I wrote previously about my potato harvest from one test seed potato. Since then, I did some digging in the garden, and found more that I missed. I know what I’m going to grow next year!
More potatoes
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All posts for the month October, 2011
New Kindle
My new Kindle arrived last week. It’s extremely neat, and fits in a pocket. It’s not a touchscreen, which fooled me for a few seconds. The lack of keyboard hasn’t been a problem so far – using the screen keyboard is similar to texting. It hardly took any time at all to charge, using the USB port. It is a nice and clear screen, and a real pleasure to read. Despite following the instructions, I can’t seem to read it and charge it at the same time.
I loaded TheBlissBook, by John McKenzie, costing £0.86 onto it in a couple of minutes. My next blog post is likely to be a review of that book.
I also ordered a cover for the Kindle. At £26.99 for a wee cover, it’s overpriced, but necessary. Of course, since buying it I’ve seen cheaper alternative covers elsewhere.
In fact, I was sent two covers, with identical order numbers, in separate packages, and expected this to be a problem – how do you return one, without them thinking that you’re returning the order? However, Amazon are, as I’ve always found so far, customer-orientated. I sent them the following email:
You sent me two Kindle covers, in separate packages, with an identical order number. I’m pretty sure that you only charged me for one, and I only ordered one, and only want one. Can you confirm that you charged me for only one, and indicate what I should do with the second one, so that I can return it to you without cancelling the original order. Thanks.
Within an hour I received the following response:
Thanks for letting us know that you being sent more than one “Marware jurni Kindle Cover, Black”. This seems to have been caused by a technical error, now fixed.
Please be assured that you were charged only once for the item.
Please return the extra item to us with all warranty cards, licenses, manuals or accessories (if any).
Despite being a very automated business, Amazon are able, where necessary, to respond on an individual basis. Impressive!
I’ve added the following new ACS (American Chemical Society) titles to JournalTOCs, the free current awareness service for researchers, students and lecturers.
JournalTOCs now contains details of the latest Tables of Contents of over 17,100 scholarly journals, including over 2,600 Open Access journals.
I had to look up the following words used in Behind The Wall: A journey through China, by Colin Thubron.
Brueghel swineherds
etiolated
hoydenish
chthonian
wainscots
sacristan
intaglio
fouettés
coloratura
congeries
loess
panegyric
wimples
mephitic
enceintes
I hadn’t realised how limited is my vocabulary!
At one stage, he writes about Chinese inventions: printing and paper, the magnetic compass, gunpowder, porcelain, silk, the mechanical clock, dictionaries and encyclopedias, map-grids, lock-gates, paddle-wheel boat, chain suspension bridges, a seismograph, rain and snow gauges, winnowing machines, the kite and the wheelbarrow; yet he wonders how these inventions happened, as he says that metaphysical enquiry seems to be stillborn in their history.
Behind the Wall
The book is about Thubron’s journey through China in the 1980s, at a time when very few westerners travelled in that country. Amazingly, he writes at one point “…there are fewer than a hundred private cars in China…” So, things have changed drastically in the years since, as according to official statistics, there are now more than 70 million, and demand outstrips supply.
This is high quality travel literature. Thubron doesn’t need a gimmick, such as following in the footsteps of an earlier explorer, or pushing a washing machine round the country, or discovering an old travel journal in an attic and retracing its steps, or searching for cricket games in far off lands. Instead, he simply writes travel.
Apropos of nothing in particular, there are currently more than 780,000,000 mobile phones in China.
Another update today on William Cockfield from Linda Owens (you can search this blog for the other updates, and the original post is here).
Hi, We have just met William this evening walking along Otterspool prom in Liverpool, he was asking directions and said he was meeting someone at the bottom end near Garston. It was cold and getting dark and his poor hands were freezing. I felt uneasy leaving him and couldn’t stop worrying about him when I got home. I decided to search the internet to check if his story was true as it was hard to believe that he had done all that walking by himself. I am so happy that I have found some information about him. William told me he had suffered a stroke in the past and began walking to raise awarenes and to stay independent. What a chap, walking all that way… I think he is a star. Godbless you William on your wonderful adventure. Kind regards Linda and Steve XX
To celebrate Open Access Week, I’ve added the following Open Access journals to JournalTOCs, where you can find the latest Tables of Contents from over 17,000 scholarly journals, including over 2,500 Open Access journals.
Previous journals added are listed here. Unfortunately, many other OA journals do not produce TOC RSS feeds – see my post on why they should. See also why any journal, OA or otherwise, should produce a TOC RSS feed.
If you know of any OA journals with TOC RSS feeds which are not already included in the JournalTOCs service, you can Suggest them for inclusion.
You can follow JournalTOCs on Twitter.
Research in Language -
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Taiwanese Journal of Mathematics -
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Ciencias de la Información -
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Contributions to Geophysics and Geodesy -
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Agrivita : Journal of Agricultural Science -
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Tourism -
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Degenerative Neurological and Neuromuscular Disease -
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Advances in Materials Physics and Chemistry -
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Open Journal of Acoustics -
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Open Journal of Internal Medicine -
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Open Journal of Soil Science -
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Open Biology -
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Open Journal of Genetics -
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Open Journal of Immunology -
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Rivista Italiana di Educazione Familiare -
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Journal of Community Informatics -
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I’ve added a number of journals published by Intellect, to JournalTOCs, the free current awareness service for researchers, students and lecturers.
Intellect is an independent academic publisher in the fields of creative practice and popular culture. They publish in four distinct subject areas: visual arts, film studies, cultural and media studies, and performing arts.
Titles added include:
Australasian Journal of Popular Culture
Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies
Choreographic Practices
Comedy Studies
Crossings : Journal of Migration & Culture
Design Ecologies
Empedocles : European Journal for the Philosophy of Communication
Explorations in Media Ecology
Film Matters
Horror Studies
Hospitality & Society
International Journal of Digital Television
Journal of Arts & Communities
Journal of European Popular Culture
Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds
Journal of Japanese & Korean Cinema
Journal of Scandinavian Cinema
Performing Ethos: An International Journal of Ethics in Theatre & Performance
Philosophy of Photography
Short Fiction in Theory & Practice
Short Film Studies
Studies in Eastern European Cinema
The Poster
Visual Inquiry : Learning & Teaching Art
JournalTOCs now contains details of the latest Tables of Contents of over 17,100 scholarly journals, including over 2,600 Open Access journals.
I bought this packet of Puerh Tea for £4.99 at the Real Foods shop on Broughton Street.
Numi Puerh Tea
According to the packet, Numi’s Emperor’s Puerh is picked from wild-harvested, organic tea trees that are 500 years old, in Yunnan, China.
The Journal of Chinese Medicine states that puerh is a compressed, aged and post-fermented green tea that is one of the only teas that is ‘laid down’, like fine wine, to improve with age. More information about Pu-erh is availablle on the Wikipedia. There’s an interesting YouTube video about it’s production.
The tea has a refreshing and nice taste, but comes with a musty odour.
I’ve added 18 Quintessence Publishing journals to JournalTOCs, the free current awareness service for researchers and scholars.
The titles are:
European Journal of Esthetic Dentistry
European Journal of Oral Implantology
International Journal of Computerized Dentistry
International Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Implants
International Journal of Periodontics & Restorative Dentistry
International Journal of Prosthodontics
Journal of Craniomandibular Function
Journal of Oral Laser Applications
Oral Health & Preventive Dentistry
JournalTOCs now contains details of the latest Tables of Contents of over 17,000 scholarly journals, including over 2,600 Open Access journals.
On the Sunday morning we went clay pigeon shooting, up the back of the estate. I couldn’t participate due to the shoulder problem, for which I’ve been getting physio treatment, but Lindsey, Jamie and Shaun had a go, along with several others.
First shooter
Alex
Macca
Shaun
Jamie
Lindsey
When Lindsey shot before shouting “Pull!” the gamekeeper wisely loaded only one cartridge the next time.
John
What they were shooting
Everyone ended up with at least a couple of hits, but Shaun was the best shot.
