I have just been confirmed to speak at Au Contraire , New Zealand's 31st National Science Fiction convention in Wellington. If you're keen to come along, I'll be on at 10 or 11am on Saturday 28th - watch the programme for details. Registrations close this week I think. I'm sure it will come as no surprise to those who know me that I will be speaking about old computers:

The 80s in 8-bits: The Home Computer Revolution

The late 1970s through to early 1990s were a golden age of personal computing. For a decade and a half hundreds of manufacturers produced thousands of models, all unique with their very own capabilities, programming languages and software. Many of us today got our first taste of computing on computers like the Apple II, Sinclair ZX81, Commodore Vic-20 or Atari 400.

Over the past 15 years I have collected a large number of old machines from around the country and the globe. Here is a current complete list.

Ars Technica reports on a study which, upon examining the environmental impact of six common pesticides, found that an organic mineral oil intended to smother aphids was the worst of all tested, and the other tested organic pesticide rated fourth of the six:

We found that in addition to reduced efficacy against aphids compared to novel synthetic insecticides, organic approved insecticides had a similar or even greater negative impact on several natural enemy species in lab studies, were more detrimental to biological control organisms in field experiments, and had higher Environmental Impact Quotients at field use rates.
-- http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0011250

Take that stupid Hippies!

The venerable Ars Technica has coverage of a new official Pac-Man release to celebrate Pac's 30th birthday; Pac-Man Battle Royale. Ars wites:

The gameplay change is pulled off with some slightly tweaked mechanics. A level map is empty at the start of the round, only becoming randomly populated with dots and power pellets after a short time. Any player that grabs a power pellet temporarily doubles in size, affecting Pac-Man's speed and range of attack—get eaten by a powered-up Pac-Man and you’re out for the round.

Count me in!