The fireworks gang is jumping the gun, but I’ve gotten so used to it I continued studying. Is this because heat affects the educated differently? That’s deep humor. Here is a photo of my entire unused integrated circuit inventory. These are the last I have that aren’t used on some project, and the last useful set in driving distance of this town. Many were bought before I knew what to look for or how to read a datasheet.
In what I find noteworthy is once you learn enough about these chips, you find people who don’t like them. Their reasoning is sound, you don’t learn much if you use chips, and all the innards of the chips can be duplicated with discrete components (single function items like resistors and diodes). I’m comfortable with both.Here’s a photo with lots more to tell. There’s my notebook, with diagrams and notes. To the left is a hard drive labeled 2011 MAIN, which would normally be gagged (from publication of its existence). But there are so many red herrings in this shot that we’ll let it stay.
A year ago I grieved that learning robots meant exposure to three disciplines I am plain no good at: math, engineering, and mechanics. That does not mean I can’t contribute a hypothesis or two. And today I read up on Ackerman steering, the different angles your front tires must turn to move around a curve without skidding. This is kind of important when driving in rain or snow.
I am trying to decide if Ackerman is worth it for a cornering robot and my present conclusion is “no”. It is wiser to attach a (exteroceptive) sensor than try to measure distance moved (dead reckoning). But do I think like that only because I am a programmer? Would it be easier to maintain the steering mechanism than re-write the program? Which method would be cheaper if I’m out of town?
And sensor-wise, I’m leaning heavily toward sonar. One has to compromise. There’s a tradeoff on price there as well. I could build a robot of sorts with one sonar sensor. And if you blur the line between robot and self-acting mechanical device, I may be close. See addendum below for another angle on the purpose of robots.
Think back to my report of my appetite going bonkers on my then-new prescriptions in 2009. I’m getting much the same now in reverse. So there, it wasn’t my brain playing tricks in the early days. I awoke at 2:30 AM and devoured a week’s supply of green onions, a half gallon of soda, and (with a spoon) a half jar of sweet pickle relish. I’ve also been wide awake for 41 hours. The culprit? Don’t know, but the prime suspect is: simvastatin. I took five minutes and thought, let me replace the word “appetite” above with the less impulsive sounding “change in taste perception”.
Speaking of mysteries, I’m reading a very well delivered detective novel by an author new to me, Stuart Woods. “Short Straw” is heavily-clichéd but every one you grin at is replaced by another in the next chapter. A fast-paced and inviting plot. Everybody is a great shot and an ex-something-or-other. For reading enjoyment, I still like fictional suspense. As long as nobody mistakenly thinks I said these were great books. They’re all pretty much alike. The entire crime novel industry needs a modern day Capote.
I went on my first date this year, and this is not going to fly. Sort of a blind date, it was a casual meet-up. There is no polite way to put this (and another huge, gigantic, colossal reason I don’t date older woman). I was so far out of her league I felt like I was floating through a different universe. We spent the morning here and the afternoon at the library. Nothing happened, and it isn’t going to.
I feel it would be unfair to this woman to even pretend this could go anywhere. No doubt she knows a lot about love and relationships, but in my world you need all that plus a huge accumulation of practical skills as well. It should not be a challenge to tune a guitar or file a tax return, and I got the distinct feeling there were a zillion things like that missing from her situation. She was nice and if that’s all there was to it, I’d go along for the ride.
But this situation made me question the perception of the person who introduced us. Are tidal waves of what I say washing over her head, too?
ADDENDUM
The popularity of y’day’s cash comments means you get more. Please do not take my words as gospel, I am just another small guy caught up in events I don’t control. I write about money because I noticed how much people like obscure issues and facts.
Take the gold reserve of Canada. They really don’t have any except “3.4 tonnes” held by the Bank of Canada, which like the Fed, isn’t a bank at all. The tonne is a metric term for 1,000 kilograms. This amount of gold would fit in the space occupied by my work desk in the other corner. It is worth today $200 million, not quite enough to pay Oprah’s annual salary.
Thus, if the US economy tanks, so does Canada’s--with a difference in timing. It takes a full business cycle longer in Canada. Their real estate crisis begins in 2013. If you think the US Fed is secretive, try getting information on the Bank of Canada. The loonie and all currencies underwritten by the greenback will see trouble. Remember, inflation, which lets governments pay their debts, also means governments don’t fear it anything like the people. Politicians can vote themselves another raise.
The main outcome of inflation will be a dramatic drop in the standard of living. Money for goodies becomes channeled into food. Take Argentina for an example of “modern” economic collapse. Most people don’t remember 2001 because of the larger Russian bankruptcy in progress. People ran for the Uruguay border with suitcases full of money, the ATMs would only dispense 300 pesos, supermarkets got looted. Their president ran for his life when 38,000 surrounded his office. (Don’t laugh, trust me, you have never seen 38,000 angry people in a mob.)
What then, is meant by lower standard of living? First, those who worked hard lose most. The value of everything they own implodes. Social security and all government programs dry up first, which means increased lawlessness. The old truism says it does no good to buy garden seeds because your neighbor will buy a gun. Don’t look at me. My lifelong distrust of possessions means my lifestyle couldn’t fall much if it wanted to. I didn’t waste my cash on the useless trappings of middle class one-upmanship. And what I do have can’t even be divided or force-shared, much less taken away.
Although I am still robot-less, my now eighteen month old study of robotics has changed my thinking about the US-Canadian workforce. On paper, such workers are worth more because they are educated and can both follow orders and use discretion. In practice, discretion is akin to insubordination. Better to let the factory lose money than not follow orders and lose your job. Remember Asimo, the Japanese robot that runs like its diaper is full? That cost $100 million (did you get that) and the Japs are not famous for frivolity. Watch the video to the end, where the robot delivers a tray of coffee.
If it can do that, there go another few million of the “jobs” I’m talking about. It is not the decision-makers or the imaginative who get replaced, but the proles, and plebes. We don’t need food servers with an attitude and the barmaids that expect a tip every round. The math is easy, while one fireman might be overpaid, ten thousand marginally overpaid dropouts are in total a greater drain on the scheme. I’d like to see robot waiters, if only to put an end to those endless postings from jerkwads who think tipping should be made compulsory.
Of course, the odd humanist who reads this far will ask, “What happens to the servers and barmaid who lose their jobs?” Such questions are shallow, the asker is not considering the tide of history. The same thing that happened to buggy whips and typewriters. If an automated bartender comes on the market, I’m opening a bar. But to answer the question more directly, I didn’t see any servers and barmaids (who so often claim to be finishing college) next to me in the library today. Maybe they gave up. I said I was no good at math. I did not say that was any excuse to quit trying.
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