Ian Robinson’s Soapbox

This will be interesting if it happens. The tracking system that looks for asteroids and near-Earth objects that could hit Earth, has found an asteroid that might hit Mars on 30th January 2008. Current data gives the odds of it hitting Mars as 1 in 75. Further measurements will narrow it down. Could provide a [...]

I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a set of electronic drums for a while. For use with EZDrummer Midi samples and also as a form of aerobic exercise. Not sure how good drumming is as a form of exercise, but I’ll find out. Click Picture for larger view

I had my yearly check-up after the cancer surgery recently. Nothing weird to report. I have to go for an check-up ultrasound examination in January (I put it off to after the holidays and MacWorld!). Next April 18th it’ll be 5 years to the day since I went to my GP to get it confirmed [...]

Mark Morford queues on a chilly San Francisco morning for a Nintendo Wii. For his 47 year old sister…

The Bishop of Wales is whining about atheistic fundamentalism. The money quote – But he said “virulent, almost irrational” attacks on it were “dangerous” because they refused to allow any contrary viewpoint and also affected the public perception of religion. Oh, the irony. Has he done any history? Does he know what happened to people [...]

Geek city. I match 5! Which categories do you match? Click the geeks for larger view via Pharyngula

Queen Rock Montreal on Blu-ray Disc is unbelievable! The quality of the visuals, and the audio, are brilliant. The concerts were recorded on film originally and not the more conventional video. As a result the transfer to Blu-ray retains the full resolution. This is a must buy if you have a Blu-ray player and a [...]

I’ve just signed up for the Amazon UK Associates Program. In the interests of disclosure please be aware that I will be putting my Associate ID into the links I provide to the Amazon Uk site from the Soapbox. This means that I will get a 5% kick back if anyone follows a link and [...]

I’m currently reading The Living Cosmos by Chris Impey. I’m only about 20% into it but so far it’s an excellent book on the subject of astrobiology. It contains and interesting tidbit about the adoption of the work revolution to mean changes, paradigm shifts etc. It stems from Copernicus’ book On the revolutions of the [...]

I’ve just done a complete fresh install of WordPress 2.3.1 here on the Soapbox. Gave it a good scrub and now it’s all shiny. I’ll update the theme over the Christmas holidays. In the interim I’ll just leave this default theme in place. Update: New theme in place. I like it

Michael Bywater has a rant on The New Humanist website about atheists not calling Christmas by that name. I agree with him. It’s known as Christmas to everyone and their dog. It’s not a religious festival for very many people that I know. From what I can see it’s not a religious festival anymore in [...]

This is a bit of a blast from the past. First released in 1972 on the Argus album by Wishbone Ash. The whole album is stunningly good. I could have picked several of the tracks for the Song of the Day, but Sometime World was chosen as it is very, very good indeed. Wishbone Ash [...]

Well sort off. Retro in looks and sounds like a real old phone when it rings. The numbers on the rotary dial are push buttons. See picture below. Quite heavy. Which is good, you can walk away from the phone with the handset and the base stays put. The whole things feels solid. it also [...]

Mark Morford does it again.

I’ve written about Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy here before. I liked the ideas, but the books didn’t grab my imagination by the scruff of the neck. The film version of the first book comes out this week: The Golden Compass. Hopefully the books will translate in to good movies. If they expose more [...]