Cambridge Clarion

This article shows one way you can generate unbiased random bits from a single shuffle of a deck of playing cards and write them down in hex, entirely by hand.

This article reports empirical measurements of the efficiency of a small, novel electric kettle heating a small amount of water to a temperature below boiling point.

Extracts from a chapter titled “Diseases of civilization” in a 2007 book, ‘The diet delusion’ (or ‘Good calories, bad calories’) by Gary Taubes.

This article reports empirical measurements of the efficiency of a gas hob heating water to a temperature below boiling point.

This article presents an untested idea for countering audio evesdropping of a conversation between two people.

The photographs here show ring-necked parakeets (Psittacula krameri) in in the suburbs of Birmingham, England in 2026.

An earlier article contained ideas for a solar cooker with a conical reflector.

This article deriving algebraic expressions for the sizes of sheet material to make a conical solar reflector has been updated by the addition of a section applying its formulae to a particular case.

For the first time cambridgeclarion.org has a site search engine.

In a 1988 book, ‘Stalker’, John Stalker, the former Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, wrote: “In May 1984 I was asked to undertake an investigation in Northern Ireland that very soon pointed towards possible offences of murder and consp…

The photographs here, show a little egret (Egretta garzetta) by a shallow stream in the suburbs of Birmingham, England.

“The quashing of the conviction against former army information officer Colin Wallace will come as no surprise to Eye readers, who have been reading about the case since issue 684 -- 4 March 1988.”...

An on-demand domestic gas water heater uses a continuous 130 Watts for its pilot light while it is idle, according to measurements I made with the gas supplier's meter used for billing.

The method described in the 2018 article for memorising a cryptographic key allows someone to reconstruct any 128-bit number that they have been given to memorise.

This article reports experiences memorising secrets strong enough to be cryptographic keys, meaning those with 128 bits of entropy.

This article presents a small advance in the concept described in the 2024 article ‘Authenticating a public key from just a name - a feasibility study with GPL code’

This article describes a cheap home-made tool for inspecting the gutters of a two-storey house from the safety of the ground.

A stone carving on the ancient Arch of Titus in modern Rome depicts an object shaped like the gold lampstand for the Israelite tabernacle described in the biblical book of Exodus.

Quotations from a 2002 book by a British police inspector who was personal protection officer to Princess Diana.

Two paragraphs on the refusal in 1997 of the USA's president to sign an international treaty to ban land mines.

In Britain in January and February 2024 YouTube was showing fraudulent adverts for electric heaters.

The ancient cuneiform clay artefact in the British Museum called the Cyrus cylinder and the biblical book of Isaiah use similar phrases or imagery in relation to Cyrus: taking him by the hand, and calling him by name.

The idea of discrediting an otherwise true story by revealing lies previously infiltrated into it is illustrated here with actual reports that might represent applications of this putative technique.

A review of an anonymous book ‘I am a hitman’ that purports to be the story, told in the first person, of an ex-military British murderer for hire who had so far escaped justice and wrote: “You're never going to know who I've killed as I always ensured my…

Photographs of skies that are predominantly white rather than blue.

One attraction of a parabolic trough as a solar concentrator is that the reflector can be made by bending sheet material.

In May 2024 test sticks showed dissolved copper of around 0.2mg/L in tap water that had been in the copper pipe of the home-made solar kettle constructed in 2022 and described in an earlier article.

The photographs here show mowing in and around Cambridge that conserved wildflowers in 2024.

The photographs here, taken in May 2024, show signs in a Cambridge street declaring “Herbicide Free Area”, “A joint Cambridge City Council & Pesticide-Free Cambridge initiative”.

This article presents prototype GPL open-source software called Lepron that demonstrates the concept of authenticating a cryptographic public key from a long public name without needing trust.

Except for mobile phones, computer screens are too wide to fill with text that can be read easily and most websites find a way to restrict the width of a column of text.

A press cutting from the archives.

A press cutting from the archives.

A press cutting from the archives.

A press cutting from the archives.

This article describes a way of providing passwords to users of a computer system so that the responsibility for making the password secure is separated from the conflicting goal of making it memorable.

Experience shows that it is possible to make a cup of coffee from whole beans without grinding them.

This article reports simple empirical measurements to estimate the efficiency of a portable induction hob and of an electric kettle heating water to a temperature below boiling point.

This article shows with photographs two causes of inefficiency in an electric kettle bought in 2021.

The photographs in this article show plants and berries of cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana) growing under glass in southern England in April 2023.

This article summarises well-known information that could be useful for solar heating.

In a film interview British author Stephen Dorril mentioned MI6 and an unamed City of London newsletter.

This article reports the results of using a home-made parabolic trough solar kettle described in earlier articles to heat water in glass bottles rather than a copper pipe.

This article reports more experimental results testing silicone tubing and bubble wrap as cheap insulators that might make a home-made solar kettle heat water more quickly.

Here are some experimental results from testing the plastic bubble wrap shown in the photograph as an insulator on the heat collector of a home-made parabolic trough solar kettle under conditions of low wind.

Here are some experimental results from testing a translucent silicone tube as an insulator on the heat collector at the focus of a home-made parabolic trough solar kettle.

Here is a recipe for a simple meal and a way to cook it using only a kettle.

It is possible to create usable pseudowords with more than 3 bits of information per letter using a trigram letter model of English.

This article describes a home-made mouse trap with no moving parts that has been used successfully for many years.

The photographs here show a working solution to the problem of pouring water into and out of a home-made solar kettle that heats the water in a horizontal copper pipe.