Monthly archives: May 2005

Two birds with one coconut

This entry was posted in Biodiesel on by

Tablas Island is one of the poorest parts of the Phillipines. It also has the highest harvest of coconuts. So a newly opened biodiesel plant that makes fuel from the coconuts serves two purposes- fuel independence and a cash crop from over production.

“We deliberately chose Romblon because it is an island province and it is coconut-producing. This being an island economy, diesel prices in the region are higher because of cost of transporting the fuel so it makes sense that the province look for an alternative fuel using the raw materials available, which is copra,” [DOST Secretary Estrella] Alabastro said.

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Cars and Stars

This entry was posted in Airfix on by

Some time soon I want to do some figure modelling. 54mm seems the best size to start at, neither too large nor too small and not too expensive. It also equates to 1/32nd scale and, thanks to Ebay and good deals in the local model shop, I have a few cars to pose figures beside.

The Aston Martin DB5 I just won will be a great backdrop for Andrea’s Secret Agent. I can imagine the champagne bucket and glasses on the back seat and maybe a few super-spy style gadgets (does anyone do 1/32nd ejector seats?)

The Airfix 1930 Bentley is going to be a bizarre battle car, with Lewis guns mounted on it and various other outrageous elements. Who better to be driving it than a First World War fighter ace.

Historex is a great big treasure trove of, mostly, figure modelling coolness but so far I haven’t found an Al Capone or other ’30s gangster to go with the Packard Victoria that should be on its way to me. I must continue looking.

And finally, two figures I don’t have cars for yet. The Virtual Fighter and Cyborg 2020. These two could just fight each other, I guess.

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Ian's unhealthy obsession with statistics may yet pay off

This entry was posted in Adsense on by

Whilst studying my Adsense statistics yesterday I realised something about the gallery. It gets twice as many page views per day as the blog but makes almost nothing from the adverts. So I decided to put a more detailed hit tracker on it and take the ads away- they were making next to nothing so I wouldn’t notice.

Only a couple of hours worth of statistics revealed that two images in particular were extremely popular- this one and this one. It’s only right I should try to capitalise on this, so I’m making them available as prints. Mary as a Maid is available as a print in a range of sizes and the image of Blossom is going to get some minor tweaks and be available as soon as possible.

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Screw you guys, I'm going Green

This entry was posted in Uncategorized on by

Showing that politicians at the local level can be sensible even if those at the top are idiots, 132 American mayors have signed up to abide by the Kyoto agreement in their areas.

The mayors, from cities as liberal as Los Angeles and as conservative as Hurst, Tex., represent nearly 29 million citizens in 35 states, according to Mayor Nickels’s office. They are pledging to have their cities meet what would have been a binding requirement for the nation had the Bush administration not rejected the Kyoto Protocol: a reduction in heat-trapping gas emissions to levels 7 percent below those of 1990, by 2012.

On Thursday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg brought New York City into the coalition, the latest Republican mayor to join.

via Fab’s Musings

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Last Chance to Buy

This entry was posted in football Manchester on by

Buy a share in Manchester United before that American gets the rest of them. According to one fan on the news they need to keep ten percent of the shares out of Glazer’s hands to keep him from compulsorily purchasing them all.

Personally, I think there are far more important things to worry about, but it does give me a chance to link to one of my affiliate programmes.

Own A Real Share In Manchester United, Click Here!

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Now that's just wrong

This entry was posted in sex on by

Suppose you learn about two foreign countries. In one country, it is normal for people to have secret sex with dead chickens. In the other, people don’t in the normal course of events have intercourse with frozen poultry. Are both these customs okay morally speaking or is one of them bad and morally wrong?

Your Moralising Quotient is: 0.27. Your Interference Factor is: 0.20. Your Universalising Factor is: 0.25

Take the Taboo test. I think I’ve posted it before, but this is an updated verion.

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Intermittent

This entry was posted in Uncategorized on by

The argument put forward for nuclear as the magic CO2 bullet is that energy sources such as wind power are intermittent and would therefore need to be backed up by coal or nuclear anyway. However, research at Oxford University has produced a plan for using these supposedly unreliable generation systems. A combination of wind, micro Combined Heat and Power and solar produces an overlapping and always on set of supplies (the wind blows the most at the times of year, and even the times of day, when it’s most needed and the heating’s on most at the same time as light is required). Throw tidal and wave energy into the mix and you’re heading for a perfect solution.

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Intermittent

This entry was posted in Solar Power Wind power on by

The argument put forward for nuclear as the magic CO2 bullet is that energy sources such as wind power are intermittent and would therefore need to be backed up by coal or nuclear anyway. However, research at Oxford University has produced a plan for using these supposedly unreliable generation systems. A combination of wind, micro Combined Heat and Power and solar produces an overlapping and always on set of supplies (the wind blows the most at the times of year, and even the times of day, when it’s most needed and the heating’s on most at the same time as light is required). Throw tidal and wave energy into the mix and you’re heading for a perfect solution.

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Poker Face

This entry was posted in naked on by

Fleshbot pointed to these sets of cards because of the smut content. However, they aren’t all just naked babes and dirty manga, some of the card sets that have been carefully scanned in and arranged are vintage or illustrated with fish or bugs. Whatever your preference, you can download versions to sample or print out.

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Put your feet up, think of the profit

This entry was posted in Uncategorized on by

The Lazy Way to Success sounds like my kind of self help book.

“Personally, I couldn�t bear the shame if I said I had to work hard. That would be admitting that I hadn’t found an intelligent way to accomplish a task,” Gratzon writes. Even though it flies in the face of conventional wisdom – hard work is worshipped in our culture – Gratzon’s ideas are (dare I say inspiring?) food for thought for the overworked and undercompensated.

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