How I chose the title

Every piece of writing needs a good title. It's the hook, to get grazing passers-by to stop and sample the writing. When I decided to start this blog I didn't have the title worked out yet.

Well this morning on the subway it hit me. What I'm up against is a lot of spin, smoke-screening and irrelevant arguments -- the sort of thing we call a "red herring." Their aim is to throw you off the trail (dried salt herrings, which can go reddish, are very smelly -- so I'm told.)

I want to counter all those red herrings with a good, solid environmental reality check. Something from the other side of the spectrum ... something green.

So there it is. I'm calling this "Green Herring." Of course I had to google the term to see if someone else had thought of it. Of course someone had: there's a vegetarian restaurant in Canberra that has the name already. Here's one online online review - they liked it. I'll have to look it up if we ever get to Canberra. We've got friends in Melbourne that we're overdue for another visit.

There was also an entry in a Matlab contest that used this title. I haven't run the code to see what it does, but it sounds like some pretty pictures may emerge...

Well that's it for how I chose the title.

About me

Welcome to my blog. This is something I should have started a long time ago. I'll start with a brief tidbit about me as an intro.
At work I do computer support for university engineering researchers. One great thing about this job is access to lectures, seminars and courses on campus. I've been making the best of this opportunity to get up to date on topics in science such as genetics, as well as climate change and sustainable energy.
I'll have plenty to say on these topics as I get under way with this blog.