Unless you have an expensive tatami futon bed, in most standard futon frames the futon pad itself rests on slats of wood which run the length of the frame and are spaced a few inches apart.  However I have found that even with a thick futon mattress like a 6″ cotton/foam hybrid one, its still…

For anyone who might be interested in some of the underlying technology of bullet trains this BBC documentary is quite interesting. Now that the California High Speed Rail system is being built it might interest people what technologies actually enable bullet trains to operate. As the documentary shows, there’s quiet a difference between standard trains…

Making good coffee depends on a number of factors. Nowadays drip coffee is enjoying a boom as people like the full-bodied, rich taste of coffee in which water is slowly poured over grounds and allowed to drip. Its easy to make your own at home. All you need is a little plastic drip funnel and…

Watching a documentary about gypsies and crime in Europe. It starts in Madrid and one sees the unbelievable boldness of children criminals who are part of a culture that is based on crime. Then it jumps to Italy and they show how authorities in Milan have tried to crack down on them. But even after…

This is a really nice documentary about the Sun. But what really struck me was an episode 14 minutes into it when they are witnessing a total solar eclipse. Anyone who’s seen even a partial eclipse, such as the 12 May 2012 annular eclipse in California, knows how moving such an experience it is. We…

It sounds so futuristic and the video does its part in giving the impression, but a lot of this is just little sensors connected to networks from little components that anyone can now buy although they probably have a little ways to go before being more mainstream on places like eBay. This is similar to…

I wrote a long post recently about trying out a virtual private server (VPS) hosting plan in which one is allocated a virtual machine in the cloud. This is fundamentally different than the shared hosting plans, such as the one this site is running on, which I’ve been using for the past several years and…

According to a leaked cable, the US government was heavily involved in drafting Ghana’s 2011 Biosafety Act, which provided a framework for the introduction of GM foods. The US aid department provided technical assistance and some funding. The cable said biotech products were being sold in Ghana and GM seeds from neighbouring countries were likely…

There’s a story in the Japanese news today about multiple lawsuits being filed against the government claiming that the recent upper-house election for the Japanese Diet is unconstitutional. The Diet is Japan’s legislative body and would be similar to Congress in the United States. Just as in the United States the Diet consists of an…

I’m sure a lot of people find moist towelettes – also called wet wipes or cleaning wipes – very convenient. I use them often. I find they are nice to have near a massage table, in a car and in my purse or backpack. But it is really bad to flush them down the toilet.…