Here’s a pic of my Mr. Heater. It has two settings, on and off. Let me double check this photo passes. Yep, but normally you would not see unintentional pictures of books here, such as the Javascript text over to the right. The heater has an auto-shutdown if tipped over. My next or new improved pod will have provision for something like this, turning chilly trips into near luxury (for me, because I am a sound sleeper.) Did I say I found a cheap source of memory foam. Big Lots.
The neighbor was over and he’s got a new robot quadcopter. This one is something else, it was a replacement for the model we flew a few months ago that would only fly for six minutes. Try nearly a half-hour on this one, and it can be pre-programmed to fly a path by GPS to an exact destination. Sorry, didn’t have my camera with me for once. It will do a barrel roll and can fly with one of the four rotors disabled. It comes with instructions to measure the height of telephone poles and set the minimum altitude above that. We laughed. The palm trees are even taller.
Before you charge off and buy one, let me explain the worthwhile models cost around a thousand bucks. Define worthwhile. Unless you like watching things fly, in some cases quickly out of sight, you’ll want a camera-equipped model. These are usually the ordinary computer video type that transmit to your phone or a similar screen mounted on the remote. I’ve heard of people using Google glasses. Either way, the full “cockpit” experience can’t be very far away.
These machines are already world-wide. Here is a video you might like of the Phantom 2 in action. The neat shots start about the two minute mark, with some real novel angles that would otherwise be too expensive or dangerous. Warning, these videos are not made by scientists, but geek-grade boys who consider the drones to be toys. And who have incredibly poor taste in background music.
Drones are leading edge technology. While the vertical take-off models have a limited payload, the fixed-wing type are small airplanes. It won’t be long before you see these all over. Since there are no regulations, and the authorities won’t make any until it is too late, expect some bozo to come up with a totally annoying and dangerous use for these gadgets. Hold on, I read that they are limited to flights below 400 feet, though how that is enforced is not stated. Drones are here to stay.
It warmed enough to get me over to the library, the noisy one in Hollywood. You know, the one full of ethnics whose parents never taught them that a library is a quiet zone. Yeah, those. When I reported it to the desk, the lady state pointblank she was “not going to do anything” and would I like to speak to a supervisor. Why no, lady, because that would involve her having to do some actual work summoning him. I was reading an account of early electronics research and noticed in 1942 the US government ordered 16,000 teletype machines. Isn’t that the kind of detail you try to keep a secret when there is a blood war going on? Anyway, I was looking at how voice scramblers operate. My conclusion is that they will stop casual eavesdropping but won’t prevent a determined spy.
The early models worked by separating the voice into five frequencies, then inverting these frequencies high to low. These frequencies were then transmitted on five channels, but these channels were permuted and that permutation is altered every twenty seconds. Clever. The problem is, frequencies and channels are very easy to accomplish with a few basic parts and a soldering iron, so you can be certain there is no way they would fool the bad guys for long. I also learned that FM radio requires twenty times the bandwidth of AM.
As a matter of fact, I like peanuts. Roasted and slightly salted, the jumbo size in the shell. Very nutritious and part of my regular diet. As far as the calories, that's why you buy them still in the shell. People only pig out when there is minimal work involved.
ADDENDUM
It was so cold, I stayed home again. Which means reading, and in this case, I took a look at the Qattara Depression. That’s the spot in Egypt that was the southern terminus of the WWII British defensive line at El Alamein. Their experts said the depression was impassable to tanks, presumably different experts than said the same thing about the Ardennes. But, actually, I was looking more at the project that wants to connect the depression to the Mediterranean. Nothing on that has been done.
The objections have a similar phony ring. The evaporation would leave behind the sea salt and wreck the terrain. It would alter the local climate. And of course, the cost, which I can only find stated as “billions”. Somebody is lying. So what if a salt sea was created? Is not the entire Mediterranean a salt sea? It has not filled up with salt, or for that matter neither has the much smaller Dead Sea. (I found there is a similar project to connect that to the Red Sea.) Of course it would alter the local climate, which is a benefit, you idiots. You don’t hear the residents of Salt Lake City complaining. And as for the billions, I just don’t buy that from the word go. The money is there, what’s lacking is political spine.
Unless, unless, hmmmm, there is something funny going on.
During this research, I found something astonishingly interesting. The Schiller Institute (?) has analyzed the long term prospects of saving Europe after the inevitable collapse of US currency. You should read this no-nonsense report. What I found there were plans for other mega-projects that, as far as I know, nobody in America is following. Included are the following:
The bridge across Gibraltar to Africa.
A world-wide railway system. (I’d ride it in an instant.)
A canal half-way down Africa
The remainder of the report is a very informative read, I highly recommend it. You will also find a lot of material that is glossed over for the American public, such as the glaring hatred of Germany and between all European nations. Highlights include the proposal to use all the highly skilled machine workers now furloughed in Detroit. Put them to work on these projects. Spain has the second best high-speed rail system in the world after China. But one thing I cannot figure is how Greece is still considered part of western Europe. You can’t even get there without crossing eastern Europe.
Even if you are not a fan of documentary reports, you should read this one by Schiller.
