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| Actually is Orange County Convention Center |
Thursday, March 29, 2012
My Close Encounter
Lots of people snapped pictures of me recently, and those people should send copies of those pictures to me! Or at least send me a link in the comment section of this article. My brief appearance in this Cliff Broadway video is thinly approved.
fin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT9_OCtdmG8
Friday, March 23, 2012
Mayan Theater
March 22, 2012 cell phone pictures to prove that I was there. From the floor of the
Mayan Theater Jules DeMartino playing guitar, drums, and things.
Katy White playing the cow bell. My soul is on fire and the only thing that will put this fire out is: More cow bell!
fin http://instagr.am/p/IgfC0oCnyl/ http://instagr.am/p/IgfC0oCnyl/ http://www.dejadrew.com/post/19772677433/and-the-drums-the-drums-the-drums-the-drums
Mayan Theater Jules DeMartino playing guitar, drums, and things.
Katy White playing the cow bell. My soul is on fire and the only thing that will put this fire out is: More cow bell!
Sunday, March 18, 2012
My Wondercon wrapup
The show is held in a cavernous building that defies belief. It was actually possible to sit in the front row for a bunch of panels. Compare and contrast Musician panel: Polite audience, moderator remains at podium, everyone listens takes a turn; .VS. Writer panel: Moderator roams around using wireless microphone, everyone listens and talks, then the audience rushes the stage at the end. When it's over the audience is supposed to leave! Or at least sit there and wave. Rant.
Rather enjoyed the Steampunk 101 panel (picture above). The panelists wore costumes! And the audience was polite which means the audience didn't rush up to the stage at the end.
Souveniers and things. Better pictures available elsewhere such as
fin.http://collider.com/wondercon-cosplay-images/152836/
fin.http://collider.com/wondercon-cosplay-images/152836/
Friday, March 16, 2012
My Costume
Yes, Amy, this is a costume. I haven't worn one of these in ten years!
Shoes: Stacy Adams, Suit: Gianfranco Riffini, Shirt: Geoffrey Beene Tie: Jerry Garcia. Yes, that Jerry Garcia from the Grateful Dead. Good luck finding one of those ties for yourself.
Only two people recognized me all day and one of them was in the Holiday Inn Express glass elevator, you know who you are.
From the panel (ish) Quote, "TV execs want a show for boys only, not girls". What about Phineas and Ferb? Lotsa girls in that one.
Fin.
Shoes: Stacy Adams, Suit: Gianfranco Riffini, Shirt: Geoffrey Beene Tie: Jerry Garcia. Yes, that Jerry Garcia from the Grateful Dead. Good luck finding one of those ties for yourself.
Only two people recognized me all day and one of them was in the Holiday Inn Express glass elevator, you know who you are.
From the panel (ish) Quote, "TV execs want a show for boys only, not girls". What about Phineas and Ferb? Lotsa girls in that one.
Fin.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
My FURBOL
To begin, "FURBOL" is pronounced "Fur Ball" which is a cat joke. FURBOL is a computer language that my Windows 7 computer doesn't understand, and it comes from the Internet.
F.U.R.B.O.L.
Future
Unusable
Rotten
Business
Oriented
Language
This all started when I bought a Windows 7 computer and then got onto the internet using IE8. I found that I could see pictures in blogs from livejournal.com, but I couldn't see pictures in blogs from blogspot.com. Since I can see pictures in blogs from livejournal.com this sort-of-means that my computer is working.
Then I went to purchase tickets on-line from Ticketmaster. All went well until the anti-bot screen came up with a red frame and a red X inside of a red box. The anti-bot screen is supposed to show some weird words like this example from Frame Games:
[Frame Games picture example www.usaweekend.com web site not recommended because "Automation server can't create object" and "Script on www.usaweekend.com is making your computer run slowly" yada yada]
But then actually the anti-bot screen looks like this, a red X inside of a box.
[anti-bot screen won't show a picture]
The anti-bot wants me to type in the two words. What two words? The business transaction becomes stymied at this point, hence I can't close the deal and I have wasted my own time. I had to log out, change to a Windows XP computer, log in again, then I could actually see the anti-bot picture and then was finally able to spend my money while shopping on the internet. I was lucky that the event hadn't already sold out during the time that I had spent trying to get Windows 7 to work. I was also lucky that the Ticketmaster web site still works with Windows XP.
When I look at a web site in blogspot.com, I get results that look the same as the anti-bot results. Instead of a picture I can only see a red X inside of a box. Here is an example of what I can see on my Windows 7 computer while viewing a typical blogspot web site such as
http://warburtonlabs.blogspot.com
I can right click in the red X box and select "Show Picture" or "Open Link In New Window" but the result has always been the same, a red X inside of box. Until today! I used right click, show picture, and the internet coughed up a FURBOL. (Pronounced "Fur Ball").
[jpg picture of FURBOL code]
That FURBOL certainly isn't a picture, but it is something that came out of the internet and it got past Norton 360 on Windows 7 using IE8 on a fairly new computer. If you want the full FURBOL.txt file, send me an e-mail. (send to sumdangdik@earthlink.net )
fin.
F.U.R.B.O.L.
Future
Unusable
Rotten
Business
Oriented
Language
This all started when I bought a Windows 7 computer and then got onto the internet using IE8. I found that I could see pictures in blogs from livejournal.com, but I couldn't see pictures in blogs from blogspot.com. Since I can see pictures in blogs from livejournal.com this sort-of-means that my computer is working.
Then I went to purchase tickets on-line from Ticketmaster. All went well until the anti-bot screen came up with a red frame and a red X inside of a red box. The anti-bot screen is supposed to show some weird words like this example from Frame Games:
But then actually the anti-bot screen looks like this, a red X inside of a box.
The anti-bot wants me to type in the two words. What two words? The business transaction becomes stymied at this point, hence I can't close the deal and I have wasted my own time. I had to log out, change to a Windows XP computer, log in again, then I could actually see the anti-bot picture and then was finally able to spend my money while shopping on the internet. I was lucky that the event hadn't already sold out during the time that I had spent trying to get Windows 7 to work. I was also lucky that the Ticketmaster web site still works with Windows XP.
When I look at a web site in blogspot.com, I get results that look the same as the anti-bot results. Instead of a picture I can only see a red X inside of a box. Here is an example of what I can see on my Windows 7 computer while viewing a typical blogspot web site such as
I can right click in the red X box and select "Show Picture" or "Open Link In New Window" but the result has always been the same, a red X inside of box. Until today! I used right click, show picture, and the internet coughed up a FURBOL. (Pronounced "Fur Ball").
That FURBOL certainly isn't a picture, but it is something that came out of the internet and it got past Norton 360 on Windows 7 using IE8 on a fairly new computer. If you want the full FURBOL.txt file, send me an e-mail. (send to sumdangdik@earthlink.net )
fin.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Searching For Frankenstein Brains
The Frankenstein satellite was built from off-the-shelf parts that are made in America. The parts are from various different manufacturers such that the satellite isn't a product of any one single company, rather it is a collection of parts that you could probably buy and build one yourself. The Frankenstein satellite is actually composed of two identical chassis connected by a space tether. In actual practice, one satellite hangs down toward Planet Earth, while the other satellite hangs down toward the Moon and the space tether holds the two satellites together, approximately one half Kilometer apart. One of the two satellites has the computer brain and a radar reflector, so this one is called "Frankenstein's Brain" hence the task of "Searching For Frankenstein's Brain" is a job for the Deep Space Radar Station.
There have been many suggestions about a space tether being used as a slingshot to sling one satellite away from another, suggestions about a space tether being used as a docking device to bring one satellite toward another, and some proposals to use a tether line to hoist materials into space from the surface of a planet. These proposals are impractical because of Coriolis forces that result from the fact that the space tether is actually spinning because the tether is in orbit, going around and around the planet. If a space tether draws two satellites together, the satellites wind up spinning around each other, rather than simply becoming docked together. If the tether goes slack for any reason, then it will become un-manageable and will probably break when the tether is pulled into tension again. If the two tethered satellites are drifting apart and then the tether suddenly becomes taught, the tether will snap and break into two or more pieces.
The Frankenstein satellite has a motorized reel that will take up any slack that develops in the space tether, and the reel will also let out some more tether length if the tether tension forces become too large. The tether management system is a heavy and complex part of the buoy itself. In the simplest model, the tether goes through a Lagrange point called L3. This model supposes that the Earth and the Moon are stationary. Each space buoy acts an anchor for the other space buoy. The two buoy / anchors are connected by a space tether. In this model, the Moon-side buoy has more mass, so that the gravity force on the Moon-side buoy is equal to, and opposite from, the gravity force on the Earth-side buoy.
[ PICTURE OF EARTH - L1 - MOON ]
The Moon-side buoy hangs down one-half kilometer from L1 toward the moon, and Earth-side buoy hangs down one-half kilometer from L1 toward the Earth. The two buoys and the L1 Lagrange point have the same orbital period as the Moon. As long as the tether remains intact, the tether and the two space buoys will hang up there in space, always between the Earth and the Moon, neither rising or falling even though the space buoy's velocity isn't enough to keep a normal satellite in orbit! If one end falls down toward the Earth, the space tether lifts the other end up from the Moon more quickly, and we all know that things don't fall up as easily as they fall down . The motorized reel in Frankenstein's Brain (the Earth side buoy / anchor) will cleverly let out some tether length or reel some in, based on calculations to make the space buoy's orbit more stable.
There are a few reasons why we can't use L1 as a location for the space tether buoys. The space in L1 is already taken, or claimed, and exists as a theoretical position for a K13 orbit that goes around the L1 Lagrange Point. L1 itself is unstable, but it is possible to orbit around L1. The K13 orbit (not shown) is a stable orbit that is always in Earth's shadow, always in darkness hence it is an ideal place to put a space telescope. Such an orbiting telescope would collide with and pair of space buoys placed at L1.
Lagrange point L5 is inherently unstable. L5 exists in the direction that the Moon is orbiting, in other words L5 is out ahead of the Moon and L5 jumps around a little bit, something like sea foam on the bow wave of a ship moving through the water ocean. Just as the bow wave of a ship can go higher, lower, left or right, so does the "gravitational bow wave" jump around ahead of the Moon as the Moon moves along in Lunar orbit, and the exact location of Lagrange point L5 walks around the theoretical location of L5.
Lagrange point L4 trails along behind the Moon, hence is inherently more stable. We will place our space buoys and space tether near Lagrange Point L4. The placement is "near L4" rather than "at L4" for two reasons. One reason is that the tether runs through a saddle point in space, and the notion of which-way-is-down is kind of complex. If we were to go aboard Buoy 2, we would be able to stand up in microgravity, and we would notice that Buoy 2 could fall down toward the Moon if the tether would break or become cut apart. Because the gravity field lines (not shown) are curvy and squiggly near the four dimensional saddle point, gravitation forces cause the Moon-side buoy / anchor to hang "down" in a direction that is not directly toward the Moon. To a lesser extent the Earth-side buoy / anchor to hangs "down" in a direction that is not directly toward the Earth. The tether itself represents a straight line in the fourth dimension.
The second reason that the placement is "near L4" rather than "at L4 is: Adding mass to a Lagrange (or saddle) point will move the Lagrange point in space. A massive Lagrange point location is slightly different than the theoretical massless location of a Lagrange point.
[ PICTURE OF L4 SPACE BOUYS ]
Most astronomers won't look at a star through L4 or L5 with a telescope, because starlight becomes refracted when the starlight passes through a Lagrange point hence the image of the star seems to dance around a little. The notion of a straight line, such as a light ray, can be changed if the light ray passes through a Lagrange point. For some reason, astronomers have been ignoring this effect for nearly 400 years, ever since the telescope was invented. Perhaps the older astronomers among us are frightened of observing the effect that there could be two or more straight line path ways from a distant star to a localized telescope or observatory. We are modern enough to recognize that a Lagrange point is actually a little bit of warped space. This warped space occurs naturally and this warped space (also known as a Lagrange point or saddle point) has been there as long as the Moon has been there which is more-or-less forever. Warped space is nothing new and has existed as long as there have been planets orbiting stars. When we look through a Lagrange point and see the light from a distant star, we understand that looking at or through a Lagrange point can result in some kinds of optical illusions. These optical illusions are harmless.
If you want to be "Searching For Frankenstein's Brain" and you don't have access to the Deep Space Radar Station, it is possible to use a high-powered telescope to search for a man-made object that follows the moon, near L4 in the Lunar ecliptic plane. A ten inch reflector telescope might be big enough to see a hint of it passing in front of the distant stars. After you launch into space, your space capsule radar (yes it has one) will easily see the radar reflector on the Earth side buoy / anchor known as "Frankenstein's Brain". Pilot your space capsule to the space buoy, then along the space tether, which represents a shortcut through space; Escape velocity on a path along the tether is approximately 44 KPH slower than escape velocity on a path that doesn't pass through a Lagrange point.
Fin.
There have been many suggestions about a space tether being used as a slingshot to sling one satellite away from another, suggestions about a space tether being used as a docking device to bring one satellite toward another, and some proposals to use a tether line to hoist materials into space from the surface of a planet. These proposals are impractical because of Coriolis forces that result from the fact that the space tether is actually spinning because the tether is in orbit, going around and around the planet. If a space tether draws two satellites together, the satellites wind up spinning around each other, rather than simply becoming docked together. If the tether goes slack for any reason, then it will become un-manageable and will probably break when the tether is pulled into tension again. If the two tethered satellites are drifting apart and then the tether suddenly becomes taught, the tether will snap and break into two or more pieces.
The Frankenstein satellite has a motorized reel that will take up any slack that develops in the space tether, and the reel will also let out some more tether length if the tether tension forces become too large. The tether management system is a heavy and complex part of the buoy itself. In the simplest model, the tether goes through a Lagrange point called L3. This model supposes that the Earth and the Moon are stationary. Each space buoy acts an anchor for the other space buoy. The two buoy / anchors are connected by a space tether. In this model, the Moon-side buoy has more mass, so that the gravity force on the Moon-side buoy is equal to, and opposite from, the gravity force on the Earth-side buoy.
The Moon-side buoy hangs down one-half kilometer from L1 toward the moon, and Earth-side buoy hangs down one-half kilometer from L1 toward the Earth. The two buoys and the L1 Lagrange point have the same orbital period as the Moon. As long as the tether remains intact, the tether and the two space buoys will hang up there in space, always between the Earth and the Moon, neither rising or falling even though the space buoy's velocity isn't enough to keep a normal satellite in orbit! If one end falls down toward the Earth, the space tether lifts the other end up from the Moon more quickly, and we all know that things don't fall up as easily as they fall down . The motorized reel in Frankenstein's Brain (the Earth side buoy / anchor) will cleverly let out some tether length or reel some in, based on calculations to make the space buoy's orbit more stable.
There are a few reasons why we can't use L1 as a location for the space tether buoys. The space in L1 is already taken, or claimed, and exists as a theoretical position for a K13 orbit that goes around the L1 Lagrange Point. L1 itself is unstable, but it is possible to orbit around L1. The K13 orbit (not shown) is a stable orbit that is always in Earth's shadow, always in darkness hence it is an ideal place to put a space telescope. Such an orbiting telescope would collide with and pair of space buoys placed at L1.
Lagrange point L5 is inherently unstable. L5 exists in the direction that the Moon is orbiting, in other words L5 is out ahead of the Moon and L5 jumps around a little bit, something like sea foam on the bow wave of a ship moving through the water ocean. Just as the bow wave of a ship can go higher, lower, left or right, so does the "gravitational bow wave" jump around ahead of the Moon as the Moon moves along in Lunar orbit, and the exact location of Lagrange point L5 walks around the theoretical location of L5.
Lagrange point L4 trails along behind the Moon, hence is inherently more stable. We will place our space buoys and space tether near Lagrange Point L4. The placement is "near L4" rather than "at L4" for two reasons. One reason is that the tether runs through a saddle point in space, and the notion of which-way-is-down is kind of complex. If we were to go aboard Buoy 2, we would be able to stand up in microgravity, and we would notice that Buoy 2 could fall down toward the Moon if the tether would break or become cut apart. Because the gravity field lines (not shown) are curvy and squiggly near the four dimensional saddle point, gravitation forces cause the Moon-side buoy / anchor to hang "down" in a direction that is not directly toward the Moon. To a lesser extent the Earth-side buoy / anchor to hangs "down" in a direction that is not directly toward the Earth. The tether itself represents a straight line in the fourth dimension.
The second reason that the placement is "near L4" rather than "at L4 is: Adding mass to a Lagrange (or saddle) point will move the Lagrange point in space. A massive Lagrange point location is slightly different than the theoretical massless location of a Lagrange point.
Most astronomers won't look at a star through L4 or L5 with a telescope, because starlight becomes refracted when the starlight passes through a Lagrange point hence the image of the star seems to dance around a little. The notion of a straight line, such as a light ray, can be changed if the light ray passes through a Lagrange point. For some reason, astronomers have been ignoring this effect for nearly 400 years, ever since the telescope was invented. Perhaps the older astronomers among us are frightened of observing the effect that there could be two or more straight line path ways from a distant star to a localized telescope or observatory. We are modern enough to recognize that a Lagrange point is actually a little bit of warped space. This warped space occurs naturally and this warped space (also known as a Lagrange point or saddle point) has been there as long as the Moon has been there which is more-or-less forever. Warped space is nothing new and has existed as long as there have been planets orbiting stars. When we look through a Lagrange point and see the light from a distant star, we understand that looking at or through a Lagrange point can result in some kinds of optical illusions. These optical illusions are harmless.
If you want to be "Searching For Frankenstein's Brain" and you don't have access to the Deep Space Radar Station, it is possible to use a high-powered telescope to search for a man-made object that follows the moon, near L4 in the Lunar ecliptic plane. A ten inch reflector telescope might be big enough to see a hint of it passing in front of the distant stars. After you launch into space, your space capsule radar (yes it has one) will easily see the radar reflector on the Earth side buoy / anchor known as "Frankenstein's Brain". Pilot your space capsule to the space buoy, then along the space tether, which represents a shortcut through space; Escape velocity on a path along the tether is approximately 44 KPH slower than escape velocity on a path that doesn't pass through a Lagrange point.
Fin.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
My FileOpen Plug-In Experience
As an SAE member I must warn my fellow members about downloading from the SAE web site. If you download a PDF file it won't open for you unless you install a FileOpen Plug-In. It is the SAE version of SOPA that is intended to protect copyrighted SAE items.
Don't use the FileOpen Plug-In. If you need a white paper or standards document, get the printed version. You will have to wait a few days but it is worthwhile to wait.
FileOpen states that the plug-in won't run unless one tries to open a copyrighted document. Actually it does run and FileOpen plug-in prevents Adobe4 from finding the pdf file at all. Here is an error message that it made when I tried to open a regular PDF file. After installing the FileOpen plug-in my computer won't show non-secure pdf files.
And when I try to open my own copyrighted software that I sell, this is the resulting error message. 
I can click through this message but that means clicking through 10 - 30 times a day. And then only after I have minimized all of the windows on my display so that I can find this box and click through it. Don't even think about trying to open a pdf attached to e-mail, with FileOpen plug-in installed it becomes impossible.
Uninstall the plug-in and it doesn't go away. To really get rid of it, I had to delete these files by hand: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 4.0\Acrobat\plug_ins\FileOpen.api C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 4.0\Acrobat\plug_ins\fowpkbd.dll .
fin
Don't use the FileOpen Plug-In. If you need a white paper or standards document, get the printed version. You will have to wait a few days but it is worthwhile to wait.
FileOpen states that the plug-in won't run unless one tries to open a copyrighted document. Actually it does run and FileOpen plug-in prevents Adobe4 from finding the pdf file at all. Here is an error message that it made when I tried to open a regular PDF file. After installing the FileOpen plug-in my computer won't show non-secure pdf files.
Uninstall the plug-in and it doesn't go away. To really get rid of it, I had to delete these files by hand: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 4.0\Acrobat\plug_ins\FileOpen.api C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 4.0\Acrobat\plug_ins\fowpkbd.dll .
fin
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