I'm an Australian, based in the Washington, DC, area of the United States. I spend a lot of time there with Jasmine, Australia's best-known speedsolver of the Rubik's Cube. Prior to the US, Jasmine and I were based in London, UK. We have also lived previously in the United States and Australia.

I have worked for an Australian business rules and compliance company since 1999 in Australia, the US and the UK. I have also lectured in IT and Law related topics at King's College, London, and at The Australian National University.

I have some more information and a list of publications available (pop-up window).

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- February 2007
- January 2007
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These are a few of my favourite links:
- Jasmine's site
- Jasmine's blog
- Mikal
- Daveydweeb
- Beth
- Lyn
- Doug
- Marissa
- Lisaloha
- David (Greenomics)
- Paul's Ramblings (music)

Hits since 1 Sep 2004
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Can lunar dust harm astronauts?

BBC News has published an interesting article about the potential dangers to astronauts of inhaling moon dust. It seems there are a couple of health risks: the tiny size of the particles, which can cause lung damage; and the fact that they not only contain iron but are so small that the iron quickly reaches the bloodstream, with adverse effects on the blood's haemoglobin content.

Technorati tags for this post: Science astronaut moon lunar

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Most powerful bomb ever constructed

I normally have zero interest in weaponry, but Damn Interesting's story about the most powerful bomb ever constructed actually caught my attention today. It talks about the 1961 detonation of a Soviet device code-named "Ivan". The article's conclusion is interesting:

Even at half strength, Ivan was so powerful that it was completely impractical. Much of the explosion's energy radiated upwards into space, and that which didn't was so excessive that using the device on any populated targets world would have resulted in adverse effects on Russian interests. It served as nothing more than a show of force, and in that respect, it served its purpose well. Thankfully, no other weapon with the massive destructive power of Tsar Bomba has ever been built.

(Via Digg)

Technorati tags for this post: Science nuclear Cold+War

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Last year was a good year for apples

Completely by accident, while looking through Technorati, I found an article which suggests the apples we buy in supermarkets can be up to a year old, due to the processes used to extend their life after picking!

Technorati tags for this post: Science food nutrition

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Inspired by school experiments with sodium

I used to like school chemistry. I was quite good at it, but my enjoyment was also partly about the explosions and other excitement of the lab. Dropping a tiny sliver of sodium into water and watching it burn is one demonstration I remember well from when I was 12 years old at school.

I'm not the only one who remembers this demonstration. Theodore Gray has a series of photos and videos of his adventures creating really spectacular effects with sodium. His site recently rated a mention in the UK's Guardian newspaper, although Gray's photos and videos are not particularly new.

Technorati tags for this post: Science sodium The+Guardian

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Zombies!

According to a post on Boing Boing, some wasps can turn cockroaches into zombies, which blindly follow wasp directions:

Ampulex compressa is a wasp that has evolved to tackle roaches, insert a stinger into their brains and disable their escape reflexes. This lets the wasp use the roach's antennae to steer the roach to its lair, where it can lay its egg in it.

See the Boing Boing article for more gory details!