Father's Day 2009

Well all, it's that time again, when we pay homage to those that contributed half of our DNA. So in the spirit thereof, I'd like to tell you all about two men that shaped my life, my father, and his father.

My father is, by any standard that matters, a brilliant man. I can't even begin to recall the number of nights that we stayed up until 11pm working on algebra, geometry, science of all sorts (he was my 'lab safety' for many years of science fairs), and all the weekends that we spent working on this or that project. I still have a bunch of the model airplanes that my father and I made together. We are still slowly working on an RC aircraft (we'll get to it Dad, I PROMISE!). But more than the 'stuff' that we did together, was the stuff that we talked about. My parents and I have sat up nights talking about everything from women, to nuclear fusion as a realistic power source. My dad has a unique and very well-researched opinion on just about anything, and had no problem working me through them, no matter how long it took me to get the concept. He's been there through every woman, every job, every life experience, and I think it's just amazing, looking back. He may not have experienced everything I did, but he has always been there as a sounding board, if nothing else. Even when conversations got heated (I was a hellion as a teen), he always attempted to get me to see reason, or at least calm down long enough to find answers for myself. Thank you Dad, from the bottom of my heart.

The second man that I want to talk about is my Dad's dad, my grandfather. He is, and always will be, a genuine United States HERO. Born 1917 to German parents in Pennsylvania, he was drafted into the Army for WWII. He would have volunteered, for the Army, but his draft number was something retardedly low, like 17 or somesuch. He completed Basic Training, and was trained as a Military Policeman, eventually assigned to the 44th Infantry Division, Atlantic Theatre. He, along with the 33 MP's under his direction, assaulted Omaha Beach on D-Day. Of the 33, 3 survived. I have had the great honor to speak with 2 of them, and they both were adamant that if anyone else had lead them that day, they would have all died on that beach. His unit was assigned to guard Buckingham Palace in London, and on two separate occasions, he saved the life of Queen Elizabeth (yes, THAT Queen Elizabeth). He applied to push the Germans back into their homeland, and was denied due to his 'German heritage'. After the war, he returned to his job as a machinist, part-timing as a barber. He married his sweetheart, and in 1947, my father (first of two) was born. I didn't know my Grandfather as well as I wish I would have, but he was directly responsible for my choice to join the military, and to join the Army. The man I remember (he went back to God 2 Jan 2006, 3 days after I arrived in Iraq) was kind, caring, with a core of steel. He took no flak from anyone. Period. He was an avid mechanic, often fixing 4 or 5 lawnmowers at a time, even well into his 80s. The war took a good portion of his hearing, and that was hard on all of us, but it didn't change his outlook on life. Before my Grandmother died December 29 1999, they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, which proves to me that no matter what, love soldiers on. I miss you Granddad, for all the stories that you never told, all the time we didn't get to spend together. But God is good, and we'll see each other again, I'm certain.

I encourage you all to go out, and at least thank your fathers. Without them, you wouldn't be here. They may have left you behind or done you wrong, but that made you strong. They may have been there for you, and for that there is nothing that you could possibly do to repay them. But remember your fathers, and surrogate fathers, stepfathers (they CHOSE to stick around), and grandfathers. Pray for them if they're still with us, and remember them if they have gone home.

Until Next Time!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

New Stuff

Really quickly, just wanted to mention a couple things.

I'm still messing around with the layout for this blog, so bear with me. Like it, hate it, tell me all about it.

The article-types poll closed with a whopping 2 votes, split between Philosophy/Rants and Science/Technology. We'll see where we go with that.

New poll should be up soon, voting on which direction I should take the music... EBM/Background like Wumpscut, Classic Rock like Led Zeppelin, Modern Rock like Nine Inch Nails, or Instrumental like Andy McKee? Each of these artists can be heard on the current playlist, so take a couple minutes, and vote on your favorite.

News For The Day - 18 Jun 2009 pt 2

Here's an interesting item from the aviation sector:

Continental flight captain dies in flight, jet lands safely.

OK, let me preface this: I think that the flight crew acted with exceptional aplomb, and did their job to perfection. They landed the plane, safely, at the flight's destination, on time, without causing passenger panic.

That being said, what is this, a bad remake of Airplane? As an aviation enthusiast myself, this boggles my mind. Pilots, no matter if they have a Private license, single-engine helo license, all the way up to Multi-Engine Turbine Passenger/Cargo license (and yes, there are several licenses I didn't mention in between), EVERYONE has to get an FAA-approved flight physical every 24 months, some pilots more often. Not to mention, when any major surgery is performed, or life-changing condition diagnosed, pilots have to submit the doctor's findings to a certified Flight Surgeon. You CANNOT tell me that this condition (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, whatever) just 'snuck up'. It didn't 'come out of the blue', he wasn't touched by the Hand of God. The captain needed to have been grounded about 6 months prior to this. If he had 32 years as a Continental pilot, he had retirement coming. He was 60, good for him that he could keep flying. That's awesome. But the fact still remains, that day, he was in no condition to be flying 247 passengers, or one of the most modern jets in the commercial fleet. I can only imagine the scene in the flight deck (which is the PC term for 'cockpit') when this happened. Did the copilots just strap him to the seat and hope? The whole thing seriously borders on the ridiculous. Not to mention that the doctor that was paged from the passenger compartment couldn't've had his medical bag with him (thank you TSA), so even if the doc might've been able to do something to help, he was hampered by lack of applicable tools. I predict that this event will be documented in an aviation medical journal somewhere, and will lead to yet more stringent regulation on even getting pilots' licenses in the first place, let alone keeping it after age 55. I know a pilot that's into his 70's, and is healthy as the proverbial horse, but he was told to hang up his wings because he was 'too old'. So now what? Get out of the military at 35, work for the airlines for 20 years, and 'see ya later'? What is going to happen when aircraft get faster (technologies are on the horizon that could increase the speed of passenger liners up to threefold)? Personally, I think that pilots of certain ratings (passenger carriers in particular) need to be vetted by a Flight Surgeon EVERY time they fly. Every major airport has medical staff on the premises at all times, how difficult would it be to give pilots a quick once-over before they board? This could be the subject for a blog in and of itself, if there's interest.

Until Next Time!

Public Service Announcement #3

A.K.A. Commercial Blogging on PayingPost.com

As most of my readership already knows, this continuing online rant is not just for my personal amusement (though I do get a kick out of it on occasion), but also has a commercial purpose, namely, interspersed in the completely original content, I throw in some of these 'Public Service Announcements', which are generally paid advertisements. My primary sponsor to date is a site called PayingPost.com, which is an online advertising brokerage firm. Check them out here.

Heres my interpretation of how 'paid blogging' works, and some steps to get anyone started.

1) Have a blog/start a blog - Myspace blogs, while widely-read, have VERY restrictive HTML code requirements, and generally frowns on paid blogging, due to the fact that Myspace administrators have already made their deals with online advertisers (i.e. the ads on your homepage). So, if you have a blog outside of Myspace/Facebook/Twitter already, you can use that, or start a new blog if you don't.

2) Post some content. - Figure out a topic that you have some interest in, or knowledge of, and start posting. Studies have shown that the average blog-reader has about a 1-page attention span, so unless you're Shakespeare or Poe, keep the posts down in size. Rants and technical articles are the exception, as with the first, it's your own word-vomit, and the second, a too-thorough article causes less of a problem than a too-sparse article that omits some valuable steps.

3) Get your blog indexed. - I put this before signing on with a sponsor, because most sponsors will reject your blog, and possibly suspend or cancel your account, if your blog isn't indexed with a major service. Getting your blog indexed can be really easy, or a real pain in the butt. Blogspot (which is run by Google) has an 'instant index' option under Webmaster Tools that allows you to index your site almost as soon as you put it up. Indexing is simply allowing search engines to 'see' your website when looking for search results. Other 'blog directory' services are available as well, some free, some with a paid subscription. The ultimate goal is to get listed with DMOZ, which, as far as I can tell, is the central repository of all blogs and related material on the Internet. This process can take some time, and definitely some effort on your part. There are several good articles on the subject already online, so I'm not going to duplicate the effort here. A thorough writeup can be found here, called Getting Into Google

4) Hang out your shingle. - In the digital age, this is probably the easiest step, as it generally involves simply signing up with brokerage site(s), and waiting for assignments to roll in. Before signing up, there are some things to consider. Did you follow all the steps above? If not, some sponsors won't pick up your blog at all. Do you have sufficient content? The general rule for most sponsors is 2 unpaid posts for every 1 paid post, so you need to keep YOUR content coming, or your paid posts may get rejected. Is your blog of sufficient age? Age of a blog, like age of the author, is only an issue to a point. Some sponsors don't care, some want 30 days, and some want 90 days since creation. Some are flexible about their age rules, some are not. Several sponsor sites that I pitched when I started this blog turned me down, but several saw promise and told me 'keep blogging, and check back with us periodically'. I like PayingPost because they actually pay for content like this, which is enough for most bloggers to get their feet wet. You can also get ad sponsors who will pay (in small amounts) just to have their ad on your page (often called banner ads, pay-per-click ads, or page-impression ads).

5) Pay attention to sponsor requirements. Once you have an assignment, it's just that... an assignment. It's work, with rules and deadlines. Sponsors will generally give you a brief, which will include things like minimum word count, minimum link count, and obviously, a subject. Sometimes sponsors will request a certain 'spin' on a product or service, so if you don't agree, don't take the job. Sometimes the sponsor will give you a weblink, tell you to look at a product, and write your honest thoughts. If you don't know what the product is, you may not be the best reviewer.

6) Last but not least, branch out. For example, once this blog gets going, expect 'daughter' blogs to be born, which will allow for more specific blogging. Whereas now everything is kind of lumped together, eventually I'd like to have one blog for rants and philosophy, one for computer topics, one for automotive topics, and one for household repair, and maybe one for the corporate world. Keep all your blogs interlinked (using a 'quicklinks' gadget in your blog makes this MUCH easier). But, don't bite off more than you can chew. Each 'daughter' blog needs periodic fresh material (sponsors generally see daughter blogs as seperate entities), as well as your main 'landing page' (i.e. thanatos0446.blogspot.com for me).

Hope this has given you a direction, or at least a springboard!

Happy Blogging!

Until Next Time...

News For The Day - 13 Jun 2009 pt 3

Unrest Over Disputed Iran Election

Here we go again folks. Hardline Iranian 'President' Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (or Mahmoud Im-a-nutjob) claims a landslide victory in a staged 'election'. The challenger's supporters cry foul, and clash with police and officials in Tehran.

Um, is anyone surprised by this? Imanutjob has the entire government, down to city dogcatcher (if there is such in Iran) under his thumb one way or another. "Support or death" as a campaign slogan has a pretty definitive ring to it, especially when he climbed to power on a mountain of dead bodies.

This story is so ridiculous as to be almost funny. Not funny like 'ha ha', but funny like 'no shit? Here's your sign'. The incumbent has ruled with an iron fist for 20 years, and the international community expects him to 'softly and silently vanish away'? Wow, bunch of optimists here. Get serious folks. He's so drunk on power, he will do literally anything to keep it. I predict (if it's not happening already) under-the-table trading between North Korea and Iran. Iran gets nukes, and North Korea gets food and fuel oil. Terrorist WIN! Once again, cut the head off. I know, I'm a bit blood-thirsty, but I'm tired of worrying about my brothers-in-arms getting shot and/or killed in places with WAY too much sand. Rather than take the country over, and spend the next 10 years rebuilding it, my solution involves using Special Operations teams the way they were meant to be used, and offing the offending heads of state. Kim Jong Il, this Mahmoud character, and honestly, anyone else threatening to unleash World War III on the planet, would look infinitely better with a bloody hole in their heads.

But, no-one listens to me, so I guess the best we can do is hunker down and wait for this to blow over.

Until Next Time!

News For The Day - 13 Jun 2009 pt 2

North Korea Vows To "Weaponize" Stored Plutonium

Associated Press apparently has a stake in keeping the world's collective blood pressure up too. The long and short of this story is this: North Korea continues to 'feel threatened' by the United Nations, and with enough refined plutonium for 6 bombs, and enough uranium to refine into material for at least one more, have vowed to 'react with a decisive military response' if new UN sanctions are enforced.

Anyone else feel like we have a child with a gun running off at the mouth to a bunch of adults? The weapon is dangerous, yes, but more dangerous is the mind behind it. In this international game of one-up-manship, we all lose. The UN asks for nuclear disarmament from North Korea as the one major condition to withdrawing the sanctions that are starving the North Korean people. Instead of dropping their nuclear program, the North Korean government accelerates their plans, while basically giving the finger to the US, UK, Russia, and China (wow, sounds like a good idea, no?). So the UN, namely the countries mentioned previously, impose more, and more stringent, sanctions. What started out as 'put the gun down' has turned into 'put the gun down, and clean the whole house, you're grounded'. I feel like it's a grander scale of the scene that plays out at my house. While there are no guns at my house, I do tend to go rounds with my six-year-old on a regular basis as he 'tests the boundaries'. Taking the analogy further, I think that the only way the United Nations is going to end this stand-off is with 'decisive action' against the North Korean government. I know it sounds bad, and it will (once again) earn the condemnation of countries like France and Belgium, it needs to be done. Excise the head, and the serpent will die (granted, some post-mortem thrashing can be expected).
Kim Jong Il is dying. I can foresee that the international response is going to involve a 'sit and wait' until the new dictator is installed, but what if he's no better than his father? What if he's like Saddam's sons, more cruel, more vicious, and more unbalanced than his parent? This whole thing just reeks of bad ideas.

Until Next Time!

News For The Day - 13 Jun 2009 pt 1

Lots of news today, apparently the news services don't believe in giving the public the weekend off, but have to keep our collective blood pressure elevated until we go back to work on Monday for ungrateful supervisors. Let's get started.

AIG Balks at Claims From Jet Ditching in the Hudson

We all remember this story, US Airways flight 1549 collides with some mutant seagull, and ditches in the Hudson shortly after take-off from JFK. Only the quick thinking and cool head of the former-military pilot ensures that everyone survives.

Everyone survived, no major injuries, US Airways is sitting pretty, mostly. Every passenger was advanced $5000 by US Airways for the 'inconvenience', based on the assumption that the air carrier's insurance would pick up the tab. And the kicker... US Airways' insurance underwriter is none other than the first bailout recipient, AIG.

Now AIG is riding the 'feel-good' vibe from this crash, namely that everyone survived, and basically telling the survivors that their medical bills are their own problem, any property that was lost is the problem of the property's owner, not to mention lost time, lost income, etc. Like most insurance companies, if they HAVE to pay out, they're trying to settle for minimum possible. One businessperson on that flight has received the $5k from US Airways, $5k from AIG, and is being offered $10k more to sign a waiver of liability. In this person's case, the $20k total would probably be sufficient (assuming no delayed-diagnosis injuries). But what about the mother with her two young children? Mom ended up with some pretty substantial stress injuries (whiplash etc), not to mention the fact that she and her children are in therapy for PTSD-type symptoms. $20k MAYBE for years of therapy, lost time, and soft-tissue injuries that may plague her for the rest of her life? Not likely.

Is this what we can expect from the companies that our wonderful government is bailing out? Seriously? What's next? The banks that the government's bailed out are going to jack up ARM rates again? Random fees on retiree's savings accounts? I would poke fun at Chrysler here, but they're screwing themselves pretty thoroughly already.

In my opinion, the companies that received the bailout money, as a general rule, should have been allowed to fail. Like natural selection, the weak will fall, and the strong survive. National and international banking has become a lumbering dinosaur, with customers referred to as numbers, instead of names. Give the opportunity for growth to smaller regional banks that have a solid investment strategy. Make corporations re-evaluate their insurance packages. This country is in desperate need of a shakeup. What better place than here, what better time than now.

Until Next Time!

Memory (RAM) Tutorial

I got linked to an online publishing-house today, and I saw an article that I felt I should share with my readers. Find the original article here. The article title is General Rules for Memory Installation. After perusing the article, I had a pretty good laugh. For a 'tutorial', this article is neither a 'how-to', nor overly informative about any facet of RAM; selection, pricing, installation, debugging, or overclocking. So, I'll go out on a limb, and give a short primer on modern computer memory.

First, what IS RAM? RAM, short for Random Access Memory, is something akin to a worktable for your computer processor. Just like humans need space to spread out a project, a computer processor needs digital storage to spread out it's processes, or 'threads'. The larger the 'sticks' (i.e. 1Gb vs 512Mb) the larger the 'work surface', and the higher the 'clock speed' (say PC6400 vs PC2700), the more accessible the 'work surface' is.

When selecting RAM, it is most effective to purchase the largest amount, and highest clock speed, that your system will support. As a general rule, most 32-bit operating systems (Windows Vista back to Windows NT) will support no more than 4Gb of RAM, regardless of the maximum supported by the motherboard. 64-bit operating systems (Windows XP 64, Windows Vista 64, and the upcoming Windows 7) have no such restriction, as there is not currently a motherboard that will support RAM to the operating system's maximum capacity. So, to future-proof a new system, I personally recommend going all-out on RAM. It's inexpensive (as low as $30 for 2Gb), and with processors getting ever-faster, you don't want a bottleneck in the workspace you give your processor.

Another note on RAM selection, not related to quantity or speed, is RAM type. With PC components in a continual state of flux, RAM is often outclassed before it even hits the shelves. For example, there are, right now, a minimum of 3 different, currently supported, 'cutting-edge' types of RAM. Those being DDR, DDR2, and DDR3. Once you factor in ALL the different possibilities (i.e. single vs dual-channel, clock-speed, SIMM, DIMM, SODIMM, graphics-enabled, etc) it can REALLY make your head hurt.

My best recommendation is to make a plan to a goal, and buy what you need (or can afford) to attain that goal. For example, I'm planning a new system to play current-generation games, as well as doing CAD and web design. So, I'm choosing an AMD Phenom 3-core processor, a compatible motherboard, and 4-8Gb of the fastest RAM that the motherboard and processor will support. This way, I don't have to worry about my RAM not keeping up with the processor, or the program. Why have 8Gb of RAM if the operating system only supports 4Gb? I'm not going to be running Windows XP forever, and if the extra space is there, it's one less trip into my computer case.

Installation of RAM is kind of a no-brainer, especially if you understood the selection section without stopping. RAM modules, or 'sticks' are keyed, and should only fit into the motherboard one way. The only thing that MAY be tricky is whether the modules have to be installed in pairs, or if you can add single sticks. I ALWAYS recommend installing in pairs, as this eliminates the possibility of a hardware incompatibility (paired RAM is the convention going all the way back to the IBM 8086, and is near-universal as a fallback architecture). Push the RAM module down until you feel it seat, then hook the retention tabs to the edges of the module. If you choose to use a RAM heat-sink, I recommend that you install one stick, then the heat-sink, then move on to the next stick. This gives you maximum 'wiggle-room', and reduces the number of times you have to get in-between two sticks.

Hope this has been helpful!

Until Next Time!

News For The Day - 12 Jun 2009

I went out of my way today, trying to find something newsworthy. Slow Friday, I know. The one headline that leaped out at me was "Obama Won't Rule Out Releasing Gitmo prisoners into US". HOLY SHITBALLS BATMAN! What kind of drunken, stupified MORON would do this? I had my doubts about this president, but now, I KNOW that he's lost it (if he ever had it, that is). Why? Read on.

First, a little history. Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is a relic of the Cold War (starting right around the Korean Conflict, circa 1954). It was originally 'negotiated' between the US and Cuba as a treaty condition. That conversation went something like this:

USA: Castro, do you like your country?
Cuba: Yes, I like it very much.
USA: Would you like to see your country bombed into rubble?
Cuba: No, why?
USA: Because having a Socialist country that close to Florida makes the Defense Department nervous. We (the State Department) calmed them down, told them that it's not a good idea to turn you into rubble. BUT, we have these prisoners that we don't want here. You have some spare land, over there on the far side of the island.
Cuba: How about you put your prison over there on that piece of land, and you don't bomb us back to the Stone Age?

That was all paraphrased and oversimplified, but you get the gist. Cuba remained a viable country, the US got surveillance of Cuba, and a place to put prisoners who could be expected to cause serious national harm if released or escaped.

Fast forward half a century or so, to the present-day. For roughly 50 years now, we have been using Gitmo as a storehouse for a certain class of prisoners. Political? Sort of. Treasonous? No. You cannot commit treason against a country to which you have no loyalty. Terrorist? Most are suspected or known to be. In short, these prisoners are the baddest of the bad. While I can't speak of every inmate there, I'd say a great majority are there for a reason.

So corralled in this off-shore bad-boy-camp we have a bunch of folks that are not overly happy about the American people, and the US Government. Even if 45% of inmates were the international equivalent of 19-year-olds jailed for possession of pot, or shoplifting, what you end up with is exactly the same as the referenced 19-year-old; someone who bears no love or respect for their jailers, and who have learned 'bad habits' from those that were incarcerated for greater crimes. If you didn't have a problem with them before, you will now.

And our illustrious President wants to release these characters into the very population that they have the most reason to dislike. Doesn't this sound like a fantastic idea?

Rather than releasing these inmates into the US, I have a better idea. Make them each stand trial, and here are the options:
1) Found innocent - Repatriation to the country of their choice
2) Guilty, time served equal or greater than sentance - Repatriation to either home country, or country to be determined by lottery (if inmate claims US as homeland). Revoke US passport, and 'black-list' inmate from ever being granted passage into the US.
3) Guilty - Country of repatriation to be determined by the judging body using the following guidelines: Consider inmate's heritage, religion, and sociopolitical stance, then send them to a country where one or more of those criteria could cause a problem... i.e. Palestinian prisoner, locked up for sabotage of US or Israeli forces; give them an outfit with a sign on it (something to the effect of Israeli-killer in Hebrew), and drop them off with the Mossad.

Cruel and unusual? I'll allow unusual, but you NEED unusual to make the punishment something to be feared. Cruel? Meh. A punishment can only be 'cruel' if it abrogates the rights of citizens. In my mind, you commit treason, actively work against the United States, you have forfeited any claim to be a US citizen.

Until Next Time!

Links Page

Along with 'paid postings', I will attempt to maintain a page of links to places that have supported, and are supporting, this blog. This list will be updated as needed.

Listing Services:
BlogHub


Blogville
blog directory

Advertising agents/brokers:

Blogvertise
Smorty
PayingPost

New Feature!

I was messing around with some ideas this afternoon, to make the content a little better here on the site, and I stumbled on a 'gadget' that allowed me to apply a Project Playlist (http://www.playlist.com) song-list to the play while you're on the site. So, I'm asking for your feedback. Hear something you like? Tell me! Something you don't? Tell me! Not hear something that you'd like to? You get the picture.

Thanks, and

Until Next Time!

2500hp street car... what will they think of next?

I was reading an article on MotorTrend the other day that I thought was worthy of commentary. The original article can be found here:http://wot.motortrend.com/6540260/tuners/550-hp-mosler-too-weak-try-iads-2500-hp-twin-turbo-land-shark/index.html

The article details a 'tuner' version of the Mosler supercar, the MT900S, which comes from the factory with 550bhp, and super-car-worthy stats. The 'tuner' version, of course, changes all that. The 'stock' engine is pulled, and replaced with a 2500bhp twin-turbo monster, based on an innovative concept (more on that in a bit). The pricetag for this carbon-fiber monstrosity ensures that I'll never own one, but we can all dream, right?

The innovation behind the 'Land Shark' twin-turbo version of the MT900S is something that I discussed with a very intelligent engineer that I've known for roughly 26 years, my father. We started discussing the possibility of a 'full-roller' internal-combustion engine back in the early '90s, when I was about 10 years old. My father's original intent was to start with either a 428SCJ or a Corvette 427, and build from there. I had him convinced, at one point, to try this with either a 5.6L Mercedes engine (M119) or a Ford OHC motor (4.6/5.4 Modular motor), but apparently we've been beaten to the punch by the folks at IAD (Intense Auto Design), who used a GM LSx-series engine as a starting point. Kudos to IAD for doing it, but my father and I still think that they're not using the technology to it's fullest potential. A 'full-roller' motor, i.e. if roller-type bearings (instead of the more typical bushing setup) are used throughout the engine, several things would happen, all stemming from the fact that the RPM limit for such a motor would easily be in the 20-30,000rpm range under load. The valvetrain on this hypothetical motor would either have to have an unholy stress-rating (high seat-pressure, extremely durable components, etc), or a completely new technology would have to be devised to actuate the valves, due to the fact that the motor (and thus the valve events) is spinning at 3 to 5 times the maximum RPM of a 'typical' V-8. We felt that the reduced valvetrain mass of an Overhead Cam (OHC) arrangement would alleviate some of that, but my father and I have been tossing around other ideas as well (which I'm not going to go into specifics until they are patented). In short, he and I saw this 'proof-of-concept' engine, and our interest is renewed in making 'our' engine a reality.

Food for thought!

Until Next Time!

News For The Day - 11 Jun 2009

Today's news comes from an AP article that was pointed out to me... the World Center For Disease Control has declared 'swine flu' a 'pandemic'. I have a couple of thoughts on this subject...

First, what IS it with naming all these quasi-horrible diseases after animals? Bird flu, swine flu, West Nile virus (named after the carrier, the West Nile mosquito), whooping cough (after the whooping crane), I mean seriously, what's next? The lemur flu? The Emerald Beetle virus? Let's get serious folks, if it's really all that important, calling it by some cutesy name isn't going to change anything. If anything, it's going to make the CDC look like it's being run by some mentally challenged pre-teens.

Which brings me to my next point. The H2N 'swine flu' is NOT a serious threat. 36,000 people die every year of the 'regular'flu (influenza virus), so why is it such a big honking deal if 400 people die of this 'rare and malignant form of the flu'? Don't get me wrong, it's always sad when someone succumbs to an illness that could have been prevented, but the raw numbers just don't justify the media hype. Is the CDC budget hurting so badly that they'll make up a new disease every week, just to stay in the news?

Speaking of news and language... what exactly is a 'pandemic'? 'Pan' Greek for multiple (more than a few, less than a multitude) 'dem' meaning illness, disease, or affliction. Sounds like another quasi-intellectual buzzword from where I'm sitting. When did this word (which is simply three Greek roots stuffed together) come into use, and why are we using it to label everything from fevers to the fact that we as a nation are fat? This 'pandemic' word doesn't scare me, no matter how often some knucklehead newswriter uses it. Tell me that there's a fat 'pandemic', or a flu 'pandemic', or a pandemic 'pandemic', I'm somehow just not scared.

So, my tip of the day to avoid THE SWINE FLU PANDEMIC is simple. Take care of yourself, keep warm during cold hours, and cool during warm hours. Drink plenty of water. If you can't keep down solids or liquids for 12 hours, go see a doctor or hospital. Swine flu, like most influenza strains, is most harmful to children under 2, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems.

News For The Day - 10 Jun 2009

So I woke up this morning, sat down at my computer to check my e-mail, and there it was, splattered all over my homepage "Fiat Buys Chrysler Assets". So the whore that is Mopar gets bought again. Here's a little history lesson: Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep used to all be separate companies, along with Eagle (anyone else REMEMBER Eagle?). Chrysler bought all these assets, lock, stock, and two smoking barrels (of garbage). Then, in the late '90s, the Chrysler Group was in trouble. They offered a merger with Daimler-Benz, manufacturers of Mercedes Benz and Maybach. The 'deal' was that Daimler-Benz would captain the combined company, and that in exchange for their help and world exposure, Chrysler plants would produce the Mercedes C- and M-Classes in US plants (thus, these models would not be considered 'imports' as defined by law). This worked(ish) for about 3 years, then it started to fall apart. Quality issues on the M-Class caused sales of that line to plummet. In 2005, the Daimler-Benz Corporation cut the Chrysler Group loose, due to high cost, low return, and a lack of quality control/quality assurance. Ownership of the Chrysler passed from Daimler-Benz to an employee consortium after Benz couldn't sell the group to any other manufacturer.

Now let's take a brief look at Fiat, the buying side of this transaction... For the last 20 or so years, Fiat has been majority owned by the Italian government. In Italy, majority ownership DOES mean control (unlike here, where even though the US government owns 50-some-odd-percent of GM's debt, 'we don't want to own GM'). So follow me here: The Italian government owns Fiat. Fiat owns Chrysler. QED, the Italian government owns Chrysler. IS ANYONE ELSE SEEING THIS?! I understand that Fiat doesn't get full ownership for X years, and that Fiat is supposed to start manufacturing something like 6 of their models here in the US (we saw how well that went before, no?), and all that jazz, but here's the bottom line: Fiat is BUYING Chrysler. This means that when the deal goes through, and AS SOON AS the deal goes through, Fiat starts CONTROLLING Chrysler. Puppet strings, smoke, and mirrors. Folks, this is NOT A GOOD THING. Personally, and I appreciate American cars as well as American industry, I'd rather see Chrysler fail completely than be owned by a foreign government. I can see it happen... Fiat buys Chrysler, then the US government contracts with Chrysler's husk to manufacture US military ground vehicles (trucks, transports, cars, etc), funnelling money DIRECTLY to the Italian government (which, last I checked, wasn't too overly fond of the US). Nostradamus I'm not, but this is just a little too obvious.

News For The Day - 9 Jun 2009

Hello all!

I'm going to try something new today. It may be a recurring thing, it may not, depending on reaction, my mood, and world news.

Today's News: Slim Jim Factory Explodes, Kills 2.

Anyone else feel like they're stuck in bad SNL sketch? I mean seriously, this is a bad joke waiting to happen. Manufacturers of a meat stick (a.k.a. heart-attack sticks) have a plant explosion... Apparently, someones cholesterol literally did go 'through the roof'. Don't get me wrong, it's a sad and tragic thing that there were fatalities, but I feel like this is a setup.
In other news, Slim Jim corporate execs have announced price hikes in retail meat-stick prices amounting to a 300%-400% increase (they're taking pointers from the petroleum industry). Before you run out to stock up on Slim Jims folks, please remember: keep it civil; there is NO NEED to riot! Stay in line, and no tackling old ladies to get your favorite meat-treats. Eventually, they WILL MAKE MORE.

Until Next Time!

Public Service Announcement #1

Ok folks, after word-vomiting several thousand words in my first day of blogging, I'm going to put out a (hopefully) brief PSA. While this blog IS here for a purpose, I'm trying to make a positive impact as well. If there is a subject that you would like to see commented on, a question that you have, or whatever, please feel free to leave me a comment. I'll try to respond to anything that I feel qualified to answer in relatively short order.

Also, this blog DOES have a commercial purpose, so stay tuned for product/service reviews, as well as my rambling rants. If you'd like to have me review YOUR product/service, please sign up here.

All reviews will be headed "Public Service Announcement #x", and responses to requests will be headed appropriately, something like "Request Line: XXXX"

My 'commerical disclaimer' runs like this: This blogger may accept commercial assignments and may post paid entries from time to time, based on what's available.
Until Next Time!

Nuclear cars and other frivolous ideas

a.k.a. Why Hybrids Are Bad For The Environment


Welcome (back)!

So here we are. Hydrogen, electric, and hybrid-powered vehicles are all the rage now, especially in heavily-pollution-controlled states (yes, California, I'm looking at you!). Along with these, the newest trend in internal-combustion engines is variable valve timing, along with smaller engines and steeper gearing. Let's take a look at these concepts one at a time.

Alternative Fuels

OK. You may have noticed on the roads of your local metropolis all these awesome 'alternative fuel' vehicles. Hydrogen- or electric-powered cars, propane-powered buses, E-85 vehicles of all sorts, and all the eco-conscious folks driving them. The good: lower per-mile emissions and lower refuel costs (especially for hybrid vehicles). The bad: larger production footprint (fitting a hydrogen or propane fuel cell is orders of magnitude more complex than fitting a fuel tank), bad mileage on the highways/expressways, and LONG time to reconcile fuel savings vs increased vehicle cost. Here's how it works out for Joe Consumer: Joe buys a Flex-Fuel or alternative fuel vehicle, at an additional premium ranging from $8000 to $12000. Since 'alternative fuels' don't have the infrastructure, Joe spends additional fuel to go to a station that has his fuel, and pays roughly 10% less than a full fill-up of gasoline. Doing the math, cost-effectiveness for this method takes roughly 10 years to make up the difference. This is not taking into account related maintenance costs (go ahead, figure out the cost to replace a hydrogen fuel cell or an electric cell, either of which are reported to be good for roughly 5 years). So based on fuel costs alone, it really isn't effective unless you own the vehicle for at least 15 years. Once you start including maintenance costs, and the fact that you really can't work on them yourself (or contract an independant mechanic), the problem gets exponentially worse.
All these problems pale in the grand scheme of the environment due to the fact that the carbon footprint of a hydrogen or electric car is (as I've said before) orders of magnitude greater than an equivelant IC vehicle. It would take, on average, 20 years of continuous use (with no part failure) to make the vehicles worthwhile. This is aside from the fact that the fuel production footprint is MUCH higher than an equivalent gasoline or diesel vehicle (refining pressurized hydrogen takes a LOT of electricity).

E-85 a.k.a. the Corn fuel

One of the new rages in alternative fuels is E-85. This fuel is, in truth, 85% ethanol, which is refined from plants, specifically corn. The other 15% of this fuel is generally Diesel 1 (car diesel). Herein lies the problem with E-85... namely the fact that E-85 has a lower specific heat (combustion potential) than refined gasoline. The difference works out to ~15%-20% lower fuel mileage than a similar IC engine. Once you add in the up-front premium (usually at least $4000), you're again looking at a LONG repayment period, especially last winter, when gasoline and E-85 had a seperation of less than 10% in price in the Midwest. Flex-fuel or E-85 retrofit kits CAN be cost-effective, due to the fact that E-85 has an octane rating of roughly 110 (compared to 91 to 93 octane for high-octane gasoline). They become especially effective for high-performance cars (think road-course or drag-race cars) and trucks where the higher octane rating is required, but mileage isn't as important. In the end though, E-85 for passenger cars and trucks isn't really cost-effective due to the fact that a) the mileage doesn't justify the cost, and b) Flex-fuel/E-85 vehicles don't have the infrastructure outside the Midwest. They generally burn cleaner, but you definitely pay for it in refill frequency.

Hybrid Vehicles

Then we have the gasoline/electric hybrid vehicles, especially cars like the Toyota Prius, the Chevrolet Aveo, and Honda Insight. All these vehicles suffer from the maintenance headaches associated with alternative-fuel vehicles (increased production footprint, higher fuel footprint, reduced infrastructure) and have a HUGE weakness: they have serious issues reaching highway/expressway speeds. For example, the Toyota Prius gets its best mileage in 'mixed driving', which is generally city, with speeds not to exceed 45mph, and relatively long periods of stop/idle. Once you get it on the highway, on the other hand, the 1.2L gasoline engine doesn't have the power (namely torque) to propel it to average highway speeds (65mph in IL)in a reasonable time (from stop to 65mph off of an on-ramp is unheard-of). A few hybrids break this mold by offering a larger gasoline engine, or steeper gearing between the engine and wheels inside the transmission or transaxle. The Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan Hybrids, for example, use a larger gasoline engine, which translates to shorter 'gas on' times in-town, and enough 'oomph' to make highway cruising fun again. But once again, you're still looking at higher-upfront costs, and long repayment times, which are fine if you intend to keep the car for it's full service life, but not so great if you trade in your car every few years.

Internal Combustion/Diesel and Variable Valve Timing

The best current solution, in my mind, is some of the new gasoline and turbo-diesel offerings from manufacturers like Ford, VW, and a few Chevrolet cars and trucks. Let's look at the new TD's first. Diesel has been used to power passenger cars since at least the 70's (Mercedes, BMW, and VW pioneered some pretty advanced systems during this timeperiod). Diesel was cheaper than gasoline, due to the fact that it was less refined, and the parts used were pretty much run-of-the-mill (forged, or all-steel, pistons were still standard). It was really the best of all worlds. Add a turbocharger, and the diesel offerings could compete with the gasoline offerings. Not to mention, diesels, for all their sulfur emissions, could still knock down in excess of 30mpg. IN THE 70'S. This was during the tail-end of the HorsePower Wars, when 10-15mpg was normal, and no-one thought anything of it. Now, turbodiesel offerings from companys like VW can compete with even hybrid cars, putting up 40mpg out of a relatively stock motor, and are still fun to drive.
The other technology that's showing promise is Variable Valve Timing from companies like Ford. Different than Honda's VTEC, in that VVT is more concentrated on fuel economy/torque production than raising horsepower, VVT is engineered to actually change the physical alignment of the camshaft relative to the rotating assembly under different load conditions. The mechanics are involved, yes (I could spend a whole 'nother blog talking about them), but the system itself is pretty simple, relying on increasing oil pressure to force the cam do to what the engineers want it to do. Upshot? Lower consumption during low-load/idle conditions, a broader powerband (which is good for the passing lane), and higher peak horsepower and torque numbers.

Future Technology a.k.a. Where Do We Go From Here?

asdasd So thus far, I've managed to alienate the Prius crowd, lambast those working on alternative energy, and I generally sound like your typical gearhead. Typical, right? Not really. Do the alternative fuels/hybrid cars show promise? Absolutely. BUT, to be truly cost-effective, we need better and less expensive ways to manufacture the components, increased infrastructure, and a 'green lane' where today's hybrids can stay in their efficiency band. Now, the title of the article mentions 'nuclear cars', right? Nuclear power is one of the cleanest-burning, simplest forms of energy that exists today. 20,000 miles between 'fill-ups', no emissions to be worried about, and a literal 1 in 1,000,000 failure rate for the powerplant. If science can find a way to shrink a nuclear pile down to something that can fit in a car, we'd be looking at a completely new era in automobiling. Until then, here's a few things that we CAN look forward to:

Running on garbage - There is a functional proof-of-concept for a generator/incinerator that uses basically a lightning bolt to turn any material into an ultra-fine ash, and due to radiation collectors, actually produces more electricity than it uses. This could be the new age of power generation, since you can put literally any material into it's 'tank', and end up with a power surplus. Problem is, it's currently the size of a 72-passenger bus. Steps are being taken to shrink it down, maybe one day it will sit in your garage, and provide the power for your electric car, or even better, sit in the trunk of the car and provide power on demand.

Blowin' in the wind - renewable sources of energy (wind, water, and solar power) are taking leaps and bounds of progress from where they were even a few years ago. Increased efficiency solar cells may one day be the 'skin' of your new car, providing charge for an electric car, and while it's parked, high-efficency windmills would generate enough power to recharge your vehicle in case of bad weather.

The "Z" engine - and odd-ball concept, this motor intrinsically creates it's own pressurized atmosphere (think supercharger), creating a massively efficient combustion process. Proof-of-concepts exist... in 1-cylinder formats. The problem currently is tooling that will allow for the odd machining of 2 cylinder bores for every one combustion cylinder. It's worth taking a look at, but as of right now, it's just a concept.

Along with ever-improving techniques for current technologies (better and cheaper hydrogen and electric cells, more efficient components, lower replacement costs, and better infrastructure), alternative fuels are gaining ground. Maybe one day you will have the option of a hydrogen car that costs the same as an IC car, with a home-based hydrogen-seperation chamber that uses no more power than your water heater. We can only look ahead.

Ultra-Grand Theft

a.k.a. The Rich Get Richer, And The Poor Get Hosed

Hello again!

This will hopefully be my last "rant" entry for a while, maybe actually start posting some useful information.

So, let's jump right in.

My first beef is with the petroleum industry. I know more about this industry than my education would suggest, since both of my parents have worked in the petrol industry for many years. Let me be recorded as saying, right now, that the gas prices seen nation (and even world) wide are absolute bunk. In the US in particular, the prices being placed on a gallon of fuel (gasoline, Diesel 1, Diesel 2, E-85, etc) are 100% controlled by the petrol consortium. Here's some startling facts and figures (please note, I take no responsibility for absolute veracity of my data, as most is at least a few years old). With OPEC nations 'making the rules' as far as the price of a barrel of crude, where do you believe that the majority of the United States' crude oil comes from? The Middle East? Wow. Good try, but completely wrong. Almost 80% of the United States' crude oil comes from odd places like Canada, South America, and deep-ocean drilling off our own shores. Less than 10% of our oil comes from the Middle East, and the majority of that portion comes from places like Kuwait and Israel. Hmm... So why are we still listening to OPEC? Damn good question. There's some UN legislation squirreled away somewhere that says that OPEC is the final authority. Why should the US and her allies be the only ones to follow UN conventions, when places like North Korea openly insult the UN? Meh, I guess only because if we flouted the UN, we'd be no better than the pocket dictators of Africa, the Middle East, and certain parts of Asia. It royally sucks to be 'the good guys'. BUT, coming back to the price of petrol... Why is it, when the price per barrel (ppb) of crude was as low as it's been for 35 years (about a year ago), the price of a gallon of fuel was reaching epic heights? HA! This one is a fantastic bit of sleight-of-hand if I've ever seen one. Check this out... The fuel-processing companies (Exxon-Mobil, BP-Amoco, Royal Dutch Shell, etc) were absolutely out of their minds, whining 'our refineries in Louisiana, they were all destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and we need to fund rebuilding' etc etc etc, you all remember that, yes? OK. Complete and utter horseturds. Here's another interesting statistic for you... in 2000 (I believe, I'll check the date), the US EPA passed legislation intended to lower 'greenhouse gas emissions' from oil refineries, which had the following effect: some 50% of the oil refineries in the United States either shut down completely, or slowed down production (emissions are calculated as a per-year total, so if emissions had to go down 50%, the same equipment could only run 50% of the time). Since that legislation passed, NOT A SINGLE US OIL REFINERY HAS BEEN BROUGHT INTO COMPLIANCE. Compliance being the ability to run a particular refining process at 100% capacity. In this legislation, new safety measures were to be implemented, and environmental impact abatement measures were to be put into place (i.e. lining spill-drains, improving integrity of holding tanks and processing equipment, all kinds of measures of that nature). Your corner gas station has complied, but NOT A SINGLE REFINERY HAS. Why not? Because, for the oil companies, it's much easier to sit back, wring their hands, and point fingers at the government... something to the effect of 'the EPA handicapped our productivity, and we're trying to pick up enough extra revenue and production to be able to shut down a plant, but it's a Catch-22!' Whine whine, complain complain. Here's the real story... the processors are looking for an incentive package from the government, basically 'shut-up money'. They're looking to have our tax dollars pay for the retrofitting of their plants, so that they can make yet more money off of us.
So here's the short form:
High gas prices = low efficiency plants + EPA restrictions + Processor hand-wringing
It's like the petrol company executives have forgotten that they live here too, and if all their neighbors go broke trying to buy gas, it hurts everyone. I have some ideas about how to hit the petrol companies where it hurts, please see 'Nuclear cars and other frivolities'

My second beef for this entry is the Great and Powerful Media Machine. This encompasses movies, music, print media (books and magazines) and especially Web publishing. Sheesh. What a gigantic mess. Since the advent of the recordable 8-track in the mid-70's, music 'piracy' has existed. Then we had the dual-deck VCR in the 80's, and comgratulations, the video media was no longer sacred (this is, of course, discounting sneaky post-production folks that used the studios' own equipment to reproduce media for personal gain). Then again in the mid-90's, CD-R's broke the previously 'uncopyable' CD format. It's all kinda gone downhill since then, with the widespread acceptance of the Internet, we no longer need to physically exchange media, now it's encoded in a bunch of 0's and 1's, sent at high speeds over copper and fiber lines across the street and around the world.
Now, realizing how widespread this 'piracy' is, let's look at the other side of the coin... 1970, a record was a few dollars, if that. 8-tracks and early tapes retailed at $3-$5 in 1985. In 1995, a 'new' CD cost ~$13. Now, most CD's retail at $16-$25, and you can 'buy' a digital copy of your favorite tracks for an oh-so-reasonable $1.50 PER TRACK! FOR A DIGITAL COPY! Holy SHIT! Assuming 12 tracks on an average CD, that's STILL $20, and you don't even have a REAL CD! Not to mention, music and movie production studios have gotten ever-more-aggressive with protective 'software' to prevent the copying and redistribution of their material. There was a lawsuit against one of the major music studios recently, accusing them of using destructive methods to protect their 'intellectual property'. Basically, the software embedded in the CD, if the software detected that it was being copied, it would create a fatal feedback loop in the computer's processor, causing, at the least, a reboot situation, and at worst, it had been known to literally fry computer components (processors, CD drives, etc).
Now, my beef is that the media producers around the country are, like everyone else, getting greedy. They spend record amounts on production, whether it's exotic locations, the 'best and brightest' in CG effects, the best equipment, not to mention that actors and actresses now are the highest-paid in the history of the industry as are the people working behind the camera or microphone. Watch Entertainment Tonight some Tuesday or Wendsday. New movies, even for all their production costs, are bringing in the highest opening-weekend revenues of any time period EVER. Seems like every movie that comes out during the summer is 'the biggest box-office hit EVER!!!!!!!!!!!11111" Record earnings of over half a BILLION dollars in a single weekend are not uncommon anymore. But with all this, it's still not enough. Rather than blithely ignoring the 'criminal fringe' of folks that make copies of movies or music FOR PERSONAL USE (I make a HUGE distinction between those that download for themselves versus people that do it for money), movie studios and music promoters are cracking down HARD, the most focused anti-piracy push in the history of mass-distributed media. WTF guys? The economy is the worst it's been since the 1920's, and NOW is the time that you choose to go berzerk over what generally amounts to pennies on the dollar? It's like everyone, from businesses to the government, is SQUEEEEEEEZING the little guy from all directions. Prices have never been higher, working hours have never been longer, and skilled wages have made a drastic and disturbing reversal, so it's almost better to work overtime at an unskilled job than to take a 40-hour skilled trade (based on non-union rates).

Until Next Time!

If Monkeys Ran The Zoo

a.k.a My Political Views and Political Rant

Hoo boy. Before we start this, let me go ahead and put my flamesuit on, as my political views are not real popular at the moment. Please feel free to 'flame on', but know that any negative comments will be read, and probably deleted. Constructive criticism, ok, but if you're just being a troll, I don't have time or energy.

My Beatitudes (a.k.a. What Do You Believe):

1. 95% of conspiracies are complete and utter bullshit. 9-11 an inside job? You're buzzed. Iraq war for oil? Nah. 1969 Moon landing a fake? Wow, what planet are YOU living on? Some shadowy Illuminati running the world? You're joking right? Government coverup of UFOs? Sheesh.

2. The President of the United States is NOT infallible. They're human, and prone to human errors. I cut the government slack until they have proven themselves incompetent.

3. My views are MY VIEWS. If you don't like it, well, there are other blogs to read. I respect other peoples' opinions, realizing that their views are theirs.

These statements are subject to change, addition, deletion, or revision for content or grammatical correction at any time, without warning or notification. And now, to the fun stuff:

My social views:

My social views are relatively simple, to me anyway. I firmly believe that any person, or group of people, is fully entitled to their views, beliefs, and quirks, and I have no right to interfere... UNTIL those views, beliefs, and quirks affect ME. For example: If you choose not to own a gun because of some social belief or a religious conviction, good for you. That's great, it's your choice. But if you tell me that you believe it unethical/immoral/unlawful for ME to own a gun, I WILL take exception to it. I take that stance on many social issues, with a few exceptions. Domestic violence, abuse in any form (child, spouse, drug, etc), and the like, I feel to be in the public domain. The abuser forfeited their right to privacy when they started adversely affecting someone else.

My financial views:

I find myself agreeing with both sides of the line here, but my focus is generally more conservative. The answer to all social/economic problems IS NOT to throw more money at it. For example: Inner city schools have the lowest test scores, lowest graduation rate, etc etc etc. The answer is NOT to throw billions of dollars at the school system. PERIOD. No 'efficacy studies', no 'pilot programs', NO. Does it take money to figure out where all the money went? Yes. BUT, a 10-year study that costs $15mil per year to fund (and all of it comes out of the district's funding) is NOT the way to go. Assign some small group locally (preferably a CPA firm), go through the financial records of the schools in question. Teachers making pennies while the administrators are driving Jags? There's your answer. Then, once that imbalance has been corrected (by LOWERING THE ADMINISTRATOR'S SALARIES), the next step can be taken. Where are the schools deficient? No textbooks? Instead of giving the district money to purchase books, have the governing body (state or federal government) purchase the texts in the required quantites for the districts. This accomplishes two things: 1) No opportunity for misappropriation of funds 2) standardization of textbooks throughout the area. Next, look at the appropriation of funds in specific schools. School can't turn out a decent class, but the sports teams are fantastic? Hmm... There's a problem here. Sports are great, yes, BUT the function of a school is to TEACH, not to entertain. Less than .1% of all high-school athletes will get a college scholarship to play sports. Less that 10% of college athletes will make a professional team. BUT, 100% of high-school students need to be able to read, write, and do basic math to function in society. So where are the priorities, really?
Moving on, the rest of my financial views pretty much follow that pattern: eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse. My major beefs with that system are twofold: petroleum processors, and Hollywood. Please find my comments about them in my rant titled "Ultra-Grand Theft".

My view on politicians:

Oh brother. In short, our once-proud governing system is so corrupt at this point, I honestly don't believe that it can be saved in it's current form. We are no longer a nation of Americans, but a huge collection of special-interest groups: the Environmentalists, Capitalists, Pro-Life, Pro-Choice, Pro-Gun, Pro-Safety, whites, blacks, Hispanics. Even the illegal aliens have a special-interest group! Somewhere along the line, the United States populous has been brainwashed into believing that 'me first, me last, me always' really does work. We have been duped into thinking that instead of working to better oneself, demand that your 'voice on Capital Hill' pass legislation benefitting you, often at the expense of others. When did this become OK? Not to mention, as a single white male, I'm SCREWED. I'm ineligible for ANY racial minority, gender-equality program, NOTHING. I have no nation-wide network of pro-bono attorneys, no grassroots movement to 'free whitey', no special support of any kind.
So in short, our political system is junk. It's going to take a massive crisis of some sort to shake the American people out of their torpor, and make them realize that everyone is not in the same situation, nor is 100% equality, regardless of qualification, an acceptable solution. This goes back to my social views. Do what you want, until it affects me. Changing people's viewpoint is not accomplished through legislation, but through education. You want me to 'save the environment?' cool. Why? How is slapping yet another 'emissions-control device' on my Mustang (or on future iterations) going to help? Be prepared for rebuttals, and instead of resorting to mudslinging (i.e. the last Presidential election), come up with some actual, unbiased, science-based proof. If my facts are better than yours, sit down and table it.

Until next time!

Some things about me

a.k.a. "Who Is This Lunatic, And Why Is He Here?"


Hi!

Since you're reading this, something here has piqued your interest. Maybe you've read one of my subsequent posts, and want to know what kind of nutjob wrote it. Or maybe you agree. Maybe you want to know how I came by some of my more esoteric knowledge, or you just want to know more about the inner workings of my head. Well, pull on your hip-waders, it's about to get deep.

Who am I? I'm a 26y.o. guy, former US Army technician (more on that in a bit), gearhead, computer geek, and general fitness nut. I listen to hard rock, heavy metal, grindcore, trance, house, generally anything that I can 'get into'; high-energy, meaningful, and generally off-the-wall. I'm a commodian (I think I'm funny, but I'm generally... you get the picture). Over-educated, over-opinionated, loud, boisterous and sometimes abrasive. I live between two corn fields somewhere in Northern IL, USA, but have done a pretty good world tour. I like to travel, and love to learn new things. I drive an over-powered 2004 Mustang GT, which I work on myself, and have plans to take further. I'm socially liberal (love is between two people, and if you don't like it, don't watch), financially conservative (why is the answer to everything to throw more money at it?) and politically pissed (more about that in the post titled "If The Monkeys Ran The Zoo"). I over-use parentheses, quotes, smilies and hyphens, and make no apologies about it.

Why should you listen (a.k.a. credentials and brag sheet)? Since the age of about 6, I was tested as being 'gifted' (non-PC now, I know), and have been in all kinds of accelerated programs, teaching me to use this gift/curse. I've been tested with an IQ over 170 (the tester wasn't allowed to report higher, and independant analysis has rated me at somewhere in the range of 210/220). National Honor Society, Prarie State Scholar, 1397 SAT score (with no prep) etc. Year of college at College of Dupage, majoring in General Education. 27 credits, including some Physical Education credits, and I decided it wasn't working. Apparently I was such a genius, I decided to join the military. ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) overall score of 99 (out of 99), GT (General Technical) score of 129 (out of 130) Invidiual line scores (EL/AD/ME/etc) of 134-139 (out of 140). Ended up taking an Aviation post, 15Y10 (formerly 68Y10), Armament, Avionics, Electronics Systems Technician, AH-64D Apache Longbow. 29 weeks of training, managed a 93% overall score, while also leading 11 other trainees. Once I joined my unit, we received an Exemplary rating for our combined unit training (UFTP- Unit Fielding/Training Program), including the highest Operational Readiness Rate (OR Rate, remember that acronym, it comes in later) that they'd seen. 13 months on a government-funded beach vacation (typical government, they forgot the WATER when they sent us to the beach), where we received the AAAA (American Aviation/Aviators Association, if I recall correctly) Unit Of The Year award, with and OR Rate (see? Told you) of 91% overall, highest that's ever been in theatre, as well as Boeing's Unit Of The Year for the same feat. During this, I also managed to take a college course from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), majoring in Aviation Management (closest thing that I could get to Aeronautical Engineering without being on campus).

How did I get here (a.k.a. 'what went wrong')? Born in 1983 to a Chemical Engineer (MS ChemE) and a professional chemist (later to get her MS in Environmental Engineering MS EnvE), expectations were always high for me. Diagnosed during first grade with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), I spent a lot of time explaining my actions, and more time in 'counseling' than any healthy child should. Truth was, I may have been DIAGNOSED ADHD, but really I was just bored. Public school didn't challenge me, so I generally gave up on school. I knew the material (my test scores proved it), but unfortunately most of my instructors graded homework, some even made homework worth more than tests, so I was generally hosed. My PSAT and SAT scores would've gotten me into any school in the States, but my GPA was terrible. No scholarships for me. So, I got a job, and paid for community college myself for about a year. I finished my 3rd quarter (I was on quarters at the time, 3 regular quarters per year, plus an optional summer quarter), sat back and looked at my life. I was working close to 60 hours a week between two jobs, and had a full classload, so my homework wasn't really getting done. So I joined the Army. Spent 4 years of my life there, including a year overseas, before getting discharged. I was good at my job, some would say damn good, but I didn't keep my mouth shut when my sergeants and officers were wrong. This created a problem, so my sergeants and I made a deal: They get me out under the best terms possible, I wouldn't drag them through the mud. It worked out. I left the Army, and worked about 4 months doing outside (retail) sales, mostly working for major manufacturers as a retail representative. It worked like this: My boss schedules me in a major chain retailer (Best Buy, Circuit City, Fry's, etc) for a specific product line (TomTom GPS, Toshiba laptops, Panasonic cameras, Sony TVs). I show up at the store, and hang out in the department for 4 hours on a weekend, educating consumers about my particular products. At the end of the 4 hours, I could do one of three things: 1) stay in the department for another for hours 2) change stores in the same department, or 3) change departments in the same store. All this was schedule-dependant. After 4 months, I got in a bit of a tiff with one particular store, mostly because I sold more of my single product line in 8 hours a week than the salespeople did (roughly 6 people) in roughly 360 man-hours with all the product lines. I'd come in, sell close to $12000 in TV's in a weekend, and they couldn't compete (which was garbage, because every sale that I made had one of their names on it, I didn't ring people out). So they set me up, and got me to take a fall. No biggie for me, because I was alreadt interviewing to work for an industrial machinery company (sheetmetal CNC equipment) as a field service engineer. They hired me, trained me, and sent me out into the great and wide world. Then, 2 days short of a year later, they found out that they'd underbudgeted their new showroom building by in excess of $10M, and I was 'the new guy'. Later. Did about 4 months working for an aircraft-engine rebuilder near my house, until the bottom dropped out of the market in March, and THEY had to 'furlough' me. So now I work side jobs and collect unemployment, and decided that a blog might be a good idea. My side jobs are varied, from working on cars/trucks/lawn tractors, to reroofing houses, to computer diagnosis/repair and data recovery.

So really, why should I listen? I have roughly 15 years of automotive experience (I started doing glow-plug changes and brake jobs at the age of 10), about 5 years of electrical and electronics experience, excluding IBM-type computer systems, 2 years worth of heavy machinery experience, and roughly 18 years of IBM-based computer experience (hardware and software). I've been to the gates of Hell and back, relatively whole and sane. My knowledge isn't exhaustive by any means, but my thirst for knowledge and experience has yet to be quenched by anything I've done. If I don't know, I'll say so, and go out and do some research.