| Monday
May 13, 2002
On Anti-Gravity
http://tventura.hypermart.net
interesting website, NASA is doing a study on this
effect, here's a clip from an email from David Jedynak discussing the
ideas...
best, Mike Donahue
email follows: >>>>I've actually
dug into this stuff a bit. It's the same phenomena as the NASA patent for
Asymmetrical Capacitor Thrust. The are a number of people trying
(successfully) to reproduce the experiments, but many of them are kitchen
table or garage type things. There is *something* going on (be it corona
or interaction with B fields or something), but it probably is not
"anti-gravity". The big problem is that ACT is fully observed
and has been for many years, but no satisfactory explanation has been put
forth.
My general feeling about the thing is that,
when it comes to physics research, there are many bigger fish to fry, so
this doesn't really get attention. On the engineering side, the thrust
levels are so small that, again, being a useless phenomena, not much
energy is put into characterization of it. However, with microthrust
technologies now proven useful (the Deep Space 1 Xenon Ion Propulsion
System and the recent recovery of a "failed" geo-sat orbit
transition using a similar XIPS), microthrust research and development of
ACT may have some benefit.
The lead person on this table top research,
Jean Naudin, doesn't strike me as a very good scientist or engineer, but
he is well-intended. He has tried to be "scientific" but he's
not taking anywhere enough data on the parameters he does vary, and is not
varying parameters that would provide some good data on other axes. It's a
neat problem, and the ACT, if scalable, may have some good applications
(hence the NASA patent), but lots more research and experimentation needs
to be done in a good manner.
If I had the time and resource, I'd be all
over this, just for the fun of figuring it out from taking lots of data.
The first two things I would try would be (to check for corona and B
field) are doing the experiment in a chamber at vacuum as well as other
gases (like Gaseous Nitrogen) and then trying the thing at different
orientations to the Earth's magnetic field. One big chunk of test stand
that I haven't seen yet is just that, a real test stand. None of this
rotating or lifting junk, but a fixed mount engine test stand with some
force meters. The data so far is not very clear on things like polarity
reversals (in case it is an conservation of momentum issue with high
velocity electron collisions into a dielectric, or whatever). Naudin has
messed with pulsed DC and AC, but again, he just doesn't seem to have the
right combination of tenacity, imagination, lab experience, and discipline
to really push his experiments to a useful level.
*snip* I really don't like the
characterization of this as lunatic fringe. Agreed, some of the people
appear quite crazy (start reading the lifter pages), but that doesn't mean
that the phenomena should be dismissed. Inexperienced and misguided, like
early attempts at fixed-wing powered flight (10-planed monstrosities
collapsing under mechanical stress), is a good characterization of the
current research. I'm actually glad some money (so the article says) is
ear-marked for some basic research. Depending on how ACT works and the
physics behind it, I could see a whole new parameter to worry about (and
thus improve on) in PCB layouts and general electrical engineering design.
>>>>end transmission
I keep hearing about this but I know
little. Thanks.
Roland finds new stuff on railguns
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=12052002-105108-1155r
And and interesting story
http://www.spamresource.com/nadine/default.htm
--------------------------------- Roland Dobbins
<mordant@gothik.org> //
Thanks. I still don't understand how
Roland manages to be a father, an engineer and trouble shooter, and read
everything he does. Have the Clone Wars already started and we don't know?
And a formal statement of an
idea that has been around for a while, this from Robert Racansky
[For those o wondering and/or care what this is
about, read the ref at the bottom of this e-mail, or go to http://volokh.blogspot.com/2002_05_05_volokh_archive.html#76219243
]
THE SUNSET AMENDMENT
1. All laws made by the federal government shall
expire 25 years after they go into effect. Laws that are currently part of
the United States Code shall expire 25 years after this amendment goes
into effect. Nothing in this amendment shall prohibit the Congress from
passing an expired law.
2. All executive orders made by a president of the
United States shall be in effect only while that president is in office.
Nothing in this amendment shall prohibit the succeeding president from
issuing an identical executive order.
3. All regulations made by any agency of the
executive branch shall be in effect only while the president is in office.
Regulations that are currently part of the Code of Federal Regulations
shall expire 25 years after this amendment goes into effect.
4. Nothing in this amendment shall apply to the
United States Constitution, including amendments.
The idea behind this is 1) it is currently easier to
make laws than unmake them, 2) even bad laws are rarely repealed, and 3)
even good laws outlive their usefulness.
The Sunset Amendment would allow/force future
politicians to evaluate the effectiveness and costs of existing
legislation based on 25 years of experience (or 4 to 8 years for
regulations and executive orders). In theory, "good" laws will
more likely to be re-enacted, while "bad" laws will be limited
in the amount of damage they can do.
I read somewhere (I think it was Dave Kopel piece on
the BATF) that the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) -- rules made by
unelected bureaucrats -- is 4 times as thick as the United States Code (USC)
-- the laws passed by the elected representatives of Congress. This is a
bad thing.
The 25 year number is purely arbitrary, and I'm sure
some lawyer could do a better job of writing the text.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ref:
http://volokh.blogspot.com/2002_05_05_volokh_archive.html#76219243
It has always made sense to have
Sunset provisions in laws. It is not in the interests of lawyers to do so,
and the US Congress seems to be a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trial
Lawyers Association. We have build an Empire run by lawyers. But then so
did the Romans.
From Robbie Walker
I don't normally send out links to people but THIS
may just be the weirdest thing I've ever accidentally discovered on the
internet. Note: This is not X-Rated or anything like that, it's just
WEIRD!
http://www.pixyland.org/peterpan/index.html
Weird it is.
And from Dan Spisak
Some of the newer audio CDs coming out in the market
have anti-ripping technology, notably:
Celine Dion - A New Day Has Come Soundtrack for
Episode II: Attack of the Clones
I'm sure there will be others to follow I might have
missed here.
In any case, the anti-ripping protection on these
CDs makes it so that it could potentially damage a CD-ROM drives firmware,
or simply crash a users PC or Mac. Also, these CD's are not actual CDs in
the sense that they violate the Redbook standard, yet rely on stupid audio
cd players to function still. They are not allowed to use the Compact Disc
"CD" logo on the cases.
Turns out there is an easy, low-tech way to defeat
these anti-ripping mechanisms. Use a sharpie market to black out the outer
edge of the disc that is the anti-tipping track of the disc like so:
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2
F%2Fwww.chip.de%2Fpraxis_wissen%2Fpraxis_wissen_8725919.html
&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=
UTF8&safe=off&prev=%2Flanguage_tools
This is a joke press release I found on Slashdot but
I think it gets the point across of just how absurd this is:
I'm going to start stockpiling sharpies immediately.
-Dan S.
And See Below
----------------
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - May 13, 2002 - RIAA
TEAMS UP WITH MPAA TO URGE BAN OF "SHARPIE" STYLE MARKERS.
Local busineses were shocked today when all
2.5 million office supply stores were simultaneously served with a cease
and desist order from the RIAA and MPAA banning the sale of any type of
felt tip marker. Lobbyists for the media industry successfully bribed
and/or threatened a number of local politician, who in turn passed
legislation banning the manufacture, sale, or possession of any device on
grounds that it violates the Digital Millenium Copyright Act.
"This is a great day for freedom in this
country", stated I. P. Freely, chairman of the House Committee On
Media Graft and Campaign Finance. "No longer will reckless hoodlums
and terrorist be able to hold our great media industries down! Already
these 'media terrorists' have been implicated in causing a downturn in
music sales, a deepening of the U.S. recession, balding, impotence, and
dandruff. These terrorists are a threat to the very foundation of this
nation. Have I said terrorist enough yet? Terrorist terrorist
terrorist!"
A small group of bewildered secretaries and
office workers were rounded up by jackbooted thugs and herded into
"terrorist containment vehicles" (which resemble black vans) as
they went into office supply stores in downtown L.A. to buy Sharpies.
"Obviously these media terrorists were bent on destroying Sony Music
with these devices", said one S.W.A.T. team captain as he twirled a
Sharpie in front of cameras. "Don't worry folks", he said,
"you're safe now."
When interviewed on the street, many people
expressed delight at the actions of the MPAA and RIAA.
"I'm so glad that these hideous
terr'rist folks have been rounded up", says Eva Beaver. "Who
knows what they might've blown up with their terror weapons. Next it could
be planes slamming into buildings!"
Opposition to this new law is expected to be
light, say prominent Washington lawmakers. Naysayers will be rounded up
and shot on sight, further adding to the desire to keep people from
pirating music and movies with felt tip pens.
Spokesmen for Sanford, the company that
manufactures the Fully Automatic Terrorist Media Stealing Assault Weapon
(formerly known as a Sharpie Marker) could not be reached following a
disastrous fire and explosion at every single one of their manufacturing
plants.
I already have plenty of them...
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