Levidromes

A levidrome is a word that when spelled backwards makes another word.

Well, at least not yet. It is not in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Levi Budd is a six-year-old boy from British Columbia in Canada who has coined the term 'levidrome' after spotting that the word 'STOP' spells 'POTS' backwards. After realising that there is no such word in English for this phenomena, a social media campaign has started to get this word in popular usage (hence this post).

I wrote a short Python script this morning that will pull all of the levidromes from a dictionary file. The full list is copied below.





aa
ab
aba
abac
abba
abo
abos
abut
acca
ad
ado
ados
ae
aga
agar
agas
agenes
ah
aha
ahs
aia
aider
air
airts
ajar
aka
al
ala
alan
alif
alma
alula
am
ama
amahs
amas
amen
amene
amir
amis
amla
amman
an
ana
anal
anan
anana
anes
anew
anger
animal
animes
anna
annat
anon
ante
apod
araara
arak
arb
arbas
are
ares
arf
aril
arret
arris
arum
arval
aryl
assam
asses
at
ataata
ate
ates
aua
auks
ava
aval
avel
avid
avo
awa
ay
ayahs
ba
bac
bacs
bad
bag
bal
bals
ban
bans
bard
barf
bark
bas
bat
bats
bed
beef
ben
bens
bib
bid
big
bin
bins
bird
bis
blub
bo
bob
bobac
bobak
bod
bog
boh
bok
bon
bonk
boob
boord
bor
bos
bots
bows
boy
bra
braced
brad
brag
braw
bro
brod
bros
bru
bub
bud
bug
bulb
bun
bunk
buns
bur
burd
burg
bus
but
buts
cab
caba
cabob
cam
camus
cap
card
cares
cep
ceps
cire
cires
cis
cit
cite
cito
civic
clat
cod
cor
cos
cot
cram
cran
crem
cur
da
dab
dace
dad
dag
dah
dahs
dal
dam
dap
daraf
darb
darg
dart
darts
das
daud
daw
daws
day
de
deb
debut
decaf
decal
decarb
dedal
deed
deem
deen
deens
deep
deeps
deer
dees
deet
deets
def
defer
deffer
deffo
deg
degami
degged
deid
deified
deifier
deil
deke
deked
del
deled
delf
delis
deliver
delos
dels
deman
demit
demits
den
denier
denies
denim
denis
denned
dennets
dens
depart
deport
depot
depots
derat
derats
dere
dered
deres
deros
derris
dessert
desserts
deus
devas
devil
devils
devots
dew
dewans
dewed
dexes
deys
di
dial
dialer
dials
diaper
dib
did
died
dif
dig
dim
din
dinar
diol
diols
diram
dit
div
diva
do
dob
doc
dod
dog
doh
dohs
dol
dom
don
dons
doom
door
dop
dopa
dops
dor
dorb
dormin
dorp
dorps
dort
dorter
dos
doser
dot
doy
drab
drac
drail
dram
drap
draps
draw
drawer
draws
dray
drey
drib
drier
droob
drool
drow
drows
drub
duad
dual
dub
dud
duel
duo
dup
dups
ea
ean
eas
eat
ecad
ecce
ed
edile
edit
ee
eel
eels
een
ef
eh
ehs
eke
eked
elide
elides
elutes
em
eme
emes
emir
emit
emits
emmets
emong
emos
en
ene
enema
enes
enol
enows
er
era
ere
ered
eres
ergo
eric
eros
ervil
eses
esnes
espial
esse
et
eta
etas
etat
etats
eten
etic
etna
euk
eve
even
evil
eviler
evils
ewe
exul
eye
faced
farad
fe
fed
feeb
feer
fen
fer
fet
fid
fier
fig
fila
fir
fires
fled
flog
flor
flow
fool
fra
frab
fret
fro
gab
gad
gag
gal
gals
gam
gan
gans
gaps
gar
garb
gas
gat
gateman
gater
gats
gay
ged
gel
gelder
gem
gen
get
gib
gid
gif
gig
gins
gip
girt
girts
git
gnar
gnat
gnats
gnaw
gnaws
gnome
gnus
gob
god
golf
gon
gons
goog
gorp
gorps
gos
got
grad
gram
grub
gu
gub
gul
gulp
guls
gum
gums
guns
gup
gups
gur
gut
guv
guy
ha
habus
had
hadedah
hah
hahs
hajjah
halalah
hales
hallah
hallan
halos
han
hap
haram
hay
he
heh
henry
hep
her
hey
ho
hob
hod
hoh
hon
hoo
hoop
hop
hos
huh
hup
id
ikat
imaged
io
iris
iron
is
it
itas
iwi
jar
kabob
kaiak
kak
kam
kara
kat
kay
kayak
keek
keel
keels
keep
keet
keets
ken
keps
kier
kips
kirks
kis
kiths
knaps
knar
knit
knits
knob
knop
knot
knots
know
knub
knuts
kob
kook
kor
korat
kow
krab
krans
kue
la
lab
laced
lacer
lad
laded
laer
lag
lager
laid
laipse
lair
lam
lamina
lana
langer
lap
lares
larum
las
laud
lava
lavra
leat
leben
led
lee
leek
leep
leeps
leer
lees
leet
leets
leg
leir
lemel
leper
les
let
leud
leva
level
lever
levins
levo
lez
liar
liard
liart
lias
lied
lies
lin
lion
lira
lit
live
lived
livre
lobo
lod
loges
loid
lone
loof
looks
loom
loons
loop
loops
loord
loos
loot
looter
loots
lop
los
lotos
lug
luxe
lyra
ma
mac
macs
mad
madam
maes
mag
mak
mal
malam
mallam
mals
mam
man
map
maps
mar
marah
marc
marcs
mard
marg
marid
marram
marrum
mart
mas
massa
mat
maws
may
me
meed
mees
meet
meets
meg
mem
merc
meter
mets
mew
mho
mid
milks
mils
mim
mined
minim
mips
mir
mis
mm
mo
mod
mom
mon
moo
mood
mool
mools
moops
moor
moos
moot
mop
mor
mos
mot
moy
mu
mug
mum
mura
mural
mures
murram
mus
mut
muton
muts
na
naan
nab
nae
nag
nah
nala
nallah
nam
named
namer
nametag
namma
nan
nana
nap
napas
nappas
naps
naras
narc
narcs
narks
nas
nat
naw
ne
neb
nebel
ned
nee
need
neep
nef
neg
nek
neks
nelis
nema
nemas
nep
net
nete
nets
neve
neves
new
nib
nid
nil
nimrod
nip
nips
nis
nit
no
nob
nod
nog
noh
noil
nolos
nom
non
nona
nonet
noo
noon
noop
noops
nori
nos
not
notes
notum
now
noy
nu
nub
nun
nur
nus
nut
nuts
nys
oat
ob
oba
obey
obo
obol
od
oda
odas
offed
offer
ogre
oh
ohm
oho
ohos
oi
oiks
om
on
ono
oo
ooh
oohs
oom
oon
oop
oor
oot
op
oppo
orb
orf
os
otic
otto
oud
ova
ovel
ow
owt
oxo
oy
pac
pacer
pad
pah
pal
palp
pals
pam
pan
pans
pap
par
pard
part
parts
pas
pat
pats
paw
paws
pay
pec
peed
peek
peel
peels
peen
peep
pees
peh
pelas
pen
peons
pep
per
perp
perts
pets
pig
pin
pins
pip
pir
pis
pit
plap
plug
po
pod
poh
pol
pols
pom
ponk
poo
pooh
pool
pools
poon
poons
poop
poor
poort
poos
poots
pop
port
ports
pos
pot
pots
pow
pows
prat
prep
prod
prog
pud
pug
puh
pullup
pup
pupils
puris
pus
put
puy
radar
rag
raga
rager
rages
raggas
rail
rait
raj
raja
ram
ramis
rang
ranid
rank
rap
raps
ras
rast
rat
rats
raw
ray
re
real
reaps
rebus
rebut
recal
recap
recaps
reccos
redder
redes
redia
redips
redleg
redraw
redrawer
reed
reef
reeks
reel
reels
reens
rees
ref
refed
refer
reffed
reffo
reflet
reflow
regal
regar
regna
regnal
regos
reh
reif
reified
reifier
reik
reiks
reined
reird
reknit
reknits
reknot
reknots
relaid
relit
relive
reliver
reman
remeet
remit
renies
rennet
rep
repaid
repaper
repel
repins
repot
repots
res
resat
resod
retag
retem
retool
retrod
retros
revel
reviled
reviler
reviver
reward
rewarder
rewets
rexes
ria
rial
rias
ribas
riel
rif
rim
rima
rime
rims
rip
rits
rob
roc
rod
rok
rolf
rom
rones
roo
rood
room
rooms
roop
roops
roots
rosies
rot
rotator
rotavator
rotor
rub
ruc
rucs
rug
rums
run
sab
sabir
sabra
sad
sadis
sado
sados
sae
sag
saga
sagas
sagenes
saggar
sail
sair
sakis
sal
salep
salles
sallets
sam
sama
samas
samen
san
sanes
sap
sapan
sappan
saps
sar
saran
saros
sarus
sat
sate
sati
sav
saved
saw
saz
scab
scam
scares
scot
scram
scran
scur
seals
seam
seat
secret
seder
sedes
sedile
seed
seeks
seel
seem
seems
seep
seer
sees
segar
segol
seil
seined
seiner
seis
seisor
seities
sekos
sel
selah
selahs
seles
sellas
selles
seme
sememes
semes
semina
sena
senas
sene
senega
senegas
sennet
senor
sense
ser
sera
serac
seracs
seral
sere
sered
seres
seric
serif
serons
serres
serum
sese
sesey
sessa
sesses
set
seta
seton
setule
seven
sexed
sexer
sexes
sey
seys
sha
shad
shah
shahs
shakos
shales
shama
shay
shaya
she
shod
shoo
shtik
si
sib
sic
sidas
sies
sik
sikas
siled
silen
sim
sima
simar
simis
sin
sined
sinnet
sip
siri
siris
sirra
sirred
sirs
sirup
sis
sit
six
skat
skeer
skees
skeets
sken
skeps
skier
skio
skips
sklim
skool
skran
skrans
skrik
skua
slab
slaes
slag
slaid
slam
slap
sled
slee
sleek
sleep
sleeps
sleer
sleet
sleets
slim
slipup
slit
slive
slived
sloid
sloom
sloop
sloops
sloot
sloots
slop
slug
smart
smees
smew
smir
smits
smoor
smoot
smug
smur
smut
smuts
snab
snag
snap
snaps
snark
snarks
snaw
snawed
snaws
sneb
sned
sneed
sneer
snib
snig
snip
sniper
snips
snirt
snit
snivel
snod
snoep
snog
snool
snoop
snoops
snoot
snores
snort
snot
snow
snub
snug
so
sob
soba
soc
soccer
sod
soda
sodas
sog
soger
soh
soho
sokahs
sokes
sol
solah
soled
solon
solos
som
some
son
sonnet
sool
soom
soop
sop
soras
sorb
sore
sored
sorter
sos
sotol
sow
soy
spacer
spaer
spag
spam
span
spank
spans
spar
spard
spart
sparts
spas
spat
spats
spaw
spaws
spay
spaz
spec
speed
speel
speels
spek
speks
spets
spider
spik
spiks
spim
spin
spins
spirt
spirts
spit
spod
spool
spools
spoom
spoon
spoons
spoor
spoots
sports
spot
spots
sprat
sprits
sprod
sprog
spud
spug
sris
stab
stag
stang
stap
staps
star
stared
start
stat
state
stats
staw
staws
steed
steek
steeks
steel
steels
steem
stellas
stem
stemme
sten
stenned
step
steps
stet
stets
stew
stewer
stime
stimed
stims
stink
stinker
stir
stirps
stob
stonk
stonker
stool
stools
stoop
stoops
stoor
stop
stoped
stoper
stops
stot
stots
stoved
stow
stows
strad
strap
straps
straw
strep
stressed
stria
strig
strips
strop
strops
strow
struts
stub
stum
stums
stun
stunk
sturts
sub
subah
suber
succus
sued
sulu
sulus
sum
sumac
sun
sung
sup
suras
sus
susus
swad
swam
swang
swans
swap
swaps
sward
swat
swats
sway
swey
swob
swone
swop
sword
swot
swots
syed
syes
syn
ta
tab
tae
tael
taes
tag
tak
taki
taks
talc
tallat
tam
tan
tang
tanna
tao
tap
taps
tar
tared
tarok
tarp
tarps
tart
tas
taser
tat
tate
tats
tav
taw
taws
te
teed
teek
teel
teels
teem
teemer
tef
teg
tel
telfer
ten
tenet
tenner
tennes
tennis
tennos
tenon
terces
terf
terra
terret
tes
tet
tets
tew
ti
tiar
tic
tid
tide
tig
til
tiler
tils
time
timed
timer
tin
tink
tinker
tins
tip
tips
tirrit
tis
tit
toc
tocs
tod
tog
tom
ton
tonk
tonker
tons
too
tool
tools
toom
tooms
toons
toot
top
toped
toper
tops
tor
torot
tort
tot
tots
tow
tows
trad
trail
tram
trams
trap
traped
traps
trat
trats
tressed
trew
trig
trins
trips
trod
trons
troop
trop
troped
trot
trow
tsar
tub
tuba
tubed
tuber
tug
tum
tums
tun
tup
tut
two
ug
ulu
ulus
um
umu
un
urb
utu
vas
vat
vav
vid
vug
wad
wan
wang
wans
wap
waps
war
warb
ward
warder
warts
was
wat
wats
waw
way
wed
wem
wems
wen
wena
wert
wet
wets
wey
wo
wok
wolf
wolfer
won
wonk
wons
wop
word
wort
worts
wos
wot
wots
wow
xis
ya
yad
yag
yah
yahs
yak
yam
yap
yaps
yar
yard
yaw
yaws
yay
yebo
yeh
yerd
yes
yeses
yew
yews
yo
yob
yod
yom
yon
yos
yrneh
yug
yup
zaps
zas
zel
ziz
zuz
zzz


It is interesting to note that some levidromes are also palindromes. I wonder whether we need a new word to describe this phenomenon also?  Furthermore, there is no word in English for "a word that you make up in order to make another word make sense". I suggest: "emordivel" ?

Is there a difference in air pressure between your head and toes?

It has been a lovely day in England today, with highs of 20 degrees (that's 68 F) and a gentle breeze. It has been the sort of weather for relaxing in the sun with a cool drink and a sun hat, and maybe a good book, because it is not often we get the chance to produce some vitamin D in this country. But I couldn't just sit around all day. During the peak of the midday sun, I retreated to the relative safety and coolness of my geek cave and tinkered with my Raspberry Pi Sense Hat data logger.

The 8-by-8 LED matrix on the Sense Hat, which is useful for anything your imagination can conceive. 

The Raspberry Pi Sense Hat data logger uses the brilliant Sense Hat to log temperature, pressure and humidity from its many sensors. You can grab my code from the link above, or read about other Sense Hat projects, and if you have a Raspberry Pi then this is an brilliant add on device that will guarantee hours of fun.


It was this tinkering that made me ponder the question raised in the title of this post.

Is there a difference in air pressure between your head and toes?
Assuming that you have toes on the ends of your feet (as I do), and not growing out of your forehead (as I don't), then there should be a difference in air pressure between these two points due to the difference in height between them (assuming that you are standing vertically). More to the point I wondered whether it was possible to measure this difference. Sadly, Raspberry Pi is not maneuverable enough to lift off my desk (so many things plugged in) which led me to look for barometer apps in the app store.

I soon found Barometr by SeNSSoft for my Lumia 950.

Air pressure at ground level

Air pressure at head height.

And there you have it. The answer is 'Yes', about 0.2 hecopascal (or about 0.1 hecopascal if your name is Frodo).

Hacking a hurricane plant

Monstera deliciosa, Hurricane plant, or Swiss Cheese plant, call it what you will, they are beautiful plants that take little effort to care for and add a tropical vibe to any geek's dungeon. I've had this one for at least ten years after it was propagated from an earlier parent plant (long ago donated to the Art department of a local technical college).

Yesterday I decided to rescue my plant from the sorry state it had got into over winter. I keep mine in the conservatory where in summer it gets plenty of sunlight and stays warm enough over winter.

Hurricane plant after winter in the conservatory.

The first thing I did was to remove all of the dead leaves. Then I trimmed the aerial roots. I noticed that a number of the aerial roots (which usually attach themselves to nearby rocks and trees) were attempting to make an escape through the carpet. Thankfully there was minimal damage.

Next step was to remove the old string I had used to tie the plant to its support and replace with something more sturdy. I use Toolzone Garden Twist Tie Support Wire which provides a very strong bond between plant and support without damaging the plant.

Hurricane plant with some better support

I then removed some of the young plants that were growing from the base of the Hurricane plant. One of the fun things about this type of plant is that it is very 'hackable'. Any of the shoots providing they have at least two leaves and one aerial root can easily be propagated. You simply need to 'hack' parts of the plant away from the main plant and within a few days they should be growing on their own.

I now have two young plants from the parent plant. These plants should ideally be kept in a sunny location away from direct sunlight and given a moist compost. I used a recycled plastic bottle with drainage holes cut into the bottom which should allow me to see the root system as it develops over summer.

Young plants hacked from the bottom of the parent plant

You're writing dates wrong, probably

I've been having this argument with people recently. We write dates wrong.  Here's why:

Today is the 18th day of the second month of 2017 (unless of course, you are reading this in the future, in which case, how long did you have to wait for hover-skateboards and what do teleporters feel like, and does anybody in the future remember those couple of months when American had President Trump?).

Most people will say that today's date is "The 18th of February 2017" and will sign documents with digits 18/2/17, or 18/02/17 (or if in America, the even more horrible 02/18/17).  The problem is of course the confusion here as to what the digits mean. Is it the 18th day, or the 2nd day, or the 17th day of the 18th month of year 2....?

When you stop to think about it, writing dates in either British or American formats is deeply confusing and fundamentally illogical.

Much better to write the date as 2017-02-18.

That's YYYY-MM-DD.

There are a number of reasons for this.  Firstly, documents date stamped in this way will automatically be sorted into chronological order. Someone sent me a document today from a recent meeting. The filename was DD MM YY. I can only imagine what a mess their 'my documents' folder looks like. Perhaps they like having all files written on the first day of every month next to each other? Or maybe they are The Doctor, from Doctor Who? You see, time is not a big ball of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey 'stuff'. It is a strict line.

Fun, but wrong!

Secondly, we have always written time in the same way. Currently, looking at my clock, it is 11:47 in the morning. My accurate clock tells me that it is 12 seconds into the 47th minute.  That is 11:47:12, or HH:mm:ss.  That means that the current position in time could be written as:

2017-02-18 11:47:12

Notice that the largest unit of time is on the left. As you move through the digits, the units of time become progressively smaller, from years to months to days to hours to minutes.

Is there anywhere else that we also apply this logic?  Consider the number "three hundred and forty nine".

It would seem logical to write this as "349", with the largest unit on the left, getting progressively smaller.  It would be very silly to write it as "493", or even "49 and 300", or "four hundred minus fifty-one".

How about your postal address? You probably also write it in order of size:

Little person

Some house

A Street

In a little town

County

Country

Your massive planet

Of course, I am only talking about written dates here. I think it is perfectly acceptable to say "Saturday the eighteenth of February", or "it is nearly ten past two" in spoken English.

In fact, you shouldn't be surprised to discover that there is an international standard for date formats (and it makes incredible sense to adopt it all in written documents). It is basically what I have been banging on about in this rant.

No longer should you accept the problem of interpreting a date written as 04/05/11 as being the fifth of April in the late Roman period, or possibly the eleventh of May, or possibly April, in, um, in year 4, or maybe 5. Oh, my brain!

Right now! I mean, just then....no, it's gone.

If you enjoyed this rant, then you probably want to take a long hard look at yourself, however you might also like to read about why Americans drive on the wrong side of the road or perhaps you would like these articles about calendars.

See you for some more nerdy stuff in the future......

We are also on Pinterest

I didn't choose the geek life, the geek life chose me.

If you like our stuff then you might like to know that we also post on Pinterest.

Click the image to load our Pinterest pages.

There you will find almost daily updates for all manner of geeky boards from Computing Science, LEGO, algorithms, Science fiction and fantasy to some rare photos of invisible things. So if you have nothing better to do, I'll see you over there.

Timelapse #LEGO building

I recently discovered the Microsoft Hyperlapse app. This app allows you to create smooth, time-lapse video either from existing video, or captured directly from your phone camera.

I thought I would try it out whilst building some Christmas LEGO. Here I am building the Imperial Assault Hovertank. This is a really easy but fun build. There's a link below should you want to build one yourself. The tank has a couple of missiles which shoot out of the model at remarkable speed, so do be careful.

Amazon link: LEGO Star Wars 75152 Imperial Assault Hovertank Building Set

The first problem was to set up my phone so it could view the action on the table. I used a egg-carton to hold the phone, although the phone did fall out of the container at the end of the first video!  I then improved this impromptu set-up before ordering a decent stand for my phone.




What I think about Hyperlapse.
It's pretty good, although I don't know why time-lapse isn't an option in the default camera app with Windows 10. Microsoft really should work on this as it will show Windows 10 to be the professional OS that it should be.

Time lapse is very easy to do, although it is rather power-hungry, and an external supply would be needed for any videos longer than the ones shown above.

Videos are created very easily and there is an option to create them at 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x or 32x. In fact you can create multiple videos of different speeds from the same capture. It would be good if there was some editing features built into the app, even just the ability to trim the start and end. Some filters or other effects would be a useful feature, however the basic app does a job well and I shall definitely be using this again.

Rest in peace Carrie Fisher

Whilst creating this StarWars related post, I have just heard of the tragic passing of Carrie Fisher. She will be in the hearts of all geeks everywhere as undoubtedly she was not just my first crush.

The most bad-ass female role models film has ever seen.

She will be missed by all geeks everywhere. A sad day.

Donald Trump spotted inside a fruit

I dropped a pepper on the floor which causes some bruising to the fruit, but was surprised to discover that when I cut out the offending damaged flesh, the President Elect Donald Trump was hiding inside. He made me pay for the pepper as well.

scary - complete with bile-filled, forked tongue.

If you have parachuted into this page from somewhere else on the Internet, then you may wish to gather up your thoughts, dust yourself down, and check out the following Donald Trump fruit-a-likes.

Nerdy books for geeks

With the pagan festival of Yule figuratively around the corner, you may wish to curl up in front of an open fire with a good book. Or you may wish to go out and buy one for your nerdiest significant other(s). Listed here are a selection that I recommend.

The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage

Presented in this wonderful book is the (alternative) story of Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage and their comic-book adventures with the Difference Engine. Enter a parallel universe where Victorian computers compute pi, correct spelling errors and offer guidance on etiquette.

Feynman

This comic book tells the life story of one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century: safecracker, musician, romantic and Nobel-prize winning physicist Richard Feynman. If he isn't already on your fantasy dinner party list then he should be, and this book should also be on your list for Santa Claus.


The Meaning of Liff

Even though the English language has many hundreds of thousands of words, there remain many commonly-shared experiences that do not have a word assigned to them... until now, thanks to Douglas Adams and John Lloyd. For example, there once was no word for the act of dribbling involuntarily into one's own pillow, until now: Sompting.

What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

What would happen if you fired a nuclear weapon at a hurricane? How much physical space does The Internet take up? What would happen if a rainstorm dropped all of its water in a single giant drop? Could you build a bridge of Lego across the Atlantic ocean?

All these absurd questions and more are answered in this book by XKCD comic creator Randall Munroe. It's like having this website printed out into book form.
And if XKCD is your thing, then do also find the website is available in book form as well... Randall Munroe describes xkcd as a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. It is practically required reading in the geek community.

One geek experience points are awarded each to Sydney Padua, Jim Ottaviani, Leland Myrick, Hilary Sycamore, Douglas Adams, John Lloyd and Randall Munroe.