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Some Google Maps things

Story location: Home / bits-n-bobs /
18/Dec/2010

About a week ago or so, Emma was surprised to notice that Google Maps is incapable of calculating a route from Manchester to Buxton. It works if you type in a place within Buxton, and also if you choose to calculate a walking route.

Next, looking at the live traffic on Google Maps, I noticed the region of slow traffic seemed to be concentrated in a band across the middle of the country. When I checked the weather map on the BBC, it looked like this is where all the snow has been.

 

Thumbnail Thumbnail

Click on the thumbnail to view the image



Google Maps Ironbridge Anomaly

Story location: Home / bits-n-bobs /
16/Aug/2009

There appear to be some strange place names in Shropshire. I noticed these while checking the route to Ironbridge.

dummy

dummy

I hope there really aren't towns called Dummy2643 and Dummy2792.



Measuring Cups - weight conversions

Story location: Home / bits-n-bobs /
01/Apr/2007

Measuring cups and their volume, along with the equivalent weights - these are only applicable for general purpose white flour or granulated sugar.

Cups ml Oz Grams
1 236 4 110
½ 118 2 55
1/3 79 40
¼ 59 1 30

Other conversions

These may be found in various American recipes.

  • 1 cup is 8 fluid ounces of liquid or solid
  • 1 stick of butter is the same as 1 cup (i.e. 4oz or 110g)


Oven temperature conversion

Story location: Home / bits-n-bobs /
11/Nov/2006
Gas Mark ° C ° F
¼ 110 225
½ 130 250
1 140 275
2 150 300
3 170 325
4 180 350
5 190 375
6 200 400
7 220 425
8 230 450
9 240 475


Yorkshire vs Lancashire

Story location: Home / bits-n-bobs /
09/Nov/2006

Not quite the War of the Roses but a not-too-serious comparison between Yorkshire and Lancashire . In the interest of fairness I am taking the pre-1970's county boundaries, so I'll include Liverpool and Manchester as 'Old' Lancashire . As little research as possible has been conducted, only simple fact-checking to make sure I haven't mis-remembered anything important.

Yorkshire Lancashire Result
Countryside James Herriot Country Dark Satanic Mills Yorkshire
Food Yorkshire Pudding
Pontefract Cake
Wensleydale Cheese
Black Pudding
Eccles Cake
Lancashire Cheese
Draw
Beer Theakstons
Tetley
Stones
Sam Smiths
Thwaites
Cains
Boddingtons
J W Lees
Joseph Holt
Draw
Ye Olde stuff York (except Jorvik which is a rip-off) Err... some old buildings scattered around Yorkshire
Fun Scarborough Blackpool Lancashire
Big Cities Leeds
Bradford
Sheffield
Manchester
Liverpool
Lancashire
Films American Werewolf in London
The Full Monty
Kes
28 days later
The Parole Officer
Yorkshire (but it was close)
TV Comedy Open All Hours
Last of the Summer Wine
Royal Family
Phoenix Nights
Lancashire

It's a dead heat so far so I'll get Google to decide the winner.

Google search for Yorkshire Lancashire Result
"... is Great" 358 7 Yorkshire
"... is Crap" 2 0 Lancashire
"... is better than ..." 13 3 Yorkshire

It was close but it looks like Yorkshire wins on penalties.



Garfield's Birthday

Story location: Home / bits-n-bobs /
19/Jun/2006

Today is also Garfield's birthday. He's a bit younger than me (he was 'born' in 1978).

garfield with birthday cake



List of British Prime Ministers

Story location: Home / bits-n-bobs /
24/May/2006

British Prime Ministers, 1721-2006

Year Elected
Name
Party
1721
Sir Robert Walpole Whig
1742
Earl of Wilmington Whig
1743
Henry Pelham Whig
1754
Duke of Newcastle Whig
1756
Duke of Devonshire Whig
1757
Duke of Newcastle Whig
1762
Earl of Bute Tory
1763
George Grenville Whig
1765
Marquess of Rockingham Whig
1766
Earl of Chatham Whig
1767
Duke of Grafton Whig
1770
Lord North Tory
1782
Earl of Shelburne Whig
1782
Marquess of Rockingham Whig
1783
William Pitt Tory
1783
Duke of Portland Tory
1801
Henry Addington Tory
1804
William Pitt Tory
1806
Lord Grenville Whig
1807
Duke of Portland Tory
1809
Spencer Perceval Tory
1812
Earl of Liverpool Tory
1827
Viscount Goderich Tory
1827
George Canning Tory
1828
Duke of Wellington Tory
1830
Earl Grey Whig
1834
Sir Robert Peel Tory
1834
Duke of Wellington Tory
1834
Viscount Melbourne Whig
1835
Viscount Melbourne Whig
1841
Sir Robert Peel Tory
1846
Lord John Russell Whig
1852
Earl of Aberdeen Conservative
1852
Earl of Derby Conservative
1855
Viscount Palmerston Liberal
1858
Viscount Palmerston Liberal
1858
Earl of Derby Conservative
1865
Earl Russell Liberal
1866
Earl of Derby Conservative
1868
William Ewart Gladstone Liberal
1868
Benjamin Disraeli Conservative
1874
Benjamin Disraeli Conservative
1880
William Ewart Gladstone Liberal
1885
Marquess of Salisbury Conservative
1886
Marquess of Salisbury Conservative
1886
William Ewart Gladstone Liberal
1892
William Ewart Gladstone Liberal
1894
Earl of Rosebery Liberal
1895
Marquess of Salisbury Conservative
1902
Arthur Balfour Conservative
1905
Henry Campbell-Bannerman Liberal
1908
Herbert H. Asquith Liberal
1916
David Lloyd George Liberal
1922
Andrew Bonar Law Conservative
1923
Stanley Baldwin Conservative
1924
Stanley Baldwin Conservative
1924
James Ramsay MacDonald Labour
1929
James Ramsay MacDonald Labour
1931
James Ramsay MacDonald National Labour
1935
Stanley Baldwin Conservative
1937
Neville Chamberlain Conservative
1940
Winston Churchill Conservative
1945
Clement Attlee Labour
1951
Winston Churchill Conservative
1955
Sir Anthony Eden Conservative
1957
Harold Macmillan Conservative
1963
Sir Alec Douglas-Home Conservative
1964
Harold Wilson Labour
1970
Edward Heath Conservative
1974
Harold Wilson Labour
1976
James Callaghan Labour
1979
Margaret Thatcher Conservative
1990
John Major Conservative
1997
Tony Blair Labour
2007
Gordon Brown Labour


American Presidents

Story location: Home / bits-n-bobs /
24/May/2006

Presidents of the USA from 1789 to present.

President
Party
Term as President
Vice-President
1
George Washington (1732-1799) None, Federalist
1789-1797
John Adams
2
John Adams (1735-1826) Federalist
1797-1801
Thomas Jefferson
3
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) Democratic-Republican
1801-1809
Aaron Burr, George Clinton
4
James Madison (1751-1836) Democratic-Republican
1809-1817
George Clinton, Elbridge Gerry
5
James Monroe (1758-1831) Democratic-Republican
1817-1825
Daniel Tompkins
6
John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) Democratic-Republican
1825-1829
John Calhoun
7
Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) Democrat
1829-1837
John Calhoun, Martin van Buren
8
Martin van Buren (1782-1862) Democrat
1837-1841
Richard Johnson
9
William H. Harrison (1773-1841) Whig
1841
John Tyler
10
John Tyler (1790-1862) Whig
1841-1845
 
11
James K. Polk (1795-1849) Democrat
1845-1849
George Dallas
12
Zachary Taylor (1784-1850) Whig
1849-1850
Millard Fillmore
13
Millard Fillmore (1800-1874) Whig
1850-1853
 
14
Franklin Pierce (1804-1869) Democrat
1853-1857
William King
15
James Buchanan (1791-1868) Democrat
1857-1861
John Breckinridge
16
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) Republican
1861-1865
Hannibal Hamlin, Andrew Johnson
17
Andrew Johnson (1808-1875) National Union
1865-1869
 
18
Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) Republican
1869-1877
Schuyler Colfax
19
Rutherford Hayes (1822-1893) Republican
1877-1881
William Wheeler
20
James Garfield (1831-1881) Republican
1881
Chester Arthur
21
Chester Arthur (1829-1886) Republican
1881-1885
 
22
Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) Democrat
1885-1889
Thomas Hendriks
23
Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901) Republican
1889-1893
Levi Morton
24
Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) Democrat
1893-1897
Adlai Stevenson
25
William McKinley (1843-1901) Republican
1897-1901
Garret Hobart, Theodore Roosevelt
26
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) Republican
1901-1909
Charles Fairbanks
27
William Taft (1857-1930) Republican
1909-1913
James Sherman
28
Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) Democrat
1913-1921
Thomas Marshall
29
Warren Harding (1865-1923) Republican
1921-1923
Calvin Coolidge
30
Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) Republican
1923-1929
Charles Dawes
31
Herbert C. Hoover (1874-1964) Republican
1929-1933
Charles Curtis
32
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) Democrat
1933-1945
John Garner, Henry Wallace, Harry S. Truman
33
Harry S Truman (1884-1972) Democrat
1945-1953
Alben Barkley
34
Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) Republican
1953-1961
Richard Milhous Nixon
35
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963) Democrat
1961-1963
Lyndon Johnson
36
Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973) Democrat
1963-1969
Hubert Humphrey
37
Richard Milhous Nixon (1913-1994) Republican
1969-1974
Spiro Agnew, Gerald R. Ford
38
Gerald R. Ford (1913- ) Republican
1974-1977
Nelson Rockefeller
39
James (Jimmy) Earl Carter, Jr. (1924- ) Democrat
1977-1981
Walter Mondale
40
Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911- 2004) Republican
1981-1989
George H. W. Bush
41
George H. W. Bush (1924- ) Republican
1989-1993
James Danforth (Dan) Quayle
42
William (Bill) Jefferson Clinton (1946- ) Democrat
1993-2001
Al Gore
43
George W. Bush (1946- ) Republican
2001-
Richard Cheney


Eleanor Crosses

Story location: Home / bits-n-bobs /
27/Nov/2005

When Eleanor of Castile (wife of Edward I) died near Lincoln in 1290, her body was taken back to Westminster. At each overnight stop, Edward ordered a cross to be erected:

  1. Harby, Nottinghamshire (near Lincoln)
  2. Grantham, Lincolnshire
  3. Stamford, Lincolnshire
  4. Geddington, Northamptonshire (near Kettering)
  5. Hardingstone, near Northampton
  6. Stony Stratford (near Milton Keynes)
  7. Woburn, Bedfordshire
  8. Dunstable, Bedfordshire
  9. St Albans, Hertfordshire
  10. Waltham (now Waltham Cross) near Cheshunt in Hertfordshire
  11. Westcheap (Cheapside), London
  12. Charing (now Charing Cross)

To repeat the journey today by car would take a little over 5 hours, travelling 170 miles (avoiding motorways). The route would be:

  1. Leave Harby and head west to the A1133 then south to the A1
  2. Leave the A1 to visit Grantham
  3. Back onto the A1 to Stamford. Leave town on the A43 towards Corby and Kettering.
  4. The A43 goes through Geddington. Continue towards Northampton where it joins the A45.
  5. South of Northampton, take a detour up the A508 to the cross.
  6. Turn around and continue down the A508 to where it meets the A5 at Stony Stratford.
  7. Follow the A5 south (either the modern one through Milton Keynes or the old Watling street) before turning off for Woburn.
  8. Take the A4012 south to the A5 and on to Dunstable.
  9. Continue south on the A5 then A5183 towards St Albans.
  10. For the next leg of the journey you can either cheat and take the M25 to Junction 25 or go cross country taking the A414, A1M, B157 and finally B198 to Waltham Cross
  11. Take the A1055 and A10 into London towards Cheapside
  12. From there, the A40 then A4 take you to Charing Cross

I've missed out a lot of the finer detail of the route for clarity.

The only crosses still standing are the ones at Geddington, Hardingstone and Waltham Cross. The famous cross at Charing is a more modern replica.



One for sorrow...

Story location: Home / bits-n-bobs /
24/Nov/2005

There are lots of version of the Magpie Counting rhymes. This one seems fairly typical:

One for sorrow, two for joy,
Three for a girl, four for a boy,
Five for silver, six for gold,
Seven for a secret never to be told.