The Harry Potter Septology(?)

After two months and several thousand pages I finally finished the Harry Potter series of books. I”m glad I did as they were one of the most enjoyable set of books I’ve picked up in a long time.

It is quite evident that the author J K Rowling thought through the story before putting pen to paper. The other interesting aspect is that the complexity of the language and plot, as well as the issues dealt with by the characters, demonstrate her knowledge of the audience, which grew up as the series evolved.

The characters themselves reflect those of the real world. Their emotions reminding me of some of the silly things me and my friends did as we grew up during our high school years.

The highlight for me was The Goblet of Fire, which introduced a number of new characters and complexity. The let down was The Order of The Phoenix, which drifted between the darkness of the Deathly Hallows and lightness of earlier books.

The last book was excellent, although the slow start had me concerned that it would all be rushed at the end – of course this wasn’t the case.

Once again this was a great work of fiction, which helped me escape realty and recharge my mind. I look forward to my son reading it when they grow up.

Geocaching on Macca

Macca from ABC radio speaks to Wendy from QLD called in to comment on the Q150 project and mentioned geocachers as a group of GPS users and the activity as gaining popularity with a couple of Brisbane councils.

Thanks to Rhinogeo for tipping me off.

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Death of journalism is greatly exagerated

I was sitting in the ‘Tardis’ booth at the ABC waiting for a cross to Alice Springs yesterday morning, when I started flicking through a copy of ‘The Week’ that had been left behind. I found it quite interesting. It summaries articles from other publications.

One thing that resonated with me quite strongly was a grab from Stephen Quinn’s article in the Quadrant.

“Journalism will thrive when media companies free themselves of the shackles and mindset of print. It is likely that people will pay for news and information that will add value to their lives. The ‘content if king’ argument is dead because the web produces so much content. Valued and quality content is the new royalty. The issue is finding the resources to produce that content, and then connecting that content with the right audience. Success will come to media houses that embrace innovation, creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit and hire people with those attributes.”

I totally agree. I wonder if Rupert Murdoch does too?

Fizzy drinks leave sour taste in the mouth

I spoke to ABC radio in Sydney about research in the US that has found consuming carbonated drinks activates the sour-sensing cells on our tongue. Read more – http://bit.ly/12Nnfr

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Lunar collision

Spoke to Richard Glover on ABC702 Sydney about NASA’s LCROSS spacecraft is preparing a violent return to the moon later today as part of a mission to send a satellite and a rocket booster crashing into the lunar surface to look for water.

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To Fiji or not to Fiji

Nay and I are to go on a break in November. Our thought was to go to an island in the South Pacific. We thought about Zac and agreed that we’d like him to come along. So the obvious choice is Fiji. So the next decision is where to stay.

This is where it gets hard. We started Reading reviews on the Tripadvisor website, but this only confused us. Ratings vary all over the place. We baegan to question whether we should just go north to the Great Barrier Reef.

At the moment we are still undecided. My preference is to still go to Fiji, but I think we should ensure we experience something that is uniquely Fiji.

This stress is going to ensure I need that holiday.

Football finals

Well the home and away season in the AFL is over and the rugby league is not far behind.

Despite Collingwood finishing fourth, which is higher than I predicted at the start of the season, last week’s loss leaves me with some doubts.

I still believe the most likely scenario for the grand final is Geelong v St Kilda – the cream always rises to the top. But having said that the Dogs, Magpies and Crows should put up a fight.

In the league, the Saints are the team to beat. They are also the team with everything to lose. Still sticking with the Storm.

The best thing about the finals: The weather is getting warmer.

Astronomers bust star ratio myth

Astronomers will have to rethink how they measure galaxies, with a new study finding that stars don’t all form the same way.

The research, headed by Dr Gerhardt Meurer of John Hopkins University in Baltimore, appears on the pre-press physics website arxiv.

Read more at ABC Science Online.

Walking in circles

This story has generated lot of interest from our ABC Local radio stations.Scientists have confirmed the popular belief that without anything to guide them humans really do walk in circles. Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/…661651.htm

Here I spoke with Richard Glover on ABC 702 in Sydney during the Drive program.

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Astronomers spot new type of ‘death star’

A team of astronomers have found the ‘missing link’ of stellar death, revealing what our Sun might look like at the end of its life.

The group of Australian and US astronomers, led by Associate Professor Miroslav Filipovic of the University of Western Sydney, call the new class of object ’super planetary nebulae’.

They report on their finding in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Read the full story on ABC Science Online.