Mentor Blogs

Sometimes I think that I fully understand something, but then I have doubts. I have been reflecting on something very everyday and simple: how we judge distance. We all know how to assess a distance. You just need to look and you intuitively have an idea how far away something is. The question is: how do your brain/eyes arrive at this information … Most animals have two eyes. They may be set … Read More

Off-Topic

Speakers of the English language love euphemisms – we say one thing when we actually mean something else. As far as I can tell, this is a universal practice, though some of the actual euphemisms vary between countries [the US and UK, for example]. I have often wondered whether this practice is confined to English or do users of other languages do the same thing? I am thinking about a topic which … Read More

Off-Topic

I like food and enjoy cooking. In fact, I often describe myself as “Cordon Bleu trained”. I actually did about 12 evening classes in Cordon Bleu cookery about 30 years ago, but hey… I appreciate that cooking, like my other hobby, photography, is predominantly an art, but it also has a scientific side. As I always like to understand how things work and why procedures are performed in … Read More

Off-Topic

I have written before about my irritation with damage to the English language. Before I rant some more, I want to be clear: I am not against change - a language is a living thing and its nature is to evolve; what I have a problem with is lazy use of the language that results in changes which limit our ability to express ideas clearly. I have observed a number or pairs of words where there is common … Read More

Off-Topic

As I am off for the Christmas and New Year holiday, I decided to ask Scott Salzwedel, who did a fine stand in for me some weeks ago, to write another post. He has returned to a topic he clearly finds fascinating. -Colin As if Motorola’s launch of the Droid isn’t enough, now there’s word of Google launching its own Android phone, the “Nexus One.” Alas, the Google phone is here. But is it really a phone? … Read More

Off-Topic, Android, Mobile

As I am off on a week’s vacation in the sun, I thought it would be interesting to ask a couple of friends/colleagues write some blogs. First up, we have Scott Salzwedel, who is looking at a topic close to my heart. -Colin Have you seen the latest Droid TV spot? It’s pretty awesome. The commercial opens with some stealth jets flying in formation and then bombs away - these pods are jettisoned to unsuspecting … Read More

Off-Topic, Android, Mobile

I stumbled across a way to solve problems and also enhance creativity. And I want to share this discovery with you. I do not think that it is really anything new. I am sure that many, perhaps most, people do it all the time. But by understanding what is going on, maybe the approach can be used more effectively. The technique is called “talking” … Over the years, I gradually realized that, when I was … Read More

Off-Topic