learning curve – Page 211

Industry Experts say…

Posted on July 20, 2015

I was just wandering around Bloomberg.com articles from 8½ years ago, when I came across this one by Matthew Lynn – a Bloomberg News columnist.

“The opinions expressed are his own.”

says the disclaimer at the bottom. Looking back now, I bet Matthew wishes that the opinions expressed had absolutely nothing to do with him, given that the headline is this:

Apple iPhone Will Fail in a Late, Defensive Move

Ugly.

In other Apple related foolishness, there’s that famous thing that golfer Rory McIlroy shared in 2012:

If anyone is having a bad day, remember that today in 1976 Ronald Wayne sold his 10% stake in Apple for $800. Now it’s worth $58,065,210,000

Because yes, if you are having a bad day, it’s somehow comforting to know that someone has had a worse day than you. Thus, in the same way, if you’ve ever thought that you might have been massively wrong on something, take a look at the link above, because you won’t have been more wrong than Matthew.
Matthew has taken the proverbial biscuit when it comes to being wrong. Publicly wrong. Wrong on the internet, where no-one ever forgets and stuff like this gets brought up on top class South African blogs on Monday mornings 8½ years later. That wrong.

There’s some deep insight from the industry expert, as he states with the sort of confidence that only an indusrty expert can state:

The iPhone is nothing more than a luxury bauble that will appeal to a few gadget freaks. In terms of its impact on the industry, the iPhone is less relevant.

Well, yeah. But no.

Matthew wades through plenty of incorrect assumptions and erroneous assertions before coming out with this blisteringly mistaken final paragraph:

The mobile-phone industry is becoming a cozy cartel between the network operators and a limited range of manufacturers. It could certainly use a fresh blast of competition from an industry outsider.
It may come – but probably from an entrepreneurial start-up somewhere. How about phones with fewer gadgets but better at making calls? Or with never-ending batteries? Or chargers that don’t weigh three times as much as the phone?
It won’t come from the iPhone. Apple will sell a few to its fans, but the iPhone won’t make a long-term mark on the industry.

Look, credit where it’s due – we’re still waiting on the never-ending battery (wo-o-oh, wo-o-oh, wo-o-oh) (sorry), but “phones with fewer gadgets but better at making calls”? Hahahahaha, because this is 2015 and we don’t talk any more.

Thankfully, as far as I am aware, Matthew Lynn is still around and the continual resharing of his 2007 column hasn’t yet driven him to suicide. That’s good, because if we weren’t reading his opinion pieces, how else would we know that the Pope is going to renounce his Catholicism in 2016?

Infinite Bridge

Posted on July 16, 2015July 16, 2015

Here’s one for the bridge fans among you. It’s Gjøde & Povlsgaard Arkitekter’s Infinite Bridge in Aarhus (in the middle of Aarstreet), Denmark.
From above, it’s rather London Eye, isn’t it?

…but flat.

Say archdaily.com:

The Infinite Bridge has a diameter of 60 meters and is positioned half on the beach and half in the sea. It consists of 60 identical wooden elements placed on steel pillars housed about two meters into the sea floor. The deck of the bridge rises between one and two meters above the water surface depending on the tide. The curvature of the bridge follows the contours of the landscape as it sits at the mouth of a small river valley extending into the forest from the beach.

No fence. But Danish people are known for their sense of balance and are generally great swimmers, so it’s all ok.

Described by its designers as an opportunity to “experience the changing landscape as an endless panoramic composition and at the same time enter a space of social interaction with other people experiencing the same panorama” (i.e. there are views and crowds) (c.f. iterum London Eye).

It’s a very pretty thing, as you can see on the gallery at the link above, but while it is a bridge in that is is:

a structure carrying a road, path, railway, etc. across a river, road, or other obstacle.

it’s not exactly very functional, is it? And yes, I know it’s not meant to be functional – I do recognise that it’s sculpture, it’s “a true art piece”, but while you’re admiring the images of it – check out its little companion at the bottom of that pic above.

It’s basically a plank over a stream – an ugly, disappointing, almost pitiful effort against that sweeping, circular path of beauty next door. But look at how good it is at effectively carrying people from one side of the stream to the other. See how they can continue their onward journey. Note how they are physically able to access another place by using it.

So sure, the infinite bridge is the big, headline-grabbing principal player in this story and I’m sure it’s a wonderful addition to Aarhus’ landscape, but maybe there’s a lesson here to never forget the ordinary, hard-working backroom team that allow the star to shine.

The Bends

Posted on July 15, 2015July 14, 2015

…continuing from the adventures of yesterday’s post.

No, not the 1995 Radiohead album (although now I’ve thought about it, I’m going to have to have a listen to that), nor the divers’ nightmare of decompression sickness (which I’m still not going to try, despite mentioning it).
No. More specifically this bit of the R61 in the Eastern Cape.

Just south of the last infamous Lusikisiki speedbump is this Superspar billboard:

Yes, that’s a screenshot from Google maps. And yes, I should have stopped and taken a photo myself, but I was traumatised from 4 hours of Eastern Cape driving and I needed to get to a beer.

The sign says:

Only 133 bends to go

presumably until you reach their store (we never did).

133 bends? You might think they’re joking, but then you hit this ±20km section of unstraightitude (and that’s a bend every ±150m):

Twixt the rolling hills of the southern Transkei, it ducks in and out of numerous valleys before heading down to the mighty Mzimbuvu River. And yes, it is ever so bendy. You might think that it looks rather fun, but given the situation I was in when heading down here (several hours in and needing that beer), it was actually rather tiresome.
It was also filled with potholes, damaged armco, broken glass and loose gravel.
Which was nice.

Thankfully, I wasn’t driving my car.

Quite what Superspar think they are doing by quantifying and glorifying this horrendous stretch of (partial) tarmac – let alone linking their brand to it – is quite beyond me. As I mentioned earlier, despite going through the 133 motions as instructed, we never did find their store. Given the mood I was in after all that driving, that was probably good news for their continued trading.

Bugs in the news

Posted on July 13, 2015July 13, 2015

Again. Bugs are always in the news, but this weekend provided lots of newsworthy microbiology. Primarily agricultural stuff, but still with at least some (or more) human interest. It’s obviously part of my job to make you realise just how important and relevant microbiology is, so here’s a quick snapshot of what we got served this week.

Bird Flu in Lancashire. Yep. H7N7 in Goosnargh, which coincidentally sounds like a description of the noise a gander might make just before succumbing to the virus. There’s a a 10km surveillance zone and a 3km inner protection zone around the farm in question, and anything poultry-related in that first 28.27km² is being killed. H7N7 is one of the avian flu viruses that can also infect humans (and pigs, seals and horses), so it’s worth keeping under control for more than just the sake of the local chickens.

No Chicken Love in USA. If you want to head away from Virusville, try going down the bacterial route, because Bird Flu isn’t in the only thing that you can get from your chicken: Salmonella can be a proper bastard, too. I contracted Salmonella enteritidis PT4 from a dodgy chicken dish in a dodgy Italian restaurant in a dodgy street in Oxford in the late 90s and I can still remember how sick I was. The main symptoms were sweating, shaking, swearing and farting. Thus, it was a thoroughly unpleasant time for all involved. But all I did was eat some chicken – imagine how much more likely you are to get the bug if you… you… kiss… your chicken.

In interviews, ill people answered questions about contact with animals and foods consumed during the week before becoming ill; 82 (86%) of the 95 ill people interviewed reported contact with live poultry (e.g., chicks, chickens, ducks, ducklings) before becoming ill. Sixty-four ill people who had purchase records available reported purchasing live baby poultry from 17 different feed supply stores and hatcheries in multiple states. Ill people reported purchasing live poultry for backyard flocks to produce eggs or meat, or to keep as pets. Many ill people in these outbreaks reported bringing the live poultry into their homes, and others reported kissing or cuddling with the live poultry. These behaviors increase a person’s risk of a Salmonella infection.

The states worst affected are Alabama, Mississippi and Virginia. I’m saying no more.

Bee Flu in Cape Town. Not strictly Bee Flu, but American Foulbrood Disease, caused by the spores of Paenibacillus larvae ssp. larvae. It’s nasty, and it’s killing thousands of bees in the Western Cape. The good news is that you and I can’t get it (although I wouldn’t advise cuddling or kissing any bees). The bad news is that if it doesn’t get sorted soon, then not only will local honey prices rise (oh no!), but the local fruit industry might collapse:

“As much as we can import honey cheaper from other countries, we cannot import the pollination service done by bees. If not controlled, the disease would also affect the fruit industry, which contributes a lot to the South African economy, and put food security at risk.”

Paenibacillus larvae is related to the bug that causes Anthrax, and their spores can survive for decades unless you kill them with fire. So that’s literally what you have to do with your infected hives and equipment. Not ideal for the longevity and continuation of your bee-keeping business.

Dog Foot Popcorn Odour Mystery Solved. Do you sniff your dog’s feet? For me, that’s right up there with cuddling and kissing your chicken. But there are, apparently, some individuals out there who do this and then – after a brief paws – report back that the feet in question smell “like popcorn”.

Why do dogs’ paws smell like popcorn? Because bacteria, obviously:

Dog feet are a great place for bacteria and yeast to take up residence because there’s a lot of moisture and little to no air circulation in the folds and pockets of skin between the toes and foot pads. Bacteria flock there and reproduce with exuberance. All these microorganisms emit their own distinct odors (they’re what give us BO), and the popcorn/corn chip smell on some dogs’ feet could be due to yeast or Proteus bacteria. Both are known for their sweet, corn tortilla–like smell. Or it could be Pseudomonas bacteria, which smell a little fruitier—but pretty close to popcorn to most noses.

Having years of laboratory experience, I can safely say that yeast smells like bread, not popcorn (I love the smell of freshly grown yeast on a plate) (just try not to think of where it came from). Pseudomonas spp. smell sweet and pleasant (but not of popcorn), and Proteus is a mix of fish (not good fish) and vinegar. Thus, I’m struggling to get the popcorn reference here. But equally, I’m not going to go down the road of smelling Colin’s dirty feet (or anything else) in the name of science.

Cape To Cape 2015

Posted on July 9, 2015July 10, 2015

Say what you like about the Western… er… Cape – it might have its downsides, but it also has loads of internal Capes: Columbine, Town, of Good Hope, Point, Hangklip, Agulhas, Infanta. And that’s just off the top of my head.

Norway also has a Cape – Nordkapp or North Cape (check out their pseudo Table Mountain). And now, a former SAS (the airline, not the elite British military unit) (I think) is planning to fly from there, to one of ours.

This is Johan Wiklund, and behind him is his 1935 De Havilland DH-60 Moth biplane. He’s attempting to fly it from Nordkapp to South Africa (specifially the Cape of Good Hope), roughly following the route taken by adventurer and aviator Göste Andrée in 1929.

This appeals to me (as long as it’s someone else doing it). While the plane may be old (and put together by Johan and his friends), there’s a modern twist with GoPro footage, social media updates and you can even follow the flight on our old friend FlightRadar24.com. See below for some details.

Johan set off this week and plans to arrive in Cape Town on the same day – October 24th – and at exactly the same time – 3:10pm – as Andrée did, 86 years previously. It’s touches like that that make this adventure so special.

If this has made the news here in Cape Town, I’ve missed it. But I’m going to be keeping an eye on Johan and his Cape to Cape trip very carefully, and so can you on the following links:

Facebook – FlyingCapeToCape
Net – CapeToCape.net
FR24 – SE-AMO (and recent flight database here – click the little plane logos to view)

The weather is Scandinavia has been pretty awful since the trip started, but Johan has still managed about 1500km and has just arrived in the Swedish city of Gävle (there he is via their webcam, on the grass airstrip, next to the four squat trees), under heavy skies.

Gävle looks like a really exciting place to be.

Look out for more updates on 6000 miles… over the coming weeks.