tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134664852024-02-03T05:25:13.032-07:00Absolutes Are EvilThis is my blog for philosophical, religious, political, personal and other such non-technical rants.Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-55590246296377717492009-08-28T22:38:00.004-06:002009-08-28T23:03:00.798-06:00Injecting True Goo into a presta valveBackground: True Goo is a liquid you put in tires to prevent (not usually repair) flats. If a hole is punctured, the True Goo fills it in quickly so most of the time you never even know about the hole. I was in desperate mode this evening fixing a big blow-out before tomorrow's mountain biking and the only open store doesn't have the Presta valve tubes with the True Goo already in them.<br /><br />I read several posts mentioning that unless you have one of the rare Presta valves where the valve core can be removed, injecting True Goo is a messy, arduous process. Having been warned, I tried to figure out a better way.<br /><br />The first problem is that the little rubber tube provided with the True Goo is the size of a Schrader valve opening; the Presta stem is considerably smaller, so just putting the tube over the stem and squeezing is probably what led to the stories of mess and sorrow. To overcome this, I took a small rubber band and wrapped it around the Presta stem several times, forming a nice rubber gasket. With this in place, the rubber hose from the True Goo bottle fit snugly and I could tell that leaking wouldn't be a significant problem. <br /><br />The next problem, however, is the dynamics of the Presta valve in the presence of liquid. The strange thing about the Presta valve is that when in the unscrewed state the little nut will prevent flow when either pushed in (due to the nut blocking the entrance) or when out very far (due to the valve inside). This results in there being a sweet spot, somewhere in the middle, where a small amount of liquid might be able to penetrate. Getting the valve apparatus to stay in the sweet spot is the challenge. I didn't really come up with something great for this, frankly because I was impatient, and I did have a system that was working, though inconsistently and slowly. The system was to squeeze in some liquid until it didn't feel like any was flowing. I then would tip the bottle down and squeeze in some air. This would jog the stem until I had it in a better position. I then repeated. It took about 10 minutes perhaps to put the prescribed 4oz of fluid in. If I were to try to solve the valve problem more elegantly, I think I would try a thin wire and wrap it around the base of the nut and around the stem to try to regulate the space. The wire from a twisty (extracted from the plastic housing) might just do it.<br /><br />Anyway, I'm happy to announce that I didn't spill a single drop. The Goo only got on the valve stem and that's it. Hope this helps someone.Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-72615393599669881062009-06-03T19:47:00.003-06:002009-06-03T20:02:30.575-06:00Obamanomics: The Hidden Agenda<p>This is an excellent lecture on the consequences of Obama's financial policies. If you have a business, you will especially want to pay attention:</p><p>Part I</p><p><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QIw11Jdol-4&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QIw11Jdol-4&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /></p><p>Part II</p><p><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mi7CsxuOlGQ&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mi7CsxuOlGQ&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p><p>Part III</p><p><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dGAPkL5rk-w&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dGAPkL5rk-w&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p>Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-9559215259525920112009-05-30T22:10:00.002-06:002009-05-30T22:19:12.639-06:00Still fighting the same battles...Step with me back to the Great Depression, 1937. A popular radio voice, Charles Coughlin speaks words that seem just as relevant today:<br /><blockquote>What of democracy as well as what of capitalism?<br />Oh, capitalism shall<br />never again flourish as once it did. Capitalism has been almost taxed out of<br />existence in an effort to meet the coupons and the bonds, in an effort to meet<br />the dole system that is absolutely unnecessary in a country of our<br />wealth....<br />Somebody must be blamed, of course. But those in power always<br />forget to blame themselves. They always forget to read the Constitution of the<br />United States of America that says, “Congress has the power to issue and<br />regulate the value of money.” And blinding their eyes to that as they protect<br />the private issuance of money and the private fixation of money, we are going<br />merrily on our way.<br />Perhaps, perhaps another ambassador from another foreign<br />capital shall come upon the scene. Perhaps, despite the advice of Washington of<br />no foreign entanglements, despite the passage of the Jansen Act, which forbids<br />us to lend money to those who already have borrowed it and who have not returned<br />their loans, perhaps despite those things, some way, some miraculous way shall<br />be found to project America into the next maelstrom. And democracy once more,<br />thinking that it has power within its soul, shall rise up to clap and applaud,<br />because the youth of the land is going abroad to make the world safe for what?<br />Safe for dictatorship? Safe against communism abroad when we have communism at<br />home? Safe from socialism in France when we have socialism in America? Or safe,<br />safe for the international bankers?<br />I ask you to think seriously of your<br />decisions last November. You have asked for the New Deal that is an ancient deal<br />in all its finance. You have what you asked for. I ask you to abide by your<br />decision. You have been warned a thousand times. Those who warned you should now<br />bow their heads. Even though truth be on their side, you have paid the price,<br />democratic America. And now it is your turn to bear the burden in silence like<br />men keeping America safe for democracy.<br />Good evening. God bless you.<br /></blockquote>Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-33083787723396049122009-05-01T23:37:00.002-06:002009-05-02T01:45:19.301-06:00What the bleep do we know!?I finally got around to watching the movie What the Bleep Do We Know. The movie combines an interview style documentary with a rich, highly visual drama. The movie was interesting, well made, and even funny and entertaining at parts. The authors of course arrange everything to present their world-view, which was certainly provocative in part. For the most part, however, the ideas resonated well with my beliefs including the ideas:<br /><ul><li>Science has it's limits and we must find meaning at a higher level</li><li>We are here, in our present state, in a form of Godly infancy progressing towards a higher form of Godliness.</li><li>We must learn to overcome our body, it's addictions and cravings.</li><li>We must overcome guilt and find a place where we don't desire to do destructive things to begin with.</li><li>We are all connected in subtle, yet powerful ways.</li></ul><p>Some things that I was fascinated by included:</p><ul><li>The discussion of how we can have a tangible affect on reality through our thoughts/faith. Don't expect this to be scientifically proven anytime soon though.</li><li>The observation that we can perceive back in time but not forward, or simply that things somehow move one direction in time. </li></ul><p>It's a stretch that the conclusions they drew were necessarily derivable from quantum mechanics as the film's interviewees imply. Instead, what conclusions they might have gotten right are probably laws that naturally surface through the search for truth as we hit the borders of what science understands. Because of these borders, science is and always will be ultimately based on belief at some level. In other words, the foundation of science, as much as we may delude ourselves to believe is based on absolutes and facts, is in fact founded on philosophy and faith. Consider, for instance, the idea we all take for granted that a mathematical formula can somehow reflect reality. When not taken for granted, this fundamental idea becomes enigmatic. Why is it that using numbers, we can make such accurate models of reality? Is there something about nature itself that is somehow a numerical manifestation? </p><p>The point is that science, as useful a tool as it is, isn't the best place to find an answer to the question that we most care about: what is the <em>meaning</em> of our existence? Science cannot assign meaning to things, it can only describe and model things. The illusion of meaning coming from science is only the humanity of the scientists themselves showing through. Science in it's purest form is cold and meaningless. We humans infuse science with meaning; think watching "I Love Lucy" on a heartless machine made of metal, glass, and plastic. Humans thrive on purpose and meaning, not because it serves some evolutionary cause, but because we are at a higher level of consciousness than mere evolutionary machines. It is meaning that makes us so alive and gives us our spark of Godliness.</p><p>This movie reminded me somewhat of David Hawkins' levels of consciousness.</p>Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-19245397445210118512008-01-06T22:17:00.000-07:002008-01-06T23:28:51.005-07:00Fractional Reserve Banking - clever economic tool, or diluted racket?Fractional reserve banking is often understood as the bank being able to loan out more than it has on reserves. The belief is that the bank receives money from deposits and lends that money out, therefore they don’t have all of the money deposited. What many people, even those quite familiar with economic matters don’t seem to realize is that it is not just the money that is on deposit with banks that is being lent; it is 10 times that amount or more. In essence, banks are able to lend money into existence. Banks literally create most of the money they lend, which is how money enters our economy. The converse is also true though; the money that is paid back on loans disappears, though the bank keeps the interest. If you were a bank that had $25,000 you could lend someone the $250,000 they needed to purchase a house. At the end of the loan period you’ve earned perhaps $200,000 in interest on an initial outlay of $25,000. Actually due to amortization you’ve earned most of that in the first part of the loan duration.<br /><br />This creation and destruction of money is why the “fed interest rate” is tied to inflation, because money is created through lending. The theory is that increasing the rate decreases the consumer’s desire to borrow, therefore decreasing the money supply (less money is created, more is destroyed as it is paid back). As you probably know, the inflation, deflation vacillation is often called the business cycle. Each time money is inflated the economy experiences short-term growth followed by increased prices. When money deflates, a recession results but prices increase. One might wonder, if the fed can control the rate, than why not keep things balanced and avoid the reactionary cycle? Keep in mind, however, that ultimately the inflation or deflation is decided by the loan consumers, which are speculative in nature. Also, allegedly, the banks have little interest in balance as they may profit each time the economy traverses the cycle, and don't forget the political factors.<br /><br />Another interesting facet of the system is where the “reserves” that banks must keep come from. Basically these are lent into existence. Until the 1970s, the reserves were gold. In current times, however, the reserves come mostly from credit. Some are from deposited money which you may note originate from other people’s loans. Some come from government bonds, which is where most of the national debt originated. Some comes from the Federal Reserve bank itself, which it loans into existence. Note that for a bank that holds stock in the Federal Reserve, borrowing money from the Fed may work out to something of a wash, especially when they can loan out 10 times what they borrow.<br /><br />So, presently, a great deal of our money is manufactured by banks based on our national debt. Opponents of this system argue that ultimately it comes down to regulating supply and demand, and that the current system does a poor job due to multiple variables and private interests. Another argument against the system is that if the government can create money through debt, they could instead create it directly and not owe anyone. Arguments over these matters have raged for centuries, and the issue is probably much less settled than most people realize. The U.S. has gone back and forth between a private banking system and a federally controlled money system 3 times since its inception—a constant power struggle between private bankers and those that oppose them.<br /><br />I’m sure you’ve heard the news and perhaps felt the effects of the rather large inflation the dollar is currently experiencing. The longer this cycle of inflation lasts, the worse it will be for the economy when it comes time to slow the inflation, so why does the fed interest rate remain low? I don’t know the answers, but based on what I am learning from the history of economics I am increasingly losing faith in the ability of a bunch of private bankers to look after our collective best interests.Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-91832352871692785662007-06-12T20:16:00.001-06:002007-06-12T20:16:01.304-06:00Does anybody find this disturbing?<p></p> <p>Check out <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/designer-bug-holds-key-to-endless-fuel/2007/06/09/1181089398547.html" target="_blank">this</a> article on designer bacteria. <p>"The organisms can be designed to die as soon as they leave laboratory conditions." <p>Have we learned nothing about life?! It does not behave like machines! <p>"For the first time, God has competition." <p>What they are doing just an extreme version of "tweaking" life. If somebody could create life from non-life, then perhaps they could make such currently ridiculous claims. Until then, they are just the dog breeders of bacteria. <p>I hope they are exercising more caution then their pompous tone suggests... they are treading on dangerous territory. </p>Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-1147932449267061372006-05-18T00:06:00.000-06:002006-05-18T00:07:29.283-06:00Started a wiki Grand Unified Theory listI've started a list of GUTs on the wiki my brother runs. There is a daunting amount of work to be done there.Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-1147151883094930702006-05-08T21:50:00.000-06:002006-05-09T11:24:43.016-06:00Unified, Unified TheoryTheory of Everything (TOE), Unified Field Theory (UFT), whatever you want to call them, I am something of a connoisseur. A frustrating hobby at times considering I have only a basic understanding of physics... especially the math part. Nonetheless, I am endlessly fascinated by the topic because I do understand enough science to find the current conventional explanation of physical reality more than a little ridiculous.<br /><br />Fans of logic would agree that the dozens of TOE candidates must either be wrong or at least wrong on contradictory points. They simply cannot all be right, yet the proponents of these ideas are doggedly passionate about the correctness of their theory. Reading various theories, I have found many interesting and often compelling arguments made. What I can't help but sense, however, is that these theories are equivalent to the blind men, each describing a different part of the elephant (<a href="http://www.wordfocus.com/word-act-blindmen.html">http://www.wordfocus.com/word-act-blindmen.html</a>).<br /><br />So at last my point: a research group should be formed to combine, cross reference, distill, disprove, and otherwise attempt to determine the true explanation of reality. Such a group should include various open minds, not just conventional physicists. I picture an eclectic group consisting of minds of varying specialties: abstract thinkers, engineers, logicians, and of course at least one brilliant and well trained physicist. The group would need to exercise extraordinary discipline in order to avoid becoming bias towards one idea or other. It is entirely possible, and is often the case, that a theory will seem so nearly correct only to fail a critical test. The group must also be open to the possibility that none of theories may prove viable, though I would imagine that at least one or two solid concepts will result. Another hurtle will be overlooking the poor presentation, or the repulsive traits of the presenters. Each idea should be given a reasonable chance, and an earnest attempt should be made to normalize the nomenclature and distill the essence of each. Lastly, each idea should have it's lineage traced to conventional physics, with careful consideration of any departures.<br /><br />So... I do not have the time or energy to orchestrate such a thing, but what I might be able to do is to start a list of TOEs and let others contribute and possibly go from there. A wiki seems an ideal home... I'll try to find a good candidate.<br /><br />Just a side note, here is a pretty good summary of the sentiment of mainstream science on the topic (from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_Everything">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_Everything</a>): "Unlike professional physicists, who are generally aware that their proposed theory is incomplete, untested, and likely to be wrong and who are aware of the huge difficulties and challenges involved in creating a TOE, amateurs who create TOE's tend to be unaware of what work has already been done, the <a title="Scientific method" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_method">mechanisms</a> for testing scientific theories and the fact that most proposed theories are wrong." Though I partly agree, I also tend to think that most ideas come from left field, if you know what I mean.Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-1144626830221602252006-04-09T15:24:00.000-06:002006-04-09T17:55:47.770-06:00Do we really want what we really want?While riding in the car with me the other day, my son blurted out "Dad, I just want everything to be... the way I want it." Though the rambling of an almost 6 year old who certainly doesn't use his input/output senses in the ratio they were provided to us, I found his comment pretty profound. I wonder how many of us go through life assuming that getting what we want... is what we really want.<br /><br />Taking this to its logical extreme, imagine your future void of any obstacles, challenges, and setbacks. Picture all of your present challenges being instantly gone. Now envision your past without all of those aches, sorrows, and hard times. Ever watch a movie with no conflict?<br /><br />So the paradox is that we wish our problems gone, yet subconsciously somehow "like" them. Depending on your world view, this is puzzling or makes perfect sense. Those that believe that our lives have no meaning beyond being pro-creative animals will surely find it difficult to find meaning for the inner desire for opposition. If your belief is that our experience here is intentional, something like that of a school, where we are learning to overcome our weaknesses and gain knowledge (through observing our experiences and those of others), this paradox is not strange at all; it is part of the definition of our existence.<br /><br />In reaction to my son's comment, my knee jerk reaction was effectively "no you don't wish everything is how you want it... you would be bored and life would be meaningless." It isn't hard for me to imagine up a strange world, governed by the strange and fickle desires of a 6 year old. Where vegetables don't exist and the stable food, candy, was good for you. Where everything changed dramatically from happy and pristine to dark and obtuse depending on how much sleep the master of this twisted universe had received. I am sure neither you nor I want to live in a universe dedicated to the pleasure seeking of a 6 year old... especially when that 6 year old realizes how miserable he is having everything he wants.<br /><br />Of course the same applies to adults. Who are the most miserable of our society? Not those that have little, but those that have too much! Not necessarily "too much money", but "too much of what we want". But while we are on the topic of money, why is it that almost everyone has a deep conscious and sub-conscious desire for wealth. Well... wealth gets us most of what we think we want. But again, would we be happy if we got it? Take a look at the world's wealthiest people. To me it seems pretty clear that we would not be happy. Then why do we want it?<br /><br />Could it be that we don't want success as a state, but as a goal? We seek the experience of attaining it. I remember countless times as a child working on some elaborate ship, base, or other product of imagination. Rarely when these products were finished did I spend much time actually playing with them; it was the challenge of designing and building them that I enjoyed the most.<br /><br />I've heard comments about wealthy people like "they have enough, why are they trying to make more?" With the principle in mind that people subconsciously crave a challenge, it seems pretty obvious that someone who is wealthy, unless that person fundamentally changes their value system, will be utterly miserable unless they try to make more. But this loops back to the point that the stretching and growth that we seek does not have to take the form of increased money making. In fact, judging from the lives of those who have ventured far down this path, the pursuit of wealth (and power) seems a rather unsatisfactory road and a totally miserable destination.<br /><br />Though I may not have learned anything fundamentally new in this exploration, I was served a reminder of a few things: First, I should realize that what I seek is a satisfying and productive journey, not some nebulous destination. Secondly, I should aim for targets that bring deep satisfaction in pursuit. Thirdly, I should look at my difficulties as being a tool for self-betterment and exploit them. The reaction I gave to my son was probably about right, and I think we both understood it.Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-1142663179789867962006-03-17T23:26:00.000-07:002006-03-17T23:26:19.836-07:00Slack to the topThere are pleanty of lazy, unmotivated people in the work force to be encouraging this too much. I mostly just agree with the multi-tasking sentiment. Many days I feel I spend most of my time task switching.Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-1118245433562830092005-06-08T09:43:00.000-06:002005-06-08T10:11:16.730-06:00Jedi Philosophy<p class="mobile-post">I was discussing Star Wars episode III with my neighbor last night. It is a great movie by the way, and this time not only because... well it is Star Wars. He also loved the movie but was disappointed that there wasn't more cheesy dialogue and bad acting. In a way it did not live up to the Star Wars legacy.</p><p class="mobile-post">Episode III did have a few gems of dialogue however. I particularly was amused by "only the Sith deal in absolutes". This line was the inspiration for the title of this blog. I find it amusing that the line is so obviously self-contradicting; this statement itself is an absolute statement. What I find less amusing is the sentiment portrayed by this statement. The implication is that the Jedi are moral relativists, existing in a space where good and bad don't really exist, while the Sith are intolerant polarizing zealots. This is an untenable perspective on many levels and for many reasons. Primarily, if absolutes are removed from the belief system, how can an argument against those that believe in absolutes even be framed? The best we can possible do is, "absolutists are... what they just are, because they can't possible be evil because evil doesn't exist." So, it turns out that the Sith are not evil and the dark side isn't really so dark but rather a different (not to be construed as inferior) shade of gray. Saying otherwise would be absolutism and would be... not really bad because there isn't such a thing; perhaps a violation of leftist code, which is somehow bad even though there isn't such a thing.</p><p class="mobile-post">Nobody on earth really believes in the virtue of non-absolutes. The very act of such a person coming forth with such a belief would contradict the belief. Moral relativity arises, rather, as a negative reaction to those who seem overly willing to assert their specific beliefs on others. Nobody is an island, and so to some degree we all do this, but the specific leftist reaction I refer to is a broad reaction to various perceived injustices. For example, the unkind treatment of blacks and other groups of people by those who espouse strong beliefs has left many with a bad taste for strong beliefs.</p><p class="mobile-post">Is having beliefs really to blame, or rather is it having the wrong beliefs? I think most of the time it is neither; rather it is simply weak character. Regardless of religion, most of us intuitively know good from evil (at least on really important matters), but to various degrees sometimes do things we know we shouldn't. From there, our ability to self-justify is astounding, often to the point of inventing and portraying obscure belief systems to match our actual actions. It is either this, or admit to ourselves and others that we are in the wrong and take the painful steps necessary to change. In this manner many have justified horrible actions while pointing to their invented beliefs saying, "I am not bad, I am acting in accordance with this, my belief system." For those outside of the lie, this is utterly repulsive (and for good reason). Unfortunately, however, this repulsion combined with discomfort with our own weaknesses, leads many of us to the belief that beliefs (absolutes) are... well... bad. Such a stance is not harmless though. If we do not acknowledge evil as evil, we cannot esteem or condemn anything! Any act is justified because there are no absolutes. In short, if we do not seek to find true virtue and vice, how can we possibly build a better or even sustainable society?!</p><p class="mobile-post">At heart, the average liberal and conservative are the same. They wish to be happy and for others to be happy. Both recognize that such happiness is the fruit of love and kindness. As I mention, however, the left's attempt to remove right and wrong in reaction to those who self-justify in the name of righteousness, will only pull society down. On the other hand, those who hold public their absolute beliefs (usually conservatives) have an obligation to honest and humble devotion to truth, not justification. </p><p class="mobile-post">Returning to Star Wars, everybody knows that the Jedi are good and the Sith are bad. This is not because the Sith have absolute beliefs and the Jedi do not, but because the Jedi beliefs are good and the Sith's are bad. All but the most numb who watch episode III will feel a sense of loss as Anakin steps away from happiness. It is natural to want good to win, unless we are uncomfortable with our own actions and wish to justify them.</p>Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-1118084515131148062005-06-06T13:01:00.000-06:002005-06-06T13:01:55.136-06:00WelcomeMy old blogging software was deleting my entires. Needless to say this can be quite disconcerting, so I was compelled to find a new blog host. I finally got around to actually doing this and so here we are. I am splitting my old categorized blog into two uncategorized ones: Ten Ways to Sunday - for technical/scientific stuff (tenwaystosunday.blogspot.com); Absolutes Are Evil - for everything else (absolutesareevil.blogspot.com). Enjoy!Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-1141234834156597262004-11-06T10:38:00.000-07:002006-03-01T11:31:36.473-07:00I drive a tinker toyFrom Old Blog: I should create a category just for off the wall ideas. This one certainly would fall under the category. It occurred to me... why don't we have large scale tinker toys / erector sets / construx / legos / your modular toy here? Basically a small number of primitive components that can be put together in progressively more complex ways. It seems that these basic parts could be manufactured cheaply in scale. Theses components could even be provided in differing scales (proportional scales of course) both for modeling purposes but also for handling varying scale problems.<br />Construx come to mind as one of best examples (A neighbor friend had them and I used to play with them a lot as a kid). There were connector pieces (mostly identical except for variations for swiveling etc), extents (these were lightweight and strong through a "U" geometry), and pads (these two dimensionally filled the possible planes created between the connector pieces. Imagine the tools, vehicles, houses, buildings, etc. we could build with such components on a larger scale!<br />What got me thinking about this was that I was thinking about how cars might be make more dependable. One of the major challenges with cars is the complexity of all of the varying little custom parts and angles and such. I was thinking, "why can't their be one universal fastener type and have everything be some scaled version of that". Of course this universal fastener would not come loose on its own, but would be easy to remove when desired (perhaps a lock pin or something like the little lock bearings on some socket wrenches).<br />My co-worker Bryn made a comment to the effect of "scale? Who would want these besides people like... you?!" He may have a point, but surely there are a few oddballs like me out there.Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-1141234983874750922004-11-04T10:42:00.000-07:002006-03-01T11:30:36.600-07:00Missing the pointIt has been "interesting" listening to the post-election commentary. CBS and CNN asked the question "what can we learn from this election" [sic]. Listening to NPR, there was seemingly endless discussion attempting to understand and define "values", as though it was some political trick. Much of the discussion was of the nature of stating that the Republicans did a "better job" of campaigning. Another commentator said "in America, there is another word for faith, it conviction."To me it is clear that many have lost their comprehension of very basic concepts; concepts that most children seem to understand. This contest was not just a matter of who worked the hardest and did the best job campaigning, this was also a judgement call by the people.Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-1141234923208829062004-11-04T10:41:00.000-07:002006-03-01T11:31:02.740-07:00Go fair tax!I've been following the "Fair Tax" and have even contributed to the lobbyists. The fact that we spend Trillions of dollars just to collect taxes in this country should really be a wake up call. There must be a better way!Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-1141235332674089252004-10-21T10:48:00.000-06:002006-03-01T11:28:45.343-07:00Dangerous TimesLast night I spoke to a friend, Paul Schwen, who was a soldier in Iraq. He speaks Arabic and did a lot of reading of Iraqi government documents. One of his missions was to find evidence of WOMDs as well as to destroy items that might be used for creating "dirty bombs" such as radioactive materials. He said that the press didn't adequately cover a lot of stuff he saw, like the mass graves. He also indicated that it was quite clear that Saddam was attempting to build/acquire WOMDs and was only a few months away from regaining chemical/bio weapons (which he used as soon as he had them the first time). He also said something about Saddam having plans to take over the entire middle east. I saw a very good documentary on Saddam they other day... everyone should see this if they have any doubts that it was a good thing that we did what we did when we did it!<br />Paul expressed concern that the next terrorist attack might come in the form of a "dirty bomb" (regular or nuke bomb augmented by quantities of radioactive or chemical agents) in one of our major cities. Surely this underscores the importance of keeping the terror war on their turf, not ours! Every day Iranian citizens gather and chant "death to America, death to Isreal". In general these people intend on killing us and merely await the opportunity. We cannot ignore this or call it a nuisance!<br />To worsen things, we have many here in our own country that are trying to destroy us through more subtle means. Michael Moore is a prime example of such. He is so blatantly anti-American that in many other countries (and ours a few years ago) he would be tried for treason. We have our share of Corihors, where is our Captain Moroni!?Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-1141235433173475722004-10-14T10:50:00.000-06:002006-03-01T11:32:03.833-07:00Our under-regulated northern neighborThe FISCA conference I was at in PR over the weekend was a success. We received feedback from our Cashwise customers, and met quite a few prospective customers. In a conversation with a gentleman who owns a chain of stores in Canada, he mentioned that he hasn't opened any stores in the U.S. because it is "too heavily regulated." Sadly, at least in terms of business who give loans, this is true. We have dealt with clients in each state over the last few years and I am appalled at the amount of ridiculous regulation there is. I don't necessarily advocate a return to common law, but could we please try some more common sense!Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-1141235376523818682004-10-14T10:49:00.000-06:002006-03-01T11:28:03.626-07:00Little booys!I was playing games with my 4 year old son, Jason, tonight when he had the idea that we should play "hide and ghost-eek".Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-1141235475174895282004-10-10T10:50:00.000-06:002006-03-01T11:25:47.966-07:00Magic of the CaribbeanIn Puerto Rico here. Wow! Now why was it that I needed to go back to Utah again? Oh yeah, family, home, job... all that. Just wondering. Seriously this place is really amazing. Gotta sleep.Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-1141237419564254402004-10-07T11:23:00.000-06:002006-03-01T11:23:39.566-07:00Extremely extreme extremeismI've always assumed that the reason people are generally squeamish towards others who take extreme stances on things is because it forces them to confront their own incongruence of behavior with belief. For example, there are parents that do not let their children have any involvement in the celebration of Halloween, citing the explicit paganistic evils portrayed. It occurs to me, however, that there is possibly another dimension to be considered. During our lifetime, we are faced with a number of challenges. Our overall lifetime success or failure is based on our ability to overcome or avoid the complete diversity of challenges that may come our way. Completely avoiding experiences or focusing too narrowly on certain facets of life may actually cause us to be less prepared for future challenges. Could that squeamishness possibly be an internal reaction to the perceived weakness of "narrowness"?Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-1141237216486239392004-10-07T11:19:00.000-06:002006-03-01T11:20:16.486-07:001 Terabyte Optical Storage Disks the Size of a DVDIn describing the usefulness of this technology they use the analogy, "all 350 scheduled episodes of The Simpsons..., could be easily stored on the new disk..."<br />[sigh]Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-1141237166444250442004-10-07T11:18:00.000-06:002006-03-01T11:19:26.463-07:00A hybrid car with solar... duh!Car manufacturers should add a few solar panels on the top of hybrid cards. Not just for when cars are running, but to take advantage of all the time that they spend sitting out in the sun. My Honda Civic Hybrid has relatively small battery capacity because it is optimized for accelleration/regenerative breaking, so perhaps a larger battery capacity would be required to utilize the extra charging.<br />This doesn't seem too expensive or technically infeasible. It could at least make up for the energy lost to air conditioning in sunny areas.<br />If and when we switch to Hydrogen cars, why not have our cars use solar electricity to electrolyze more H2 while they are sitting?! Wouldn't it be nice to return to our cars after work and see that they have filled themselves up!? Same goes for compressed air cars.Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-1141237327414855492004-10-04T11:21:00.000-06:002006-03-01T11:22:07.416-07:00Free energy radioMy brother Sterling is doing a weekly radio news bit on "Free Energy". Good job bro!Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-1141237278623405992004-10-04T11:20:00.000-06:002006-03-01T11:21:18.623-07:00They did it! (X-Prize)Private spacecraft puts the payload equivalent of three passengers into space twice within a week. You can read about the conditions of the X-Prize here: <a href="http://www.xprize.org/teams/rules_and_guidelines.php">http://www.xprize.org/teams/rules_and_guidelines.php</a><br />Cool stuff!Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13466485.post-1141237492352787422004-10-03T11:24:00.000-06:002006-03-01T11:24:52.353-07:00To dune in the moon...Sadly I think that no matter where we live, it is usually visitors who seem to take most advantage of the treasures that surrounding us. When we travel, we put on our exploratory hats and look for the wonders of the place, but how often do we do this at home? I was once recounting to my family all of the neat things that my wife Natalie and I saw and did in Tucson, AZ when my brother Sterling piped in that he had lived there for while and hadn't done any of those things.<br />Rant aside, I am ceaselessly amazed at the things there are to see and do here in Utah. Friday night we took the scouts for a quick overnighter to "Little Sahara", a surreal state park less than an hour and a half away from Provo. We got there right at dark, roasted stuff in the fire, fed a hungry fox, and headed off to play night games on the moonlit dunes. A blast, and it only took one night and $8 to get into the park. The park is a hotbed of ATV activity and unfortunately lots of accidents. A ranger said that over holiday weekends they have no fewer than 3 deaths, almost all of which are alcohol related. Goes to show... you booze, you lose. ;-)Nathan Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16536035662769805976noreply@blogger.com0