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Air India Flight 171 - Flawed EE Bay Water Ingress Theory

Air India Flight 171 - Flawed EE Bay Water Ingress TheoryRichard Godfrey, in many videos on the...

Air India Flight 171 Accident Summary - Key Findings

Air India Flight 171 Accident Summary - Key FindingsThe purpose of an air accident report is to...

Air India Flight 171 - Ask The experts

Air India Flight 171 - Ask The expertsAn open letter to H. Lawrence Culp, Jr., Chairman and Chief...

Air India Flight 171 - The Vital Seconds

Air India Flight 171 - The Vital SecondsThe Timeline - Vital Seconds.This timeline is constructed...

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Patrick LockerbyRSS Feed of this column.

Retired engineer, 79 years young. Computer builder and programmer. Linguist specialising in technical translation. Interested in every human endeavour except the scrooge theory of accountancy. Interested... Read More »

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A Science Spin On Health And Safety

A Science Spin On Health And Safety

Apr 21 2010 | comment(s)

A Science Spin On Health And Safety

I've sat through a few health and safety talks, often including such
gems as, "don't reach objects on high shelves by standing on a swivel
chair while wearing rollerskates", ...

The Lay Scientist:
http://www.layscience.net/node/1012
Some Observations On Book Learning

Some Observations On Book Learning

Apr 19 2010 | comment(s)

Some Observations On Book Learning



First you learn the rules of words,


But next you unlearn all that guff,


And wierd your words into absurds,


It's much more fun than grammar stuff.




Baby's First Wierd-Book.


The First Stage of  Learning:

How baby loves bright coloured books!
But do not give him any!
Don't trust those sweet angelic looks,
or he'll eat far too many!

The book of rag is fairly safe
for baby has no fangs,
but baby loves to feed the dog,
(he thinks books are meringues),
or else he'll throw them from his cot,
Eyjafjallajökull - Thats Easy For You To Say !

Eyjafjallajökull - Thats Easy For You To Say !

Apr 19 2010 | comment(s)

Eyjafjallajökull - Thats Easy For You To Say !



Eyja   fjalla   jökull


It's not LL as in miller.


It's TL as in antler.


Stress is on syllables shown in bold.

"Eyja" - island - ayuh as in sayer

"fjalla" - mountain - fyatle with fy as in few, at, le as in rattler without the 'r' sound.

"jökull"  - yokooteel with yo as in yacht, oo as in book, faint or missing final L.

island mountain glacier

It could hardly be simpler.  :-)

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/pronounce-eyjafjallajokull-10392613
Arctic Tipping Points - #4: The Broken Bridges Of Nares

Arctic Tipping Points - #4: The Broken Bridges Of Nares

Apr 19 2010 | comment(s)

Arctic Tipping Points - #4: The Broken Bridges Of Nares

Arctic Tipping Points - #3: More About Feedback

Arctic Tipping Points - #3: More About Feedback

Apr 18 2010 | comment(s)

Arctic Tipping Points - #3: More About Feedback

This series is a follow-on to my 3-part series Arctic Ice 2010.  It begins with part #1: Background And Recent History.  In Arctic Tipping Points - #2: Some Feedback Mechanisms I wrote:
Eyjafjallajökull, Gígjökull, Jökulhlaup, Gosmökkur

Eyjafjallajökull, Gígjökull, Jökulhlaup, Gosmökkur

Apr 18 2010 | comment(s)

Eyjafjallajökull, Gígjökull, Jökulhlaup, Gosmökkur

The world is suddenly faced with the need to learn how to pronounce Islenska, the Icelandic language.


With much of European airspace closed due to volcanic ash in the skies, people are most commonly asking how long it will last, and if it may get worse.  Also, the media continues to confuse the issue with talk of an eruption under, variously, a glacier, an ice cap, an ice sheet.

There is a world of difference between an ice sheet kilometers thick, and the Gígjökull glacier and the Eyjafjallajökull ice cap.