my thoughts

I think I may be getting too interested in lightning and extreme weather phenomena, perhaps it is the physics degree. This picture shows a relatively uncommon 'positive cloud-ground' (+CG) lightning bolt taken by a photographer who was incredibly close to where it hit! Amazing!
Teslamania has the details (scroll down to 'huge positive..')

So what is Positive lightning? An image like that is sure to spark interest - here is an accessible article explaining more:
www.srh.weather.gov/srh/jetstream/lightning/positive.htm

If you've ever wondered about how lightning actually connects to the ground, then this page offers a nice introduction:
www.srh.weather.gov/srh/jetstream/lightning/lightning_max.htm

Lightning can actually change polarity too, this is called bipolar lightning, and this review paper (PDF) explains a bit about it:
plaza.ufl.edu/rakov/ICLP2000/positive1.16.pdf

Of course, no explanation would be complete without the wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning

Just found this rather nice site which presents a good detailed view of the weather through a series of clear images. They have an interesting lightning activity chart too. Great for 'visual thinkers' 
» www.meteorologica.info/

I'm thinking of flying to California, and have found a few interesting websites that cover the lesser-known aspects of flying: how to increase your chances at getting an upgrade, or what the seating layout of a plane is. These things are important for me as I'm 195cm tall! Of course these articles are just guidelines rather than fact but they are here as the information provided seems sound. (I will amend this article as I find out more.)

Avoid the bad seats
SeatGuru has fully annotated seating diagrams for all the major airlines, and uk-air.net has a table listing seat pitch for 111 airlines' economy fares.
» www.seatguru.com/
» www.uk-air.net/seatpitch.htm
» www.extratall.co.uk/news_airlines_are_providing_more_legroom.htm

Upgrades & discounts
I doubt that I will be flying business class, but here is an article on how to get discounted business class fares:
» www.philipblazdell.com/archives/001784.shtml

...and whilst not supporting long-haul flights, the MoneySavingExpert flightchecker does have a selection of useful links to various online travel brokers:
» MoneySavingExpert: How to get a flight upgrade
» www.moneysavingexpert.com/flightchecker/

Flight brokers: ebookers | expedia | travelocity | lastminute | opodo
Price comparison sites: travelsupermarket | cheapflights | kelkoo | traveljungle

Premium economy? Does premium economy deliver on its ambitious promise? An article that weighs up the price increase versus the benefits for premium economy. The news is that there is a lot of variation between airlines.
» www.smartertravel.com/advice/advfeatures/advice.php?id=8869&media=print

General tips
Travelocity have 7 general tips to find low fares
» www.travelocity.co.uk/info/info_main/0,,TCYUK:EN|FARE_TIPS,00.html

A friend of mine, Tim Harper, is presently cycling from John O'Groats all the way through the United Kingdom to Lands' End, in Cornwall (over 1000 miles/1600 km)!

He is doing this to raise money for the Intermediate Development Group who develop and implement practical answers to poverty. This is indeed a worthy cause, so get on and sponsor Tim!
www.watchingthewheels.co.uk/

You may know that I quite enjoy a Belgian beer now and then, I wouldn't say no to a nice glass of Tripel Karmeliet or a bottle of Trappist Westvleteren! But how to pronounce these (and countless others)? Further to my previous post on this topic I have found a simple introduction to the basics (and some of the difference between Dutch and Flemish) in the following sites - and what good is a dry text without some sound files to help things along - many of these sites have words and sounds to hear:

» Fun with Dutch, all you ever wanted to know about Dutch (and Flemish)
» Dutch spelling and pronunciation
» Exercises in Dutch spelling and pronunciation (The long and short of Dutch vowels)
» Dutch pronounced (examples, requests)
» An englishman's difficulties with dutch
» The double-dutch glossary (fun!), les 'Faux Amis' - be sure of the right word!

On a related topic, english has a significant number of Dutch loan-words: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Dutch_origin

Updated 27 May 2006: Reformatted and updated links after spending a few days working on Anglo-Dutch relations at Usability week 2006 ;-)

While researching to which institution I shall move my accounts and mortgage, I found this condensed version of the Good Shopping Guide - very useful.
www.foe-scotland.org.uk/miniGSG/

For more detail on the ethics of the financial services industry the Ethical Investment Research Service website is worth a visit.
www.eiris.org/

3M, makers of Scotch branded tape products and other goodness have a step by step guide on how to construct a duct tape wallet - that would be gaffer tape to us in the UK. I can't decide if it's cool or a waste of time though.
www.3m.com/intl/CA/english/centres/home_leisure/duct_tape/dt_wallet.html

Thinkgeek sell one ready made by Ducti if you can't be bothered with making one:
www.thinkgeek.com/cubegoodies/toys/5f21/ - it belongs here.
www.ducti.co.uk/ - The original.

Dropload is a useful free service which allows you to store any file (up to 100Mb) for up to a week. You then give your friends some simple instructions on how to pick up the file. This is a great alternative to clogging up inboxes with huge attachments.
www.dropload.com/

While creating websites you soon discover that each browser has its own quirks, knowing them is more often an art than a science. Here is a useful page which offers a summary of the more common position and layout problems with solutions and workarounds to bring the browsers back in line.
www.positioniseverything.net/articles/common.html

I read a few websites that cover design, technology and environmentally conscious product design. Here are a few that I find useful, interesting or inspirational:

Treehugger
Environmentally conscious lifestyle and products - I find this one best to browse by category - e.g. lighting
www.treehugger.com/files/lighting/index.php

MetaEfficient
"A guide to the most efficient things in the world"
www.metaefficient.com/metaefficient/

Modern Contemporary Design
www.mocoloco.com/

Josh Rubin's Cool Hunting - Art, Design, Culture and technology:
www.joshrubin.com/coolhunting/index.html