Category Archives: Technology

Industrial Revolutionaries in Preston

Posted on August 24, 2010 by Pete of MIP

The Industrial Revolutionaries is a display at the Harris Museum in Preston.  The revolutionaries are the people who made an impact in Preston and include cotton magnates and reformers, mill workers and inventors.  The display was funded by a number of … Continue reading →

Posted in Cotton, History, Made in Preston, Political, Technology | Leave a comment

Inception

Posted on August 2, 2010 by Pete of MIP

Best film for ages, began to feel high at the fantastic idea behind it. Need to keep alert to follow the multi-threaded story. Great music. Was I dreaming? Couldn’t help thinking Leonardo Di Caprio has developed a hint of Marlon Brando or was … Continue reading →

Posted in Not particularly Preston, Technology | Comments Off

Leyland bus name slips into Blackburn

Posted on August 1, 2010 by Pete of MIP

The Leyland name is once more associating itself with bus manufacture in Lancashire.  Optare the Leeds based bus manufacturer who bought out East Lancashire Coachbuilders of Blackburn have agreed that Ashkok-Leyland of India will buy a 26% stake in the company.   There … Continue reading →

Posted in Made in Preston, Road, Technology | Comments Off

Defence Minister fires warning shots at Farnborough

Posted on July 22, 2010 by Pete of MIP

Liam Fox the Defence Minister made a speech at Farnborough giving a warning about the affordability of defence projects in the current climate.  Although some might say in any climate. The most promising part of the speech was the support … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Made in Preston, Technology, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Taranis Unmanned Aircraft unveiled

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Pete of MIP

Yesterday July 12th, BAE SYSTEMS at Warton held a ceremony to unveil the Taranis Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle concept demonstrator which is due to fly in 2011 around 5 years after the programme was launched. The aircraft is the size of … Continue reading →

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Volcanic Ash blowing over Lancashire

Posted on April 15, 2010 by Pete of MIP

Today, flights all over northern Britain have been grounded because of volcanic ash from Iceland. Quite a coincidence to have these northerly winds at the same time as a volcano erupts. Look out for bright sunsets. Many years ago a … Continue reading →

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High Speed Rail from Manchester, not Preston, announced

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Pete of MIP

The government announced its proposed 250mph High Speed Rail link plan today with a Y shaped network. The line to Birmingham from Euston is to be first followed by a line to Manchester and a separate one from Birmingham to Sheffield … Continue reading →

Posted in Political, Rail, Technology | Comments Off

Space Shuttle – International Space Station over Preston

Posted on February 21, 2010 by Pete of MIP

Missed it again.  Friday morning, 19th Feb,  at 5.26am the Space Shuttle, Endeavour, and the International Space Station flew over Preston before separating, it was 200 miles high at 36 degrees  above the horizon so not directly overhead. Very bright as well. Endeavour is … Continue reading →

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Island of Preston

Posted on January 29, 2010 by Pete of MIP

The Coastal Management Plan for the next 100 years has been issued and the coast around the Ribble estuary is largely to be protected except for an area on the south bank that will be allowed to make a managed … Continue reading →

Posted in Political, Technology | Comments Off

Combined Heat and Power from Baxi

Posted on January 11, 2010 by Pete of MIP

Baxi say they are geared up to deliver up to 20,000 combined heat and power units a year from their Preston, Bamber Bridge, plant.  The government is issuing contracts worth billions of pounds for green energy but the great majority of the … Continue reading →

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High Speed Rail to miss Preston?

Posted on December 31, 2009 by Pete of MIP

The High Speed 2 Company submitted its plans to Lord Adonis who will declare the preferred routes in March 2010.  To date the proposal has shown a line up the west coast via Preston to Glasgow but yesterdays newspapers seemed cooler on this idea.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Political, Rail, Technology | Comments Off

Digital Switchover Day – 2nd Dec 2009

Posted on December 2, 2009 by Pete of MIP

What a shock only a black and white fuzz on  TV.  After watching it for a while decided to tell my old aunt that the signal had gone off. It wasn’t the signal that bothered her though,  it was the … Continue reading →

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International Space Station over Preston

Posted on November 25, 2009 by Pete of MIP

The International Space Station with Space Shuttle Atlantis was visible from Preston yesterday morning (24th Nov) at 4.46 and it was very bright (if no clouds), I was in bed and it was probably raining. Atlantis undocked from the International … Continue reading →

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Digital Switchover and further to HD

Posted on November 21, 2009 by Pete of MIP

Wednesday 2nd December the freeview digital changeover will be complete in the Granada region. Also the power at the transmitter becomes 10 times stronger. Wow does that make our aerial glow? Probably not, I’ll add just in case someone thinks it does. … Continue reading →

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Nuclear Irish Sea announced

Posted on November 9, 2009 by Pete of MIP

Today the government announced 5 new nuclear power stations on the shore of the Irish Sea. Three in Cumbria, 1 at Heysham, 1 in Anglesey. There are currently 3 that have limited life remaining. The government has also announced a … Continue reading →

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Digital Switchover Day for BBC2

Posted on November 5, 2009 by Pete of MIP

Yesterday BBC2 went digital in the Granada region. The person managing the changeover said they’d only had 10,000 calls yesterday so it went well.  At the time I thought it sounds a lot as BBC2 doesn’t get a big audience. … Continue reading →

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Internet Explorer Version 8 and 10 minutes to get football results in the brave new digital TV world

Posted on October 21, 2009 by Pete of MIP

As a part-time web designer I find IE8 has gone from the extreme of earlier issues to the other extreme in terms of using web-standards. My web-design software puts special code into pages to allow for the foibles of earlier versions … Continue reading →

Posted in Not particularly Preston, Technology | Comments Off

Duke of Edinburgh’s wise words about TV technology

Posted on October 10, 2009 by Pete of MIP

The Duke of Edinburgh is reported as saying TV remotes are too complex.   I guess over 95% of the population are probably able to use them eventually without difficulty even if they don’t use all the functions. I have an elderly … Continue reading →

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Councillors Driver and Hudson man the barricades

Posted on October 9, 2009 by Pete of MIP

Two councillors, Geoff Driver of Lancashire County Council and Ken Hudson of Preston City Council have had a letter published in the Times (8th Oct)  defending the location of the National Football Museum in Preston.  This was after Matt Dickinson the Times … Continue reading →

Posted in Preston North End, Technology | 2 Comments

Preston FM your community radio

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Pete of MIP

Driving round Preston the other day a radio station I hadn’t heard of popped onto my radio. Preston FM 103.2MHz. Sounded a bit ‘localish’ although I’ve listened to a couple of their music programmes and they’re OK. So I’m giving … Continue reading →

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