(Note: this post is an example of how energy flow in a machine can be described using the evocative communication possible in poetry. Although it was originally written for appreciation by fellow disk drive engineers in the field of rotating disk magnetic memory systems, other people have found it interesting, too, so is included in this blog.)
20040715 the poem, Magnetic Footprints
JEDC's Technological Poetry
MAGNETIC FOOTPRINTS
by James Edward David Cline
Here is a poem written about the inner workings of a disk drive, written using the INSCRIBE cognitive engine.
by J E D CLINE 6/13/84
Shining like a mechanical jewel
The tortured metal and plastic shapes
Were bound unwillingly together
By man and machine. And now, the
Conscripted shapes silently await,
Like a statue frozen, the
Awakening pulse of electric life
To throb in it's copper veins,
Energizing mechanical muscles....
Then, TURN-ON!
A twirling whirl goes to a filmy disk
Of micromagnets, sending them hurtling
Past a special place: a read/write head
With magnetic maw that sometimes
Shouts and sometimes listens
To the concensus of the
Scurrying horde of magnetic domains.
The gaping maw jumps back and forth,
Then lies in wait for the call of
The one it seeks.
Here they come! The earthquake rattle
Of ten thousand dancing domains in a
Chorus line, all spread their energy
To the hungry ferrite eye, then take it
Back again, escaping.
Their rock-and-roll dance is
Patiently watched over,
Then finally the familiar notes
Of the sought sector comes on scene.
The throbbing beat is announced,
And its repeating rhythm forms a
Trellis of time supporting the
Melodious string of data notes.
Stronger now and square, the
Marching line of ones and zeros
Triumphantly emerge as information,
Reborn to live in the halls of
Mankind's busyness.
But there comes a time in the life of bits,
When the world tires of them, and
Prepares to send their progenitive essence
To ferrite crypts. The chosen ones, the
Lucky bits, herd into groups, then file
Courageously singley into the iron maiden.
The ferrite's searching eye,
Having found the assigned shelf
In the filmy store, grabs each
Brave bit in turn, transforming
It in an instant into a torrent
Of current, rushing first one way
Then the other. This river of
Excitement pours through copper swirls,
And their waves of motion stir concerted
Flux in flying ferrite glider.
The flux strikes a barrier!
A gap to be crossed in an
Exhuberant flurry and shout,
And leaves magnetic footprints by
Overturnings in the domains below,
In the filmy land of time's sleep.
Copyright © 1995 James Edward David Cline
(Note: this post was copied over from one of my other blogs. J E D Cline.)
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Incoming Idea, watch out!
(Although this is not especially related to energy ideas, it intensely relates to ideas in general.)
Incoming Idea, watch out!
In this quatrillion-piece machine we call "Civilization", the click and buzz and slosh back and forth of rhythms play out, business as usual. It was not always this way; the pieces of civilization started from zero; more and more added piece by piece, until it is huge and complex as now.
Civilization grew, idea by idea, and the ideas worked the hand of mankind upon stone and wood and water and on living things, ever growing, idea by idea. Each incoming idea fell upon the ongoing waves and ripples in existing civilization as it found, each fell sometimes like a cool raindrop onto a thirsty leaf, others fell like a fiery meteor from outer space. Whatever, the impact of the new idea made new waves, new ripples, at first upsetting, then settling in to the new norm of everyday slosh.
The process of adding to civilization continues, building it up more as before. But each new idea that plops into the slurry of busy civilization is not often welcome, disruptive to the routine that was before. Some people decide to defend against new ideas that might be headed their way, instead of needing to cope with the disruption and new norm that might have resulted. Depending on just where the incoming new idea plunks into, here are some of the observed forms of blocking waves spreading from the plopped idea, cutting the idea off at the source (sorry, if any of this steps on some toes a little):
1) Ideas make new things possible, resulting in change, and thus they must be suppressed/controlled to keep all things fine just like they are right now. If I own a corporation, I can specify what ideas can be worked on, none else permitted on the job. If I additionally require each employee to sign an "employment agreement" handing over all ideas the employee ever has (on or off the job and on any subject) to me, and yet requiring me to do nothing with them, I can deep-six all those other ideas all those employees might have. Since nearly everyone must work for some corporation to pay bills, and if all corporations do this same idea suppression thing, there will be no new ideas created except which those we owners choose, and all will be in our plushly rewarded fuedal domain control forever.
2) Only very highly educated people are capable of creating useable wide-implication new conceptual designs, and are well rewarded for that capability. Therefore, someone not highly degreed but still claiming to create such concepts, must be lying, or else the idea is defective and won't work. In either case, ignore the person that is out of line, he/she will starve eventually and vanish as if never existed if unrewarded thoroughly enough; the idea will then freely be for all of us to use as we see fit, part of the knowledge base of our education, our right to high position, and thus all will remain well.
3) An idea for a radically new kind of space access transportation and application conceivably could have military uses, therefore the idea surely is classified and the guy telling of it must be a spy. Therefore correct response would be to stifle the guy's efforts to communicate the idea (since it obviously must have been classified), constantly block the guy's efforts at everything and particularly don't let people intimately talk with him such as a girlfriend might do; and conduct a widely advertised search to locate the security leak source where that spy stole the idea, shake things up and let them know who is boss.
4) My business's income is my source of survival and high living. The conduct of business generally is as clean and merciless as the rules of football game playing; and so my survival requires I too be equally and cooly merciless toward anything which might compete with my business. Therefore, someone coming in with a better idea than that idea upon which my business is founded, must be mercilessly and coldly treated, quietly grabbing or destroying that other idea and its originator, so my business and life will remain fine.
5) In school I did not care who originally came up with each of the bits of knowledge which I learned there; I got the knowledge and it all is mine to use to get what I need. Therefore, equally I don't care who comes up with a "new" idea, a bit of knowledge, it is mine to use freely to do what I want, nothing whatever owed to the "originator" of that so-called new item. Anyway, ideas just come out of thin air, thus they are of no value.
6) If someone below my hierarchical status does something "better than" me even once, my boss may fire me and give the job to that wiseguy underling. Therefore, if an underling proclaims a clearly better idea than I do, the purpose is to humiliate me; response therefore is to fight back at the underling, keep my position by destroying the idea or insinuating it was mine all along. Everyone knows the hierarchical system must be honored totally, one break in the structure and all will be at risk.
Civilization grew, idea by idea, and the ideas worked the hand of mankind upon stone and wood and water and on living things, ever growing, idea by idea. Yet it is said that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Given knowledge of how to most voraciously devour the resources of our home planet, excreting the materials as unusable entropied wastes, are there none to be found responsible enough? While we yet have the energy to create the radical electrically powered space access systems to enable us to reach for vast solar power far above the atmosphere and above earth's shadow, up where the entropied wastes of civilization can be totally recycled back to newness using solar power, hard vacuum, and zero-g up there in GEO orbit, instead we persist in smug power games to show who is better than who. Is the hand of man on the stone now chiseling the epitaph on mankind's tombstone, the human experiment gone run amuck; and the mad race to "win" be run in the tracks of the Lemmings? Ah, I trust in the hand of the Creator on the hand of Man.
(Note: this post is copied over from one of my other blogs. JEDCline)
Incoming Idea, watch out!
In this quatrillion-piece machine we call "Civilization", the click and buzz and slosh back and forth of rhythms play out, business as usual. It was not always this way; the pieces of civilization started from zero; more and more added piece by piece, until it is huge and complex as now.
Civilization grew, idea by idea, and the ideas worked the hand of mankind upon stone and wood and water and on living things, ever growing, idea by idea. Each incoming idea fell upon the ongoing waves and ripples in existing civilization as it found, each fell sometimes like a cool raindrop onto a thirsty leaf, others fell like a fiery meteor from outer space. Whatever, the impact of the new idea made new waves, new ripples, at first upsetting, then settling in to the new norm of everyday slosh.
The process of adding to civilization continues, building it up more as before. But each new idea that plops into the slurry of busy civilization is not often welcome, disruptive to the routine that was before. Some people decide to defend against new ideas that might be headed their way, instead of needing to cope with the disruption and new norm that might have resulted. Depending on just where the incoming new idea plunks into, here are some of the observed forms of blocking waves spreading from the plopped idea, cutting the idea off at the source (sorry, if any of this steps on some toes a little):
1) Ideas make new things possible, resulting in change, and thus they must be suppressed/controlled to keep all things fine just like they are right now. If I own a corporation, I can specify what ideas can be worked on, none else permitted on the job. If I additionally require each employee to sign an "employment agreement" handing over all ideas the employee ever has (on or off the job and on any subject) to me, and yet requiring me to do nothing with them, I can deep-six all those other ideas all those employees might have. Since nearly everyone must work for some corporation to pay bills, and if all corporations do this same idea suppression thing, there will be no new ideas created except which those we owners choose, and all will be in our plushly rewarded fuedal domain control forever.
2) Only very highly educated people are capable of creating useable wide-implication new conceptual designs, and are well rewarded for that capability. Therefore, someone not highly degreed but still claiming to create such concepts, must be lying, or else the idea is defective and won't work. In either case, ignore the person that is out of line, he/she will starve eventually and vanish as if never existed if unrewarded thoroughly enough; the idea will then freely be for all of us to use as we see fit, part of the knowledge base of our education, our right to high position, and thus all will remain well.
3) An idea for a radically new kind of space access transportation and application conceivably could have military uses, therefore the idea surely is classified and the guy telling of it must be a spy. Therefore correct response would be to stifle the guy's efforts to communicate the idea (since it obviously must have been classified), constantly block the guy's efforts at everything and particularly don't let people intimately talk with him such as a girlfriend might do; and conduct a widely advertised search to locate the security leak source where that spy stole the idea, shake things up and let them know who is boss.
4) My business's income is my source of survival and high living. The conduct of business generally is as clean and merciless as the rules of football game playing; and so my survival requires I too be equally and cooly merciless toward anything which might compete with my business. Therefore, someone coming in with a better idea than that idea upon which my business is founded, must be mercilessly and coldly treated, quietly grabbing or destroying that other idea and its originator, so my business and life will remain fine.
5) In school I did not care who originally came up with each of the bits of knowledge which I learned there; I got the knowledge and it all is mine to use to get what I need. Therefore, equally I don't care who comes up with a "new" idea, a bit of knowledge, it is mine to use freely to do what I want, nothing whatever owed to the "originator" of that so-called new item. Anyway, ideas just come out of thin air, thus they are of no value.
6) If someone below my hierarchical status does something "better than" me even once, my boss may fire me and give the job to that wiseguy underling. Therefore, if an underling proclaims a clearly better idea than I do, the purpose is to humiliate me; response therefore is to fight back at the underling, keep my position by destroying the idea or insinuating it was mine all along. Everyone knows the hierarchical system must be honored totally, one break in the structure and all will be at risk.
Civilization grew, idea by idea, and the ideas worked the hand of mankind upon stone and wood and water and on living things, ever growing, idea by idea. Yet it is said that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Given knowledge of how to most voraciously devour the resources of our home planet, excreting the materials as unusable entropied wastes, are there none to be found responsible enough? While we yet have the energy to create the radical electrically powered space access systems to enable us to reach for vast solar power far above the atmosphere and above earth's shadow, up where the entropied wastes of civilization can be totally recycled back to newness using solar power, hard vacuum, and zero-g up there in GEO orbit, instead we persist in smug power games to show who is better than who. Is the hand of man on the stone now chiseling the epitaph on mankind's tombstone, the human experiment gone run amuck; and the mad race to "win" be run in the tracks of the Lemmings? Ah, I trust in the hand of the Creator on the hand of Man.
(Note: this post is copied over from one of my other blogs. JEDCline)
Including energy management in an overview
Overview
20050724 J E D Cline
As the less noble of humanity’s ways continue to smokescreen my most cherished project, the exploration and utilization of the KESTS to GEO potentials, examination of the relevant trends is prudent now. The near and more distant future quality of life seems to hinge on energy resources and re-use of materials resources, although sociopolitical power plays are likely to continue to disrupt it heavily, as usual.
Applying some wisdom to it all, it seems to me that humanity still has choices regarding their energy future potentials. Fossil fuels plentifulness is on the way out, clearly, and to what level its “greenhouse warming effect" will have on Earth’s ecosystem before it starts receding, is unclear to me. Alternatives can go the “high road or the low road”, some in-between paths more likely too. Hydroelectric sources and some wind sources can provide a baseline energy supply until their machinery made using cheap fossil fuel energy and materials, starts wearing out. Growing sugarcane and corn for making ethanol for liquid storeable fuel, and conversion of cars to run on it, can provide some baseline for truck and automobile use to some extent. Nuclear electric power is likely to be expanded again, the desperation from depletion of conventional power sources outweighing worries regarding the extremely long term toxic effects of radioactive wastes thereby produced, and how to cope with those materials. Tree material can be grown to provide both storable combustible fuel as well as construction lumber.
Recycling seems next on the list critical field, and needs to go far beyond the saving of aluminum cans, bottles and newspapers for collection. Recycling takes energy, which also is getting scarce. So, wise and responsible means need to be applied on a wide scale.
Land and Real Estate usage no doubt will continue to be the arena of those who play territorial monopoly-type games of many kinds, easy money, sweet racket: price rises rapidly with no equivalent improvement in the item.
Continuing to fail to utilize the nation’s human resources to the fullest, is likely to result in declaring “overpopulation”, thus excuse for widespread loss of life, from the birth control (including abstention techniques), illness and warfare.
The reality-testing of economical products of small and large business' narrow interests needs to be balanced with some kind of overall perspective humanity- responsible functions. The lofty principle that "if there is a real need, someone will start a business to provide it" has not been working in the real world of business, mostly corporate-interest-controlled. The overall map needs to be available to all who contribute to the business picture, to have a chance of assuring there are not big gaps in the map.
Increasing communication potentials of the Internet and computers may make a voting process that provides much of the decision making function instead of entirely government responsibility, for the overall vision’s creation and filling in of that which makes it all work together.
Insofar as we continue to not use the total human capacity, and focus on strife internal and external, distraction from the responsibility to provide the above-mentioned life needs, may become so serious that major collapse and loss of life will occur, as so cycles of the past history teaches. The KESTS to GEO conceptual design offered the alternatives of a “high road” to follow, which I’d like to think we can still attain, despite the choice so far by the powers-that-be taken choices of strife and maintain status quo of recent years that has cost the nation the finances needed to built KESTS to GEO at its finest. Bewailing the what-could-have-been may be cathartic, but otherwise ia a waste of time beyond teaching lessons about humanity’s reality at the present time. The classical cravings to maintain power-as-is will no doubt continue to dominate what opportunities actually get to happen; those who suggest other possible ways deemed irresponsible or crazy, by those of temperaments more physically oriented, bolstered by those of temperaments which focus on proven or traditional ways so as to lower some risks and maintain the comfort of familiarity.
Yet as always it is the responsibility of those of idealist temperaments to look at the big picture with its small components so as to offer wisdom for guiding toward the better of possible futures; and those of rational intellectual temperaments to sort out among those ideal versions as to how to implement those which accumulated knowledge suggests as sufficiently feasible. Those of guardian temperaments then can work to check for harmony between these possible changes with the proven and safe traditional comfortable ways, then offer the result to those artisan temperaments to “make it so.”
All nice and orderly flow, yet the endless problem is the tendency for those high achiever artisan temperament doers taking charge of the ideals, thus forcing the running of the whole show with the limited resulting functionality’s weaknesses until the surplus of the nation has been consumed, and the borrowing beyond tolerability. Then collapse, grab what can be gotten, regroup, and go from there.
Can we do better than that, this time around? I’d like to think so, despite the sociopolitical realities’ devastation ongoing. At least in theory, KESTS to GEO appears to have the potential to totally change civilization's connectivity with the vast resources of nearby space, providing the highly efficient and continuous transportation to enable the construction of all the solar electric clean powerplants for the whole world; to provide total recycling solar powered too; provide spaceports in GEO, high efficiency location for conventional and nuclear powered spacecraft to operate from; and even vast room to build high quality livingspace for huge expansions of civilization, right on our planet's doorstep. So ... for details, see www.kestsgeo.com ... I continue to offer KESTS to GEO’s technological integration pattern for your examination, wishing us all the best possible future. Although I do my best, I cannot do it all alone. Do you wait for the big players, like those who built the railroad system so powerfully, to take over and make it happen, but only to increase their power and wealth while limited to tunnel vision? I would like to have a better future than that for my loved ones.
(Note: this energy-related post was copied over from one of my other blogs. JEDCline)
20050724 J E D Cline
As the less noble of humanity’s ways continue to smokescreen my most cherished project, the exploration and utilization of the KESTS to GEO potentials, examination of the relevant trends is prudent now. The near and more distant future quality of life seems to hinge on energy resources and re-use of materials resources, although sociopolitical power plays are likely to continue to disrupt it heavily, as usual.
Applying some wisdom to it all, it seems to me that humanity still has choices regarding their energy future potentials. Fossil fuels plentifulness is on the way out, clearly, and to what level its “greenhouse warming effect" will have on Earth’s ecosystem before it starts receding, is unclear to me. Alternatives can go the “high road or the low road”, some in-between paths more likely too. Hydroelectric sources and some wind sources can provide a baseline energy supply until their machinery made using cheap fossil fuel energy and materials, starts wearing out. Growing sugarcane and corn for making ethanol for liquid storeable fuel, and conversion of cars to run on it, can provide some baseline for truck and automobile use to some extent. Nuclear electric power is likely to be expanded again, the desperation from depletion of conventional power sources outweighing worries regarding the extremely long term toxic effects of radioactive wastes thereby produced, and how to cope with those materials. Tree material can be grown to provide both storable combustible fuel as well as construction lumber.
Recycling seems next on the list critical field, and needs to go far beyond the saving of aluminum cans, bottles and newspapers for collection. Recycling takes energy, which also is getting scarce. So, wise and responsible means need to be applied on a wide scale.
Land and Real Estate usage no doubt will continue to be the arena of those who play territorial monopoly-type games of many kinds, easy money, sweet racket: price rises rapidly with no equivalent improvement in the item.
Continuing to fail to utilize the nation’s human resources to the fullest, is likely to result in declaring “overpopulation”, thus excuse for widespread loss of life, from the birth control (including abstention techniques), illness and warfare.
The reality-testing of economical products of small and large business' narrow interests needs to be balanced with some kind of overall perspective humanity- responsible functions. The lofty principle that "if there is a real need, someone will start a business to provide it" has not been working in the real world of business, mostly corporate-interest-controlled. The overall map needs to be available to all who contribute to the business picture, to have a chance of assuring there are not big gaps in the map.
Increasing communication potentials of the Internet and computers may make a voting process that provides much of the decision making function instead of entirely government responsibility, for the overall vision’s creation and filling in of that which makes it all work together.
Insofar as we continue to not use the total human capacity, and focus on strife internal and external, distraction from the responsibility to provide the above-mentioned life needs, may become so serious that major collapse and loss of life will occur, as so cycles of the past history teaches. The KESTS to GEO conceptual design offered the alternatives of a “high road” to follow, which I’d like to think we can still attain, despite the choice so far by the powers-that-be taken choices of strife and maintain status quo of recent years that has cost the nation the finances needed to built KESTS to GEO at its finest. Bewailing the what-could-have-been may be cathartic, but otherwise ia a waste of time beyond teaching lessons about humanity’s reality at the present time. The classical cravings to maintain power-as-is will no doubt continue to dominate what opportunities actually get to happen; those who suggest other possible ways deemed irresponsible or crazy, by those of temperaments more physically oriented, bolstered by those of temperaments which focus on proven or traditional ways so as to lower some risks and maintain the comfort of familiarity.
Yet as always it is the responsibility of those of idealist temperaments to look at the big picture with its small components so as to offer wisdom for guiding toward the better of possible futures; and those of rational intellectual temperaments to sort out among those ideal versions as to how to implement those which accumulated knowledge suggests as sufficiently feasible. Those of guardian temperaments then can work to check for harmony between these possible changes with the proven and safe traditional comfortable ways, then offer the result to those artisan temperaments to “make it so.”
All nice and orderly flow, yet the endless problem is the tendency for those high achiever artisan temperament doers taking charge of the ideals, thus forcing the running of the whole show with the limited resulting functionality’s weaknesses until the surplus of the nation has been consumed, and the borrowing beyond tolerability. Then collapse, grab what can be gotten, regroup, and go from there.
Can we do better than that, this time around? I’d like to think so, despite the sociopolitical realities’ devastation ongoing. At least in theory, KESTS to GEO appears to have the potential to totally change civilization's connectivity with the vast resources of nearby space, providing the highly efficient and continuous transportation to enable the construction of all the solar electric clean powerplants for the whole world; to provide total recycling solar powered too; provide spaceports in GEO, high efficiency location for conventional and nuclear powered spacecraft to operate from; and even vast room to build high quality livingspace for huge expansions of civilization, right on our planet's doorstep. So ... for details, see www.kestsgeo.com ... I continue to offer KESTS to GEO’s technological integration pattern for your examination, wishing us all the best possible future. Although I do my best, I cannot do it all alone. Do you wait for the big players, like those who built the railroad system so powerfully, to take over and make it happen, but only to increase their power and wealth while limited to tunnel vision? I would like to have a better future than that for my loved ones.
(Note: this energy-related post was copied over from one of my other blogs. JEDCline)
Offering a way out of the mess
(Note: This post is copied over from one of my other blogs. JEDCline. It includes focus on saving transportation energy by expanded forms of telecommuting.)
Offering a way out of the mess:
1. Manufacturing machines operable remotely via the internet.
2. Raise everybody’s competency.
3. Workstations made so that their function can be quickly changed, and daily on-the-job training for all employees.
4. Complete home education for everybody, primarily via internet.
5. Everybody works.
6. “Work from home” expanded hugely.
7. Every person to have access to their position in the “Big Picture”, and to have a vote in the way things go.
Expanding to some extent on these items:
1. Machines operable via internet. For example, a drill press that is operable from a home workstation, as if on the actual work site doing its use. Not a robot standing there using a conventional drill press, no; a drillpress designed and built to be operated via instructions on the internet while sending signals describing what it is doing, to the operator via internet connection. And yes, once a particular use of the drill press to make a hole in a part, that is to be done repeatedly, can copy down the sequence made by the human operator, then repeat them thereafter for however many parts are needed. Meanwhile, the distant human operator is doing new uses to make new kinds of parts, best use of machine and of people. One such category of this would be in the making of the machines that are operable via the internet.
2. Raise everybody’s competency. This enables the whole system to perform ever better. This means everybody, including the CEO, the PhD, the sales clerk, the machine operator, the single mom at home, the homeless man on the street, too. Everybody, no one gets left out.
3. Workstations made so that their function can be quickly changed, and daily on-the-job training for all employees so as to be ever better at utilizing the alternate setups for their workstation. This was shown decades ago, as part of the “just-in-time” method of manufacturing.
4. Complete home education for everybody, primarily via internet and package shipment services where necessary. This, like the OJT, is part of the “raise everybody’s competency” function.
5. Everybody works. Even if only minutes per day, or “digging holes and filling them up again” type exercise. This builds mental and physical muscles in familiarity with the world’s resources, thus available in time of need for real projects to fulfill needs.
6. “Work from home” expanded hugely, more than just “telecommuting” once a week to save gas. This not only cuts transportation commute energy, but enables interruptions, spurts of progress, and location of personnel very flexibly, for human efficiency.
7. Every person to have access to their position in the “Big Picture”, and to have a vote in the way things go. Although I have only vague ideas as to how to generate and communicate the over model of the “big picture” at present, that it can be done, seems probably, given purpose.
J E D Cline 20050828
Offering a way out of the mess:
1. Manufacturing machines operable remotely via the internet.
2. Raise everybody’s competency.
3. Workstations made so that their function can be quickly changed, and daily on-the-job training for all employees.
4. Complete home education for everybody, primarily via internet.
5. Everybody works.
6. “Work from home” expanded hugely.
7. Every person to have access to their position in the “Big Picture”, and to have a vote in the way things go.
Expanding to some extent on these items:
1. Machines operable via internet. For example, a drill press that is operable from a home workstation, as if on the actual work site doing its use. Not a robot standing there using a conventional drill press, no; a drillpress designed and built to be operated via instructions on the internet while sending signals describing what it is doing, to the operator via internet connection. And yes, once a particular use of the drill press to make a hole in a part, that is to be done repeatedly, can copy down the sequence made by the human operator, then repeat them thereafter for however many parts are needed. Meanwhile, the distant human operator is doing new uses to make new kinds of parts, best use of machine and of people. One such category of this would be in the making of the machines that are operable via the internet.
2. Raise everybody’s competency. This enables the whole system to perform ever better. This means everybody, including the CEO, the PhD, the sales clerk, the machine operator, the single mom at home, the homeless man on the street, too. Everybody, no one gets left out.
3. Workstations made so that their function can be quickly changed, and daily on-the-job training for all employees so as to be ever better at utilizing the alternate setups for their workstation. This was shown decades ago, as part of the “just-in-time” method of manufacturing.
4. Complete home education for everybody, primarily via internet and package shipment services where necessary. This, like the OJT, is part of the “raise everybody’s competency” function.
5. Everybody works. Even if only minutes per day, or “digging holes and filling them up again” type exercise. This builds mental and physical muscles in familiarity with the world’s resources, thus available in time of need for real projects to fulfill needs.
6. “Work from home” expanded hugely, more than just “telecommuting” once a week to save gas. This not only cuts transportation commute energy, but enables interruptions, spurts of progress, and location of personnel very flexibly, for human efficiency.
7. Every person to have access to their position in the “Big Picture”, and to have a vote in the way things go. Although I have only vague ideas as to how to generate and communicate the over model of the “big picture” at present, that it can be done, seems probably, given purpose.
J E D Cline 20050828
We don't really have to be chained to Earth by rocket technology limitations
(Note: this energy-related post is copied over from one of my other blogs. JEDCline)
Written by James E. D. Cline, online 2006/01/12:
We don't really have to be chained to Earth by rocket technology limitations. I'm composing a new intro to my kestsgeo.com website here.
We all know that the only way possible for us to get high enough into space so that we don’t come right back down, is on a rocket all the way up to orbit, right? By the fiery thunderous push of big reaction engines thrusting all the way to earth orbital trajectory, the only possible real way? Actually, there are a couple of other ways possible, and far more efficient orbital access too. But why be concerned with such things?
Speaking perhaps a bit too generally in this paragraph: options need to be known so as to make intelligent decisions to guide the direction our future goes. Resources availability and utilization potentials are key items for making these decisions. Access to potential great new resources is explored here, focusing on the basic scientific principles that would be utilized along with the technologies applying them for this purpose. Then the exploration of the resource mechanisms made feasible by this type of access is done, to help decide the value of the potential resource access system, and the potential changes to civilization in general, and individual lives in particular, are projected. Attention also is given to other significant factors governing the actualization of something new, including rival technologies, corporate financial prior commitments, potential relationship to the political aspirations to power of some people.
Starting with things that are already known and easily comprehensible, we next combine them to create something not currently available for use. Then explore what could be done with it, that can’t be done otherwise.
What we are hopefully looking for, is plentiful clean energy to power civilization, ways to fully recycle all that we have finished with, create plentiful new space to comfortable live in, with comparable nutritional sources, and provide great economy for further large scale continuing resource outreach.
So lets first look at some simple mechanisms that have potential to reach beyond the conventional rocket or even tether elevator space access limitations.
An object that has been put in orbit around the planet, stays up there a long time, with no further energy addition to it. Consider a circular orbit, and instead of a single satellite in the orbit, lets have a rope that is so long as to entirely encircle the planet in that orbit. The rope does not have to be strong, or even continuous, to maintain that circular structure, at least short term.
But orbits rarely are circular, instead usually are elliptical, the orbiting object rising and falling as it rotates around the planet. Its velocity varies as it rises and falls along the ellipse, and thus our rope would stretch when it goes faster near the bottom of ellipse, and crinkle up when it goes slow up at the top of its climb. But that is only if it is a continuous rope loop.
Going beyond this form of analogy of a rope all around the Earth going at orbital velocity so as to stay there in place, we have to make it elliptical going between low and high, to be potentially useful as a lifting structure for space access. If we set the ellipse to have its high point at GEO (GeoStationary Earth Orbit), and its low point at the Earth’s equatorial surface, it is in a nice place for the desired transportation between ground and high earth orbit. This is a very primitive form, of course.
Lots of structural design details to be provided from there; but the point here is that this kind of structure could extend from the ground up to GEO, and be supported by its kinetic energy centrifugal force in itself, instead of its strength of component materials.
This is a key point needing comprehension. Again: it utilizes a kind of structure that is supported by its dynamics instead of by its strength of materials.
From there we can mechanize it, making that primitive “rope” into an armature of an electric motor. The “rope”, now an “electric motor armature”, can be made of many segments so as to cope with the varying velocity they take on as they rise and fall. And these armature segments need to go sufficiently faster than orbital velocity that they produce excess outward centrifugal force to press upward to balance the weight of the stationary stator part of the electric motor.
A very low frictional loss surface needs to be between those armatures and the stator, so it needs to be a form of magnetic levitation track surface, operating at extremely high relative velocities such as 30 kmps or more in places. That also means the stator has to enclose a hard vacuum in which those armature segments slide, protecting them, especially where it is in the atmosphere.
Other objects along the stator structure could selectively electrodynamically drag against the upward-moving armature segments, thus exerting an upward force on those objects, lifting them up from the ground. Those “objects” could be spacecraft carrying people and construction materials up from ground to GEO.
And thus this concept has reached the fulfillment of a way for an efficient and continuously operating way to access space from the ground, electrically powered, and not limited by strength of materials like an anchored tether elevator would be limited. A concept that frees us from the constraints of rocket launch technology, at least up to high earth orbit, from where it is much easier for rockets to travel far away and back. And civilization could expand greatly just mostly staying in GEO.
And thus it has potential to totally change civilization’s usage of space resources. From here we need to go both directions: deeper into the transportation structure’s electromagnetic mechanism details; and outward toward the applications the transportation could make finally possible, and then potential affects on civilization.
Sure, at this point, we need to observe it would be a huge perimeter structure, but also that it does not need to be made of unusually strong materials, since it would be supported by its dynamics, not by its strength of materials, nor limited by the rocket propulsion constraints that at the present time blocks our progress toward a civilization that has huge options for near-space resource access success in the relatively near future.
If this description has enabled you to start to "get it", and would like to explore it further with me, its further development is shown on www.kestsgeo.com.
This option provides a new kind of way for reaching toward a great future for civilization in a near time frame. But what people do with this option, is quite a different story. Perhaps it is because that, after all, we are only human.
Written by James E. D. Cline, online 2006/01/12:
We don't really have to be chained to Earth by rocket technology limitations. I'm composing a new intro to my kestsgeo.com website here.
We all know that the only way possible for us to get high enough into space so that we don’t come right back down, is on a rocket all the way up to orbit, right? By the fiery thunderous push of big reaction engines thrusting all the way to earth orbital trajectory, the only possible real way? Actually, there are a couple of other ways possible, and far more efficient orbital access too. But why be concerned with such things?
Speaking perhaps a bit too generally in this paragraph: options need to be known so as to make intelligent decisions to guide the direction our future goes. Resources availability and utilization potentials are key items for making these decisions. Access to potential great new resources is explored here, focusing on the basic scientific principles that would be utilized along with the technologies applying them for this purpose. Then the exploration of the resource mechanisms made feasible by this type of access is done, to help decide the value of the potential resource access system, and the potential changes to civilization in general, and individual lives in particular, are projected. Attention also is given to other significant factors governing the actualization of something new, including rival technologies, corporate financial prior commitments, potential relationship to the political aspirations to power of some people.
Starting with things that are already known and easily comprehensible, we next combine them to create something not currently available for use. Then explore what could be done with it, that can’t be done otherwise.
What we are hopefully looking for, is plentiful clean energy to power civilization, ways to fully recycle all that we have finished with, create plentiful new space to comfortable live in, with comparable nutritional sources, and provide great economy for further large scale continuing resource outreach.
So lets first look at some simple mechanisms that have potential to reach beyond the conventional rocket or even tether elevator space access limitations.
An object that has been put in orbit around the planet, stays up there a long time, with no further energy addition to it. Consider a circular orbit, and instead of a single satellite in the orbit, lets have a rope that is so long as to entirely encircle the planet in that orbit. The rope does not have to be strong, or even continuous, to maintain that circular structure, at least short term.
But orbits rarely are circular, instead usually are elliptical, the orbiting object rising and falling as it rotates around the planet. Its velocity varies as it rises and falls along the ellipse, and thus our rope would stretch when it goes faster near the bottom of ellipse, and crinkle up when it goes slow up at the top of its climb. But that is only if it is a continuous rope loop.
Going beyond this form of analogy of a rope all around the Earth going at orbital velocity so as to stay there in place, we have to make it elliptical going between low and high, to be potentially useful as a lifting structure for space access. If we set the ellipse to have its high point at GEO (GeoStationary Earth Orbit), and its low point at the Earth’s equatorial surface, it is in a nice place for the desired transportation between ground and high earth orbit. This is a very primitive form, of course.
Lots of structural design details to be provided from there; but the point here is that this kind of structure could extend from the ground up to GEO, and be supported by its kinetic energy centrifugal force in itself, instead of its strength of component materials.
This is a key point needing comprehension. Again: it utilizes a kind of structure that is supported by its dynamics instead of by its strength of materials.
From there we can mechanize it, making that primitive “rope” into an armature of an electric motor. The “rope”, now an “electric motor armature”, can be made of many segments so as to cope with the varying velocity they take on as they rise and fall. And these armature segments need to go sufficiently faster than orbital velocity that they produce excess outward centrifugal force to press upward to balance the weight of the stationary stator part of the electric motor.
A very low frictional loss surface needs to be between those armatures and the stator, so it needs to be a form of magnetic levitation track surface, operating at extremely high relative velocities such as 30 kmps or more in places. That also means the stator has to enclose a hard vacuum in which those armature segments slide, protecting them, especially where it is in the atmosphere.
Other objects along the stator structure could selectively electrodynamically drag against the upward-moving armature segments, thus exerting an upward force on those objects, lifting them up from the ground. Those “objects” could be spacecraft carrying people and construction materials up from ground to GEO.
And thus this concept has reached the fulfillment of a way for an efficient and continuously operating way to access space from the ground, electrically powered, and not limited by strength of materials like an anchored tether elevator would be limited. A concept that frees us from the constraints of rocket launch technology, at least up to high earth orbit, from where it is much easier for rockets to travel far away and back. And civilization could expand greatly just mostly staying in GEO.
And thus it has potential to totally change civilization’s usage of space resources. From here we need to go both directions: deeper into the transportation structure’s electromagnetic mechanism details; and outward toward the applications the transportation could make finally possible, and then potential affects on civilization.
Sure, at this point, we need to observe it would be a huge perimeter structure, but also that it does not need to be made of unusually strong materials, since it would be supported by its dynamics, not by its strength of materials, nor limited by the rocket propulsion constraints that at the present time blocks our progress toward a civilization that has huge options for near-space resource access success in the relatively near future.
If this description has enabled you to start to "get it", and would like to explore it further with me, its further development is shown on www.kestsgeo.com.
This option provides a new kind of way for reaching toward a great future for civilization in a near time frame. But what people do with this option, is quite a different story. Perhaps it is because that, after all, we are only human.
Energy realated ideas subminted to the "SinceSlicedBread" project
(Note: this is copied over from anothe of my blogs, and includes some of my more energy-related idea submissions to the "SinceSlicedBread" project.
Review transportation abilities jedc 20051202 1650hrs
The issue of transportation increases rapidly with decreasing availability of low cost energy particularly gasoline.
To fix this problem, explore the transportation efficiency of all modes of movement of people and goods, from the skateboard to the rickshaw to the cable car. Part of efficiency is the convenience of movement from actual point to point, e.g., home to work site and back. One such mode to explore would be the use of pullbands circulating around residential blocks for lightweight engineless vehicles grab so as to move from one’s home garage, along ever faster pullbands circulating down long street and freeway areas, automatically routed per selected destination; the small vehicles would occupy much less parking space and structure strength.
By not leaving the task of transportation solely up to established corporation’s profit-controlled choices, a wider range of possibilities becomes possible. Later it would be possible to have business participation in providing products for the more transportation-efficient activities.
----------------------------------------------------
Enable fine future for all 20051203 jedc 0711hrs
This issue is that a basic plan for overall future needs to be in place for humanity to have optimism and usefulness.
This idea seems “not common sense” but it is made up of many commonsense ideas. Solar Power Satellites could stop the greenhouse effect accumulation, if there were a way to get them into Geostationary Earth Orbit economically. A way to lift their components and for total recycling plants there etc. would be to create a transportation structure that encircles the earth in the shape of an orbital transfer trajectory from equator to GEO, which has its weight supported by circulating mass inside it moving far above orbital velocity thus outward centrifugal force matches gravitational force; this large 131,000 km perimeter electric motor also uses the upward-direction moving circulating mass to drag spaceships between ground and GEO thus they lift no fuel. Very efficient high capacity lift, and electrically powered, eventually powered by satellites it enables into GEO.
Working families helped by providing huge new jobs and real hope for future of their children.
------------------------------------------------------
Mental-physical exercise, energy 20051203jedc 1856
The issues are a combination of need for better use of one’s brain, more interesting physical exercise, and alternative energy sourcing availability.
Design, build, and make economically available to all working families, a form of exercise machine for home use that requires the movement of arms and legs to be contra lateral alternately (which helps build connections between the two sides of the brain), and stores the produced output energy such that it can be released in the form of electrical power for small appliances such as cell phone and laptop computers.
Benefits to working families would be that it would open up a key mental resource in people (integration between the two sides of the brain), provide a more interesting form of home exercise to reduce the obesity problem, and provide a small backup supply of electrical energy when power fails or just to see how much energy one can provide oneself, as a reality test.
Review transportation abilities jedc 20051202 1650hrs
The issue of transportation increases rapidly with decreasing availability of low cost energy particularly gasoline.
To fix this problem, explore the transportation efficiency of all modes of movement of people and goods, from the skateboard to the rickshaw to the cable car. Part of efficiency is the convenience of movement from actual point to point, e.g., home to work site and back. One such mode to explore would be the use of pullbands circulating around residential blocks for lightweight engineless vehicles grab so as to move from one’s home garage, along ever faster pullbands circulating down long street and freeway areas, automatically routed per selected destination; the small vehicles would occupy much less parking space and structure strength.
By not leaving the task of transportation solely up to established corporation’s profit-controlled choices, a wider range of possibilities becomes possible. Later it would be possible to have business participation in providing products for the more transportation-efficient activities.
----------------------------------------------------
Enable fine future for all 20051203 jedc 0711hrs
This issue is that a basic plan for overall future needs to be in place for humanity to have optimism and usefulness.
This idea seems “not common sense” but it is made up of many commonsense ideas. Solar Power Satellites could stop the greenhouse effect accumulation, if there were a way to get them into Geostationary Earth Orbit economically. A way to lift their components and for total recycling plants there etc. would be to create a transportation structure that encircles the earth in the shape of an orbital transfer trajectory from equator to GEO, which has its weight supported by circulating mass inside it moving far above orbital velocity thus outward centrifugal force matches gravitational force; this large 131,000 km perimeter electric motor also uses the upward-direction moving circulating mass to drag spaceships between ground and GEO thus they lift no fuel. Very efficient high capacity lift, and electrically powered, eventually powered by satellites it enables into GEO.
Working families helped by providing huge new jobs and real hope for future of their children.
------------------------------------------------------
Mental-physical exercise, energy 20051203jedc 1856
The issues are a combination of need for better use of one’s brain, more interesting physical exercise, and alternative energy sourcing availability.
Design, build, and make economically available to all working families, a form of exercise machine for home use that requires the movement of arms and legs to be contra lateral alternately (which helps build connections between the two sides of the brain), and stores the produced output energy such that it can be released in the form of electrical power for small appliances such as cell phone and laptop computers.
Benefits to working families would be that it would open up a key mental resource in people (integration between the two sides of the brain), provide a more interesting form of home exercise to reduce the obesity problem, and provide a small backup supply of electrical energy when power fails or just to see how much energy one can provide oneself, as a reality test.
Energy sources: energy in vs energy out
(Note:" this energy-related post is copied over from one of my other blogs. JEDCline)
Thinking about energy sources, and the sum of all the specific energies that it takes to provide them in an ongoing way, appears to me to be one of the more important endeavors needed in the present day time frame. Yet, there does not seem to usually be an accurate evaluation of all the energy that goes into the devices that produce the energy we use. It is not just the dollar cost of fuel as it goes into the powerplant; this might not be obvious yet.
Abundant economical ever available energy is one of the key ingredients for our level of civilization. Fossil fuels has been the resource that has enabled the building of industrialized civilization. And it is necessary to keep energy available to keep civilization going at our level or better. It is an important issue, yet as the difficulty of providing energy increases rapidly, evaluation of all the factors need re-examination.
For example, a decade or so ago someone made an evaluation of solar cells energy deliverance ability, vs cost of manufacture ... the energy cost of manufacture, that is. This way of thinking seems essential for effective thinking about ways to provide the energy needed now and in future. That report found that it took more energy overall to manufacture the solar cells, than the solar cells would be able to supply in their useful lifetime. The report went on to point out that the places using the solar cells was what made them valuable, since they could be used to power remote devices and facilities by sun power, without having to run powerlines to the distant site, nor endure the cost of transportation and maintenance recharging of batteries to power the remote instruments. Many of the safety telephones along freeways economically use solar cells for this reason, that they do not need power lines run to power the phones.
For the major amount of electrical power used by our country, however, power will go around on existing power lines.
The question becomes how much energy does it cost to conceptualize, design, build, deliver, install, maintain and ensure continual energy input to the energy supplier.
Wind power requires the wind turbines creation, and rent to pay landowner where the windpower generator is located, maintenance of the windmill, and eventual energy cost of recycling or disposal of the worn out machine downstream.
What is the total energy cost that goes into the machine, such as the cost of commute of the employees that build and assemble all the parts, and the energy required to smelt, cast, machine and process its component materials? In this case, it is not likely there will be a cost of ensuring availability of wind to actually input energy to the windmill, but some other kinds of energy sources do have, such as the cost of fossil fuel (including coal) powered generators, and fuel for nuclear reactor powerplants, is a very significant factor, as well as cost of subduing the toxic byproducts produced during such energy provision.
The potentials of Satellite Solar Power Stations in GEO or the Moon, without significantly contributing to greenhouse effect global warming, are not presently economical enough to build despite their attractiveness for abundant electric power delivered worldwide, because of the immense cost (especially including energy costs) of using rocket propulsion to deliver the construction materials up there, along with all it takes to build and maintain that huge equipment up there. If transportation techniques are created that enable them to be delivered up into high earth orbit economicaly, however, creation of those solar electric power stations in space, where there is abundant sun power available 24 hours a day, rain or shine below, could make them highly attractive as power sources. A big "if", however; they have to be made physical reality, to be there to be used in time of need. Meantime, we need to optimally deal with what we have already got.
It is the overall energy it takes to provide an energy source, as compared to the overall energy the energy source delivers to the user, that is the key parameter. Now, how do we implement means for determining the total sum of all the specific energies it takes to ongoingly provide a particular energy source to the user?
Jim Cline 20060320
Thinking about energy sources, and the sum of all the specific energies that it takes to provide them in an ongoing way, appears to me to be one of the more important endeavors needed in the present day time frame. Yet, there does not seem to usually be an accurate evaluation of all the energy that goes into the devices that produce the energy we use. It is not just the dollar cost of fuel as it goes into the powerplant; this might not be obvious yet.
Abundant economical ever available energy is one of the key ingredients for our level of civilization. Fossil fuels has been the resource that has enabled the building of industrialized civilization. And it is necessary to keep energy available to keep civilization going at our level or better. It is an important issue, yet as the difficulty of providing energy increases rapidly, evaluation of all the factors need re-examination.
For example, a decade or so ago someone made an evaluation of solar cells energy deliverance ability, vs cost of manufacture ... the energy cost of manufacture, that is. This way of thinking seems essential for effective thinking about ways to provide the energy needed now and in future. That report found that it took more energy overall to manufacture the solar cells, than the solar cells would be able to supply in their useful lifetime. The report went on to point out that the places using the solar cells was what made them valuable, since they could be used to power remote devices and facilities by sun power, without having to run powerlines to the distant site, nor endure the cost of transportation and maintenance recharging of batteries to power the remote instruments. Many of the safety telephones along freeways economically use solar cells for this reason, that they do not need power lines run to power the phones.
For the major amount of electrical power used by our country, however, power will go around on existing power lines.
The question becomes how much energy does it cost to conceptualize, design, build, deliver, install, maintain and ensure continual energy input to the energy supplier.
Wind power requires the wind turbines creation, and rent to pay landowner where the windpower generator is located, maintenance of the windmill, and eventual energy cost of recycling or disposal of the worn out machine downstream.
What is the total energy cost that goes into the machine, such as the cost of commute of the employees that build and assemble all the parts, and the energy required to smelt, cast, machine and process its component materials? In this case, it is not likely there will be a cost of ensuring availability of wind to actually input energy to the windmill, but some other kinds of energy sources do have, such as the cost of fossil fuel (including coal) powered generators, and fuel for nuclear reactor powerplants, is a very significant factor, as well as cost of subduing the toxic byproducts produced during such energy provision.
The potentials of Satellite Solar Power Stations in GEO or the Moon, without significantly contributing to greenhouse effect global warming, are not presently economical enough to build despite their attractiveness for abundant electric power delivered worldwide, because of the immense cost (especially including energy costs) of using rocket propulsion to deliver the construction materials up there, along with all it takes to build and maintain that huge equipment up there. If transportation techniques are created that enable them to be delivered up into high earth orbit economicaly, however, creation of those solar electric power stations in space, where there is abundant sun power available 24 hours a day, rain or shine below, could make them highly attractive as power sources. A big "if", however; they have to be made physical reality, to be there to be used in time of need. Meantime, we need to optimally deal with what we have already got.
It is the overall energy it takes to provide an energy source, as compared to the overall energy the energy source delivers to the user, that is the key parameter. Now, how do we implement means for determining the total sum of all the specific energies it takes to ongoingly provide a particular energy source to the user?
Jim Cline 20060320
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