Pilbeam Engineering

So, I have broken down and switched off my Blackberry for good. Using the Blackberry 8830 as I had was becoming increasingly difficult as the older hardware was difficult to use with newer more data intensive applications.

So, knowing that the Blackberry Tour was coming out soon I considered waiting for it. Having seen the newer OS it definitely looks impressive, but my overall impression of the available apps for Blackberry is poor. Since I got an iPod Touch earlier this year, I was impressed with it’s capabilities, so I took the plunge and switched to AT&T for the iPhone 3GS. So far I have been relatively impressed with the capabilities of the new unit…As expected the 3G network does leave a little to be desired. As such, the WiFi capabilities are useful where available, especially when higher data throughputs are desired. The interface is good for use though the typing takes a little getting used to, especially since it’s a virtual keyboard.

Overall, I have no complaints with the unit and am looking forward to playing around with some of the other apps. This entire entry is being typed using the WordPress app, and while I admit the typing process is a bit slower, the screen resolution and feel make it worthwhile.

-Adam

Since I was a kid, I’ve always been fascinated with flying. I had Microsoft Flight Simulator 5 on our 386 (and later our 486) that I would play a lot, and was always fascinated by flight. Since then, I realize that unless you happen to be a professional pilot, the opportunity to fly an aircraft yourself is limited to either the rich hobbyist, or the model hobbyist.

However, I’m also interested in new technologies that show promise, especially if building them is simple enough for me. Enter…the lifter. These “toys” (for that is all I’ve seen of them in my research so far) are effectively small triangular structures with electrodes running on the top and bottom of them. The largest one I’ve stumbled across in research was 5 meters across, and was made at a college in Japan. Here’s a picture of a lifter:

Image from http://www.rense.com

Effectively, once a high voltage electric charge is produced across the air gap, the device begins to float. The upward motion of the device is stopped by tethers that keep it from floating out of reach of the electric wires that bring power to it.

Now, there seems to be a ton of controversy over these devices. There are the non-scientific nuts out there claiming this is some sort of gravity distortion, and the super-scientific people who claim it’s a simple wind generator (through ion charges, similar to an Ionic Breeze system). Frankly, based on what I’ve read, not enough research has been done to verify what’s going on. I personally do not feel there’s gravity manipulation…a few thousand volts of electricity isn’t going to undo the Earth’s tremendous pull…however I’m anxious to see what can be done with this phenomonon.

Obviously, since the best these experimenters have done is life a mouse in one of these machines they must be extremely inefficient. It seems to me that time has to be taken to determine what construction methods work best, and thoroughly document as many observable results as possible to get a feel for how these devices work.

Having said that, I find it interesting that much research and internet news on these systems stopped around 2003 or so, with some sporadic pieces of information until 2005. Now the only website that seems to have any semi-complete information is the page of Jean-Louis Naudin which has attempted to document many successful lifters made around the world, with pictures and video. This site was last updated in July of 2008.

Since the materials commonly used to build lifters (balsa wood, foil, and thin gauge wire) are more than readily available, I see no reason why (once a suitable power source is procured) I can’t make my own investigations into the forces behind electrokinetic flight.

Hopefully as I learn more, and start building, I can bring the results to light here in as credible a fashion possible…and if improvements can be made, this same technology that allows a small electric craft to take flight could eventually cause a much larger vehicle that can carry a person aloft.

Yesterday inaugurated my first ever official paid vacation! This post also inaugurates the 100th post of this blog, both very exciting events.

Anyways, day one was spent with the nitty-gritty work. Typical mopping, vacuuming, and the rest of my Saturday cleaning items. I also finally installed the windshield washer reservoir in the car, so it is now fully functional again, which is good. This coming week I’m taking it in for an oil change, inspection, tire installation (getting the snows off a little late), and having the brakes checked.

For Day 2 of the vacation (today, for those keeping count), I blasted off this morning for Chittenango Falls State Park, which I visited last year and took some pictures (with my film camera). I’ve repeated the trip now with my digital camera, and the lovely results are available below.

It’s an outstanding park with a few miles of hiking trails available, a picnic area, and of course the waterfall which make for a reasonably full couple of hours. I always enjoy dropping in there, and as it’s still relatively early in the season the waterfall was in full swing.

[View with PicLens]

More hiking is on the docket for the rest of the week, probably a couple of longer trips once the car is given a clean bill of health. Up for consideration are Kane Mt. and Bald Mt., but I’m not ready as yet to tackle any Adirondack high peaks.

On the home front, I will probably re-arrange my monitors – it’s irking me that they’re not symmetrical – I have two 4:3 19″ LCDs on the left and a widescreen on the right – I will be trying to center the widescreen and make it the primary monitor soon. I will also (hopefully) be playing more with the Arduino, and hopefully post the results of that here. I have also ordered a kit-based AM transmitting unit, so that once its built I shall be able to transmit music and programs to the old radio sets (of which only one is currently operational). The computer selected for this honor will be running Foobar2000 for the playback, and I hope to be able to script it to run more like a REAL radio station as autonomously as possible.

In keeping with the craze on “plants in the home and office” that’s been cropping up, especially on Lifehacker, I now have quite a few plants making up the jungle in my bedroom/office, 10 plants in fact, with the Philodendron Selloum currently qualifying as the largest…and my reading indicates it will only get larger, which is fine with me.

I’m trying a new visual layout on my desktop as well, making the wallpaper and system theme monochromatic as much as possible. This has the pleasing effect of having any window items or icons “pop out”, and so far I’m very pleased with it. Last week I had a moonlighting affair with Kubuntu on my main computer, and I’ll be posting on that soon.

That’s it for now, I’m off for a walk before it gets too dark or cold…

-Adam

Well, I caved and bought myself a Kindle 2 as sort of a birthday gift (for myself). Now that I’m done with college, I’ve been meaning to start reading more…and had started doing so with my iPod. Now, the iPod Touch has a 3.5″ backlit screen, which is all right to read now and then, but truly is not something I care to strain my eyes on night after night.

I’ve never cared for reading on a computer, at least for any extended length of time – even as I write this post, my eyes are always darting around the screen, and it wouldn’t do to be doing that whilst reading a book. I do feel that this “darting” helps me avoid eye-strain, especially at work where I am suffering with 15″ LCD monitors.

So, having considered the Kindle – and now the improved Kindle 2, I decided to take the plunge and pick one up. Since I have a decently sized e-book collection of my own (based off of Project Gutenberg) I felt I could make good use of the unit, even if I did not use Amazon’s eBook marketplace.

So, when the unit arrived, I hastily charged it and connected it to my computer, looking to transfer the first of my books over to it. After I started reading, I was absolutely amazed…a screen which retained it’s image after the power was off, and was viewable from any direction! I was very pleased – having read about the E-Ink technology in the past, and now being able to demonstrate it for myself.

The device itself is very light, and easy to carry. I opted to get the leather cover for it, to avoid any scratches on the screen or unit. I found the buttons large and easy to work with. The Kindle 2 only has a “Previous Page” button on the left side; this may work fine for some people, but since I’m left handed, I would have loved a more symmetrical design.

People who have used the Kindle 1 have commented that the Kindle 2′s buttons are a lot stiffer – this may be, I’ve noticed they’re stiff, but it has not been a problem for me in navigating.

I’ve used the text-to-speech function a little, mostly to verify that it works, and while it’s not something I would listen to for long, I could suffer through it if necessary.

My biggest pleasure in using this unit has been in Amazon’s blog subscription capability! Since I usually have a daily reading requirement of several blogs (listed, of course, in the blogroll on this site), I had used Thunderbird to aggregate them, or on some days, just went to each website individually. This is of course is a little monotonous, but it works.

Amazon’s blog subscription, while a paid service, provides a nice way to browse the blogs you choose and is updated in almost-real-time. I have no complaint about it, and even the quality of the images on the screen is satisfactory, though it can vary based on the quality of the original image. (Mr. Blurrycam pics from Engadget would not be very pleasant on the Kindle 2) Nevertheless, I’m pleased to be able to catch up on my reading throughout the day from wherever I am.

I have also put in subscriptions to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, to try them out. For Blogs and Newspapers, Amazon will give you a two-week free trial to see how you like them, you can cancel within the two weeks with no further obligation. (They will charge you if you re-activate the subscription though!) So far, this feature is quite nice too – though it takes me awhile to flip through a newspaper in the morning.

On a sidenote, there is a free service available to aggregate blogs to your Kindle 2 if you aren’t willing to pay the blog subscription fees through Amazon. It’s called KindleFeeder.

The battery life of the Kindle 2, to me, isn’t as fantastic as I would have hoped. With the radio on, I usually charge every other day – though I feel I could make it to a third day without going completely dead. Definitely better than a laptop, or even my iPod Touch – though those units can obviously do a lot more with the time that they are on.

Overall, I’d say that the Kindle 2 provides a nice complement to any power-user’s technical arsenal. It provides a service that you can carry with you, and it’s definitely more convenient and comfortable than lugging around a laptop/tablet, or squinting at an iPod/iPhone/PDA. Definitely worth some money…not too sure about $359 yet though.