Making things

Somehow, I got asked by Rob Phillips to contribute to his project on "Making Things". I had to take a photo of a thing I had made, or was making, and jot a few words about why.

I suppose he will distil something from dozens of such inputs. If you want to contribute yourself, I expect he'd be glad to hear from you.

My photos were of the sea, a hive stand, some honey, a posting like this one, a computer program, die Frau, Oliver, a script, my German dictionary, a plant, some cider.

Amguedddfa

Welsh is one of the very few languages in which words may be spelled with the same letter "three in a row":

(Actually, "Amgueddfa" means "Museum", and "Amguedddfa" is a misspelling).

3 things about women in IT

I read a request for blogposts on "Women in Tech". Here are three observations:

1. The percentage of women taking A-level computing in the UK was never >50% (quiz question - in what year was this exam first sat?), but this already low proportion took a significant dive around 1984. Now why's that?
2. In 2008 I gave the welcoming address to the inaugural Lovelace Colloquium for women students in Computing. This was the only time I have been in a full theatre and been the only man. As someone present said to me: "Now you know how it feels".
3. In our household, the gender divide of computer scientists is 50:50. This system works pretty well.

Kentish sound mirrors

Much has been written about the Kentish Sound Mirrors, and many pictures can be seen.  There seems little need to add to these piles.

The mirrors are a compelling sight: they are big - some huge - and rather forlorn. While we know they were demonstrated to "work", they raise far more questions than they answer.

We went to see the survivor above Hythe, now in a bit of a sorry state.  It was best approached across a very muddy field, and it was a cold and windy winter day.  It seemed a good plan to have a toddler and a lady on crutches in the party.

It really was jolly interesting.

(Fred is visible at the left).

50 years on

In the National Library of Wales is an untitled, silent film catalogued as “Aberystwyth Post Office”: as far as it’s possible to judge, it was made to describe or commemorate the opening of an extension to the sorting office. It lasts 2m40s. 

It opens with a shot of a woman walking down Darkgate to enter the Post Office, of which more another time. It cuts to her walking down Stryd Y Bont to its junction with Tan Y Cae where at that time there was a shop. She places a letter in a postbox as does another passer-by, which is then emptied by a postman. A poster for the film “Quantrill’s Raiders” is just visible – this film was made in 1958 but it’s anyone’s guess how long it took to get to Aberystwyth. Let’s say it’s 50 years ago. 

The shop has closed and the box has been changed.  Further comparative photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/rogerdboyle/sets/72157628549032825/

Trenau Arriva Cymru

Approximately every 2 (two) hours, Arriva Trains Wales provide a train out of Aberystwyth. Well, they try. Each train consists of 2 (two) coaches.

A highlight of the Aber Christmas season is the last day of term, on which some 9000 students attempt to leave town, 8999 of them by train.

I went to watch the 3.30 departure. Unlike last year, nobody was left on the platform which was slightly disappointing, but the pictures illustrate the scene some time after the train was scheduled to leave. In the second, a lady with too many suitcases (2), and a man with too many bicycles (1) are evident.

The picture is unable to record the Train Manager yelling "JUST GET ON THE TRAIN, SIR" in an effort to leave West Wales.

The Exmouth Journal

The Exmouth Journal is a lot like the Cambrian News.

The only differences I can detect are that the former carries stories about Exmouth, and the latter about West Wales. I think there is a weekly Welsh language edition of the E-J, but it sells out very quickly.

Here is a sarky letter written to the E-J by a C-N reader.