Archive for posts on Science and technology

I can’t believe this is the first time I’m writing about this. Thursday, October 15th, 2009

Today is Blog Action Day, and this year’s topic is climate change. That means that this post is one of over 7,000 in over 130 countries, with a readership of over 11,268,800 readers, writing about this issue today.

I first became engaged in the problem of climate change when I was offered a job fighting it. In fact, even that engagement happened pretty gradually - since it didn’t happen because it was necessary: it happened because it was unavoidable. Every day I’m exposed to two quite polar things: the evidence of the effects that climate change is already having on thousands of people every day; and the massive, powerful and inspiring movement working to combat it.

One of the researchers at Oxfam told me a story about workers at a banana plantation in Malawi. The plantation had been washed away by floods, and many of the (ex)workers, who were mostly women, headed to the towns to prostitute themselves, which of course led in turn to greater rates of HIV and AIDS. It’s astonishing just how broad and significant the far-reaching effects of climate change are. Even in my home town of Felixstowe businesses have been swept straight from the shore.

We have an opportunity not just to solve the problems of the present, but also to shape a beautiful future on an unprecedented scale

What’s equally strange, frustrating and wonderful is that the solutions to this problem are both readily available and very exciting. We have an opportunity not just to solve the problems of the present, but also to shape a beautiful future on an unprecedented scale. Finding and executing answers to climate change means creating new jobs, new communities, new businesses, new friendships, locally, nationally, internationally. It is a chance for a fresh start. And just as exciting - although we would prefer it to be unnecessary - is the movement campaigning for those with the power to support us in this fresh start to do so.

Last weekend I was lucky enough to meet - and be part of - another group in this movement: the UK Youth Climate Coalition. It was moving and motivating to spend several days with a group of people so selflessly and passionately dedicated to doing something so very vital. It was also reassuring: I feel secure in the knowledge that there are so many intelligent, brilliant people fighting for a clean and safe future for us all.

I would absolutely encourage you to do whatever you can, whatever you want to, to help combat the biggest problem humanity has ever faced

Getting involved can mean anything from civil disobedience to signing a petition, from climate camping or scaling the houses of parliament to painting your face blue or just dancing your socks off. But it is immensely rewarding to know that you have been involved in the fight for a better future for everyone, and I would absolutely encourage you to do whatever you can, whatever you want to, to help combat the biggest problem humanity has ever faced. This December, decision makers from around the world will gather in Copenhagen to decide what action to take on climate change. We need to ensure that the deal they come to is fair - insisting those most responsible for climate change support those least responsible, who are also those hit first and hardest - ambitious enough to tackle the problem, and binding. Now is our best - and perhaps last - chance to act.

Below are some great videos, and if you want to find out more I would recommend visiting the websites 350 and TckTckTck.

Posted in Books, Climate change, Films, Oxfam, Oxford, Personal, Politics, Science and technology • No comments

Walking, working, coursework and Art Week Sunday, May 24th, 2009

Today was a stunning day without a cloud in the sky from dawn to dusk, so Dan and I walked just shy of 24 miles to Brill, in the process getting very tired and very burned (luckily for the sake of comparison, it’s just down one side. Great). It’s the most either of us has ever walked and it’s a daunting vision of what we’ve let ourselves in for in July, but I also know that reaching the finish line of a 62-mile walk is going to be an elating experience.

(I have no excuse for getting burned; this week I discovered that you can add the weather forecast to Google Calendar. Sorry for geeking out, but this made me happy.)

Last week was Oxfam Art Week in Oxfam House. To coincide with Oxford Art Weeks, a few of us decided to create an exhibition of Oxfam staff’s art in the atrium at the offices. Usually the atrium is taken up with displays by Oxfam teams on current projects, and from the feedback it seems that people really enjoyed a) having something a little different going on and b) the artwork itself. I had great fun designing a poster and a booklet and, based on the experience and people’s reactions, I’m sure we’ll do another Oxfam Art Week again soon.

My current job was due to come to an end in the next few weeks; luckily I’ve been offered another one! The new job will last 9 months (I would have loved to have got a permanent position but I believe those are appearing less and less as we continue to be uncertain about our future income) and involve working on Oxfam’s climate change campaign. Campaigns is very much the cool department in Oxfam, and climate change is where it’s all Happening right now, so I’m very excited (although also a little nervous, particularly since people in the team keep telling me I’m going to be “very busy”).

Now I must away to compare and contrast the market liberal and critical political economy approaches to audience research (in 1,500 words). I must admit that I’d be much happier if the Open University classed media as an arts subject rather than a social science, since, where media is concerned, I’m much more interested in the artistic decisions than the socio-political ones. Still fascinating, though, and I just hope I continue to find time to study.

Posted in Oxfam, Personal, Science and technology, Trailwalker 2009 • 1 comment

At least 410 characters about Trailwalker 2009 Sunday, May 10th, 2009

My microblogging has kind of taken over from my blogging recently. In fact, now that my blog automatically updates my Twitter account, probably most people will find out that I’ve blogged because I’ve microblogged about having blogged.

The upshot of all this microblogging is that occasionally I’ll say something in 140 characters that it might be wiser to say in, say, 410, and it seems appropriate that to an undertaking as lengthy as Trailwalker I devote a slightly lengthier spiel.

The 140 character bit:
This July, I and my friends will be walking 100km (62 miles) in under 30 hours in aid of Oxfam and the Gurkha Welfare Trust.

The lengthier bit: what we’ve been up to so far.
Our team consists of three ‘Fammers - Julia, Dan and Kinders - and somebody Julia met on Facebook when we were desperately hunting for a fourth person dedicated or peculiar enough to take on the challenge: Sarah. We’ve named our team Nightcrawlers on the basis that

  1. we wanted a name that was epic and sinister, and
  2. by nightfall we’ll probably be lucky if we are crawling.

We haven’t had a single team practice yet. In fact, I’m the only Nightcrawler to have met all three team members. Last weekend Sarah and I, along with her other half and my big sister, went on a 16-mile walk. We started at the end of the trail and made our way to the beginning - realising quickly that the reason the beginning is at the beginning and the end is at the end is that, otherwise, the entire walk is uphill. However, we’ve all been practicing away - alone or in groups of two or three, on trails, in gyms, on saddles and in pools - and I think we’re all feeling confident about the big day. That 16 mile uphill walk took us 5.5 hours (including 30 minutes in a tearoom for a discussion on the pronunciation of “scone”) - which means that even if we relax our pace we may be able to finish the event in under 25 hours. And we can save time by talking about scones on the way.

Sarah’s partner Neil works on the Trailwalker project team - so he knows the route and is full of handy advice. This, coupled with the other three of us working in Oxfam House, where we’re a few steps away from the Trailwalker team and can go and pester them at our leisure, gives us quite an advantage.

My housemate Craig and two other friends from Oxfam, MC and Jenny, will be Trailwalking too. We keep talking about a joint team practice but, so far, it hasn’t happened. We also keep talking about competition, sabotage and betrayal, so maybe it’s for the best that we keep our distance. A fortnight ago they held a cake sale and tried to persuade me to sample a chocolate behemoth that HR nicknamed “The Monster“, but I wasn’t fooled: I noticed they didn’t eat any themselves.


My groovy socks (and hairy legs)

Finally, a word of advice for other Trailwalkers: buy socks. Expensive socks. Lots of them. Last weekend I spent £10 on a pair of walking socks, and I’m not sure if my feet weren’t actually in a better condition at the end of the walk than when we began. I’ve ordered another three pairs (as I’m reliably informed that changing your socks is just about the most important way to look after yourself during Trailwalker).

So now you’re caught up on the adventures of the Nightcrawlers so far. I promise to be better at blogging our progress to avoid another monumental infodump like this one - and of course I’ll continue to microblog updates too. You can also stay informed using RSS or subscribe to an email update. And finally - there was nowhere else this post could possibly lead - if you haven’t already, please throw a few pounds our way. (Take a look at my Trailwalker page to see what Oxfam might do with £1,000.)

Posted in Science and technology, Trailwalker 2009 • 1 comment

Deregister from panel? Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

Recently I wrote a blog post at work about the perils of using “click here” for links. Today, while trying to unsubscribe from a mailing list inviting me to complete surveys, I came across my favourite variation on this theme:

I deregistered from the panel.

Posted in Science and technology • No comments

Journal becomes blog Saturday, March 21st, 2009

Working in information management and communications (which I am just adoring) brings out the technogeek in me. I’m constantly exposed to new gadgets, widgets and midgets. Alright, I haven’t been exposed to any midgets - yet. But all this interaction with the world of Web 2.0 (follow that link to see an exceptional video, by the way) has made me realise just how much I can neglect basic standards of good web writing on my own web site. For example:

- My journal entries are all written in JavaScript, which means Google can’t search them. I’ve always kind of liked this, since it means Google also  can’t cache them (make copies, store them away and show them to people even if I delete them from my own site). But it’s generally not good practice for the web: I’m like a reclusive writer who hides his work in a cupboard that nobody will ever look in. So I’m moving to WordPress, which will not only make posting easier for me, it will allow Google to crawl and cache to its robotic heart’s content.

- I don’t invite interaction. Although anybody can comment on my journal entries, it’s not often that I ask people to. So from now on I will endeavour to end my journal entries with a question or discussion-starter for my devoted readers. (And now that my Twitter updates show on the homepage, you can send me Tweets as well. More on how brilliant Twitter is at a later date.)

- I don’t link to other sites much, or use the great embeddable resources out there, like Google Maps or YouTube. These are exceptional tools for blogging as they connect you with the rest of the world from within your own web site. There’s also nowhere in the world that isn’t on Google Maps, and barely anything caught on video that isn’t on YouTube.

And all that is why this, as you may have noticed, is not a journal entry, but a blog post. I’ve already done a fair bit of work towards connecting my site with all the social media hubs - I’m now connected with Twitter and Google Calendar (both from the rearranged homepage). You can search Google for me. You can comment on my picture galleries (not yet on individual pictures - not ideal, I know, but I’ll get there). And there’s a “share” button at the bottom of every page that allows you to bookmark kkcom (I’ve been calling it “kkcom” in notes-to-self for years, so now I’m beginning to here) on any of a wealth of social networks.

If you don’t already, please start using a feed reader (personally I like Google’s. It makes keeping track of all your favourite web sites so much easier - I, for example, just have to go to one place to find out the latest news, what Dilbert, Cory Doctorow, Jon Arbuckle and President Obama are up to (in Obama’s case, apparently nothing since he became Big P, which seems a little cynical of the media team), whether any exciting job openings have surfaced at Oxfam, Upcoming events in Oxford and about twenty other things besides. And, if you fancy it, I can pop up in your feed reader too. To add feeds to your reader, you only need to click the icon on the right of the address bar (on my web site there’s also one to the right of the menu).

So, to my invitation of your interaction:

What else can I do to make my blog, and my web site, better?

Posted in Science and technology, kkcom • 10 comments

Various updates, both technical and personal Sunday, July 27th, 2008

Technical: here’s version 8.0 of the web site. As always, it’s the best yet and I’ll never ever change it ever again and so on. (But really, isn’t it? I am most pleased.)

Nobody responded to my latest request for information, which leads me to think that people either don’t read Katie + Kin any more (much as I’d like to be humble, I don’t believe this) or aren’t bothered if I stop posting updates on LiveJournal. So, as of this post, I will no longer be updating LiveJournal for journal entries or comic strips. (Please don’t unfriend me, I’m still reading…) I’ve created two respective RSS feeds, which you can use to keep track of updates in Vienna, Google Reader, iGoogle or whichever other feedreader gets you up in the morning. I like it when people stay in touch, so please add them! (Alternatively, the latest updates are always posted on the home page.)

Personal: I never announced on here that Oxfam are paying me now - in fact, they have been since January. I’m working in the International HR department, which means that in my everyday work I get to talk to people from Lima, Mexico, Freetown, Nairobi, Pretoria, India and Bangkok. Every week there are a dozen meetings, forums or presentations on Oxfam’s work, which is so diverse that there are ultimately opportunities to get involved in anything. Working at Oxfam is enlightening, exciting, compelling, rewarding and great fun. Unfortunately my contract ends in November so I’m putting myself out there for any opportunity to stay with the organisation. Luckily I work alongside the recruitment team, which has given me lots of insight into how to make a successful bid for a job! And further to that, I’m beginning an Open University degree in International Studies. Busy busy busy!

On top of these, here are some things that I’m excited about for the future:

Huggling Katie later this week / seeing the rest of the Pineapple next week / the brilliant Steven Moffat taking the reins of Doctor Who / playing bridge for the first time in seven months / experiencing the much-lauded WALL-E / the brilliant Steven Moffat writing the upcoming Tintin film / Billy Bragg’s presence on eMusic / life in general.

If you’re a Merry buccaneer, I’ll see you next week!

Love
Kin

Posted in Comics, Katie + Kin, Oxfam, Personal, Science and technology, kkcom • 8 comments

Furthering my scientific education Wednesday, May 31st, 2006

Reading this book will have increased the amount of ordered information in your brain. However, during the same time, the heat released by your body will have had a much greater effect increasing the disorder in the rest of the universe: about ten million million million times the increase in order in your brain. I suggest you stop reading now.

I’ve been reading (very slowly) An Illustrated A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. It’s astonishing how accessible he’s made some of the most complicated scientific ideas in history, and he has a brilliant sense of humour to support it.

Look at this distinctly Python-esque illustration, which, in the context of the book, sounds more like a suggestion than a hypothesis:

It may be the best illustration ever.

Posted in Books, Science and technology • No comments

A Brief History of my Scientific Experiences Saturday, April 29th, 2006

I always hated science at school; it was just too anal for me. All facts and no creativity. There wasn’t anything I could do with science, and even had there been, I wouldn’t have been allowed to bend or break the rules. Also, I disliked the fact that we were only ever given the answer to the first “why?” Why do we need to breathe? To carry oxygen to our muscles. But why do our muscles need oxygen? Uh, see you next week. For the most part all we seemed to do was memorise crap such as the names of the various parts of the eye. Well, who really cares?

But recently I’ve been getting really, really interested. I couldn’t stop looking at the stars last night, and marvelling at the fact that we see them as these tiny sparkly dots when, in fact, they are far larger than our own planet. Katie and I, between us, came to understand the meaning of e=mc2 the other night. For two confirmed science-phobes(?), that’s quite something. Did you know, for instance, that:

The farthest object we have viewed in space is 8,000,000,000 light years away from us. Its light has taken eight thousand million years to reach us - which is to say that it might have ceased to exist seven thousand million years ago, but we wouldn’t know it. (The Sun, for comparison, is a mere eight lightminutes away.)

Quite fascinating, I think.

Posted in Personal, Science and technology • No comments