- Written by Peter Edwards, Editor, Global Cement Magazine
Google Maps has a new feature, Timelapse, which stitches together satellite images to allow users to scroll back in time to 1984. As someone who is as old as the first images on Timelapse, this is sobering. Many locations around the world have changed beyond recognition: The melting of Greenland, the ‘advance’ into the Amazon, the growth of megacities like Dubai and Beijing, the disappearance of the Aral Sea... The images are equally shocking and unsurprising.
- Written by Robert McCaffrey Editorial Director, Global Cement Magazine
Firstly, I’d like to say ‘ thanks’ to my colleague Peter Edwards for writing the Last Word since the start of the pandemic. We’ll now be taking it in turns to write the column for the foreseeable future.
- Written by Peter Edwards Editor, Global Cement Magazine
As the world winds its way back to ‘normality’ following the Covid-19 pandemic, there is the prospect of increased social interaction. However, I now find myself somewhat bamboozled by the prospect of actually having full-on conversations with other people...in real life. This is especially tricky when the topics du jour have been covered. There’s only so many times you can discuss the latest case-numbers, Covid rules and how you see the future of office working, before needing to move on to other topics.
- Written by Peter Edwards Editor, Global Cement Magazine
During the pandemic, I have taken to working more with headphones, often exploring the many musical genres offered by YouTube. Having established my pre-existing liking for guitars and 80s synths, its ‘algorithm’ led me down the path to ‘post-punk,’ Serbian ‘drum-and-jazz,’ suggested I try Norwegian ‘darkwave,’ and presented me with ‘Zamrock,’ a mixture of Western rock and traditional music from 1970s Zambia. Other algorithm trips took me to early electronic music, strange time-signatures and bands with incredible range. Much of this music would have been completely unaccessible to most listeners 20 years ago, and I’m extremely glad it’s out there, waiting to be discovered anew. Many others are too, with a common comment stating that ‘the algorithm has found a gem.’
- Written by Peter Edwards Editor, Global Cement Magazine
In the town I grew up in, there was a sweet-shop on my route home from school. It was run by Geoff, an eccentric chap who sold sweets the ‘proper’ way, by weight from behind a counter. He was straight-talking and uncomplicated. When UK shops were, in his words, ‘forced to adopt’ the metric system in January 2000, he just relabelled everything with the same price, per 113.85 grams rather than per 1/4 lb.
