In recent weeks, there's been an invasion / massive increase in numbers of ladybirds in my area. They are everywhere, probably due to it being breeding season or something like that. They're all over the ground, walls, fences and they seem to like travelling by bus too as they're all over the inside of the local public transport, calmly walking along.
A funny thing happened the other day when I visited some friends in Hull. I was travelling on the Humber Flyer, a bus which links Grimsby and Hull. A ladybird was mooching about on the sill of the bus window and it crawled onto the woman sitting next to me. She thought nothing of it and blew the creature off her hand. The ladybird came back. She placed the insect further away on the other side of the window sill. The bug returned. The lady continued to remove the bug from herself and it kept coming back (perhaps the ladybird liked her hairspray or perfume? ). This continued for a good third of the bus journey and it ended with the woman alighting from the bus after cursing the ladybird for coming back repeatedly. It was the funniest scene I've witnessed in a long time.
Friday, 12 August 2011
Thursday, 11 August 2011
Update your CV, Update your life
In today's labour market, it's increasingly difficult to get a job. There are many different people and blogs out there who will tell you that it's all about what you did on your gap year and how your handshake is perceived but this isn't the case. The big thing that will make you stand out from your rivals in the tussle for your dream job is your CV.
Looks are everything, on your CV anyways
Boring as it may sound, your CV is the document that all employers want to see and the interesting ones which make the cut will land the job. Employers see your CV before you so make your CV look as good as you do and this will go a long way with prospective employers. To ensure that yours stands out, you need to cover the following topics to ensure you've got it all.
Content
First and foremost, you need content. That means being thorough and yet concise because a 3-page CV will not get a look in, despite what you've written about this award or the amount of trophies you've won for your golfing talents. Aim for about 2 pages maximum. Giving a one page CV may be dangerous as there's a risk you don't communicate all you need to to show you're the right person for the job. To ensure that you're that right person, you need to show your relevance to the position and why you'd fit right in. You need to relate specific bits of what you've done in your education and experience to what they want in a prospective employee. You need to relate skills to requisites. Remember "skills for kills", get the skills covered and you'll knock 'em dead in the preliminary stages. Keep it relevant too; employers will want to hear about your recreational activities but don't go into too much depth. The main thing your CV needs to show is your enthusiasm and drive for what you do in all areas of your life.
Layout
A good layout is key to producing a great CV. A general note is to put the more professional components of what makes the worker you up the top of the sheet and the more informal stuff like what you enjoy doing at the bottom. There are many ways to layout the various parts of your CV and a more modern trend is to tie some of them together into a short, cogent personal statement-esque piece of writing at the top of your resume. This gives the reader a bit of context and a more holistic view when thinking about you as a potential candidate for the job. This could be useful in establishing a good image in the employer's mind and could give you the edge.
Another good pointer is to put your motivations or career objectives at the top to show the employer why you want the job in respect of the big picture you have in your mind. It lets the interviewer know where you're coming from and where you want to go and shows how you fit into the job.
Font
A simple but salient point. Comic sans won't cut it; it never has and it never will. Try something more professional like Verdana or Arial. This allows you to show your professional side and matches the font and your CV fodder with with the position you're fighting for.
With all that said and done, try these tips and see what works for you. It's also worth giving Google a go and looking for some professional templates but take them with a pinch of salt. Anything too stylised will be bad for business and you'll struggle with credibility.
Looks are everything, on your CV anyways
Boring as it may sound, your CV is the document that all employers want to see and the interesting ones which make the cut will land the job. Employers see your CV before you so make your CV look as good as you do and this will go a long way with prospective employers. To ensure that yours stands out, you need to cover the following topics to ensure you've got it all.
Content
First and foremost, you need content. That means being thorough and yet concise because a 3-page CV will not get a look in, despite what you've written about this award or the amount of trophies you've won for your golfing talents. Aim for about 2 pages maximum. Giving a one page CV may be dangerous as there's a risk you don't communicate all you need to to show you're the right person for the job. To ensure that you're that right person, you need to show your relevance to the position and why you'd fit right in. You need to relate specific bits of what you've done in your education and experience to what they want in a prospective employee. You need to relate skills to requisites. Remember "skills for kills", get the skills covered and you'll knock 'em dead in the preliminary stages. Keep it relevant too; employers will want to hear about your recreational activities but don't go into too much depth. The main thing your CV needs to show is your enthusiasm and drive for what you do in all areas of your life.
Layout
A good layout is key to producing a great CV. A general note is to put the more professional components of what makes the worker you up the top of the sheet and the more informal stuff like what you enjoy doing at the bottom. There are many ways to layout the various parts of your CV and a more modern trend is to tie some of them together into a short, cogent personal statement-esque piece of writing at the top of your resume. This gives the reader a bit of context and a more holistic view when thinking about you as a potential candidate for the job. This could be useful in establishing a good image in the employer's mind and could give you the edge.
Another good pointer is to put your motivations or career objectives at the top to show the employer why you want the job in respect of the big picture you have in your mind. It lets the interviewer know where you're coming from and where you want to go and shows how you fit into the job.
Font
A simple but salient point. Comic sans won't cut it; it never has and it never will. Try something more professional like Verdana or Arial. This allows you to show your professional side and matches the font and your CV fodder with with the position you're fighting for.
With all that said and done, try these tips and see what works for you. It's also worth giving Google a go and looking for some professional templates but take them with a pinch of salt. Anything too stylised will be bad for business and you'll struggle with credibility.
Packing
I'm due to go on holiday soon and stay with my girlfriend for a bit. I'm currently in the process of packing. And the start of a successful bout of suitcase packing is a good, thorough list. A list directs tour thinking toward what you'll need and what you can get away with leaving behind. It also gives you a handy roadmap which allows you to see where you are relative to starting and how much more you have left to do.
At the moment, I'm half way through my packing and am currently rounding up some shirts to wear in Austria. The list is a great tool for me because it puts my mind at ease to see things ticked off a list and it lets me forget about packing and enjoy my holiday.
I'm about halfway though but it doesn't take me long to quickly pack. At the most, it would take me about 45 minutes to pack everything I'll need. My girlfriend will easily take 5 times that and will pack then unpack several times. At the very most, it's taken her 2 days to pack a suitcase to travel. This can be frustrating when she's buzzing around but I just sit back and relax and bat down questions about my packing because my list is complete and all items accounted for and successfully packed.
At the moment, I'm half way through my packing and am currently rounding up some shirts to wear in Austria. The list is a great tool for me because it puts my mind at ease to see things ticked off a list and it lets me forget about packing and enjoy my holiday.
I'm about halfway though but it doesn't take me long to quickly pack. At the most, it would take me about 45 minutes to pack everything I'll need. My girlfriend will easily take 5 times that and will pack then unpack several times. At the very most, it's taken her 2 days to pack a suitcase to travel. This can be frustrating when she's buzzing around but I just sit back and relax and bat down questions about my packing because my list is complete and all items accounted for and successfully packed.
Imminent Euro-wide credit crunch
In recent weeks, it has become apparent that the whole euro-zone is in debt and out of its league. The periphery and the core countries have major problems with regard to their levels of indebtedness and as this becomes apparent, other countries are rapidly ridding themselves of any ties to these countries.
A perfect example is France, about a month ago it was considered to be a stable economy within the Euro and on par with Germany in it's robust stature amid all the money worries of those around it. A new twist to the tale however, is that the French banks have been engaging heavily in gambling through Credit Default Swaps (CDS). These gambles work on the premise of one financial institution gambling on the failure of another. These financial instruments are dangerous because they rely on information about a company / market which isn't accurate. This causes a lack of confidence in the banks selling and buying and results in a lowering of inter-bank lending. This is exactly the course of action which ignited and perpetuated the fall of the global economy in 2008 and afterward.
The proof that banks are reducing their lending and preparing for another rough chapter in this economic crisis is the severance of Asian banks' ties with French banks. This means that the rich Asian banks are no longer lending to French ones. This will cause liquidity issues in the French finance sector which, due to the interlinked nature of finance sectors, will cause a fall among other European financial sectors.
Fundamentally, the bad thing that happenend in 2008 to cause the financial instability is going to happen again and the French bank liquidity / solvency issues are a good indicator of what lies ahead.
A perfect example is France, about a month ago it was considered to be a stable economy within the Euro and on par with Germany in it's robust stature amid all the money worries of those around it. A new twist to the tale however, is that the French banks have been engaging heavily in gambling through Credit Default Swaps (CDS). These gambles work on the premise of one financial institution gambling on the failure of another. These financial instruments are dangerous because they rely on information about a company / market which isn't accurate. This causes a lack of confidence in the banks selling and buying and results in a lowering of inter-bank lending. This is exactly the course of action which ignited and perpetuated the fall of the global economy in 2008 and afterward.
The proof that banks are reducing their lending and preparing for another rough chapter in this economic crisis is the severance of Asian banks' ties with French banks. This means that the rich Asian banks are no longer lending to French ones. This will cause liquidity issues in the French finance sector which, due to the interlinked nature of finance sectors, will cause a fall among other European financial sectors.
Fundamentally, the bad thing that happenend in 2008 to cause the financial instability is going to happen again and the French bank liquidity / solvency issues are a good indicator of what lies ahead.
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Zero Hedge
Zero Hedge (http://www.zerohedge.com/) is an independant news website mainly concerned with the world of finance, stock markets and investments. It came to my attention only recently and I really like it. It deals with the ups and downs in the financial markets and the underlying issues therein. Lots of the articles are thorough and treat a particular piece of market data but also give the full context including who is involved and why it happened the way it did. There are guest writers too; including a few people who identify trends in current economic data and give reasoned predictions of what happens next through the hindsight gained from stock market history.
The website takes a different approach to the markets and government action on finance because it gives an unadulterated presentation and pulls no punches. It makes no apologies for the opinions and themes it pulls from the news and whom it criticises for poor decision making. Many people who write for the website are closely related to the financial industry so they know their ground and this makes re-assuring reading.
On days when there's a run on the banks or a big government data presentation or news from the Fed, BoA, BoE, there's many articles written, constantly updating the blog-style format of the website.
The fact that Zero Hedge is syndicated and affiliated with many other market commentator and money blogs is also encouraging as it shows a wealth of information being brought forward in one community. It's certainly the place to go if you want to read about what's really going on in business and ensure that your money is working as hard as it can and more importantly, is safe.
money 
website 
guide
The website takes a different approach to the markets and government action on finance because it gives an unadulterated presentation and pulls no punches. It makes no apologies for the opinions and themes it pulls from the news and whom it criticises for poor decision making. Many people who write for the website are closely related to the financial industry so they know their ground and this makes re-assuring reading.
On days when there's a run on the banks or a big government data presentation or news from the Fed, BoA, BoE, there's many articles written, constantly updating the blog-style format of the website.
The fact that Zero Hedge is syndicated and affiliated with many other market commentator and money blogs is also encouraging as it shows a wealth of information being brought forward in one community. It's certainly the place to go if you want to read about what's really going on in business and ensure that your money is working as hard as it can and more importantly, is safe.
money website guide
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
Most matter is empty space
Consider this: an atom is composed of a shell of electrons which orbit at a radius to a nucleus made of neutrons and protons. The electron is very small ( ~ 2 x 10^-15 m ) and the nucleus is also a very small object: ( ~1.75 x 10^-15 m ). Classically, the radius of the atom is 10000 times the radius of the nucleus. The distance between the electrons and nucleus is empty space. This means that nearly all the volume associated with an atom is actually empty space.
Monday, 8 August 2011
Discount Coffee review
I've just returned from a trip to a Lidl supermarket near by house: http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/index.htm. It's a discount supermarket. The world discount when associated with a supermarket or retailer of any kind usually conjours doubts and negative images. Aisles and aisles of non-branded gruel, the customers all grey-faced people shivering in rags.
The reality couldn't be further from this image. It's a bright, airy place with many bargains and offers on close imitations to main brand products. I'm going to talk about the discount coffee that they sell there because in a recent coffee taste test, the value, non-branded coffee won out : http://www.supermarketownbrandguide.co.uk/search.php?SearchString=SSCoffee&Search.x=27&Search.y=22&score=&price=0&pricevalue=0.00&orderby=Price.
As I like my coffee caffinated, I selected Aldi's GranArom Highland Gold 100% Arabica instant coffee. First impressions, it looks good. The jar has a distinctive Aztec, hewn-of-glass look to it and the packaging has images of coffee beans on it. It's pretty plain and doesn't try to be anything else.
Popping open the hermetically sealed lid releases a powerful rich aroma. There's no hint of any mealy or bland undertone to the nose of this coffee. It fills the mind with images of warm, comforting, steaming cups of coffee and good times with friends. Long discussions over luxurious coffee.
Once water and milk are added, it tastes great. Really nice smooth flavour. Not too rich but with a powerful smell of real coffee beans. This is definately not from the dregs of the coffee industry, a good piece of evidence for the 'own-brand' / 'non-brand' foodstuffs besting their more expensive cousins.
I'd easily give this coffee a full-bodied 8 out of ten. It's definately a good quality coffee that you could get yourself up with in the morning but not a product that you'd use to impress friends with your sophisticated coffee knowledge. A true no-frills, but delivers exactly what it says kind of product.
coffee
UCL : update
I received a letter detailing that I am now in receipt of an unconditional offer of study at UCL. This is great news as it means that I'm essentially 'in' at UCL and am clear to begin study in September. This is the kind of proof that I've been waiting for, the concrete proof that I've got 'in' and will be studying there. It makes it all the more real and as I read the letter I got so excited because I had physical proof that I'm going there now.
education
college
education
college
Houseshare : update
Today, I called the estate agents who take care of the property that I'm interested in letting a room in. I told them that I had an appointment on the Sunday and that I would not be able to make the appointment. They said that they didn't do appointments on Sunday. This led me to believe that I've got something wrong when I talked to the person on the phone last week.
The person on the end of the phone was only taking messages and told me that a director, a person who can handle my enquiry, would be in the office from 3pm onward and that I should call then. I will do exactly that and hopefully get this mess sorted out. Nothing is ever simple is it? hehe.
The person on the end of the phone was only taking messages and told me that a director, a person who can handle my enquiry, would be in the office from 3pm onward and that I should call then. I will do exactly that and hopefully get this mess sorted out. Nothing is ever simple is it? hehe.
Sunday, 7 August 2011
Violence in Tottenham
It's not a good sign that there has been an apparently random series of violent outrages in North london. Buildings, cars and even a double decker bus have been burned out. There are sketchy reports that attempt to piece together the situation but from what I can tell, it seems there is a large racial component to the outrages.
London is a very diverse city with many different nationalities, religions and skin colours all living together. A utopia for modern society you would think but there is an age old problem between the police and the black demographic. It's not right that the police use their stop and search powers mostly on black people.
However, it seems that this is what happened and sparked off the violence. A black man was involved in an altercation with armed police and shot while in the back of a cab.
The riots that have followed yesterday (6/7/11) and today seem to be the backlash from the local community as young blacks are seething at the heavy handed police presence in their neighbourhood. As a result, a lot of police brutality has been doled out and this has been greeted with all manner of missiles including petrol bombs and rocks.
Looting has also taken place, taking advantage of the misdirection provided by the rioting. It has been observed that many cars have been pulling up at sports shops and had their boots loaded with stolen merchandise. This leads one to consider whether there is a criminal element instigating the riots in the first place. Creating the riots affords a distraction for the police from other less life-threatening and therefore less urgent criminal activities.
Whatever the fallout from these riots and street battles, one thing is clear: there is a lot of hurt in the community of Tottenham and a lot of work needs to be done to heal the wounds inflicted on both sides.
Study preparations
It's not long now till I start reading my second degree at UCL. I've recently sent off a confirmation of my interest in taking a place on an MSc chemical engineering course. I'm really interested in reading engineering as a practical application of the analytical, mathematical and organisational skills I gained as a chemistry student.
I've had a close look at the course synopsis at other institutions and there's good overlap in lots of areas so I've got a good idea that I'll be learning about things like fluid particle systems, process dynamics and control and environmental systems. In the course at UCL there's a lot of emphasis on thermodynamics. I've also got the opportunity to take one option module out of Law for managers, project management and mastering entrepreneurship. These last modules afford opportunities to develop in areas that really interest me. At the moment I'm really leaning toward the project management because I'd rather not take a punt on entrepreneurship. I know that if I took the choice to learn the law or the project management, I'd be taught concrete skills that I'd be able to take to the job. The full list of modules is here: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/chemeng/graduate/msc_content.html.
I'm really interested in specialising in engineering and getting to grips with developing industrial envrionments toward safety, loss prevention and efficiency gains.
Community Shield
It's been an exciting turn up in the football Community Shield between the Manchester teams, Man Utd and Man City. It has been a game of sorts so far in the first half, with some amateur dramatics from the Man City side and what seemed to be a surging game from United. However, two goals from Man City in quick succession have certainly taken some of the wind out of United's sails. There's also been a big change in the body Language of United's new goalkeeper De Gea; his head is hanging and it should be as he's let in two goals on his debut for Manchester United.
The game isn't over yet but this kind of early goal scoring is something that's been lacking in City's game for a while. It is also worth noting that it is a strong habit of Manchester United to score lots of goals later on in the game. What is interesting is that now, Man City seem to have a composure and poise that they didn't have last season. And even though this is a 'friendly' game, it has all the grit and determination of top flight football.
Hopefully City's luck will turn in the new football season and Man Utd's star will fall in favour of a strong new team with the motivation to win the premiership.
Walking
Today I went for a walk. Quite a long one: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=DN33+1EN&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1280&bih=711&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x487884a52a1de7eb:0x930d2bda1454cdca,Grimsby,+South+Humberside+DN33+1EN&gl=uk&ei=o5s-TomyO8-whAeEosmLAg&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBgQ8gEwAA
health
I decided that I'd make something of my Sunday and so I put on some hiking socks and boots and set out for the beach. I packed some water, enhanced with effervescent sports hydration tablets (the particular brand is High5. I prefer the citrus flavour ones : http://www.superfit.co.uk/high-5-low-cal-zero-active-hydration-1-x-20-flavoured-tablets.html) and some oatbars.
It was excellent weather for it too; not too hot and with a good breeze to help keep me cool. As I'm due to go on holiday to Austria to walk in the hills, I wanted to ensure that I've got some miles in my legs in preparation. I've been doing a lot of walking recently just going about my business in my summer break. This has given me the basic fitness I need to get by in Austria. However, I wanted to test myself on a route of roughly the distance that I'll be doing on holiday.
This 9 mile route is over mostly flat terrain and because Google maps doesn't allow for off road route plotting, the parts where I walked on the sand aren't shown. So for completion, on the more northern part of the route, I did walk on the beach and on the sandy thoroughfare near the docks. A lot of the route is over paths and roads. This isn't representative of what I'll be covering in Austria but the distance is so it's all good fun and good prep for my holiday!!
health
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