Approaching midnight after a day of experimenting with Flock (too cluttered, although potentially useful) and monitoring a tragedy some 200 miles from here. I think all hope is now fading fast for the 8 people still missing from that helicopter that went down off Rattray Head, north of Aberdeen. Eight bodies have been recovered from the water and are currently en-route to Aberdeen on board MV Caledonian Victory. The AIS for North East Scotland told its own story, with a clutter of ships in the area of the accident earlier this evening.
More tomorrow.
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Helicopter crash - update
Latest reports suggest that all 16 on board the helicopter, which crashed into the sea 40 miles north of Aberdeen, may have died. The bodies of 10 were spotted in the water, indicating that the aircraft crashed rather than made a controlled landing on the water.
These reports are as yet unconfirmed.
These reports are as yet unconfirmed.
Aurora Borealis
The Northern Lights should become more noticeable over the coming few years. In the year 2012, the sun should reach a maximum in a 11-year cycle of activity. This means that areas of Earth near its poles (both North and South) will see an increase in the Northern / Southern Lights. Apart from it being pretty, the Aurora can accompany severe magnetic storms in the earth's atmosphere. This is caused by charged particles being blasted our way by the sun. As they are captured by the ionosphere (a layer in the atmosphere), they can generate a magnetic pulse. In an event in March 1989, this pulse was so strong that it tripped out electricity networks across the USA and Canada. The accompanying Aurora was visible as far south as Cuba.
Flock - part 1
The one thing I am not liking about Flock is the way they handle imported feeds. I downloaded my feeds from Google Reader, and I have those categorised into two sections for J-land (blogs I read regularly, and others I have on file), news, Scottish blogs, etc. Well, that got messed up a little on uploading into Flock. Can live with that though.
You can also write blog posts through the browser, monitor Twitter as well as Facebook. I am getting less enthusiastic about Facebook, but that is nothing to do with Flock.
You can also write blog posts through the browser, monitor Twitter as well as Facebook. I am getting less enthusiastic about Facebook, but that is nothing to do with Flock.
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Helicopter ditching
A helicopter is reported to have ditched into the North Sea off the east-coast of Scotland at around 2pm this afternoon, an hour ago. A major rescue effort is underway, with lifeboats, a reconnaisance aircraft and search-and-rescue helicopters being directed to the area, 35 miles east of Crimond in Aberdeenshire. Will update as news comes in.
Back in February, a Puma helicopter ditched into the North Sea about 125 miles east of Aberdeen. An alarm is thought to have failed, and the aircraft had flown into a fogbank upon approaching the oilplatform it was heading for. All 18 on board survived the incident without injury.
Back in February, a Puma helicopter ditched into the North Sea about 125 miles east of Aberdeen. An alarm is thought to have failed, and the aircraft had flown into a fogbank upon approaching the oilplatform it was heading for. All 18 on board survived the incident without injury.
Flock Browser
I am currently exploring the Flock browser. It has come a long way since I first looked at it a few years ago. Today's version allows you to pull all your social networking strands together in the one browser - Twitter, Blogger, Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket and others. Looks like a useful piece of kit, and one that is not very widely used.
Wednesday 1 April
So what April Fool fooled you? Or what April Fool did you play on others? I nearly got taken in by Google's Cadie (see their homepage today), much like Google Tisp a few years ago. Remember that? Internet connection through the sewerage system.
Nice sunny day in Stornoway, but I do not trust the cloudscape or the fact that we have a reasonable breeze going at the moment. It is supposed to get up to 16C this afternoon; could yet happen, it's 12C at the moment (midday).
A yacht that came adrift in galeforce winds at Rodel, Harris, last week had tried to tie up to a mooring buoy. Unfortunately, the buoy was no longer attached to the seabed. This had apparently been reported for the past 3 months, but no action was ever taken. The yachtsman had sought shelter in Rodel Bay because of the conditions. The buoy is owned by the local council, and they are now looking into the matter. The yacht was holed below the waterline and nearly sank.
Nice sunny day in Stornoway, but I do not trust the cloudscape or the fact that we have a reasonable breeze going at the moment. It is supposed to get up to 16C this afternoon; could yet happen, it's 12C at the moment (midday).
A yacht that came adrift in galeforce winds at Rodel, Harris, last week had tried to tie up to a mooring buoy. Unfortunately, the buoy was no longer attached to the seabed. This had apparently been reported for the past 3 months, but no action was ever taken. The yachtsman had sought shelter in Rodel Bay because of the conditions. The buoy is owned by the local council, and they are now looking into the matter. The yacht was holed below the waterline and nearly sank.
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Watching the grass grow
That is the impression I had upon switching on BBC News just before 8pm tonight. It showed a plane on the tarmac at Stansted Airport near London, and the caption said that Barack Obama had arrived in the United Kingdom. So, we are supposed to sit pretty and get bored out of our minds watching a plane sit in gathering darkness, waiting for the president of the United States to walk down the steps? Where is the real news? Worse is to come.
Over the next couple of days, twenty leaders and heads of government of various countries across the globe will be attending a meeting to natter about the gathering economic crisis, row about ways to combat it and stuff their faces with grub and booze. Yes, I'm being thoroughly disrespectful, but I am getting bored out of my box with all this talk, talk, talk, whilst nothing changes. Government ministers claiming expenses for their hubbies watching dirty movies at home while they are away, bank directors feathering their nests with the full knowledge if not connivance of the government. And it just goes on. Does anyone care that economic growth is now expressed in negative figures? No.
People are interested in the consequences for their jobs, their personal finances. Are they going to be laid off, will their home be repossessed, their cars or other items. Will they be able to let their kids go to university. Will they have a pension to look forward to after they retire - or will it all be gobbled up by greedy bankers, who cannot let go of a lifestyle of gluttony. They will not and cannot. One so-called fat cat committed suicide last year over that prospect. Says enough.
Meanwhile, it was a matter of global interest that Barack Obama hopped down those steps onto British soil this evening. Some would say it was of global importance. Perhaps it is. The practical results, down on the farm or at the coalface, is all that matters in the short or long run. If the course of this recession, now projected to possibly last 5 years, is not altered, then it will all have been a colossal waste of time and money.
Over the next couple of days, twenty leaders and heads of government of various countries across the globe will be attending a meeting to natter about the gathering economic crisis, row about ways to combat it and stuff their faces with grub and booze. Yes, I'm being thoroughly disrespectful, but I am getting bored out of my box with all this talk, talk, talk, whilst nothing changes. Government ministers claiming expenses for their hubbies watching dirty movies at home while they are away, bank directors feathering their nests with the full knowledge if not connivance of the government. And it just goes on. Does anyone care that economic growth is now expressed in negative figures? No.
People are interested in the consequences for their jobs, their personal finances. Are they going to be laid off, will their home be repossessed, their cars or other items. Will they be able to let their kids go to university. Will they have a pension to look forward to after they retire - or will it all be gobbled up by greedy bankers, who cannot let go of a lifestyle of gluttony. They will not and cannot. One so-called fat cat committed suicide last year over that prospect. Says enough.
Meanwhile, it was a matter of global interest that Barack Obama hopped down those steps onto British soil this evening. Some would say it was of global importance. Perhaps it is. The practical results, down on the farm or at the coalface, is all that matters in the short or long run. If the course of this recession, now projected to possibly last 5 years, is not altered, then it will all have been a colossal waste of time and money.
Evening notes
Quite a mild afternoon, and the 14 degrees C at 2pm was most certainly not forecast. As per usual. I am now looking out across the basin towards a placid cloud scene. Although the sun is not out, it is looking very springlike. The hooded crows are smashing shells by dropping them from a great height. Yet another Norwegian trawler called into port this afternoon - the Ronge. Within the space of a week, we have seen more than half a dozen fishing vessels from Norway in this port, one as a result of an emergency when its nets fouled the propellor.
In August 2007, I mentioned on the old Northern Trip blog the plight of people trying to cross from Africa to Europe by boat. Until a few years ago, the main route was from northwest Africa to the Canary Islands (Spanish territory), but a surge of refugees is also using a route between Libya and Italy. Today, it is reported that more than 200 people drowned in a boat when this was affected by severe weather.
I remember that in the late 1970s, many people fled Vietnam as 'boat people', and I have met Vietnamese people in Western Europe in the early 1980s who had come that way. The Africans I mentioned above are coming from south of the Sahara, fleeing grinding desperate poverty, trying to get a better life. An even more atrocious story keeps emanating out of Yemen, when refugees of the lawless nation of Somalia are put across the Gulf of Aden, and more often than not abandoned on the high seas.
In August 2007, I mentioned on the old Northern Trip blog the plight of people trying to cross from Africa to Europe by boat. Until a few years ago, the main route was from northwest Africa to the Canary Islands (Spanish territory), but a surge of refugees is also using a route between Libya and Italy. Today, it is reported that more than 200 people drowned in a boat when this was affected by severe weather.
I remember that in the late 1970s, many people fled Vietnam as 'boat people', and I have met Vietnamese people in Western Europe in the early 1980s who had come that way. The Africans I mentioned above are coming from south of the Sahara, fleeing grinding desperate poverty, trying to get a better life. An even more atrocious story keeps emanating out of Yemen, when refugees of the lawless nation of Somalia are put across the Gulf of Aden, and more often than not abandoned on the high seas.
Tuesday 31 March
It is brightening up here in Stornoway after a wet morning. I've been cleaning out the archives, copying stuff into address books and what not, disposing of anything not needed. Made a huge difference. And having a fireplace is most handy for getting rid of confidential material.
The row about the bus service in Lewis is continuing, but I have to say in all fairness that saying that timetables change 3 times in as many days just because there is a (different) Saturday service is taking it too far. Having said that, there is only a reduction in service, no correct timetables (at bus station, in the stances, with the drivers or on the council's website).
I just wished they would leave Jade Goody to rest in peace. I've had it with all the revelations about her final moments, who will and won't attend the funeral and all that. It's making me feel quite ill.
The row about the bus service in Lewis is continuing, but I have to say in all fairness that saying that timetables change 3 times in as many days just because there is a (different) Saturday service is taking it too far. Having said that, there is only a reduction in service, no correct timetables (at bus station, in the stances, with the drivers or on the council's website).
I just wished they would leave Jade Goody to rest in peace. I've had it with all the revelations about her final moments, who will and won't attend the funeral and all that. It's making me feel quite ill.
Monday, 30 March 2009
Needle alert
There is a batch of counterfeit needles in circulation in the United Kingdom. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has issued an alert, which I relay:
The counterfeit needle details are: Novofine Needles 31G (0.25mm x 6mm) lot number 08J02S labelled as manufactured by Novo Nordisk Ltd. People who have these insulin pen needles should stop using them. They can return any affected needles to their pharmacist where they should also be able to obtain replacements.
There is no assurance that these counterfeit needles are manufactured to the appropriate quality standards. The possible consequences of using these counterfeit needles could include adverse reactions; pain and discomfort; infection and difficulty in attaching the needle to the pen injection device.
MHRA Director of Device Technology and Safety, Clive Bray said,
“Please check the Novofine needles that you are using. If you are unsure about the needles you have, then please visit your pharmacist as they can assist you. Alternatively contact Novo Nordisk Ltd. The MHRA has issued a Medical Device Alert (MDA) today to healthcare professionals including pharmacists and specialist diabetic health workers. They have been asked to quarantine any affected stock and to stop supplying the affected needles. We encourage people to report faulty medical devices and suspected counterfeits to the MHRA by calling our Adverse Incident Hotline on 0207 084 3080 or via our website."
The counterfeit needle details are: Novofine Needles 31G (0.25mm x 6mm) lot number 08J02S labelled as manufactured by Novo Nordisk Ltd. People who have these insulin pen needles should stop using them. They can return any affected needles to their pharmacist where they should also be able to obtain replacements.
There is no assurance that these counterfeit needles are manufactured to the appropriate quality standards. The possible consequences of using these counterfeit needles could include adverse reactions; pain and discomfort; infection and difficulty in attaching the needle to the pen injection device.
MHRA Director of Device Technology and Safety, Clive Bray said,
“Please check the Novofine needles that you are using. If you are unsure about the needles you have, then please visit your pharmacist as they can assist you. Alternatively contact Novo Nordisk Ltd. The MHRA has issued a Medical Device Alert (MDA) today to healthcare professionals including pharmacists and specialist diabetic health workers. They have been asked to quarantine any affected stock and to stop supplying the affected needles. We encourage people to report faulty medical devices and suspected counterfeits to the MHRA by calling our Adverse Incident Hotline on 0207 084 3080 or via our website."
Time of the month
Ladies, do you find you turn into a shopaholic in the week before 'that' time of the month? There could an explanation for it, in terms of hormonal changes. And if you find it a problem, well, don't go shopping at 'that' time of the month. More here.
Monday 30 March
Reasonable day, with some brightness in amongst the clouds. The Uist freighter Nord Star was hauled up onto the Goat Island slipway this morning. She is a relatively large boat and only just fits on. Received my copy of my photobook Lewis Light, that I promoted a week or so ago, and am not entirely impressed. Printing of some pictures has left blotches on the photographs (phooey, Lulu), and I noticed that some of the captions were wrong (phooey, Guido). Oh well, keep correcting. Will feedback to Lulu about the print quality. I don't like having to shell out £20 and more for that, let alone innocent punters.
Sunday, 29 March 2009
The Binfight in the Creed Park Corral
In May 2006, the local council launched a scheme whereby all the residents of the island of Lewis were eligible to receive free 3 composting bins. Everybody could call round at the Creed Park recycling centre, 2 miles south of Stornoway. Well, everybody did turn out that Saturday morning. The morning that the Stornoway Half Marathon was being run around the town as well. Result: a tailback on the A859 road which leads past the centre - and tailbacks are unknown here. At the centre, police tried to stop people driving in, but they just blew past, saying "we are entitled to our bins, so we'll get them!". In the end, there were not enough bins for everybody...
Oh, the bins were later spotted in use as chicken coops and sheep shelters.
Oh, the bins were later spotted in use as chicken coops and sheep shelters.
Sunday 29 March
Pretty abysmal weather today with strong winds and continual rain. Not expecting much improvement into the week until Wednesday, when the weather pattern shifts from west to east. Shame; yesterday was a nice day, except for the low temperatures. So, I'll close this post with some of yesterday's pictures.
Courtyard in the Bridge Centre
Bridge Centre from the Inner Harbour
Bar area in An Lanntair
I am returning to An Lanntair tomorrow to take pictures without people in them; as you know, I'm very reluctant to publish pictures of people on this blog without their consent.
Courtyard in the Bridge Centre
Bridge Centre from the Inner Harbour
Bar area in An Lanntair
I am returning to An Lanntair tomorrow to take pictures without people in them; as you know, I'm very reluctant to publish pictures of people on this blog without their consent.
Saturday, 28 March 2009
Closing notes
First of all, don't forgot to change your clocks tonight if you're in Europe.
Second, tomorrow I shall be calling round some journals - I've woefully neglected that again.
Thirdly, I shall be putting some of today's 24 pictures on the journal. Those who follow me on Facebook or Flickr will be able to see them in the next half hour or so.
Night night.
Second, tomorrow I shall be calling round some journals - I've woefully neglected that again.
Thirdly, I shall be putting some of today's 24 pictures on the journal. Those who follow me on Facebook or Flickr will be able to see them in the next half hour or so.
Night night.
Cold and sunny
That was today's weather. It didn't get any warmer than +5C / 41F this afternoon, in spite of copious amounts of sunshine. I was invited to have a look inside a new community centre in Stornoway, the Bridge Centre, which was built at a cost of £4m over the past few years. It also offers low-cost housing to young students as well as temporary accommodation for hospital doctors. Later in the afternoon, I attended the opening of Grinneas nan Eilean, a showcase for local artists - to which I have submitted a picture. Quite a pleasant afternoon; as I said on Twitter earlier on, is this me? Going to two functions in a day??
Saturday 28 March
After yesterday's horrible weather, we are now looking out on bright blue skies with fluffy clouds and the odd snow shower. Temperature is at a fantastic +3C / 37F. Very cold in other words, and I've got a few things to do that require me to go outside. Not looking forward to that.
Tonight at 2030 GMT, several landmarks in Scotland will have their illumination switched off for Earth Hour. Private individuals could switch off as many electrical appliances as possible, including lights. Did that last year, was great fun.
And tonight at 0100 GMT, the clocks go forward one hour in the whole of Western Europe. In Britain, we'll be on British Summer Time until 25 October.
Tonight at 2030 GMT, several landmarks in Scotland will have their illumination switched off for Earth Hour. Private individuals could switch off as many electrical appliances as possible, including lights. Did that last year, was great fun.
And tonight at 0100 GMT, the clocks go forward one hour in the whole of Western Europe. In Britain, we'll be on British Summer Time until 25 October.
Friday, 27 March 2009
North wind
It is blowing a force 7 from the north this evening, straight in from the Arctic. Temperature at the moment +5C, which is not too bad for late March. At 7pm, I went outside to get some coal in, but I was 'frozen' by the time I came in. It is pouring with rain as well, which makes it doubly cold. A northerly wind is bad news in this part of the world, and it is borne out by the disruptions page on the Calmac website - full of orange and red, meaning disrupted or cancelled sailings. The 5.35pm sailing from Ullapool to Stornoway was called off, meaning the 7 am sailing in the opposite direction tomorrow morning will not operate either. Looking at AIS Minch, I see nearly a dozen fishing vessels of Dutch, Danish and Norwegian registration in port or sheltering south of here along the coast, where the Point peninsula provides some shelter.
Friday 27 March
March still rules supreme, and it's the usual alternating between brilliant sunshine and heavy showers. A battle royal between summer warmth and winter cold, and the battlefield as per usual lies over Scotland. I don't really mind, it's what makes these parts interesting and attractive.
Three weeks ago, a horse was taken on the ferry between Ullapool and Stornoway to go into semi-retirement in Lewis. Unfortunately, upon arrival at Stornoway the animal was found dead in its horsebox on the vehicle deck. There are suggestions that carbon monoxide fumes from a refrigeration unit on an adjacent trailer were to blame, but there is no firm evidence. Ferry operators Calmac state that the air on the vehicle deck is refreshed every 3 minutes, and the horsebox was placed next to an air intake.
Buses in Lewis have gone to summer timetable as of today, but due to a legally required tendering exercise and cutbacks, there have been some serious changes. As not many of my readers are intimately familiar with the geography of this island, I won't bother you with the details. Suffice to say, there is a good chance that some people can't find their bus, and even if they find a bus it may well not take them to their destination.
Three weeks ago, a horse was taken on the ferry between Ullapool and Stornoway to go into semi-retirement in Lewis. Unfortunately, upon arrival at Stornoway the animal was found dead in its horsebox on the vehicle deck. There are suggestions that carbon monoxide fumes from a refrigeration unit on an adjacent trailer were to blame, but there is no firm evidence. Ferry operators Calmac state that the air on the vehicle deck is refreshed every 3 minutes, and the horsebox was placed next to an air intake.
Buses in Lewis have gone to summer timetable as of today, but due to a legally required tendering exercise and cutbacks, there have been some serious changes. As not many of my readers are intimately familiar with the geography of this island, I won't bother you with the details. Suffice to say, there is a good chance that some people can't find their bus, and even if they find a bus it may well not take them to their destination.
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