NightHawk

I had lunch today in central London with a new work colleague. I wanted to welcome her to the organisation and get to know her better. Although we both now live and work in the capital, we are both Northerners - she from York and me from Manchester - and people from the North have a reputation (rightly, I believe) for being friendlier than Southerners. She commented to me on how people in London do not engage as easily as they do in her home town.

So I was really interested in this story which was drawn to my attention later today by another friend - in fact someone else who, like me, used to live in Manchester and now lives down south. You may at first think the story is not relevant to you: the subject is a young American who asks some quite challenging questions.

But I believe that we all can and should engage more with colleagues at work and people we meet in our everyday life. All it takes is a simple, open-ended question such as "How are you?" "How's your day day been so far?" "What's new?". But then we have to be prepared to really listen and genuinely empathise.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 06:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm sure you've seen pictures of devout Muslims walking around a huge rectangular object in the heart of Mecca. But what is it and why is it so significant in Islam?

It is called the Kaaba. Inside this enormous cube, the holiest object is the black stone. Nobody is sure what it is but it could be a meteorite. Equally shrouded in history is why the object is so venerated, especially since it precedes the foundation of Islam.

You'll find more explanation of the Kaaba and discussion of its meaning here.

Maybe Muslim readers would like to share what the Kaaba means to them.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 09:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There have been - and indeed still are - many calendars to plot the passage of time. In today's "Guardian", 'Notes and queries' features a short overview - see here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 01:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Over the centuries, there have been countless means of measuring distance, but today all scientists use metres. Since 1793 when the French first made the effort, there have been many attempts to define a metre. The book "You Are Here" [my review here] explains that, since 1983, the metre has been defined as the distance that light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,495 of a second. So, now you know.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 01:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A longish, but very thoughtful and thought-provoking, article on this subject was in a recent edition of the "Economist" magazine. Check it out here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Read this essay - and count yourself lucky.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 06:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It took some time before we settled on the noughties as a description for the last decade. So far, we don't have a settled terms for the new decade.

The favourites appear to be the tens or the twenty tens - but other candidates include the tenties, the teens, the teenies, the tennies, or the tenners.

See a fuller discussion here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 01:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The "Mirror" newspaper has a fun story today on the most popular boys' and girls' names for babies born in 2009. There is a comprehensive list of the top 100 names for each gender - see here.

Now I'm really fascinated by naming practices around the world and have a major section of my web site devoted to this topic, so I read the "Mirror" piece with special interest. But something about the lists did not look quite right. There is a serious absence of ethnic names.

In the latest list (that for 2008) from the most definitive source of baby names in England & Wales (the Office of National Statistics) - which you can access here - Mohammed (16th), Muhammad (37th) and Mohammad (65th) all appear in the top 100 list for boys' names but none of these names is mentioned in the "Mirror" list.

It should be noted that the ONS produces its ranking of the popularity of names using the exact spelling of the name given at birth registration. Combining the occurrence of Mohammed, Muhammad and Mohammad would put the name third - a reflection of the changing ethnicity of the British population.

When I checked the "Mirror" story again, I found that the source was the parenting club Bounty. Now I'm sure that this organisation is immensely helpful to those about to become or who have just become parents, but how does Bounty compile its lists of the most popular names? I suspect it does it from those registered on its site but, of course, this is not a comprehensive or accurate source for such data.

I've e-mailed the journalist in question - Victoria Ward - about this.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

... and we're running out of time - click here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 02:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The origin of many of our Christmas traditions is helpfully explained in this article.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today's "Mirror" newspaper has an item listing 10 cliches that we all hate.

I make fun of one of these 10 cliches in my short story "The Away Day".

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by Roger Darlington at 05:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No, neither had I - until a friend drew my attention to an 18-minute talk by Devdutt Pattanaik who takes an eye-opening look at the myths of India and of the West and shows how these two fundamentally different sets of beliefs about God, death and heaven help us consistently to misunderstand one another.

Check it out here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

See London as you've never seen it before here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There's a test here.

I haven't done it yet. Apparently it takes 20 minutes and I have work i have to do first.

But let me know how you get on.

Footnote (24/11/09):

I've done the test now. I scored high for openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, and agreeableness and medium for neuroticism. Looks like I need to be less neurotic then!

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Now, there's a question ...

According to Forrest Gump, life is like a box of chocolates.

But, according to a survey mentioned in this column, most people see life as a journey.

For me, life is like a short story. We like to think that we're writing it ourselves, but sometimes it seems to write itself. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's sad, and we're never quite sure how it's going to end - but hope that afterwards somebody will still think it worth reading.

What about you?

Posted by Roger Darlington at 02:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires. The second is full of assassins with loaded guns. The third is full of lions that haven't eaten in 3 years. Which room is safest for him?

2. A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him under water for over 5 minutes. Finally, she hangs him. But 5 minutes later they both go out together and enjoy a wonderful dinner together. How can this be?

3. What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when you throw it away?

4. Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Wednesday, Friday, or Sunday?

5. This is an unusual paragraph. I'm curious as to just how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it. It looks so ordinary and plain that you would think nothing was wrong with it. In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is highly unusual though. Study it and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you might find out. Try to do so without any coaching!

The answers to all five riddles are below.

Continue reading "Five riddles" »

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

If you're a reader in the UK, then this Sunday you turned back the clocks one hour. But why do we do this?

The change from British Summer Time (BST) back to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) has taken place annually since 1916 when, following wartime enemy Germany's lead, the clocks went back to give farmers more daylight in the morning to work in their fields. But several organisations, including the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, want a change in the system to allow extra evening daylight all year round.

This would be a problem for Scotland being further north than the rest of the UK. But the Scots could opt to turn back the clocks if they wanted to do so. This would mean that we have two time zones in the UK, but many countries have more than one time zone and, here in the UK, we had all sorts of local times until 1880.

Check out the arguments in this article.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 01:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I bet that you didn't know that today is Angel Awareness Day. Who says so? Someone called Diane Cooper.

It seems that Angel Awareness Day is an annual event to help more people to be aware of and connect to their angels. Teachers from the Diana Cooper School organise a variety of events throughout the world on a specific day and link in with other angel events taking place at the same time, in order to raise a huge light for world peace and enlightenment. We are told that each year this day substantially affects the consciousness of the planet and millions of angels add their energy to what we are doing.

Not convinced? Pity you aren't signed up for this course.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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 on a meeting which attempted to combat the power of such conspiracy theories, although believers defy evidence to cling to their irrational theories.

I have myself written about "Why People Believe Weird Things".

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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 stories to an 'angelic' appearance. It's called "The Face At The Window".

So often, in the television series, some conjunction of events which were described as angelic would be dismissed by the resident sceptic Professor Chris French as coincidence - a position I support. But the believers will insist that there is no such thing as coincidence and that instead everything happens for a reason.

There are two major problems with the school of thought that insists that everything has a reason. First, it seems to suggest that everything is intended or purposeful and therefore planned which appears to contradict free will. Second, if everything is for a reason, this means that all the evils in the world - including disease, destruction and death itself, even such horrors as the Holocaust - are for a reason which appears to defy comprehension.

Of course, people of faith argue that everything is planned by a God whose mind we cannot understand and all evil has a purpose but we are not capable of appreciating it. This seems to me to be an utterly circular and self-serving argument that is just too convenient.

Also, if believers truly believe that all evil and all sorrow have a divine purpose, then why do we seek to oppose evil and avoid sorrow and why do we condemn evil and feel sorrow?

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

If you haven't visited the city of Budapest - I have twice - then you might be tempted to do so by viewing this wonderful scene brought to my attention by a good Hungarian friend.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This video clip is both richly sardonic and strangely moving.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Many teachers are - and, possibly with some reason, as this article in today's "Sunday Times" explains.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to the data compiled annually by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the most popular names for children born in England & Wales during 2008 were as follows:

There are some patterns here.

First of all, it is striking how traditional most of the names are for both boys and girls, although for the boys it is interesting that the familiar form of names rather than the original version is often preferred - Jack instead of John (first for the 14th year running), Alfie instead of Alfred, Harry instead of Harold, Charlie instead of Charles.

In the case of boys, three of the top nine names begin with the letter 'J'. In the case of girls, six of the top ten names end with the sound 'ee' and 11 of the top 20 names contain one or more of the letter 'l'.

On the other hand, the name David - which is the second most common name in Britain - slipped out of the top 50 of names chosen for baby boys born in 2004 and has stayed out. Similarly Margaret - the most common female name in the population as a whole - does not even appear in the top 100 names chosen for girls these days.

It should be noted that the Office of National Statistics (ONS) produces its ranking of the popularity of names using the exact spelling of the name given at birth registration. If one combines the numbers for names with very similar spellings, a different picture is revealed. For boys, combining the occurrence of Mohammed, Muhammad and Mohammad would put the name third - a reflection of the changing ethnicity of the British population. Similarly, if one combines the occurrence of Isabelle, Isabella, Isabel and Isobel, one would find the name top by far of the girls' list.

You can see a fuller list of the most popular baby names and more analysis here.

If you're one of NightHawk's many American readers, you'll find the comparable US data here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 09:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you've ever travelled on the London underground - and I do constantly - you may enjoy this odd anagram version of the station names.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 01:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Having read four books of short stories (as inspiration for my own short story writing), I've just read a totally different book called "Counter Clockwise" and subtitled "Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility". As far as I know, it's only been published in the USA so far and I bought it online.

The official promotion for this fascinating work states: "If we could turn back the clock psychologically, could we also turn it back physically? For more than thirty years, award-winning social psychologist Ellen Langer has studied this provocative question, and now has a conclusive answer: opening our minds to what’s possible, instead of clinging to accepted notions about what’s not, can lead to better health at any age."

You'll find my review of the book here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 09:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a world in which most copyrighted material takes digital form and most consumers have access to a broadband connection, it is all too easy technically and usually cost-free for users to copy, distribute and adapt copyrighted works.

In a news release and a statement issued by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) today, the Government has clearly signalled that it is changing its mind on the proposals set out as recently as the Digital Britain Final report on how to combat illegal file sharing. Now it wants to move faster, to consider severer measures, and to involve Ministers more.

Consumer organisations will doubt that this is a fair balance between creators and users. Also such organisations seek new legislation to legitimise fair use of copyrighted material such as format shifting. The debate is sure to run.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There's a report today which suggests that many Britons are cutting their lives short by the unhealthy lifestyle that they adopt.

The Government is running a healthy living campaign campaign called "Change4Life" and I have a section on web site called "How To Be Healthy".

Posted by Roger Darlington at 06:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No - I didn't think so. If you were, you wouldn't like many of my postings.

But, since it's Sunday, let's run with Christian fundamentalism for a moment. What are the ten ten signs that you're a fundamentalist Christian? They're listed here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 02:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The reasons why provide life lessons for us all - see here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 05:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You probably didn't notice but, earlier today, the time and date was:

12:34:56 7/8/9

Posted by Roger Darlington at 02:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you've ever seen "West Side Story" and want a real laugh, click here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 06:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You've heard the expression "the seven seas". But what are these seven seas?

In Medieval European literature, "the seven seas" referred to the following seas:
* the Persian Gulf
* the Black Sea
* the Caspian Sea
* the Red Sea, including the closed Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee
* the Mediterranean Sea, including its marginal seas, notably the Aegean Sea.
* the Adriatic Sea
* the Arabian Sea (which is part of the Indian Ocean)

For a variety of other explanations, see here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 09:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

• All socks should be sold in packs of three.
• We should have a 99p coin.
• Weekends should be three days.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Imagine swimming 2.4 miles (3.8 km). Imagine cycling 112 miles (180 km). Imagine running a marathon of 26.2 miles (42.2 km). Now imagine doing one after the other after the other - all on the same day. The event is called The Iron Man and it took place today in Zurich in Switzerland.

One of Vee's nephew's - David Rowe - was one of the 2,200 participants in this amazing ordeal (official number 1171). He did the 2.4 mile swim in 1:08:25, the 112 mile cycling in 5:36:01 and the 26.2 mile marathon in 3:47:27. That made a total time of 10:37:39 which put him at number 573 out of the 2,200 participants.

I am in utter awe of David's performance and congratulate him BIG time.

David's blog Rowe Running sets the scene and no doubt - once he has recovered - he'll be giving a full account of how it went.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 03:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It depends enormously on life style which in turn is substantially influenced by class and wealth which in turn is shaped very much by upbringing and education.

In the UK, on average, a middle-class man will live around 10 years longer than a working class man and, in all classes, women live a bit longer than men. And the class gap in life expectancy is widening.

Also the later you are born, the longer your life expectancy - how long people will live is, on average, extending at the rate of one month every six years.

There's some new data to confirm these trends here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

He's British and he's 113 - information on the remarkable on Henry Allingham here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 04:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My friend Mavis Smith - whom I visited on a recent trip to Gateshead - has had a tough retirement because of her Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) and Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA). But she hasn't let it get her down; instead she's become Chair of a support group for those with PMR-GCA in the North-East of England.

The group has just launched a very professional and helpful web site which you can view here. Mavis and her group are making a real difference.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Some time ago I blogged about the most expensive cup of coffee in the world. Today I have a new concern: the most expensive public toilet in the world.

Now, of course, many toilets are free to use. But charging for women started with the addition of locks in the UK and gave rise to the expression 'to spend a penny'. That was before decimalisation, so we were talking of one old pence which is equivalent to 0.4 pence in current currency.

Clearly we've had decades of inflation and so we've become used to public toilets charging 10 pence or 20 pence. Fairly recently, toilets on railway stations in London have upped their charges to 30 pence. In the passageway under Parliament Street, at the south-east corner of Parliament Square, the cost is a staggering 50 pence - which seems especially cruel since so many tourists use this passageway.

However, this week, I came across a new record. I went to the cinema at Cineworld in the Trocadero which is located between Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square in central London. As I left the cinema, I did not pass a toilet, so I thought that I would use the one for the Trocadero complex - until I found that they were going to charge me an incredible £1 (for my American readers, that's $1.64 at the current rate of exchange). Now I call that taking the piss. So I refused to use that facility, walked down the road to Leicester Square, and used the free toilets there.

What's the most expensive toilet you've used and where was it?

Footnote: On my first visit to Budapest after the collapse of communism in Hungary, I went for a meal in a restaurant in the centre of the city and was then charged to use their toilet.

Have you had any similar experiences?

Posted by Roger Darlington at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Those who know me appreciate my love of desserts. Now one of my great favorites is banoffee pie.

Earlier this week, I was in a restaurant with some friends visiting from New Zealand and I chose banoffee pie as my last course. My Kiwi friends thought that the pie was American but I assured them that it was another great British invention.

The origin of the pie was when it came to be served at "The Hungry Monk" in the village of Jevington in East Sussex. This was in 1972. The recipe was devised by Ian Dowding and Nigel Mackenzie and was often prepared by chef Lucy Baldwin

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here in the UK, today is a Bank Holiday, so I thought that I'd do a lighthearted posting (if you don't live in Britain, don't worry - this is a posting with an international dimension).

I'm currently reading a book called "Quirkology" by Professor Richard Wiseman. One of the chapters is about why people find jokes funny. He writes about an experiment he conducted to find the world's funniest jokes and to establish which jokes were found funniest by different nationalities. Check out the results here.

Wiseman is a briliant communicator and I have heard him speak a couple of times [postings here and here].

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you receive an email from the Department of Health telling you not to eat tinned pork because of swine flu - ignore it.

It's just spam.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I agree with all his answers as expressed here.

But then I was generally very favourable to his book "The God Delusion" which I reviewed here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While we were strolling gently round a wildlife park, 35,000 others were pounding the streets of London in the marathon in an attempt to cover 26.2 miles as fast as possible. One of them was Vee's nephew, David, who ran it in an amazing 3 hours 19 minutes 46 seconds. Well done, David!

Once he has recovered enough strength in his legs to climb up to his PC, you'll be able to read his account here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Since it's Sunday, I thought that I'd offer a blog posting with a Christian theme. Imagine that you were present in Heaven at a discussion between God and some of his leading angels at the point at which God is about to send his son to Earth to show them his divinity. What would you advise? Let's listen into the discussion as it actually happened ...

Posted by Roger Darlington at 01:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

We rightly worry about the explosive epidemic of obesity in the developed world, especially among children.

But, of course, excessive weight has been exhibited by unusual people in the past. I was reminded of this earlier this week when I spent a day in Leicester with my sister. We visited the Newarke Houses Museum which contains a section commemorating a famous local man called Daniel Lambert who was born in 1770 and died in 1809.

Incredibly his weight was 52 stone 11 pounds (335 kg). There are records of a few people in Britain and America whose size has surpassed Daniel Lambert's, but he still has a place in the "Guinness Book Of Records".

You can read about him here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I recently received the following e-mail about my web site:

"Thank you for your collection of 'Good mornings'. I have been dating this teacher and every morning I send her a 'Good morning' text in a different language. Hopefully I will be able to send her 'I love you' texts before I run out of morning texts."

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We all know that "seventh heaven" is an expression for being blissfully happy and I hope that you frequently inhabit the space - but what is the origin of the term?

Both Judaism and islam promulgate the notion of there being seven level of heaven. The seventh heaven in Judaism is where ofanim, the seraphim, and the hayyoth and the throne of the Lord are located - and who would want to miss them?

You check out the names of the seven heavens in both Judaism and Islam here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We all know that "cloud nine" is an expression for being blissfully happy and I hope that you frequently inhabit the space - but what is the origin of the term?

One explanation is that, when the World Meteorological Organisation amended the system of cloud classification originally developed by the British Luke Howard ( 1772-1864), the ninth cloud on the list became the cumulonimbus which is thought to have a particularly attractive shape.

But the explanation may not be that straightforward as you'll see here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am struck by the fact that so many religions and so many cultures exhibit the same message of hope: that, at some indeterminate point in the future - typically when we are most in need of rescue or salvation - God or his representative or some heroic figure from history will return to save us from great danger or great evil.

In Christian theology, there is the notion of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ with some sects convinced that this occurrence is both predictable and imminent. In the Shia branch of Islam, there is the notion of the Major Occultation of the twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi. Both Christians and Muslims are still waiting.

I visit the Czech Republic quite often and have some familiarity with its history. The Czechs have a succession of legends, many of which - such as, King Barley, Prince Bruncvik, Saint Wencelas and the Knights of Blanik - conclude with the promise of the hero returning to save the Czechs at the hour of their greatest need which has apparently not yet occurred in spite of successive foreign occupations and totalitarian regimes.

Do you know of other religious traditions or cultural tales that involve the return of a saviour and why do we need and continue to believe in such child-like messages?

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I've run a web site for almost 10 years now and, ever expanding in content, it now has almost 140 sections. One of the most popular areas of the site is the set of pages on life skills.

I've just created the 27th page in this life skills section. It's called "How To Prepare For Death" - practical rather than cheerful.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

These are serious times, but we all need a laugh from time to time, so remember that there's lots of jokes on my web site here and here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Feeling a bit down or confused in these troubled times?

Maybe you need some help from "the Beings of Light in the Realms of Illumined Truth". Don't know about them? All will be revealed here.

If you think this is nonsensical or even weird, you might ask yourself: why do people believe such weird things? I've offered 36 suggestions here.

You choose. Does it matter? I've explained why I think truth matters here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Many thanks to my friend Dominic Ridley for drawing my attention to this amusing clip from Louis CK on the Conan O'Brian Show.

We should all moan less and be happier. How? Check out my advice here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If this story is true (check out the photo), then Indian Babu Sassi is a new kind of hero. Certainly he has a top job.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 01:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As you know, this blog is called NightHawk so, if you're a regular visitor, I guess that you are a Nighthawker. But, thanks to my friend Nick Hobson, I find from this article that, in a very different context, "nighthawking" is a bad thing. It seems that:

"Nighthawking is defined as the search and removal of antiquities from the ground using metal detectors without the permission of landowners or where the practice is banned. The maximum penalty is three months in prison and a £1,000 fine."

Posted by Roger Darlington at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Around one in five of the world's population - but I'm sure less than that proportion of my blog visitors - today celebrates the Chinese New Year [more information here].

This is the Year of the Ox or Ji Chou 己丑 or year 4706 in the Chinese calendar.

So, to all my Chinese visitors - and especially my dear friends Hua and Zhihao - Happy Chinese New Year!

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"As we wrote in Freakonomics, most people are pretty terrible at risk assessment. They tend to overstate the risk of dramatic and unlikely events at the expense of more common and boring (if equally devastating) events. A given person might fear a terrorist attack and mad cow disease more than anything in the world, whereas in fact she’d be better off fearing a heart attack (and therefore taking care of herself) or salmonella (and therefore washing her cutting board thoroughly)."

He is so right. In my advice on "How To Make Decisions", I caution:

"Beware of a false assessment of risk - on the one hand, some parents decide that their children should not have the MMR injection because of just one, deeply flawed, study suggesting a risk of autism, while on the other hand many smokers continue with their habit because they have convinced themselves that the health risks are not as serious as repeated, large-scale studies have shown beyond any reasonable doubt."

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I confess that I'm not one for games of any kind - but I make an exception at Christmas when it's fun to play something with family members after a big meal. This year, it was Scrabble and afterwards I thought that I would check out the history of the game. It's an interesting story.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 06:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I'm really interested in naming practices and name popularity around the world because one can learn so much about a country's culture or a person's background just from names. That's why I've constructed a comprehensive look at naming practices around the globe with a special emphasis on the position in the UK - you can check it out here.

Given my interest, I could not help but notice how much of the British media today carries a feature on the most popular boys and girls names of 2008. The media really struggles for news at this time of year and we all love lists of things. Lists of names have a special interest because we all have names and many of us are parents and we all like to check out the relative popularity of different names.

But something's not right about the lists published today. How do I know? Well, take the name Mohammed - in its various spellings - which is a name given to a growing proportion of baby boys in Britain. According to the Office of National Statistics, in England & Wales in 2006, the 17th most popular boys' name was Mohammed and the 38th was Muhammad - see details here. Yet the name simply doesn't occur on any of the lists published in today's media stories.

So let's go to the prime source - always a good idea in critical thinking (see my advice here). It turns out that the source is a web site called Bounty.com. If one looks at the top 100 boys' names for 2008 as compiled by Bounty, there is no reference to any version of Mohammed.

So what's going on? Well, usually about this time of year the Office of National Statistics put out a media release on the most popular boys' and girls' names of the past year and this release understandably gets a lot of publicity. For some reason, so far the official statistics have not been issued. I'm guessing that Bounty.com saw an opportunity to beat the official body to the punch and get lots of free publicity for its commercial web site in the bargain.

I don't know what method of compilation Bounty.com uses - they don't explain on their site - but I'm assuming that it's a less comprehensive and authoritative method that that used by the ONS which is why Mohammed does not appear.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Two of my very clever friends scored 25/30 but I confess that I only managed 19/30.

Try it yourself here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

You might want to check out the moon tonight - because this evening's full moon could appear up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full moons this year.

How come? Well, the moon's orbit is not circular but elliptical which means that the distance between the moon and the Earth is not constant but varies. The moon is usually about 385,000km from Earth, but tonight it will be closer at around 363,000km.

Further information here.

Incidentally, do you know how many men have walked on the moon? This was a question in a quiz I ran earlier this week and nobody knew the correct answer.

Continue reading "The moon tonight" »

Posted by Roger Darlington at 02:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

As it’s the festive season, I thought I’d tell you about BT's letter-to-Santa initiative. As part of the company's partnership with ChildLine, for a suggested donation of £5.00 to the charity you can order a personalised letter from Santa to be sent to the child or children of your choice. We've arranged for two young relatives to receive such letters.

BT is aiming to raise at least £10,000 for ChildLine through this scheme and they're up to £7,000 to date. So if you want to make a child happy and help BT raise more, simply fill in the application form which can be found at here. Please note letters can be sent to the UK, Channel Islands, Republic of Ireland and BFPO addresses only and all orders must be received by 16 December.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

An elderly father in Britain calls his son in Cape Town and says, 'Son, I hate to ruin your Christmas, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; 35 years of misery is enough.'

'Dad, what are you talking about?' the son screamed.

'We can't stand the sight of each other any longer,' the old man says. 'We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Australia and tell her.'

Frantic, the son called his sister, who exploded on the phone. 'Like heck they're getting divorced,' she shouted, 'I'll take care of this.'

She immediately called her dad and screamed down the line, 'You are NOT getting divorced! Don't you do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back and we'll both be there on Friday. Until then, don't do a thing. DO YOU HEAR ME?'

The elderly father hung up and then turned to his wife and said. 'It worked, they'll be here for Christmas and paying their own air fares.'

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

... by night.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 06:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

You've all heard of Big Ben - although most people think it is the clock tower on the Houses of Parliament in London when, in fact, it is the name of the bell at the top of the tower.

But have you heard of Big Ben's younger brother Little Ben? Think I'm making this up? No - I met a colleague there today (I find it a distinctive meeting point).

You can see a picture and location here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 05:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

This ditty from Australian Tim Minchin certainly captures my approach to the world:

Posted by Roger Darlington at 01:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

There's an article in today's "Education Guardian" about why people believe in alien abduction based on the work of psychology professor Chris French whom I have heard speak [see posting here]. The piece includes figures from an opinion poll on the beliefs of a representative sample of 1,000 British adults (the figures in square brackets indicate those reporting direct personal experience of the phenomenon in question):

• 64% believe that some people have powers that cannot be explained by science [16%]
• 63% believe in God [14%]
• 52% believe in life after death [11%]
• 49% believe in ghosts [13%]
• 49% believe in precognitive dreams [19%]
• 49% believe in heaven (only 28% believe in hell) [2%, 2%]
• 47% believe in thought reading [14%]
• 41% believe in communication with the dead [9%]
• 34% believe in psychokinesis [4%]
• 26% believe in angels [ 3%]
• 25% believe in reincarnation [-]

Am I weird or something because I don't believe in any of these things. Why? Because there is no convincing evidence to support any of them. Does evidence matter? I think it does as I explain in this short essay.

So why do people believe in alien abduction? The "Guardian" article offers some possible answers. More generally why do people believe weird things? Michael Shermer has actually written a whole book on the subject which I have reviewed here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 06:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I've just had an e-mail from someone in New Zealand who grows and sells delphiniums. For those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere and encountering the cold and wet of Autumn, his web site has some enjoyable photographs.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Check out this set of clips.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 09:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

BBC online today has a news item on the civil partnership between Treasury Minister Angela Eagle and her partner of 18 years Maria Exall. Angela is the only openly gay woman in the House of Commons and Maria is a BT engineer and a member of the Executive of the Communication Workers Union. When I worked at the CWU, I knew and respected Maria and I'm delighted to see her and Angela so happy and so united.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 06:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

They say that today Gordon Brown has to make "the speech of his life" to the Labour Party Conference in Manchester. Actually, I don't think he needs to - he's safe for a few weeks. And I don't think he will - he's actually not that great a speaker.

I wouldn't presume to tell him what to say but, style is as important as content, and if he wants some tips on delivery he could do worse than check out my advice on "How To Make A Good Speech".

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Subj: VIRUS ALERT Status: PUBLIC MESSAGE

Warning: There's a new virus on the loose that's worse than anything I've seen before! It gets in through the power line, riding on the powerline 60 Hz subcarrier. It works by changing the serial port pinouts, and by reversing the direction one's disks spin. Over 300,000 systems have been hit by it in Murphy, West Dakota, alone! And that's just in the last 12 minutes.

It attacks DOS, Unix, TOPS-20, Apple-II, VMS, MVS, Multics, Mac, RSX-11, ITS, TRS-80, and VHS systems.

To prevent the spread of the worm:

1) Don't use the powerline.

2) Don't use batteries either, since there are rumours that this virus has invaded most major battery plants, and is infecting the positive poles of the batteries. (You might try hooking up just the negative pole.)

3) Don't upload or delete or download files.

4) Don't store files on floppy disks or hard disks.

5) Don't read messages. No, not even this one!

6) Don't use serial ports, toasters, modems, or phone lines.

7) Don't use keyboards, screens, electric toothbrushes, or printers.

8) Don't use switches, CPUs, memories, microprocessors, or mainframes.

9) Don't use electric lights, electric or gas heat, or air conditioning, running water, vibrators, writing, fire, clothing, or the wheel.

I'm sure if we are all careful to follow these 9 easy steps, this virus can be eradicated, and the precious electronic fluids of our computers can be kept pure.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 09:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In 1980, I won a Travelling Fellowship from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust to visit the USA for five weeks and study that country's telecommunications system.

The Trust is still awarding fellowships and has just advertised the categories for 2008. The closing date for applications is 14 October 2008.

More information here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Men are just happier people--

Your last name stays put.
The garage is all yours.
Wedding plans take care of themselves.
Chocolate is just another snack.
You can never be pregnant.
Car mechanics tell you the truth.
The world is your urinal.
You never have to drive to another petrol station restroom because this one is just too icky.
You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.
Same work, more pay.
Wrinkles add character.
People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them.
New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet.
One mood all the time.
Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.
You know stuff about tanks and engines. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase.
You can open all your own jars.
You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.
Your underwear is £3.99 for a three-pack.
Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. You never have strap problems in public.
You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.
Everything on your face stays its original colour.
The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades.
You only have to shave your face and neck.
You can play with toys all your life.
One wallet and one pair of shoes -- one colour for all seasons.
You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look.
You can 'do' your nails with a pocket knife.
You have freedom of choice concerning growing a moustache.
You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.

No wonder men are happier.

When I sent this to a friend, he added:
And one more thing: they get to love women.

Aren't we the lucky ones?

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Five women are launching a trans-Atlantic survey to help find the causes – and cure – for two mystery illnesses, PMR and GCA, which mainly affect the over 50 ‘baby boomers’ and must cost the UK many millions of pounds. These illnesses also mainly affect women, and an estimated 100-200,00 suffer from them in the UK – and in America their baby boomer population is estimated to include around half a million affected.

Polymyalgia Rheumatica or PMR [more information here] and Giant Cell Arteritis or GCA [more information here] are debilitating and life-changing vascular inflammatory illnesses, whose main treatment currently is steroids to alleviate some symptoms – but steroids themselves have many side effects. GCA can cause partial or total loss of vision and 15-20% of GCA cases in the UK have lost partial or total vision through lack of early diagnosis and treatment.

A trans-Atlantic hunt for information is based on an online survey set up by an American PMR sufferer, with UK input  - you can access it here.

One of the five women behind this important initiative is a friend of mind and PMR/GCA sufferer Mavis Smith. You can read her personal story here ...

Continue reading "Understanding PMR and GCA" »

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

1. Barack Obama has become the first African-American to be nominated a US presidential candidate by a major political party.
2. In terms of gold medals won, Team GB achieved the best performance for the UK in the Beijing Olympics in any Games for a century.
3. The summer is virtually over - here in London, it has been wet, overcast and miserable.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

1. The President of Russia tells the world that he is ready for a new Cold War.
2. Seven years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden is still at large.
3. The credit crunch is taking the US and UK economies into recession.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1. There is still no resolution of the conflict in Darfur.
2. There is still no power-sharing agreement in Zimbabwe.
3. We still don't what happened to little Madeleine McCann.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Check out this video and. if you don't smile, you're not from this planet.

Once you've viewed the video, you might want to know about the guy who made it and how he did it - info here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:39 PM | Permalink

Almost everyone I know believes something that at best I feel has no credible evidence to support it and at worst I feel is absolutely crackers. What sort of beliefs am i thinking of? Well, here are 10 things that a proportion of UK adults said that they believed for a survey to mark the arrival of the new "X Files" film:

. 1 Area 51 exists to investigate aliens (48%)

· 2 9/11 was orchestrated by the US government (38%)

· 3 Apollo landing was a hoax (35%)

· 4 Diana and Dodi were murdered (32%)

· 5 The Illuminati secret society and masons are trying to take over the world (25%)

· 6 Scientologists rule Hollywood (17% )

· 7 Barcodes are really intended to control people (7%)

· 8 Microsoft sends messages via Wingdings (6%)

· 9 US let Pearl Harbour happen (5%)

· 10 The world is run by dinosaur-like reptiles (3%)

But does it matter what people believe? Does truth really matter? I think it does for the reasons that I have spelled out here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 01:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Just over three months ago, I did a posting about the Last Lecture given by Randy Pausch, a Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States who had been diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer and told that he had months to live.

Sadly a few days ago, he died and today there was an obituary in the "Guardian" newspaper. Our thoughts go out to his his wife Jai and their young children, Dylan, Logan, and Chloe.

The last posting that Randy was able to make on his blog was on 26 June, but his Last Lecture will live on in the form of a video on the Web.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 09:22 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

My thanks to Nigel for drawing this feature to my attention - although you'll need to obtain the "New Scientist" magazine for the full story.

For all the limitations to reason, I firmly believe that it should guide our lives and our society much more than it does. It is the best guide to truth and I've written about why truth matters.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:28 AM | Permalink

Denmark is the happiest country in the world and Zimbabwe the least happy, according to new data just released by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research as part of its World Values Survey. The USA only comes 16th, while the UK is just 21st, out of 97 countries - containing 90% of the world's population - that were surveyed.

The survey suggested that most people in most countries are becoming happier. In the 52 countries for which a time series is available, the happiest index rose in 40 cases.

You can check put the media release here and view the results for 97 countries here. Another way of looking at this data is the Inglehart-Welzel Cultural Map of the World.

If you want some ideas on how to make a country happier, look at my review of the Richard Layard book "Happiness". If you want some tips for your personal situation, you should look at my web page on "How To Be Happy".

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

This was the unusual title chosen by author J K Rowling for her recent address at Harvard. It makes a wonderful read and has given me a couple of marvellous suggestions for my "Thought For The Week".

Read the text here

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"If days of the week were wine gums, Monday would be the green one."

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

There's an amusing article in one of the "Guardian" supplements today about the terrible habit of management-speak which seems to afflict so many people - especially those in senior positions - at work.

Currently the phrase which causes me most anguish is "going forward". I was at a conference today and decided to note the numbers of times that the phrase was used. It was five - which could have been worse.

I find "going forward" an utterly redundant phrase. Invariably the subject of the sentence cannot be a a matter for the past or the present, so it must be something for the future. If there is any doubt, the use of a verb in the future tense covers it.

What's the management-speak that most annoys you?

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

If you have a conflict situation in your life (or think that you might do), you could check out this advice or - better still go - on this course.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is the name for a new web site created by the Financial Services Authority to offer advice to young adults on financial matters. As a consumer advocate, I welcome efforts by regulators to give practical advice to consumers.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The actress Sharon Stone has rightly been criticised for her utterly insensitive and totally ridiculous suggestion that China's earthquake was the result of that country's treatment of the Dalia Lama through the medium of the concept of karma.

In this report, it is argued that Stone does not understand how karma works:

"None of us fully understand the concept of karma unless we are wise, so to use it in this context is ill-advised. The concept of karma is that you are sowing seeds that come back on yourself, but for Sharon Stone to suggest the earthquake was caused by bad karma is unthinking. Things don't work in such straight lines and she seems to have neglected that Tibetans suffered in the quake."

Bad things happen to good people (the victims of the Holocaust were good people) and bad people can (literally) get away with murder. To suggest that we are responsible for what happens to us, including illness and misfortune, is a cruel deception. We only have limited control over what happens to us and but more control over how we respond to what happens to us. Life is not logical and life is not fair and we all have to live with that - including Sharon Stone.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The reason I ask is that I'm currently reading "A History Of God" by Karen Armstrong and this is focussed on Christianity, Islam and Judaism as the three great monotheistic religions. When I was in India [account of my trip here], I heard talk and saw representations of a great many gods and was told that Hinduism has 330 million gods - which seemed somewhat excessive.

So I've a search of the web and found this site which explains that:

"Hindu religion is often labeled as a religion of 330 million gods. This misunderstanding arises when people fail to grasp the symbolism of the Hindu pantheon. According to the Hindu scriptures, living beings are not apart from God, since He lives in each and every one of them in the form of atman. Thus each living being is a unique manifestation of God. In ancient times it was believed that there were 330 million living beings. This gave rise to the idea of 330 million deities or gods. Actually, this vast number of gods could not have been possibly worshipped, since 330 million names could not have been designed for them. The number 330 million was simply used to give a symbolic expression to the fundamental Hindu doctrine that God lives in the hearts of all living beings."

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

No economics course that I have ever done has mentioned behavioural economics. Yet today I attended a meeting of the Ofcom Consumer Panel at which we had a paper and a discussion on the subject and coincidentally today the "Guardian" had a feature on the topic.

So what is?

Behavioural economics incorporates insights from psychology into standard economic analysis with the aim of generating more realistic theories about how individuals make decisions and the impact this has on markets. At its core it involves relaxing the standard assumption that individuals are rational and self-interested. Instead it recognises that individuals are subject to a variety of cognitive limitations, impulses and emotions.

It has been a niche field for a couple of decades but has recently entered the mainstream within economics. One of the driving forces behind this was the award of the Nobel Prize in economics in 2002 to Daniel Kahneman, one of the most important researchers in the field. Also, the growing use of experimental methodologies has revealed many weaknesses in economists’ standard assumption that individuals are rational (i.e. that they do not, on average, make mistakes).

As the "Guardian" article puts it:

".. contrary to economic belief that more choice is better, confronted with too much complexity, we make bad decisions, or stick with what we have already got."

Posted by Roger Darlington at 06:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've just returned from working as a Support Trainer with a training consultancy called Lamont Associates on a course near Oxford. One of the tools we teach is the use of stories and I thought that I would share with you one which we used this week:

"By good fortune, I was able to raft down the Motu River in New Zealand twice during the last year. The magnificent four-day journey traverses one of the last wilderness areas in the North Island.

The first expedition was led by "Buzz", an American guide with a great deal of rafting experience and many stories to tell of mighty rivers such as the Colorado. With a leader like Buzz, there was no reason to fear any of the great rapids on the Motu.

The first half day, in the gentle upper reaches, was spent developing teamwork and co-ordination. Strokes had to be mastered, and the discipline of following commands without question was essential. In the boiling fury of a rapid, there would be no room for any mistake. When Buzz bellowed above the roar of the water, an instant reaction was essential.

We mastered the Motu. In every rapid we fought against the river and we overcame it. The screamed commands of Buzz were matched only by the fury of our paddles, as we took the raft exactly where Buzz wanted it to go.

At the end of the journey, there was a great feeling of triumph. We had won. We proved that we were superior. We knew that we could do it. We felt powerful and good. The mystery and majesty of the Motu had been overcome.

The second time I went down the Motu. the experience I had gained should have been invaluable, but the guide on this journey was a very softly spoken Kiwi. It seemed that it would not even be possible to hear his voice above the noise of the rapids.

As we approached the first rapid, he never even raised his voice. He did not attempt to take command of us or the river. Gently and quietly he felt the mood of the river and watched every little whirlpool. There was no drama and no shouting. There was no contest to be won. He loved the river.

We sped through each rapid with grace and beauty and, after a day, the river had become our friend, not our enemy. The quiet Kiwi was not our leader, but only the person whose sensitivity was more developed than our own. Laughter replaced the tension of achievement.

Soon the quiet Kiwi was able to lean back and let all of us take turns as leader. A quiet nod was enough to draw attention to the things our lack of experience prevented us from seeing. If we made a mistake, then we laughed and it was the next person's turn.

We began to penetrate the mystery of the Motu. Now, like the quiet Kiwi, we listened to the river and we looked carefully for all those things we had not even noticed the first time.

At the end of the journey, we had overcome nothing except ourselves. We did not want to leave behind our friend, the river. There was no contest, and so nothing had been won. Rather we had become one with the river.

It remains difficult to believe that the external circumstances of the two journeys were similar. The difference was in an attitude and a frame of mind. At the end of the journey, it seemed that there could be no other way. Given the opportunity to choose a leader, everyone would have chosen someone like Buzz. At the end of the second journey, we had glimpsed a very different vision and we felt humble - and intensely happy."

If you like this type of story, you'll find many more here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 09:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It really depends on the categorisation one uses

Seven areas are commonly regarded as continents. They are (from largest in size to smallest): Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. On this basis, I've visited five - not having been to Antarctica or Australia.

As you'll see from this analysis, however, there are at least six different ways of categorising continents with numbers ranging from four to seven.

In all the categorisations, one continent is Australia, but this continent is not always called Australia, sometimes being known as Australasia or Oceania.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'll be spending all day tomorrow at this month's meeting of the Board of the New National Consumer Council. One of the issues we will be discussing is a new name and logo for the organisation.

Today we had a wonderful example of how not to choose a new logo.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There's a debate tonight at the British Council on this theme between Professor Daniel Dennett and Lord Robert Winston.

Dennett writes:

"This imperviousness to reason is, I think, the property that we should most fear in religion. Other institutions or traditions may encourage a certain amount of irrationality - think of the wild abandon that is often appreciated in sports or art - but only religion demands it as a sacred duty."

Winston writes:

"Religion is built into human consciousness and there is plentiful evidence of it being a cohesive force. Apart from the survival of our prehistoric ancestors, in recent times there are powerful examples of how a notion of the transcendental has spurred humans on in desperate situations."

You can read a summary of their respective positions here.

I confess that I'm a Dennett man as will be very evident from this essay.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I would - and I'd happily be a 'book'.

I know - you have no idea what I'm on about. You can read about the idea here.

The truth is that everyone has a story to tell. I often ask people about their story without them knowing I'm doing so.

I do this with cab drivers and waitresses, people I meet at conference and courses, people I come across at parties and on holiday ....

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Last night, together with friends Eric, Andy, Nick and Toni, I was at a fascinating and fun event at the Conway Hall in London organised by "The Skeptic magazine" and Skeptics in the Pub. There were six interesting speakers:

1. Professor Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertford [biog here]

   Incredibly funny and witty, he hosted the evening and entertained us with some of his magic tricks which encouraged us to think of issues like perception and deception.

   Professor Chris French of the University of London [biog here]

   He outlined the sceptic scene in the UK and made a number of references to the problem of false memories.

2. Dr Simon Singh, an author and television producer [biog here]

   He has just co-authored a book on complementary medicine called "Trick Or Treatment?" and described the astonishing popularity of so-called alternative medicine.

3. Dr Ben Goldacre, a writer, broadcaster and medical doctor [biog here]

   He argued that the real story is often more compelling than the falsehood and instanced the remarkable power of the placebo effect which we need to understand better.

4. Dr Susan Blackmore, a writer, lecturer and broadcaster [biog here]

   She confessed very honestly to many years of being a believer in psychic phenomena and outlined her academic attempts - all failures - to prove that psychics could produce results which were outside the range of mere chance.
   

5. James Randi, Canadian sceptic and magician [biog here]

   This diminutive, elderly man with a huge white beard was the highlight of the evening and described as "the most famous sceptic in the world". He illustrated the methods he uses to expose charlatans by showing two video clips.

   The first exposed the fakery of the so-called faith healer Peter Popoff in a clip similar to this one:
   

   
   
   

   
   The second was his exposure of the 'operations' conducted in the Philippines by psychic healers without conventional surgical techniques. He used a clip from which this is an extract (the full clip was more stomach-churning):

   
   

   
   Randi made the chilling point that, however often these falsehoods are exposed, many people still believe them. He called the fakeries "unsinkable rubber ducks" and insisted "people just will not listen". At this meeting anyway, some 300 were listening to every word.

   Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Randy Pausch is a Professor of Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, and Design at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. In September 2006, Pausch was diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer. He pursued a very aggressive cancer treatment that included major surgery and experimental chemotherapy; however, in August 2007, he was told the cancer had metastasized to his liver and spleen and given months to live.

Pausch delivered his 'Last Lecture', entitled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," at CMU on 18 September 2007. This talk was modelled after an ongoing series of lectures where top academics are asked to think deeply about what matters to them and then give a hypothetical "final talk" i.e., "what wisdom would you try to impart to the world if you knew it was your last chance?" It has had a great deal of publicity and impact in the USA.

You can see a video of the 10 minute lecture here.

Actually Pausch is still alive and still fighting his cancer and you can read his up-dates here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The iconic figure of Big Ben - actually the name refers to the bell not the tower - is 150 years old today. It is one of the most famous sights in the world and I pass it virtually every week.

But have you ever heard of Little Ben? I kid you not - you'll find it at the north end of Victoria Street.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 09:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

No - neither had I until a friend of mine became a sufferer.

Polymyalgia Rheumatica or PMR is a rheumatic condition which attacks twice as many females as males aged 55 and over. The average age of onset is round about 70 years. It affects 1 in 2000 people. It can start slowly with flu like symptoms and it can start so suddenly that one morning you find you cannot get out of bed because you are so stiff and sore.

Giant Cell Arteritis, GCA or Temporal Arteritis affects the same group of people as PMR. You can have it without PMR but they often go together. GCA is characterised by severe headache, inflammation of the temporal arteries, pain in the muscles of the head and sometimes jaw stiffness

I am pleased to be able to give some publicity to this local support group (to which my friend belongs) whose web site contains useful information and contacts. Maybe someone you know will find it helpful.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There is an interesting think piece here about how we determine the appropriateness of a particular life span.

My wife lost her brother when he was 21, her father when he was 42, and her mother when she was 63. When people complain about growing older, she rightly points out that those who reach maturer years are the fortunate ones.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Most of our Western festivals are simple to predict. They either occur on the same date each year or at a fixed position such as "the first Sunday". Easter on the other hand is what is called a moveable feast. As such the date changes every year and Easter Sunday can fall on any date from 22 March to 25 April.

Why? The reason for this variation in the date of Easter is its origins in pagan festivals. The date is actually based on the lunar calendar rather than our more well-known solar one. The official definition of Western Easter is that it takes place on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox.

So this year it is today: 23 March. But next year it will 12 April.

Who decided this system? It's complicated but it was probably the Council of Nicaea in AD 325 - see explanation here. There have been some attempts to change the date of Easter away from the old pagan-inspired lunar calendar, but these have met with little support.

In 1928 the British parliament even got around to passing an Easter Act, which declared that the holiday should come on the first Sunday after the second Saturday in April. It went on to say that the new rule would not come into force against the opinion of "any church or other Christian body", which is why, 80 years later, Easter has fallen on a cold, snowy weekend in late March. It will not be so early again until 2160.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 09:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Since it's Sunday, let's have a posting with a religious them.

Check out the site of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:05 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

You'll find an explanation here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Five years ago, I visited the Catherine Palace at Pushkin - until 1937 called Tsarskoe Selo (Tsar's Village) - 25 km south of St Petersburg [my account here].

A major historic feature of the palace was the Amber Room which originated from a gift of amber from the Prussians. It was taken to Germany and lost in the chaos at the end of the war. However, at a reputed cost of £3.5M, the Amber Room has been totally reconstructed and is once more one of the Catherine Palace's brightest jewels.

The original Amber Room has never been found and periodically stories emerge suggesting its location. This week, a German MP called Heinz-Peter Haustein announced his theory that the Amber Room may be situated underground near the northern German village of Deutschneudorf of which he is also mayor [further information here].

Posted by Roger Darlington at 06:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

... with a positive outlook:

1. Open a new file in your computer.
2. Name it "Robert Mugabe".
3. Send it to the Recycle Bin.
4. Empty the Recycle Bin.
5. Your PC will ask you. "Are you sure you want to delete "Robert Mugabe?"
6. Firmly click "Yes."
7. Feel better?

Feel free to choose another name or a new one each day.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 09:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

This web page is fun - and insightful.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 09:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As someone who was a national trade union official for 24 years and is a fan of the film "Monty Python's Life of Brian" [my review here], I really enjoyed this Ozzie video:

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Put your speakers on and click here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

1. When you're ready, go to the link here.
2. After reading and carrying out instructions in each window, click on the boy in the lower right corner of the picture.
3. In the last window type in your answer in the white box using the keyboard (there is NO cursor).
4. Watch the paper in the boy's hand. You will be amazed and no, I don't know how it's done.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 06:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

A mathematician friend of mine with too much time on his hands has pointed out to me that 2008 is the first year since 1945 that is representable as the sum of three positive cubes in exactly two ways:

2008 = 10^3 + 10^3 + 2^3 = 1000 + 1000 + 8
2008 = 12^3 + 6^3 + 4^3 = 1728 + 216 + 64

1945 = 12^3 + 6^3 + 1^3 = 1728 + 216 + 1
1945 = 10^3 + 9^3 + 6^3 = 1000 + 729 + 216

You will have to wait till 2072 before this situation reoccurs.

If the concept of integer sequences really excites you (and who could fail to be thrilled by the idea?), you can find more examples here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 05:15 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The most popular page in my web site collection of life skills advice on 24 matters is that on "How To Be Happy".

In an article in today's "Guardian", Harvard's 'professor of happiness' offers his advice which can be summarized as:

1. Give yourself the permission to be human
2. Simplify your life
3. Exercise regularly
4. Focus on the positive

So now you know ....

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:06 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Clyde McPhatter & The Drfiters say (sing) it much better than me here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:39 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

• You should drink eight glasses of water a day.
• You only use 10% of your brain.
• Your fingernails will continue to grow after you die.
• You will damage your eyesight if you read in dim light.
• Your hair will growth back coarser if you shave it.
• You will be causing danger if you use a mobile in a hospital.
• You will be drowsy after eating turkey.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:23 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

You have to pity the police - people are calling the emergency number 999 (really it should be 112 now) in ever greater numbers for often trivial reasons.

A compilation of 'non' 999 calls is being made available for the public to listen to in an effort to curb the number of nuisance calls the police receive. Five examples of such calls have been posted on the Cambridgeshire Constabulary website so members of the public can hear some of the non-emergency and nuisance calls that 999 call takers face day in, day out.

Check them out here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

As a member of Postwatch, the consumer watchdog for postal services, I am aware that Royal Mail is now experiencing its busiest time of the year, handling an anticipated over 2 billion letters and cards during the festive period.

Proving that Santa isn’t the only one working hard over Christmas, Royal Mail predicts that today will be its busiest day of the year. 123 million items are expected to enter the system today compared to an average daily figure of 83 million.

By the way, the last recommended posting dates for UK mail are Thursday 20 December for 1st Class and Tuesday 18 December for 2nd Class items.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:52 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

This week, Sammy Gitau graduated from the University of Manchester with a Masters degree in International Development. So, what's so special about that? Well, Sammy was born into a life of crime and poverty in a Kenyan slum,, only had two years formal education, and was foraging through a rubbish dump when he found a prospectus for Manchester University.

I am a graduate of Manchester University and contribute to the Alumni Fund which played a part in enabling Sammy to obtain his degree and fulfill his dream. You can read his inspiring story here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 02:48 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

I only take one monthly magazine and have it on a postal subscription. It's called "Film Review" and the January 2008 edition arrived today. Pretty crazy, huh? I don't know whey I'm complaining - the cover picture is of Angelina Jolie.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

As a Londoner who doesn't drive, I use the London Underground a lot and constantly hear the injunction "Mind the gap". Today we have the news that the woman whose voice makes these and other announcement for LU has been told she can no longer do work for the organisation.

It seems that Emma Clarke offended LU bosses with her criticisms of LU. As a result of all the publicity, her web site is overwhelmed by visitors who want to download MP3s of her spoof Tube announcements such as :"We would like to remind our American tourist friends that you are almost certainly talking too loudly.".

It looks like London Underground has shot itself in the foot here. I wouldn't be surprised if public reaction forces LU to change its mind.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

It is reported that the Secret Intelligence Service (that's MI6 to you and me) is mounting a recruitment drive this week to attract budding James Bonds, though without the licence to kill. Like its sister agency, the domestic Security Service (or MI5), it wants to "broaden its staff base" to "better reflect the ethnicity of the community we serve".

Now I like to ask foreigners where they come from and try to respond by using a few words of greeting in their language. I do this in taxi cabs, restaurants, shops and the like.

I'm often asked how I know the language (of course, I don't - I've just memorised a few greetings from my travels). Sometimes, if I'm feeling mischievous, I say that I used to be a spy and had to know a lot of languages because I never knew the destination of my next mission.

It's clear from the responses that some people think this is a likely explanation - but I think that I'm too old now to be a spy (I've seen "Casino Royale" and I can't run like that). However, if you'd like to consider joining MI5 or MI6, the BBC web site has interviews with some young operatives to give you an idea of what is wanted.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 03:50 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Lots of people seem to have colds and flu at the moment (not me yet, thank goodness), so I thought this video clip from the television serious "Manstokewoman" might amuse:

Posted by Roger Darlington at 10:45 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The London Eye - which stands at 135 metres - is now an iconic feature of the capital's skyline and I've been on it several times. On a recent visit to Manchester, I found that this city now has a Wheel of Manchester too, rising 60 metres. For a time, there was a wheel in Paris. Then, of course, there is the famous ferris wheel in Vienna - which I have ridden - which is a mere 34 metres.

It seems as if wheels are becoming more popular. China already has a wheel which is much taller than the London Eye: the 160-metre Star of Nanchang beats the 135-metres of the London wheel.

Now it is planning an even bigger wheel: the Beijing Great Wheel - which began construction this week - will soar 208 metres (680 feet).

More information here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 01:35 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

You'll find nine so-called 'proofs' here.

Although this is of course an amusing spoof, it encourages me to mention my essay on "The Trouble With Religion".

Posted by Roger Darlington at 03:30 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

This is the first day of the month that we in Britain call November. In Latin, 'novem' means nine and November was the ninth month in the Roman calendar. It is now the eleventh month in the Gregorian calendar which is the most widely used in the world.

But, in the calendar of the Czech Republic (a country I visit often), this month is called Listopad. The name means 'falling leaves' and obviously refers to what we see at this time of year. We find the same name for this month in the Polish calendar.

However, in the calendar of Croatia (where I was last week), last month was Listopad. The Croatians reckon - probably correctly - that leaves fall more in the ninth month of the year than in the tenth (indeed that's why Americans call Autumn 'the Fall').

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Three months ago, I blogged here about a project called "The World In One City".

This is a project that Owen Powell (who posted a comment on my blog) and Alex Horne started on 24 October 2006 (United Nations Day), and which they hope to finish in just a few days' time, on the same date this year. Their aim is to prove that London - where I've lived for for 36 years - is the most cosmopolitan city in the world, by endeavouring to meet and chat to a citizen from every country in the world who currently lives and works in London.

They reckon that, according to the UN, there are 192 countries in the world and so far they have contacted and interviewed people in London from 184. I wish the guys well in trying to hit their target but, whatever happens, they have demonstrated how cosmopolitan London is and I bet they've had some fun and made some friends along the way.

Of course, even better than meeting someone from every country in the world would be visiting every nation on the globe - but that would take more than a year. At the venerable age of 59, this week I will be visiting my 48th country.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 09:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

However hard I look at this image, I can only see a clockwise movement - which apparently makes me totally right-brain. What about you?

AFTER you've tried it, read this explanation.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

This is a game that you can play at any meeting or conference - check it out here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I recently had occasion to use St Pancras station in London in order to visit my sister in Leicester. Now this station used to be one of the worst in the city but, in two months time, it will be formally re-launched and display the results of a mammoth renovation process. It's going to look great. Meanwhile check out the web site.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:45 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

If you live in Britain, you'll need no explanation for the reference to Page Three. However, if you live outside the UK (as many of my readers do), some explanation will be necessary. We have a Right-wing, populist, mass-circulation daily newspaper called "The Sun" which is infamous for featuring each day on its third page a photograph of a topless young woman. I think you get the picture but, if you need further guidance and are not overly sensitive, click here.

Now naturally I don't buy or read "The Sun" on political grounds, but my wife does purchase each week a magazine called "Country Life". This magazine bills itself as "the essential weekly read for those who are passionate about the British countryside, fine art, gardening and property". In this week's issue - which is, I grant you, a special issue - there are 120 pages of properties for sale worth more than £200 million.

So, what has "Country Life" got to do with "The Sun"? Well, "Country Life" has its own version of the Page Three girls. It comes well into the magazine after all the property advertisements and before the list of contents and editorial. Naturally the girls here are fully clothed, but they are the same sort of age and equally attractive.

So, wha's the problem? Let me illustrate with this week's "Country Life pin-up and I quote: "The Honourable India Windsor-Clive. India, who celebrated her19th birthday on Monday, is the daughter of Viscount and Viscountess Windsor of Oakly Park, Ludlow, Shropshire. Educated at Heathfield and Stow, she will spent her gap year travelling and doing a cookery course at Ballymaloe, before reading history of art at university."

These elitist "Country Life" women rarely have a 'normal' name or live in a 'normal' home; they never seem to have gone to state schools; and, if they are not doing some arty university course, they are pursuing a career with horses. They are just so unrepresentative of the young women of Britain.

I really wonder which is more offensive: the nudity of"The Sun" or the elitism of "Country Life? Thanks for letting me get that off my chest (so to speak).

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

For a tongue-in-cheek look at gender stereotypes, check out this Italian cartoon.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:56 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

South Africa's former president Nelson Mandela was in London this week for the unveiling of a new statute of him in Parliament Square. I lost no time in going down to have a look today.

Statue of Nelson Mandela
in London's Parliament Square

Of course, Nelson Mandela is the most heroic figure of our generation and something of a secular saint. I have read his biography "Long Walk To Freedom" [my review here] and actually saw him on an earlier visit to London [my blog posting here].

Posted by Roger Darlington at 01:13 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Look no further - you'll find it here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

My brother-in-law Derek visits us most weeks in order that he can take part in a local dance class which he discovered when he spent the best part of six months of weekdays with us building our terrace. On a recent visit, he went over to Slough to help out his daughter-in-law Isobel who works with a great dance group called Two Left Feet.

Two Left Feet is a voluntary organisation that bills itself as "committed to introducing dance in a new, exciting and fun way. We welcome people from all backgrounds and with all abilities and want to appeal to those who ‘dream’ of dancing but because they believe they have ‘two left feet’ may not have had the confidence." They welcome those with physical or learning disabilities.

There should be more such organisations because so many people need more exercise and more confidence - and more fun - in their lives.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I am in awe of people who set up their own business. I so admire their courage and willingness to take risks. Give me a steady job and a secure income (and pension) any time.

Now one of my nephews - who has just celebrated his 30th birthday - has given up his well-paid job to start a new business with friends. It's all about helping busy people to find a new home, move there and improve it.

It's called Find My Igloo. Way to go, Matt!

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:14 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Legal entitlement to leave varies enormously around the world. The USA does not have any legal minimum for paid leave - and even many professionals are only given a couple of weeks by their employer. In Canada and Japan, workers are guaranteed only 10 days of paid leave per year.

Here in the European Union, the Working Time Directive gives workers in all member states a minimum of 20 days paid leave. In practice, the variation is from 28 days (that's us in the UK) to 39.5 in Denmark. You can see the entitlement in each country here.

Whatever your entitlement, I hope that you're enjoying it.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:49 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Seven years ago, I spoke at a conference in London organised by an organisation called the Freedom Forum. I was there representing the Internet Watch Foundation - which I chaired for six years - defending the blocking of access on the Internet to images of child abuse.

Another speaker at the event was David Shayler, a former MI5 agent who had blown the whistle on the organisation and later spent seven weeks in prison for breaching the Official Secrets Act. I didn't actually speak to him; I was more interested in having a conversation with his girlfriend, Annie Machon, who had also been an MI5 agent. The media dubbed her "the spy who love me".

Over the years, Shayler's pronouncements have become more and more bizarre and conspiratorial and in an interview this week with More4 News - reported in a piece in the "Daily Mail" - he claimed to be God. It seems that he has seen a psychic who he believes channelled the spirit of Mary Magdalene and anointed him as the Messiah. He claims that his new-found divinity gives him the ability to change the weather and that his meditation had stopped the summer's attempted bombings in London.

Now Shayler is not the first person by a long way to claim to be God or least God's messenger. As an atheist, I'm intrigued how many religious people decide to accept some of these claims and not others. As someone who shared a conference once with Shayler, I'd be interested to know if Annie Machon is still standing by her man.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

This is the sunset at the North Pole with the moon at its closest point.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 09:48 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Each year, the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust awards a number of travelling fellowships. I won one in 1980 which enabled me to spend five weeks in the USA studying the American telecommunications system.

There are no eligibility criteria so anyone can apply for an award. However, each year there are different subject categories for the awards. You can check out the 2007 categories here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:40 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

My brother - who is an academic - is currently in Athens for a conference. I sent him a text message asking if it was hot there. He replied: "Hot as Hell". In fact, yesterday in the Greek capital, it registered 45C (113F) in the shade.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Britain's Meteorological Office has confirmed that the three months May, June & July 2007 have been the wettest in England & Wales since records began in 1766. More than 387.6 mm of rain has already fallen and the worst experience was that of Pershore College in Worcestershire which had 120.8 mm of rain in one day (20 July).

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:14 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

All cultures have a lot of traditions or superstitions around the birth of children and, over the last few months, I've been learning some of the many beliefs held by many Chinese people. This is because Vee and I have some dear young Chinese friends Hua and Zhihao who had a baby on 25 April. The boy's Chinese name is Qiyuan and his English name is Joshua. He is a wonderful little fella and I love cuddling him.

I blogged about his birth at the time. Since then, we've visited the family often and each time learn new things about the Chinese approach to babies. For instance, the mother does not leave the house for the first month; on an auspicious day indicated by a special calendar, all the baby's hair is shaved off; and, on the 100th day of his life, there is a special celebration.

Joshua (he's the little one) after his first haircut
looking like Bruce Willis in the film "Die Hard 4.0"

You can learn more about Chinese baby traditions here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I like people to smile and I have a collection of jokes on my web site which tries to amuse. Now humour is a very personal thing and I endeavour to ensure that I cause no offence by not including jokes which might be regarded as racist, sexist or rude.

But, with an least one American, I seem to have failed. She writes: "Think about the fact that much of your 'humor' is insulting to women. Re-think if possible."

Is she right? Check out the latest jokes here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:04 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

A new American group called the Rational Response Squad has been exciting some strong opinions, not least on the Internet - partly because of their Blasphemy Challenge on YouTube. I've even been asked to refer to the RRS in my web site essay on "Extremism On The Net".

I actually share the atheist position of the RSS and don't regard them as in any way comparable to the organisations I described in my page on "Extremism On The Net". However, I can understand why their views and activities would upset many Christians and I personally don't see the point of baiting people who sincerely hold religious views even if I think these views utterly misguided.

These are important issues that should be debated with rationality and respect which I've tried to do in my essay "The Trouble With Religion">.

Check out the Rational Response Squad web site for yourself and see what you think.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:23 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

"There is not a culture where touch is natural. We don't feel very confident in the presence of others, therefore touch is not natural, it's not organic, and the word 'touch' is so misused."

I'm a touchy-feelly person - I like to kiss women on the cheek, hug male friends, and even touch the arm or shoulder of colleagues. But this is not very British and some people - including some of my closest friends - find touch uncomfortable and obviously I respect that and refrain from it in their presence.

Of course, touch is not always appropriate or welcome - but, in so many situations, it can have a really powerful and positive effect as explained in this article.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the major reasons that I love living in London is that it is such a cosmopolitan and multicultural city. Some of our closest neighbours are Irish, Indian, Pakistani, Polish and Lebanese. Some of our closest friends are Chinese. My newsagent is Sri Lankan, my doctor is Indian, my hairdresser is Kosovan, and my dentist is Iranian.

Last night, my wife Vee (half Welsh, half Czech) and I (half English, half Italian) went out for dinner with our good friends Eric (American) and Noemi (French) and their son Yonatan (Israeli) to the Italian restaurant Zizzi where we were served by people from Poland, Slovakia and Moldova.

I thought of the evening as I read in today's "Observer" newspaper an article about a blog called "The World In One City". This describes a project by Alex Horne and Owen Powell to interview for their blog someone living in London from each of the 192 countries in the world. As of today, they've managed 112 profiles.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

As a user of O2's mobile network, which is likely to obtain exclusive UK rights to the new iPhone by Christmas, I'm excited by the prospect of obtaining the device as a Christmas present to myself - especially if it does this.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I've blogged before about a worldwide poll to choose seven new wonders of the world and explained that I had been fortunate enough to visit 15 of the 21 shortlisted sites.

Today - the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh year of the new millennium - the new seven wonders were announced. I have seen six of the seven - not having been to Chichén Itzá in Mexico.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

This interview with Jonathan Edwards, the former Olympic gold medallist who has now ceased to be a Christian, is something with which I can identify, partly because something similar happened to me in my early 20s and partly because I knew Jonathan when he was the member for England on the Ofcom Content Board (I am the member for England on the Ofcom Consumer Panel). He is an immensely intelligent and likable individual and I very much respect his change of view and willingness to discuss it publicly.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Accept differences
Be kind
Count your blessings
Dream
Express thanks
Forgive
Give freely
Harm no one
Imagine more
Jettison anger
Keep confidences
Love truly
Master something
Nurture hope
Open your mind
Pack lightly
Quell rumours
Reciprocate
Seek wisdom
Touch hearts
Understand
Value truth
Win graciously
Xeriscape *
Yearn for peace
Zealously support a worthy cause

* Xeriscape = a water-conserving landscape design

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The "Washington Post"'s Mensa Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year's winners. Each is an artificial word with only one letter altered to form a real word:

1. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

2. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

3. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people, that stops bright ideas from penetrating.
The Bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

4. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for
an indefinite period of time.

5. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

6. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

7. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

8. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.

9. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

10. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right?
And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

11. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

12. Glibido: All talk and no action.

13. Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

14. Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

15. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in
the morning and cannot be cast out.

16. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.
And the pick of the lot:

17. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:02 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The 'Like Skills' section of my web site contains my 'how to' advice on 23 topics from "How to be happy" to "How to be a top secret spy".

A friend has drawn my attention to a different sort of 'how to' advice: "How to fit in when visiting London".

Since this is the city where I have lived and worked for 35 years, I read it with interest and it all seems very sensible. It doesn't tell you where the best cafes are, but e-mail if you're coming and perhaps I'll show you one or two.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 06:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

According to the academic Dr Chris Arnall of the University of Cardiff, today is the happiest day of the year.

The equation Dr Arnall devised to find the happiest day, in work commissioned by ice cream maker Walls, was O + (N x S) + Cpm/T + He. Here O stands for being outdoors and outdoor activity, N for nature, S for social interaction, Cpm for childhood summers and positive memories, T for temperature and He for holidays and looking forward to time off.

One of the most poular pages of my web site is that entitled "How To Be Happy". I regularly receive e-mails in response to my advice - usually very positive and thankful - including a couple today.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 04:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

The thing about competitive markets is that they offer the consumer choice - but is this enough and is it always what consumers want? The first question was addressed at a seminar at the London Business School which I chaired this week (more information here). The second question reminds me of a story ...

My wife is half Czech and our first visit to what was then Czechoslovia was before the revolution when the communist system was still in force. We were in the town where her family live and noticed a long queue stretching out of the local supermarket.

"What is that queue all about?" we asked.

"Well, there's a national shortage of toilet paper. There's been no delivery for weeks - but a delivery is expected sometime this morning" we were told.

"Really? A national shortage of toilet paper? How that can be?"

"Well, don't you ever have shortages of toilet paper in Britain?"

No, never. There's always plenty available and lots of choice."

"What do you mean: choice?"

"Well, we have lots of different types of toilet paper."

"Really? What do you mean: different types?"

"Well, we have different quality, different textures, different lengths, different colours."

"That's amazing. Why would you need different types of toilet paper? We'd be happy with one type that was always available."

Now, there's a thought ....

Posted by Roger Darlington at 03:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I went to school in Manchester with a Randal McRandall; I used to work at the Communication Workers Union with a Donald McDonald; the consumer body Postwatch, where I now work part-time, used to be headed by Gregor McGregor; and today I attended a media training session at Postwatch led by a consultant called Nel McNelil

Some parents are just so unoriginal when it comes to naming their child. Others are strangely inventive. I've written an essay on naming practices around the world which you can read here. You might be surprised on how varied these practices are around the globe.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 10:41 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Have trouble following written instructions? Like a filmed demonstration instead? Then this videojug website may be for you. You could start by watching Stephen Fry talk about his use of the Internet here. Or you could check out computer tips and tricks here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:15 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

For the last 10 days, I've been unable to add postings to this blog. As you will probably appreciate, I normally add something every day. So this block has been very frustrating to me and possibly disappointing to you my readers.

The problem was a massive surge - make that a tsunami - of spam comments: over 40,000. These comments took up all the capacity of my blog as the spammers managed to shove something like 150 MB of spam into the blog.

The problem has now been resolved thanks to considerable help from my Internet guru Eric Lee. Thanks a lot Eric!

I can now start to resume normal service - so please stop by regularly.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 05:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

You will be amazed by this trick.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:29 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

There's a global poll to select a new seven wonders of the world. The shortlist consists of 21 locations and I've been fortunate enough to visit 14 of them.

The New 7 Wonders of the World will be announced during the Official Declaration ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday, 7 July 2007.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

Not mine! - do you think I'm crazy? No, this was swum, cycled and run this wet weekend by one of Vee's nephews David Rowe. I am mega impressed - and so will you be when you read about it here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

It is one of the largest employers in the world. Its workforce of around 520,000 employees is present in more than 220 countries and territories on five continents. Almost half the staff work outside the company's base country.

So what is this company? Microsoft? Google? Wal-Mart? Where is it based? The United States? Japan? And what does it do?

Continue reading "Which company is this?" »

Posted by Roger Darlington at 06:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I've spent the day at an international conference on post office networks. The event finished with a session entitled "The challenges of leadership" when were addressed by an inspirational guy called Pete Goss.

I confess that I'd never heard of him before, but he turned out to be an old-fashioned hero: a Cornish farmer who became a Royal Marine and then an ocean-going sailor and more latterly a polar explorer.

He told us the story of his participation in “The Vendée Globe non-stop, single-handed Round the World Race” in 1996 when, after receiving a distress call from the French sailor Raphael Dinelli, he immediately turned his boat around and battled for two days against hurricane force winds to reach Dinelli and rescue him.

To risk your life and save a life is obviously a very special experience and requires incredible courage. Later on the same trip, Goss was forced to operate on himself without anaesthetic and just a few basic instructions to repair ruptured muscles around his elbow. What a guy.

You can check out his biography here and visit his web site here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:05 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The vocabulary of the average UK citizen is just 25,000 words, only 4% of the 616,000 words in the English Oxford Dictionary.

We speak on average 4,300 words a day - more for women (6,400-8,000), less for men (2,000-4,000). That's 123,205,750 words in a lifetime.

Over a lifetime we will know 1,700 people . We will have 300 people in our social group at anytime.

The average adult will have 10 different partners in a lifetime, having sex about 2 times a week or 4,239 times in all!

We will fall in love 3 times. The average marriage will last 11.5 years and 70% of us will attempt a marriage once.

We will on average live for 2,475,576,000 seconds.

Footnote: if you've enjoyed this week's statistics from the television programme "The Human Footprint", you'll find a pretty comprehensive list of all the figures here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 06:13 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

There is a good cause here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:29 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

When I was Head of Research at the Communication Workers Union, my Deputy was a great guy called Derek Bright who took early retirement at the same time as me and with whom I still keep in touch. Derek formed a small tourist business for the area of Kent where he lives, organising walking tours of the Pilgrims' Way and other localities.

He recently hosted a visit by a group of American youngsters who clearly had a great time. One of them made a short film which he posted to YouTube and which you can see here.

If you fancy going on one of Derek's walking holidays, you'll find all the information on the Walk Awhile web site here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:18 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Have you got a Morrisons supermarket near you? I don't - but a NightHawk reader who does has written to tell me about one of their campaigns which grammatically takes the biscuit. Their current posters are making her annoyed every time she goes past.

The announcement reads: "The smarter way to eat healthier". As she points out, "healthier" is an adjective not an adverb, so it should be "The smarter way to eat more healthily" or "The smarter way to healthier eating". Grrrr!

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:15 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

A couple of weeks ago, I did a posting about the birth of Joshua, the son of our dear Chinese friends Hua and Zhihao. They live in Norbury in south London and we live in Sudbury Hill in north-west London, so driving over there can take a while, but we've managed two visits now to see the little fellow.

We first went over last Saturday when Joshua was only three days old. I love children and got to hold him for quite a while.

Day 3 for Joshua

We went over again this Sunday when Joshua was 11 days old. I was able to bottle feed him which I so enjoyed - but then we were so content that we both fell asleep.

Day 11 for Joshua

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

You might think that the answer is obvious, but historically there have been many different calendars around the world and even today there are several different ones in use. The main differences between calandars are when one starts counting and whether one measures intervals by reference to the sun or the moon.

The most commonly used calandar dates time from the birth of Christ. Such dates used to be designated Anno Domini (AD) but are now often referred to as Common Era (CE). This calendar is based on a solar year of 365 days with a 366-day year every four years. It is used throughout the world including India and China.

However, in the Middle East, the Muslim calandar is widely used. This takes as its starting point the beginning of the Arab year in which the Hijra, the migation of Mohammed from Mecca to Medina, took place. In the Common Era calendar this is 16 July 622. Dtates in the Muslim calendar are designated as Anno Hegirae (AH). The Muslim calendar consists of 12 lunar months, 354 days in all, without adjustment to the solar year.

Then there is the Jewish calendar traditionally dated from the creation of the world. Dates using this system are designated Anno Mundi (AM). Like the Muslim calendar, it consists of 12 lunar months, but the Jewish one is adjusted to the solar year by the intercalation of an extra month at seven points in a 19-year cycle. It is 3761 years different from the Common Era calendar.

There is a Hindu calendar, a very old and very complicated system based on 12 lunar months with variations in different parts of India.

The Persian calendar is used in Iran and Afghanistan. The Ethiopian calendar or Ethiopic calendar is the principal calendar used in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

You can find a detailed explanation of the various calendars here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:07 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

When Vee and I went on holiday to China in September 2000, on the long flight back we talked to a 25 year old Chinese woman sitting next to us who was making her first-ever trip out of China to travel to Oxford University to do a PhD in biochemical engineering. She was called Hua (English name Cathy). Out of that conversation came a friendship between and her husband Zhihao (English name Alex) that has lasted six and a half years now and has become so close that we regard them like a daughter and son.

Early this morning at 1.18 am in a London hospital, Hua gave birth to a baby boy weighing an impressive 8 pounds 5 ounces. His English name is Joshua. The news from Zhihao about Hua and Joshua is that: "Both of them are very well. Very well indeed. Little Joshua seems not a very naughty but a happy boy."

Day One for Joshua

Hi, Joshua, welcome to the world. You have the most wonderful parents and we are so looking foward to being your British 'grandparents'. Love to all three of you.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

Today we have the London marathon and one must admire anyone who attempts it. But just how long is it and why is it that length?

The name, "marathon", comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek soldier, who was sent from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been miraculously defeated in the Battle of Marathon. It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping, but moments after proclaiming his message to the city he collapsed dead from exhaustion.

There are two roads out of the battlefield of Marathon towards Athens, one more mountainous towards the north whose distance is about 21.4 miles (34.5 km), and another flatter but longer towards the south with a distance of 25.4 miles (40.8 km). It has been successfully argued that the ancient runner took the more difficult northern road because at the time of the battle there were still Persian soldiers in the south of the plain.

In modern times, the choice of distance for different so-called marathon races was somewhat arbitrary. The first modern Olympics in 1896 had a marathon distance of 24.85 miles (40 km). Before the 1908 Olympics, the official marathon distance was exactly 26 miles.

However, since 1908 the well known 26 mile marathon has actually been 26 miles, 385 yards. This is because, for the 1908 Olympics in London, it was decided that the royal family needed a better view of the finish line. The race started at Windsor Castle and organisers added an extra 385 yards to the race so the finish line would be in front of the royal box.

From that point, the marathon distance became 26 miles, 385 yards (41.195 km). The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) adopted the distance as the "official" marathon distance in 1921.

However you look at it, it's a LONG way - especially in today's heat.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Is there anything that one can't find on the Web? A friend has drawn my attention to this amazing site which shows you how to tie every kind of knot with fast and slow illustrations. Since I've never even learned how to tie shoe laces correctly, I could have done with this site, 50 or so years ago!

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:32 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Some people take a while to get used to it - check it out here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 02:21 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

This video clip is very, very funny - in a sad sort of way.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:08 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

He's called Knut and he is a baby polar bear in Berlin Zoo. He made his first public appearance this week. So, why is he is so well-known and so popular? The on-line version of the German newspaper Der Spiegel explains his difficult early days amd his first public appearance and offers a gallery of 33 photographs. If this isn't enough for you, Knut has his own podcasts. You can access the first nine here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:36 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

My wife has the same birthday as her sister. This is not so surprising - they're twins! Next door but one to me, the little boy has the same birthday as me - but that's just a coincidence.

So, let's have some fun. How many people do you need to get together to have a greater chance than not that two people in this gathering have the same birthday? Think about it and when you're ready ...

Continue reading "What are the odds on sharing of birthdays?" »

Posted by Roger Darlington at 06:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Thanks to my ever-thinking friend Nick Hobson for drawing my attention to a wonderful quote from the philosopher Bertrand Russell on the fear of thought.

If you share Russell's view that "Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man", you might like to check out the section of my website on "How To Think Critically".

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Last weekend, I blogged about the construction of the new Wembley Stadium. Yesterday was Wembley Stadium Community Day when some 35,000 local residents were given the chance to visit the stadium free of charge and the owners were given the opportunity to test various systems. By entering an absurdly simply quiz in our local newspaper, I was able to obtain four free tickets for the event, so Vee and I went along with our good Chinese friends Hua & Zhihao to experience this tiny piece of history.

Security was very tight and, for some unexplained reason, I was told that I could not take photographs, but ....

Roger before the iconic 133-metre Wembley arch

Vee, Zhihao, Hua & Roger at one of the bases of the Wembley arch

Roger & Zhihao inside the 90,000-seat Wembley stadium

BBC on-line reported:

"The community day may not have been quite the all-singing, all-dancing fanfare many people had expected, but it seemed to be well-received and any problems were taken in good humour."

One Sunday newspaper reports:

"The stadium looks stunning, most visitors agreed. Many remarked on the fact that the FA, builders Multiplex and architects Norman Foster and HOK Sport, managed to retain many of the old Wembley's key characteristics - like the Royal Box and Wembley Roar-inducing good acoustics - in a futuristic building."

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

There is probably no man in Britain who cares less about football than me, but I cannot ignore the new Wembley stadium - often described as 'the home of football' - the keys of which which were today handed over by the contractors to the owners. This is because I live so close to the venue that, when the wind blew in the right direction, I could hear the roar of the crowd from the old stadium (apparently the new stadium is designed to swallow its own roar). Several times each week for a couple of years, I've seen the stunning 133-metre high, 315-metre long arch which is usually illuminated in the evening.

The original Wembley was put up in 1923. It took just 300 days and cost only £750,000 - but it lasted three-quarters of a century. When our son was young, we took him on a tour of the old stadium which included a walk up the ramp to the field with a sound recording of the famous roar. I never saw a football match there, but I attended several concerts, incuding the 'Free Nelson Mandela' one (it worked). It was not a particularly salubrious experience - but clearly the new stadium is going to be very, very different.

The new building is twice the size and four times as high as the old Wembley. It holds 90,000, making it one of the largest stadiums in the world. The old venue had under 400 lavatories, whereas the new one has no fewer than 2,618. It has been a long time coming - the original bid was in 2000 and the place should have opened in 2003, so it is four years late. Equally it has been an expensive business - in 2000, the cost was put at £326M, but the final figure was £798M.

I'm looking forward to visting the new stadium. I've bid for free tickets for a public open day next weekend and we've bought tickets for the first concert to be held there (George Michael in June). I'll keep you posted.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

This week, I was persuaded by an Eastern European friend to visit London's Science Museum to view a new exhibition called "The Science Of Spying". It turned out to be for kids not adults with lots of hands-on, interactive displays. Nevertheless it was a revelation. We learned about remote-control spy planes, night-vision goggles, hidden bugs and the dolphin spy camera. And these are just some of the technologies that they can tell us about ...

I obtained lots of material for my web page on "How To Be A Top Secret Spy".

Posted by Roger Darlington at 01:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

"It is a simple question, but it may just reveal whether or not you will live to a ripe old age: does somebody love you? Those who can confidently answer 'yes' are significantly more likely to be alive for the next 10 years than those who feel all alone."

So begins an article in today's "Observer" newspaper which suggests that having a successful relationship is the single most important factor in determining your happiness, health and longevity. I can believe this and certainly that's good news for me as this month I celebrate my 25th wedding anniversary.

I'm interested in happiness (who isn't) which is why I have a section on my web site called "How To Be Happy" and why I've reviewed on my web site a book called simply "Happiness".

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:19 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

"'The Secret' is a feature length, historic and factually based account of an age old secret, said to be 4000 years in the making, and known only to a fortunate few. 'The Secret' promises to reveal this great knowledge to the world - The Secret to wealth, The Secret to health, The Secret to love, relationships, happiness, eternal youth... The Secret to life itself."

This is the offer on the web site of a documentary which the "New York Times" has described as " the biggest thing to hit the New Age movement since the Harmonic Convergence". The secret that the movie purports to reveal is "the law of attraction". This holds that the universe will make your wishes come true if only you really, truly believe in them.

Now I'm a great believer in self-affirmation, self-belief and positive thinking (I just wish that I could practice them better) which is why I send out my "Thought For The Week". However, to suggest that there is a physical law which enables thinking to change the universe is utter rubbish and totally unsupported by evidence - but an idea that millions worldwide are apparently prepared to believe.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

As I've previously mentioned, I'm currently reading the book "Tricks Of The Mind" by the British magician Derren Brown. I repeat that this is a badly-written work - and I'll review it when I've finished it - but it does contain some very interesting subjects and ideas.

Brown devotes a chapter to memory tricks which gives an insight into how a brilliant performer like him can demonstrate such prodigous feats of memory. The techniques he describes are actually pretty complex and would not appeal to many people with more normal lives.

But the book got me thinking and I decided to pull together another - the 23rd - contribution to the 'Life Skills' section of my web site called "How To Remember Things". See if there's anything there that helps you and please let me know if you have any ideas or techniques that I should add.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Apparently there are eight personality traits that will tend to confirm your suspicions. Try the test here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:40 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Just how easy is it for a new religion to emerge? In his controversial work "The God Delusion" [my review here], Richard Dawkins shows how easy it is by refering to so-called "cargo cults".

According to the Wikipedia explanation: "A cargo cult is any of a group of unorthodox religious movements appearing in tribal societies in the wake of Western impact, especially in New Guinea and Melanesia. Cargo cults essentially maintain that manufactured western goods ("cargo") have been created by divine spirits and are intended for the local indigenous people, but that white people have unfairly gained control of these objects."

Over the last 75 years most cargo cults have petered out. Yet, the John Frum cult is still active on the island of Tanna, Vanuatu. The name "John Frum" is possibly derived from World War II GIs introducing themselves to the locals as "John from America".

The followers believe that John Frum will come back on a 15th February (the year of his return is not known), a date which is observed as "John Frum Day" in Vanuatu. If this seems odd, remember that Christians have been waiting 2,000 years for their Second Coming.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The Life Skills section of my web site is one of the most popular and has become the largest, with today the addition of a 22nd item entitled "How To Be Healthy".

If only I could follow my own advice - but, as family and friends know all too well, I do love my desserts.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Many of my friends joke because, wherever I am in central London, I have a favourite cafe. Although Starbucks apparently has 166 branches within five miles of Regent Street [check out the store locator here], none of my favourite cafes is a Starbucks, although I'm not averse to calling into one, if I want a cappuccino and none of my favourites is nearby. However, other factors influence my choice of favourites, such as friendly staff who know me, the ability to sit around reading for a while, and (very important) the choice of cakes.

This article explains that Starbucks now has 530 branches in the UK and some 12,500 worldwide with plans to expand to 40,000. I'm not wild about the domination by one brand, but I welcome the growth of cafe culture. The same article summarizes the historical development of places selling coffee.

• 1554 Constantinople's citizens become the first to patronise houses selling coffee.

• 1652 Refined arabica coffee arrives in Britain. It was drunk black and without sugar, and the first shop was reputedly opened in Oxford.

• 1660s Coffee houses in Britain become a social phenomenon and are dubbed 'penny universities'. A single penny bought you a coffee and time to scan the latest newsletters posted on the walls.

• 1665 Samuel Pepys recorded nearly 100 visits he made to coffee houses.

• 1688-98 Some houses became a hub for commerce where information was exchanged. Jonathan's Coffee House in Change Alley brimmed with stockbrokers - and eventually became the London Stock Exchange.

• 1700s Coffee houses begin to fall out of favour.

• 1930s-40s Two world wars and a social revolution revive cafe society in the UK. A migrant influx still nostalgic for coffee houses sets up cafes such as The Cosmo in Hampstead, London.

• 1971 Starbucks opens its first outlet in Seattle. The name derives from a character in Moby Dick

• 1998 King's Road in Chelsea becomes the first location for Starbucks in the UK, selling cappuccino or mocha latte at £2.

• 2000 The UK coffee shop market rockets with daily sales of 4.4m cups. Coffee-selling becomes a billion-pound industry, with UK-owned chains such as Caffe Nero and Costa Coffee offering stiff competition.

• 2006 The Starbucks empire grows to 12,500 outlets and £4bn in revenue.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I've only just got round to watching the television documentary with this title that was broadcast on Boxing Day. You can view the programme here and you can check out Icke's web site here.

Channel Five was immensely kind to Icke giving him lots of time to put without any challenge or analysis views which he sincerely holds and eloquently expresses, but which are totally unsupported by credible evidence, frequently anti-semitic and conspiratorial, and utterly delusional.

Views like that the world is ruled by a secret group called the "Global Elite" or "Illuminati" who are a race of reptilian humanoids from the constellation Draco and that many prominent figures are reptilian, including George W. Bush and Queen Elizabeth II. More analysis here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 10:39 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

You may have heard in the media today about the decision of parents of a severely disabled girl to keep her child-sized in order to give her a better life. The family live in Seattle and the nine-year-old, named Ashley, has the mental ability of a three-month-old baby and cannot walk or talk. Along with hormone doses to limit her growth, Ashley's parents also opted for surgery to block breast growth and had her uterus and appendix removed.

I'm not at all sure how I feel about this but, if you want to read her parents' explanation of the treatment and its justification, you can check it out here

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:01 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The Office of National Statistics has just published its annual analysis of the most popular names for boys and girls born in England and Wales in the past year. You can check out the details here.

There are several patterns in this information.

First of all, it is striking how traditional most of the names are for both boys and girls, although for the boys it is interesting that the familiar form of names rather than the original version is often preferred - Jack instead of John (first for the 12th year running), Harry instead of Harold, Charlie instead of Charles.

In the case of boys, three of the top six names begin with the letter 'J'. In the case of girls, seven of the top ten names end with the sound 'ee' and 11 of the top 20 names contain one or more of the letter 'l'.

On the other hand, the name David - which is the second most common name in Britain - slipped out of the top 50 of names chosen for babies born in 2004.

Incidentally, a reflection of the changing ethnicity of the English population is that the 22nd most popular name is Mohammed and the 44th is Muhammed.

I'm really interested in naming practices around the world and have writte na comprehensive essay on the subject here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:17 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

I spent three hours today at the offices of the postal regulator Postcomm in my capacity as a Council member of Postwatch, the consumer watchdog for postal services. We were hearing the results of a piece of research which we jointly commissioned with Royal Mail. The presenters threw me when they started to use the term 'conjoint analysis'.

I've never previously come across this phrase and I regard my English vocabulary as rather good. I now know that it is a specialist marketing term (and a very ugly one, I might add). If you want to know what the term actually means - and I won't be hurt if you don't - click here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

For a little bit of seasonal fun, click here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 08:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Time for NightHawk to get seasonal, so check out these 50 interesting facts about the celebration of Christmas, past and present, home and abroad.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 01:38 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

"... life is beautiful, extremely beautiful. And when you are old you appreciate it more. When you are older you think, you remember, you care and you appreciate. You are thankful for everything. For everything".

It's Friday and maybe you're feeling a bit weary, even down, at the end of a tough working week. Read this interview and be up-lifted.

Alice has some warm words about the English:

"... English people are so polite, and this politeness is not superficial. The English respect each other more than others. They are cheerful and helpful and I admire their humour. English humour is not laughing, it is distance. They observe life and always stay stoic. Admirable people. I love them, I love them."

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:17 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Sounds fishy, I know. but it's a true story.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Royal Mail has just issued a media release about the correct packing of parcels for the Christmas post - which is sensible enough. It builds the release around the posting of a video on YouTube made by three Royal Mail staff members. What could be cooler than the company that runs our snail mail system using the Net?

The trouble is that the release only gives the URL of the YouTube homepage and not that of the video. It is a basic law that, if you mention something on the Net, you give the full URL - but those super cool guys in the Press Office at Royal Mail have probably never visited YouTube in their life.

I can't find the video. Can you?

Posted by Roger Darlington at 05:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

You can read the Bible or, if you're pushed for time, you can find out here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Not sure about that?

Check it out here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:22 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Vee's nephew David and his wife Sharon are on a break in Prague at the moment and David has sent me a wonderful photograph that I'd like to share with you. It is of the Tyn Church in the Old Town Square which hosts a Christmas market at this time of year.

Christmas moonshine in Prague's Old Town Square

Prague is my favourite European city and Vee and I have been there many times (she is half Czech). If you've never been there, you really should visit.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

While in the centre of London recently, I saw a van with an unusual decor and took this photo with my mobile.

Can any reader explain what this is about?

Posted by Roger Darlington at 06:40 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Passing requires 4 correct answers.

Please answer all questions before clicking for the answers.

1) How long did the Hundred Years' War last?

2) Which country makes Panama hats?

3) From which animal do we get catgut?

4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?

5) What is a camel's hair brush made of?

6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal?

7) What was King George VI's first name?

8) What colour is a purple finch?

9) Where are Chinese gooseberries from?

10) What is the colour of the black box in a commercial airplane?

All done?

Remember, you need 4 correct answers to pass. Check your answers below.

Continue reading "The world's easiest quiz" »

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

There's a new exhibition at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington called "Earth From Space" which has a fascinating accompanying web site. One of my favourite pictures is a shot of the earth at night and another shows the Giza pyramids.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:14 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

A little boy goes to his father and asks "Daddy, how was I born?"

The father answers: "Well son, I guess one day you will need to find out anyway! Your Mom and I first got together in a chat room on Yahoo. Then I set up a date via e-mail with your Mom and we met at a cyber-cafe. We sneaked into a secluded room, where your mother agreed to a download from my hard drive. As soon as I was ready to upload, we discovered that neither one of us had used a firewall and, since it was too late to hit the delete button, nine months later a little Pop-Up appeared that said:

Continue reading "How was I born?" »

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

The "Mirror" newspaper today looks at the new Christmas stamps and wonders what is happening on the first class stamp. Is Santa spending a penny on a 32p stamp? Take a look and you decide.

More controversially, there is a row going on about the secular nature of this year's Christmas stamps (fine by me). There are some fun comments and colourful illustrations here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 04:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, in China, you could be a year or two older. How so?

In China, according to tradition, when a child is born, it is said to be one. When the Chinese New Year arrives, whatever the interval since your biological birthday, you add a year to your age.

This shows, that, even something as seemingly objective as one'a age can be culturally determined. One of the themes of this blog is that we live in a very varied world and need to know more about other countries and other cultures.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:24 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The family name Jones means 'son of John' and it is especially common in Wales (13.5% of the population) because of the Welsh habit of naming themselves after their father. Indeed this week a new world record was established for a gathering of the most people with the same surname when 1,224 people called Jones gathered at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff.

If - like me - you're interested in the different use of names, you might like to check out my web essay on naming practices around the world.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 11:23 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

My American friends Art & Lynn Shostak are working on a new book that they call "Touring Tomorrow Today". It will highlight places around the globe where some aspect of a possible future - bright or harrowing - might be glimpsed by a perceptive and prepared traveller.

On the bright side, they are already writing about Arcosanti in Arizona. the solar park in Aero Island (the world's largest), the Black Jewish colony in Demorra (Israel), the Eden Park in Cornwall, EPCOT in Florida, the Science City Museum outside of Paris, Christiana in Copenhagen, the Gaudi Area in Barcelona, the Bay of Fundi Power Plant in New Foundland, and many other such "preview" locations.

On the dark Side, they are writing about the House of Horror in Budapest, the Concentration Camp museums in Europe (and especially the Sculpture Area adjacent to Mauthausen in Austria,), the favellas in Rio, the Killing Fields Museum in Cambodia, the Dutch Floating Houses near Amsterdam, the city of Bagdad, the capital of North Korea, and many other such "warning sign" locations.

Can you suggest other such sites that they should research and include in the book? If so, please e-mail them at shostaka@drexel.edu

Posted by Roger Darlington at 07:46 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

From YouTube, this funny video.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 04:05 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Heard the one about the English town that ended up becoming a giant bowl of semolina? More information here.

Posted by Roger Darlington at 09:40 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)