May 7, 2014

Yesteryear
One year ago today: May 7, 2013, nuclear vs. unclear.
Five years ago today: May 7, 2009, big plans.

           And I messed up this morning. I got up, a lovely day, had a coffee, some porridge, and then remembered it was blood test day. I forgot to fast, so, I go back next week. The partial news is that while my blood pressure has been normal for years, there are conditions in my blood that reveal a lifetime of rich American high-carb food. Like countless others, all those banana splits and college pizzas are starting to catch up. So there, that’s proof that I’m just the same as everybody else. Only better looking.

           What are these things? I don’t know, they are cubes of blue liquid with a protruding wire topped with a clip. I speculate they were once fancy card holders from a banquet. As depicted, I use them to hold frail pieces for soldering. Since they are stamped “Hispanic Unity”, I call them “Mexican Wire Holders.” They are not very heavy.
           No way will my new bicycles fit into my storage shed. The walkway is long and narrow and the bikes won’t fit around the corridor of the only spot left unused. So I’ve got them inside my house, taking up too much space. Looks like I’ll have to make room and that means out goes some of my nicest furniture. Hey, I’m not using it and I need the space. The bicycle thieves are now using cordless cutting wheels.
           Okay, why would I have any interest is an old clock mechanism? Advertising. Although my DIY ROM project didn’t fly, I‘ve never forgotten how close it came. I know that to get into the news these days it is not necessary to invent something that works. Just come up with a novel twist. Right now, what does everyone think of when you say storing sunlight energy overnight? Batteries. My latest brainstorm says something like a clock spring, could do the same thing. Use the daylight rays to operate a very slow gear to wind up the clock. One advantage is the potential energy could be stored much longer than in a battery cell. It would probably be easier to carry. It’s just a thought.
           I’m fully aware it is one of those ideas that makes the rounds. But that has never stopped Popular Science reruns about flywheels or the government funding of the ridiculous. What I have in mind is the development of some type of nano-spring that is weightless or possibly self-winding. Am I giving away the idea? Nope. First, anyone who thinks that does not know the world doesn’t work like that. If a million people read it, not one is likely to do anything. Last, if that happens I would have thousands of witnesses it was my idea and I would have accomplished my goal: Advertising.
           Besides, there is always the possibility that I am not telling the whole story. Why would the government pay me to research ancient technology? Maybe because springs are immune to EMP? Allow me to inform my detractors that America is poised to lose its monopoly of outer space. We got the ships, we got the guns, but if the satellites get taken out, there isn’t one American in ten thousand who could point to Lop Nor on a map without an index.

           Funny, I don’t ever intend to build any of this. I don’t have the know-how. Not only is this technology completely out of my generation in training, there are too many areas of specialization to master. This would not, I point out, prevent me from coordinating a team, because trust me, the skills needed for some of this stuff would involve the sorts of people who would desperately need coordinating to get anything done.
           Besides, my goal was to get familiar with these robotics, and that point is long since past. So maybe I’m not that out of touch. For all I know I might be ahead of most people in the know-how of things like drone usage. Here is the quadcopter with a home-made searchlight. Glued together from old flashlights and a camera housing. We have a good feel for the payload and its distribution. We know how sensitive it is to crosswinds. We know it can home in on a stolen bicycle. We know it is disconcerting as hell to have this thing hovering a consistent twenty feet away at shoulder height taking your picture. None of this knowledge comes from reading the package or watching the youTubes.
           I’m the last one to trust technology until it is “financially proven”. That means it works well enough to be accepted by enough people to bring the price down to everyday levels. Referring back to the vulnerability of satellites, we know that America cannot win a foreign war on the ground. Like many Americans, I view the wars in the Middle East as politically motivated and nothing to do with our freedom or way of life. But an actual invasion of US soil would be different. Such a war would quickly use up all the high-tech weapons, leaving the outcome to be decided by more traditional means.
           [Author's note: link back to 2009 above if you haven't. I am the worst enemy of Craigslist. I'm the guy that published the anonymous instructions on how to hack their system. And their reaction was not to clean up their act, but to require a phone number for most posting. That is, to shoot themselves in the foot.]
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