Time for Some More Reviews!

About a year ago I reviewed a phone.  It was the only Firefox OS based phone available in the UK and hence was a little bit unusual.  Anyway, I never really looked at stats for that video until a few weeks ago and realised that quite a few people had been viewing it.

So, with that spurring me on, I've decided to start reviewing some various pieces of tech that I've started to buy recently, in the hope that it may save some people from spending money on a load of rubbish :-)

The first one is here...

This is my review of the Meizu M2 Flyme OS phone. Directly imported into the UK from China.

Phone Spec: http://www.meizu.com/en/products/m2/s...

Purchased from: Eternal Team through AliExpress (http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Origin...)

Cost: 95 GBP (inclusive of Import Duty)

Time to Delivery: 12 working days

The Wonder of Stuff now on Pure Connect

So, after the first Anniversary show last week, the big news is that the audio feed of WoS is now available through the Pure Connect service.  This means that as well as it being available on the Pure Connect Android and IOS apps, it's also available on all Pure Evoke and Flow Internet connected devices as well as the Pure Jongo range of wireless speakers.

Episode 52 - The 1st Anniversary Edition

In Episode 52 (our 1st Anniversary Edition) we talk about...

1) How Long Does It Take to Domesticate?
2) Mount Etna - There She Blows!

We also have a world first... A live PC build going on in the background!

Wonder of Stuff 52 - The 1st Anniversary Addition - Monday 7th December

The Anniversary Edition of Wonder of Stuff (Episode 52) will now be live on Google Hangouts On Air on the 7th December 2015 at 20:00.

Watch and contribute from here: https://plus.google.com/u/1/events/cgek4sb5l31oaffnqg02bv27qd8

Things that The Wonder of Stuff Didn't Cover...

As the year draws to a close, and the Wonder of Stuff celebrates it's first birthday, it's time to catch up on some of those stories that we've always intended to cover, but never had quite enough time.  So, here is a a catch up on some stories you might have missed.  Enjoy!

Space

• For 50 Years Now, the US Has Had a Nuclear Reactor Orbiting the Planet - http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2015/04/for-50-years-now-the-us-has-had-a-nuclear-reactor-orbiting-the-planet

• What was here before the solar system? - http://phys.org/news/2015-05-solar.html

• Universe Expansion Is Slowing Down - http://guardianlv.com/2015/04/universe-expansion-is-slowing-down

• Our universe may be a Matrix-like computer game designed by aliens, says NASA scientist - http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/575653/The-Matrix-Universe-Planet-Earth-NASA-Scientist

• Scientists are figuring out some weird things about a star they’ve nicknamed ‘Nasty’ - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/05/23/scientists-are-figuring-out-some-weird-things-about-a-star-theyve-nicknamed-nasty/?wprss=rss_health-science

• This lonely galaxy is all by itself near a cosmic void - http://mashable.com/2015/06/12/lonely-galaxy-photo/?utm_campaign=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=rss#VFlw.VlJTiqb

• The Rosetta spacecraft’s extended mission may end with a spectacular crash - http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/23/8832385/esa-rosetta-spacecraft-mission-extended-september-2016

• Dark Side of the Pluto - http://boingboing.net/2015/07/25/dark-side-of-the-pluto.html

• Scientists stumped by enormous pyramid on dwarf planet Ceres - http://www.technobuffalo.com/2015/06/30/scientists-stumped-by-enormous-pyramid-on-dwarf-planet-ceres

• "Failed Stars" Host Stunningly Bright Auroras - http://www.forbes.com/sites/bridaineparnell/2015/07/30/failed-stars-host-stunningly-bright-auroras/

• Philae lander sniffs out organic molecules on comet's surface - http://mashable.com/2015/07/30/philae-organic-molecules-comet/?utm_campaign=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=rss#97d1y9d2ikqE

• NASA contemplates high-flying 'windbots' for exploring gas giant - http://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-thinking-about-exploring-jupiter-with-high-flying-windbots/#ftag=CADf328eec

• The 6 Most Earth-like Alien Planets - http://www.space.com/30172-six-most-earth-like-alien-planets.html

• International Space Station Can Now Grow Edible Vegetables -- http://interestingengineering.com/international-space-station-can-now-grow-ediblevegetables

• We are not alone, says Vatican: Pope's chief astronomer says alien life exists, but it is unlikely to have been visited by Jesus - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3184769/We-not-says-Vatican-Pope-s-chief-astronomer-says-alien-life-exists-unlikely-visited-Jesus.html#ixzz3tTElXOua 

• Astronomers discover a tenth transiting "Tatooine" - http://phys.org/news/2015-08-astronomers-tenth-transiting-tatooine.html

• Astronomers Discover New Planet Less Than 20 Million Years Old - http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertszczerba/2015/08/13/astronomers-discover-new-planet-less-than-20-million-years-old/#%2Fweb%2Fsaved%2F

Science

• How Europeans evolved to have white skin, starting from around 8,000 years ago - http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/how-europeans-evolved-to-have-white-skin-starting-from-around-8000-years-ago-10160120.html

• 6 Animals That Are Rapidly Evolving - http://mentalfloss.com/article/64300/6-animals-are-rapidly-evolving

• First glimpse of new concepts developing in the brain - http://www.kurzweilai.net/first-glimpse-of-new-concepts-developing-in-the-brain

• Polar Bears Seen Eating Dolphins For The First Time As Seal Habitat Melts Away - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/12/polar-bears-eat-dolphin-seal-global-warming_n_7572728.html

• Some Intriguing New Hints About What Ant Consciousness Is Really Like - http://gizmodo.com/some-intriguing-new-hints-about-what-ant-consciousness-1711031054

• DOES YOUR BLOOD TYPE REVEAL HOW YOUR BRAIN WILL AGE - http://brainmysteries.com/does-your-blood-type-reveal-how-your-brain-will-age/

• Brain scans of passengers who experienced nightmare flight offer new clues about trauma memory - http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-06-brain-scans-passengers-experienced-nightmare.html

• Shimmering, Squishy Comb Jellies Once Had Skeletons - http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/artful-amoeba/shimmering-squishy-comb-jellies-once-had-skeletons/

• Study shows tropical fish genetically adapting to cope with warmer waters - http://www.smh.com.au/environment/study-shows-tropical-fish-genetically-adapting-to-cope-with-warmer-waters-20150720-gigiph.html

• Molybdenum Is the Most Important Element You've Never Heard of - http://io9.com/molybdenum-the-most-important-element-youve-never-hear-1718443869

• Researchers show new Ice Age may begin by 2030 - http://phys.org/news/2015-07-ice-age.html

• Scientists found a creepy fanged fish in Australia that's far more common than everyone thinks - http://uk.businessinsider.com/creepy-looking-fish-found-in-australia-2015-7?r=US&IR=T

• Climate change turns up heat on bumblebees - http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/Science-Notebook/2015/0710/Climate-change-turns-up-heat-on-bumblebees-video

• Newton thwarted by the ascent of sap - https://aobblog.com/2015/07/newton-thwarted-by-the-ascent-of-sap/

• Honeybees Trained to Sniff Out Drugs - http://mentalfloss.com/article/65709/honeybees-trained-sniff-out-drugs

• Clocks 'SPEAK' to each other: The mystery of how pendulum clocks self-synchronise their ticks is solved after 350 years - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3176193/Clocks-SPEAK-Mystery-pendulum-clocks-synchronise-ticks-tocks-solved-350-years.html#ixzz3tTCAgY56 

• Tongue-rolling myth busted! It's not a single gene you inherit from your parents - http://uk.businessinsider.com/tongue-rolling-gene-is-a-myth-2015-8?r=US&IR=T

• Looks really don't run in the family! Strange new deep-sea anglerfish discovered - and it's just as grotesque as its cousins - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3187146/Looks-really-don-t-run-family-Strange-new-deep-sea-anglerfish-discovered-s-just-grotesque-cousins.html#ixzz3tTDGOQLZ 

• Natural selection, key to evolution, also can impede formation of new species - http://phys.org/news/2015-08-natural-key-evolution-impede-formation.html

Engineering & Technology

• How Google is making sure cows won’t foil its self-driving cars - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2015/04/07/how-google-is-making-sure-cows-wont-foil-its-self-driving-cars/

• The one-cable future of gadgets: simpler, but still confusing - http://www.engadget.com/2015/06/05/usb-c-the-future-of-gadgets-still-confusing/?ncid=rss_truncated

• Cheap, fast & pure: Breakthrough method for hydrogen fuel may revolutionize car industry - https://www.rt.com/usa/247437-hydrogen-corn-fuel-cars/

• Google Made a Chatbot That Debates the Meaning of Life - http://www.wired.com/2015/06/google-made-chatbot-debates-meaning-life/

• 5 Crazy Bridges That Push The Limit Of Design - http://wonderfulengineering.com/5-crazy-bridges-that-push-the-limit-of-design/

• Indian Airport Becomes The First In The World To Run Entirely On Solar Power - http://wonderfulengineering.com/indian-airport-becomes-the-first-in-the-world-to-run-entirely-on-solar-power/

Wonder of Stuff Episode, 47, 48 and 49

Well, another couple of weeks have gone by and you're all thinking, "I'm really missing out... why don't they tell me what's on the Wonder of Stuff anymore?"  Well, fear not inquistive people!  We are here again to stimulate your neurons and show you what you've been missing!

Episode 47:  We looked at Horrible Science - The Children's Science Show (also suitable for Adults), Myths of the Hippocampus - Are Women's Brains Bigger?, Animal Friends in the Battle against Cancer - They may bite, sting or poison you, but they might just help you out!

Episode 48: Wendelstein 7-X - Another step on the road to Fusion power, Longevity - Can we live until 1000?, The Biggest Drone in the World.

Episode 49: Plastic Roads - A utopian world with no potholes!, Boeing Microlattice - The making of lightweight planes.

The Premier Science, Technology and Engineering Vodcast Is Back!

OK, I admit it I'm bad at spamming people... Episode 46 of the Wonder Of Stuff (the world's premier Science, Engineering and Technology Vodcast/Podcast) has been out since Sunday and I haven't told you lovely people about it!  Well, lets make amends shall we?  In this wonderful episode we talk about;

1) Beefed up Canines - How to make your dogs look like Dolph Lundgren
2) Dyson Spheres and KIC 8462852 - An Alien Enhanced Star?
3) Water on Mars - We have the photo!
4) The Green, Green, Seagrass of Home - How Seagrass is more important than Rainforests

Go on, unleash your inner Geek!  #wos #massageyourbrain

Episode 46 of the Wonder of Stuff - Postponed!

Due to unforseen cicumstances (Newcastle United won a football match) episode 46 of the Wonder of Stuff will be postponed until Sunday 25th October.  We will return with a full team and a new set of topics to confound, surprise, enlighten and inform you!

Meanwhile,  why don't you catch up on our evegrowing archive? 

http://wonderofstuff.blogspot.com

Wonder Of Stuff... the man down episodes!

Episode 44 and 45 of the Wonder of Stuff are out and they're shorter versions due to us being a man down. So if you're interested in Science, Engineering and Technology but want an easy way in (with some humour and very poor jokes included) now is your chance!

Episode 44 includes: NASA's Water Announcement, Black Phosperous and Running out of IPs;

Episode 45 includes: Blinding Me With Scientism and the Fold and Cut Teorem;

Wonder of Stuff 43 Is Out!

So, NASA have found water on Mars? The Wonder of Stuff predicted it by using our in depth and intensive analytical minds and covered it on the show last night* We also covered the Bloodhound SSC and the World's Oldest Tree (hint: it's older than a couple of weeks)

So why not stay ahead of NASA and watch the Wonder of Stuff? ‪#‎wos‬‪#‎massageyourbrain‬

* We actually used Google

Confused by AWS Networking?

For the last 5 months I've been working on AWS projects and I've learnt a lot about many areas, including AWS networking.  If you come from a SysAdmin background, the networking aspects may seem a little confusing at first, so I thought I'd create some documentation to help anyone who is in my position.  

The first section gives an overview of the basics.

Episode 42 - The Wonder of Stuff Alcohol Special

So how is Monday going? Are you recovering from a weekend of alcoholic debauchery? Then you need to watch the latest Wonder of Stuff Vodcast. Episode 42 is a special covering the Science, the Social and the Myths and Misconceptions around Alcohol. Watch it now on YouTube. ‪#‎wos‬‪#‎massageyourbrain‬

Episode 41 of the Wonder of Stuff is Out!

o, it's been a couple of weeks since we spammed Facebook with the wonderful topics we cover each week on the Wonder of Stuff and since then things have changed! As well as our weekly Vodcast that streams directly to YouTube, we've now started saving all the audio out as a traditional Podcast, so you listen to us spout our dubious wisdom on your iPod, iTunes, Smartphone or Tablet at home, work or on the move! To listen to the Wonder of Stuff in Podcast form, just use this URL: Wonder of Stuff Podcast.

Meanwhile, you can still check out how photogenic we are and view episode 41 of the original Vodcast where we cover; "Is Alzheimer's Contagious?", "Lazy Humans" and "The Missing Tendon".

Wonder of Stuff Episode 39

So, for episode 39 of the Wonder of Stuff the team is re-united and we cover some fairly big issues to celebrate. We start with strange concept of Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity and discuss whether it even exists, then we move on to the contentious issue of whether Psychology is a Science and finally we cover Quantum Entanglement and prove that Albert Einstein was wrong. There is a lot there and not even we could contain this into 45 minutes. So, why not learn something on your Bank Holiday? ‪#‎wos‬ ‪#‎massageyourbrain‬

Audio Link: Episode 39

Episode 38 of the Wonder of Stuff Is Out!

This week's episode is another double header between Richard and myself and we're covering the interesting topic of growing Human Brains in a lab... what are the ethical considerations and can it actually be done?  Also, we covered Soylent and ask the question is this the food of the future?

Watch the latest episode here! #wos #massageyourbrain

Wonder of Stuff 37 Is Out!

So, last night we had a slightly different Wonder of Stuff with a slightly pared down offering of Richard and I since Ross is on holiday... it turns out that we can still talk enough rubbish to last 45 minutes... who knew?

Anyway, if you're interested in private sector Space launches, intelligent Cephalopods and the Tianjin explosions, give episode 37 a watch! ‪#‎wos‬‪#‎massageyourbrain‬

Wonder of Stuff 37 Postponed until Monday 17th August!

Unfortunately due to a poorly Richard and an absent Ross, we've had to postpone episode 37 of the Wonder of Stuff until tomorrow night (17th August) at the same time of 20:00 BST, 19:00 UTC, 21:00 EST.  The link for tomorrows show is here;

https://plus.google.com/u/1/events/c9mma8m3b799f32trhitmbtc46s

Wonder of Stuff Episode 36 is Tonight!

Episode 36 of WoS is on air tonight and if you want to watch live, just use this link :-)

https://plus.google.com/events/c6soa0o1uthk2iuhvh56ha7otig

It is online at 19:00 UTC, 20:00 BST and 21:00 EST.

Science, Engineering and Technology Stories We Didn't Have Time To Cover...

As there is no Wonder of Stuff Vodcast tonight, I thought I'd pull together some of the stories we marked out to cover, but sadly didn't have time.  So, instead of pining for the WoS, how about reading some of these articles? #wonderofstuff #massageyourbrain

Engineering

• Ambulance Drones to Fly Defibrillators to Emergencies, Save Lives
• Facebook Tests Laser Drone Over UK Skies

Space

• Martian meteorite may contain evidence of extraterrestrial life
• Mysterious Mars Plumes Defy Explanation
• Mysterious cosmic radio burst spotted in real time from Australia
• In Saturn’s Rings, a Portal to the Planet’s Interior
• NASA’s Plan to Give the Moon a Moon

Nature & Biology

• The Surprising Power of an Electric Eel’s Shock
• Pacific Coast sea bird die-off puzzles scientists
• Extreme Migration: Geese Hug the Himalayas
• A honey bee hive tells all
• Why Some Mushrooms Glow in the Dark
• Nearly 200,000 ‘new’ marine species turn out to be duplicates
• 'Extinct' Bird Not Seen Since 1941 Suddenly Reappears

Physics

• Laser blast makes pure quantum dots
• Quantum teleportation reaches farthest distance yet
• Nanoscale resistors for quantum devices
• New Doubt About Dark Matter
• Quantum Entanglement Can Now Be Performed on a Chip
• They've finally solved it: Schrödinger's cat is both ALIVE AND DEAD
• At the third beep, the Atomic Clock will be 60 ... imprecisely
• Update on General Fusion

Chemistry

• Biofuel From Sewage Biosolids Project Envisions Community-Sourced Energy

Neuroscience & Psychology

• Why We're So Easily Fooled, and Why It Matters
• Researchers Find Link Between Sleep Deprivation and Cell Damage
• ‘Long-Term Memory Is Not Stored At The Synapse’
• Parkinson’s disease linked to gut bacteria
• 'Big brain' DNA found in humans: Single gene that made us more intelligent than chimps is identified for the first time

The Next Wonder of Stuff Episode will be the 9th August

There will be no Wonder of Stuff episode this evening due to life getting in the way (yes, we do have other things to do!)  So the next exciting instalment of WoS (episode 36) will be on Sunday 9th August at 20:00 BST (19:00 UTC) where we will continue, with our batteries re-charged and ready to take you on the journey to knowledge once again... In the meantime, why don't you pick one of our other episodes on YouTube to watch and massage your brain for 45 minutes?

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQyyADv5b0kBsu3pmPZR6pg/feed?activity_view=3

Wonder of Stuff Episode 35...

It's out now and it covers an alternative to Cybersecurity called Darktrace, How to Crack your Car and whether Kepler 452b really is Earth 2.0...

Wonder of Stuff 33 covering the Pluto Fly By!

OK, so bang on trend (yet again) episode 33 of the Wonder of Stuff vodcast covers the New Horizons fly by of Pluto and also includes Declining Autopsies and Teeny, Weeny Satellites.

It's out now so go and give it a watch!

Wonder of Stuff Episode 32 is Out!

Episode 32 of the Wonder of Stuff Vodcast is out and it covers such wondrous topics as; 'Cargo Cults', 'Black Holes and Revelations' and 'Leaping Seconds', with an honourable mention of 'Blue Eyes and Alcoholism'.  Watch it now!

Wonder of Stuff Episode 30... Buildings, Eyes and Extinction

Episode 30 of the Wonder of Stuff is out now, covering Tall Buildings, Eyes and Holocene Mass Extinction and is available to watch here...

Episode 30 of the Wonder of Stuff... Watch us Live!

We'd like to remind you that Episode 30 of the Wonder of Stuff is being broadcast live tonight and this is an ideal opportunity to interact with us while we do our thing!  Of course you could watch it after we've done it on YouTube, but that means you can't poke fun at us while the show is going out and where would the fun be in that?  So if you want to help us out, just go to this link >>>>>> https://plus.google.com/u/1/events/c6ujthm3tcqqsfc5ctnj8relpds <<<<<< at 8pm tonight (if you're in the UK, 9pm if you're in Western Europe and 7pm (UTC/GMT) if you're anywhere else and you'll have to work it out on your own :-)

We'd love to see you there!

Episode 28 of the Wonder of Stuff... Something Old, Something New

Episode 28 is out and covers some new topics; Gastrophysics and Examining Europa and some catchups on some stories that we've covered before; Synthetic Photosynthesis, Food Technology and live coverage of the unveiling of the LightSail sails! http://wonderofstuff.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/episode-28-7th-june-2015.html

Wonder of Stuff Live!!!

Did you know that you can watch the Wonder of Stuff, the World's greatest video based podcast covering Science, Engineering and Technology*, as it is being made every week? It's live on Google Hangouts on Air at this location; https://plus.google.com/u/0/+TheWonderOfStuff/posts every Sunday at 8pm UK time (7pm GMT) and because there is nothing worthwhile on television, (we've been through every listings magazine across the planet to verify this**) you will be educated and have a laugh whilst not missing your favourite programme! Also, if you interact with us while we're live, you can be part of the show! So what are you waiting for? The Wonder of Stuff... What your brain was made for.*** (* Unverifiable, ** We haven't, it's a lie, *** not really)

Wonder of Stuff episode 23

A bit late with blatant promotion this week, but Wonder of Stuff episode 23 has information on Earthquakes, Chameleons and Star Wars. Do your brain a favour and check it out now... http://wonderofstuff.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/episode-23-4th-may-2015.html

Wonder of Stuff - Episode 23

I'd just like to remind everyone that due to the Bank Holiday in the UK, episode 23 of the Wonder of Stuff Science, Engineering and Technology Vodcast will be on Monday 4th May at 20:00 BST (19:00 GMT). See http://wonderofstuff.blogspot.co.uk for more information.

Episode 22, 27th April 2015

The running order and show notes for episode 22 of The Wonder of Stuff...

John talked about the World's Largest Plane?

• http://www.hybridairvehicles.com

Ross talked about NASA's Warp Drive?

• http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/technology/warp/warp.html

Richard talked about Gut Microbes

• http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2015/04/21/400393756/how-modern-life-depletes-our-gut-microbe

Richard will talk about Evidential Based Medicine Seminar

• http://www.cafescientifique.org

Episode 22 of the Wonder of Stuff

So, we had all sorts of technical gremlins last night which meant that we had to postpone the show... However, I've had my screwdrivers out and I'm pretty sure that everything is now working so we'll hopefully be doing episode 22 live tonight at 20:00 BST (19:00 GMT) and it should be here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+TheWonderOfStuff/posts

WoS 20

For episode 20 of the Wonder of Stuff we've got stories from the depth of space and the depth of oceans...

i'm on ello

If you're on ello as well, please say hello (or ello) and add me as a friend because quite frankly I'm feeling very alone :-(

Perhaps I should create a sculpture or take an arty photo of a shoe and I might fit in a bit more?

The next edition of the Wonder of Stuff...

If anyone is interested in Science, Engineering and Technology, the next episode (20) of the Wonder of Stuff Vodcast is out tonight at 19:00 GMT over on Google Hangouts on Air with the archive of our previous stuff on YouTube.

Episode 19, 6th April 2015

The running order and show notes for episode 19 of The Wonder of Stuff...

John talked about Ants In Space:

• http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fevo.2015.00025/full

Richard talked about Robot Personalities:

• http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/google-patents-robots-with-personalities-in-first-step-towards-the-singularity-10151817.html

Ross talked about Poo Mining:

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-32026636

Episode 18, 29th March 2015

The running order and show notes for episode 18 of The Wonder of Stuff...

Ross talked about Living in Space... for A Long Time:

• http://phys.org/news/2015-03-russian-american-ready-year-space.html

Richard talked about Bees and Caffeine:

• http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press.office/press.release/item/bees-get-a-buzz-from-caffeine

John talked about the Power of Plants:

• http://www.caltech.edu/news/one-step-closer-artificial-photosynthesis-and-solar-fuels-45875

Wonder of Stuff Episode 18

Ever wondered what happens when you're in space for along time? Whether Bees can get a buzz from Caffeine?  Or if making "artificial leaves" will solve the world's energy problems?

Blood...

We all have it in our bodies and we can donate it or receive it in a transfusion, but what do we really know about Blood and can we make it artificially?  Jack Williams is a Scientist specialising in Blood and helps us fill in the blanks in Episode 17 of The Wonder of Stuff...

Episode 16 of the Wonder of Stuff

Episode 16 of WoS is out and covers, Memory Hacking, Communication Drones and a revisit on what's been happening in the field of Food Science...

Serve me my food on a Plate...

I thought that I was the only one regularly moaning to my other half about being served food in a restaurant, for which I have paid a decent amount of hard earned cash for, on bits of dead tree or roofing material.  Hallelujah, it appears not!  I would like say that I whole heartedly support the campaign for plates :-)

https://twitter.com/wewantplates
https://www.facebook.com/WeWantPlates

Amazon Web Services

I've been doing some work on Amazon Web Services EC2 recently and because I feel their Web Console is really confusing in places, here's how to get up and running using their CLI on Linux...

http://www.palindrome.co.uk/p/aws-easy-way-to-get-ec2-up-and-running.html

Episode 15 of the Wonder of Stuff

So, the 15th edition of the Wonder Of Stuff is out and covers topics such as; Investigation the Dwarf Planet Ceres, Are Summer Children at a Disadvantage and Plagiarism in Open Source...

More information from the Blog.

Episode 14 of the Wonder of Stuff

Episode 14 of the Wonder of Stuff Vodcast is out (actually it's been out for nearly a week, but I'm way behind!) and we cover topics such as Marijuana being more dangerous than Alcohol, the Mexican Standoff between the Bletchley Park Trust and the National Museum of Computing and 'That Bloody Dress'!

More information on the Blog.

The Wonder of Stuff Episode 13 is out now...

...Covering such topics as the Superfish MITM attack which is distributed with Lenovo laptops, The new HTTP protocol and the the World's strongest natural material.

Wonder Of Stuff Episode 10 is out now...

So, the latest Wonder Of Stuff Vodcast (episode 10) is now on YouTube.  This episode is a big one and we started off by covering topics about Genetically Modified Mosquitoes, Hydrophobic Metals and Quantum Effects of Photosynthesis in Plants, but we then branched off to cover loads more mostly based around how difficult it is to grasp Quantum Entanglement and Spooky Action at a Distance.  

This one is a little bit sweary and has some innuendo so is rated PG :-)

Wonder Of Stuff Episode 9 is out now...

In this episode we discuss the Doomsday Clock, Ibuprofen, Aspirin, Creatine, Mouse Box - A computer embedded in a mouse...

Wonder Of Stuff Episode 8 is out now...

In this episode we discuss Beagle 2 - then and now, Should we be exploring Earth rather than Space? and the new strain of Antibiotics...

Episode 7 of The Wonder Of Stuff

Containing... A drug that fools your gut into thinking you're full, Searching for exo-planets in the Goldilocks Zone and what's new at CES 2015;

Piping, Streaming and Redirecting Files and Data in Linux

Although, the productivity has decreased of late, I'm still producing little Linux guides to help people along the road to understanding the basic concepts.  This latest one concerns piping, streaming and redirecting of data.

A Little About Linux: Streaming, Piping and Redirecting Data

Wonder of Stuff Episode 6

Well the first WoS of 2015 is out and available for you to view on YouTube and covers such wondrous topics as; How Birds can change their migratory habits based on where storms are,  Are we near to a cure for Male Pattern Baldness, plus a look into the tech that will be coming in 2015.

Linux GNU Core Tools

It's been a number of weeks since I've added anything to the 'A Little About Linux' tutorial which I've been adding to since September, but I've finally found time to add another article covering some of the basic GNU Tools such as; ls, cp, mv, rm, mkdir, rmdir, touch, tar, cpio, gzip, bzip2, file.

A Little About Linux: Basic File Management Tools