For the December lecture at West Yorkshire Humanists two local Greenpeace volunteers came down to tell us about their organisation. This took the form of an interactive workshop: we were answering true or false questions, putting photos into a timeline and discussing the ethical issues surrounding the environment and protesting.
They started with a video. I think if anything that did dispel a myth as I assumed they were quite a well rounded organisation that did thinks like education and lobbying. The video just seemed to suggest they spent all their time making trouble. I’m not saying that annoying Shell is a bad thing. I suspect it is a probably a good thing. However, I did not seem as multi-faceted as I had expected. The rest of the session was more engaging though.
Alan and Joe were lovely people and delivered a very honest and open presentation. It was a pleasure to have them at the group.
December 16th, 2015 |
Life
I am working with Sky Sports at the moment, who recently relocated their office to Leeds Dock. They are encouraging everyone to talk about how good it is, so here is my contribution.
It was a smooth transition and everything is up and running. It was only a few months between signing the lease and moving in, so there is still plenty to do. It will be great when we get the other buildings up-and-running to give us additional meeting space.
It is a nice location and you get a good view of the dock.
That floor is as slippy as it looks. You can pick up a huge amount of speed on the new chairs: great for chair racing. You can also see that there is no roof. This is the same across the entire building. Everything has been left exposed, which is a design feature. There are screens everywhere, so you feel like you are in the future.
Noise levels were quite high initially but it seems to be calming down now. There is also a cafe that Sky subsidise. So for example, I can of pop that would be £2.50 on the high street is £1.00 in the cafe.
Whether it quite puts us up there with Google and Facebook as one of the best campuses in the world, I suspect probably not. But it is a cool place to work. And ultimately it is the people that make Sky a great place to be.
One of the few benefits of my recently drastically extended commute to work is getting to enjoy the morning sky.
Still looking for that perfect gift for someone? I’ve come to your rescue, as yesterday saw the launch of the 5th edition of the Leeds Restaurant Guide! It should now be available on Kindle Store. This edition has 20 new restaurants and 4 updated reviews.
Added
- 2 Oxford Place
- Archie’s
- Bilbao
- Bill’s
- Brotherhood of Pursuits & Pastimes
- Five Guys
- Gusto
- La Rambla
- Manahatta
- My Thai
- Pie Minister
- Pintura
- Revolucion de Cuba
- Smoke Barbecue
- Soba
- Stockdales
- The Headrow
- The Liquorist
- The Phoenix
- Zaap Thai
Updated
- Akbar’s
- Elysium
- Stonegate Pubs
- Thai A Roy Dee
December 13th, 2015 |
Food
A few weeks ago Elina was ill, so to make her feel better I made her a mixed grill. It turned out very well, but it was the bill that surprised me. I spent £20 at Tesco getting everything for it. There were a few other small items, but most of it was grill money. That works out at nearly £10 each.
It has given me a renewed appreciation. How the hell do Wetherspoon’s do it for £7 each, including a drink?
December 12th, 2015 |
Books
Pebble in the Sky is the third novel in Isaac Asimov’s galactic empire series. The empire of Trantor is now firmly established and spreading to every corner of the galaxy.
Earth on the other hand is not doing so well. The people of the galaxy have forgotten that it was the original home world of man, and Earth has fallen out with the rest of the galaxy. However, they gave a secret plan to destroy the empire.
Having read the Foundation series, it adds a different perspective. Spoilers start here by the way. This novel ends with a note of hope that Earth will rebuild. However, as those of us who have read Foundation and Earth will know, it doesn’t.
Foundation also benefits from originally having been short stories merged into novels. This means a lot happens and you see the story unfold over hundreds of years. The galactic empire series typically take place on one or two planets, and not much happens. They are still good, but it does not have quite the same effect of the first Asimov novels I read.
It does do an excellent job of constructing the amazing world that makes Asimov’s storytelling so enjoyable though. The far future, and the familiar, blended into one.
December 11th, 2015 |
Books
In The Code Book Simon Singh discusses the history of cryptography. It is a journey through the first simple ciphers through to the war years and then the computerisation of encryption.
It was not a topic I thought I would be that interested in, but Singh’s writing makes it an enjoyable read.
It was originally published in 1999. Given the nature of the topic, the book is showing it’s age significantly. This only comes into play in the last few chapters, but is noticeable.
December 10th, 2015 |
Books
The Currents of Space is the second novel in Isaac Asimov’s galactic empire series. The first in the series, The Stars, Like Dust was not one of my favourite Asimov novels but this one is an improvement.
It still lacks that grander scale of lots of things happening, that the Foundation series has. However, it does open it up to the wider galaxy. It might all take place on two planets, but the empire of Trantor is there and on the rise.
The story follows the two planets of Sark and Florina. The former exploits the latter for it’s valuable kyrt plantations. But what length will they to go to protect it?
December 9th, 2015 |
Books
The Stars, Like Dust is the first in Isaac Asimov’s Galactic Empire series of novels. I had grand visions when I started reading it. It would be the missing link between Robot series and the Foundation series, looking at the growing empire as it expanded and conquered the galaxy.
It was not like that. The empire never even comes into it. It talks about the fighting of a few kingdoms that control some planets. It is apparently set before the empire really arises and while it is okay as a standalone novel, it lacks the grip and brilliance of the better Asimov novels.
It is also a little predictable. Once you have read the Foundation series, you can pretty much guess where the rebellion world turns out to be. They came out at about the same time, so you could argue it the other way around of course.
