Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Robert Hooke

2:19 pm Simon

Almost forgotten today, Hooke was an eccentric character to say the least. Those who do remember him know him as the rival of Newton, or maybe have hazy recollections of Hooke's Law. As is pointed out in the last link below, he was more than that:

Fellow of the Royal Society, Architect, Surveyor, Astronomer, Scientist, Inventor, Musician, Mechanic, Professor of Geometry, Philosopher, Linguist

For example, did you know he was one of the architects of Bedlam? And surely I've told you about his rather sneaky additions he and his friend and co-worker Wren made to their designs for the Monument? A bitter man, but no less a genius, he deserves more recognition today.

Monday, January 31, 2005

Malcolm Gladwell

2:31 pm Simon


Gladwell is not someone I'd heard of until recently, but I had heard of his work. If you've not heard the phrase 'tipping point' you really haven't been paying attention. The title of his last book, and if not of Gladwell's coinage then certainly something he popularised, it has taken off both in the buzz-speak marketing world and outside. The man himself is lauded as a hero, a thinking man for the everyman. His latest book, Blink, is about the snap decisions the brain makes without the conscious knowing. So what is it about his writing that makes groupies out of the most poker-faced of critics?



Update


People are still talking about the man. I've recently seen:

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Free TV Tickets

2:39 pm Simon

Thursday, December 16, 2004

Idea Databases

3:28 pm Simon

Want to start up shop but not got the spark? Have a burning idea but no desire to bring it about? These idea databases are places where your ideas can be submitted, blasted, lauded and cribbed. Ideas (or is that memes?) want to be free!



And just in case you think this is all talk no trousers, here is a 'graduate' of halfbakery:




Monday, November 29, 2004

Film Scripts

4:53 pm Simon

Looking around for info on new films I found a mine of reading material if you can visualise in your head. All the sites below offer scripts or transcripts of films that may or may not have been made. If you find them, look for the early drafts- it's very interesting how different the version that ended up on screen can be. As an example of this, here's Back to the Future's original draft. Not as family-friendly in this version!

 
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