This is a gloriously nerdy book. Shuichiro Yamanouchi - considered to be one of the founding forces behind Japan's "Bullet Train" system - takes us behind the scenes of its development. It's a mixture of autobiography and corporate retrospective, with a healthy dose of engineering geekery. Although originally published in 1999 there are fairly comprehensive footnotes updating the reader on…
Continue reading →
The good folks at Benfei have sent me another gadget to play about with. This one comes in two parts. The first plugs into an screen's HDMI port, the second beams video from your device's USB-C port across the airwaves. Here's what it looks like: But how does it perform? Plug the HDMI into your TV and its USB-A end into a suitable power source (my TV had one nearby). After a few seconds,…
Continue reading →
Well this is a treat! It is rare to find a pop-science book which does such a good job of actually explaining the science, rather than just using it as a background for storytelling. The Battle of Beams doesn't go too deep into the mechanics and physics, but gives a general overview with just enough detail to keep things interesting. It is also well illustrated (not a given in these sorts of…
Continue reading →
Many years ago, in another lifetime, I was presenting our team's work to a rather senior politician. Here's how I remember it: "We want to provide value for money," I said, "so we propose that running five small pilots of [thing I still can't talk about]. We know there are multiple technologies which could work. But we don't know which one will work best." "How will running something five times …
Continue reading →
This is a stunning book. If some scientists and mathematicians have seen further than others, it is by standing on the mountains of madness. This straddles between being a faithful and fanciful biography of insanity. It is written like a hyperactive friend trying to show you how all the things in the universe connect with each other - while you slowly back away in terror. Are these ghost…
Continue reading →
