presentación de libro 24

http://tomscott.com - http://twitter.com/tomscott - Thanks to the Transport Research Laboratory for letting me have a test ride on one of the Meridian Shuttles they're testing on the Greenwich Peninsula! If you want a ride, they'll be there, on and off, between March and May -- not often enough to make a special trip worth it, but if you're in the area, see if you can spot one!

Remember Heartbleed? Well, this is probably worse. Here's a (somewhat simplified) explanation of what Shellshock actually is. Don't worry: I haven't included instructions on how to actually exploit it. The moral of the story is: keep your security patches up to date!

http://tomscott.com - http://twitter.com/tomscott - With many thanks to the South Street Seaport Museum! Visit them at http://southstreetseaportmuseum.org/ or at Pier 16 in New York.

These days, if you have dangerous, underwater shoals and you need a lighthouse, you build a big tower and anchor it to the seabed. But a hundred years ago, that technology wasn't there: and so you'd build a lightvessel: a floating lighthouse with a crew of twelve, who's stay out in the dangerous channel in all weathers. At the South Street Seaport Museum, Mike Weiss, the waterfront foreman, gave me a tour around the Lightship Ambrose.

(Apologies for the audio on this one: I was shooting quickly, and it turns out it's windy on the East River in New York!)

This is part of School of YouTube! If you've learned something, help someone who hasn't got that chance. http://comicrelief.com/tomscott
In the UK: Text SOYT9 to 70005 to donate £5 - In the US: Text SOYT9 to 71777 to pledge. See T&Cs below.
Thank you to VIRTUAL AVIATION - http://virtualaviation.co.uk - for providing their absolutely astonishing simulator. (Seriously, the folks in the back had to keep holding on when the plane tilted.)

Thank you to GORDON BURNS - http://twitter.com/mrgordonburns - for the wonderful voiceover harking back to the Krypton Factor.

And many thanks, of course, to MATT GRAY - http://mattg.co.uk http://twitter.com/unnamedculprit - for his excellent directing, and MORAG HICKMAN - http://entanglement.co.uk http://twitter.com/moraghickman - for stepping up as a pilot.

(All three of us got the plane down on a perfectly still day with no wind. But an autopilot could do that. That's not nearly as interesting.)

UK: Texts cost £5 plus your standard network message charge. £5 per text goes to Comic Relief. You must be 16 or over and, please, ask the bill payer’s permission.
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http://techdif.co.uk - This week, we start with Steve Irwin, discuss some shocking fish, and tell a tale of a penguin in the desert who just needed a hug.

BONUS MATERIAL - The Thunderbirds Crematorium: http://youtu.be/WJWT066UukM
THE FULL PLAYLIST: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...

TOM is @tomscott and at http://tomscott.com
GARY is @garybrannan
MATT is @unnamedculprit and at http://mattg.co.uk
CHRIS doesn't do this social media nonsense.

http://tomscott.com - @tomscott - Welcome to the Kelston Toll Road: Fed up with a 14-mile diversion caused by a landslip, businessman Mike Watts has taken a £300,000 risk and set up his own private toll road. It costs £2 for cars to travel the 400 metres -- which is slightly less than the cost of the petrol to take the detour. And the odd thing is this: despite the Kelston Toll Road not being approved by the local council, Mike is still on the right side of the law.

Many thanks to Mike Watts and the team at the Kelston Toll Road: they can be found on Twitter at @KelstonTollRoad and, obviously, between Bath and Kelston on the A431!

http://tomscott.com - http://twitter.com/tomscott - Around the United Kingdom there are odd concrete pillars on the top of hills, built to last for decades if not centuries. They've got a cryptic marking on them, and the words "Ordnance Survey Triangulation Station".

What are they? (They're trig points.) Who put them there? (Brigadier Martin Hotine and thousands of people working with him.) And why? (To get an accurate map of the UK, with maths.)

http://tomscott.com - @tomscott - Why don't we use mixer taps? I've talked about the British plug before, and how it's a wonderful design: British plumbing, on the other hand, still leaves a lot to be desired.

http://tomscott.com - http://twitter.com/tomscott - On a busy street in Manhattan, there was once a place called Tad's 30 Varieties of Meals -- or possibly Tad's 57 Varieties, or maybe just Tad's. It closed long ago, but the idea was this: diners would pick a frozen meal, take it to their own table, and put it in their new, shiny, space-age microwave oven. Needless to say, it didn't catch on: but there's more history there than you might think.