Frog Up or Down

Well for some time I have been collecting notes, photos and old maps of the way Curzon street station is being looked at in view of the now almost certain HS2 station thats going to be built right along side this wonderful old building. Currently its all a little sketchy as to how or what will be built, so I plan to take this spare time to record and look at all I can. This slide presentation was meant for my students, but its fast turning into some form of archive of information as I find it, Currently I am looking at old maps to see what burial grounds will be affected, I think there are two main sites, one adjacent to Moor street station called Park Street, from what I can tell its an oversspill cemetery that was for the poor, and got filled with mostly women and children, early days on this so need to look further.  Park Street is used as a park space, so I will take a walk up there and take a load of photos and video.The other to the east of the site and one I have yet...

Like so many, leaving home without a mobiles is--- well it just does not happen, and if I do, then I worry all day long, what have I missed, simple answer not much. So when I dropped my phone the other day, I was so pleased, no damage, phew, but then last night I did it again, this time its cracked the screen, to the top right, ok it still works, and a little Sellotape is holding the glass in place. I sat watching the TV later on, surfing the net looking for a replacement, and backed away, the price for even the next version up to my current iPhone, a 5s is banging on £500, so I sat there wondering why I need to spend this much on a phone that rarely rings, OK text is not in this league I get loads all day long, but again, I sat back and looked at them, tittle tattle, jokes, some very funny, a few from my bank, and thats it, I get more on Skype. My music is important to me, so are the vast number of podcasts I listen to as I walk my dog, is this what I pay for, mostly I think....

Immortalised through art is the way so many people seem to b able to take a pace in immortality, their art lives and people remember them, authors are much the same, although some books get lost in dusty shelves. Google efforts to scan all the known books at least puts these long forgotten people back into the frame through the their search. But so many get forgotten and never return to recognition except for a line in a private geological chart, and so many more are lost completely no headstone to read, no obituary in a paper. So for these reasons alone. I am making sure I remain not forgotten, it's a little morbid I know, but as I approach 65, I seem to be thinking of this more. I have no fear of death, just the bit before, although if I go in my sleep then thats fine, as for what happens after, well who knows, I tend to believe that nature wastes nothing,  but I would like to go knowing that I have left enough markers in this world to be remembered, and discovered bu...

Almost a month back, I had to give my professorial speech to the University, the notes below are my speech guide, as always I strayed from the path, but this note set, allowed me to return and stay true to a theme. In all I took an hour to give my speech which was partly recored, and well received. Enjoy ======== For me as a technologist the detail has been everything, from material to volume  I have spent so much time : Designing detail I take a concept and make it work Preparing a design to be interacted with by the construction team But in the past few years all I learned over 45 years has either changed or is being affected by changes in the way we draw and present information, thats the move from a drawing board to CAD and the addition of data, its application and use. In my professorial presentation on which this article is based, I titled this presentation  “Where will the data take us” Perhaps it might better be stated as : “Tim...

Yesterday, one of my colleagues showed me the video below, created by GlidebyJJ - Jody Johnson, its a moving little piece, for a number of reasons, The building was a mental hospital in the USA, called  Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital , it was built in 1876 and was the largest building in the US at the time. This beautiful, historic masterpiece was demolished from May - November 2015.  and for all sorts of reasons it was not a nice place, but putting that aside, the video is packed with interesting construction, its actually reversed, and as the film proceeds, you see the building come to life. I had to watch it several times to get the full impact of the construction, the brickwork, the roof construction, and the floor structure, and as the building completes the final impact of the estate. So often classic buildings are lost to the demolition crane, some are lucky enough to have been photographed, and some even filmed. The film at the bottom is packed wit...

I hover between Google and Apple , my primary is Apple, it has to be, but Google Becons so often, Notice though Microsoft does not get mentioned here, I will use anything rather than go here, the University has Microsoft OS and I have to use it some times, but if I can link my Mac into the plus on the wall for Internet, or presentation them I will. My last blog was on the trials I an going through with Google Keep and Evernote , and thats on going, and will be, it might end up with me again hanging in the coats of both, but leaning to Apple. The real test will come so soon, I dropped , yet again, my iPhone 5s , this time I managed to slightly dislodge the screen from the metal band, it seems not to make much difference, but, i think its time to look for an upgrade. What I will wait for is Apples big show, if the rumours are right, them I might be tempted, otherwise I will be looking for a deal, on a slightly older model 7, or a Pixel, but if I go that route then Apple might ...

In December 2016 I compared Google keep to my then, usual data repository, Evernote , and microsoft's one note plus apples notes. Since then, some three month have passed and I have kept up a duel usage with just Evernote and keep. The other two just lack  in there use with me, apples product is a good note keeper but lacks some how in comparison. And one note, well t just would not sync with my iPad and iPhone . So it was keep and Evernote. Evernote is huge, I have so much tucked away in it, but finding it was sometimes a chore, it searches just to well, and I could never remember how to limit the search engine enough to weed out all but what I wanted to see. Keep is well simpler, easier to search, but what gained my attention was the simple way it now integrates with Google Dock as a side panel, allowing such an easy way to drag all or a portion into the doc. I will stay with Evernote, I have so much tucked away, but in the Lastweek, I find myself using keep more and mor...