Showing posts with label quality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quality. Show all posts

Old Photos Located in Scotland

A cache of old photographs has been put on display in Scotland. It is not known who took them, but the person must have been an ardent world traveller. There are pictures taken in Bolivia, Argentina, India and New Zealand. The images are of very high quality.

The collection had been stored at the Roslin Institute for many years. This is where Dolly the Sheep was born. Photos of animals were probably taken during research at the institute. It is possible the "culprits" were James Cossar Ewart (who did travel widely) and Robert Wallace who were professors there from 1882. The rest of the photographs are a mystery.

The animal pictures are interesting enough, though the images of people in other countries are illuminating. In one, a leper is carried by two boys with a hanging container for alms. The boys use a carrying pole to distance themselves from the leper. Another picture shows a child with a lamb.

The most significant scene shows a Maori Girl in full dress of the day standing on a canoe. Two cliffs rise from a river's edge vertically upward. Dense vegetation can be seen in the background. Subjects are generally posing in the shots. However, this does not denigrate the images in any way.
Science by Ty Buchanan
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Koalas Know What to Eat

Koalas may look dozy and stupid. However, they are really smart. Nature has given them a strong identification for what is good to eat. The nutritional quality of eucalyptus leaves determines the koala population in a given area.

Koalas need nitrogen to make energy, though they move very slowly. Without this valuable mineral they would simply not survive. Eucalyptus trees also contain toxins, a potential death threat to the animal.

Eight species of eucalyptus were tested. It was found that koalas stayed away from trees carrying toxins and were attracted to those high in nitrogen.  They obviously know what is good them.  The search for food dominates their lives.

If this identification of superior food is true for koalas it must be the case for other animals. They are intrinsically guided to sources of higher quality food. Dogs for example do know which type of grass to eat to solve a health problem. It is unusual for dogs to eat grass, but sometimes they do.

If good food is scarce which it is in Australia, it is logical that sensory systems of animals would evolve to identify sources of better nutrition. In the future, environmentalists should examine the quality of food in a habitat before re-introducing endangered animals.  The carrying capacity of the environment affects its carrying capacity.
Science by Ty Buchanan
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Nexus 7 Review - Poor, Do Not Buy!

You have to be careful buying new tech products. There is a belief out there that a new version is always better than the old one. This is not always the case. Take for instance the new Nexus 7. A lot has been written about this with some rave reviews.

I don't know what some of these reviewers are on, but they certainly are not seeing things clearly - some bias is there. The widely held view that buying the latest Nexus 7 is the road to Nirvana is wrong. If you have another Android device with the same login you will not get an automatic restore. It just does not work because Google picks up the two Android devices. A trip into the Play Store will be necessary. Click on the icon in the top left and "My Apps" will be shown. You have to click "All" to see the apps you have paid for.

Re-installing each one in turn is the requirement and don't think all your data is automatically backed up. You discover that you should have backed up the data for each app separately before you dumped the perfectly good older version. A thing that you will regret.

The only virtue of the new Nexus 7 is that it is thinner. That sums it up. Despite having stereo speakers one at each end it does not cut the mustard. What a stupid idea having stereo on such a small device! Sound quality is very poor indeed. It really is disgraceful. If you plug it into a hi-fi you have to turn the volume up to number 22. This compares with 10 using the old version of Nexus 7.

Another odd thing is the hi-fi volume can be turned to maximum and it doesn't get louder - it gets more distorted. The old Nexus had beautiful base and full hi-fi volume could not be set as it was too loud. There is just a pinging "sort of" base with the new one. It is an odd sound. You cannot enjoy listening to music, podcasts only I would say. Even then there is only treble, no base at all from the two speakers. There was some base on the older version playing on its own.

A mystery to me is that all the BBC apps have disappeared from the Play Store. Has Google had a falling out with them or something. This sudden parting seems strange.

Don't be reckless and buy the new Nexus 7. It is a waste of money. No wonder the price has fallen. Many customers would return it if they kept the receipt. Oh, how I miss my old Nexus that unfortunately was dropped and became stuck in the "ON" position. Google picked that up and would not do an automatic install.  Buying online may be easy, but it is risky.  I should have gone to a store and taken it for a test drive.  You do learn something every day.
Technology by Ty Buchanan