AFP: Paris’ latest star is no damp squid
France’s National Museum of Natural History on Tuesday unveiled the world’s first "plastinated" squid — a 6.5-metre-long (21.25-feet) deep-sea beast donated by New Zealand and named in honour of a creature featuring in Maori legend.
Plastination entails replacing the animal’s water, fat and other liquids with a polymer that hardens.
It means the specimen can be appreciated in three dimensions in a dry, solid state, rather than in a jar filled with formalin or alcohol, whose glass distorts the view.
How cool is that!? [Source]
Free REM music video available now through iTunes - iPod/iPhone - Macworld UK
REM will play an intimate live gig at Apple’s Regent Street store next week, and is offering another sweet bonus to iTunes users. With attendance at next week’s show limited to just 450 people, there’s inevitably going to be many disappointed fans of the band.
iTunes is now offering a free music video from the band. The track, Living Well Is The Best Revenge, is the first track on REM’s latest album, Accelerate. And the video is available free from iTunes.
I like this A LOT!
Infosecurity Europe 2008 is "Europe’s No. 1 dedicated information security event". Running from 22-24 April 2008 it "addresses today’s strategic and technical issues in an unrivalled education programme and showcases the most diverse range of new and innovative products and services from over 300 of the top suppliers on the show floor."
Guess who’s going to be an exhibitor there… Yup, me! The Information Security Group at Royal Holloway takes an exhibitor’s stand every year at this event, and asks for volunteers from their Masters programme to help man the stall for the event. I was planning to attend the conference anyway, so I thought I might as well spend a few hours of my time praising the virtues of the ISG and the MSc programme. As I said the conference runs over three days, however I will only be on the stand for part of the final day, leaving me plenty of time to wander round still. An added perk of exhibiting is I get an exhibitor’s pass instead of a visitor’s, and hence get to jump the entry queues, etc. Go me.
What I only found out today, and am most exited about, is that Professor Fred Piper, founder, former Director of, consultant and all-round-PR-dude for the ISG, and world renowned expert in Information Security, (and quite a nice chap to have a tea and a chat with) will be there to accept his nomination in the Infosecurity Europe Hall of Fame. Another nominee in attendance will be Bruce Schneier, another internationally renowned security technologist and author, (whose blog you might have found in the sidebar under Blogroll) whom I will do my damnedest to bump into because I very much agree with his views on security management. There are another couple of folks’ seminars/lectures I want to see, such as those given by David Lacey, Chris Potter, and Geraint Price. More on the Keynote Seminars here, and on the Hall of Fame Keynote here.
So, if for some crazy reason you find yourself at Olympia on 22-24 April I hope to see you!
Happy birthday to me,
Happy birthday to me,
Happy birthday to me-ee,
Happy birthday to me.
I’ve already got one of my presents - my mummy sent me lots of chocolates, which, while you might think it does, never gets old! I got Rum & Lime ganache truffles and Cinnamon Latté pralines, both of which I tried through the Chocolate Tasting Club over the Christmas break, and gave 10/10 to both, so was cool of her to remember and hunt them down in store. Thanks mum! (Not that she’ll read this!)
Cards, etc., I’m told were posted at the same time as choccies but have yet to arrive so in between my six hours of lectures I’ll have to try to check my post. If you’re one of the four or so people who I know have sent me a card I shall update/comment when it arrives. If you’ve sent a card and I don’t know about it - cool! Cheers ;). If you didn’t even know it was my birthday, then that’s a very good excuse!
Nothing interesting planned this year party-wise, just gonna see what pans out but I’ll probably head on down to the Stumble Inn for Rock Soc 80s Rock night. Unlikely to make a big deal out of it as don’t know so many Rock Soc people this year but I’m sure a few Guinnesses will put a smile on my face.
[Update] Lego, Lego, Lego, Lego, Lego! Psymon got me Lego. I was slightly excited.
Anyone know where I can get a haggis on short notice? Ha!
Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit.
Happy Burns night!
