`Is it maths time?' = True

I wonder if I can post Latex equations?



Looks like I can. Sweeet!

Well, that's it. Now I'm ramping this blog up to `maths' status. It's numbers time here at Empty Nest. I'm bringing on the science. (As you can probably tell, I'm missing my thesis.)

special X-mas post

At your family meal together this christmas, mentally go through this list and match up with various family members and friends. If you play this game with a partner, to forget to scream out `BINGO!' when you finish.

Not about washing machines.

For those who like sounds, this is fun. And for those who like design, or wine, this is pretty (though, it's true, Alex, that it won't help a hangover).

And for those who like to have a little fun on the web, chew through your download and 15 minutes of your life with this little beauty from an advertising company.

Washing machines and bliss

This is a blog which has been a long time coming.

It's time we talk about washing machines.

We all know what they are. Most competent adults are comfortable with using them (or at least they should be). And they are part of a weekly process we all go through, without much thought, and probably with more than a little resigned resentment.

However, I believe they are magic. Not magic in a literal sense. But they are wonderful pieces of modern technology, that can seemingly perform miracles on a daily basis. And subtly, we have learnt to take them, and their miracles, for granted. You see, they can take everyday normal objects i.e. items of clothing, and transform them from grotty, disgusting articles of wear into something you can literally pick up and inhale the scent of freshness on.

Imagine a night out on the town. Traipsing through the mud, oil on your jeans from riding your bike. You dine and smoke and drink, spilling all sorts of rubbish on your 501s, then spend the evening in the bar, dragging your apparel over the urine-covered floors. You crap your pants, vomit on your jeans, then head home to peal them off in the laundry to clean tomorrow.

And tomorrow is when the magic occurs. You chuck these filthy, reeking jeans in the washing machine, along with a whole bunch of other less-filthy cloth, add some powder, and then press the button. And 45 minutes later, they're clean. Just water and powder. No x-rays, no high temperature process, no steam cleaning. The things are just clean. It's like you dipped them in bowl of cold water, sprinkled with a little fairy dust a.k.a washing powder, and pulled them out without a single bacterial piece in sight.

And after you hang them up, or chuck them in the dryer, they're fresh and clean. Like they were never drawn through that awful process of the night before. As I said before, you can stick your nose in them and smell the freshness.

It's madness. How is this filthy piece of clothing transformed into something you can dip in to your coffee and suck on? We don't really question this process, it just happens, but to me this process is modern magic.

And that's why I love washing machines.

Post-election excitement

I was looking through some old blogs, and found some interesting posts. Like a conservative backing Obama. Also, it shits me when people jump on the Obama bandwagon too late.

But this beautiful site seems to explain quite well how a 6% difference in popular vote can be considered an overwhelming landslide. Awesome.