The Red Brick Times

Definitely something I want to read: "Dig Infinity! The Life and Art of Lord Buckley" by Oliver Trager. Hey Ralph! Hows about doin' your library magic and making this one appear at the EPL?
Posted 10:23 AM by whatley 0 comments

Latest scam by auto industry: car repair shops often can't crack diagnostic code. Methinks Andy Allen had a hand in this.
Posted 3:19 PM by whatley 0 comments

Happy Solstice everybody!
Posted 8:36 AM by whatley 0 comments

Traffic controllers' strike hits Europe

PARIS (AP) — An air traffic controllers' strike over a plan to unify Europe's disjointed skies crippled airline service Wednesday.

Thousands of passengers were stranded after major carriers canceled 7,700 flights over and into France.

The one-day strike was against the European Union's "single sky" plan, which is aimed at reducing congestion and delays by bringing all air traffic controllers under centralized supervision. Europe's poorly organized airspace is a patchwork of air traffic control zones managed by dozens of control centers using different monitoring systems.

The European Commission, the EU's executive branch, estimates that the system costs 5 billion euro ($4.7 billion) annually in extra fuel, airline staffing costs and lost passenger time.

Unions say that centralized control would result in job losses and that pressure to reduce costs could result in a privatization of their services, which would increase safety risks.

Air traffic controllers observed less crippling work stoppages in Greece, Portugal, Italy and Hungary, according to France's Civil Aviation Authority. Air France said that passengers could count on no more than 10% of its domestic and European flights but that 90% of its long-haul flights were flying as scheduled. Air traffic was not 100% paralyzed because a small number of controllers remained on the job.

"I've got to wait 32 hours to get back to Birmingham," said John Carroll, who was traveling to the central England city when he got stranded at Charles de Gaulle Airport outside Paris. "I just came back from Japan at 4 o'clock this morning."

British Airways said it had canceled all but four of its 126 flights in and out of France, and about 15,000 passengers were affected. It also canceled 38 flights to Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Germany's Lufthansa canceled 130 flights between Germany and France. Ten flights between France and Frankfurt were running with larger aircraft to accommodate more passengers.

In Italy, air traffic controllers held a strike for one hour. Alitalia airline canceled 50 flights and rescheduled 100 flights, which affected about 8,000 passengers.

In Spain, officials reported delays or cancellations in Barcelona, Málaga and Palma de Mallorca.

Posted 11:03 PM by Andy Allan 0 comments

File these two links under evolution in action, as in they're getting smarter and we're getting dumber.
Posted 11:04 AM by whatley 0 comments

Test your science IQ. Sample questions from the national assessment test.
Posted 7:53 AM by whatley 0 comments

Some of you may already be aware that as of April 1st home-grill type propane tanks must have an Overfill Protection Device (OPD). This isn't something that can be retro-fitted to your existing tank. Heavens no, that would be too easy. You have to buy a new tank. I was blissfully unaware of this development until I tried to get my tank filled last weekend and was refused. "Oh really" says I, "no problem. I'm only too happy to spend $30 or $40 for a new tank then give you another $12.50 to fill 'er up." Actually that's not at all what I said but we won't get into that. So with murder in my eyes off I go to Super Kmart, which happened to be the closest discount place that I knew would have one. I'd never been there before so I had to futz around until I found the propane area (garden dept.) and while futzing happened to notice something. This place takes trade-ins. You know, bring your empty tank and instead of filling it they just trade you a full one. The full tanks they were giving out (a drum roll please) were, you betcha, OPD certified tanks. Hmmm....... So thats what I did, traded my now unfillable one for one of their OPD ones. They either never noticed or just didn't care. It only cost a few dollars more than if I had filled up at my usual place. Nice.
Posted 9:44 AM by whatley 0 comments

Bush says air traffic control "not inherently governmental"
May be setting the stage for user fees
June 7 — In a surprise move yesterday, President George Bush took the first steps toward privatizing air traffic control services. The President said ATC is not "an inherently governmental function." He modified the executive order creating an air traffic control "performance based organization," removing the language that would have kept ATC within the government. A privatized ATC would undoubtedly be financed by user fees.

"We're absolutely flabbergasted that the administration thinks that aviation security and safety aren't a government function," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "We must never forget that the primary function of air traffic control is public safety. And ATC's role in security was never more evident than on September 11.

"The administration's position is particularly incomprehensible at a time when the government is taking airport security functions away from private industry and consolidating homeland security into a huge new department."

Boyer pointed out that Congress has historically opposed ATC privatization schemes like those in Canada and Great Britain. Both of those systems have encountered financial difficulties when downturns in air traffic meant not enough money was being generated to run the air traffic control systems.

AOPA, using its strong Washington-based legislative affairs staff and its Political Action Committee, will continue to work with Congress to keep ATC a government function.

This is exactly what the battle was over in 1981. The government refused to let its grip loosen over control of air traffic management and fired the controllers as an "object lesson". The Union management (strongly differentiated from the controllers themselves) risked it all on being able to take over hiring and firing and staffing of air traffic control facilities. Everybody lost. Now the government is moving toward off-loading the high cost of air traffic control onto the private sector. Like a toll turnpike, the air will not be free. Anyone who ventures aloft will probably have to pay the toll to go the miles. Stop at the updraft and pay the collector before you exit the airway.
Posted 11:17 PM by Andy Allan 0 comments

If you can't think of anything to say, drop back five and pun. Here is The site where you get your muds wordled.
Posted 9:11 AM by Andy Allan 0 comments

This looks like fun! Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site.
Posted 12:42 PM by whatley 0 comments

Every once in a while we get an interesting project to work on here at ol' SE Blue. For several months now we've been issuing bid packages for the phased construction of a new minor league ballpark in Eastlake for use by an Indians farm club. It can be fun to see something like that develop. This morning I'm printing specifications, in color, for how all the signage in the park, tickets etc. will look. Cool. They're using a color scheme of Heritage Red, Bold Blue, Bright White and Millington Gold. I wish I could post some samples for you but this is still proprietary stuff. One odd thing I noticed, at least for Ohio, is that there will be a unisex bathroom or two.
Posted 10:20 AM by whatley 0 comments

For all you budding gadgeteers out there, here is a site that gives you the tech basics for developing your own alternative power source. Rotating inertial energy can be stored in flywheels to act as backup power, to generate electricity in times of darkest need, and to give your truck or bus that "kick" it has always needed to get up and go away from a traffic light or stop sign. I popped the math review portion of the site, but if you wander barefoot through the links, there are many diagrams, models, pictures and concepts for all kinds of energy storage systems, devices and transportation. Now put on your Mickey Gauss ears and pick up your pencils.
Posted 1:48 PM by Andy Allan 0 comments

Fake persuaders. Have they no shame? The Bivings Group specialises in internet lobbying.
Posted 11:16 AM by whatley 0 comments

Here you go folks. This one will probably make Andy's brain explode, so please keep a safe distance. This is basically The Vaseline Powered Car Meets Crisco Twister. Enjoy
Posted 11:56 AM by A. O. Gutierrez 0 comments

A vampire bat came flapping in from the night covered in fresh blood and parked himself on the roof of the cave to get some sleep.
Pretty soon all the other bats smelled the blood and began hassling him about where he got it.
He told them to knock it off and let him get some sleep but they persisted until finally he gave in.
"OK, follow me," he said and flew out of the cave with hundreds of bats behind him.
Down through a valley they went, across a river and into a forest full of trees.
Finally, he slowed down and all the other bats excitedly milled around him.
"Now, do you see that tree over there?" he asked.
"Yes, yes, yes!" the bats all screamed in a frenzy.
"Good," said the first bat, "Because I DIDN'T!"
Posted 10:37 AM by Andy Allan 0 comments

Want to make your new car and truck tires last a long, long time? Inflate them with dry nitrogen gas. Available at fine welding supply stores everywhere.
Posted 10:26 AM by Andy Allan 0 comments

AOG has reopened the idea of developing alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) transportation while you are driving, at home, to work. Having worked directly in the alternative fuel infrastructure side of the business, I take a divergent tack - that the practical and useful application of AFV technology will not easily be accomplished, partly because of the (huge) establishment of hydrocarbon transportation, but mostly because the current level of available technology (both on the engine and on the fuel supply sides) does not as yet permit useful application. As far as hydrogen goes, on-board fuel production does not provide enough volume to permit operation. Stationary appliances are available to provide hydrogen refueling, which involves (as it does with natural gas powered cars) a compressor and apparatus to recharge the on-board pressure fuel tanks. Without the density of high-pressure storage (3600psi to 5000 psi is reasonable) there cannot be enough gaseous fuel on board to move the vehicle more than a short distance. As it is, the experimental vehicles cannot come close to the 200 to 400 mile range that gasoline vehicles regularly realize.

Check the Stuart Energy site for a look at a PFA (Personal Fuel Appliance) that is being developed based on existing water electrolosis industrial equipment. Like the FuelMaker Corporation, which has supplied methane (natural gas) home fueling appliances for some time (and is working on stationary hydrogen appliances), an affordable home fuel appliance slow-charges the pressure tanks in a vehicle over 8 to 14 hours. That avoids the expense of a large cascade of storage tanks and high-capacity equipment. Natural gas rapid-refueling drive-up pumps will recharge a compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicle in a few minutes, but are backed up by $400,000 to $500,000 worth of tanks, compressors, driers, plumbing and control equipment. Home slow-fill appliances for methane are available for $5,000 now, and are heading toward the $1500 range over time.

The jury is still out. Alternative (and still fossil) hydrocarbon, electric hybrid, and then hydrogen has been the order of appearance so far. The Honda Insight (and Civic for this year), and the Toyota Prius are purchaseable hybrids. The Ford Escape hybrid is scheduled for introduction next year (Henry willing and the creek don't rise). Corbin Motors in California is produing the all-electric Sparrow, and has an extensive online book that gives the entire history of its development. Their Harley-Davidson powered Merlin Roadster is in production now, and will be follwed by a Merlin Coupe in 2003. Both the Sparrow and the Merlin are three-wheeled vehicles that are registered as motorcycles, and can use commuter lanes in most areas.

So there are alternatives now, but at a fairly high cost. It is still more attractive (from a pocketbook sense) to buy a $1500 1988 Chevy and subscribe to J.C. Whitney and drive around on $1.50 gasoline than to buy a $22K Insight or Prius and replace a $5K battery pack every few years. Until the total costs are internalized, the balance will not tip in AFV's favor.

One last tech tip - Continuously Variable Transmissions (CVT). These guys have two pulleys and a belt connecting them. The front and rear pulleys can get wide and narrow, either spreading the two halves apart or squeezing them together. To keep the belt connected correctly, they work opposite each other. If the front pulley halves move apart, then the rear pulley halves squeeze together. The belt moves toward the center of the pulley in the front, and moves toward the outside of the pulley in the rear. This lets the front pulley turn many times, while the rear pulley turns few times. That is exactly like putting a car in low gear to get going or climb a steep hill. The pulleys move the other way when it is time to go faster and put the car into higher gear for highway cruising.

The CVT will let a car engine run at a fairly steady speed, doing most of the work to change the power to the wheels continuously as the car slows down and speeds up and climbs hills. If you look at the InsightCentral site that compares the Prius vs Insight, you can see one advantage of the CVT. The Honda Insight can be had with either a 5-Speed manual or a CVT. The CVT has a lower mileage, but is registered in the lower-emisions category (SULEV) versus the 5-Speed transmission (ULEV). That is because the engine can be tuned for most clean operation when operating at a steady speed, rather than changing as gears and road conditions change. One of my motorcycles, the Honda Helix has had a CVT since the model was introduced in the 1980's. Naturally, Honda was using the experience to develop the stronger CVTs needed for heavier cars like the Insight. It is a trip to drive. Just twist the throttle and it goes. Look for it, coming soom, on an automobile near you.
Posted 12:40 PM by Andy Allan 0 comments