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July 30, 2004
Francis Crick is dead
 | Francis Harry Compton Crick, co-discoverer of the double helical genetic blueprint of life known commonly as DNA, died on July 28 2004. His biography at the Nobel foundation website is here. |
Posted by daen at 12:15 AM
July 29, 2004
Spain 2004
Flamingoes at Laguna Fuente de Piedra. July 18, 2004.
Torcal National Park, Spain. July 19, 2004.
Unusual photo of Competa, Spain, with a paraglider spiralling in to land, presumably, in the church square. July 22, 2004.
Fireworks marking the end of the Competa feria. July 25, 2004.
Gecko on the wall. July 28, 2004.
Posted by daen at 11:11 PM
Westwood Park, Great Horkesley, Essex, England
The following is from "British History Online, Great Horkesley: Manors and other estates. A History of the County of Essex: Volume X, Janet Cooper (Editor) (2001)."
William Lynne (d. 1616) built up an estate in Great and Little Horkesley and neighbouring parishes later called WESTWOOD PARK. (source Morant, Essex, ii. 235; Feet of F. Essex, vi. 5, 14, 82, 189) It descended from father to son in his family until the later 18th century, being held by William Lynne (d. 1651), John Lynne (d. 1680), Jacob Lynne (d. 1708), T. H. Lynne (d. 1752), N. G. Lynne (d. 1777), and William Lynne. (source E.R.O., D/Dze 1, ff. 16, 38 and v.; Morant, Essex, ii. 236; Essex Map (1777)) The estate appears to have passed by 1811 to C. Watson, whose daughter and heir probably before 1834 married C. Rooke. He held Westwood Park in 1848. J. Leveson Gower owned it between 1859 and 1866, and William MacAndrew from 1870 until he sold it in 1906, (source E.R.O., D/DZe 2, ff. 4v.–6v., 32v.–35; Census, 1841; White's Dir. Essex (1848), 125; Kelly's Dir. Essex (1859–1902); E.R.O., sale cat. A1029) presumably to W. J. M. Hill who owned it in 1908. In 1917 the estate was owned by Mrs. M. O. Shaw who sold it to C. H. Brocklebank in 1925. R. J. L. Ogilby, who owned it in 1937, had been succeeded by his widow I. K. Ogilby by 1938. (source Kelly's Dir. Essex (1906–1937); E.R.O., sale cat. A3; ibid. T/P 303/1; T/P 303/4/1). The house was acquired in 1950 by Essex County Council for use as an old people's home. It closed in 1987 and the house was sold to a computer firm and subsequently to Buntings Ltd. (source E.R.O., sale cat. F 133; ibid. T/P 303/3/2, T/P 303/6; Gardner, Great Horkesley [15]; below, this par., Econ.)
Westwood Park, apparently originally built in 1692, was rebuilt in Elizabethan style by W. J. M. Hill c. 1908. In 1874 the surrounding parkland covered 65 a. and there was another 9 a. of gardens and 'pleasure grounds'. (source May, Jockey Hill to the Stour, photos. 71–4; May, More of the Horkesleys, photos. 73–4; Kelly's Dir. Essex (1874, 1908); Dept. of Env., Buildings List; E.R.O., sale cat. F133; ibid. T/P 303/2; above, plate 20). The north and south lodges, designed by Raymond Erith to match the house, were rebuilt between 1938 and 1940. (source E.R.O., T/P 303/4/1).
E.R.O = Essex Record Office
© Copyright 2003 University of London & History of Parliament Trust
The Brocklebank arms are inset over the front door at Westwood Park. The arms are described as:
Quarterly, 1st and 4th grandquarters, Azure, an escallop Or between three brocks Agent, on a chief engrailed of the Second a cock Proper between two escallops of the First (for Brocklebank): 2nd grandquarter, Ermine, on a cross engrailed between four lions rampant Gules, a tilting spear erect Or between four bezants (for Royds): third grandquarter quarterly (i) and (iv) Gules, a fess chequy Argent and Azure, (ii) and (iii) Or a lion rampant Gules debruised of a riband in bend Sable, all within a bordure per pale dexter Azure charged alternately with four stars Or and four lozenges also Or, sinister Argent charged in the sinister chief with a martlet Azure (for Lindsay).
From Heraldry Scotland's gallery of members arms (Brocklebank).
The full crest is shown below.
Posted by daen at 10:47 PM
July 14, 2004
Otto Frello
Otto Frello has an exhibition on between July 2nd and August 8th at Badstuestræde 14 (11am to 5pm weekdays). The man himself is there to answer questions from the curious.
Posted by daen at 04:01 PM
July 12, 2004
JNI array parameter issues
According to Matthew Mead (author of the JNI port for Delphi), it is entirely possible that the helper function ArgsToJValues doesn't work correctly for some types and some JVMs. The solution is to use the JNI array handling functions. This article on starting a JVM from C shows how to do this from within C.
Here's some example Delphi code, with the relevant array handling bits in bold:
program JavaFromDelphi;
{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}
uses
SysUtils, JNI;
var
Options: array [0..4] of JavaVMOption;
VM_args: JavaVMInitArgs;
JavaVM: TJavaVM;
JNIEnv: TJNIEnv;
Cls: JClass;
Mid: JMethodID;
Errcode: Integer;
Obj: JObject;
DelphiIntArray: array [0..8] of Integer;
JavaIntArray: JIntArray;
Loop: Integer;
begin
try
// Create the JVM (using a wrapper class)
JavaVM := TJavaVM.Create;
// Set the options for the VM
Options[0].optionString := '-Djava.class.path=.';
Options[1].optionString := '-Xcheck:jni';
VM_args.version := JNI_VERSION_1_4;
VM_args.options := @Options;
VM_args.nOptions := 2;
// Load the VM
Errcode := JavaVM.LoadVM(VM_args);
if Errcode < 0 then
begin
WriteLn(Format('Error loading JavaVM, error code = %d', [Errcode]));
Exit;
end;
// Create a Java environment from the JVM's Env (another wrapper class)
JNIEnv := TJNIEnv.Create(JavaVM.Env);
// Create the Java array of integers
JavaIntArray := JNIEnv.NewIntArray(9);
// Quit if this fails
if JavaIntArray = nil then
begin
WriteLn('Can''t get int array');
Exit;
end;
// Fill the Delphi array with some values
for Loop:=0 to 8 do
begin
DelphiIntArray[Loop]:=(Loop*Loop);
end;
// Set the Java int array with the values in the Delphi int array
JNIEnv.SetIntArrayRegion(JavaIntArray,0,9,@DelphiIntArray);
// Find the class in the file system. This is why we added
// the current directory to the Java classpath above.
Cls := JNIEnv.FindClass('TestApp');
if Cls = nil then
begin
WriteLn('Can''t find class: TestApp');
Exit;
end;
// Get its default constructor
Mid := JNIEnv.GetMethodID(Cls, '', '()V');
if Mid = nil then
begin
WriteLn('Can''t get default constructor for class');
Exit;
end;
// Create the object
obj := JNIEnv.NewObjectA(Cls, Mid, nil);
// Fail if we can't
if Obj = nil then
begin
WriteLn('Can''t get get object');
Exit;
end;
// Get method
Mid := JNIEnv.GetMethodID(Cls, 'test', '([I)V');
if Mid = nil then
begin
WriteLn('Can''t find method: test');
Exit;
end;
// Finally, call the method with the Java int array ...
JNIEnv.CallObjectMethodA(obj, Mid, PJValue(@JavaIntArray));
except
on E : Exception do
WriteLn('Error: ' + E.Message);
end;
end.
The TestApp.java source is here:
public class TestApp
{
void test(int[] params)
{
System.out.println("params.length="+params.length);
for (int i=0; i<e;params.length; i++)
{
System.out.println("params["+i+"]="+params[i]);
}
}
}
Posted by daen at 02:27 PM
July 11, 2004
Chris Foss tribute site
The Chris Foss Tribute Homepage has a large amount of scanned Chris Foss science fiction art. Foss is well known as an illustrator of SF book covers, but has also been involved, albeit abortively, in the design of films such as "Dune" and "Alien".
Posted by daen at 01:27 AM
July 09, 2004
Recursive Partitioning
Posted by daen at 12:31 AM
July 07, 2004
Arcata Eye Police Log
Unlikely reading, but the Arcata Eye newspaper's police log is a riot:
Friday, May 28 1:04 p.m. A man sat with a dog four to six feet from one of the signs that says "NO DOGS" on the Plaza. He claimed an officer said he could sit there and dog up the place, but a City ranger said he’d warned the man to remove his dog a half-hour earlier. He was cited, while the dog’s uncomprehending face glowed with unconditional love for all concerned.
Sunday, May 23 9:38 p.m. Like a vulture rooting out scabrous intestines encrusted with a thick mantle of writhing insect larvae from a rotting wildebeest carcass, a shoplifter helped himself to candy from an F Street supermarket’s bulk bins. The grown man was caught sweet-handed and told not to come back.
Friday, May 21 10:45 p.m. It was in aisle 12 that they found the drunken man in rubber boots.
Thursday, May 20 4:05 p.m. A man described as "out of it" was seen "poking around in peoples’ windows," but wasn’t doing so "in a harmful manner." He whispers to himself, said the caller, "makes little things out of stuff he finds" and may need mental health assistance. Police couldn’t find the harmless whispering, window-poking, thing-making stuff-finder.
Posted by daen at 12:42 AM
July 06, 2004
British TV Comedy
Posted by daen at 11:10 PM
Copenhagen Jazz Festival 2004 (and 2003 retrospective)
Adrian and I went to La Fontaine last night to see Jesper Thilo (sax), Olivier Antunes (piano), Bo Stief (bass) and Frands Rifbjerg (percussion). We had to queue for 15 mins in the rain, and once inside (70 kr. per person entrance fee) there was nowhere to sit. Still, the music was excellent. Ade's been living there during the nighttime since Friday.
Tom Kirkpatrick (trumpet) isn't playing this year, although Henrik Bolberg, the other great trumpeter we saw last year at Dansetten, is playing at Sabine's Café on Thurday at 17:00 (entry fee, unspecified) and then again at Glassalen in Tivoli, same day, at 19:30 (tickets 150-210 kr., yeah right), in DR's Big Band 40th Anniversary at Nytorv on Friday at 19:00 (entry fee, unknown), and finally at Café Bopa in Djazz on Sunday at 16:00 (entry fee, again unknown).
Frederik Lundin, another great sax player, is at PH café tonight at 21:00 (free, it says), but you're probably reading this too late ... He's also with Jonas Johansen's "Move" at Kongens Have on Thursday at 16:00 and finally in 2 x Laptop Duo (really) at Kanten on Magstræde on Sunday at 21:00.
Meanwhile, Bo Stief makes several more appearances : at Glassalen tonight at 19:30 in "A Tribute to Montmartre", in a retrospective of the life of bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (also with 82 year old harmonica-player Toots Thielemans) ; at Helgoland Søbadeanstalt on Amager Strandvej with his group New Dreams, also tonight at 20:00 (hope he's got a fast car ...) ; at Borups Koncertsal with Steve Swallow, also tonight at 23:00 (better make it a Ferrari) ; tomorrow at Café Den Blå Hund at 21:00 ; at Amager Bio on Friday at 18:00 ; at Café Dan Túrell at 21:00, also on Friday (brm, brm) ; and finally at Café Dan Túrell again on Sunday at 21:00. Then to the garage for a full service and a new set of tyres.
Posted by daen at 06:19 PM
July 02, 2004
Donkey-related French Proverbs
Chantez à l'âne, il vous fera des pêts.
Translation: Sing to an ass, he will fart in your face.
À frotter la tête d'un âne, on perd son savon.
Translation: Rubbing a donkey's head is nothing but a waste of soap.
Il n'y a pas d'ânesse qui ne trouve son âne.
Translation: Every Jack has his Jill.
Literal meaning: Every she-ass finds her donkey.
Il y a plus d'un âne à la foire qui s'appelle Martin.
Translation: If one will not, another will.
Literal meaning: There is more than one donkey at the fair called Martin.
From wikipedia.
Posted by daen at 03:33 PM
Moon with Exilim-Z3
Professional image from the Observatorio ARVAL (l) versus a picture taken with a Casio Exilim-Z3 (r) out of our apartment window. First, I had to adjust the white exposure by -2.00EV and by pointing the camera at a light in the apartment and partially pressing the shutter button, I got it to hold to 1/500 seconds shutter speed.
Posted by daen at 01:15 AM
July 01, 2004
Wivenhoe Photos
This website has a lot of photos of Wivenhoe - the nature, the people, the buildings and the May Fair. It's also the website of Wivenhoe Rentals, so if you're looking to live in Wivenhoe, this would be a good place to start to get a feel for the place AND find a house there!
Posted by daen at 11:59 PM
Vegan and vegetarian eats in Copenhagen
Vegetarian-restaurants.net has this to offer by way of veggie and vegan eating places in Copenhagen ...
I know, I know ... it's for a friend.
Morgenstedet (Langgaden, Christiania).
Cascabel (Store Kongensgade 80-82).
Den Grønne Kælder (Pilestræde 48).
Den Økologiske Café (Griffenfeldsgade 17).
Govinda's (Nøerre Farimagsgade 82).
Muree (Fælledvej 22 C).
Picnic (Fælledvej 22 B).
Riz Raz (Kompagniestræde 20).
Riz Raz (Kannikestræde 19).
Posted by daen at 09:14 PM
Marmite!
Though it shocks me, many people have never heard of Marmite, a Vitamin B complex-rich vegetarian spread with a strong savoury taste which complements cheese and buttered toast exquisitely. Good solid brekkie material for those who don't fancy cereal, croissants or a fried breakfast. The Aussies have their own popular yeast extract brand called Vegemite which doesn't have the lustrous silky dark brown texture of Marmite ...
Posted by daen at 08:58 PM
Copenhagen Jazz Festival '04
Don't forget that the 26th Copenhagen Jazz Festival starts tomorrow ...
Posted by daen at 04:07 PM
NASA JPL Solar System Simulator - Cassini at Saturn
Have a look at the NASA JPL Solar System Simulator for fun pictures like this, which is the view that the Cassini spacecraft will have just after it crosses Saturn's rings.
Posted by daen at 01:06 AM