Blackberry REACT September Newsletter

Quick Clicks

Want to see how long an electric shock takes?

This is from a car testing BMW's Kinetic Energy Recovery System. KERS is supposed to recover energy generated by braking, storing the energy for later use in a hybrid power system.

StrapAHandle

Steampunk birds as works of art

The raven is my favorite. I recommend viewing the photos at larger sizes than the thumbnails. The work is exquisite.

Photos of the Large Hadron Collider

Fascinating photos, including their fire cart (fire trucks won't fit), tunnels, and stuff I have no clue what it is.

5.6kWh lithium battery weighs 78 lbs.

That's less than my 100 Amp hour lead-acid battery!

The real news is that the battery is in an electric plane that goes for 90 to 120 minutes on one charge (uh, I'd rather have a more nearly precise estimate, guys!). The plane cruises at 70MPH and appears to seat one. The maker estimates recharging the battery will cost sixty cents, a big seller for pilots of gas-powered aircraft. I'm still more interested in that battery, though. Who needs a generator when you've got a 5.6kWh battery!

Unfortunately, it's eight-five hundred bucks. (Plus a grand for the charger. Sheesh!)

How to tenderize a steak

http://gizmodo.com/5033377/mythbusters-tests-will-explosives-properly-tenderize-a-steak

General Electric Performance Television

Today's trip down memory lane is sponsored by GE. Remember when they actually made things? Here's a 1978 television set when they still had tubes. Note the VHS video recorder next to it - tubes! I'm betting the guy in the photo is standing on a stool. The Command Performance cassette recorder is sold separately. And you'll need a truck to get the TV home.

Steampunk view of the Jeremiah O'Brien

An interesting view of Liberty Ship SS Jeremiah O'Brien from a young steampunk who marvels that a cargo ship had cranes and cargo holds that you put bags of cargo into. And he discovers that the volunteers on board are "obsessive nerds just like us, only with white hair!" The enthusiasm for giant mechanical parts shines through the youth.

Canon patents fuel-cell powered camera

This is a page that's too technical for me, but Canon has a patent on using fuel cells instead of batteries for a DSLR. Their goal is to eliminate AAs and NiMH batteries and use a single fuel cell to power all the electronics on the camera: the camera itself, the focus motor in the lenses, and the external flash. This will, of course, require consumers to buy an all new set of gear and will keep them locked in to Canon products for ever after. This page provides an overview plus a direct link to the patent for those who are interested.

Steampunk taken to the max

A brand new steam locomotive built from scratch and runs on British rail. It's based on a 1948 design, and it cost three million pounds. Two thousand people are required to keep it going (contributions of money as well as work).

SCRA Round Scope Clock

Okay, we all thought nixie clocks were all the bomb (If you don't know what a nixie tube is, proceed to the next item.), but here's a clock made from a CRT that projects the hands in analogue mode and will display dates and numbers as well. Handsomely encased in a cast acrylic tube, "an asset to any mantel."

Toyota Winglet

Okay, for the non-nixie tubists, here's the Toyota Winglet. The Segway is so nerdy it's a nonstarter, but the Winglet is smaller and handier. As you'll see from the video, it can be used hands-free when you have a few bags of groceries to carry. Much smaller, lighter than that truck of a Segway.

GP Powerbank Torch

The British term for a flashlight. This flashlight is of interest because you put rechargeable batteries in it, then leave it plugged into an outlet where it trickle charges them. As I understand it, while it's plugged in you can set its switch to off, or small nightlight always on, or automatically turn on full blast when the power fails.

Mesa, AZ police abandoning 10-codes

"If we ever get to the point where agencies can talk to each other," Denney said, "they've got to have an ability to understand what each agency means."

If only they ever get to the point they can talk to each other.

Why "nothing to hide" is the wrong argument, Part II

Three thousand blank, real British passports were reported stolen. Terrorist and other criminals use false passports as part of their schemes. You can use a passport as your government-issued ID everywhere in the world, open bank accounts, get jobs, and the damage will go on for years. The passports were stolen from the equivalent of an armored car. The thief or thieves appear to have known the route and the habits of the driver and guard and ambushed them when the driver stopped to buy a newspaper. There is reason to believe it was an inside job.

In the second story, Clear is a company that pre-screens passengers, then uses a special card to identify them and clear them through airport security in special lanes that move much faster than the security lanes you use. They reported a laptop missing. The laptop contained customer names and identifying information. Then the laptop was found. Now the police say there's no doubt the laptop was stolen then replaced. It was in a locked cabinet in a locked room with access restricted to certain employees of the company. No one knows what happened to the laptop while it was missing. Police are investigating it as an inside job.

Having my identifying information on a stolen computer gives unknown people the ability to pose as me in ways I may never know about until my credit comes crashing down. And that can be years from now, when the mess will be appallingly difficult to sort out. I don't want the Red Cross or its vendors or anyone else to have that kind of information about me when I read on the web that Red Cross employees and contractors are stealing the information from databases either in the hands of the Red Cross or its vendors.

Some Radio Shack Power Supplies recalled

13.8V DC Power Supplies sold by Radio Shack are wired backward and pose an electrocution risk, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Details and photos of the units on the linked page.

Burning Man

Louise and I will have been at Burning Man, and this link is to a Gigapan photo. It's a panorama composed of many separate shots, so you can zoom in to incredible detail. I have given a quick look at the photo and didn't see any naked people, but I won't guarantee you won't see any if you look hard enough.

Death Star over San Francisco

For the Star Wars fans. I have no clue how it was done, but someone has done the equivalent of Photoshopping Star Wars devices into video of the TransAmerican Pyramid, Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower, and more. It's very nicely done.

Curious Inventor

We met these guys at Maker Faire. They offer guides (metal working, soldering surface mount components, all about screws), articles (advantages of enamel-coated wire, is 63/37 solder better than 60/40), kits (serial ports, bread board power supply), parts (connectors, electronics, tools), a blog, and forums. Take a browse through the site. There's a lot of interesting stuff there even if you aren't building your own radios now days.

Today's test

It turns out there is a difference between a cell and a battery. Define a cell; define a battery.

San Mateo Electronics takes a SLAB if you buy one

San Mateo Electronics will take your old sealed lead acid battery if you are buying one. They have a box full of them to give away if you want any. No indication of age or use (or abuse), so free batteries are at your discretion.

Power it anywhere power pack

The Medis 24/7 Power Pack claims to be the world's first consumer fuel cell for portable devices. This first round seems to weak to be of use to me, but your mileage will vary: it aims a cell phones, MP3 players, and video games and promises up to 30 hours of talk-time on cell phones.

Aside from not having the power to charge my HTs, there is another problem that is a deal-killer for me: you have to have the appropriate tip for your device. I had a recharger that sold different tips for each device it recharged, and the company could never keep up with manufacturers, so I stopped buying upgraded tips and just gave up. I now use an inverter and plug my device's wall wart into the inverter, which I plug into any available cigar lighter socket. I have sockets for my big 100 Amp- hour batteries and for my smaller 7 and 12 Amp-hour ones.

Rumored prices are $30 for the starter kit and $20 for replacement fuel cells.

One Tropical Storm Fay death

"Earlier Wednesday, state officials said one death could be linked to the storm. A person testing a generator in Highlands County died, officials said at a 10 a.m. briefing. The person reportedly was testing it inside a building and died of carbon monoxide poisoning, according to information released at the briefing."

Let me repeat that, please: running a generator indoors resulted in death.

Back 'em, stack 'em, and rack 'em

Microsoft's data centers have so many servers, it's not economical to add more servers one at a time. According to this article, Microsoft orders a sealed shipping container filled with servers (I can't find out how many per container), a truck backs in to the empty slot, unloads the sealed container, and then Microsoft employees connect the sealed container to power, air conditioning, and whatever nutrients they need in the Matrix. The container stays sealed. Servers fail over time, and when enough fail, the entire container is replaced, with the failed container returned to its maker.

It's an interesting article about what it takes to run truly huge data centers in terms of maintenance and economics. It takes a couple of hours to install one server, and Microsoft is adding about 10,000 a month. Servers in the containers are built to Microsoft's spec - not only no keyboard and no USB, but MS doesn't even allow the hardware that would be required to connect keyboards and USBs - that cuts down on cost, space, and power consumption. And things change very quickly. An interesting look at server farms of today. But not tomorrow.

Things were different in 1961

A 1961 cartoon from "Joker" magazine. Retro Thing is a web site about bygone, er vintage gadgets and technology. Some of you may enjoy a stroll down memory lane.

Louise and I were at Burning Man

and we got our picture taken by a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Events

• Sat. 9/13 (10 AM-2 PM) San Mateo Co. Disaster Preparedness Fair
• Sun. 9/28 Trailblazer 10k Race
• Sun. 10/19 JDR Jr. Diabetes Walk

Updates

Our speaker for October will be Bill Menafara, a member of Kiwanis. Bill will tell us how the Kiwanis recruits new members from high schools and colleges as well as from adult levels. Blackberry REACT might profit from some of his ideas on recruiting and retaining members.