Michael Mather
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Regional Major Response Manager at BP

July 9th, 2010 · No Comments

I have just been passed a note to check out this link: www.linkedin.com/in/brentspiller.

Why would you put someone with the name Brent Spiller in the role of Major Incident manager at an oil company that sell Brent Crude Oil……

His link has a blog and a lot of detail, there are obviously people out there with lots of time on their hands….

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Pocket sized fuel cell

June 24th, 2010 · No Comments

I spotted this fuel cell technology and was impressed by the claim of having the same amount of energy as 1000 AA batteries.

horizon-cell

The device is called the MiniPAK and is a palm-size universal portable power charger and power extender for ANY electronic device requiring up to 2W of power.

The fuel cartridge used in the MiniPak called HydroSTIK has a battery-like form factor and contains a special metal alloy that allows hydrogen to be stored in a solid-state, as part of the metal alloy matrix inside the cartridge.

There is also a refueling unit called the HydroFILL  which is a small-scale home hydrogen station that allows consumers or retailers/distributors to refill solid state canisters in a simple way, using water and electricity as only input. By adding water, and plugging the HydroFILL into a electrical wall-socket (or a solar panel), consumers can generate hydrogen and store it in a solid form automatically in HydroSTIK cartridges. Once full, the battery-like "solid-state"HydroSTIKs can be unplugged from the HydroFILL and placed into the MiniPak (or other fuel cell devices) to deliver power via a USB port.

So it will not be long until we are using solar panels to create the power to recharge our Hydrogen recharging units….

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Horse-boy

June 24th, 2010 · No Comments

The BBC reports that there is a..

“Mystery surrounding a man wearing a horse’s head who has been captured on Google’s Street View in Aberdeen.”

The man – who has become known as ‘horse-boy’ – can be seen in the Hardgate area of the city.

If you go to Google maps and look up 14 Hardgate, Aberdeen and drag the little orange man-shaped icon onto the map you will see this image.

horseboy

The “mystery” relates to who this is.  While I have no idea of the person’s name I can tell you that they have white hair and appear to be a “silver surfer”.  If you move up the road and then spin the image around to look back you will see this image:

horseboy2

You can clearly see that the “silver surfer” had not accounted for the rear facing camera and had decided that it was time to go back and celebrate his achievement.

Well done old chap.  However next time stand still until you cannot see the Google car anymore before loosing your head.

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A fantastic way to fight oil spills

May 31st, 2010 · No Comments

There is a fantastic method for fighting oil pills….

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Bye bye Brown

May 11th, 2010 · No Comments

At last we have got rid of this useless man. Gordon Brown you made a real mess of this country. Don’t come back.

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Positive daily focus

April 15th, 2010 · No Comments

Here is a great post from Perry Marshall with a fantastic idea on how to celebrate the positive.

Positive Focus

The “biggest thing you have to protect is your confidence”… is a great idea.

Time to celebrate the good things.

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The death of a dream

April 14th, 2010 · No Comments

Re-written from a post by Dr. Steve Sjuggerud

When I was a child, the world was my oyster…

Some days, my friends and I would go exploring in the woods. Other days, we’d play kick the can… or we’d play "British Bull Dog” at a friends house.

I always had a secret mission, though: I was going to be a "pro" at something. Fortunately, I had the work ethic to get there…

When I wanted to be a professional cyclist, I cycle for hours. And when I wanted to be a professional athlete, I’d practice for hours a day without thinking about it. Remember, I was on a mission.

The challenge was, my mission changed each and every year. But the fact never changed: I believed I could succeed at whatever I wanted if I tried hard enough.

I had no burdens in front of me… I had no impediments to my potential success. If I put my mind to it, I could make it happen. And thankfully, succeed I did. I’m living proof of the idea that you could set out to make your own success and achieve it.

Today? I’m not so sure about things.

When I was a child, we didn’t have money. But that was OK. We were starting from scratch.

Unfortunately, my son will not even have the "luxury" of starting from scratch. Instead, he will start out in the hole…

According to the Governments figures, the government’s debt is $141,416 per person in 2010. For my little family of three, that’s $424,249 of government debt. And it keeps growing.

By the time my son grows up, the  government will have already "mortgaged" his household earnings by hundreds of thousands of pounds, by spending more than it takes in before he was born. Even worse, the government will force him (with the threat of prison) to pay its debt.

We’re quickly replacing the what one might call the American dream with the European Politician’s Dream – that if you’re lazy and don’t try hard, the government will take from those who do try hard and give their money to you.

That is not the Britain I was raised in. And that’s not the Britain I want to live in.

I hope my son has the ability, like I did, to start with a clean slate… with the world as his oyster… with no shackles holding him back… so he can be successful.

But I shouldn’t hold out hope unless we can make a change…

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If there was ever a reason to vote for someone else

April 8th, 2010 · No Comments

I have now discovered the best reason to vote against the current Labour politicians.  A headline in the newspapers today which read:

Gordon Brown pledges ‘five more years’ as Prime Minister if Labour wins

Why is this a positive thing.

This one-eyed monster lead us out of prosperity and straight into the worst recession ever.  He failed to save in the good times and is now suggesting that we should all pay more to support his myopic vision of the future.

Someone poke his other eye out.

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A night on the town

March 28th, 2010 · No Comments

Each year the Village club puts on a cabaret and 2010 is no exception.  However this year I was roped into playing a part in two different acts.

Mis-Cookham Dean and the Tiller Girls.  Here is the video evidence…

If you need to ask which one is me then I have not exposed myself enough in the past….

Number 4 in the Mis-Cookham Dean and the dancer on the right as the tiller girls enter the stage..

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Back in action

March 21st, 2010 · No Comments

It is not often that you get a chance to enjoy a picture of yourself, without it being staged or looking silly.  However I was luck enough to have a picture snapped this morning at rugby that I enjoyed….

mike about to throw

You may notice that this is not a typical rugby stance and you would be right.  It is more like a quarterback preparing to pass.

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