It’s fifty years today since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped out on the surface of the Moon. I was a kid when it happened, but I remember it as yesterday – watching the wobbly image of Armstrong, on TV, as he made his way across the lunar surface. Looking back, we can see through … More Dreams of humanity: fifty years on
I find it incredible to think that this week has marked the fiftieth anniversary of the flight of Apollo 11 – the first landing on the Moon. Half a century: and yet, in many ways, it seems like yesterday. I was a kid at the time. Back then space was the place, as Sun Ra … More A half century since Apollo 11: a personal memoir
Hurrah for the Apollo 50th anniversary – and here’s how Apollo 11 came close to disaster on landing #Apollo50 #Apollo11 … More Hurrah for Apollo 11’s 50th anniversary!
These past few months I’ve been getting my collection of vintage synthesisers going. I’ve got a lot of work to do. So far I’ve tested my 1976-vintage Micromoog s/n 2177 – which I picked up for $50 in 1988. This still works but the particle-board base that holds everything together has crumbled, which means I’ll … More Switching on – well, it’s not really Bach…
Does anybody remember Gerry Anderson’s Stingray – the marionette-and-sci-fi show that preceded Thunderbirds. It was a bit before my time, but I picked it up on TV repeats when I was a kid. I haven’t seen much of it since, but I remember it having the design and style of the James Bond movies of … More The awesome retro-future of… Stingray!
When I was looking around for a new car a couple of years ago I made the difficult decision to go with an automatic. To me, autos aren’t proper cars, and they don’t require proper driving, especially with cruise control. You don’t drive them, you sit and ride in them while steering a bit. Mind … More Is driving an auto real driving?
It looks like Sir Peter Jackson’s movie museum is going to go ahead in central Wellington. Possibly including the ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ car built by Alan Mann for the 1968 movie of the same name, which Jackson owns. When I was a kid, my sister had the Dinky toy version of that car. Jackson, … More The story of the REAL Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Last week I was out for a pre-Christmas lads’ get-together – where we inevitably talk engineering or bloke stuff – and managed to mention somebody so obscure that several people reached for their phones and that old standby, Google. Has anybody heard of Ernest Eldridge and Mephistopheles? No? I’ll tell you. Ernest Arthur Douglas Eldridge was an English … More The incredible Ernest Eldridge and his adventures with Mephistopheles
Apple’s theatricals this week haven’t convinced me to buy an iPhone 6 – which, as Ron Amadeo pointed out, has the same screen size and features as a 2012 Nexus 4. George Takei got it right when he tweeted that he couldn’t remember the last time so many got so excited about 4.7 inches. Not that this an … More Why I run an Apple-free household but am still cool
Matthew Wright 