Book read: Six Not So-Easy Pieces by Richard P Feynman

Having read the six easy pieces, I read the follow up on holiday. An interesting read with far more equation treatment than the original.

The book is divided up into:

Vectors
Symmetry in Physical Laws
The Special Theory of Relativity
Relativistic Energy and Momentum
Space Time
Curved Space

So a heavy slant toward relativity and its implications. I want to run through the equations again, as I think it's a fairly clear treatment of what happens when the speed of light is constant for all observers.

He does kind of address my one issue with the thought experiment of the light pulse clock, slowing its time measurement as the speed increases. I always thought this could be refuted with the method of measurement being at fault and not time itself running slower.

Gift Aid

Visiting a couple of attractions on holiday, both of which are setup as charities that can benefit from gift aid.

It wasn't too much pain to donate, but you see the guiding hand of the bureaucrat is not far. You aren't really buying a ticket, it more seen as a donation for which they grant you a years access and then they can claim back the tax from Whitehall.

So I can understand wanting to stop abuses, but really - I'm just buying a ticket for today, I don't need something different just to meet the tax regulations...

Nelson Letter Auction

An interesting piece of history, a letter written by Nelson to the governor of Gibraltar is being auctioned - expecting to fetch £12000.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100713/tuk-uk-britain-auction-nelson-fa6b408.html

This does not sound like a large sum given the historical signifcance, October 17 1805 - days before the wind changed making battle possible.

Sir Clive Sinclair Interview

The BBC show Click Online had a short interview with Sir Clive Sinclair. Rather erroneously listing him as the PC creator. His machines were slightly before that, and more aimed at home users, quirky with a eye for style. Not quite in the Apple league on style, but it was a different age.

He pretty much ignores the internet, does not have a mobile phone, and is still intrigued by electric vehicles. But it was interesting to hear him talk of those early 1980s where they produced the ZX81, with a chip count of 4, where the other models were using many more.

One thing I could not agree with was that the golden age was something to admire and want to see a return to, with PCs being too complicated now. This is true, but there is also now so much more help and free software. I can remember there were no good free compilers 20 years ago and that was a real hinderance.

I'm never quite sure how he has kept going, I once saw a trading summary of Sinclair and they were not a high profit company by any means, even the sell out to Amstrad did not seem that big a deal.

The extended interview sees him making an interesing parallel to how early cars looked like horse drawn coaches, and today's electric vehicles look like cars. The implication being that they are not looking more carefully at aerodynamics.

25%-40% Department spending cuts

A sure enough indicator of the state we are in, all departments except defence and health have to come up with a spending cut range, and the range is pretty wide - starting pretty high!

Again it all comes down to the much heralded but never yet delivered "do the same but more efficiently". Unfortunately the efficiency drive almost always sees an increase in bureaucracy, compounding the inefficiency.

But a sure sign that UK PLC is in dire straits...

Walk: Extended Run Route

R0 0.23km (Past traffic lights to before left turn)
R1 0.35km (Back to traffic lights)
R2 0.32 km (Bus stop to second T-junction)
R3 0.3 km (Crescent to Crescent)

Grand total 1.2 km Represents 25% of the route of 4.66 km.