bloggetiblog

2008-08-03T19:55:00.014Z

Gameplan: strategies for survival in a digital future

Game playing has never been much my thing. I never really enjoyed playing board games and I detest cards - it's the Devil's game, don't you know!? I've never really liked team sports either. Apart from being an ex-Tetris addict, I have never played computer games either. Despite all this I was quite excited about participating in an interesting games lab (iglab).

What, you ask, is an interesting games lab? In their own words:

The Interesting Games Lab offers the opportunity to play some interesting games, meet some interesting people and look at some interesting ideas.

But that doesn't really explain what goes on at their events, especially to someone like me who only had a flyer saying we would be playing the following games: The Comfort of Strangers, Lost Sport of Olimpia, hypSync and OMMRPG (Korean laser-mirror game).

Don't you just love the way they decided to include a short explanation of OMMRPG (which actually stands for Offline Multi-Mirror Reflector Positioning Game) and that the this only made everything sound even more cryptic? I was certainly intrigued and as I began to find out more on these games online I became more so.

I want to get straight into explaining about the games, but I also want to briefly draw attention to the fact this was a collaboration with the good folks of Dorkbot, the Pervasive Media Studios, ished, Watershed and many more...

I will explain more about that later, first things first!

Let the games begin
Arriving at 7pm at the luscious quarters of the Pervasive Media Studios, I was greeted by a free bar (this should not be the reason why you should want to go to their events!) and quickly started mingling with people, which led to being roped in to a wii [sic] game of virtual bowling. This was fun and waaaay to easy, you probably need to drink a lot more wine in order for it to become challenging. After a few strikes it was announced that we would be going outside for the first game: the Lost Sport of Olimpia. Now, there's quite a bit of lore on this game and it has a huge following worldwide. The name refers to the fact that, for some unknown reason, the ancient Greeks banned this game from being played. It is only recently that the rules have been rediscovered.

This is how we played it:

Our group of 30 or so people was split into two and with a chalk two simple 3-circuit labyrinths were created on the pavement.

Standing on the lines we created a human labyrinth from which a blindfolded 'runner' had to escape from using only sense of hearing - no touching allowed. The human wall provided the directional que by humming so the runner would know which direction to move towards.

It sounds easy, but believe me when I say it is extremely disorientating! Although, having only tried it the once, I'm sure you can quickly get the hang of it. It took a few seconds to re-adjust my senses, there was also an odd claustrophobic feeling and a strange intimacy coming from the trust you were putting into these strangers. I thought it was a really good game for developing team work and trust. There is also lots of potential for increasing the difficulty and improving wall tactics. I am still wondering why it was banned from the Greek Olympics 2000 years ago...

The comforts of self-organisation
The second game was completely different. It was probably my favourite one that we played that evening. Mainly because it uses a technology that I'm a great fan of and get very excited about - Mscapes (I also gave it a mention in a New Scientist blog). It is still in its early days, but boy oh boy has Mscape or similar innovation just waiting to be taken advantage of.

So you can imagine my excitement when I found out that the game we were about to play - The Comfort of Strangers - makes use of this interesting mobile gaming platform. In danger of being accused of laziness, I am going to let the inventors of the game describe the gaming experience simply because I think they've done a fantastic job and I would only end up plagiarising it!

In this game there are two teams: Dancers and Lovers. Before the game started we were split into two groups, a mixture of Dancers and Lovers, then we were told to run off and turn on our PDA after 10 minutes - after that, the game was on!

You walk through the busy square, headphones hidden beneath your hood. A voice whispers in your ear, "there's another Lover nearby...;" you steal a look around trying not to be too obvious and you hear the voice again: "...your life is now at level 6..." You must be a lover and you need find that other person in the crowd, team up. You set off, weaving through the crowd, trying to blend in.

"There's a Dancer nearby..." you stop to read a sign and look around "...your life is now at 5..." Damn! Gotta stay away from the Dancers; If they find you before you find another Lover you could be in trouble; if your life drops to zero you are out of the game. But how do you discover the other players hidden in the crowd and, when you do, how to you know who they are? You could ask them "are you a Lover or a Dancer?..."

The Comfort of Strangers is a street game that uses ipaq PDAs, mscape software and adhoc wifi networks to create a series of social encounters driven by risk and common interest. Players use anonymity and group formation to live and survive urban experience. They find comfort in strangers.

The Comfort of Strangers from Simon Evans on Vimeo

I think this is a brilliant idea. But I did feel the game was lacking a focus, some kind of aim. A 'Capture the flag' goal seems a bit tame, but it would certainly be a start... I can imagine this game being played on a massive scale, I'm thinking worldwide. Most devices nowadays have GPS, you could always be playing it and run into all sorts of Dancers and Lovers on your journey back home from work. Imagine if there were different tasks you had to accomplish, something fun like (from the top of my head): Find 3 other Lovers and release a 100 McDonalds balloons. Anything really.

What is even cooler is that the whole game is a research project in how swarms work! This is another favourite research area of mine. My dissertation was in this field and focused on an aspect of self-organisation called stigmergy.

I am definitely planning to get in touch with these people and see if I can get involved.

"LASER"
Next up was the OMMRPG (the Korean laser - mirror game). Now this was probably the, in my opinion, least successful game.
Two teams, with six players: one is the 'shooter', two/three 'blockers' and two/three 'reflectors'. The shooter uses a laser to score points in the other team's goal, but only through reflecting the beam using the mirrors... Now bear in mind that this is one of those laser pen pointers, so you haven't got a very wide beam or anything. The goal is about the size of a 14" pizza sitting high up on the opposite wall some 8 meters away, the mirrors fit neatly into your palm and people are jumping up and down in front of you - some of them much, much taller than you. How the hell is that ever going to work? Well apparently it does and I am just no good at Korean laser games... So this one was definitely not a winner for me. Plus you had to wear stupid gold head bands. I have since then found out that we did not actually play the real thing. You actually wear the mirrors... Although perhaps rules aren't that rigid because this video is a fine example of how it went down at the Pervasive Media Studios (this video is from PICNIC '07):

Take a chance, have a dance
The final game was a dancing game (hypSync)! It was a bit like silent disco, in that we were all given mp3 players with four different songs on them and headphones (I am sorry to say I have forgotten what the songs were). We had 20 seconds to guess which of the four songs other people were listening to by checking out their grooves and form a group. If you were in the wrong group you were out of the game. The second round was only 10 seconds long, the next 5 seconds and the winner was the last person standing. It was a pretty enjoyable way to end a wholly fun, interesting, wine-fuelled and thought-provoking evening.

Dancing away at the Pervasive Media Studios - we could have done with a bit more atmosphere...

Making the connections
As promised at the start of this article, I also wanted to point out the extent of collaboration that goes on between the various organisations.

Originally I came across the event through Dorkbot. I have yet to attend any of their events, however, in the future I most certainly shall. Dorkbot is an international organisation for all kinds of people who like to play with electronics and go somewhere to show, tell, share and learn from and with fellow 'dorks'. So on the first level this is a collaboration with Dorkbot Bristol. Iglab, and The Comfort of Strangers in particular, is funded by the Pervasive Media Studio as part of Media Sandbox, which has partnership with HP Labs. Pervasive Media Studio is an aspect of dshed - a sub-section of Bristol's cultural hub the Watershed. Also, iglab was inspired by something called Hide and Seek Fest, But hang on, we're not done yet! There are more connections to be made, because the games themselves, especially The Lost Sport of Olimpia, has a huge following and all kinds of spin-offs. One of the most interesting, to me, is Find the Lost Ring. I am not even going to try to explain it here, the post is long enough as it is, but I would also much rather actually have a go at playing it and then write about it. My only concern is that it might be a bit too 'Dungeon and Dragons' like, which really isn't my cup of tea.

It is very exciting for me to find this whole world where sociology, technology and art intersect.

The good people at iglab are putting on their own street games and pervasive games festival: the igfest on 19-21 September Harbourside Bristol, UK. I'm certainly getting involved - are you?

One more final note - I promise! This is just something I came across while finding out about all of the above and I think it would be great to get involved in PICNIC - a conference in Amsterdam in September that "...spotlights cutting-edge products and services at the intersection of media, technology, arts and entertainment, and brings together entrepreneurs, investors, creators as well as scientists, and other industry leaders..." Sounds like I would fit right in! Unfortunately it does have a hefty price-tag. But I will try to see if I can volunteer in some way.

2008-04-05T14:32:00.003Z

Have you ever heard anything more ridiculous than this? (I'm sure you have, but this got to be up there with the best of them...)

Sneezetics

A British gym has become the first to introduce a high impact calorie busting fitness craze which has swept through parts of America - sneezing classes. And the 30 minute workouts have already proved a huge hit with gym members keen to improve their fitness by simply sneezing.

Instructors from Fitness First have been flown to America to learn the finer points of the technique known as "Sneezetics." Each of them spent a week working with Dr April Jones the woman behind the fitness programme.

The self-styled fitness guru runs her "Institute of Sneezetics" from her home in Tofool, Arizona. During their week long stay the three instructors learned the finer points of making people sneeze and the benefits it can bring.

Fitness First personal trainer Darren Taylor, who is based at the Fitness First gym in Southampton, Hants, said: "Making someone sneeze was difficult at first.

"But Dr Jones was brilliant at making people sneeze and my colleagues and I soon got the hang of it.

"The best thing to use is a feather duster and if you flick it under a member’s nose in a certain way they are almost guaranteed to sneeze.

"I've also pioneered my own pepper sprinkling technique. With a flick of my wrist I can now send enough powder into the air to make almost anyone sneeze."

Darren added that the classes have been a huge hit at his gym where "Sneezetics" classes are being piloted by Fitness First, especially when a member has a slightly larger nasal passage.

He said: "They have been very popular. People who are looking for a quick workout love it. Following a warm up we are making them sneeze around six times over a 30 minute period and there is no doubt they are feeling better for it."

Dr Jones said: "You would have to be a fool not to see how this is a beneficial thing. Sneezing is a convulsive expulsion of air from the lungs and because of that the benefits are huge.

"Sneezing over a 30 minute period can help weight loss, muscle toning and increase of lung function.

"The art of sneezing is as old as time itself and there is clear evidence that cavemen used it as a way of keeping fit and healthy.

"It really works core strength and most people will lose around 50 calories per sneeze, depending on enthusiasm.

"I have seen Americans who have developed a six-pack and lost pounds simply through energetic sneezing workouts."

Wonder where I found this? On the Fitness First website – I might have to investigate this further, because it's just ludicrous. I wonder what that 'doctor' would have to say if I asked a few questions about these sneezing six-pack people. Crazy stuff eh?

2008-02-03T14:30:00.000Z

Got some more stories for you to have a look at. First up is my write-up of research on swarming owls for New Scientist's Technology section blog.

Next up is a piece I did for Null Hypothesis on circuit bending.

I have also started a new job with Zenith Publishing, a publisher for the food and beverage industry. I'm a sub-editor for several B2B magazines, including Journey, cooler innovation, beverage innovation, water innovation, dairy innovation and their affiliated web sites.

My partner of seven years and I have decided to go separate ways, which means I'm now for the look out for a new home. This will preferably be a studio or one-bedroom flat for max. £450 in Bath (yeah, I know - good luck finding that...). So if anyone has any tips do get in touch. Don't use the email on my profile as that's a fake one to avoid spam. Just send me a comment...

2007-10-09T21:26:00.000Z

I would like to bring to your attention some news stories that I wrote whilst at BBC Focus magazine. Check 'em out:

Also, I've completed the Science, Culture and Communication course at Bath University. I'm now embarking on a transitory period. It shan't be easy, but a new anchor will be found!

2007-07-27T18:54:00.000Z

I have written another interesting (obviously!) blog entry for New Scientist. It's all about robots (again...), but this time they're emotional.

Have a read about Feline feelings.

2007-07-21T09:17:00.000Z

Robot ethics

Cronos - the anthropomimetic robot created by Rob Knight at the robot studio

Robots, power drills, ethics and phantom limbs - these are a few of my favourite things.
This odd amalgamation of seemingly disparate concepts and objects are held together by something even more peculiar: Consciousness - machine consciousness to be specific.
Machine consciousness is a relatively new field in robotics which is dedicated to the construction of machines that are conscious like us.

Even though most of us are self-proclaimed experts on our selves, consciousness is still one of those big unanswered questions that we know very little about. So it might seem a bit strange to try and build something when we do not even know how it works. However, this is exactly what Professor Owen Holland from the University of Essex has been working on for the past 3 years. Having been called 'gung-ho' for his approach to understanding consciousness, Holland's research consists of building a real-life robot that uses power drill motors and bungee cords to drive the 'muscles' and plastic for the bone structure.

Other attempts at understanding consciousness have involved designing software models based on popular theories of consciousness or by copying what we know about the various neuron connections in the brain. But so far no-one has tried to build an embodied system quite like Holland's.
The majority of current research in neuroscience, philosophy and now robotics emphasize the importance of embodiment. Experiments in neurology suggest that the brain uses an internal model of the body in order to simulate various scenarios before we actually encounter them. Major books on the topic of consciousness, like Ramachandran and Blakeslee's 'Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind', or Metzinger's 'Being No-one' are convinced that "the phenomenal self is a virtual agent". This implies something slightly unnerving and quite mind boggling, that what we experience as reality is actually a mere simulation.
Evidence of this theory can be found in neurological curiosities like phantom limbs where people who have had an arm or leg amputated are still experiencing sensations in the missing limb. It is as if the body's model has not been updated. Other examples include the fact that schizophrenics are able to tickle themselves, the hypothesis is that this is due to their inability to predict, or simulate.

The problem with machine consciousness is that in Holland's own words, “We are ignorant about what we are doing, we wouldn't even know if it was suffering terribly.” But he also says, “I'm not worried yet, in 15-20 years time, maybe.” Murray Shanahan, Professor of Cognitive Robotics Imperial College in London, does not believe that “a scientific understanding of consciousness will ever be achieved without such [computational] models” but finds himself confronted with the future prospect of creating an artificial entity that is capable of suffering. The concept of a robot suffering might seem alien, and not something that most people would concern themselves with considering the amount of human suffering that goes unnoticed in the world today. Nevertheless, governments worldwide have initiated robot ethics programmes, such as 'The Roboethics Roadmap' funded by the EU and the UK's ESPRC funded 'Walking With Robots' initiative that tries to encourage debate about the ethics of the future. To some, this might seem like a waste of time and money, but this could possibly be one of the few times when the ethics are ahead of the science. Other recent technological advances like GM, stem cell research and nanotechnology have had difficulties becoming publicly accepted exactly because the ethics had not been properly considered.

Asia has long been at the forefront of robotics research. Governments in Japan and South Korea have suggested elaborate guidelines to ensure the safety of both humans and robots. These guidelines indicate a need to have accepted standards before letting robots loose in our homes. Dr. Blay Whitby, whose research include the social and ethical implications of artificial intelligence at the University of Sussex, is cautious. “I'm not against the technology - it could make people's lives a lot better - I just want some ethical input .“

The military has also shown interest in the possibilities of conscious machines. It is therefore even more pressing that the ethical debate involves not only researchers in the field but the broader public as well. We must ask what the implications of machine consciousness are for humanity, as well as machinery, as we continue exploring the perplexing universe of the mind.

2007-06-15T17:45:00.000Z

Got some more great news. I managed to bag a placement with BBC Focus. I've tried for months but they were all booked up, but persistence pays off, because they ended up giving me a slot in September. Look forward to some fantastic writing...

2007-05-21T17:10:00.000Z

My last installment from the New Scientist office, unfortunately. But as good ol' Arnie used to say "I'll be back".

Build your own research balloon

I made this guy's day, which felt pretty good!

2007-05-17T17:41:00.000Z

I've written my first piece of real news. This was a tricky one, but I did it and I'm proud!
There was quite a bit of editing from the original piece, but I learned some important lessons.
Have a read and let me know what you think of it.

'New nano-glue likes it hot'

2007-05-17T17:15:00.000Z

Here's another blog post that I wrote whilst staying at the glorious New Scientist office.

It's a story about sick, sick robots.

2007-05-15T17:18:00.000Z

Finding it hard to get to grips with programming? Well read this fantastic blog about Coding made simple

2007-05-11T17:30:00.000Z

Blogging away with New Scientist gave way to an interesting report on Smarter streets in Tokyo.

I'm quite interested in the concept of 'mediascapes' and I think I will be writing more about it at a later date. I think it may change the way we view the world quite literally.

2007-05-09T17:35:00.000Z

My first ever piece of writing with New Scientist. Have no fear - it shan't be the last! And it's even on my pet subject: Robots

2007-03-21T17:06:00.000Z

From the 7-18th May yours truly will be have the delightful pleasure to be working with the masterminds of science communication - New Scientist. Of course I will keep you all posted.

2007-02-27T16:27:00.000Z

This article was originally published in the Bath University student paper 'Impact'

Sex in the future

Human sexuality is a biological drive as well as a cultural phenomenon, the future will see advances in both. It is likely that there will be more same-sex relations as boundaries of gender blur. We are experiencing the first waves of the androgynous look in couture fashion as well as the urban metrosexual male, and as long as there is no total religious takeover of our culture, it is likely that more people will have gay sex without necessarily identifying as gay.

Non-reproductive sex seems to always have been a part of the human sexual repertoire and the entertainment industry knows how to take advantage of this. Whenever a new technology arrives you can be sure that if it can be adapted to sexual uses. Painting, photography, film, and even pottery have been utilised in pornography, while the VCR and the camcorder gave us cheap porn.

Tomorrow's workplace will be your home, giving you less opportunities to flirt with co-workers in person. Internet pornography and cybersex will be the alternatives. New sex toys enabling something called multimedia masturbation as well as research developments in areas of virtual reality and holographic imaging all leave little to the imagination. Perhaps you want to know exactly how your partner feels during orgasm. Well, biotechnology will be there to assist, leaving nowhere for those orgasm fakers to hide.

Psychotropic drugs have of course been used for millennia in the form of aphrodisiacs. But given that the world's population is ageing and many of us will live to be 100, there should be big money to be made in the field of eroto-gerontology - Viagra being the first step in this direction. Synthetic oxytocin, the so-called "bonding chemical", has already been produced, possibly paving the way for the ultimate relationship quick-fix.

However, all this technicising of sex begs many questions. Will it lead to an even more socially inept society? Will it force us to redefine infidelity? Will we still appreciate sex as something sacred, or will it just be fun and games? What do you think?

2007-02-11T16:31:00.000Z

This article was originally published in the Bath University student paper 'Impact'

A malarial dream

A group of chemical engineers at Bath University are part of a research and business consortium to have won a £500,000 grant to aid the worldwide effort in combating the spread of malaria. The research team, led by Dr Alexei Lapkin from the University's Department of Chemical Engineering was originally commissioned (in 2005) by the non-profit Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) and the Dutch Government to evaluate a range of new technologies. The aim was to find ways in which large-scale production of malaria medication could be made cheaper and environmentally friendly.
These investigations led the team to discover innovative ways in which artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) can be produced.

Malaria is currently affecting around 300-500 million people worldwide, killing more than 1 million people - predominately children. Yet, it is an epidemic that goes mostly unnoticed, perhaps because it is occurs at comfortable distance, being most common in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The illness is transmitted from infected to uninfected humans through the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito.

Global campaigns to eradicate malaria have been in place since the 1950s, but attempts have been mostly unsuccessful and the number of people dying from the disease is now higher than it was 30 years ago. This has mostly been due to high levels of resistance to drugs.

The realisation that new strategies are needed to combat the increase in malaria cases involved looking beyond traditional Western medicine. Artemisinin (also known as qing hao, sweet Annie and sweet wormwood), a herb used in traditional Chinese medicine for over 2000 years, was finally accepted by western scientists in 2004. It was a large internationally run trial which led to the breakthrough of the anti-malarial. The trial showed that artesunate, derived from the Chinese herb, could cut malaria death by over a third.

However, artesunate and other ACTs are currently dangerous and expensive to produce, as well as being harmful to the environment. It is in the extraction process of the raw materials that the Bath team is leading the way for the future. Dr. Lapkin says "Our focus is on driving down the cost of extraction to help make this 'wonder drug' more readily available to the people who need it".

To learn more about the life cycle click on the image above

2007-01-15T15:56:00.000Z

You never know when you might need ... CONCENTRATION!

Here are the 10 commandments of concentration (originally written for the Bath University student paper 'Impact')

1) Thou shalt not study for hours without a break
Study in chunks of 20-90 minutes, depending on your interest in the topic. During your 5-15 minutes break, jump up and down, play an instrument or solve a puzzle. This is to improve blood flow to the brain, enabling oxygen and blood-sugar to reach it.

2) Thou shalt not study in front of TV
Find a good study location with no distractions. Research in music and concentration are still inconclusive, so that decision is left between you and your Ipod.

3) Thou shall not go without reward
Give yourself an incentive to do the work (besides passing the exam and getting a degree). Write down what motivates you.

4) Thou shalt not daydream
Day dreaming is the antithesis of concentration. Eliminate thought wanderings by using a Buddhist meditation 'trick'; attend to the present by saying "Be here now".

5) Thou shalt not be negative
Telling yourself off, being critical and having no faith in your abilities is motivation sapping. Set aside 30 minutes of "worry" time each day. Cognitive psychologists have found that anxiety impairs concentration.

6) Feed Thyself
Keep your blood-sugar steady with complex carbs and have a balanced diet of protein, vitamins and minerals to keep your brain alert.

7) Thou shalt exercise
Co-ordinate right and left brain functions with exercise, this stimulates the information flow between the brain's two hemisperes.

8) Thou must plan
Having a plan prevents you from having distracting and stressful thoughts about what you might be forgetting. It is also a good way to avoid getting overwhelmed.

9) Know thyself
Find out when you are most productive. Some people are "early birds", whilst others are "night owls". Accommodate your day/night time energy levels.

10) Thou must apply thy knowledge
Asking yourself questions, related to what you're reading, keeps you on your toes. Think about how you would explain the concepts to your family or friends.

2006-12-05T09:39:00.000Z

The robots are coming... And they’ve been programmed by 10 year olds!

On November 27th and 28th Bath University hosted the First Lego League, a worldwide annual event involving school children between 9-16 years old. It being a Lego competition, all robots must use the Lego RCX or NXT bricks for ‘brains’ and the rest of the robot must be built using only Lego parts. The kids then have to program the robots to successfully complete the various Nanotechnology missions.
The robot starts out from a base, and then races off to complete as many of the 9 missions as possible in the allotted 2 mins and 30 secs. Some mission examples include getting the robot to release a bucky ball containing smart medicine into bone marrow, start a molecular motor, initiate molecular self-assembly or test the strength of a nano tube.

Sounds complicated and very difficult even for such intelligent students of life as yourselves? Wondering how a 10-year old can do it? You will be amazed at what children can do! Yours truly happened to be refereeing the competitions over the two days the event ran for, and I have to say there was some ingenious work going on. The children were full of confidence and being cheered on by CBBC celebrities Anne Foyle and Ade Adepitan certainly seemed to help (not to mention all the chocolate, balloon fashion shows, URB music and pyrotechnics).
Surely these kind of events show that science can be fun, exciting and educational at the same time. Let’s hope that this event has inspired the next generation of roboticists and engineers to go on and create an (environmentally friendly and ethical) brave new world filled with the wonders of nanotechnology.

A LEGO tournament in action. This picture is not from Bath, but the setup is identical

The importantance of this was further stressed during a Bristol Café Scientifique evening (27th November) where Dr. Alan Winfield posed the question, “How would you feel if your robot vacuum cleaner asked you not to switch it off? We were given a brief history of modern robotics, including some of today's uncanny looking robots like Cronos (machine consciousness project, see also previous post) and EVA (an 'artificial empathasizer'). The discussion centred around the ethics of conscious machines and trying to figure out exactly what it all means (we don’t know). There was a clear schism between those who believed in the evolved (benevolent) robot kind and those fearing dehumanisation. These are very big questions indeed, and you might find their relevance tricky (unless you spend your time in Star Trek land where DATA rules). If they seem irrelevant to you, please read my previous entry which covers this subject in more depth.

Perhaps an anthropomorphic point of view will help you get the idea: spare a thought for the super-evolved IPodRobo which just loves to play music and wished you never, ever switched it off because then it feels so, so very lonely and sad...

Check out this video of EVA - a bit uncanny eh' ?

This article was originally written for the Bath University Student paper 'Impact'

2006-12-04T13:22:00.000Z

Right, I've got another article to write but I think I'm going to do that later this evening or tomorrow... It's all about ROBOTS!! Which are coming to get us!!!
Well, guess what I got my first paper published (WoooHOO!). It's for The First IEEE Symposium on Artificial Life or Alife07 for short. Now, did you click on the link? Well if you did, then you'd see that the conference is in .... HAWAII.... I really really want to go, I think I should be able to afford it, the ticket is "only" around £500 so it is doable. I know you can always go to Hawaii, but when do you ever have an excuse?

Second bit of excellent news is that I got a new Job (Jubiidobidoo!). I shall from now on only be addressed as Miss Web-Author-at-BUCS (that's Bath University Computing Services, and yes, I hope you know that I'm kidding, I don't actually want to be addressed like that...).
I'll be rewriting the online documentation for them, together with another girl (whom I shall be meeting today, when I'll be receiving my training). It's all very exciting and good. I'll be working mostly from home, so it's also very convenient. And the people seem very nice, which is really refreshing from the previous job.

I even get to experience a proper Pagan Wicca ritual this coming Friday, courtesy of my new boss
It's something I've been interested in for a few years, but never really had an opportunity to explore properly, so I'm really glad that I'm finally given the chance to see what it's like.

And for your pleasure I have decided to start posting some of my culinary successes. The first dish is a puff pastry pizza, inspired by Gordon Ramsay:

Take one ready-made puff pastry dough, roll it out and mark out a 1cm edge using a sharp knife (without cutting through the dough).
Place in oven proof dish with fairly high sides, but don't worry about if you don't have one, a flat one will work fine too.
Brush (or in my case spoon as I don't have one of those fancy kitchen brushes...) some egg wash onto the edge (one egg yolk mixed with a couple of tablespoons of water, Ramsay only uses posh mineral water, but I'll use any ol' shit).
Heat up the oven to around 180C.
Now, Ramsay only uses butternut squash in his recipe, but I've been daring and used a bunch of different veg. In the pictured dish I have used butternut squash, courgette, red onions, tomato and swede. Cut them in to small but fairly chunky bits and shallow fry these until slightly softened.
Sprinkle some Oak Smoked Cheddar on the puff pastry and add the veg on top, sprinkle the veg mixture with sage (fresh is best, but whatever you got is fine).
Bake in the oven for 20mins or until the puff pastry looks done (that's all puffed up, brown - but NOT black) and sprinkle with more cheese just before you take it out.
Served here with oven baked beetroot, which I've then fried in balsamico and watercress.

Yummy for your tummy!!!

2006-11-30T12:12:00.000Z

So it's been too long again... Oh well, that sort of thing happens when you're busy. But I've got loads of stuff to write about, perhaps a bit retrospective, but you'll still get all the news, just later rather than sooner, if you catch my drift...
First I've got a little article for y'all to read:

A couple of weeks ago I went to my first Cafe Scientifique in Bath. For those who have never heard of the concept it's a world wide scheme based on the French cafe culture, based around the informal way philosophers and artists like Picasso, Sartre and Beauvoir used to sit and discuss the great problems of existentialism and what not. This informal exchange of ideas allows a free and unrestricted way of talking about things between people with all kinds of backgrounds. The theme for Cafe Scientifque is perhaps is not surprising - science. There are many, many different topics - check out the website for details on the nearest event to you.
The event in Bath is in a really nice pub called the Raven - actually it's the pub of the year. They serve a marvellous Merlot and cook delicious food as well. But most importantly it is the host for the Cafe Scientifique.
On the evening of Monday the 13th of November the speaker was James Randerson, The Guardian science correspondent who authored the front page article ‘Revealed: the lax laws that could allow assembly of deadly virus DNA’ (16/10/2006). I think I should just mention that Mr. Randerson is actually a Doctor Randerson, as in PhD in Evolutionary Genetics (which he happened do at Bath University). Anyway, in his report Randerson showed how small segments of the genetic blue print (oligonucleotides or oligos in ‘science slang’) for smallpox could be purchased from companies who produce DNA segments. The report resulted in a public enquiry as to whether this technology should be more restricted. Randerson, himself, had his sample of DNA smallpox sent to his very own flat (much to his girlfriend’s horror, we were told at the Raven).
The title of the talk posed the question ‘Is scientific openness fostering bio-terror?’. As usual during a Cafe Scientifique event the guest speaker talks for no longer than 30 minutes, which is then followed by a lively (and sometimes rather heated, but always polite) debate between the speaker and the audience.

Randerson is not the first to question the safety in recreating virus that has long been extinct. The New Scientist has published quite a few articles on the same theme, notably on the level of safety in the labs that the various dangerous viruses are stored. For Randerson, though, the issue isn't so much about storage, he asks the much more basic question as to whether scientists should just because they could. The crux of Randerson’s argument was that even though “Intellectual freedom and sharing of information are central to scientific progress, and any restrictions on that will make science harder to do and could limit society's access to future medicines “, he still asks whether there should be “restrictions on who has access to the materials and equipment that can be used to make viruses in the future, and are the scientific benefits of resurrecting a strain of flu that killed more people than the First World War worth the risks?”
During the debate that followed it was widely recognised that there are limits to what legislation can do. The consensus was that to some extent researchers and research institutions should legislate themselves, perhaps by signing some kind of anti-terror declaration. This type of self-legislation could create an awareness around the potential dangers involved in the day-to-day research that most biology students and staff deem safe.

Although I think that that's very much in the academic spirit and all, then there's currently a slight problem with implementing such a lassez-faire approach. Namely, due to another article in the Guardian ("Universities urged to spy on Muslims" 16/10/2006) where it leaked a document sent out by the Department of Education which stated that it wanted Higher Education Institutions ( HEI - such as universities) to keep an eye on Muslim students (!!!).

Now I can't really see how that would work together with a "self-legislative" attitude. Something smells very fishy to me, it smells of Hitler's Germany to me, where everybody tells on everybody else, just to be on the safe side and in return no one feels safe and nothing gets done. So perhaps academia should just be left to its own devices and instead the HEI could be used to create a debate about the types of chemicals, tissues, and other biological artefacts are available to them, what they are used for, why they are used and indeed be there to educate people in general about safety. I think that would make people feel much more safe. Another thing could be to look at how other countries deal with this particular situation. I know that in Denmark they have an anti-bio terror unit, which specialises in bio attacks if and when they should happen, rather like a Fire brigade. But when I suggested this idea, at the Cafe Scientifique, Randerson seem to think that prevention was better than minimisation of damage. Well, of course, I agree with that, but on the other hand he also admitted that if someone was going to do it, they could do it whether or not there was self-legislation, government legislation and so forth. This is why I suggest, create a debate, make people (and especially the companies supplying the goods) aware and educate about how it can be avoided. But definitely not by creating some kind of watchdog culture, that just breeds more hatred (hence more attacks) and more insecurity for all parties involved.

And that's my 2 cents worth!

2006-11-07T20:09:00.000Z

So I’m a little bit behind with keeping you all up to date. I think it may symbolise my life in general at the moment. Just busy, busy, busy - trying to keep on top of things and ending up feeling very stressed. Not good. My thought was, perhaps I will catch up with myself by updating the bloggetiblog? Maybe just in my mind, but that’s where it counts!

OK, lots have happened. The excitement started on the 27th of October - 3 days before yours truly turned 27 years old (we’ll get to that later!).

In fact it’s quite an adventure and so should be told like one:

Stage 1
We were going to a party in London, New Cross - a friend of mine (her name is Ilona) is a arts student at Goldsmiths and it was her 21st birthday party. It was all planned, we would get there around 21.00, which was late but it was impossible to bend time any further. I finished uni at 16.15, Alan worked ‘til 17.10 and Eccles finished at 17.00 in Bristol. The plan was to rendez-vous @ 18.20 Bath Spa Station. Of course, sod being sod and the law being what it is, the buses were experiencing serious problems getting anywhere on time. Apparently, a gas pipe was leaking somewhere and roads were duly closed. It took me 2hrs to get home (it usually takes 20mins), I was not even dressed and the party was fancy dress (theme: gory vaudeville), I was not even sure if my skeleton tights which I had ordered from Ebay would arrive on time. It was all very stressful!
I got home, the tights had come by post (yes!) put them on, packed too much shit (had to bring sleeping bags, presents, change of clothes, beer, vodka, mixers...) got changed and got out of the door all in the space of 10mins! I had to walk to the station, because of the bus problem, but literally made it with TWO seconds to spare. Alan had cleverly gotten ready from work so he was on time and Eccles was waiving at us from the train. Stage one completed successfully....

Stage 2
The train journey itself was rather uneventful, just the usual spillages of alcohol whilst trying to mix drinks on a train, refusal to use public lavatories resulting in pee crisis (fortunately catastrophe was avoided), excruciating ticket prices, battling boredom, putting on make-up whilst on a moving train and going somewhere you’ve never been before.
Stage two was successfully completed when we arrived at Ilona’s house.

Stage 3
Final touches were put on my skeleton dolly costume and I entered the public domain of a beginning party. Much alcohol was consumed and much annoyance was experienced due to my inability to engage with people who refuse to have any opinions on anything (wtf?!). I’m recently encountering this type of person more frequently than I care and I don’t understand where it’s coming from. I especially see it in people in their early 20’s - I don’t know what they talk about amongst themselves. I ended up getting too drunk (mostly to numb the iritation and anger I was experiencing) and went to bed without making a complete arse of myself (and without throwing up)

Ilona in the background, Me, Anna and Eccles

Stage three successfully completed.

Stage 4
Eccles suggest we go camping with Chris (another ex-fellow flat mate from Colchester, now in Torquey) - today! Since I love camping and being impulsive, I’m very enthusiastic and optimistic about this turn of events. Besides I don’t enjoy London very much and prefer the great (healthy) outdoors. But before all that, we must restore our energies by eating an absolutely lovely breakfast (next to a not so lovely road). Breakfast and goodbye’s accomplished we jump on the train to journey back to Bath and Bristol.

Stage 5
2 hours later the next stage commences. Well to be honest it never really stopped, because throughout the journey back I was umming and arring as to whether to go camping or not. It was pretty far away (actually I wasn’t even sure exactly where it was we were going), I was pretty damn hungover, fed up with trains, tired, grumpy, and very skint. Every ten minutes I would announce to Alan that I was either going or not going. Eventually, I packed a bag, ate some soup and went to Bristol where I met Eccles. We got on another train, to Exeter St. Davids and Chris met us when he got on the train at the same station, and then subsequently made us travel illegally (but honestly, we owned up to the train conductor by telling him the truth and he was very understanding about it) to Newton Abbot, where we got off. We got our final supplies (such as batteries for the single flash light we managed to bring with us) and jumped into a taxi. It was 22.30 when we arrived. The taxi driver seemed to have a bit of a screw loose himself venturing into a long tale of aliens, sectioned friends, neuro-scientific trivia (which was wrong btw) and some more aliens. By the time we arrived to our destination Eccles and I had spent more than 8 hours traveling, not counting the previous day’s journey. We opened the taxi door to a heavy mist and complete darkness enveloped us a the taxi drove away and left us alone at the edge of Dartmoor.

Misty weather - it looks like rain, but it's not

Stage 6
Fortunately we were in safe hands with Chris as our guide. Having grown up in area he had many a years of exploring the moor. But it was a bit scary anyway, it being the equinox and as all good pagans know the time of year when the border between the living and the dead is at its thinnest. I felt a bit .. hmm ‘flaunting’ in my skeleton sweatshirt, as if I was mocking the dead there on the moor (as if on cue we started talking about the many ghost stories centered around the moor, we never mentioned it again though, probably because we’re all yellow chickens). Let it be said, disappointingly, that nothing out of the ordinary happened that night, although I was pleased that I’d never finished watching “The Blair Witch Project”. I have not seen mist so thick for a long time, only in the mountains, Chris directed us to a location and we managed to circumvent most of the cow pat when laying down the tent. The tent was one Eccles had found in his house, it was a large tent and we’d never put it up before. But even though we were tired, it was late, dark and misty we managed without no problems and quickly made our little nest. The rum, beer and wine was opened and the relaxation commenced, followed shortly by a deep sleep echoed with drumming of rain on the tent (there’s nothing quite like it).

Stage 7
We woke at 06.00. Bright and early with the sun rising and giving us the first view of Dartmoor. It was beautiful, and worth every painful moment, all regret dissipated and being there was all that was on my mind.

Chris made us some kind of sausage-wrapped-in-bread breakfast (a speciality of his), a pot of coffee was boiled (a tea towel was used a strainer) and soon after we were of on a walkabout in the beautiful surroundings.

I found a small waterfall with a prayer cave next to it

I also came across "letterboxing" which I've never heard off before, so it was pure luck to find it.

Eccles' protecting me from the fierce (wild) Dartmoor ponies. First I was curious and started approaching them, but then I got a bit anxious when all 3 of them started approaching me curiously... Very cute. And as you can tell from this photo, we had quite nice weather too.

Stage 8

As we returned to camp several hours later for our lunch, we saw that many people were now coming to take their Sunday stroll. Which seemed quite surreal to me. It was as if we were camping in a public park (which of course we were, it just didn’t look like any park I’d seen before). And we did get a few odd looks, but most were friendly.

After our lunch we went for another walk and then came back to pack things up.

Our tent in the middle of (what we thought) was nowhere, but which was a both a popular tourist and local attraction.

A groggy "hello" from me...

The mist comes rolling in. In the photo we have Eccles and Chris and the side of a Tor (can't remember which now...)

Stage 9
Fortunately a friend of Chris, Richard, was kind enough to come and give Eccles and me a ride back Newton Abbot. It was supposed to be so easy. On the train and be home in a few hours. Instead we were unaware of a train change, and continued on our merry way to Reading, where we had to change to go (back!) to Bristol. I then had to wait 40mins at Bristol to get a train (two stops!) to Bath. It was painful, and this time around there was no beautiful scenery to take away the painful journey memories. I’m sure they’ll dissipate with time... But until then I’m very hesitant about boarding a train!
I arrived home at 23.30. And that my friends is the end of the weekend tale.

2006-10-23T19:19:00.000Z

For that very special occassion:

The Red PVC Kilt

2006-10-21T14:50:00.000Z

Serial Killers: All they need is love

The lecture theatre was filled to the brim, people were sitting on the floor and those who weren't cheeky enough to push their way through Dr. Joanna Phoenix, the organiser, were turned away due to to safety regulations. Fortunately, I was one of the cheeky ones and found myself a spot on the floor.

Introduction

The lecture was part of the Sociology of Crime and Deviance course run by Dr. Joanna Phoenix (University of Bath, Department of social and policy sciences) , who decided to make this a talk public as she thought there would be a public interest in this grisly topic (perhaps the great public interest was used by her to demonstrate some, to us unknown, point to her students?) She sets the scene by issuing a disclaimer and how this talk links to the rest of her course. Firstly - the disclaimer: The University of Bath is not doing a forensic psychology course. Secondly - the course looks at the reasons for crime, by objectifying crime, rather than looking at the rights and wrongs, the morality and ethics of crime. In general the course deals with the mundane, ordinary, everyday sort of crimes that we are all guilty of. To prove this, she asks the audience how many of us has committed a crime this week (e.g. crossing the red light, littering, using an invalid bus ticket, etc.)? In response the lecture theatre ruffles and shuffles uncomfortably, enough said.

To make the link between the extremeness of a serial killers violent crimes and the everyday offences of the ordinary person she asks us to reflect whether the questions Diaz puts to the serial killers during his one-on-one interviews are helpful and whether they are appropriate in regard to revealing both the serial killer's and the mundane criminal's reasons for their actions.

Definition

A nervous Professor Joseph D. Diaz (Fayetteville State University) steps up and begins by giving a definition of a serial killer:

A serial killer commits multiple homicides
There is a "cooling of period" for an extended period of time
The killings take place at multiple locations
The murders produce a physical reaction in the killer (e.g. sexual gratification)

The last point was further emphasised by differentiating between e.g. a gangster who does several drive-by shootings in order to rise in the gang ranks and that of a serial killer. The former is driven by social reasons such as group acceptance while the latter is driven by an internal force (note - although I don't see why these two factors wouldn't be able to coexist... and I think to some degree, as will be explained elsewhere in the blog, that there isn't really much difference between gangster killers and serial killers).

Furthermore, some serial killers do not have any physical reactions, such as increased heartbeat when killing, but remain eerily calm during the murder. Other common characteristics of serial killers are:

Average age between 30-45 years
Above average IQ around 112-115
Caucasian

Male (I assume, all examples were male and all serial killers were referred to as he) (see notes)

Of course there are exceptions to these rules, the Peruvian child serial killer was given as an example to this.

The impossible psychopathic serial killer

According to Diaz, many people make the mistake of thinking that serial killers are psychopaths. This, he believes, is due to the popular culture portrayal of serial killers as psychopaths, when in actual reality it is not possible anymore than for Diaz to play pro for the Liverpool football team. A psychopath could be sure that he was killing somebody, while in fact he was simply stroking a cat. A psychopath can hear voices, e.g. the voice of God telling him that all people in green t-shirts must die. Contrary to a serial killer whose killings would be very calculated, taking every step to avoid arrest. Whilst the psychopath could stand next to policeman and still kill the women in a green t-shirt, regardless of his own situation. In short, the psychopaths would generally not know what they were doing, i.e. they suffer from delusions and as such would be able to pass a lie detector test (note: not that lie detectors are worth very much...).

A serial killer's true nature is that of a sociopath. Sociopaths, in terms of objectivity, are bit like babies in that they don't have it. Babies don't care about your disposition when they cry in the middle of the night. They can cry just because they want to, because they can, because they are hungry, because they are happy, it does not matter to them whether you like it or not. They, babies and serial killers, care only about their immediate needs. A serial killer's objective state can be aligned to that of a 3-4 year old child.

Portrait of a Serial Killer

Dennis Andrew Nilsen (a.k.a "Des"), lived in a small flat in North London, a homosexual and used to frequent all male bars. He describes himself as gangly and awkward looking (he is 6'5" tall), in photographs he looks uncomfortable in his own skin. He feels uncomfortable around others, which according to Diaz is due to events occurring in his formative years where the sense of objectivity/subjectivity develops. By the time he was arrested he had killed 15 men, who he had raped and mutilated. When police came to his flat to arrest him, they found the bodies (or parts of the men's bodies) in various stages of decomposition. Dennis Nilsen was most interested in the lower parts of the men's bodies and would keep these. He would repeatedly have sex with the body parts and keep these for several months.He is basically a necrophiliac, like the infamous Eddie Gein who the characters in the films 'Psycho' and 'Silence of the lambs' are based on.

The original Eddie Gein

The interviews

During the interviews Diaz had to carefully phrase his questions in such a way so Nilsen always felt he was in control of the conversation. The aspect of control was also why he kept the bodies for such long periods of time, that way he felt has was in control over the men. In one of the interviews between Diaz and Nilsen, Diaz wanted to know how he dealt with the smell of the decomposing bodies. But he could not ask flat out "Didn't your apartment stink?" So instead, he cautiously asked, if he hadn't found the smell in the flat nauseating? Nilsen replied, that it wasn't any different to someone getting used to the smell if they worked in a hog house. The fact that Nilsen, or Des, as Diaz referred to him, compared the men to hogs illustrated a point. He would take from the men what he wanted, to him they were not men or individuals, they were just people, not victims nor humans, but general people-objects. Nilsen would use the ambiguous term "the people" whenever he described his activities with his victims. It was as if he was talking about a prop (c.f Erving Goffman for further stage analogies). His activities with "the people" included watching TV, dancing and taking baths. When talking about these events it was as if he was describing intimate moments, but without actually using the word 'intimate' or even without knowing what it was. Diaz' theory is that in general it is this feeling of intimacy, or the lack of it, which drives the serial killer. The serial killer strives to shut of the feelings of inadequacy, the sense of anger, abandonment, loneliness. Diaz likens these feelings to those most of us will experience during a relationship break-up, when we no longer know what to do with ourselves because the person who knows us best has left and that intimate link between two people has been severed. Another example would be how you would feel in a social situation, e.g. a party where no one speaks to you and you are all alone with no friends or how you would feel if your love was unreturned. These are feelings that serial killer has all the time just a hundred times stronger and deeper. According to Diaz, the serial killer will start to have these feelings around the age of twelve to thirteen, during those years they begin to feel different to everybody else as their lack of social skills, fear of failure and never feeling they'll be OK increase.

Jeffery Dahmer was another serial killer, convicted in 1993 and beaten to death by a fellow inmate in 1997 . During his prison time, he and Nilsen frequently wrote letters to each other and became close. Nilsen told Diaz "that it makes me so mad that they'll treat him like that." The serial killer has no sense of wrong, in the traditional sense. To them it's crazy that there is almost 6 billion people in world/usa? and that they can't kill one or two of them every now and then.

This lack of normal perspective turns up again when 'Des' mentions how he suffers from deep feelings of inadequacy. "That the only reason "it" (i.e. the murders) happened was because I was gay and to had to play along with all that teasing." This resulted in feelings of alienation at the age of 14, but, Diaz asks, does that mean you will go out and kill? To 'Des' he has not done anything that is a big deal, it is all just a natural progression of things. In general he feels that a great injustice is being done to him. For instance he has written a 4000 pages long book which the Home Office refuses to let him publish (but which his lawyer has managed to smuggle out and keeps secret) this makes him feel he has no rights. To get an accurate profile Diaz has to look at other sources of information during the interviews because most serial killers have trained themselves to a life of secrecy from a very young age where they have had to conceal their true selves.

Question Time

This concluded the main talk with time for questions from the audience.

The first question was whether the killing was part of the game. Diaz explained that serial killers generally hate to kill and have to get very intoxicated in order to commit the crime. Although he, Nilsen, would get very excited about it, like very intense butterflies in the stomach, which mixed with alcohol would inevitably lead to him throwing up during the act. His pen pal, Jeffery Dahmer, also hated killing. Described using the bodies to become something they could not be without them. Apparently, he was not interested in the power that comes from killing and insisted that only his methods were different to other people, not himself.

The next question regarded the killers' planning technique and whether their high IQ was a correlate or a causality of their disposition. In reply, the example of the "Green River Killer" was given. Gary Leon Ridgeway, hunted in the same area for 25 years and killed an estimated of 100 women, primarily prostitutes. He was clever enough to know that there were certain variables that he could control. For instance he picked up women in his car by having his baby son in the car seat with him. His thought was "What do women need to see in order not to see him as a threat?".
Gary Leon Ridgeway

Someone also asked if there was any patterns to how serial killers murder - they usually use their hands. There are only two known killers who have used guns.

"Why are most serial killers found in the U.S.? Diaz thinks that it is because of a culture of male domination, giving the example of going to war with no reason. A fearful society, where anyone who is not male is not good enough e.g. a survey was made where the following question was asked: "Who would you vote for a gay or a female president?" The majority of respondents replied: "none". The need to just have power, to have power over others is part of the American ideal, the image the Americans have of themselves permeates the culture. Any insecurity results in an need and enjoyment to assert itself and getting into a fight. It is very difficult to be taken down a peg for Americans, a feeling that the country experienced when attacked on 9/11. The consequent (over-) reaction was a result of this "pegging down".

Final question: "Would he do it again if he was set free?". Diaz does not think he would be likely to kill again as Nilsen is in his sixties and so no longer has a strong sexual drive. But think he would certainly become confrontational as the need for being in a position of power will never go away.

For interested parties and more detailed information, a book will be published in the next few months describing the case of "Jeff".
For further details and information take a look at the papers by Diaz ( I couldn't find the last paper online but he seemed like a pretty nice guy so would probably email it to you if asked nicely) :

"Killing as an initiator of self-change: A symbolic interactionist comparison of the etiology of Dennis Nilsen and Jeffrey Dahmer" in http://www.internetjournalofcriminology.com

"The working of the mind of violent offender: Psychopaths and sociopaths" forthcoming in Police Review (Nov 2006)

------------------------------------------------------------