eventually halted by our wallpaper and chest of drawers, but it was still climbing, and I reckon it could have made at least 3 or 4 metres uninhibited. It was like something from The Exorcist.

    rodgerd wrote:

    ... enjoy the now.

    Dude, we'll do our best... (but see above)

    Andrew Stevenson:

    Thank for the sensible suggestions RE: toys, Andrew -- I shall keep that firmly in mind...

    Tony Kennedy wrote:

    It an elephant disguised as a mouse.

    Have you special psychic powers -- or are you just familiar with the programme's more surreal moments?

    RE: the important question of Die Maus vs. Das Kaninchen

    Okay, I wasn't suggesting it was an naturalistic representation of a rabbit (__Kaninchen__). More of a stylized rabbit with, admittedly, some mouse-like qualities. All I can say is that it was eating a carrot in the programme that I saw (see my original blog on the topic) and if that isn't enough proof for you than I pity your lack of deductive capacity. Clearly, two + two = Rabbit, in this case.

    Final note:

    Hey, isn't anyone else stunned by the Ayres & Warr paper? Isn't it remarkable that:

    ... "Technical progress" -- as defined by the Solow residual -- is almost entirely explained by historical improvements in exergy conversion (to physical work)... at least until recent times.

    It seems to me that this has profound implications for our economy, i.e. that we can achieve significant economic growth by investing in technology that has a higher exergy conversion efficiency -- something that there is massive scope for in this country. It also raises the question as to whether economic growth, etc. could be managed by controlling the flow of energy within the economy, e.g. by having something like an 'energy reserve bank'.

    Is anyone else even slightly interested in this?

    P.S. 'Oedipus wrecks' is pretty close to genius, Stephen.

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report Reply

  • Speaker: I Lost My Arms in Bootcamp,

    A very funny and oddly touching post, Anke. I trust you've made a full recovery from your Boot Camp trauma.

    Happily, I can reassure you that... cough... there are a few slothful and bookish New Zealanders out there.

    Actually, I am a great believer that most forms of physical fitness are unnecessary. In my medical opinion (and I should point out that I am a doctor), if your liver is fully exercised -- for example, by the daily consumption of a few pints over a good novel -- then the rest of your body will follow.

    I'm writing a book on this subject called 'Drink Yourself Fit'. Copies can be pre-ordered through Southerly...

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report Reply

  • Southerly: A Slow Journey and a Quick Arrival,

    Thank you one and all for your kind messages. It's very nice to know that people have been thinking of us...

    In no particular order:

    Haydn:

    Congratulations on winning the naming competition. We do, in fact, refer to him as Bob-the-baby (which is, obviously, a shortened form of Bob-ther-baby).

    Russell Brown:

    Your 'Cropwell Bishop Shropshire' explanation of Jennifer's cheese dream sounds plausible -- and yet, perhaps, a little too glib and rehearsed. But nevertheless, regardless of my suspicions, Jennifer tells me she'll take the cheese.

    P.S. I am highly touched that you were able to detect my "basic goodness" even in a post in which I profess a strong urge to punch you on the nose.

    Emma Hart:

    I'm afraid young Bob could almost certainly beat me at chess even now. I'm completely hopeless at all those sorts of games -- all I keep thinking is: "I could write a computer program to do this and save myself the effort of remembering all these rules".

    Paul Brislen:

    Jennifer is now highly jealous of the 'missile launch buttons' in the Auckland hospital lifts. In fact, she says she'll have our next baby up in Auckland -- just for the possibility of being able to give those buttons a try.

    Jolisa Gracewood:

    Thank you for your timely warning. I shall avoid any mustard-like food groups until Bob is out of nappies.

    Zippy Gonzales

    Oh, you North Islander, you... here is the definition from the Oxford New Zealand Dictionary:

    lux verb [from the proprietary name Electro__lux__ a brand of vacuum cleaner.] To clean by vacuum cleaner. Occs. As a noun, a vacuum cleaner.

    Weirdly, the first example given by the ONZD is from Roger Hall's play 'Prisoners of Mother England' (1980) "... refused to lux the venetians". Maybe a refusal to lux venetian blinds is widespread -- thus leading to Carl's entrepreneurial business activities.

    Having said that, I think I prefer Robyn Gallagher's explanation. How lovely for the Venetians to be singled out for illumination whenever they visit Christchurch.

    Apologies for not replying in greater detail -- but feeding, nappies, and bath-time beckon...

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report Reply

  • Speaker: The fat of executed dissidents,

    Wow.

    Everything finally makes sense.

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report Reply

  • Speaker: So farewell then, Tony Blair,

    Simon Pound wrote:

    bloody nice writing.

    Hear, hear. Lovely job, Joseph -- great to read such nice prose.

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report Reply

  • Southerly: New Zealand Biofuels, Part 2,

    Yeah Andrew, you're talking crap about doing energy cost calculations on a per joule basis. It doesn't matter how much energy actually costs, it only matters how much the litres will cost you.

    That's why water is such a good fuel -- the litres cost you hardly anything!

    [**insider outsider**: to put it another way, you may think you're buying your energy on a per litre basis -- but that's only because volume is a convenient way of measuring energy in a liquid fuel such as petrol. However, this doesn't hold up when you're doing a cost comparison of fuels of different volumetric energy densities. In this case, it makes sense to consider $/Joule not $/litre. So it would be completely silly if Scion et al were doing their cost comparisons on a per litre basis -- that's why they don't talk about "fuel economy" (i.e. litres per 100 km travelled). It's not a conspiracy of silence, as you seem to be implying!]

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report Reply

  • Southerly: New Zealand Biofuels, Part 2,

    Apparently I'm still at my computer tonight...

    Andrew Stevenson wrote:

    It seems a bit early to be saying we can use wood based ethanol to replace tranport hydrocarbons when they have not got wood based ethanol working yet...

    Just to clarify, I certainly wasn't saying that. To quote my conclusion:

    While it's perhaps a little too early to declare 'mission accomplished' on the transport energy front...

    It's my understanding that the Diversa process works fine to produce ethanol -- but it's the cost of the enzymes that's the problem. Scion believes that this can eventually be significantly reduced in a mass production context.

    insider outsider wrote:

    Of course they don’t mention the 30% lower fuel economy of ethanol (funny that)...

    I think you're a little confused here. It's only a lower "fuel economy" on a volumetric basis -- and that's because ethanol's volumetric energy density is only about 2/3rds that of petrol. The ratio of work output to chemical potential energy (i.e. the efficiency) is still approximately the same for ethanol as for petrol when used in an internal combustion engine.

    The reason that Scion, etc. don't make a big deal of the difference in volumetric energy density is because they do their cost calculations on a per joule basis, not a per litre basis -- which is entirely sensible.

    With respect to long-term subsidies: I think everyone agrees that in an agricultural country like NZ we simply can't afford to subsidize agriculture. Biofuels (on a meaningful scale) will sink or swim on their cost-effectiveness. This is obviously dependent on the manufacturing cost of the biofuel, but also the cost of the fossil fuel competitors, and any carbon tax (or similar) that may be applied to fossil fuels. I suspect a lot of biofuels people are expecting both rising oil prices and carbon levies. And they might be right.

    I'd guess that the Minister of Energy is expecting the same thing, and wants to encourage biofuel development in NZ on this basis.

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report Reply

  • Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra,

    For those of you in need of cheering up, nothing does the trick like an International Ukulele Orchestra. And, if you look closely, you might even spot the sister of a certain Public Address blogger.

    For more cheerful ukulele playing you can't go past the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. Their version of Wuthering Heights is pretty amazing. But this song is one of the most extraordinary musical interpretations in human history.

    And while you're at it, why not re-live the Kate Bush original of Wuthering Heights? No matter how long you live, you will probably never do anything as embarrassing as Kate Bush's dancing. You begin to see why Heathcliff might not be coming home.

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report Reply

  • Southerly: New Zealand Biofuels, Part 2,

    Rich:

    Yes, I have done so (along with other scenarios). I don't have the figures to hand, but the conclusion is exactly as you would expect -- it's much better to burn the wood directly if you want to produce electricity.

    The point is, however, that NZ can't use unmodified wood to meet our energy requirements in our existing transport infrastructure. For that you have to convert the wood into something like bioethanol (conversion into biomethanol and biodiesel is also possible, of course).

    I'll be away from my computer for the next week or so -- but feel free to chat amongst yourselves...

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report Reply

  • PA Radio: Science Report -- Forensic Linguistics,

    How do the police really know that it's the murderer's voice in the mysterious phone message. Find out in this week's episode of Public Address Science...

    Further information:

    -- Dr Paul Foulkes's website.

    -- Read more about Forensic Linguistics at the University of York.

    -- Visit the Forensic Linguistics Casebook.

    This episode of Public Address Science was originally broadcast on Radio Live, 9th June 2007, 2 pm - 3 pm.

    Public Address Science dedicated RSS feed

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report Reply

Last ←Newer Page 1 99 100 101 102 103 115 Older→ First