Author: richard

The National Audit Office has reported on UK Space activities. The glossy executive summary talks of the need for a “more consistent approach to the analysis of the risks”.

Meanwhile, the story that B2 may have been spotted on Mars is dismissed by CP as noise in the image. The current theory is that B2 was going too fast when it hit the thinner than expected Martian atmosphere. Another avenue of investigation is an anomaly in an image of B2 as it separated from Mars Express. “The bright object and the glint on the side of Beagle 2 may be nothing, they may be everything”.

And the hunt for Beagle 1 has focused on 8ft of mud in the Essex marshes. “For the latter part of its life, the Beagle lived modestly as a coastguard watch vessel in Essex to combat gangs of smugglers in the Southend Coastguard District”.

Great news: There are plans to relaunch B2 in 2007. Bad news for the guy who registered beagle3.com on Christmas day: the project will keep the B2 name.

It seems I’m part of the Beagle generation: Britons who back greater investment in space research.

Ooh, Ray’s joined a new band: loopjoy. I guess he must have answered this ad, but I don’t know for sure.

Since buying a Mac
back in July I’ve become
everything I swore I’d never become: a Mac bore,
banging on about Mac this and Mac that, and how all Windows
users are wasting their lives. I don’t know how
this happened. I suppose I’m just more
optimistic when I use a Mac. Or maybe I’m a sucker for the marketing.
Either way, things seem better. Anyway…a
couple of days ago my Mac died on me: hardware
problems, and it’s heading back to the mother ship to get
some of that crashed saucer
technology
refitted. So “up to seven working days” of life back
in the Windows world for me. It’s not a shock, it’s just… harder.
Windows does pretty much all the same things, but in a more complicated, gets-in-the-way, kind
of style. There are a zillion dull tiny details, but they add
up to quite a different experience.
Ok, there I go again. So, time for a late new year’s resolution: don’t mention
how great Apple machines are ever again. Let’s see how long that lasts…

”
When I saw this headline I thought “oh dear…”, but that was
before I read that the West Pier is going to be removed. Yet, it seems there is still hope for saving the pier.”

Random fact #57: Marisa tells me that my birthday is easy to remember for her because it’s the same day as Girl’s Day in Japan. No, I won’t be requiring any dolls for my birthday this year, thanks.

To add to my usual Starbucks, Costa or Neros fix, I now have a little Moka pot at home (thanks to Jane). Time to learn
“How Espresso Works”.

”

Well done to Jeremy and Andy for braving the
Brighton sea on Christmas morning.
We watched the crazy folk going in
last year, on what was an unusually
warm day, and Jeremy said he thought he’d give it a go in 2003.

I think Andy was talked or bullied into it
the night before, but I may be wrong.
I assumed he was joking about going in wearing the Santa costume.

Once fortified with mulled wine, they dived in and
did the required full submersion and at least five strokes — this
being Kirsty’s definition of the minimum needed
to qualify as “going for a swim on Christmas morning”. This all
happened to be before the official Christmas day swimmers
got going, thereby inadvertently grabbing the attention
of the crowd on the beach, including the press.

”

”

Update – more photos are now available here.

“Ladbrokes, the bookmaker, has cut its odds of finding life on Mars from 33-1 to 25-1”. Good luck Beagle 2! It seems that getting to Mars successfully is, historically, a 50:50 chance. We’ll know if Beagle 2 made it to the surface when we wake up on Christmas day.

”

I was walking back from a meeting the other day, possibly along St Nicholas Road in Brighton, and
a fair number of the houses had gone to the trouble to turn their front windows
into a Christmas scene. No idea if it’s organized or spontaneous, a one-off or annual, but it
a fun to stumble upon these things. Hmm… St Nicholas Rd/Saint Nicholas… it all makes sense, assuming
I’ve got the street name right.

”

Too many “you may have won a luxury fitted kitchen” calls. We’ve signed up with TPS, and I hope it works…