Author: Peter Jones

Retail wise that is. We had an illing kitteh to take care of, so no stopping at the store on the way home. I’ll probably hit the Shack on the way home, if nothing else, for old times sake. I just can’t see myself wanting to buy from Amazon. It’s not that they have a bad service, but if I call them up, there is no one on the other end ego can answer questions. No one who can give me a recommendation. No one who can point out another product I might be interested in.
Yes. I understand the systems they have can do that, it’s just that I have very particular tastes that do not fit algorithms well. I like Slayer, Ministry, Iron Maiden and a slew of other bands. I get angry when I get recommendations of Metallica or Pantera. Honestly, …those bands. I like Soundgarden and Nirvana. I don’t like Alice in Chains or Pearl Jam. Played. Out
It’s not that I’m some beautiful unique butterfly, but that I’m not going to wade through a morass of bands I at best dislike, at worst detest (I’m looking at you Pantera), to get a recommendation of a band I could just as likely find going to a music store. But at the store when the rage bullets form behind my eyes, it signals to the clerk, not him. He won’t like the white supremacy of Pantera.

Right. Wheels bookending a spring loaded bent fork. Add the wheels push forward, the tines should disengage, and when pulled back, they dig in. I should do some preliminary measurements. Thinking sliding rails for elongating arms.

I need stuff.
Solder
Flux
Heat shrink
Maybe some solder wick, or whatever teh unit of measure is

Do I go to Ada when I next pick yo the Wif at school? Do I stop at Radio Shack, sad at how far they’ve gone? Do I go to Fred Meyer, disappointed in their definition of consumer electronics and basic organizational skills? Do I try Amazon same day shipping for free?
If the Wif is down, probably Ada, because while I’ll probably pretty an unnecessary premium, compared to Amazon, I’ll be able to get a coffee and support local.

Oh, and a couple AAA batteries. Because my multimeter can’t be any more poorly designed. Of course, the batteries only died vague the auto off didn’t, I assume.

taking things apart

Sparkfun has a converse going right now, which looks tempting. The only thing is I need parts I totally don’t have to qualify. I’ll lol into the economic feasibility while working on a general design. Thinking I might take six dollar teddy and make him the priority.
My current thought, based on streamlining the teddy design schedule to achieve stair dominance giving the right to bear arms. By bear arms, I mean to give it hands, hands that can grasp tools, tools that are claws. I want creepy teddy bear clawing its way up the stairs.
So, to recap, I’m thinking of fast tracking teddy to the full external armature. I’ll put all the heavy stuff in the legs and feet to keep my center of gravity low. I’ll give him arms that end in claws to drag himself up the stairs.
I should start looking at proof of concept. Probably do my initial consultation with the patient, for posterity, and then start seeing stuff up stairs.

So tired. Not really sure why, but meh. Trucking on.
How would I determine the crush pressure of a submersible. Obvious idea would be building it and then applying pressure until it cracked like an egg. Of course while commuting home with the Wif last night I remembered that mineral oil is electrically chill. I could just fill it with mineral oil. I’d have to check the pressure characteristics. Probably decide on the scope of the project.
I want to see the bottom of Greenlake. Blackman’s Lake would be dope as well.
If I went longer on the deployment, I’d need a charging system. I was thinking bring out to neutral buoyancy a few inches under the waters surface. Sugar cells on the top should be able to charge during peak hours, and then it could sink down again when the light is no longer enough. Just an idea.

I still have no patience. While seething with annoyance, I got thinking of a could drone ideas. See, I’m not a big fan of 30 seconds of play, loud noises, and easily broken parts. I want to go low, quirky, subtle. I started today, maybe finished last night, thinking of how to do the motive power behind a sand worm. Arakis style yo.
How does my phone not know the name Arakis?
Right, sand worm, I think I need to start reading Dune again. If you’re going to do something, do it right. In this case take as much inspiration from one of the, admittedly I maintain a long list of books, none of this top ten bullshit, best sci-fi novels around. Most of the follow-up novels aren’t bad either.
I think about one thing, and started thinking back on how to do a remote diving robot as well. That one might be based on a bottle off Jack Daniels.

My patience level today is low. Somedays my patience level is absolutely terrible. Over the last decade or so, my moods have become much more manageable, but perfection is still not achievable. Usually it manifests impatience, which is a definite improvement over my youthful anger, but I still feel bad about… somedays.

Superheroes.
(Most of the following is going to be based on the current set of movies. I am not geek enough.)
Many of them have a science background. Spider-Man was bitten by a radioactive spider while working part-time in a lab. The Fantastic Four were all scientistsish. Batman has an entire R&D division on his side. Iron Man and Ant Man are both R&D divisions on there own. Then the Hulk, he made himself in the lab, and midst the time he still works in a lab. All these people are hella smart.
…and they hit stuff. Iron Man, faced with fighting the Hulk, builds bigger armor. He compensates. Ant Man, given the ability to grow or shrink at will, but to mention call a legion of ants to his side? He hits things. The only wit out of the Fantastic Four is when Mr. Fantastic thinks things out because he’s kinda useless.
Then you have villains. Scarecrow uses psychoactive drugs. The Mad Hatter mashes mind control chips. Dr. Doom builds his armies, weapons and designs clever traps capitalizing on each opponents weaknesses.
Is the Super Hero Industrial Complex anti-science?