yppahpeek

How confident are you of your privacy? When you log in to Facebook, gmail or Twitter, how confident are you that no one else can view your information? More importantly, how do you keep your bank details safe when paying for a novelty, festive hat on ebay? In our modern world, we have come to rely on encryption as a method of keeping our secrets secret. Since we first began transposing our thoughts onto papyrus, wax-tablets or paper, we have tried to invent more complex codes so that our thoughts can remain a secret to be shared with only those with whom we want to share. A simple code is the Caesar shift. Named after Julius Caesar, who popularised its use, the Caesar shift works by substituting every letter with a letter a certain number of positions along the alphabet. For example, an ‘A’ would become ‘B’, a ‘B’ would become ‘C’, a ‘C’ would become ‘D’ and so on. This shift is called the ‘ key ’ and the text it produces is called the ‘ cipher ’. Using the key above, the followi...

There's a lot out there. What do we not know we don't know? Why should we bother with science that has no practical application? Since science is funded by a public which is becoming more engaged, why should they fund certain research projects? The debate over blue-skies research is a popular dinner table discussion for scientists and non-scientists alike. I know scientists who think blue-skies research is superfluous and “offers the researchers money to pursue their hobby”, but equally I know non-scientists who see blue-skies, or curiosity-led research as absolutely essential to our progress as a species. NASA is usually mentioned in any half-decent discussion about the importance of blue-skies research because, actually, what was the point of flying to a lump of rock sitting a few hundred-thousand kilometres away from our (mostly comfortable) planet? “Well,” say Defenders of the Blue Sky. “Teflon and Velcro are NASA spinoffs, invented during The Space Race”. Not s...

(Can't be bothered reading this? Visit  http://youtu.be/FSh2khUxlmk  to hear me read it instead) The Manchester Art Gallery is a fantastic (almost) hidden gem and can be found just down the road from Piccadilly Gardens. Heading down Mosley Street, with the trams trundling next to you, you'll meet a collumned Victorian building. The foyer is high ceilinged, bright and spacious. A nice start. While there are more permanent exhibitions (from the 17th century and onwards), the few guest exhibitions I've seen have been fantastic. The first, about six months ago, was the Roger Ballen exhibition. I had never even heard  of Roger Ballen but apparently he's influential enough to direct a video for the (slightly strange) group Die Antwoordt . The exhibition was amazing, nothing can prepare you for how scary this photo is  his photos are* when it's  they are printed life-size - the characters stare so intently that I felt as if I was one-half of a cat fight; scar...

Yet another banker-bashing news story has hit the press. On Thursday (28 June 2012), Barclays bank was fined for fixing an interest rate linked to the price of loans on mortgages. There has been a loud voice from the public demanding Bob Diamond to resign as Chief Executive . Other stories have reported that Bob will not resign over the actions of a "small number" of Barclays employees who were dishonest to make a fast buck for themselves. Searching Twitter for #Barclays and #BobDiamond shows a lot of anger and hate directed towards the leaders of the banks. The people want a public execution: they want a Diamond skull! After the execution Is this "reach for the torches and pitchforks" reaction helpful? The "small number" of traders in Barclays would have known what they were doing was (if not illegal) " morally questionable ", and yet they still did it. People are inherently dishonest and do not always weigh up the reward of an action v...