Monday, December 30, 2013

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Briefly, on Tuesday, San Francisco's air quality was worse than Shanghai



San Francisco reached a PM 2.5 peak of 158. The worst it was when I was in Shanghai was 171 (I think). I noticed how bad the air was that day, but I did not notice it here yesterday.



Monday, December 09, 2013

Saturday, December 07, 2013

Happy 10th Birthday to my iPod


We all know that we should upgrade our Apple devices every two to three years. Obviously then these products don't have to be designed to last. But my third generation iPod is celebrating its tenth birthday. This was the first model that could use USB, which is fortunate as my new PC does not have FireWire. It has had about 4 new batteries, and the (Apple) holster is being held together with glue and sealing wax. A young person of my acquaintance was amused to find that it twisted gyroscopically in her hand when she turned it, for this primitive device actually contains a hard disk. I still use it nearly every day.

Friday, December 06, 2013

British jazz pianist Stan Tracey has died aged 86


My first ever jazz concert was seeing Stan Tracey at Chester Town Hall in 1976, featuring a very young Clark Tracey on drums.

Sunday, December 01, 2013