View of air traffic from space..

WORLD AIR TRAFFIC 0-24 HRS..VIEW FROM SATELLITE

You  won't believe this.The yellow dots are airplanes in the sky  during a 24 hour period.
Stay with the picture. You will see the light of the day moving  from the east to the west, as the Earth spins on its axis.
Also you will see the aircraft flow of  traffic leaving the North  American continent and  travelling at night to arrive in  the UK in the morning. Then you will see the flow changing, leaving the  UK in  the morning and flying to the  American continent in daylight.
It is a 24 hour observation of  all of the large aircraft flights  in the world, condensed down to about 2 minutes. From space we look like a bee hive
of activity.
You could tell it was summer time in the north by the sun's foot print over the planet. You could see that it didn't quite set in the extreme north and it didn't quite rise in the  extreme south.
We are taught about the earth's tilt  and how it causes summer and winter and have had to imagine just what is going on.


View the video here

Apple ipad

Well who doesn't want one of these, launched today the new Apple ipad. This  is real science fiction to those of us born more than a few years ago, Captain Kirk, Mr Spock, Bones and the rest of the Star Trek Enterprise crew couldn't have dreamed of a device like this. All your media, tunes, films, apps, games, books plus much more on a lightweight handheld device with a  fantastic LED backlit screen. This product is a real game changer and i am sure that they will be snapped up like hot cakes when people can get their hands on them in a couple of months time. Don't think i will be subscribing to the 3G data package but other than that i will be in the queue to buy one.  What next, the itransporter ??

Check out the video

Apple ipad video

Iphone Photo

Lot's of people on the Internet are posting pictures taken with their iphones. Some of them are amazing considering the capability of the camera in the phone. My iphone is a 3G version without the auto focus feature.

More Photos From The Past

Whilst searching in my loft space i have come across another two even older photos. The first one is my grandmother aged 18 in 1914 and the second one is my grandfather aged 25 in 1916. I think it's fair to say that people looked older back then.

Interesting 1950's photographs

Whilst looking for something in my loft space a couple of days ago i found these interesting photographs of my father taken in the mid 1950's when he was a Police Constable in Salford. It's fascinating to see how much things have changed since then.

The first one is of him directing traffic and pedestrians on point duty in Salford prior to the universal introduction of traffic lights.

The second is i assume one of the offices in the Police Station, working conditions i hope have improved somewhat since then.

The third is my father receiving an award for  gallantry along with two of his colleagues. He entered a burning house and saved the life of a 76 year old man in early May 1955, strangely in this era of Health and Safety he would probably receive a reprimand now and not a commendation. These types of acts were seen as bravery back then and in this case particularly so, as my mother was expecting me towards the end of that month.

The other thing which jumps out at me is how crisp the uniforms looked in comparison to those of today.

Frosty Lake in Tatton Park, Cheshire.

Here are a couple of pictures taken at Tatton Park, near Knutsford in Cheshire on a cold and frosty winters morning. This is one of Cheshire's beautiful parks which also has a magnificent Georgian mansion. Well worth a visit for locals and travellers alike. If you would like to learn more visit their website. http://www.tattonpark.org.uk/

One more from the Manchester Archives

Just been doing some more searching through my digital photo library and come across another shot of Industrial Manchester. This one is taken right in the centre, near Piccadilly station on the Ashton Canal. These canals, once the highways of Britain are now used purely for recreational purposes.

Industrial Manchester

I have just been looking through my library of digital photographs this weekend and come across three photos taken a couple of years ago beside the Ashton Canal in the Collyhurst and Ancoats areas of Manchester. These areas have been undergoing regeneration lately, so it's unlikely that you will be able to see these sort of sights for much longer. I make no judgement on whether this is a good thing or not, but leave that up to you.

Ukraine's Got Talent Winner

This video shows the winner of "Ukraine’s Got Talent",  Kseniya Simonova, 24,  drawing a series of pictures on an illuminated sand table showing how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World War II.  Her talent, which admittedly is a strange one, is mesmeric to watch.

The images, projected onto a large screen, moved many in the audience to tears and she won the top prize of about £75,000.

The Great Patriotic War, as it is called in Ukraine, resulted in one in four of the population being killed with eight to 11 million deaths out of a population of 42 million.

Kseniya Simonova says: 

"I find it difficult enough to create art using paper and pencils or paintbrushes, but using sand and fingers is beyond me. The art, especially when the war is used as the subject matter, even brings some audience members to tears. And there’s surely no bigger compliment."

Couple of Snowmen

All the kids have been off school today because of the snow, in fact the whole area has ground to a standstill. Hardly any cars on the road, no flights from Manchester Airport until this afternoon. Course the kids have been having a fantastic time, sledging in Bramhall Park and making Snowmen.

Redwings in the Garden

Woke up this morning to the type of day you hardly ever see in South Manchester / North Cheshire. Six inches of snow on the ground, the trees covered and the cars have their white hats on. More interestingly we have a number of Redwings feeding in the garden, these birds are more commonly seen in the countryside, except on days like today when snow covers the fields.

Deer in Dunham Forest Cheshire

Just been out for a crisp walk in Dunham Forest this afternoon. The temperature was below zero and the ground was covered with snow and ice. Dunham Forest is near Altrincham in Cheshire and is a lovely place for a walk, it's also famous for it's population of Deer. Fortunately the were happy to pose for photographs today.

Blue Moon over Cheshire

The cloud cleared last night and i managed to nip outside and take a picture of the wonderful blue moon with a partial eclipse.