08

1. Bullet Proof Shirts. RE: Science. Nanotechnology.
2. Modifying My Blogging Input Process. RE: Blogging.
3. Tarsiers. RE: Personal.
4. Weapons Of Choice. RE: Martial Arts.
5. The Atom Project. RE: Science.
6. Quick Run Down Of My Politcal Views. RE: Politics.

2003-08-04t20:25:32Z | Link | RE: Science. Nanotechnology.
Bullet Proof Shirts

They can now make threads out of nanotubes and plastic spun together. Like most nanoproducts, its properties that can be modified. Its strength, toughness, and ability to conduct or store electricity can be varied.

They can make a shirt as light and strong as Frodo's Mithril chain mail shirt. At $15,000 per ounce it would just as expensive as well. However in 5-10 years, the price should drop considerably.

2003-08-11t21:35:52Z | RE: Blogging.
Modifying My Blogging Input Process

In the old process, I was parked interesting links on my front page. The assumption was that I would review the links and then blog about them later. However, I've found that process too slow and often by the time I got to the link, the topic was stale.

In the new process I jot down new links in the blog. This way links are dated and I can still explore it further and/or write about it in greater detail later.

In the mean time I'm still catching up on the links I've parked on my front page. :\

2003-08-11t21:45:06Z | RE: Personal.
Tarsiers

I was considering choosing the tarsier as my favorite animal. It is an endangered, hand sized, solitary, nocturnal prosimian native to the Philippines. It is also the mascot for O'Reilly, which of course publishes excellent books about computers. It is omnivorous and can rotate its head 180 degrees. The tarsier also has an odd dental formula 2.1.3.3 upper and 1.1.3.3 lower (in contrast, the human dental formula is 2.1.2.3).

However I'm hesitating on choosing it as a favorite yet.I'm waiting for something to click about the choice.  In the mean time, here are some of the links that churned up regarding tarsiers: t1 t2 t3 t4 t5.

2003-08-14t22:04:50Z | RE: Martial Arts.
Weapons Of Choice

Several weeks ago I watched a few episodes of the History Channel series called Conquest where actor and fight master Peter Woodward challenges himself and a team of people to master odd skills. The series has gotten me to think about weapons and the situations that evolve them.

The episode that struck me the most was "Swords of the Musketeers" (first aired 2003-03-20). That episode focused on rapiers and examined how fencing was done for display and for real life. The rapier was used in a time when firearms was making armor obsolete for warfare, but before the firearms were good enough to replace conventional weapons. Without armor, the focus of the sword from slashing (slicing), hacking (chopping), and thrusting (piercing) to primarily thrusting for several reasons.

• Distance. Clearly thrusting has a greater reach than slashing or hacking. The sword also grew longer as it evolved. [As a side: Although offense became the new defense, a rapier swordsman would often use  a parrying dagger in the other hand for defense or for a short range offensive weapon.]
• Speed. A thrusting sword doesn't need the width and weight of a slashing sword. The lightness of rapiers allowed for greater speed and agility. Without armor, moving out of the way quickly was more important for defense.

The rapier was the ultimate personal weapon of its time. Clearly in modern times, the ultimate personal weapon is a gun: its range, speed, mobility, concealability, beat the rapier, the bow, the axe, etc., hands down. The only advantage of the rapier is that it doesn't have to be reloaded.

However the average citizen does not have, does not want, or cannot have a gun. So a person needs to avoid situations, diffuse situations, psyche out the assailant, run, counter with more people, have an alternative weapon ready, improvise a weapon, or fight bare handed. Let me focus on "having an alternative weapon ready" in a few situations.

• Hijacking. Hijackers will try to psychologically control the crowd by shouting, hitting, cutting, raping, making examples (e.g. eviscerating someone and leaving the guts and body out for display) or using babies or women as shields against the other hostages. Hijackers with box-cutters should not work post-September 11. Since we now know that the hijackers may not want hostages and may instead want to kill themselves and as many other people as they can, then it is worth countering the hijackers with as many other victims as possible. All sort of objects should be thrown at the hijackers before rushing them. Jacket and blankets may be used to smother or entangle box-cutters and such. It is important to have psychological preparedness to do this.
• Near your car. In Chicago it is illegal to have weapons in general unless you are on your way to a class to use them. Keep a pair of light and long hammers under the drivers seat and an aluminum bat in the trunk: both are perfectly legal. Keep flailing, keep in constant motion, think offense. Showing your psychological determination is extremely important.
• At home. Dial 911. If you don't want to get a gun, sword, spear, etc., then a decent staff should be fairly kid safe and legal. Remember to use the distance and try to thrust repeatedly at different targets instead of swinging. Improvising by throwing things can also be good.
• Globally. The US has the finest military in the world (which includes or has included three of my brothers, several of my other relatives, and a number of my friends). However terrorism is not solved by unilateral military action. How about diplomacy? How about allies? How about economics? How about non-WMD? The US is rich but isn't clear that in order to fight terrorists with unilateral military action, we'd have to spend at least a million dollars for every dollar a terrorist spends? Isn't it clear that we do not have the military personnel for our increasing number of fronts as well our vast homeland and overseas infrastructure? Money should and must be spent on the military, however money overspent on it provides no return on investment. In contrast, money spent on education, economics, research, utilities, infrastructure, etc. is a profitable investment on many levels.

On a parting note, here are some of the links I dug up when looking into fencing:

• AEMMA.org. The Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts.
• Armor.com. Good sword replicas, not that "fantasy" stuff.
• TheHACA.com. The Association for Renaissance Martial Arts, formerly known as The Historical Armed Combat Association.
  • There Is No "Best Sword": If there were no firearms, they'd still be designing new swords. I liked this article.
• ChicagoSwordPlayGuild.com
• ChicagoFencingClub.com
• Chicago Swordplay Guild
• Classical Fencing and Historical Swordsmanship Resources
• How to Study Historical Swordplay
• USFencing.org

2003-08-20t17:34:51Z | Link | RE: Science.
The Atom Project

What an adventure: 30 years of going through infancy, the terrible twos, toddler-hood, and finally kindergarten. It's exactly where I'm at with my kids.

Japanese researchers in robot technology are advocating a grand project, under which the government would spend 50 billion yen a year over three decades to develop a humanoid robot with the mental, physical and emotional capacity of a 5-year-old human.

That comes out to 1.5 trillion yen, making it comparable in price and scope to the US Apollo Project which cost $20 billion (or 7.2 trillion yen). I'll bet that most people will laugh at the "Astro Boy" Project but then again they have no concept of the potential Artificial Intelligence/Robotics. Those of us who keep abreast of AI/R probably find stories like this both frightening and wonderful.

Also for those who don't know, there is a short list of technologies that all governments should take very, very seriously:

• AI/R.
• Nanotechnology.
• Supercomputers. Including DNA, quantum, etc. Ubiquitous, limitless.
• "Spy satellites".
• Networking. Ubiquitous, limitless.
• Space.

Go! Go! Go Tetsuwan Atom!

2003-08-20t22:07:37Z | RE: Politics.
Quick Run Down Of My Politcal Views

I've finally decided to jot down my political views. Here is a snap shot of what I currently have in my Politics section.

My political view point is non-Partisan but I lean towards the Left (see Politopia.com), i.e. Libertarian Democrats and Green.

Here's a quick run down of my political view points.

• Socialism and Democracy
  • Government should cover a minimum on basic needs such as health care, food, shelter, utilities, communication, education, military, environment, and culture.
  • Government intervention on more than the minimum infringes on freedom and can inhibit what can be achieved.
• Taxes.
  • Everyone should pay a minimum percentage. Then the richer you get, the higher your tax percentage. This system does not by any means stop people from becoming richer.
• Economics.
  • Except for socialized programs, markets should be monitored but mostly free.
  • The bottom line should cover People, Planet, and Profit.
  • There should be some short term government subsidies to foster growth in particular areas, fields, etc.
• Racism, Sexism
  • There should be no quotas or any form of sex or race discrimination. "Discrimination" on inability to perform specific jobs should be allowed.
  • Additional punishment for hate crimes is a good thing.
  • Whites, Blacks, Latinos, Men, Women, Gays, etc. should be able to make their own private clubs.
• Drugs.
  • We can't stop it. It's safer if legalized. Educate people. Tax it because the government has to be involved.
  • Too much spent on "war on drugs". Didn't we learn anything from the Prohibition?
• Prostitution.
  • We can't stop it. It's safer if legalized. Educate people. Tax it because the government has to be involved.
  • It's between consenting entities.
• Homosexuality, Lesbians, etc.
  • We can't stop it. It's safer if legalized. Educate people.
  • It's between consenting entities.
  • Gay Marriages. People in social contracts should have the protection of legal contracts too.
• Pornography
  • We can't stop it. It's safer if legalized. Educate people. Tax it because the government has to be involved.
  • It's between consenting entities.
  • Non-consenting porn like true child pornography or "reality" rapes should be illegal and severely punished.
• Abortion
  • We can't stop it. It's safer if legalized. Educate people. Tax it because the government has to be involved.
  • Most people are not murderers. The choice is hard enough.
• Farming.
  • Reduce subsidies. Subsidize only what is used for social food programs.
  • Make it more like a free market.
• Safety.
  • Laws and lawsuits keep us safe.
  • We do need some mechanism to reduce idiotic lawsuits.
• Health Care.
  • Hard to over do.
  • Socialize but also give people private options.
  • The US has a broken 1.7 trillion dollar industry that is not a true free market but is a system oddly morphed by the government and the insurance companies.
  • "Alternative" care is very small but is becoming more mainstream, especially with the government doing tests on "alternative" methods.
• Education.
  • Hard to over do.
  • Socialize but also give people private options.
  • Vouchers are good.
• Environment.
  • Main issues:
    • Hard to over do.
    • Conservation instead of Depletion. Remember the lesson of Easter Island.
    • Cooperation instead of Competition. We all want to win.
  • Animals.
    • Yes, I eat meat.
    • Protect endangered species and such.
    • Prevent species from becoming endangered.
  • Fishing.
    • Reduce and allow to repopulate.
    • Save the reefs.
    • Make fish farms instead.
  • Foresting. Reduce.
    • Make forest farms instead.
    • Fires and forests are natural.
  • Oil is finite. The countdown is on.
  • Water is finite.
  • Archaeological sites are irrecoverable and need protection.
  • Alternative & Renewable
    • Energy Sources: Solar, Wind, Geothermal, etc.
    • Material Sources: Asteroids, Natural Plastics, etc.
    • Construction: subterranean homes, shared communities, etc.
• International.
  • At some point, everybody will need a friend to lean on. We need our allies.
  • Increase diplomacy.
  • Increase economics and trade.
  • Help countries with problems of disease, drought, famine, and over-population.
  • Help countries become self-sufficient, esp. with infrastructure.
  • Work with international bodies such as the United Nations and the International Criminal Court. If you think they are broken, then work to fix them.
• Military.
  • Reduce spending.
  • Invest in infrastructure instead.
  • Weapons of Mass Destruction. Research and make WMD, but don't threaten with or use.
  • The military needs serious work on its sex problems.
• Religion.
  • Church and government should be separate.
  • Government should not favor denominations.
  • The Catholic Church needs serious work on its sex problems.
• Israel and Palestine
  • The cycle needs to be broken. Cooperation, compromise, fairness, and moral authority is needed.
  • Israel needs to pull out of lands promised to Palestine. Israel should not use assassination, US backing, or brute force.
  • Palestine should not use terrorism.
• Terrorism
  • Terrorism is not justified. Martin Luther King and Gandhi both fought great injustices through peaceful protest. Patience, publicity, and moral authority can achieve the same goals.
  • Terrorists are criminals not nations. Thus fighting terrorism requires police action not war. This is true even though the military is also used to fight terrorists. Doing otherwise "elevates" the terrorists.
  • War by terrorism is probably a million times more cost effective than war by conventional means. So even though the US has lots of money, it can lose to terrorists if the US fight the terrorist poorly. Patience, publicity, moral authority and allies are more important when fighting allies than shock and awe technology or tactics.