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So NASA has decided not to repair the Shuttle.

Ever since the Columbia tragedy, the Space Shuttle has come under increased scrutiny. Just as by the time Apollo 13 was launched, people were becoming blase about man landing on the Moon, Shuttle launches had become somewhat of a formality. February 1st, 2003 bought the dangers of space travel back to the fore.

Every shuttle launch since then has been under intense scrutiny from the hundreds of safety cameras installed, and every shuttle since STS114 “Return to flight” mission has been spotted being struck by foam.

The question is, that now we are focused on the cause of the Columbia disintegration, how many shuttles prior to STS107 had been hit by foam? I’d be willing to guess at all of them.

I’m not saying that we should not worry about possible damage to a spacecraft, but that we should take a balanced view of the risks. NASA should be applauded for investigating the problem, and should be left to continue the work they do. Exploring strange, new worlds, seeking new life and new civilisations…. oh hang on….

I’ve been holding off buying an iMac until OSX Leopard comes out. The idea of an all-in-one desktop that I don’t have to faff around with (and which can dual-boot windows) is particularly appealing. I’m not going to go into a Mac v PC rant, and I’ll concede that a desktop PC is probably better than an iMac, as the iMac is limited in it’s upgrade possibilities (I feel Apple are making a mistake on their website comparing the iMac to a Dell PC - the PowerMac would be a fairer comparison)

However, I mess around with PCs all day at work, and to be honest, all I want from a home computer is one that ‘works’. Macs famously ‘just work’ out of the box, hence me deciding to replace my PC with an iMac.

Not to fall into the trap of buying a Mac with Tiger on it, only to want to upgrade the operating system in six months I decided to wait for Leopard to come out, and probably a new range of iMacs to go with it.

Apple have now announced the new iMac. With its brushed aluminium front it is now more like a MacBook pro or PowerMac than an iPod, which I think is a bit of a shame, as the white, clean design is what defines the apple ‘i’ hardware.

Having said that I popped into my local apple shop to have a look at the new toy.

It is far less imposing than the white iMac, partially because of the colour, but it is also a smaller box. Thinner, and with less outside the screen. I must admit that it does look very sleek. The display is bright and pretty much everything you’d expect from an iMac. The older 24″ model used to look absolutely huge, and while the screen size hasn’t changed, the actual unit is now smaller and more tempting.

Where apple have really gone wrong is with the new keyboard.

Hailed as thinner and sleeker than ever, it is also heaver and harder. The keys are like laptop keys, and offer very little action. I powered up word and tried typing some random rubbish and found myself having to correct my typing a lot. (similar to how I do on a laptop keybaord keyboard). Is this a ploy to get us to buy the old keyboard? or go for the wireless keyboard, which has not yet been changed to the new design? The Apple logo off the command key is now missing also - with Apple being so brand focused, this is surprising. Some veteren apple owners might refer to keyboard shortcuts as ‘command-c, command-q’ etc, I quite liked referring to it as ‘apple-c, apple-q’.

Additionally, the mouse is still the white Apple ‘mighty mouse’. While the ‘mighty mouse’ is a very good mouse, it amazes me that Apple have not updated it to match the new iMac (or bought out a brushed aluminium/dark silver coloured one). On the desk it looked out of place alongside the new keyboard.

This has not diminished my desire for an iMac, but it has made me think I might try and get one of the old iMac keyboards off eBay or simply get hold of a silver and black HP keyboard just to make typing easier.

In what is probably the most exciting season of Formula One since the 80’s, it is great to see the media actually spending some time covering the sport, as opposed to noting what colour socks David Beckham is wearing during training for LA Galaxy…

Not to be outdone with ITV bagging britains last F1 world champion, Damon Hill for their F1 commentary, the BBC have managed to catch up with Britain’s last-last F1 World Champion Nigel Mansell (presumably in the 19th hole of his golf course). Never one short of an opinion Mansell has commented that Button is ‘past it’, and that McLaren should not have allowed the spat between Alonso and Hamilton to become public.

Pot… Kettle?

Nigel Mansell was 39 when he won the crown, after spending many years in a very competitive car. Granted his failure to win the world driver’s championship was not always his fault, but when he did win it, he won it in a car which was way ahead of the field, not just ‘competitive’ as the BAR-Honda was.

I’m not comparing Button to Mansell, in fact I would say that Mansell was the better driver than the much-overrated Button, but for Mansell to criticise Button for not winning the world driver’s championship when he was driving a car that eventually placed 3rd in the constructor’s championship is a bit far-fetched.

Button’s faith in the Honda team must be very stretched, especially when the Williams car that he burnt bridges to leave is probably the 4th best on the grid. If he had stayed with the Williams team, he could be pushing for podiums, not languishing behind the ‘customer’ Honda team. But at 27, I’d say his career is far from over. He needs to do a lot of work to restore his reputation before any of the front-running teams would look at him again.

The BBC does have a habit of jazzing up stories and stretching the context in which they are written, so perhaps I am being hard on Mansell’s comments, but I think the point he is trying to make can be summed up in this one comment:

But he was far better years ago than he is now because he was hungry then.
He’s got a great reputation for partying and that’s taken the edge off it. He’s a typical example of too much, too soon.

And that I’d agree with - Jenson needs to get the eye of the tiger back.

As for the McLaren tiff - Was it not Mansell who was very public when he was not happy with the team, or his teammate? even alleging in his autobiography that when he was teammates with Alain Prost at Ferrari, his car was switched with Prost’s, because for some unknown reason his car was faster. Mansell the one who announced his departure from the Williams team (and Formula One) in 1992 at a press conference, even before consulting the team?

Well, I’m getting to the point where I have to sell my old car to make way for my new one.

It’s quite a sad experience, to be honest. My current Beetle is the first car I have actually bought with my own money. Every penny of the loan was paid for by me, and when I finally finished paying for it, I had a huge sense of acheivement.

I’ve loved Beetles for many years, ever since seeing “The Love Bug” as a child, and while some might have questioned the use of a car instigated by Adolf Hitler in a children’s movie, the truth is that it is a unique design. (An interesting side-note is that it was designed by Ferdinand Porche).

The New Beetle, again a design classic. While it will never have the longevity of the original Volkswagen (as Wayne and Garth might compare it - “It’s like Star Trek, The Next Generation. In many ways superior, but would never be as recognised as the original”) it is still a unique car that turns heads.

With the arrival of my Audi TT only a few weeks away, I’ve had to start preparing the car for sale - fixing all those little things that you put off. An eBay bargain saw me get a new set of floor mats (I’d worn through the originals), and I’m looking at getting the myriad of dents sorted. My only concern is the high mileage on the car compared to many others on the market. I’ve driven my car pretty much every day, whereas for some the Beetle is a luxury car - one only to be used on the weekend.

It’s quite sad to see it go, but now I’m fretting over the new one: Did I choose the right colour?

I chose red as the first Mark 1 TT I really liked was in red, but I’ve seen many Mark 2 TTs in Black - and it looks very mean…

Too late to change now though - apparently it arrived at the dealership at the end of last month.

The Scout Association celebrates its centenary today. As a former scout, I am wishing that I was still involved at the moment, with the world Jamboree currently taking place in Chelmsford at the moment. The event looks huge, with scouts from all over the world attending. But how relevant is scouting in today’s society?

In a world where kids complain of having nothing to do, they turn their noses up at the Scouts. Founded by Lord Robert Baden-Powell, the scouts were born out of the Mafeking Cadet Corps, a group of boys that assisted Baden-Powell during his time in the Boer War. The boys would be messengers, supporting the front-line troops. Following the war, Baden-Powell held the first scout camp on Brownsea Island. A camp of 21 boys from different backgrounds learning the survival and independance skills that Baden-Powell had developed through his army training.

Now the Scout Association is the biggest youth movement in the world.

I joined the scouts as a ‘Beaver’, the youngest division, for boys 6-8. I can remember that first night - I cried when I was left there, but when it had finished I didn’t want to leave. I then carried on through the Cub Scouts, into the Scouts and eventually became an Assistant Cub Scout leader. In that time, I learned to Abseil, Canoe, light a fire, cook backwoods-style and learned a lot about independance. I’m not going to pretend it was all good - I remember one scout camp where I was bullied, and gruelling cross-country walking in rainy conditions were not the most pleasant, but generally, it was a very happy time for me.

They say that these things are ‘character building’. Your first night camping away from home is probably the first time you’ve ever been away from your parents. It can be very daunting, and I can remember many times as a leader that we sat up comforting a child who wanted to go home - despite them boasting about having a ‘midnight feast’ of chocolate just hours before. By the end of camp though, they wouldn’t want to go back home, such was the fun of camp.

Normal scout nights were not as exciting, however. With all the best will in the world, it can be difficult to keep kids engaged. Having said that, there were always badges to work towards and although I wasn’t involved in it, we did actually have a curriculum.

So why is Scouts sneered at?

Perhaps it’s the naive liberal in me, but I cannot fathom why ‘kids of today’ turn their nose up at something that doesn’t cost that much, and gives them a sense of adventure, acheivement and a chance to socialise with more people.