Monthly archives: March 2006


Small Scale Customs

Spinneyhead’s newest project launched today. It’s a spin off from Scale and all the little cars I’ve been making. Small Scale Customs is, effectively, the new Scale shop. The first product are number plate transfers for OO gauge vehicles. Pre 1963 for now. Later licence plates will follow and there will also be lots of other detailing transfers for cars and light commercial vehicles soon.

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Small Scale Customs

Spinneyhead’s newest project launched today. It’s a spin off from Scale and all the little cars I’ve been making. Small Scale Customs is, effectively, the new Scale shop. The first product are number plate transfers for OO gauge vehicles. Pre 1963 for now. Later licence plates will follow and there will also be lots of other detailing transfers for cars and light commercial vehicles soon.

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Shoe print of guilt

Researchers are working on a system to identify shoe prints left at crime scenes.

This classification should be straightforward, said Professor Allinson, because criminals favour shoes that have many distinct features on their soles.

“Luckily criminals wear trainers,” he said. “If they all wore Oxford brogues we would be in a very difficult position.”

The identification system works by subjecting shoeprints to several different image processing techniques to reveal the features on the sole.

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Scottish Executive thinks big

The Scottish Executive has set itself a target of cutting 2.7million tons of CO2 emissions by 2010. It’s a laudable aim, but recent admissions by the Government show that you have to back those promises up with actual actions or you’re going to be making embarassing apologies a few years down the line.

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Around Spinneyhead

Mongrels– the first instalment of this webcomic has been delayed due to spending Monday evening in the Eye Hospital and finishing off another project. It will be published on the first day of every week.

Tiger– progress is still slow, only another laid out page this week.

Small Scale Customs- Coming soon. One of my first ideas for online commerce should finally see the light before the weekend’s over.

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Mini microgeneration

The government’s plans to support microgeneration sound good, but many believe them to be all hot wind and no heat exchanger.

“A large number of the ‘actions’ in the strategy are not actions at all, if by that we mean proposed concrete steps to deliver real policy changes,” said Seb Berry, head of micro-renewables at the Renewable Energy Association.

“A large number are contingent on further research and review – eg ‘DTI will undertake further research and analysis’, ‘DTI will investigate’, and ‘Defra will look carefully at’,” he said.

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Nuclear power has cost us how much?

My main reason for opposing new nuclear plants is an economic one. The CO2 savings per pound invested in energy saving measures, micro-generation and renewables will be far greater than that on more reactors. To drive the fact home comes the news that the clean up costs for the last generation of nuclear reactors is going to be far higher than estimated. This was announced as plans go ahead to privatise the division of BNFL that does the decommissioning. I’m with Amicus on that move-

“Our union is opposed to the sale of the British Nuclear Group in principle,” said Amicus national officer Dougie Rooney.

“But we are also concerned that it could compromise the government’s stated objectives of decommissioning civil nuclear sites in the UK at a reduced cost to the taxpayer and a reduced timescale while maintaining safety standards.”

So let’s not throw any more cash into the nuclear money pit, and invest in sensible solutions instead.

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BRE's Environmental Assessment Method

US Green websites mention LEED a lot, it’s an energy efficiciency standard to measure new builds against. I hadn’t thought to find out if there was a British equivalent, until spotting a post on Enviropundit.

For over a decade, BRE’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) has been used to assess the environmental performance of both new and existing buildings. It is regarded by the UK’s construction and property sectors as the measure of best practice in environmental design and management.

BREEAM’s success stems from its unique ability to cover a wide range of environmental issues within one assessment, and to present the results in a way that is widely understood by those involved in property procurement and management.

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