The Segway – is it safe on the streets?

So far, one third of American states have decreed that Segway’s uber-scooter, which is about as wide as an average adult and can travel up to a maximum speed of 12.5mph, will be able to operate wherever a pedestrian can walk. Dazzled by glitzy product demonstrations and incredibly effective lobbying, the hired help occupying the various statehouses have helped to usher in a new era of urban chaos involving man and machine.

If I were a trial attorney, my mouth would be watering at what lies ahead. So says Charles Cooper on ZDNet. So, is Segway safe? It’s an interesting question. You will find the story here.

Comments about “Dolly”

I said I’d post any of your comments about Dolly the Sheep here. Ken Whistance writes, “I have a problem with the fate of Dolly. Sheep normally live until they are around twelve years old so the death of Dolly must surely be regarded as premature. Of course this may well be a one off and the technology will prove to be advantageous. However, I’m afraid that at the moment I think it to be an indication that we are on the wrong course here!!”

It’s a good point Ken. Back In January, the team were concerned about one of Dolly’s “knee” joints, but said it would probably be OK. It didn’t take her long to degenerate from there, I guess. The age span thing is interesting. I’ll look out for any more comments from the team!

Goodbye Dolly

Dolly, the first clone from a mammal, died last week at the age of 6 years old.

Where were you on July 5, 1996? What did you think when you read the news about the accomplishment of Ian Wilmut Professor and Head of the Department of Gene Expression and Development at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh, and his team? What is Dolly’s lasting historical significance? How does Dolly’s life change our view of humanity?

I don’t have the answers, just the questions. I guess future historians will decide upon how to slant the moment. Will Dolly be remembered as a forerunner of the greatest single improvement to the life of mankind or as a first step towards a technology that brought chaos to the world? Meanwhile, a whole group of 24 cloned calves is being monitored in the United States! Email me if you have a view and I’ll post some here.

Archive Bookmarks Achieved!

All previous attempts to implement “bookmarks” in the Blog Archives (so as to create permament links to individual posts) have completely failed! last night however, I grasped the nettle once more. I don’t consider myself to be an unintelligent individual, and if thousands of pople can understand this, so can I! With this thought in mind I tackled the help pages on Blogger yet again and read it all slightly more carefully than maybe I have previously.

Result? A little extra item at the botom of each post saying [Link to this post]. What’s more, it works! So, now, if you happen to want to refer someone to a pearl of wisdom (?) buried here, just click on the link and copy the URL that appears in the address bar (or right-click and choose Copy Shortcut). The benefit is, this link wil remain permament and will not wither away as each post slides off the bottom of the page and into oblivion!

It also lets me provide links to some of my favourite posts from the last year and a bit, so there’s a new frame on the right – Favourite Posts. Click a few and see what you think!

True Professionals (II)

Remember I promised you a second “True Professional”? (See the entries from 2/5/2003 and 1/28/2003) A while ago, I mentioned a team of “True Professionals” I have worked with on conferences, exhibitions, staff and customer events over the years. I was moving some files to an archive network drive last week and I came across a few incriminating pictures. So purely to embarass him, here’s No. 2. This is Martin Sayers, who works with Colin Grimshaw at Imperial College TV Studio and yes, that’s a wig as well !

Snow Across the USA

Isn’t this a great picture? A lone pedestrian walks along Barnett Street in Vincennes, Ind. as snow falls. (Photo: AP) For me, it’s partly the colouring, those dismal, cold browns leading into the bright electric blues ahead and partly the fact the pedestrian is walking in the centre of the road. Clearly he expects no traffic – you can almost hear the silence.

The weather has been so bad in the US of late, we’ve even heard about it here in the UK! The picture comes from CBS News and is my personal favourite from their current Photo Essay of the weather and the effects it’s having over there. With windblown snow up to 4 feet deep halting air and rail travel and causing at least a dozen deaths, the snow was part of a huge system that had charged in from the Plains and up the Ohio valley during the weekend. It also produced ice that snapped trees and power lines, leaving more than 230,000 homes without electricity.

In the UK, the weather is a continual topic of conversaton because it’s so variable. There’s a saying here, “if you don’t like the weather, hang on ten minutes!” It doesn’t stop us appreciating all aspects of how it affects us and others though. I recommend the CBS pictures! Click here first then click on the ‘Snow Daze Photo Essay’.