Posts by Gary Bickford

Another disconnection method

fuse wire, in the path of the exhaust (perhaps even a length of solder?). I like the foil idea as well, and the spring-pressure knobs could work.

Been looking for a waterproof phone for a couple of years

Why should dropping a phone in the sink (or, heaven forfend, the toilet) break it and void the warranty?!!!

I like to sail on boats, where it's possible to get 'splooshed' by a wave and be effectively underwater for several seconds, or even fall off the boat and swim around for a few minutes. I'd like to have my phone with me so I can use it for 'quickie' weather and chart lookups. Being on boats pretty much assures the humidity is going to be high all the time.

I did not want to have to use one of those aftermarket cases. So for two years I looked, and waited. The Casio Commando met my specs, but was out of date, old, slow, with a small screen. I need something that meets the Commando specs - five foot drop, 3 feet (1 meter) immersion for at least 20-30 minutes. 10 meters would be better - I have an Olympus camera (u770, earlier model) that can handle 10 meters, why not a phone?

There are some waterproof phones available in Japan for the Japanese market, but who wants a phone that has everything in Japanese? And nothing is available here that does any better than 'splashproof'.

I finally gave up when my old phone started wheezing. I bought a Droid Razr M. Maybe I'll go for the coating eventually. Or maybe, by the time the Razr is old, somebody will have come up with a new model that actually meets the everyday use of most people!

Funny you should mention Lloyd's ...

... because that's what a company I'm involved in, the Space Finance Group (http://spacefinancegroup.com) is looking at - assisting in finance and management for emerging space development - related companies. I dearly hope we become as successful as Lloyd's! :)

Actually our first project is a Kickstarter project for the National Space Society (http://nss.org/), to produce a series of videos promoting the importance and opportunity that space development presents - space based technologies may change the world economy and the standard of living as much as the 'discovery' of the Americas. The Kickstarter project, called "Our future in Space" is at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/351762534/our-future-in-space-a-national-space-society-video .

Does any other animal punch?

It seems to me that all other animals use a motion akin to slapping - a bear or a lion will remove your nearest body part with one swipe of an open paw, claws out. Of all animals I can think of, only humans use the punching motion. (I'm not sure about kangaroos though). So this observation fits with the hypothesis.

Also, the fact that we modern humans _mostly_ are likely to break something when punching is more about how life has gotten more civilized than the inherent structure. The big, burly street-fighting-man type has largely gone out of style (with the possible exception of Russian drivers in car accidents on YouTube). Nowadays few folks are brought up needing the kind of strength and callouses that would have been necessary to defend one's home and family, even a few centuries ago much less a few millennia.

Sometimes good management has nothing to do with technical prowess

Without regard to any of the specifics of the MS case, I would reserve judgment. She may be a very good manager, _if_ she can successfully enlist her technical people to work together. (From what I hear this may not be a Microsoft characteristic, but hey.)

The best manager I ever had came from a prototype production management group, taking over a demoralized engineering group (the previous manager was a tinpot dictator, and was tossed out after a sexual harassment suit, which was well deserved.) The first thing she said was, "I know that you folks know what you are doing, and want to do the best job you can. My job is to help you do that - to provide the tools and environment you need, and to intercede and work with other managers when you have problems with other groups." She was supportive and allowed us to do the right thing technically, using a consensus approach. I learned a lot about management from her. I have used various forms of consensus methods to allow my groups to work out the best technical solution. This has generally resulted in excellent morale, excellent products often under budget and early.

SW will just move to a higher level

EEs have been trying to work themselves out of a job for 100 years, by coming up with every faster, more integrated parts. But each improvement increases the utility of the products, so EEs just move to the next higher level f integration. Once it was plugging tubes or transistors together to make a flip-flop. Now it's wiring several million flip-flops (in the form of a CPU chip) together with another several billion flip-flops (in the form of memory chips).

Similarly, in my early days it took a fair amount of work to do simple arithmetic in Assembler. Now I work almost exclusively with scripting/dynamic languages with JIT compilation in a distributed environment. In my SW QA workshop we explored the truism that a 'good' programmer produces about the same number of lines of working, tested, QA'd code per day regardless of the level of language - from machine code, Assembler, C, Perl/Python/PHP/Javascript/whatever, to SQL, to whatever comes next. We just manipulate ever larger, more integrated objects. Software is essentially the structured management of complexity, and complexity is a scale-free measure. So maybe by 2022 we'll be writing self-modifying programs that interact with robots working in the asteroids, but the complexity and the constant environmental change that requires new code will still be there. (Actually by then I'll undoubtedly be sailing my boat into the sunset by then - but there will be others.)

Being the first trip, it makes sense to be excessively careful. They _really_ don't want to mess this up. Consider that NASA built an entire space shuttle (Enterprise) for in-atmosphere testing of flight, landing, etc. Just to make sure that the theory and the practice are as close as possible to the same.

I get the impression that it's not NASA but Space-X taking this delay, in which case good for them. They are taking the responsibility of being sure, not just doing another test because NASA wants them too. We all know what happens when we build and ship software to a schedule, rather than "when it's done".

My 2c: This is one more example of many recent ones, of the essential genius of the 'American' success story - although I don't for a minute think this will be an American-only adventure. But those who settled in America came here because they were willing to risk themselves, their families, everything, to leap into the unknown. For a while we used the US government as our vehicle to express our ever-outward way of looking at things, but now at last we have begun to think of the 'space race' no longer in terms of one government vs. another, but instead of many individual entities, sponsored by many different institutions, truly 'going where no man has gone before'. China, Russia, US, India governments will no longer be competing with just each other, but with hundreds of entrepreneurs cooperating and competing. Soon the governments will be too busy regulating to bother competing.

And, I predict, in not too many years the U.N. will have to establish an orbital 'Coast Guard' to enforce rules of transit, maintain short term orbital priorities, handle rescues of vessels and people, and prevent/reduce pollution of orbital, lunar and near-Earth space.

As for the mining aspects, I figured out a while back that, in addition to the well-described water ideas above, asteroid metals will be most valuable in constructing and expanding the infrastructure in space. A single nickel-iron asteroid of a few hundred feet in diameter, plus a similar amount of carbonaceous asteroid, could provide the materials for a huge number of steel vessels.

One area that has been only slightly researched is pure-vacuum microgravity manufacturing of various electronic and exotic materials. There will be research centers (private or public?) in orbit and on the Moon. The cost of dropping such products down to Earth would be small relative to their value. (How easy is it to make large sheets of graphene in microgravity? Nobody knows.) And there will undoubtedly be whole categories of new materials and products that can only be made in that environment, or on the Moon. So there is some hope for a reasonable trade balance in the long run.

Heck, we were all talking about "wouldn't it be cool if we could ..." multi-touch back in the 1980s, but the hardware tech wasn't there to make it feasible at the time. There was some successful work in (IIRC) the late 80s to allow 'brush strokes' that depended on the area of contact on a tablet. As noted above, this advance wasn't all that big. However, his methodology to make it possible might have been significant.

I predict someone will make it true within two years

(Actually I think one year might be enough). First, background: in this article <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/09/23/the-first-ever-flight-of-a-pedal-powered-wing-flapping-vehicle/">http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/09/23/the-first-ever-flight-of-a-pedal-powered-wing-flapping-vehicle/</a> documents a successful human-powered ornithopter flight driven by a bicycle linkage. Human powered flight is using at best about 1.2 KW of power. So that is a reasonable minimum constraint. Let's use 3 KW as a reasonable minimum power-augmented system.

I did a back-of-the-envelope calculation. I looked this up: a 2400 watt-hour lithium battery (cost $3000) weighs about 40 lbs. I don't know if they are the right kind, but 750 watt servo motors weigh about 7 lbs. each, so four of them would be about 30 lbs. Assume a wing span area similar to that of an ultralight (but probably a different shape) I figure another four smaller servo motors, so add another 30 lbs. for those plus miscellaneous wiring, controls, sensors, etc. for a total weight of about 100 lbs. plus that of the rider.

I assume that the control systems are just an engineering and software question. There are some interesting physics challenges in the framework to prevent the guy whose arms are stretched out from having them bent backwards and ripped from their sockets. But the ability to build an ornithopter airframe that carries 300 lbs. of rider-plus-power is essentially proven.

So, bottom line - this is a reasonable high school or college physics or engineering class exercise. I hope to see successful prototypes within a year or two, and commercial versions in another year or two. The movie maker was smarter than he knew - he has single-handedly invented, or at least inspired, a new sport. Within a few years folks will have perfected these systems to the point where birdlike flare landings and wing folding systems will be available.

Harrumph!

Sorry to be a stuffed shirt about this, but all along I've been of the opinion that PARIS, wonderful as it is and an accomplishment to be proud of, is a model airplane but not, IMHO, a 'paper airplane'. Paper airplanes are folded out of one, possibly two, pieces of paper - not constructed out of numerous frames and such like a real airplane. And glue is right out. A paperclip or two for balance, and tape in a few judiciously selected spots would be OK. And I would be generous enough to allow some extra tape to hold the electronics package in place.

Back in my misspent youth, my brother and I built a real paper airplane about six feet long, made in the traditional way, and flew it off the top of a water tower. So it's certainly possible to build a real paper airplane in the size necessary to carry camera and transmitter etc. It would require some engineering studies, such as how to use folds to provide stiffness and dynamically stable flight.

So, congrats, but I think there is still room for a record-breaking attempt with a real origami-style paper airplane. And I hope you folks take up this challenge for your next try! :D

More power to Meg

I hope it works out. Perhaps Meg is what HP has bee looking for - a leader with both executive capability and vision. I had been putting off getting a new phone for months, waiting to see if the new one had proper hardware to match the OS, when the cancellation came. And I missed the TouchPad firesale (by about 40 seconds, apparently). I may pick one up on E-bay and make some guy a quick $200 profit. I don't even need a tablet, particularly but I'd like to try the TouchPad.

LTFR reactor would minimize potential radiation issues

I don't know if they would work as well as Uranium reactors, but if a nuclear rocket could be based on the LTFR molten salt reactor, nearly all the fissile material could be Thorium, which presents a much smaller risk of radioactive contamination in the event of a catastrophic failure. This might obviate one of the major objections to nuclear rockets.

If I understand correctly, the ability of a nuclear reactor to provide the necessary energy for a long period of time with a small fuel mass means that a much larger amount of propellant (the stuff shipped out the back) could be carried instead of chemical fuel. This means that a long, slow thrust could be used instead of the present method of maximum thrust for a very short time.

So all those movies about giant mutant beasts running amok ...

were documentaries !! ??? !!

Proof positive

Well, that pretty much puts all those silly climate change deniers in their place! :D

The NeXT had a TI DSP display processor

The NeXT machines (1988-1992, more or less) had a 25 or 33 MHz 68000-series microprocessor, and a TI DSP to process the Display Postscript display instructions. In 1999-2000 I compared a 25MHz NeXTstation to the latest and greatest desktop Macintosh machines, and for regular workstation use - flipping windows around the screen, scrolling text, drawing pictures, etc. - the old NeXTstation seemed at least as fast (although it only did 2-bit greyscale, not color). But, compile time was abysmal compared to modern machines - I regularly had compiles that ran all night. The DSP was accessible from source code but I never tried to do anything with it.

T-Mobile win

(First I'll note that for customer service, T-Mobile regularly wins kudos as the best in the US, but coverage - not so much.)

An article in the Friday Wall Street Journal on this topic mentions not only $4 billion set aside by AT&T to be paid to T-Mobile - $3 billion cash plus $1 billion in spectrum (both good for T-Mobile), but one other very important item not in the AT&T announcement - AT&T agreed to give T-Mobile roaming access to their wireless network. This is perhaps the most important 'win' for T-Mobile - it could change the coverage dynamic, and make them a viable player. Imagine T-Mobile with the same coverage as AT&T, and T-Mobile's superior customer service. So I think that overall T-Mobile wins for playing footsie with AT&T, and possibly going home with everything they need to survive and succeed. There are many other factors, of course, but using my own example, I would never go back to T-Mobile if it becomes a part of AT&T, but if they can provide the necessary coverage and stay independent, I'd go back in a 'New York minute'.

International rocketry - a sign of our advances

I find it interesting and optimistic that the launch vehicle was an 'American' Atlas, powered by a 'Russian' rocket engine. Even better, this level of cooperation among nations is no longer news. No doubt there were components large and small built by companies in many countries. Who could have imagined 20 or 30 years ago, that such a thing could be built? Despite all the doom-and-gloom that pervades (and will probably always pervade) the media about how terrible things are, we have come a long way. My favorite throw-away line: "Progress occurs."

I don't know the details, but at first glance it seems that a very simple workaround exists - rename the binary and/or move it to a different directory. I don't know if su checks on its own location and name, so that might be an issue. It doesn't seem likely that the OS is going to take the time to look throughout the system for any binaries with a particular pattern that implies 'su' potential in the file.

So, what's a "drawf"?

Would that be a dwarf made from tachyons? :D

This would be a great application of LFTR

I happened to be thinking about this earlier today - the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor technology might be a great candidate for this application. Among other things it has the great advantage of the ability to alter the heat output almost instantly - we have seen in recent days the great disadvantage of solid fuel reactors, the fact that they can not be just 'turned off'. An LFTR can be literally turned off - the original one at Oak Ridge was normally turned off every night when the researchers went home! As a liquid-based system, the flow rate can be adjusted constantly to provide the desired amount of heat and power, which would greatly simplify the management of thrust.

Also the LFTR does not require a pressure vessel, so it would greatly reduce the required mass, for better efficiency.

LFTRs also have minimal radioactive waste (so much less risk of radioactive pollution in the event of an accident or hostile action), and do not generate large amounts of weapons material that might be stolen and used for evil purposes.

More troll patents

Several of the Apple patents/applications noted here are almost certainly subject to prior art, unless the mere fact of using a finger instead of a mouse makes it a new tech.

We were using mouse acceleration, motion slope and other characteristics to determine what to do clear back in the mid-1980's. Every device I own has examples of multiple devices and actions having the same effects. How is spreading one's fingers apart different from using the mouse to move alternate corners of a box - like any art program, such as GIMP? In some cases something like 'alt-drag' moves the box from a single static corner, or all sides from a center point, preserving aspect ratio or not.

It seems to me that these are examples of 'throw it at the wall and see if it sticks' patent applications. I hope the Pre succeeds, and Palm defeats any attempts to extract excessive licensing fees, especially from such trivial patents.

There is an elemental unfairness about software patents having been brought into play after 1986, when so many truly major innovations had already been down the pike - B-trees, linked lists, virtual memory, time-sharing, client-server, almost everything having to do with network protocols such as TCP/IP, dynamic linking, GUI, windowing, bitmap displays, bit-blit, morphing, LISP, ASCII, relocatable code, several hundred useful graphic algorithms, ... the list goes on.

The people who created the computer industry did their work without the potential for revenue from patents, and that is one reason why the art progressed so quickly. I was only a minor (teensy) player, and could have acquired a hundred or so patents, were it possible at the time. Now we have companies bullying each other over patents regarding which direction to move one's finger. They should all put 1% of their revenues into a fund to repay all those geniuses that made their business possible.