dimity_blue: (Clock)
2025-04-22 09:30 am
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Pope Francis has died.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20xd9xnp0wo

I'm not Catholic but the news makes me sad. I'm sure it's devastating news for the Catholics we know.

I hope his passing was a peaceful one.
dimity_blue: (FlutterbyLove)
2019-08-22 07:08 pm
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Ecosia

Has anyone else heard of Ecosia? It's a search engine run by a company that uses 80% of the revenue generated by searches to plant trees.

All we have to do is use it instead of Google or Bing or whatever search engine we normally use.

I read a review of it. It claims to be unbiased but it's very much in favour of Ecosia.

There's another review here.

So far, it looks like Ecosia is legit and has planted over 65 million trees.

Now I have to remember to use Ecosia rather than Google.
dimity_blue: (Speechbubble)
2019-04-30 09:55 am
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Article: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

(https://urbanintellectuals.com/malawian-teen-taught-build-windmill-junk-brought-power-village-learned-library-books/?fbclid=IwAR2rmY0AUyf2SiwdiNogK1kW1tt_3xNeg2wEF_J0sfi9ua2fIIIKAGzvzUY)
Link to Urban Intellectuals.com.

(Shortened version of the article.)
William Kamkwamba was born in 1987 in Dowa, Malawi, and grew up on his family's farm in Masitala Village, Wimbe.

When he  was 14, in 2001, his parents couldn't afford to send him to school any more, so he turned to his local library for books. After reading a book on windmills and turbine power, he was determined to build one to power his family's home and farm, which was without any electricity at all.

"Subsequent projects have included clean water, malaria prevention, solar power and lighting for the six homes in his family compound; a deep water well with a solar powered pump for clean water, a drip irrigation system, and the outfitting of the village team Wimbe United with their first ever uniforms and shoes."

His autobiography is on Amazon UK for 99p. (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Boy-Who-Harnessed-Wind-ebook/dp/B003IDMUJA/ref=la_B002BRKQEK_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1556613232&sr=1-1)

~~~

I'm absolutely in awe. This guy sounds determined and amazing.
dimity_blue: (InsideOutSadness)
2019-01-20 12:58 pm
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BBC article: Holocaust victims buried after remains given to museum

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46924619

Holocaust victims buried after remains given to museum
By Rebecca Wearn BBC News

Read more... )

dimity_blue: (InsideOutSadness)
2018-12-30 11:30 am
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June Whitfield

June Whitfield has passed on at 93.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46712694

She was in one of my favourite Carry Ons, Carry On Abroad, where she played this shrew of a wife who was never happy. "That sun is too hot. This shade is too cold. I'm going inside." She was hilarious.

Godspeed, lady.
dimity_blue: (Sorry frog)
2016-05-11 06:13 pm
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Disabled sex abuse victim chose euthanasia

Daily Mail or Metro.

I really don't know how I feel about this. If it was her choice - completely her choice - then it was her right to choose. However, it's mentioned that intensive therapy had helped before the therapy was stopped.

Her disability - she was bedridden with unspecified physical ailments - is mentioned in passing. I can't but wonder if her extreme disability was a factor in the doctors allowing her to go ahead. If they saw her life as worthless so she wasn't worth spending the money on to fund continuing therapy for her.

It's also interesting that none of the outrage focuses on her abuser, the one who did so much damage to her that she felt she could no longer exist. What price did the abuser pay for their actions?
dimity_blue: (Atlantis Mr Fix It)
2013-08-27 03:36 pm
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The 'Blog for 30 Days' challenge - Day 3 - the singing, dancing robot

Have you guys seen this? It's a singing, dancing robot that's been developed in Japan.



I thought it had to be fake...surely. But no, it's been around for 4 years or more. Astonishing, no?

I have to say, the 'dog' robot in that second video is far more unsettling than the humanoid robot.