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
- All posts from 2006
- All posts from 2005
- All posts from 2004

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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Threat to the Tower of London

The Sydney Morning Herald has reported concern that the Tower of London should be placed on UNESCO's Heritage in Danger list.

When I read it, the article was not what I expected. The threat to the Tower comes not from millions of tourists and tacky souvenirs, but from the development of the city around the Tower, which is overshadowing the site with skyscrapers and modern buildings.

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Flying in the UK

I was probably lucky to have just finished a few weeks of intensive travel (Belgium, the United States, Denmark) before the announcement a few days of a plot to attack aircraft flying between the United Kingdom and the United States. Jasmine and I were thinking of booking a leisure trip in a couple of weeks, but we may opt for a train trip, given the ongoing chaos and restrictions at British airports.

In addition to all the discussions about terrorism itself, there are some interesting threads appearing online about the implications of these events for the travel industry. For example, Seth Godin writes on his blog:

When you need an additional 90 minutes, can't bring your laptop (or even a book on some routes) and can't have a bottle of water, the calculus for most trips is fundamentally changed. Years ago, Tom Peters argued hard and long for the value of showing up, of being there in person, of establishing a face to face relationship with the person on the other side.

The prevalance of online video, constant skype connections and the multiple threads of data we get online, combined with the enormous overhead that flying now brings might just change the story for a long time to come.

The Times has also started to explore this idea in detail. For example, it ran articles on Saturday about the deserted duty-free stores which are suffering from hand luggage restrictions, flight cancellations and delays at security; about both airlines and travel insurers refusing to accept liability for expensive items like laptops and iPods which now must be checked as hold luggage under the current rules in the UK; and about the effect on business of being unable to work on planes and having to hand in mobile phones before security. The last-mentioned article quotes an estimate that the British economy will lose £3.2 million per hour as a result of current restrictions!

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Farnborough again

I have not yet got around to doing anything more with my own Farnborough photos, but this photo from John Nevill's website is amazing!

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Farnborough International Air Show

A couple of friends and I went to the Farnborough International Air Show, just outside London, on Sunday. We spent almost all of our time there watching the outdoor aerial displays, from fantastic vantage points right by the runway. There were all sorts of aircraft being flown, including civilian jets and new and old military aircraft. The performances by some of the military jets were amazing, but in some ways the Airbus A340-600 and A380-800 were more amazing. Military jets are meant to have amazing performance. However, civilian jets are normally flown pretty sedately with passengers on board, and they can look completely different with pilots showing off at an air show!

Here are some of my photos from today. I will probably add some more in a separate post if time permits later in the week.

Above: The Airbus A380-800 banks steeply.

Above: The Airbus A380-800.

Above: The Airbus A380-800 close up on the ground.

Above: The Cookie Monster family travel with me (almost) everywhere to pose for photos. They were keen to see how they may be flying in the future, so I showed them the A380.

Above: Not a conventional move for a helicopter!

Above: The RAF's Red Arrows early in their display.

Above: The Red Arrows in formation overhead.

Above: The Red Arrows: two pilots getting very close in their jet trainers.

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Fire devastates Sealand

I read last night on Boing Boing that Sealand, an (arguably) independent state (actually an old military platform) off the British coast has been badly affected by fire.

One Boing Boing reader quoted in the post suggests that Sealand's claims to sovereignty will not have been helped by the fact that the only person on the platform at the time of the fire had to be evacuated. The large number of British rescue personnel involved in the recent incident also exceeded the population of the platform

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An unusual reason for a cancelled flight

I was stuck for a few hours in Brussels today, after my mid-afternoon flight back to London was cancelled. I like Brussels... but unfortunately I had to spend my extra few hours at the airport, which is not the best part of Belgium.

The reason my flight was cancelled? London City Airport was closed due to a World War II bomb being discovered nearby! Interestingly, if you read the BBC story about the discovery, there are links to other stories about old WWII bombs being discovered in the UK!

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Please do not use permanent markers

It seems that running a complex, integrated transport system is not the only thing that Transport for London needs to worry about. In fact, TfL clearly shares some problems with just about every other office in the world. About a week ago, I spotted the following message on one of the whiteboards used at Edgware Road Circle Line Station to alert passengers to any issues on the Tube network.

Please do not use permanent markers. Ta.

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Back in London

I have been back in London for the past several days after a good trip back to Australia, which was preceded by a really enjoyable Easter in Switzerland. More about what I have been up to in future posts to this blog!

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The Boat Race

On Sunday afternoon I headed up to Putney Bridge to watch the start of the Boat Race: the annual rowing challenge between Oxford and Cambridge Universities. The social spectacle -- thousands of people lining the River Thames, many of them drinking, watching and cheering for the start -- seemed more interesting than the race itself, particularly as the rowers were out of sight within seconds anyway. For those who are deeply concerned about such things, Oxford won.

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Jasmine doesn't always beat me at Scrabble

Jasmine doesn't always beat me at Scrabble. On Saturday night, at the pub, I pulled out a rare performance and beat her (410 points to 370).

We had a more normal occurrence slightly later, when a group of punters who had seen Jasmine with her cube came up and asked for a demonstration. See below for a fuzzy mobile phone photo of Jasmine's admirers from across the pub.