Articles and advice on cycling, technology, home efficiency and more

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These pages are written and managed by John & Julii Swindells, and we take every effort to ensure their accuracy, relevance and engagement. If you don't think this is the case at any point, please contact us and explain where you think that we're going wrong. Otherwise, happy browsing!

Irons in the Fire

Solid Fuel Stoves and Central Heating 14 Jun 2010

Here is a message from Anna, a satisfied customer of Irons In The Fire in Fakenham: Just to let you know that I have had a hell of a job finding ...

What Does BP Stand For?

Heating Oil: A Buyer's Guide 13 Jun 2010

Obama has made it clear what BP officially stands for... but what about the alternatives? Big Problem Broken Pipe Blasted Pollution Bitter ...

How to Measure Solar Radiation

Solar PV Electricity 10 Jun 2010

Home weather stations are all the rage nowadays, and for under £100 you can have a wireless station with USB download to your PC. However ...

Solar Powered Racing in Cambridge

Solar PV Electricity 10 Jun 2010

See the car that raced 3000km across Australia, using nothing but the sun for propulsion. Cambridge University Eco Racing (CUER) raced other ...

Custom-built Greenhouse

Gardening 09 Jun 2010

This greenhouse uses up an otherwise-unusable space next to the house, in the front garden. It consists of 2.4m lengths of twinwall polycarbonate ...

Honey Bees Mating

Animals 09 Jun 2010

These honey bees were at it for several minutes, buzzing loudly whilst mating on top of a water butt in our front garden.

Sitemaps in robots.txt File

Web Programming 08 Jun 2010

Give your carefully created sitemap a mention in your robots.txt file. You simply use this format: Sitemap: http://www.mysite.com/sitemap ...

GIMP: Removing Background From Photo

Web Programming 06 Jun 2010

You can use the GIMP image manipulation program (with some dexterity and a lot of staring) to remove the background from a photo. The best guide ...

Factor 001 Bike

London Science Museum 01 Jun 2010

This bike claims to have inspiration from the world of Formula 1

Ancient Tractor

London Science Museum 01 Jun 2010

Here's an ancient tractor at the Science Museum.

All Sorts of Engines

London Science Museum 01 Jun 2010

There are all sorts of engines in the Science Museum, including Steam and Jet engines. The computing section also features the difference engine ...

The Main Area

London Science Museum 01 Jun 2010

There is a massive space, from ground floor to the top floor of the Science Museum. A rocket is suspended in this open space.

Computing

London Science Museum 01 Jun 2010

Calculating and Computing Machines

Aircraft Section

London Science Museum 01 Jun 2010

The Aircraft section features airships, jet engines, all sorts of aeroplanes, and a cross-section of a 747 passenger jet.

Run is Complete

Run For Natalie 01 Jun 2010

The Fun Run is over, and the team of ladies and girls completed the distance in very downcast (and chilly) conditions. Thanks to everyone ...