China…

Get this.

“It is difficult to comprehend fully the phenomenon of China’s massive growth. China is now the number-one producer of liquid crystal display (LCD) screens and TVs. It manufactures 90 per cent of the world’s toys, 70 per cent of photocopiers, 50 per cent of cameras, 40 per cent of microwaves, 30 per cent of handbags and suitcases and 16 per cent of clothing.

China annually consumes 47 per cent of the world’s cement, 26 per cent of steel and aluminium, 33 per cent of iron ore and 22 per cent of copper. China was a net exporter of oil eight years ago, but today it is the fastest-growing importer and the second-largest consumer. It is also the world’s number one consumer of zinc, tin, rubber, cotton, wheat and, not surprisingly, rice.

The Washington Post estimates that 80 per cent of the 6,000 factories in Wal-Mart’s supplier database are in China. There are now about 130 cities in China with a population of one million or more, against only nine in the US. The Chinese are building 50,000 miles of motorway, the equivalent of the entire US interstate network. It took the US 40 years to do this – the Chinese plan to build theirs in five.

Most people in China and India have no electricity, so their demand for energy should continue to grow rapidly. In addition, Chinese car production doubled during the past four years and there is still plenty of growth potential. China graduates 325,000 engineers a year which is five times the number in the US. English is China’s second language; in the US, just 50,000 students are learning Chinese. Most important of all, the average labour cost in China is just 4 per cent of that of the US, which has never before had to deal with a competitor of such size and dynamism.

In comparison to China, Europe is a joke. Its politicians fiddle while its industries burn. They continue to tinker with a rapidly increasing number of bureaucratic regulations, coupled with demands for a shorter working week and further employee benefits… ”

– Investor’s Chronicle. 10 February 2006.

Hard Disk Hassle…

See this picture.

It’s a hard disk with 2 neat little brackets that screw onto the side, allowing you to slip the disk in and out of the rack inside the PC.

So what, you might ask !

Well, a while ago I thought I’d reinstall XP and sort out the storage on my machine.

Decided on a new 160GB disk to add to the 200GB drive I’ve already got.

The idea is to dedicate the 200GB disk to my video work and use the 160GB drive for everything else. Simple.

Got a good deal on the new disk and opened up my box to fit it. Ages ago I used to work with hardware and did this kinda thing all the time.

When I got under the bonnet, I saw the existing disk held in the rack with these sliding brackets. I hadn’t seen these before and realised I needed two more for the new disk.

Didn’t think they would be that easy to describe, so had a brainwave and snapped a few pics with the digital camera. Nice.

Raced off to Tottenham Court Road one evening after work to pick up some brackets. Ended up spending a fruitless evening going in and out of the electronics shops with this photo.

They were all keen to sell me a bargain laptop or a cut-price PDA. But, as soon as I asked about sliding hard disk brackets they shook their heads dismissively and moved on to the next mark…

Can I find these fucking brackets ?

I cannot.

I’ve searched the internet, browsed eBay, emailed the company I bought the PC from, been into various computer shops and even asked the IT guys at work.

All say they don’t have them.

One guy even said, ‘Oh yeah, we get those from time to time and usually throw them out!’. What !?!

So, the hunt goes on. I’ve learnt they’re mainly used in servers, hence not being widely available in the retail market. I now vainly carry this photo around asking anyone who might know where I can get sliding hard disk mounting brackets !

God Dammit !

Does anyone out there know where I can get two of these little beauties ? I’ve got a lonely hard disk in need of a pair…

Sausages

I’ve made my first batch of sausages. Yipppeeeeee!

Have wanted to get into sausage making for a while. Eventually got round to buying the kit and now I’ve churned out my first batch.

Decided on a kilo of traditional cumberland and a kilo of spicy cajun. It takes longer than you think to grind, mix and fill the hog casings, but it’s well worth it. You’ve gotta get the right fat content too, otherwise you end up with a dried out, tough old banger.

I think I may have put too much rusk in, but otherwise they are fab. Got a sausage making cook book for Christmas and am hoping to perfect the art before the barbecue season comes around.

The idea of tasty homemade sausages sizzling on the grill on a hot summer’s day is awesome. Roll on June…

Blair, God and the war in Iraq

The media are whipping themselves into an irrational frenzy over Tony Blair’s recent Iraq God comment. Blair’s admitted on a chat show that his decision to go to war in Iraq would ultimately be judged by God.

He believes in God. Therefore this must be his conclusion on how he will be judged. End of story. If you believe in God, you must accept God’s judgement. It’s, after all, a fundamental principle of Christianity. Big deal. If that’s what he ultimately believes, fine.

The issue is whether his faith influences his political judgement and decision-making. If it does, then we are moving into a whole new territory. We are a secular society, like it or not, and we expect political leaders to govern along secular lines.

The moment religious sentiment creeps into political decision-making we run into trouble. God and Government should be kept apart for very good reasons. Theocracies always prove disastrous and, by and large, lead to persecution, bloodshed and worse. Much of European history has been devoted to keeping political power out of the hands of the church.

So, this looks suspiciously like more media bullshit. Who cares if Blair has a faith. Lots of people do. As long as it remains a private matter, we should accept it and move on.