I have also created a blog which has other items of interest.
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When the first typewriters were being invented, the letters were arranged in alphabetical order. The hammers on these typewriters would often jam, which was no fun for the user. So Christopher Sholes, the inventor of the typewriter, set out to "help" typists by creating a layout that would reduce jamming. The end result was a keyboard layout that made typing as difficult as possible. This slowed down the typist, which achieved the desired result of reducing typewriter jams. Since then, QWERTY has become the entrenched standard, questioned by few.
In the 1930's August Dvorak and William Dealey studied the English language and typing behavior. They created a new layout for the typewriter which they called the Simplified Keyboard. This is now better known as the Dvorak layout. Rather than make typing as difficult as possible, the Dvorak layout makes typing as easy as possible. The difference is impressive.
Trivia: A remnant of the original alphabetical order of the keys can be seen on the home row of QWERTY. Note the keys D F G H J K L link.
There was a very early layout where the lower row had all the most often used letters in the alphabet in the order DHIATENSOR. These are the same letters used in the home (middle) row of the Dvorak layout, with the exception of R instead of U (R is more common than U).
In the Dvorak layout (AOEUIDHTNS) vowels are on the left. This is supposed to result more in alternation of left and right hand fingers when typing, making typing faster and/or easier.
The French have a slightly different system to the QWERTY system.
This has been around a long time and to begin with I wasn't sure the principles were correct, but recent scientific evidence seems to support it. There are two separate aspects to the Hay diet. Firstly, food combining. It is better not to eat a meal that contains a lot of starch and a lot of protein at the same time. The digestion of protein and starch is slowed when eaten together. It can be a problem if food is digested too slowly. Also, anything acidic (vinegar, lemon juice, soft drinks) can impair the digestion of starches. From tables of foods and their Glycemic Index, it can be seen that combinations of protein and starch are digested slower.
Secondly, the acid/alkaline balance. Eating certain foods (mostly fruits and vegetables) can make your body slightly more alkaline. This can have health benefits. A lemon is acidic, but the acids are easily eliminated by the body; the alkaline substances are retained and help to make the body more alkaline. A recent New Scientist article shows that bone loss is decreased with an alkaline-forming diet.
It was named game of the year. Although the 3D effects were primitive by todays standards I really got into it and eventually won. The player can move about a city using a range of vehicles and get into underground complexes to acquire useful objects. If you email me I can tell you how to win.
There are rivers like the Wandle than run through London to the Thames. Some no longer exist and some are no longer above ground. When I lived in Brixton Hill I investigated the course of the river Effra that apparently still today flows beneath the streets.
Some linguists are interested in the way that some languages are similar to other languages. French is similar to Italian and less similar to German. Languages can be grouped, and then these groups grouped with other groups in higher-level groups or families. French and Italian are part of the Latin or Romance group, German and English are part of the Germanic group. The Latin and the Germanic group are together part of the Indo-European group.
Indo-European is part of the Eurasiatic group, and Eurasiatic is part of the Nostratic group. And so it goes on. Some linguists suggest that there are seven of the highest-level groups. These are Eurasian, Niger-Kordofanian, Nilo-Saharan, Khoisan, Austric, Indo-Pacific and Australian.
Recent genetic studies have shown how different peoples of the world are related. Africans show the greatest genetic diversity, especially people like the San Bushmen from southern Africa, Pygmies from the rain-forest, some Tanzanians, and Ethiopians. They also show great linguistic diversity.
astronomyI would love one night to see the Andromeda Nebula (M31). It looks like a smudge of light in the sky and it is a galaxy containing billions of stars, like our own galaxy. It is the furthest object that can be seen with the naked eye, and the light from it takes more than two million years to reach us. |
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| I have recently found out about the galaxy in the Triangulum constellation (M33). It is slightly smaller than the Andromeda galaxy but about the same distance away. I would like to see this too. |  |
I grow a Peregine peach in a big pot under a veranda. It is out of the rain and so does not get peach leaf curl. It is a beautiful tree, with long willow-like leaves and numerous tasty pretty fruit. more about peaches
I also grow grapes on my allotment and in my garden. Siegerrebe is one of my favourite varieties because of its delicious 'muscat' flavour. This year for the first time I have had grapes from the variety Muscat Bleu which also has a muscat flavour. I also grow Fragola.
It will benefit the health of most people in the West to decrease the total amount of fat or oil in their diet. As well as decreasing the quantity, you can increase the quality. Olive oil, fish oil, argan oil and avocadoes are examples of healthier oil. So too is rape seed oil. Compared to other seed oils, rape seed oil contains more mono-unsaturated fatty acids and more omega 3 fatty acids. Rape seed oil is widely available, and now unrefined rape seed is becoming more available. It tastes a bit like un-toasted sesame oil.
Farrington oils produce unrefined rape seed oil in Northamptonshire near where I grew up. Hill Farm Oils are similar. Bioplanete produce organic un-refined rape seed oil in France, and are cheaper than the other two.
Cleopatra, Zenobia Queen of Palmyra, Shagarat ad-Durr, Hatshepsut, Sobekneferu, Boudicca, Nitocris, Dido/Elissa/Elishat, Sayyida al-Hurra, Sitt al-Mulk.
Frances was a famous Hollywood actress between the wars, but today she is hardly known. The film 'Frances', starring Jessica Lange, showed some of the suffering that she went through. Incarcerated in brutal psychiatric institution, few people have suffered as much as her.
biography
There are two books about Frances that I have read:-
Shadowland by William Arnold
Will there really be a morning?, supposed to be an autobiography but probably isn't
She was incarcerated in the Western Washington State Hospital at Steilacoom. Trustee inmates of the McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary were used as orderlies. They made money by pimping incarcerated women against their will, including Frances, to soldiers from nearby Fort Lewis.
The band Nirvana had a song about Frances Farmer.
Leon Theremin, John Bindon, Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungon.
In the spring of 2005 a company called Lovell spent a couple of months doing up my bathroom and kitchen and that of some of my neighbours in my council block of flats.
I and some of my neighbours are extremely unhappy about what they did. They do not know what they are doing, and the workmanship was substandard.
I shall add more about this, but I have included here a document I gave to a representative of Lovell. They did resolve some of the issues listed, but there still remain many problems. I have made other points here. update 2006 update 2007
There has been an increase in counselling but in my experience many of them are unsuitable because they are judgemental. For example, there are some counsellors do not like unemployed people. People with such opinions should not be allowed to become counsellors, but if their supervisors are also of poor quality then it can and does happen.
People often think that their councillor must know what they are doing and must know best, but it isn't true. People should not be afraid to change to another counsellor if they suspect that something is wrong. Bad counsellors can do a lot of harm, and there should be some central authority that people can make a complaint to.
I don't have a problem with a counsellor who 'speaks their mind'. What I do have a problem with is someone who won't say what the problem is but is just nasty.
I have 2 files on this subject, one is an account of my experience of counselling, and the other is more about what can go wrong with counselling.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
I have had Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for depression. I think it can help some people, but I don't think that it will help everyone who is diagnosed with depression. To read what I think about CBT, go here.