Archive for October, 2009
How to recognise a stroke
October 7th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
“Hi Roger, I am a single 44 year old female living in Darlington, a recent stroke survivor just home after 5 weeks in hospital and 2 weeks in Eastbourne Care Home! On 31st July 09 at 3pm my life changed forever when I collapsed at home alone and a neighbour heard my screams for help! […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (2)
Back to 6,000 visits a day
October 6th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
The traffic figures for my web site (which embraces my two blogs NightHawk & CommsWatch) follow a couple of cyclical patterns not unrelated to work patterns in the web user population. On a weekly basis, traffic usually peaks on a Tuesday (when people have got on top of the new week’s e-mails?), slowly falls down […]
Posted in Internet | Comments (0)
The conspiracy theory and why it won’t die (2)
October 6th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
A poll conducted in 2006 suggested that 36% of Americans suspect government involvement or deliberate inaction in the 9/11 attacks and 40% believe that the assassination of John Kennedy was the subject of a conspiracy. Here, in the UK, one survey found a fifth of Britons believe that Princess Diana was murdered. BBC online reports […]
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
Why women dominate social networking
October 5th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
Are you a social networker on the Net? I’m not. My web site, my blogs and my “Thought For The Week” – plus, of course, e-mail – do it for me. It seems that most social networks have more women users than male users. Check out the figures here.
Posted in Internet | Comments (0)
Do you believe in angels?
October 4th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
I don’t – but I have good friends who believe in them very much. So I’ve watched all 10 episodes of the Sky TV series called simply “Angels” which I believe is the first series on British television to address this subject. Watching the series inspired me to devote one of my series of short […]
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (3)
The wonder of epigenetics
October 3rd, 2009 by Roger Darlington
This week, my wife (a non-identical twin) and I watched two fascinating programmes on BBC1 television called “The Secret Life Of Twins”. The programmes looked at identical twins, including some who grew up apart, to assess to what extent their personality, behaviour and health were similar. The main conclusion was that identical twins have an […]
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (0)
My 11th short story
October 2nd, 2009 by Roger Darlington
My latest short story is entitled “A Life In A Box” – the first one to be stimulated by my course in short story writing. Please check it out and let me know what you think.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (5)
Forgotten World (185): Wallis and Futuna
October 2nd, 2009 by Roger Darlington
Although the Dutch and the British were the European discoverers of the islands of Wallis and Futuna in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was the French who were the first Europeans to settle in the territory, with the arrival of French missionaries in 1837, and it remains a French overseas collectivity to this day. […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
60 years of Communist China
October 1st, 2009 by Roger Darlington
Today marks the 60th anniversary of the creation of the the People’s Republic of China. You can read my review of a book on the history of China here, my review of a biography of Mao here, and my review of a book on modern China here. In 2000, Vee and I made a fascinating […]
Posted in History | Comments (0)
Forgotten World (184): St Pierre and Miquelon
October 1st, 2009 by Roger Darlington
The sole remnant of France’s once-extensive possessions in North America, the Atlantic islands of St Pierre and Miquelon lie off the Canadian island of Newfoundland and house a a mere 6,300 inhabitants. The islands became a French “territorial collectivity” in 1985. The status – something between a department and an overseas territory – allowed French […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)