This talk by Dr Edward Schofield – Python for R&D has inspired me to try using Python in my data analysis.

Last night we had home made sushi for dinner. It was good

Processing is fun because the sketching [...]]]> I’ve been trying out the  MSAFluid library by Memo Akten for Processing.  Starting from the example program that comes with the library, I’m making a wind tunnel.  I’ve seperated adding force to the fluid, adding particles and adding dye so that I can add each where I want to.

Processing is fun because the sketching approach means that you see the results at each step, and this often provides weird / interesting visual results.  These images show my wind tunnel with a ‘fan’ emitting dye and then a set of dye emitters half way down the tunnel.  The particles are distributed through the fluid to show the flow.

WindTunnel Frame 60

WindTunnel Frame 177

WindTunnel frame 456

WindTunnel frame 1069

Coffee Scolls:

Cheese Scolls

Kiva’s mission is to [...]]]> Dick was an enthusiastic supporter of Kiva and his loan project details can be viewed here.  A new Kiva team has been created – the Dick Adamson Memorial Fund.  Contributions to the Dick Adamson Memorial Fund team can be made by joining Kiva and then selecting the team when you make donations.

Kiva’s mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.

Kiva is a non-profit that allows you to lend as little as $25USD to a specific low-income entrepreneur in the developing world.

You choose who to lend to – whether a baker in Afghanistan, a goat herder in Uganda, a farmer in Peru, a restaurateur in Cambodia, or a tailor in Iraq – and as they repay their loan, you get your money back. It’s a powerful and sustainable way to empower someone right now to lift themselves out of poverty.

His daughter Juddie has described what we all loved about him:

Dick Adamson

I’ve never met anyone who lived in the moment quite the way my dad did. Even in his 60s he [...]]]> On the 13th February my cousin, Dick Adamson, died. He was my friend and I miss him.

His daughter Juddie has described what we all loved about him:

Dick Adamson

That cheeky grin …

I’ve never met anyone who lived in the moment quite the way my dad did. Even in his 60s he was still a big kid at heart, delighting in the little things, always excited by the possibilities…

Dad was the one who would cheer a convoy of wedding cars passing on the street, stop and talk to anyone and everyone about their bicycle, motorbike, car, boat, clothing, artwork, house, work, haircut, you name it. He was cheeky and irreverent, comical and lighthearted, quiet and thoughtful. From him I learned important lessons about being alive in the world, about seeing and learning and constant discovery. I learnt about generosity, not just in a material sense, but generosity of spirit. Dad rarely, if ever, criticised others, and he had an uncanny knack for finding the positives in any situation. …

 

Although I didn’t see Dick in person as often as I would have liked, we kept in contact and I loved hearing about his latest projects and getting his insights into mine. His support after my father died was invaluable.

My thoughts are with his wife Tai, his daughters Justine and Kirsten, his mother Joan, his brother and sister John and Barbara and all of the other people who loved him and will miss him now he is gone.

I realised in looking for photographs of Dick, that I was usually too busy doing things with him to take any photographs! I did find this one of a wonderful evening we spent when we visited him and Tai in Cook Islands in 2001.

Cook Islands 2001

Poplars are shedding.

The texture of the pine needles in the setting sun is amazing.

My elbow with the screws holding it back together: