Northern Trip

Hurricane update - 19 July

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:32:16 GMT

Tropical depression 03 has formed off the coast of the Carolinas. Winds are increasing, but at the moment not exceeding 35 mph (force 7 on the Beaufort scale). This system will become a tropical storm later today, and will amble northeast, parallel to the coastline before being scooped up by a frontal system to the north.

Hurricane local statements are in force in SC, NC and VA, but I must stress that this is NOT a hurricane. The main problem with TD 03 is the amount of rainfall - 2 to 4 inches. Please check the NHC website for 6-hourly updates and further details.

Solar Eclipse

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:35:18 GMT

On 1 August, as Cathy reminds us, a solar eclipse will grace the skies of Europe and Asia. Starting at 08.04 GMT and lasting for 4½ hours until 12.36 GMT, the UK will see between 20% and 40% of the sun's surface obscured at around 10.15 am. More info on this official NASA site.

WARNING
NEVER look DIRECTLY at the sun, with the naked eye, binoculars or darkened glass. Your sight may be irreversibly damaged or lost.

Hurricane update - 18 July

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:17:23 GMT

Everyone in the states of Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina should be aware that a low pressure system off southern Georgia could be turning into a tropical depression later today or tomorrow. The system is moving north northeast, parallel to the coast. Heavy rain is possible in these areas; please monitor bulletins from your local National Weather Service buro, as well as the NHC into the evening and night.

PLEASE RELAY

Hurricane update - 17 July

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:15:38 GMT

The NHC are watching a low pressure system 75 miles east of Jacksonville, FL, which shows some potential to develop into a possible tropical system. It is not directly affecting weather in FL or GA, although a line of showers is draped along the eastern seaboard of both states.

The Netherlands Antilles are affected by a tropical wave, which will bring heavy showers and strong winds. A tropical wave is a seasonal weather phenomenon in the Atlantic, where bulges of moist air are released from the African continent. These waves tend to be the sparking points for hurricanes to form.

At this point in time, I'm monitoring 4 tropical cyclones around the world, as well as three pieces of weather that could become that. A typhoon has just passed near Taipei, the Taiwanese capital. Two systems in the Eastern Pacific, and tropical storm Bertha, which has been around for more than 2 weeks; NHC are currently on their 59th advisory. It could become one of the longest living storms in the Atlantic.

2,200,000%

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:52:50 GMT

The inflation percentage in Zimbabwe at the moment. Mugabe still in power, and likely to remain there until he goes to meet his Maker. Country in economic melt-down, but as long as RM is in power, all is well in his world. Everybody else can go hang - he used that quote in relation to the United Kingdom, but you can safely add another 6 billion or so people to that. I despair.

Monday 14 July

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:39:44 GMT

Olive Riley, the world's oldest blogger aged 108, sadly passed away at a nursing home in Australia last Saturday. With the help of a friend, she posted reminiscences on her life on the web. Her blog is currently inaccessible due to too high and interest; a satellite blog is available.

The president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, has been indicted by the War Crimes Tribunal of The Hague, for alleged crimes against his own population in Darfur. However, Sudan does not recognise the jurisdiction of the tribunal, so he won't be seen around The Hague just yet. He should be though, with the way things have gone in Darfur recently.

Alerts sorted

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:04:07 GMT

I seemed to remember that AOL Alerts cannot cope if you have more than 200 alerts outstanding. I had 217. So, I deleted all the alerts I am currently following through Google Reader, reducing them to a manageable 23, including the private journals. I hope these now work.

Alerts & AOHell

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:42:38 GMT

Those of you who have given me access to your private journals please bear with me. AOL is no longer permitting me to add new alerts to the list, and private journals cannot be read with a feed-reader. I'll just have to make a list in Firefox with the URL's. Sorry.

J-land

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:48:56 GMT

As several of you will have found out by now, I've decided to resume reading everybody's journals. I think I have all stations covered, except the private journals. Can all whose private journals I read please email me direct. I have visited a couple tonight, but there are quite a few more. I made a list, which I unfortunately left in Scotland. I will not be posting much just yet, more likely on the Shell Gallery journal. See you around!

Technical advice

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:58:04 GMT

If you hear of any people suddenly losing Internet access after July 8th who are using a ZoneAlarm firewall, please tell them to access the Net from a different PC (one that does NOT use ZA) to view this advice.

Apparently, a Windows update clashes with ZoneAlarm, causing it to deny all Internet access. Basically, the best thing to do is to un-install the update (through Add Programs on your Control Panel). It does NOT apply to Windows Vista.