Faster than light travel

I've been writing a story about faster than light travel and trying to stay within the boundaries of what Einstein's worshipers believe is possible.

There are three basic parts of the system:

The first is a long range scanner capable of detecting even tiny space debris traveling at speed.

The second is a camera system which records star positions and identifies them using spectroscopy.  This allows the ship to maintain a record of its position relative to a location.  This becomes tricky, more on that later.

The third is a "wormhole" projector.  Yeah, I know, this sounds kind of wacky.  Essentially the ship projects a wormhole that allows it to travel as far as the scanner system can see in an instant.  Lets say 1,000,000 kilometers or 600,000 miles.

Once the ship makes a jump the scanners identify the exact position based on relative position of the stars.  The reason this is tricky is that traveling 600,000 miles creates a slight difference in the way we see things.

At 100 meters, a one degree variation results in about 25mm of variation.  A kilometer, 250mm of variation.  10 kilometers, 2500 or 2.5 meters.  10,00,000 is 250,000 meters.  Precision becomes very important in relative location, and after jumping what is, essentially, 3 light seconds, everything moves.

While the rear scanners are locating the ship precisely, the forward scanners are scanning for any space debris that could cause problems.  If the space is clear, another worm hole is projected and the ship jumps.

The velocity of the ship is based on the time it takes to calculate and the range of the mass scanners.  The faster the processing, the further the scanning range, the faster the velocity.  3 seconds scanning at about 1 million kilometers is light speed.  1 second at 1M is 3xL.S.  .1 second is 30xL.S.

Anyhow, still working on it.

Getting rid of a body

I was writing a short story about a guy who kills people in the Detroit area, generally for the mob, but, realistically for just about anyone.  I write stories, I don't submit them anywhere, I guess you could say that I'm still practicing.  I am going to get rid of a body.  I came up with a couple of different ways.

First, wrap the body tight in galvanized chain link fencing. Perforate the body using an icepick.  Attach three 5 gallon buckets filled with cement and dump it in at least 50 feet of water.

Second, cut the body up into several pieces.  Wrap each piece in galvanized wire mesh, "chicken wire".  Attach an anchor to each piece and spread them out in water at least 25ft deep, dumping a piece every five minutes while running the boat about as fast as it can.

Third, dig a hole about ten feet deep in the middle of a narrow, 20ft long trench about six feet deep.  Put the body in it.  Fill the hole in about four feet.  Drop a 20 foot long piece of steel pipe with a welded connector in the middle.  Refill the trench.

Fourth, pretty much the same as three except bury a large dog above the body.

Fifth, power wash the body with a 1:25 bleach solution.  Wrap it in plastic and dump it in a dumpster.

There is always the "feed it to pigs" solution.  I thought about that, making the perpetrator a pig farmer with a butcher shop, all sealed cement and tile with a large table and a large, sealed, band saw.  During deer season he butchers deer for local hunters.  Huge walk in freezer, smoke house, etc.  He also buys cos at auction and butchers them.

I thought about a butcher in a city, but, that sounds too much like the Soprano's.

If the guy was a pig farmer and a butcher he would have a reason for a pickup with a freezer in the back to deliver meat.  Maybe a false bottom with a winch under it, to drag the body into the freezer.

When I start dealing with boats it becomes more complex, I know, writers always make it seem like this stuff is easy, but, I'm a little too obsessive compulsive for that.  Details.

If the guy had a freezer truck and a commercial fishing boat, the freezer truck makes sense.  Things just seem complicated at that point.

I kind of liked the idea of a plastic wrapped area for dismemberment, but, I think a cordless sawzall would work better than knives.  Completely disassemble the device after use and wash with a hot bleach solution.  Completely dry and reassemble.  Why people think things can't be disassembled and cleaned is beyond me.  Sure, there are some things that can't be disassembled, but, by and large, everything can be disassembled and cleaned.

The plastic and disposable coveralls, etc, would make a rather large package for disposal.  Maybe an incinerator with a scrubber system?  Maybe even having the emissions bubbled through water?  Maybe the pig farmer could have an external boiler system that uses dual fuel technology, biomass (wood chips) and natural gas?  The water bubbler scrubber (aeration) could be a carbon sequestration system to minimize the carbon footprint of the heating system.

The water could be used for irrigation of apple trees.....which would generally be used to feed the pigs.

Still working out the details....

Ignorant morons and thinking.

I can take any side of an issue.  If I can't, I really don't believe I have a right to an opinion.  Most people don't, because most people don't think.

Thinking is a developed skill.  Puzzles, especially story problems, can help.  Most people avoid story problems and they do cross word puzzles or word searches, or whatever.  Yeah, those can be useful in developing specific skills in language relating, but, they don't help thinking.

So, thinking...what is the most important part of thinking?  The truth is, the most important part of thinking is knowing what one does and does not know.

Suppose I write a blog or a discussion board post discussing a psychiatric paper from the early 1900s on homosexuality.  I do that a lot, take a position in a discussion and occasionally people help me learn stuff.  More often, some moron without any thinking skills just becomes angry and goes off on a rant, or sometimes I piss of a moronic fascist hacker who has taken it upon himself to become a "New Age Inquisitor".

The world is filled with morons, and guess, what?  You can't avoid them so don't even try.

There is an old saying, "steel sharpens steel", and occasionally I find someone with a brain who can discuss an issue and then I might learn something.

Over the years, I have watched as the Internet has become less and less a place to exchange ideas and more and more of a place where ideology is monitored by fascists of one kind or another.   Discussion is one of the great learning tools and people don't use it, instead, people make assumptions about what they know, anything that conflicts with what they "know" is "wrong" and anyone who disagrees with what they "know" is a horrible person.

Then there are people with concepts of "respect", or "honesty" in discussion and if someone violates these rules, usually, once again by disagreeing with the "moderator", the ability to learn is compromised.

I believe this is because people go to schools and listen to idiots lecture and those idiots chastise whoever disagrees with them, so people never learn how to use discussion as a learning tool.  All people know how to do is regurgitate what they have consumed from lecturers.  This is true of reading as well.

See, the lecture or the reading is a story problem.  Generally a single perspective in a world of perspectives.  The listener or reader needs to place the information in context with other perspectives to develop an opinion or understanding.

Instead, people don't care about understanding, they just champion whatever opinion someone told them to have, then they think anyone with a different opinion is "wrong".

The thing is, people are more than a single opinion or even a group of opinions.  people are hopes and dreams and opinions and fears and thoughts.

So, our "learning" process destroys the ability to learn to think.  We can't discuss or become better at what we do.  Instead, we are building an idiocracy, and have been for hundreds of years.

Honda 1979 CX500 Headlight, Sealed Beam to H4 LED conversion

My daughter moved a ways away so I blew money I had put away for tuition on a motorcycle so I could drive out there more often this summer.  The bike is a Honda 1979 CX500 and it runs okay.  There is a harmonic shimmy occasionally, so I probably should replace the swing arm bearings.  The bike has a shaft drive and I haven't done that on a bike with a shaft drive, so, haven't done that yet.  It rides okay.

Somehow, in 36 years no one managed to do a sealed beam to H4 headlamp conversion and the low beam was burnt.  This is a real simple, fairly cheap thing.

First, I needed the conversion light.  I bought a IPCW CWC-7006 7" Plain Round Conversion Headlight from Amazon.  Under $15 bucks.  Search around, you might find one cheaper.

Second, I needed an H4 bulb.  That I ordered from eBay, 22watt, from China, about $6.   22W White H4/5730 CREE LED Fog Light Bulb 1000LM High Low Beam Headlight

Again, look around because I wasn't exactly trying to do this super cheap.  I was just trying to avoid the scam artists selling "conversion kits" on eBay for $60 bucks.  Maybe I should put together a few "conversion kits", add some instructions and sell them.  Nah, I am not interested in ripping people off.

There is a difference between the conversion headlight and the sealed beam, there are stand-offs and the stand-offs on the conversion are higher than on the sealed beam.  I thought about hack sawing them off, but, didn't need to, so I didn't.

There are eight screws to deal with, all phillips head.  You will need both a #1 and a #2.  I used a screw driver with switchable heads.  Remove the three screws holding on the headlight assembly.

Pull the connector from the back of the sealed beam.  This connector works fine for the H4 bulb, just don't get a high wattage bulb.  If you do, you could burn the connector and the alternator.  You could try wiring in a ceramic socket, but, I wouldn't bother.  The alternator specs won't handle the load.  I suggest LED.

The sealed beam is in a retaining ring inside an adjustment ring.  Remove the two pivoting screws, don't lose the stamped steel "nuts".  Loosen the headlight adjuster screw on the outside of the retaining ring.  You need a #1 phillips here.  Don't lose the spring or the little square nut.

I like using a paper bowl or a small can or something to put my bits and pieces in.  Lay them carefully in the grass, whatever.

There are two screws holding the sealed beam into the retaining ring.  #1 phillips.

Now, if the locater tabs are too big, cut off with a hack saw.  These help position the headlight in the correct orientation, so leave some stubs and file them all down so they are the same height.  I wouldn't do this unless you have to, I suggest avoiding cutting stuff up.

Swap the sealed beam for the conversion light. Rotate the conversion light around so the locater tabs fit in the correct places in the mounting ring.  Slip the retaining ring on and replace the two screws.

Put the light assembly in the adjuster, put in the pivot screws first.  The top pivot screw mount is also a tab for the head light mounting screw.  Make sure the pivot screw goes in the "middle" hole.  Those stamped steel nuts are a pain, but, play with them and they work.  You could try replacing them with real hex nuts, but, I wouldn't.

Push the assembly down against the adjuster spring, spin the nut down a ways and eyeball how even the adjustment looks.  You can use a screw driver to fine tune it.

Put the H4 bulb into the light.  There are some wires that snap loose, you might need a screw driver to push them down, then in, towards the opening.  Remove the shipping cap.  Put the bulb in, use a screw driver if you have to.  Just be careful.  Attach the socket.

Test the light, everything working?  Proceed.  Not, sit down and cry for a while, then dust yourself out and figure out what is wrong.

This is the hard part.  I think the conversion light is slightly deeper than the original so, create a "nest" in the wires for the light plug, and shove the thing together.

Put the two lower screws in first.  It might take some real force to push this together, if it takes too much, work on the next some more.  Once the lower screws are both in about half way, put in the top screw.  Now tighten everything up, tight.

Test the light a second time, everything should work peachy keen.

Bad management and restructuring

I want to do a quick blurb about bad management and corporate restructuring.

Bad managers cut costs by laying off people, closing remote operations, etc, without examining the real basis for the underlying profitability issues.

Typically there are three or four costs, employee specific costs, remote operation costs, corporate overhead costs and materials costs.  The key is to look at these costs individually and accumulated.  A lot of lazy accountants are too stupid to understand statistics so they work off of median and mean, which are easily generated  numbers.  The good bean counters work off of modalities, which tell us a lot more about what is going on.

For example, what is the individual performance modality?  This is where we take all the workers and create a histogram of their gross income generation.  In production, this is pretty much equal.  But, in other businesses, this can be radically different.  This modality curve defines my minimum expectation for worker income generation.  The curve should be skewed to the high side, meaning that the modality will be below the average gross income generation.  This is because high performers skew the curve.

What is the cost per income generating employee of the remote office?  Again, I would do a histogram of all the remote offices and look at the modality, not the mean or the median.

Corporate cost per employee should be the lowest of these three numbers, if it isn't, corporate costs need to be reduced.

This is actually basic processing statistics, the modality becomes critical and the mean/median are only important in their relationship to the modality of the process.

Looking at the modality curve, the analyst has to compare the width of the modality curve to 2 sigma.  Using the lower of 2 sigma or the width of the curve, it is fairly easy to set up lower and upper boundaries for process control, everyone producing below the lower boundary is let go, every remote office which costs more than the upper boundary of their modality curve is restructured to reduce costs. 

The total of the employee, remote operation and corporate overhead costs must be lower than the low boundary of the individual employee income generating modality.  This way, income generation is protected, costs are cut and profits increased.

Once individual performance standards are determined using modalities, everything else becomes obvious.  Then management can look at high performers and figure out what they are doing, then train others so that the modality begins shifting closer to the mean.  Done right, continuous improvement strategies result in process optimization.

This is all basic, Business 101, Processing 101, stuff.  The problem is, people are usually too arrogant to pay attention to the basics and figure they can do things better than the last thousand people who did it.

So, when you hear about a corporation that is restructuring, are they protecting gross income generation?  Are they protecting the corporate overhead (their salaries and perks, executive dinning room)?

Look at the financial services corporations that the United States bailed out and then handed over the future of health care to with "Obamacare".  Most of these guys didn't change their overhead, they depended on charity to protect their overhead.

Income in the States is multi-modal, there is a "line" with multiple "bumps" in it.  Each "bump" is a curve modality.

So what did those political decisions do?  Well, they reduced the amount of the three lower income modalities in the United States, which decreases the amount of money consumers have to spend in a consumer drive economy.

In other words, by implementing Obamacare and other corporate protections, the Obama Admin is protecting the high income modalities and damaging the lower income modalities.