Empire Total War 2016-12-30

The Maratha Confederacy unit has this annoying habit of appearing from nowhere to invade your regions, and this happened again when it decided to attack my Spanish region.  Luckily I had my army stationed in the fortress in Madrid.  After losing my first siege battle to them, I reloaded the save file and took them on again but this time using different tactics.  My failed tactic involved placing my troops on the walls which does not work well when the enemy has artillery of any sort even light cannons.  The destruction of the walls led to the destruction of army units and once the artillery was done the Indian infantry moved in to destroy my remaining troops.

On my second attempt, I placed my army on the ground inside the walls and placed my cannons at the points where the cannons were likely to breach the walls.  My infantry would be placed behind my cannons.  Sure enough the Indian artillery created breaches but failed to kill any of my soldiers.  However, when the Maratha infantry attacked the fortifications they were mown down by cannon and gunfire. Although I won, my army still suffered a 35% casualty rate, this was victory Stalingrad style.

George Michael and Carrie Fisher

Right up to the end, 2016 is taking its toll on the famous and in particular my childhood heroes.  The last few days has seen the passing of first George Michael and later Carrie Fisher.  As a primary school pupil I remember Wham bursting on the scene and even then I saw great talent and personality in him.  As expected George went on to bigger and better things.  This is how I remember him best.

As for Carrie Fisher, like most people I remember her best for being Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise.

These two legends are at one with the force and will not wake up before I go go.

Rick Parfitt

I woke to hear the sad news that Rick Parfitt of Status Quo passed away at the age of 68. In a year which saw the passing of many of my childhood heroes Bowie, Prince and Ronnie Corbett in particular, God seems to be assembling an entertainment troupe upstairs.  Merry Christmas to everyone and Rick, rest in peace and thanks for the memories.

Empire Total War 2016-12-14

My Grand Campaign has now reached year 1782, it is still a challenge and I still enjoy the game despite work and home priorities have often kept me away from playing it.  Conquering more regions does not translate into greater tax revenue.  In fact it brings in more costs such as construction projects, replenishment of armies, and also the cost of putting done rebellions that always occur early on.  The trick is find the right balance without over-stretching resources, on that note the Total War franchise has mapped historical realities very well.  The only immediate gain from capturing regions is that you can have a quick technological advance by capturing universities.

Simon Singh: the Code book

I have just bought Simon Singh's "the code book: The Secret History of Codes and Code-breaking".  This was recommended to me on a Youtube video about Alan Turing and the breaking of the Nazi Enigma codes.

Darts Scoreboard virtual opponent app

I made this video a few days ago on a very useful darts app which provides a virtual opponent.

Enjoy!

Empire Total War 2016-11-17

Since the French faction has delcared war on me I have repaid the favour by besieging Paris.  In order to prevent the Maratha Confederacy from invading my Portugal region I sold it to the Huron-Wyandot native American faction. This means that Portugal is now occupied by native Americans whilst Spain is occupied by the Maratha Confederacy who successfully took it from me over the weekend.  ETW does come up with some strange scenarios.

Trump triumph and another fail for the left

If you wondered why it has been such a bad year politically for the left, check out this video blog from a leftwing blogger Jonathan Pie.

Empire total war 2016-11-11

I have been playing ETW now since July 2016 and I am still on my grand campaign as the British.  It is still a very addictive game, to an event that I have been neglecting my Sony PSP.  My British empire as it currently stands consists of :-

Europe

• Great Britain and Ireland
• Spain
• Portugal
• Alsace-Lorraine
• Bavaria
• Wurtemburg
• Norway

the Americas 

• New York
• New France(Quebec)
• Maine
• Virginia
• Carolina
• Florida
• Louisana

I did have Flanders(Belgium) but somehow the Maratha Confederacy(India) managed to take it off me by sailing all the way from India.  The Maratha also took Jamaica and Bahamas off me as well. I don't recall learning that from history but it makes things more challenging.

My favourite weapon is the carcass shot mortar, it is a shell that bursts mid air and spreads lime or other burning substances over the enemy, as demonstrated below.  

child refugees

Before I begin, I shall mention that I had practiced Tae Kwon Do for over 10 years, my first club was run by Master Shin and then after I moved down south I trained with Overton and Basingstoke Tae Kwon Do(OBTKD) club.  With great regret I had to give it up due to a neck injury when I was a red belt.  Before that happened, on one particular lesson at OBTKD, the instructor (Gerry) announced that the club must comply with the government's child protection policy and anyone who is and who wants to be an instructor must fill out a form which will be submitted to the authorities.  This was and is because OBTKD is a family friendly club which has both child and adult students.  This was a much needed piece of legislation to protect children in voluntary organisations like sports clubs.

We now fast forward to today and the UK government has decided to let in 14 refugee children from the Calais refugee camp to settle in the UK.  This has prompted Tory MP David Davies to remark that alot of them(all males) look too old to come under the UN's definition of a child (17 years and younger).  In Germany and Sweden we have seen cases where refugees have falsely posed as children, given asylum and promptly committed rapes of children when they have been put in locations with other children.  To prevent this abuse, Davies suggested that these refugees be subject to dental tests to prove their age.  This suggestion has since been rejected by the UK government.

Which brings me to the backlash against common sense from this piece written by Natalie Bloomer, she makes her point below

But in today's anti-immigrant climate, even this seemingly positive event prompts a torrent of hate. And not just from the usual suspects on social media who like to rant about foreigners. It was politicians and the press who led the attacks. The refugees had barely stepped onto British soil before it started.

These are not attacks these a fair concerns that people of all stripes have especially in light of the events in Cologne.  I have nothing against granting refugee children or even refugee adults asylum as long as we are not emotionally deceived into thinking that adults are really children.  These 'childen' will be put in schools and homes with real children and it is them that need protection.

If Tae Kwon Do instructors have to go through police checks before they can teach children what's wrong with checking the age status of these refugees before they can be put in contact with other children.

15 Million Degrees: A Journey to the Centre of the Sun - finished

A few weeks back I finished "15 Million Degrees: A Journey to the Centre of the Sun" by Lucie Green.  It tells you all you need to know about our nearest star, where it came from, what did does, how it does it and what will happen to it in future.  It does get bogged down in detail about nuclear fusion in the middle but I say this is a thoroughly informative book and I'd give it 4/5.

Virtual History: Alternatives and Counterfactuals

Last week I bought Virtual History: Alternatives and Counterfactuals by Niall Ferguson, a counterfactual history book exploring several what if scenarios that would or would not change history.  Common examples of counterfactual history include what if the Normans lost the battle of Hastings or what if the D-day landings had failed.  I am still on the introduction and having read Ferguson's other works, I believe this will be better thought out than other counterfactual books that I have read.

winmau trainer dartboard review

Empire Total War - 2016-09-19 - Grand Campaign

After winning the American revolutionary, I started the Grand Campaign on Empire Total War this weekend.  I selected the British as my faction and it gives me a series of missions to complete within a set date(or number of turns).  This campaign takes place over Europe, the Americas and India so basically it spans the European age of colonization.  So far I have conquered France and what is now Belgium.  In the Americas I took Hispaniola(modern day Cuba and Dominica) off the Spanish. Whilst it's very challenging the annoying thing is that countries or quasi-nation states declare war on you at a will. Also regardless how well you treat the population, it will always rebel against you.  Meaning that resources need to be spent putting down these rebellions rather than conquering your enemies.

Empire total war 2016-09-15

Last night I finally won the American revolutionary war and managed to repeat history.  It was a surprise how it happened because I had to put down a local rebellion in Maine and then both the Spanish and French decided to declare war on me.  So it would have been me against an allied coalition of Britain, the Netherlands, Spain and France.  The later three had powerful navies to deal with.  But before I had a chance to tackle the challenge the game announced that I had achieved my objectives and the USA was born.  Very strange ending.

Guy Debord's Cat on Mr Finegold - a conclusion

If you remember my take on Guy Debord's Cat post about the laughable non-existence of anti-semitism in the Labour party and the left generally, I give you Mr Debord's final comment.

As usually the case with most leftists he failed to answer my points and accused me of smearing him.  What's really interesting is that he denies that I was ever in the SWP.  So he obviously knows me better than I do myself.

Empire Total War - update 2016-09-12

After the my debacle last week and the fact that I failed to save the game on a regular basis, I went back to American revolutionary war campaign after having to defeat the French in the seven years war again.  This time, the Spanish did not declare war on me and in fact they offered me a military alliance which was accepted.  It was the Dutch (then called the United Provinces) that declared war on my and after dealing with their raids, I got my revenge by successfully invading their colony on Curacao.

I've managed to all but defeat the British forces on the American mainland but I am leaving their last region, Quebec to remain British for now because I want to see if I can take Jamaica off the British and Suriname off the Dutch.  Well I do have a powerful navy after all.   One thing I noticed about the AI on the realtime battles is that the CPU's forces do not co-ordinate well with each other especially when it is on the attack.

Sony PSP - Medal of Honor Heroes

Last night I dug out my favourite first person shoot'em up game - Medal of Honor Heroes - for the Sony PSP and decided to replay the whole campaign again even though I have completed it.  This time I will try to complete the campaign using the semi-automatic pistol and grenade only.  I hope my thumbs can survive this.

Empire Total War - defeat

After a month on the campaign, my US colonials faction was beaten by the British last night.  So therefore American independence and the real historical timeline have to wait.  Unfortunately since I did not make any recent implicit game saves, I have to go all the way back to my last save which was during the Anglo-French wars in America (which was the setting of the book/film 'Last of the mohicans'). I have to say that the British army definitely fight better than the French.

Left wing anti-semitism reloaded.

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Empire Total War

In the past few weeks I have been playing the Empire Total War strategy game on my PC.  It is not the latest output on the franchise but it is definitely a step up from Rome Total War 2 and Medieval Total War 2.  There are now advanced real time naval battles that uses the available naval warfare techniques at the time and when you play in campaign mode, there is more than the upkeep of your armed forces to monitor.  I am playing the "Road to Independence" campaign which is about the creation of the USA from being a small group of settlers fighting and trading with the native Americans. Then it moves to the Anglo-French American war and then onto the American War of independence which is the stage I am at right now.  Basically you are trying to emulate George Washington.  My only complaint is the quality of the enemy forces during the real time battles, they seem to lack co-ordination or co-operation, meaning that the battles I have fought so far have been easily won unless I am vastly outnumbered.

The Pie At Night: In Search of the North at Play by Stuart Maconie

I am currently reading "The Pie At Night: In Search of the North at Play" by Stuart Maconie. A funny and insightful account of how people in northern England enjoy their spare time. It is a must read for anyone interested in anthropology and social history of a much maligned and forgotten part of the world.

Imperial war museum - a review

During my recent trip to the UK, I visited the Imperial War Museum for the first time in nearly a decade, and below is my review for Tripadvisor.



This is an institution that I have visited more than a dozen times but which I have not been to for nearly a decade.  I was pleasantly surprised that even though it was re-decorated it was still the same and enhanced with new technology to improve the learning experience.  In the main foyer there was a burnt and bombed out vehicle from Baghdad which was caught up in a suicide bombing, a very apt reminder of the troubles facing the world today.  I only spent the morning there this time and I used it to re-acquaint myself with the WWI exhibition.  It now has touch screen displays and various interactive items.  I was particularly moved by the trenches display since it was the 100th anniversary of the battle of the Somme.  After viewing, I availed myself to a very good value and tasty main course for lunch at its restaurant.  Very well recommended for families and history buffs alike.

Unicorn Eclipse HD dartboard review

Feel free to comment and enjoy!

Harrows Dimplex gold 18g soft tip dart review

As per the title, enjoy!

Harrows ICE Arctic 18g soft tip darts review

As per the title, enjoy!

EU referendum vote - the real winners and losers

The winners

The British public
Whether you voted leave or remain, this is a victory for the people. In recent years, the EU has proved to be a failed project and governance has returned to governments that are voted in by the people.

Boris Johnson
Bojo was a Europhile who in the late stages switched to leave.  Yes, he was opportunistic and yes he made a gamble. But it was a correct gamble despite what all the polls were saying right up to the vote.  Had there been a remain victory he would be finished right now.

Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP
Despite supporting remain, the Sturgeon and the SNP have got the result it wanted, it now has the momentum and moral backing for a second independence referendum thanks to a 60/40 vote for remain.  And it is likely to win such a referendum.

Ruth Davidson
The Scottish Tory leader was the only Remainer Tory who came out of the referendum campaign with any credit.  She was an unknown who was wheeled out in the last BBC EU debate at Wembley alongside her fellow 'B' team Sadiq Khan and Frances O'Grady then came out of it as a political big hitter.

The losers

David Cameron
He gambled and lost, nothing more needs to be said.

The europhiles within the conservative party
Cameron went for the referendum in order to prevent more eurosceptic Tory MPs from defecting to UKIP, now the europhiles are isolated.  I would not be surprised if the europhiles form a breakaway party or even defect to the Lib Dems.

Jeremy Corbyn
For a man who has been a long time critic of the EU from a left point of view, this has been a major misjudgement.  If he had stuck with his principles and led the leave campaign his standing would have been greatly enhanced and given Labour a great electoral boost.  Instead now his future is uncertain.

The Labour party and the left in general
From the results it was the Labour heartlands in the North and Midlands that carried Leave vote.  It was working class voters of all colours who basically won it for leave, the very same voters whom the remainers, especially from the left, labelled as racists, xenophobes etc.  The left failed to account for the working class grievances which included immigration.  The likes of Eddie Izzard, Bob Geldolf and Charlotte Church sneering at the leave vote only enhanced this gulf.  Labour is in danger of being a party of inner London, Manchester and Liverpool and a party for student radicals.  Unless this is resolved I can see a mass exodus of its vote to UKIP at the next election.

Amber Rudd

When Amber Rudd was appointed climate change secretary by Cameron after the 2015 general election, I had thought of her as a very astute and intelligent politician, especially when she saw through the politicized aspects of the debate.  Definitely someone who was leadership material post-Cameron.  However, things took a different turn when she took part as one of the Remain team in the ITV EU referendum debate the other night, along Angela Eagle and Nicola Sturgeon. They took on Labour MP Gisela Stuart, Tory Minister Andrea Leadsom and Boris Johnson.  I had expected Rudd to put up a very strong case instead she and her fellow Remain team-mates kept using fear tactics and in Rudd's case using personal attacks on Johnson.

First she insinuated that Johnson's support for Brexit is linked to his leadership ambitions.

Then she came up this personal smear in her closing statement

The Brexiters must have been jumping for joy when they saw that.

Battle of Adrianople 378 AD

Whilst I was considering whether to buy Rome Total War 2 for the PC, I came across this 4 part set of wonderfully made videos showing the problems of the late Roman Empire that led to the its defeat of the battle of Adrianople using the Rome Total War 2 engine.  As a background the Romans were defeated by a barbarian army of refugees/migrants who then had the right to settle within the empire.

Do as I say but not as I do

Obviously the gender equality and anti-discrimination directives have not yet reached the upper echelons of the EU.

Great Brexit Question Lisa Nandy fails to answer (Question Time 05/05/20...

Labour shadow cabinet member and much touted successor to Jeremy Corbyn has a car crash moment on BBC question time.  She could have answered it by saying that Neil Kinnock has done a great job as EU commissioner.

BBCSP: CBI's Carolyn Fairbairn car crash interview ripped apart on in-EU...

Brillo at his best, I would not call this an interview more like spearing fish in a barrel. The message to anyone who is lined up face Andrew Neil is "do your homework".

Rorke's drift on Napoleon Total war

This game has awesome graphics, enjoy.

Hilary Benn gets new rectum courtesy of Brillo

The late Tony Benn's flesh and blood got seriously skewered by Brillo last night, enjoy!

Muhammed Ali - Rest in peace

Today boxing legend Muhammed Ali has died, he suffered from Parkinson's even before he officially retired.  Unfortunately I missed out on seeing him fight in his prime.  The only fight of his I saw when I was little was the beating he took from Larry Holmes.  I have seen his "Rumble in the Jungle" fight with George Foreman many times online and on TV and that will be his best remembered work.  Rest in peace!

Gender neutral Sims

The makers of the Sims franchise have announced they will allow for gender neutral Sims in Sims 4. Unfortunately this comes a bit late for the Sony PSP version, I wonder if it will be rolled out on the Sony PS Vita.  I would love to create an Eddie Izzard sim, the question is, "will it confuse the CPU characters?".

15 Remainer questions

One of the accounts I follow on twitter is liberalisland and the owner also has a blog, which I have cross posted (thanks liberalisland in advance).  It's views are on the Guardian reading/polenta eating/ceroc dancing left and not surprisingly it is pro-Remain. In a recent blog post it asked 15 questions to Brexiters and I will address them all below.


Will we still have access to the single market? If not what will the replacement look like?
"Yes, just like any other non-EU country. The UK and EU will need to negotiate a trade deal."

Will we be able to sell services, 78% of our economy, to the EU free of WTO tariffs? 
"That depends on trade negotiations between the UK and the EU. Don't forget there is EFTA which is a tariff free trade deal between the EU and non-EU European states."

What kind of non tariff barriers will we face?
"Ditto the comments about trade negotiations."

Will there be a visa system for holiday makers? 
"This is a very interesting strawman that just popped up.  I now live in HK and after HK went back to the PRC in 97, most HKers were given HKSAR passports instead of the BNO. The HKSAR passport allows visa free access to all Schengen states and the UK.  If EU countries want UK tourists then I guess it would be in the EU's interest not to put up visa conditions on UK nationals. Otherwise, if the EU puts up visa restrictions then UK people will just have to spend their holidays in the UK, thereby helping the UK economy and cutting down the carbon footprint.  This is a pretty poor reason for remain, methinks."

Will the CAP payments be maintained at the current level and for how long? 
"Can't believe you are using the CAP as a reason to stay.  CAP subsidizes farmers for producing more than enough cheap food, which is then dumped on the third world, thereby destroying local markets and livelihoods. Which then creates poverty, conflict, migration etc. CAP is actually a very good reason for Lexit as it benefits a few rich people.  Speaks volumes that you as a left-liberal should use this one."

How do we get future governments to guarantee CAP payments at EU levels? When agriculture, in reality, employs few people on the UK and does not have the influence of numbers
"See above regarding CAP"

How will we ensure that governments of different hues will maintain structural  aid, even when it’s directed at areas where it would give them no political gain?
"Why would it not continue to happen post-Brexit?  As someone who grew up during the Thatcher '80s in South Wales and later in Manchester, I saw lots of various government projects and aid pouring into both depressed areas."

Northern Ireland and Wales are net gainers from the EU budget. Will the Westminster government maintain this investment? 
"Ditto my comment above. Further why should UK taxpayers pay a larger amount to a supra-national body and then get a smaller amount back to invest in NI and Wales?  Why can't we bypass the EU in the first place and cut out the middle man?"

What is an acceptable loss of GDP over the next 20 years? 
"Why do you think there will be a GDP loss because of Brexit?"

How exactly will making our own trade deals increase the amount we export?
"The amount we export depends on the quality of our goods, service and the cost.  In fact it is possible that we could export more, without the shackles of EU rules and regulations."

Explain in detail the reasons you think food will be cheaper? 
"Blimey the CAP again.  The food is 'cheaper' because it is subsidized by EU taxpayers."

Leave campaigners claim we can cut the cost of regulation. Account for which regulations will be removed in order to achieve this lower cost.
"These regulations don't account for local cultures and business practices.  It is trying to force a one size fits all across the EU states.  A good example of this is the 48 hour EU working time directive which is unworkable and forced on the UK."

How are you going to address the very real fears of NI and Eire?
"Eire is a sovereign state, its people can deal with the EU themselves.  As for NI, what fears are you referring to?"


The Working Time Directive is often seen as a Cost to  businesses. Do you envisage it being removed from UK employment regulations, if so what would replace it? 
"I think it should be removed, what should replace it should be decided by British people."

The leave campaign claim fuel prices will be cheaper. If this is through a removal of VAT, where will the government recoup this loss in income?  
"This can also be decided by the British people."

How will you guarantee that a government in thrall to busines does not erode my right to paid leave? 
"You can vote out that government if enough people are dissatisfied with it.  Can you do the same to the EC commission?"

My feeling is that the Remainers, especially those on the left, believe that British people cannot think nor decide for themselves and need the hand of the EU to make decisions for them.

If I was undecided, this would not persuade to vote Remain.  To be frank this and other Remain arguments have the intellectual rigour a sixth form debating class and I have seen better pro-remain arguements on the off-top sections of gaming forums.

Jackie Walker suspension and reinstatement

After a short break its back to politcs, this time its the recent re-instatement of leading Momentum campaigner Jackie Walker back into the Labour party.  She was suspended for comments she made on social media about the role of Jews and the African slave trade.  Walker is of Black African and Jewish descent.In the remark below, Walker calls the African slave trade the "African holocaust", thereby linking its severity with the Nazi Holocaust.

“As I’m sure you know, millions more Africans were killed in the African holocaust and their oppression continues today on a global scale in a way it doesn’t for Jews.”

Couple of things

• Although shocking, the African slave trade was not the destruction of a race of people, which was the aim of the Nazi holocaust.
• Even though she does not mention it, she is likely to be referring to the trans-Atlantic slave trade. White Europeans did not have a monopoly on the slave trade, there has been an Arab slave trade in East Africa and it still exists today.  This is even mentioned in some strategy games.
• In the Nazi holocaust it was non-Jews killing Jews but in the African slave trade it was black Africans who captured and sold their fellow black Africans to both the Arabs and the Europeans.  Yep, you heard it, black Africans are even more culpable in slavery than both the Europeans and Arabs put together.  How did it happen? The black slaves would be prisoners of war in tribal battles.  According to anthropologists different tribes would trade slaves amongst themselves.  When the Arabs and later the Europeans arrived, this was ramped up.  

Walker then describes Jews as "chief financiers of the sugar and slave trade". And as a follow up asks, ‘what do you think the Jews should do about their contribution to the African Holocaust? What debt do they owe?’. My reply is nothing.  If one group is uniquely held responsible for its very small role then that surely is racist, which is ironic coming from an anti-racism campaigner.  Especially a Jewish one.

Me thinks this woman has self-hate issues and is using her blackness to act them out.  This is prevalent in a small part of the Jewish community especially amongst 'antizionist Jews' who are using the 'plight' of the Palestinians to act out their self hate.

15 Million Degrees: A Journey to the Centre of the Sun by Lucie Green

I have just started reading "15 Million Degrees: A Journey to the Centre of the Sun" by physicist, writer and broadcaster Lucie Green. So far I have found it very readable and technical bits are very well explained. It has a very good primer on what light is and how it works on us.

Project Fear going into overdrive

Now that the EU referendum is in full swing, the Remain campaign has come up with some very spurious reasons to vote in.  One thing that caught my eye today is the idea that foreign holidays and roaming charges will increase in the event of a Brexit.  This was based on David Cameron's claim that a typical family holiday in Europe will be 230GBP more expensive.

Even if that was true, then so what?  Britons can always take their holidays at home, which will be good for the UK tourism industry.  As for the roaming, one has to ask how often do people make phone calls abroad and are there any alternatives such as a pay phone.

Paul Mason doing mental cartwheels on BBC Question Time this week

Paul Mason is a left wing economist who was economics editor for Channel 4 news, and someone on the left I have alot of time for, but maybe not for much longer after this item.  Like some on the left he admits that the EU is undemocratic and unworkable but despite this he says he is unlikely to vote Brexit as it would hand power to "crazed, rightwing Conservatives" in the UK.  Paul, old bean, these "crazed, rightwing Conservatives" were actually elected by the people last year and can be voted out in a few years time, which is more than can be said for the EU commission.

Spectator EU referendum debate

At the end of last month the Spectator magazine hosted an EU referendum debate featuring former Labour leadership contenders Chuka Ummana and Liz Kendall, along with Lib Dem MP and former deputy PM Nick Clegg for the remain side. Whilst MEPs Daniel Hannan(Tory) and Nigel Farage(UKIP), and Labour Eurosceptic MP Kate Hoey batted for the Brexiters.  Andrew Neil was the host.

Even though I am a moderate Brexiter, I definitely agree that Hannan, Farage and Hoey won the debate.  The Remainers kept using fear tactics such as the loss of trade and the loss of social chapter and environment protection policies that came out of the EU. Trade is based on satisfying need, if the EU countries need UK goods and services then those countries will still buy those goods and services regardless. As for the social chapter policies, these can be legislated post-Brexit.

Ummana made the disingenuous statement that the USA and Australia has higher immigration than the UK, this was promptly dealt with by Farage who reminded Chuka that the US and Australia are substantially larger than the UK.

Hannan was the standout debater. Kendall was the best of the Remainers and Clegg managed to make strategy gamers sound articulate(I'm a strategy gamer BTW). Even though Hoey was the weakest of the Brexiters, she grasped the facts better than all of the Remainers put together.

The main problem for the Remain side was that they could not put a positive case for remaining inside the EU.  This is kind of depressing as it should be based on the intellectual argument rather than fear.

Weak measurement

I watched again an episode 'Through the Wormhole', presented by Morgan Freeman dealing with whether time is eternal or not. In it mentioned a form of quantum entanglement where future measurements affect past measurements.  This is certainly a very intriguing concept but I thought that making a measurement would collaspe the wave function in the first place.  In any case the idea of the future affecting the past came from Israeli theoretical physicists Yakir Aharonov.  However after some background reading Aharonov's theory is itself based on something quite controversial called weak measurement.  My view is that if you want to measure something its best to measure it properly or not measure it all.

David Ward

Few things depress me in life, but one of them is how nasty people keep rearing their ugly heads in public.  A few weeks ago that just happened.

Former Bradford East Lib Dem MP David Ward was elected as a councillor in Bradford.  During his tenure as MP, he made several horrendous anti-semitic comments about Jews in relation to Israel Palestine conflict, including the one below on Sky news.

He was then suspended from the Lib Dem whip and followed it up with this little titbit that compared the Palestinian situation to the holocaust

Ward lost his seat in the 2015 general election but now despite all of this the citizens in a part of Bradford have elected him as a councillor.  In the midst of the Labour antisemitism scandal, Nigel Farage said that Labour antisemitism was to do with Labour appealing for Muslim votes due to the institutional antisemitism in the Muslim community.  It seems that this appeal to a very low common demoninator is happening in the Lib Dems and in the left generally.

Vintage BBC Sky at night - Voyager's fly past of Uranus.

I can't believe this is more than 30 years old, and I vaguely remember seeing this on the news at the time.  Here are the late Sir Patrick Moore's thoughts on it.  This is BBC at its best again.

Amir Khan vs Saul Canelo Alvarez

On the same day that Leicester City were crowned EPL champions, Amir Khan lost his latest fight to Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez of Mexico for the WBC middleweight championship belt by way of a 6th round knockout.  

Khan has certainly come a long way since winning the Olympic silver medal in Athens in 2004 and has won a lot of fans both inside and outside of boxing.  I remember at the time he was held up as positive feature of multiculturalism.  However, as a boxer, he has definitely under achieved.  I believe we seen the limit of this talent, at the end of the day we all have our limits somewhere.  Khan for his health should consider quitting since 3 of his 4 losses have now come from serious knockouts or stoppages.

Finally caught Mr Montabalan

After much frustration and enjoyment, I have finally captured my enemy Mr Montabalan on Sid Meier's Pirates on the Sony PSP.  On the easiest level, the game does tell you the goals you must achieve each step of the way before it reveals the location of Montabalan.  Once I found his hideout I had to win a turn based land battle and then defeat Montabalan himself in a sword fight which was easily done.  Capturing him does not end the game, although it does give your character 100k gold coins.

One bug I did notice was that even though I captured historical pirate Roc Brasiliano, it was saying that he was at large.  Ho hum!

BBC sky at night: Pluto and New Horizons

The other night, I watched a very informative BBC Sky at Night documentary on Youtube about the flypast of the New Horizons probe on planet/dwarf planet Pluto last year.  I didn't realize that Pluto and its moon Charon can actually qualify as a binary pair because the barycentre that they both orbit is outside of Pluto itself.  Presenter Chris Lintott really knows his stuff and is a worthwhile successor to the late Patrick Moore.

Star Wars: the force awakens

I have just watched the DVD of 'Star Wars: the force awakens'. The story was basically a rehash of episode 4 "A new hope", but with new characters.  Only the burgeoning relationship between the force sensitive characters Rey and Finn add anything new to the storyline.  There was an excellent cameo by Harrison Ford as Han Solo as he confronts his son and antagonist - Kylo Ren.  Apart from that its a bit of a disappointment unless you are a serious hard core Star Wars fanatic.

Naz Shah

I just found this little upload from Youtube

Its about that nasty, smelly, anti-semitic Labour MP Naz Shah, who has resigned from being a parlimentary aide to shadow chancellor John McDonnell. Here Labour front bencher Lisa Nandy MP is taken to task for it, with Liam Fox MP adding a few titbits. A couple of telling comments.

1. Nandy says that the majority of Labour members are not antisemitic.  That's ok then, so it means a minority are.  So when will Labour do something about them?
2. Naz Shah said she did not agree with some of the racist images and posts that she shared.  So why did she share them then? She's either too thick or thinks the public is too thick.
3. Liam Fox makes a very telling point, its not only the images and posts that you share but also the underlying sentiment behind it.  This suggests that Shah strongly believed in antisemitism. 

So another Labour member has been rumbled for anti-semitism, in other news, scientists discover that doing push ups is good for your biceps.

finally finished 'In search of the Trojan war'

Last night I watched the final episode of 'In search of the Trojan war' on DVD. Despite being more than 30 years old, this is an excellent BBC documentary.  In the final episode, Michael Wood explores not only the fall of Troy but also the fall of Mycenae Greece which according to Homer, sacked Troy.  He then goes on to talk about the Bronze Age Collaspse, which plunged the Eastern Med into a 500 year long dark age.  A dark age where people stopped writing things down and went back to oral histories being passed down by mouth.

Steve Davis

The snooker legend, that is Steve Davis finally announced his retirement after 38 years of playing professionally. Whilst I was not a great fan of his, he came across as a true gentlemen and treated his sport with great dignity.  I will always remember this moment of his(jump to 13:40).

Quantum entanglement and large objects

If you have ever wondered why quantum physics don't apply to anything bigger than sub-atomic particles, astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson explains why.  Enjoy!

Israel/Palestine: An Arab Christian perspective

Last night I went to a talk given by Dr Munther Isaac at St Andrews Church in Tsim Sha Tsui on the problems faced by Palestinian Christians in both Israel and the so-called occupied territories. It was interesting and it was not what I expected. Dr Isaac was very open about the problems faced by Christians namely, persecution, violence and poverty but he put everything down to.... the Israelis, especially Israeli Jews.

He mentioned the security wall but failed to mentioned that Israelis built the wall to prevent suicide bombers from blowing innocent people up. Although he did acknowledge persecution from muslim fundamentalists, the cause of which was bizarrely down to the Israelis.  Somehow in Dr Isaac's world if the Israelis or zionists just vanished into thin air then all the problems faced by Christians in the Middle East would vanish.  He failed to mention some of the racist bits of sharia law which subjected non-muslims to dhimmi or second class status.  In contrast in Israel everyone has the same equal rights be they Jew, Christian, Muslim or anything.

In other words, Dr Isaac presented a very antizionist view of the conflict.  At the end I asked why during the 400 years of occupation by the Ottoman Turks did the Palestinians fail to even try gaining their own freedom.  He replied that nationalism like that was a recent phenomena which I found quite an unsatisfactory answer.

Warhammer 40,000 Squad Command

This week I started playing Warhammer 40,000: Squad Command on the Sony PSP.  It is turn based strategy from Games Workshop's Warhammer 40k series.  This was my first time at playing Warhammer 40k in any guise since I was not into the legendary 1980's strategy game which this is based on.  I find it extremely challenging and took me many attempts to get past the first level. In essence, you control a unit of super soldiers and you must achieve a certain goal to pass that level. This could be killing all the enemy units, killing a certain enemy, taking over a place or building, etc.

What is different about this game is that your characters each have a limited number of action points and this limits how far your character can move and how many shots it can fire. The further it moves, the less it can fire and vice versa.  This makes it different from the other PSP strategy game, Field Commander.

An interesting part is that units from both sides can shoot even though it is not its respective term, so your units can be killed when it is your turn.

I need to get pass a few more levels before I can give a clear rating on this game, but here is a sample from Youtube.

Battle of adrianople - decisive battles

As a history buff, rightwinger and fan of the Total War strategy game series, I love this episode. So a refugee crisis on the Roman  empire's borders led to war, which the Roman's lost and in turn led to the sacking of the Rome.

In praise of ..... practicing darts at home

I've had my current dartboard, Unicorn HD Eclipse, since November 2014. It has given me many hours of relaxation and enjoyment for many reassons, including -

1. Great way to relieve stress at the end of a working day.
2. Keeps me away from the smartphone.
3. Keeps me away from the PSP.
4. Gives me some limited exercise.
5. Gives me an objective, ie to get better at it every day, but without any pressure.
6. Its cheap and once setup does not require any preparation.
7. Green, in that you don't need to plug it in or charge it up. 

Labour party and anti-semitism

Last week the UK Labour party under Jez Corbyn re-admitted a self-hating anti-semite Jew Tony Greenstein back in its ranks.  Greenstein portrays himself as an 'anti-zionist' Jew and is indeed a son of a rabbi. In this article, he derides his critics as 'zionist scum' and once mentioned to a critic that if a group of White house staff or evangelical christians were vaporized, he would not lose any sleep, charming!  This comes in the wake of the Labour councillor Vicky Kirkby's Jews have big noses scandal.

For me this is nothing new, Hitler himself was partially jewish and the question to ask is, why do some Jews hate themselves for being Jews so much?  As for Labour and anti-semitism, I think this goes back to 1990's. When the USSR fell the left needed new holes to felch from, anti-semitism in the form of antizionism is one of these holes.

Nick Blackwell and the debate about boxing

The sport of boxing gave us a sad reminder of why it is such a dangerous yet compelling sport this week with the injuries to Nick Blackwell.  He was fighting Chris Eubank Jr, son of former world super middleweight champion Chris Eubank Sr, for the British middleweight title. As the clip below shows, Eubank Sr even climbed in the ring to ask his son not to continue with headshots on Blackwell, maybe he was thinking about the injuries he caused to Michael Watson back in the 1980s.

More importantly he was asking why the referee did not stop the bout when it was clear that Blackwell was not able to defend himself. Elsewhere, I read this article about the bout in the Spectator and came across this particular quote by the writer Simon Barnes -

But when deaths and serious injuries happen in sports like eventing, it’s because things have gone horribly wrong. When they happen in boxing it’s because things have gone horribly right. Two powerful and highly trained athletes are trying to hit each other’s brains.

What he said is true but what Barnes fails to mention is that boxers choose to take up the sport, either as a profession or pastime, voluntarily.  Of course, unfortunately, incident's like this will always happen, but that is part of the attraction of the sport to some.  Wrapping people up in cotton wool helps no one.

As someone who practices boxing as a hobby my thoughts are with Nick Blackwell, and I wish him a speedy recovery.

Ronnie Corbett - brass ears

This week saw the passing of one of my childhood heroes, Ronnie Corbett, whilst many remember him for the fork handles/four candles sketch, I remember him most for this little piece.

He and Ronnie Barker can now re-unite as the 'Two Ronnies' again in heaven.

The Martian

I watched the DVD of 'The Martian' today and as both an astronomy and science buff I was quite impressed with the attention to detail on the science part. However the plot was rather lacking but the acting skills of Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain made up for it. In summary it is about NASA astronaut Mark Watney (Damon) being marooned on Mars after the rest of his crew mates had presumed him dead and had to make an emergency departure from the red planet.  Reminiscent of other solo survival stories such as Robinson Crusoe and Castaway, he had to survive physically and mentally.  Yes he does grow his own spuds using Mars dust and human excrement for fertilizer.  However things go awry when he somehow blows up his Mars "house" which doubles as accommodation and potato greenhouse.  The rest of the story just drifts on from that. One scientific anomaly is Watney walking normally in a non-weighted spacesuit on a planet with 38% of Earth's gravity.  I think some scientific liberties were taken there.  All in all a reasonable film for the science buffs but don't expect a great storyline.

In praise of ... the double end bag

The double end bag or floor to ceiling bag is one of the most under-rated pieces of equipment in the boxing gym.  It is round football size bag that is attached to the floor and the ceiling by two pieces of elastic or bungee.  The elastic causes the bag to swing violently when you hit it, making it hard to hit the next time around.  So it helps you in your hand eye co-ordination and swing can be seen as an opponent's punch, meaning you can practicing your slipping and weaving skills at the same time.  So for me it is my favorite piece of boxing gym equipment.  Here is a perfect demonstration of it by Tim Bradley.

More left stupidity post Brussels

Every now and again I dip into the left wing blog, the Canary, to find out what the other side thinks. So after the Brussels atrocity I saw this rather terrible but typical article.  Here are some highlights from it

"As terrorist attacks hit Brussels on 22 March, anti-Muslim propaganda began to appear online." That's absolutely true but did the author think that without these terror attacks there would be none of this islamophobia?

"The general gist of the arguments was that: Muslims want to kill and subjugate them; ". Actually this is in someways true, there are passages in Koran which extols killing non-believers, in particular,

"Quran (2:191-193) - "And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out. And Al-Fitnah [disbelief or unrest] is worse than killing... ".

So in a way these views have some factual backing and what of the hard evidence?  Once Islam was established, through the Ummayad dynasty it went on a conquering spree, all the way up to the Loire Valley in France, where they were stopped (battle of Tours).  Even the Total War and Age of Empires strategy games depict this.  So in a sense what this article is accusing the right of is actually correct.

And what of the claim that Islam seeks to conquer the west, well this article mentions someone who is not backwards going forwards in implementing this modern day conquest.  I can also point to this clip of radical muslim protesters showing their honesty.

The article mentions the role Saudi funded Wahabism in all this -

"This is not to say that all Wahhabis are terrorists. However, combined with other factors (like marginalisation, for example) Wahhabi indoctrination can be particularly dangerous."

However it abrogates this by mentioning "marginalisation".  It is the terrorists who have marginalized themselves from the rest of society.

"To truly stop terrorism, our governments must first deal with Saudi Arabia’s support for Wahhabi hate preaching around the world. Then, they must work to end the war, exploitation and injustice around the world in which our governments and their allies have all too often played a role."

The article ends with the above paragraph, and mentions that "war, exploitation and injustice" are factors, however what it means by injustice from the muslim point of view is that some in the west are standing up to islamofascism and sharia law.

Brussels attacks

Towards the end of my working day, I heard about the awful events that unfolded in Brussels, which started with the bombing at Brussels airport and later at Maelbeek station.  As I write this there are 34 confirmed deaths and countless injuries.  When events like this happen on instantly thinks of terrorism and Islamic terrorism in particular.  Commentators are already linking this with the recent arrest by Belgian police of Paris mastermind, Salah Abdeslam, and it is seen as IS's response to the arrest.

As if by magic, the Guardian produces a terrible opinion editorial on the tragedy, this time written by Simon Jenkins, whom I don't associate with the usual useful idiot left. A couple of his points come to attention

"There is no way any community can make itself immune to terror attacks. Since they are random, no protection can defend that community from them. No amount of police work or surveillance, no deployment of armies or navies, let alone of missiles or nuclear weapons, can guard against them. Intelligence and surveillance can go so far, but the bombers and killers will get through any net."

Of course, ultimately no amount of surveillance can prevent this but one way to do this would be properly control your borders and regulate who can come in.  Again this is all down to border control and how you react to people of different cultures in your community.  If you let fear of racism inhibit your policing then this is the result.

"What is not stupid is seeking to alleviate, or not aggravate, the rage that gives rise to acts of terror, and then to diminish the potency of the incident itself. The first requires a wiser foreign policy than most western nations have shown towards the Muslim world over the past decade. The second is even harder to achieve. It demands patience and restraint in publicising terrorist incidents and in responding to them."

Again, like all those on the left, Jenkins blames the attack on western foreign policy, even though Belgium has little to do with the war on terror.  By blaming western foreign policy Jenkins is using the racism of low expectations.  That is muslims have no moral agency, instead they are influenced completely by events in foreign lands.  People become terrorists because they have made a moral decision to become one, foreign policy or not.

"The blanket media coverage assured for any act of violence is reckless."

The media coverage is not reckless, it is merely reflecting the seriousness of the event.  Unfortunately it appears the left is stuck in its own religious blind faith.
 

Calon Lan

I still love this song, it brings back lots of childhood memories in Wales.

Bell's Inequality explained mathematically

If you ever wanted to see Bell's inequality explained through mathematical formula and Venn diagram then watch this and enjoy!



E

#OscarsSoWhite

I'm not usually a fan of the Oscars but this year's awards ceremony provoked more mainstream reaction when commentators commented that there was a lack of black winners or nominees.  My rebuttal of this is that the Oscars are awarded for talent and not for race and black actors and actresses have won awards before.  It is a question of ability not of race. Its very strange these commentators make no comment about the over representation of a racial group in other areas such as professional sports(black), science (Asian) etc.  What's next?  When, for example, will we see normally endowed porn actors winning the best actor prize at the adult film awards?

Commander: Europe at War, again

A few days ago I restarted another campaign game on Commander:Europe at War, again playing as the allies and starting from 1939. As the Allied units were being pushed back in France, I decided to do a Dunkirk evacuation and move the UK and French forces to the safety of Britain, leaving a single rearguard unit. However, after France had officially surrendered in the game, the evacuated French forces disappeared from the the UK map, even though they had safely arrived there.  Meaning that my evacuation had been ignored.  This is either a bug or something the game's designer's had ignored when they were doing the background research.

Another explanation of Bell's inequality

I came across another very good Youtube video explaining quantum entanglement and Bell's inequality.  Enjoy!

Atom: the key to the cosmos

Last night I watched another Jim Al-khalili documentary on Youtube, "Atom: the key to the cosmos" which is the second part of his 2008 Atom series.  Its another well explained programme on the components of the atom and nuclear physics.  He describes how Ernest Rutherford's students accidentally created hydrogen by using radium to split the nitrogen atoms in the air, thereby becoming history's first ever alchemist. Al-Khalili then mentioned the strong nuclear force which holds the positively charged protons in the nucleus of an atom together, preventing them from repelling each other.  This was another thing that was mentioned in my GCSE physics class but I then forgot in the midst of time.  So thanks for reminding me, Jim.

Getting a PS Vita

I've been mulling about buying a PS Vita for a while but I am not sure if it is worth getting just for a handful of games that I am interested in, namely Minecraft and Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution. 

Commander: Europe at war - lost campaign

I've been playing Commander: Europe at war on the Sony PSP since the weekend, and unfortunately it looks likely the PSP player, playing as the Axis, has won world war 2.  This is partly due to bad strategy on my part, like failing to evacuate the UK and French forces from France after the fall of France and also better than expected performance from the Italians, especially on the Eastern Front.  For some reason the US has not entered the war which is a big problem in the western front.

Alternative history on the PSP

I have given Daxter a rest and gone back to playing the turn based strategy game, Commander - Europe at War, on the PSP.  This time I am playing as the allies from 1939 at the invasion of Poland.  Poland surrenders no matter what you do at the start of the game, then it becomes a case of stopping Germany from conquering France, using the the forces of the French and the British.  I'm not sure if this is deliberate or whether the PSP player has stronger AI but the French forces offer very little resistance.  Now I wonder where I heard this before?  So now I am at the stage where the allies are off the continent and I am waiting for the USSR and the USA to join the war.  One thing I was able to do that the Churchill wasn't able to was recall the Royal Navy from the Mediterrean and use them for coastal bombardment on the channel coast, thereby limiting the effectiveness of the German armour.

The Man Who Changed Everything: The Life of James Clerk Maxwell

I have just started reading "The Man Who Changed Everything: The Life of James Clerk Maxwell" by Basil Mahon, I first came across Maxwell and his discoveries in electromagnetism during my GCSE physics class.  Unfortunately I didn't really pay enough attention to fully appreciate his work(sorry Mr Steeg).  However from all the science DVDs and youtube videos his discoveries gave us alot of the things we take for granted today. He also made discoveries in maths, optics and materials science.

Bell's theorem again

I found this wonderful youtube video which explains Bell's theorem with the aid of simple animation.

Enjoy!

Finally passed level 2 of Daxter

After many late nights and sore thumbs, I have defeated the end of level boss of Daxter. I wonder if the can of lager helped?

Bell's inequality

In Youtube, I found a video which brilliantly explains Bell's inequality or theorem and how it was eventually proven experimentally. Back in the 1920s and 30's physicists discovered that particles from a common source were entangled at the point of measurement.  For instance when you measure spin direction in one electron of a pair of electrons from an atom, the spin of its twin will always be opposite.  For example if one electron was spin up the other would be spin down.  This is quantum entanglement.  Before they were measured both electrons were in both spin up and spin down, this is known supposition and is best explained by the Schrodinger's cat thought experiment. This entanglement applied no matter how far the two particles were from each other, they could even be on different ends of the universe but the quantum entanglement still applied.

However Albert Einstein, along with fellow physicists Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen, pointed out that for this to work there must be faster than light communication between the two particles.  And this cannot be since it breaks Einstein's special relativity that nothing can go faster than the speed of light.  This became known as the EPR paradox.  Einstein and his colleagues had pointed out a fundamental flaw with quantum physics and he described entanglement as "spooky action at a distance". Insead Einstein believed that the spin states of these particles were already set before measurement and they only become known to us at the point of measurement.  These are known as 'local hidden variables' and they imply that nature is pre-set in some ways.  Einstein characterized this by having two boxes and a pair of gloves, and each box contains a glove each.  When you open a box, not only do you see which hand the glove fits but you instantly know which hand is in the other box. So which was correct, quantum physics or local hidden variables?

For decades this issue lingered on, until 1964, when a Northern Irish scientist, John Bell, published a study on how to resolve this.  He came up with an experiment which tests local hidden variables of entangled particles.  Each entangled particle is sent to a polarizer to measure the spin and if the particle's spin and detector agree then the particle is allowed through, it not, it is blocked.  These detectors can be set to varying angles so we can measure the probability of a particle getting through or not.  Bell theorized that if hidden variables exist then there is a minimum probability of the two detectors having the same result.  This probability was found to be 33%, if the result go below this probability then hidden variable theory would be false and quantum theory would be correct.  All this became known as Bell's inequality or Bell's theorem.

It was not until 1972 that Freedman and Clauser in the USA, had the right equipment to perform this test, they found the results in favour of quantum physics.  Later on in 1983, French phyisicist Alain Aspect performed a much rigorous version of this experiment and found that the results proved Bell, and quantum mechanics itself, correct and the probability of both detectors recording the same result was below 33%.

So there is some kind of faster than light communication or relationship between 2 entangled particles.  How it comes about is another matter and yet to be explained. Further John Bell had taken on a question posed by one of the greatest scientists ever, Einstein, and won.

In search of the Trojan war - the singer of tales

Last I watched the third episode of Michael Wood's "In search of the Trojan war" - "the singer of tales" which was about Homer himself and how the Illiad was compiled.  We know that the Illiad was created 500 years after the actual war itself, whether it happened or not.  And also it passed on orally, and memorized until it was first written down in papyrus during Roman times.  Wood went to Ireland and Turkey to see how the last surviving modern day storytellers work and how they learnt their stories.

According to the episode, it is likely that the Illiad was a compilation of several poems or songs, which were set around 1200 BC. Some of the cities mentioned were already rubble by Homer's time which adds to the idea that was passed on from generation to generation.  Another fascinating fact that the first copy of the Illiad was compiled in Florence during the 14th century.

Daxter: still stuck on the level 2 boss

After more than 2 weeks I am still stuck on the level 2 end baddie, the queen of the hive.  The closest I got so far was 3 hits away from completing.  Looks like my reflexes need sharpening.

Misnomers

In everyday life one comes across phrases which their meanings bear no resemblance to the words that make them up, common ones include American football, bombay duck and toad in the hole.  Unfortunately quantum physics has two, quantum tunneling and quantum teleportation.

With quantum tunneling one has an image of an electron drilling through a solid wall with a set of sub-atomic tools to get to the other side. The reality is not like that and no drilling is involved. Since electrons can be waves as well as particles, one is never certain of their location at any one time.  A solid object will affect the path of the electron's wave but due to this uncertainty, there is a small chance it can be either inside the wall or the other side of it.  This is down to quantum probability and as been proven in the lab already.  Naturally the thinner the wall, the higher the probability that an election will appear on the other side.  And if the wall is thick enough then this probability will shrink to zero.

With quantum teleportation one has an image of particle such as a photon or electron dematerializing and rematerializing in another place a la Star Trek ("Beam me up"). Again the reality is not like that, you are merely teleporting the quantum states of a particle not the particle itself.  This is thanks to quantum entanglement where two particles spin states are inter-linked, if one is spin up the other must be spin down.  When you measure one, you set the state of the other.

Quantum tunneling

For anyone out there who is interested, here is an everything you need to know video explaining the wonderful and mysterious world of quantum tunneling.

The Secrets of Quantum Physics part 1 Einsteins Nightmare

A few days ago I watched a brilliant BBC science documentary posted on youtube called '

The Secrets of Quantum Physics 1of2 Einsteins Nightmare'.  It was about quantum physics and presented by the Scottish physicist Jim Al-khalili.

It gave a very good primer on the historical background of quantum physics, especially the photostatic effect, the ultra-violet catastrophe and the wave particle duality of light.  This programme is the Beeb at its best. For a difficult subject, Al-khalili's presentation was very clear and easy to follow.  It even looked into the debate and doubt that Einstein had about quantum physics called the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen(EPR) paradox and how it was eventually resolved in the 1960's and 1970's by experiments carried out to test Bell's theorem.

George Galloway and Brexit

Now that Cameron has given us the date of EU referendum of June 23rd, both sides are already working hard in achieving victory.  The PM's recent renegotiation to me is an irrelevance, it is now understood that the deal he negotiated is not even legally binding.  Especially the rules surrounding the take up of benefits by EU migrants.

However the most surprising thing for me so far has been the entry of George Galloway on the Brexit side, sharing a platform with Nigel Farage on the Grassroots Out meeting. This must be the only thing that Farage and Galloway agree on.  Even though I loathe his views on Israel, Galloway is correct here. The EU is not only a businessmen's club but an attack on our democracy and freedoms.  For me it means that GG is at least a man of socialist ideals unlike Jeremy Corbyn and Labour party who have thrown their weight behind the remain campaign.  Corbyn's main argument is that the EU has brought in many workers' rights, however I think these are just delusions. Corbyn and Labour want the EU because it brings in more migrants, who are more likely to vote Labour.  So Corbyn has sold out his principles for votes as he was once fiercely anti-Europe like Tony Benn. My view is that Galloway might sway some of the UK's muslim vote towards Brexit.  Time will only tell.

My other salute is that Michael Gove and Boris Johnson have both backed the leave campaign.  Again this must be the first time I have agreed with either man.

In Search of the Trojan War

I have just watched first episode of the BBC documentary 'In Search of the Trojan War', presented by the then youthful Michael Wood. This episode 'Age of Heroes' features the attempt by German archeologist Heinrich Schliemann to find the lost city of Troy and evidence of the other characters - Agremennon, Achiles, Nestor etc.  Despite the age this is the BBC at its best.

Unfortunately Schliemann did not uncover all the secrets before his death but provided enough of a foundation for others to follow.  I fully recommend this for all history buffs and anyone interested in Homer's Illiad.

Daxter, the story so far

I am at the end of level 2 of Daxter, it is a thoroughly enjoyable game and according to the statistics I have completed 18% of the game so far.  I have spent the last few nights trying to get past the level 2 boss, the queen of the hive, and she is proving to be very tricky.

I can understand why so many PSP gamers have this game in their personal all time top 10, there is a huge attention to detail and the challenges require alot of thought as well as reflexes.  It also uses all of the control buttons of the PSP.

Quantum mechanics: the theoretical minimum, first impressions

So far I have read past the first chapter of this book by Leonard Susskind, it is written for theoretical physics undergraduates in mind. Unlike other books I have read on this subject, it contains the mathematical explanations with mathematical formulas and also at the end of the chapter there are exercises for those who want a challenge.

After doing some background research on the author, it appears the book is based on his lectures. I will post more on this later.

Planking

In the last 2 to 2 1/2 years I have been doing a daily exercise - planking.  This is where you rest on your forearms and tips of your toes only.  It is very good for toning the abdominal and to a lesser extent the lower back muscles.

I was introduced to this exercise by my tae kwon do instructor back in the early 2000s but I did not take it up.  However, since starting boxing in 2013, my instructor re-introduced it to me.  I then started practicing it daily, starting from 1 minute and building up to my current limit of 5 minutes.  It has helped my waistline and as a result removed my mid section middle age spread or spare tyre after doing it for just 6 months.

New Year MongKok riots

Happy Chinese new year everyone! In the early hours of last Tuesday (9 Feb) the MongKok area of Hong was rocked by riotting.  Reports suggest that 90 police officiers were injured and 54 suspects were arrested.    The riot was supposedly against the crackdown on street food vendors who normally ply their products in that area.  However, most of the riotters appear to be young people rather than the vendors.  Personally I am not a great fan of street food myself, and I find the media's explanation very puzzling.  Also live news footage showed a van deliver bricks, bottles and face masks for the rioters which does make me think that this was all pre-meditated rather than spontaneous.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAOT41ClkxE

Quantum mechanics: the theoretical minimum

I started my next Amazon kindle book and its back to quantum mechanics with "Quantum mechanics: the theoretical minimum". I am on the first chapter and he is already talking about "qubits", should be very interesting.

Finished Bang! The complete history of the universe

In the past few days I have finished reading 'Bang! The complete history of the universe' by Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott.

This book is a very good introduction to the history of the universe from the moment of the big bang, past the present and onto the future of the solar system and indeed of the universe.  It introduces the sub-atomic particle particle physics side in a very easy to read and informative manner.

I thoroughly recommend this for anyone who wants to grasp the basics of the big bang and how the universe will progress in billions of years time.