All of a sudden, I’m getting all kinds of visits from the ntnu.no domain, which belongs to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. The last time this happened was when I was posting lots of pictures of Banff. I have no idea why it happened then, or why it’s happening now. …
Category: Blog
Merry Christmas!
That’s all I have to say today.
The power of Harry Potter
When a new book in the series comes out, children’s traumatic injury rates fall. Magic!
The first sentence I wrote today was…
The first sentence of the first chapter of this book stated, “Engineers—and engineering projects—were few and far between on the prairies in the years before Saskatchewan’s birth as a province.” Yes, I’m summing up–which means I’m on the last chapter! I’m on the last chapter! I’M ON THE LAST CHAPTER! Ahem. Sorry, I got a …
First edition, first printing, of King James Bible found in Manitoba
This is a fascinating story: a rare (only about 50 copies are known) first-edition, first-printing (from 1611) copy of the King James Bible has been uncovered in Manitoba. Just in time for the annual celebration of the birth of Jesus! (who, all of us of a certain upbringing probably believed at one point in our …
Commodore comeback, Part 2
More about the comeback of my old computing friend Commodore. (Via Gizmodo.)
The first two sentences I wrote today were…
The first step in building a road is choosing a route for that road. The best way to choose that route is from aerial photographs—and nobody has more experience at it than Jack Mollard, president of J.D. Mollard and Associates in Regina. The topic is the use of aerial and satellite photography in engineering and …
Stocking stuffer chemistry
Christmas, as everyone knows (except parents who insist on giving socks and underwear—you know who you are) is all about toys. But that doesn’t mean it can’t also be about science. David A. Katz, a chemist, educator, science communicator and consultant from Tucson, Arizona, has a webpage called Chemistry in the Toy Store which describes …
I almost forgot! The first sentence I wrote (much earlier) today was…
Even after Saskatchewan became a province, the majority of its traffic was horse-drawn: in 1906, there were just 22 motor vehicles registered in Saskatchewan. I’m writing about the building of the Saskatchewan road network, the most extensive of any province in Canada. (Something around 190,000 kilometres.)
Canadians working on private orbital space plane?
The Canadian Arrow team, erstwhile X-Prize contenders, has been quietly working on a orbital transport.
Keeping the werewolves baying…er, at bay
I enjoyed this article on Forrest J. Ackerman, the “father of sci-fi” (so-called because he coined the word “sci-fi,” for which I have magnanimously forgiven him); I had the privilege of meeting Forry at the World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago in 2000.
Hey, did you happen to see the most beautiful girl in the world?
Why, yes I did: my four-year-old daughter, Alice. Of course, I just might be biased… Naw.
My latest live walk and vlog
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