Today's topic was a tossup between hydraulics and solar panels. Solar panels won in a small (very small) (so small, I asked one person's opinion) vote.
We have some good friends who have installed some solar panels on their house. One neighbor in particular balked and said it wasn't feasible. Well, three years and dramatically small electricity bills later, those solar panels are still doing their job. I think they're even selling power back to the company.
The closest How Stuff Works.com article I've found to explain how solar panels work is How Solar Panel Highways Work.
Solar cell technology has been in use at least since 1958, when photovoltaics powered satellites' electrical systems.
The basic process works thusly: (Straight from the HSW article) "Photovoltaic cells are made of special materials called semiconductors such as silicon, which is currently used most commonly. Basically, when light strikes the cell, a certain portion of it is absorbed within the semiconductor material. This means that the energy of the absorbed light is transferred to the semiconductor. The energy knocks electrons loose, allowing them to flow freely.
"PV cells also all have one or more electric field that acts to force electrons freed by light absorption to flow in a certain direction. This flow of electrons is a current, and by placing metal contacts on the top and bottom of the PV cell, we can draw that current off for external use, say, to power a calculator. This current, together with the cell's voltage (which is a result of its built-in electric field or fields), defines the power (or wattage) that the solar cell can produce."
The naysayers, which I am unashamedly NOT amongst, are often put off by the cost of panel installation. Also, our market is flooded with poor quality panels--often coated with plastic, which of course does not stand up well to exposure. My friends got their solar panels from a company in Hillsboro, Oregon. The tempered-glass panels have lasted for three years, so far.
Oh, and their Chevrolet Volt car hasn't added but maybe $20/month to the electricity bill. They are SO cool. Maybe we'll talk about their car next week.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Notifiblog: Bridges
Bridges are a big part of life when you have a river running through your hometown. In Portland, Oregon, we have the following bridges:
Willamette River
Bridges over the Willamette River, listed north to south:
- St. Johns Bridge (1931) - U.S. Route 30/N Philadelphia Avenue
- Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge 5.1 (1908)
- Fremont Bridge (1973) - Interstate 405
- Broadway Bridge (1913) - Broadway
- Steel Bridge (1912) - Pacific Highway West/former Oregon Route 99W
- Burnside Bridge (1926) - Burnside Street
- Morrison Bridge (1958) - Morrison Street
- Hawthorne Bridge (1910) - Hawthorne Boulevard
- Marquam Bridge (1966) - Interstate 5
- Ross Island Bridge (1922) - U.S. Route 26/Powell Boulevard
- Sellwood Bridge (1925) - SE Tacoma Street
Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Bridge is the working name for a planned new bridge across the Willamette.[39]
Columbia River
Bridges over the Columbia River, listed west to east:
- Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge 9.6 (1908)
- Interstate Bridge (1917/1958) - Interstate 5
- Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge (1982) - Interstate 205
The fear of bridges is called Gephyrophobia.
The oldest surviving bridge in the US is the Frankford Avenue Bridge (1697), in the Holmesburg section of Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Oregon also shares some of the US's collection of covered bridges. My Mum and one of her sisters went on a road trip around various parts of Oregon just so my "Adventure" Auntie could photograph them.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Notifiblog: How To Do Stuff
During a day of total sloth yesterday, I wondered how to do something. Something I don't remember at the moment. But I'll think of it or something equally entertaining later, I'm sure.
So, for when I do think of whatever it is I wanted to learn how to do, let's find a few places where we can look for instruction!
Ehow used to be pretty good. It seems to have become a lot prettier than I remember.
wikiHow is another site. As with Wikipedia, anyone can edit the content, so I'd be careful following instructions that involve chemicals. We should probably compare that cake recipe against another site's instruction.
I've always liked Lifehacker, ever since I read instructions for removing the beeper from a toy microwave oven. (Used to sit near a kitchen in another job; saw no reason we couldn't apply the same principles. Never did get to try it, though: microwave finally broke.)
Next assignment: Think of something we want to learn how to do!
So, for when I do think of whatever it is I wanted to learn how to do, let's find a few places where we can look for instruction!
Ehow used to be pretty good. It seems to have become a lot prettier than I remember.
wikiHow is another site. As with Wikipedia, anyone can edit the content, so I'd be careful following instructions that involve chemicals. We should probably compare that cake recipe against another site's instruction.
I've always liked Lifehacker, ever since I read instructions for removing the beeper from a toy microwave oven. (Used to sit near a kitchen in another job; saw no reason we couldn't apply the same principles. Never did get to try it, though: microwave finally broke.)
Next assignment: Think of something we want to learn how to do!
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Notifiblog: How Stuff Works Thursday!
I'm on a mission today. I want to know How Internet Search Engines Work!
Skipping the bit about "web crawlers" and "spiders" (shudder), let's get on to some really good stuff.
(Straight from the HSW article) "Meta tags allow the owner of a page to specify key words and concepts under which the page will be indexed." Good news: meta tags can help find indexed words that can have multiple meanings, focusing on the meaning you want. Bad news: meta tags can have nothing to do with page content. Ever gone looking for something nice and found something NSFW instead? However, "(t)o protect against this, spiders will correlate meta tags with page content, rejecting the meta tags that don't match the words on the page."
(Straight from...) "To make for more useful results, most search engines store more than just the word and URL. An engine might store the number of times that the word appears on a page. The engine might assign a weight to each entry, with increasing values assigned to words as they appear near the top of the document, in sub-headings, in links, in the meta tags or in the title of the page. Each commercial search engine has a different formula for assigning weight to the words in its index. This is one of the reasons that a search for the same word on different search engines will produce different lists, with the pages presented in different orders." RANKING ROCKS!
Skipping the bit about "web crawlers" and "spiders" (shudder), let's get on to some really good stuff.
(Straight from the HSW article) "Meta tags allow the owner of a page to specify key words and concepts under which the page will be indexed." Good news: meta tags can help find indexed words that can have multiple meanings, focusing on the meaning you want. Bad news: meta tags can have nothing to do with page content. Ever gone looking for something nice and found something NSFW instead? However, "(t)o protect against this, spiders will correlate meta tags with page content, rejecting the meta tags that don't match the words on the page."
(Straight from...) "To make for more useful results, most search engines store more than just the word and URL. An engine might store the number of times that the word appears on a page. The engine might assign a weight to each entry, with increasing values assigned to words as they appear near the top of the document, in sub-headings, in links, in the meta tags or in the title of the page. Each commercial search engine has a different formula for assigning weight to the words in its index. This is one of the reasons that a search for the same word on different search engines will produce different lists, with the pages presented in different orders." RANKING ROCKS!
(Straight...) "The searches defined by Boolean operators are literal searches -- the engine looks for the words or phrases exactly as they are entered. This can be a problem when the entered words have multiple meanings. "Bed," for example, can be a place to sleep, a place where flowers are planted, the storage space of a truck or a place where fish lay their eggs. If you're interested in only one of these meanings, you might not want to see pages featuring all of the others. You can build a literal search that tries to eliminate unwanted meanings, but it's nice if the search engine itself can help out." Welcome, concept-based searching and natural-language queries!
The actual article, linked above, is chock-a-block with more information. This HUMBLE posting is intended to inspire you to read more. Later, as I will, when I'm on another break from work. Cheers!
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Notifiblog: Traffic!
I like riding the bus to work. I get to read, play that addictive word game on my Kindle, knit, crochet, or even doze. But I don't like to keep my coworkers waiting whilst my bus is stuck in traffic. But traffic is a reality of my urban existence. Instead of cursing the darkness, I choose to light a small candle to learn about...you guessed it: TRAFFIC! There are many applications for this word, but I'll try to focus on the urban type my bus was stuck in this morning.
We use the word "traffic" pejoratively when speaking of urban road congestion, but it's really quite an innocent word we adopted from the Arabic word, taraffaqa, which means to walk along slowly together.
Traffic is controlled in my area largely by automated traffic lights. There is a flashing red control at the intersection where I catch my morning bus to work. Amazing how many people roll on through. Even more amazing there aren't daily collisions there.
Traffic laws are designed to help the flow of traffic and to establish a code of driving etiquette. We're still travelling in and around vehicles whose weight is mesasured in tons. The rules are designed to protect us from injury as much as possible. When we comply with them.
We use the word "traffic" pejoratively when speaking of urban road congestion, but it's really quite an innocent word we adopted from the Arabic word, taraffaqa, which means to walk along slowly together.
Traffic is controlled in my area largely by automated traffic lights. There is a flashing red control at the intersection where I catch my morning bus to work. Amazing how many people roll on through. Even more amazing there aren't daily collisions there.
Traffic laws are designed to help the flow of traffic and to establish a code of driving etiquette. We're still travelling in and around vehicles whose weight is mesasured in tons. The rules are designed to protect us from injury as much as possible. When we comply with them.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Notifiblog: Round Robins
There's a big "round-robin" tournament going on, which you may have read in some of my more obsessive blog posts. I speak, of course, of the MasterCard Memorial Cup competition for the Memorial Cup. This is the Canadian Hockey League's version of the Stanley Cup.
The first piece of the tournament is always a "round-robin" competition. I finally bothered to look up what that means. And it has nothing to do with a bird in this case!
(Straight from Wikipedia) "The term round-robin is derived from the term ruban, meaning "ribbon". Over a long period of time, the term was corrupted and idiomized to robin."
(Straight from Wikipedia) "In a single round-robin schedule, each participant plays every other participant once. If each participant plays all others twice, this is frequently called a double round-robin."
For the second time ever in Memorial Cup tournament history--and for the second year in a row--all four teams in the competition are, as of TODAY, 1-1.
Go Winterhawks!
The first piece of the tournament is always a "round-robin" competition. I finally bothered to look up what that means. And it has nothing to do with a bird in this case!
(Straight from Wikipedia) "The term round-robin is derived from the term ruban, meaning "ribbon". Over a long period of time, the term was corrupted and idiomized to robin."
(Straight from Wikipedia) "In a single round-robin schedule, each participant plays every other participant once. If each participant plays all others twice, this is frequently called a double round-robin."
For the second time ever in Memorial Cup tournament history--and for the second year in a row--all four teams in the competition are, as of TODAY, 1-1.
Go Winterhawks!
Monday, May 20, 2013
Notifiblog: Do You Know Your National Anthem?
By now, a lot of people have seen the video of the poor Canadian girl who didn't know the words to The Star-Spangled Banner. I saw the spectacle as live as possible, on several large-screen tellies at a Winterhawks hockey viewing party in a restaurant. I felt her pain. I felt a little ashamed that we Americans run around assuming everyone should know the words to our national anthem. The girl did a great job: SHE DIDN'T EMBELLISH THE TUNE! She showed as much grace and respect as she could, while the spectators raised their voices to give her an assist. In tweeted replies to her apology, several of us reassured her most Americans don't know it, either.
There are, officially, four verses, and a fifth was added during the Civil War.
A hand-written version by Francis Scott Key, himself, reads, "Whose bright stars and broad stripes, through the clouds of the fight".
(Straight from Wikipedia): "The song is notoriously difficult for nonprofessionals to sing because of its wide range – a 12th."
Performers have tried over the years to place their own personal signatures on the song (José Feliciano, Jimi Hendrix, Whitney Houston, and more), but I truly believe the song should be free of embellishment. And that's how a brave young lady named Alexis Normand intended to do it.
BTW: The tune has often been accused of being a drinking song, but it's really too difficult to manage when in one's cups, apparently. At least to do it right.
There are, officially, four verses, and a fifth was added during the Civil War.
A hand-written version by Francis Scott Key, himself, reads, "Whose bright stars and broad stripes, through the clouds of the fight".
(Straight from Wikipedia): "The song is notoriously difficult for nonprofessionals to sing because of its wide range – a 12th."
Performers have tried over the years to place their own personal signatures on the song (José Feliciano, Jimi Hendrix, Whitney Houston, and more), but I truly believe the song should be free of embellishment. And that's how a brave young lady named Alexis Normand intended to do it.
BTW: The tune has often been accused of being a drinking song, but it's really too difficult to manage when in one's cups, apparently. At least to do it right.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Notifiblog: How Stuff Works Thursday!
What is the greatest book ever NOT to exist? Of course, it's the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" -- the "real" one, not those horridly entertaining radio series, novels, and movies about it. Let's go a bit beyond the guide to give you a bit of HG2G trivia that will out-nerd anyone who covets Ford Prefect's job.
Author Douglas Adams' original concept for his pitch for a sci-fi comedy radio series was called The Ends of the Earth. The idea was that at the end of each show, the Earth would be destroyed in a new and interesting way. Remember Milliways, the restaurant at the literal end of the universe?
Marshall the Paranoid Android? Another comedy writer, Andrew Marshall, was the inspiration; however, Douglas Adams changed the name to Marvin, likely to avoid being sued. Two Harry Potter film series co-stars played Marvin in the 2005 film: Warwick Davis (physical) and Alan Rickman (voice).
Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray were both considered for the role of Ford Prefect for the first HG2G film (the 2005 one can't be the only one ever!). However, it was a script Dan Aykroyd presented that put HG2G production on "indefinite" hold. Ultimately, both movies were made.
Don't Panic! This planet is Mostly Harmless.
Author Douglas Adams' original concept for his pitch for a sci-fi comedy radio series was called The Ends of the Earth. The idea was that at the end of each show, the Earth would be destroyed in a new and interesting way. Remember Milliways, the restaurant at the literal end of the universe?
Marshall the Paranoid Android? Another comedy writer, Andrew Marshall, was the inspiration; however, Douglas Adams changed the name to Marvin, likely to avoid being sued. Two Harry Potter film series co-stars played Marvin in the 2005 film: Warwick Davis (physical) and Alan Rickman (voice).
Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray were both considered for the role of Ford Prefect for the first HG2G film (the 2005 one can't be the only one ever!). However, it was a script Dan Aykroyd presented that put HG2G production on "indefinite" hold. Ultimately, both movies were made.
Don't Panic! This planet is Mostly Harmless.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Notifiblog: No Rest for the Wicked (or, in my case, Evil)
I spent another Monday NOT blogging. There was so much to do, I had to dive in and get it done! It's paraphrased right there in the Bible, Book of Isaiah verses 48:22 and 57:20-21. Makes me wonder...are there living creatures that never sleep?
As it turns out, it depends on how we define sleep. There are some creatures that can "turn off" one hemisphere of the brain for a period of rest. But some creatures need very little of what we call sleep.
Giraffes require very little sleep; they enjoy only about 30 minutes a day of deep sleep split into several separate sessions. Source See, Zac? This proves there ARE Evil Giraffes!
Whales and dolphins practice unihemispheric sleep: one side of the brain sleeps while the other side stays alert to potential predators.
On the other end of the scale are koalas, which sleep about 22 hours per day! Source Are you surprised it isn't human teenagers?
As it turns out, it depends on how we define sleep. There are some creatures that can "turn off" one hemisphere of the brain for a period of rest. But some creatures need very little of what we call sleep.
Giraffes require very little sleep; they enjoy only about 30 minutes a day of deep sleep split into several separate sessions. Source See, Zac? This proves there ARE Evil Giraffes!
Whales and dolphins practice unihemispheric sleep: one side of the brain sleeps while the other side stays alert to potential predators.
On the other end of the scale are koalas, which sleep about 22 hours per day! Source Are you surprised it isn't human teenagers?
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Notifiblog: How Stuff Works Thursday!
Hard to believe it's already Thursday. I'm blogging much later in the day than I do usually. Too much good stuff going on in this job, and for that I have NO complaint!
One of my favorite techie investments has been an MP3 player. I love to put on my music and jam whilst I work. Most of these songs keep me energized or at least engaged in what I'm doing. How does this little box of sights and sounds work?
The MP3, or MPEG Audio Layer III, file format is a method of compressing files. Straight from the HSW article: "Consider that an average song is about four minutes long. On a CD, that song uses about 40 megabytes (MB), but uses only 4 MB if compressed through the MP3 format. On average, 64 MB of storage space equals an hour of music. A music listener who has an MP3 player with 1 GB (approximately 1,000 MB) of storage space can carry about 240 songs or the equivalent of about 20 CDs. Songs stored on traditional CDs are already decompressed, so it takes more CDs to store the same amount of songs. (Some CDs support MP3 files.)"
It's all about portability.
Funny, when radio was invented and the amplifier was not, people needed to wear earphones to hear them. When I was a kid, people wanted big, blasting stereos. Now they're back to listening with earphones.
There's much more to the article than I cover here, of course. Have a little fun...let's learn together! Or maybe we can just listen to the podcast. (Is there one?)
One of my favorite techie investments has been an MP3 player. I love to put on my music and jam whilst I work. Most of these songs keep me energized or at least engaged in what I'm doing. How does this little box of sights and sounds work?
The MP3, or MPEG Audio Layer III, file format is a method of compressing files. Straight from the HSW article: "Consider that an average song is about four minutes long. On a CD, that song uses about 40 megabytes (MB), but uses only 4 MB if compressed through the MP3 format. On average, 64 MB of storage space equals an hour of music. A music listener who has an MP3 player with 1 GB (approximately 1,000 MB) of storage space can carry about 240 songs or the equivalent of about 20 CDs. Songs stored on traditional CDs are already decompressed, so it takes more CDs to store the same amount of songs. (Some CDs support MP3 files.)"
MP3 players can play more than just MP3 files! They can also play formats such as:
- WMA - Windows Media Audio
- WAV - Waveform Audio
- MIDI - Music Instrument Digital Interface.
- AAC - Advanced Audio Coding
- Ogg Vorbis - A free, open and un-patented music format
- ADPCM - Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation
- ASF - Advanced Streaming Format
- VQF - Vector Quantization Format
- ATRAC - Sony's Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding 3
It's all about portability.
Funny, when radio was invented and the amplifier was not, people needed to wear earphones to hear them. When I was a kid, people wanted big, blasting stereos. Now they're back to listening with earphones.
There's much more to the article than I cover here, of course. Have a little fun...let's learn together! Or maybe we can just listen to the podcast. (Is there one?)
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Notifiblog: Exploring Randomness
It's another Wednesday, and I'm at a loss for a pre-thought-up topic. Randomness comes to mind. And Randomness turns out to be a serious mind-challenger!
Let's get all highfalutin and look at three scientific fields that are concerned with randomness. Sheesh! These Wikipedia articles are so dense, I recommend just clicking and reading.
Chaos TheoryGame TheoryInformation Theory
Whew! Kinda neat, though, huh?
Let's get all highfalutin and look at three scientific fields that are concerned with randomness. Sheesh! These Wikipedia articles are so dense, I recommend just clicking and reading.
Chaos TheoryGame TheoryInformation Theory
Whew! Kinda neat, though, huh?
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Notifiblog: A Real First-Day Experience!
I didn't blog yesterday. Sorry...it was my first day on my latest employment Adventure. I spent the day updating the instructions to do a key portion of my job. Good enough excuse?
How about an ode to lame excuses today! I can't speak to the SFW/NSFW state of any of the following Excuse Generator results...
The Metaverse Excuse-O-Mat gave me the following excuse for Distraction: I got so caught up in this stupid flame-war on the Net that I could hardly get myself centered-- and then my boss got on my case COMPLETELY unfairly. I am so put upon by occult forces sometimes! Anyway, I hope the medication kicks in this week.
NSFW, depending on the type of excuse you select (sadly, the default is NSFW)...The Random Excuse Generator provided me with the following excuse for speeding: I'm sorry officer. I know I was speeding but I can't reach my license unless you hold my cell phone.
No fair using this one for work, but maybe you can use it to get your kid out of some snag: The Sickday Excuse Generator gave me one of my classic faves: The voices told me to clean all the guns today.
No excuse is too lame! For me, anyway. Cheers!
How about an ode to lame excuses today! I can't speak to the SFW/NSFW state of any of the following Excuse Generator results...
The Metaverse Excuse-O-Mat gave me the following excuse for Distraction: I got so caught up in this stupid flame-war on the Net that I could hardly get myself centered-- and then my boss got on my case COMPLETELY unfairly. I am so put upon by occult forces sometimes! Anyway, I hope the medication kicks in this week.
NSFW, depending on the type of excuse you select (sadly, the default is NSFW)...The Random Excuse Generator provided me with the following excuse for speeding: I'm sorry officer. I know I was speeding but I can't reach my license unless you hold my cell phone.
No fair using this one for work, but maybe you can use it to get your kid out of some snag: The Sickday Excuse Generator gave me one of my classic faves: The voices told me to clean all the guns today.
No excuse is too lame! For me, anyway. Cheers!
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Notifiblog: How Stuff Works Thursday!
It's getting toward that time of year in the Northern Hemisphere when people who can still afford fuel traditionally take road trips by automobile. Good time to learn How Cruise Control Systems Work, IMHO.
Cruise control is far more common on North American cars than European cars, because the roads in America are generally bigger and straighter, and destinations are farther apart. (Straight from HSW.com)
Cruise control engages at a minimum of 25-30 mph (about 37-44 km/h) for safety reasons. Think about it...most neighborhoods have a speed limit of 25 mph. Why would you be cruising through a neighborhood with children and pets potentially running out into the...Oh HECK no! That's not Evil...that's just evil.
The key to cruise control is its operation of the throttle to speed up or slow down. The article goes on about all these cables and computery bits, but you and I know when cruise control adjusts for hills and when you tap the buttons to go up or down 1 mph or km/h is all really managed by GNOMES JOYOUSLY CAVORTING IN THE SYSTEM.
The article really is pretty cool. Share with the youth in your family before your next long car trip. You won't get there any faster, but it may keep things quiet for a little while.
Cruise control is far more common on North American cars than European cars, because the roads in America are generally bigger and straighter, and destinations are farther apart. (Straight from HSW.com)
Cruise control engages at a minimum of 25-30 mph (about 37-44 km/h) for safety reasons. Think about it...most neighborhoods have a speed limit of 25 mph. Why would you be cruising through a neighborhood with children and pets potentially running out into the...Oh HECK no! That's not Evil...that's just evil.
The key to cruise control is its operation of the throttle to speed up or slow down. The article goes on about all these cables and computery bits, but you and I know when cruise control adjusts for hills and when you tap the buttons to go up or down 1 mph or km/h is all really managed by GNOMES JOYOUSLY CAVORTING IN THE SYSTEM.
The article really is pretty cool. Share with the youth in your family before your next long car trip. You won't get there any faster, but it may keep things quiet for a little while.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Notifiblog: Ode to the Hockey Mullet
Now that the NHL playoffs have begun and the WHL playoffs are nearing that final push, I think it's time to pay homage to the hair style choice of helmetheads everywhere: the mullet. Short on the top and sides, long in the back...remember?
Much to my dismay, the mullet may not have been invented by David Bowie and Paul and Linda McCartney in the 1970s.
The mullet was "wildly popular" in the mid-1980s. One of my besties had his hair cut into a mullet even before we knew the cut had a name!
The mullet apparently was referenced as early as the 8th Century, BC in the second book of The Iliad.
Famous-ish mullet wearers who come to mind:
Wayne Gretzky
MacGyver
Those are all I can think of at the moment. Cheers!
The Portland Winterhawks face off against the Edmonton Oil Kings this Friday night! It's a rematch made in Hockey Heaven!
Much to my dismay, the mullet may not have been invented by David Bowie and Paul and Linda McCartney in the 1970s.
The mullet was "wildly popular" in the mid-1980s. One of my besties had his hair cut into a mullet even before we knew the cut had a name!
The mullet apparently was referenced as early as the 8th Century, BC in the second book of The Iliad.
Famous-ish mullet wearers who come to mind:
Wayne Gretzky
MacGyver
Those are all I can think of at the moment. Cheers!
The Portland Winterhawks face off against the Edmonton Oil Kings this Friday night! It's a rematch made in Hockey Heaven!
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