A local campaign to stop a hospital closing: St. Vincent’s Hospital, New York City
Arduino RTTY – George Smart’s Wiki
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Arduino RTTY
This page contains my source code for my Arduino RTTY transmitter. This device uses an Arduino to control a DDS-60 (Analog Devices AD9851) DDS IC, which in turn creates the required frequencies to transmit RTTY at 45.45 baud (approx) with 170 Hz shift.
Source Code for AD9851 RTTY Transmitter
The code is a selection of modules glued together, but works well. See the YouTube video below for a demonstration.
Troubling situation at Entergy-run Nuclear Plan in Michigan
Palisades Nuclear Plant, Lake Michegan
In A Return To ‘Safety First’ For Michigan Nuclear Plant, NPR correspondent Lindsey Smith reports,
The Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan had five unplanned shutdowns last year. It’s one of the area’s biggest employers, and its safety record is one of the worst in the country. Now it’s trying to prove to federal regulators that it can meet their standards.
On the shores of Lake Michigan, the Palisades Power Plant is tucked in between tall sand dunes in Covert Township, Mich., at the southern edge of Van Buren State Park. Kathy Wagaman, who heads the chamber of commerce in South Haven, 7 miles north of Palisades … said “They’ve been a very good neighbor” … “and I just feel confident that they’re taking good care of this.”
The title, however, says it all. “A RETURN to ‘Safety-First.’ Clearly, based on their record, safety has not been Entergy’s number one priority at Palisades. Marcy, at Empty Wheel, presents a first hand report on the tritium leak of Sept, 2011, here.
Earth Day, 2012 or Eaarth Day, 2012
One of over 100 Tornadoes that hit Kansas, Iowa and Oklahoma on 4/14/12
Kansas, Oklahoma, Earth Day, 2012, or Eaarth Day, cognizant of Bill McKibben’s observation that the planet on which we live is qualitatively different from the planet on which we were born.
Do you see your cup as half-full, or half-empty? Is it on a table, or a pile of rubble? And is it filled with clean water or a toxic soup?
Status: Over 100 Tornadoes hit the mid-west, mostly Kansas and Oklahoma on Saturday, April 14, 2011 (NY Times). The summer of 2011 was one of the hottest, with 90 days of over 100 degrees in Austin, Texas ( National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA: Data, Analysis). The winter of 2011-2012 was also one of the warmest, with records set and broken across the United States. A thorough analysis of climate science is beyond the scope of this post, but is covered in The Rough Guide to Climate Change, The Symptoms, The Science, The Solutions, by Robert Henson, ISBN 978-1-84836-579-7, Climate Change, A Multidisciplinary Approach, by William Burroughs, ISBN978-0-521-69033-1, The Climate Fix, by Roger Pielke, Jr, ISBN 978-0-465-02519-0, and An Inconvenient Truth, by Al Gore, ISBN 1-59486-567-1, Eaarth: Making Life on a Tough New Planet, by Bill McKibben, ISBN 978-080509056-7. These are available at your local bookstore, if you have one. Many Americans now understand that our weather and climate are effected by the amount of carbon we have pumped into our atmosphere in the last 200 years (NY Times). If you don’t want to understand the analysis, tune the tv to your local climate denier station, buy a gun, some ammo, and lots of food and water.
Do We Need Nuclear Power? Part 3
Indian Point, Aerial view, courtesy Earth Institute
Indian Point’s two reactors, operating since 1974 and 1976, generate up to 30 percent of New York City and Westchester’s power. Yet the plant remains controversial.
March 1, 2012, Michael Gerrard, director of the Center for Climate Change Law, moderated the Forum on the Future of Indian Point held at Columbia Law School. The forum asked whether Indian Point was “Safe, Secure and Vital or an Unacceptable Risk?” Renee Cho covered it on the Columbia Earth Institute blog, here.
I was not there. However, have some thoughts …
Do We Need Nuclear Power? Part 2
Turbines at Windeby
Rather than “Can we get away from Nuclear Power?” The real questions we need to ask ourselves are:
- How quickly can we phase out nuclear power?
- What will it cost?
- Given that a definition of insanity is doing the same behavior but expecting different results, Continue reading
Do We Need Nuclear Power? Part 1
Did the Japanese (and the rest of the world) NEED Fukushima?
Happy Earth Day. Think for the Future.
- Do We Need Nuclear Power, Part 1, L. Furman, 4/20/12, here.
- Do We Need Nuclear Power, Part 2, L. Furman, 4/20/12, here.
- Do We Need Nuclear Power, Part 3, L. Furman, 4/21/12, here.
- US Recommended evacuation zone of 80 km radius around Fukushima
Is Ford Motor Co Sustainable? And is Ford a Value Investment?
Ford Fusion, available as a hybrid
Back in October, 2007, I wrote about the Toyota Prius and the GM Hummer in Prius v Hummer, the Battle for the Streets and the Prius v Hummer, the Battle for the Brains. (Spoiler alert – the Prius won). Now I’m thinking about Ford Motor Company. A few years back their tag line was “Ford Has A Better Idea.” That may not be the current tag line, but I think it is the case. I will go further and say that Ford is on the road to being Sustainable car company, and is a Value Investment.
While Toyota deserves credit for developing the hybrid- the Prius was introduced in 2000 – Ford has an extensive lineup of hybrids and is putting the EcoDrive – which boosts mileage by 20% – on vehicles, from small cars to the F150 truck. And 40% of the F150′s sold today are sold with the EcoDrive engine. Continue reading
Landmark Mistakes of the Supreme Court, Part 3
Al Gore
The decision in Bush v Gore is widely regarded as a landmark mistake, both because the Supreme Court acted politically and because of President Bush’s accomplishments and legacy.
While it is too recent for a historical consensus, and too political to be without controversy, virtually all liberals and progressives view the results of Bush v Gore, 2000, (Cornell Law School / Wikipedia) as disastrous based on the Bush Administration’s environmental, economic, and foreign policies, i.e., the Bush tax cuts, ignoring intelligence regarding Osama bin Laden on 6, August, 2011 (here), not killing bin Laden when we allegedly had him cornered in Tora Bora in 2001 (here), the War in Iraq, appointments of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, etc.
Landmark Mistakes of the Supreme Court, Part 2
If Dred Scott, Citizen’s United, and Florence v Burlington are the three worst decisions by the United States Supreme Court, (post here) then Korematsu v United States, Dec. 18, 1944, Plessy v Ferguson, May 18, 1896 are next in line.
In Korematsu v United States, decided Dec. 18, 1944, the Supreme Court upheld Executive Order 9066, authorizing the internment of all Americans of Japanese ancestry. Mr. Korematsu is biographed here.
Plessy v Ferguson, decided on May 18, 1896, enabled segregation. This was overruled by Brown v Bd. of Education, May 17, 1954, with the now famous observation that “separate but equal is inherently unequal.”
Nuclear Divers – Swimming in Hot Water
Another day at the office, from "The Life of a Nuclear Diver," William Sheaffer, here.
Nuclear power plant maintenance requires SCUBA divers in the rivers and oceans near the intake pipes and, as the image shows, in the reactor itself. And the men and women who work as employees and contractors for the plants and for Underwater Construction Corp, UCC do the job (more images).
According to Katheryn Kranhold, here, of the Wall Street Journal and Pittsburgh Post Gazette, “Divers are in great demand these days. Power companies need them to maintain many of the world’s 442 nuclear reactors. They’re also called on to repair aging bridges and water tanks…. That has done little to increase pay for nuclear divers, who start at salaries of about $30,000 a year.”
What are the risks of this work over and beyond the risks of SCUBA diving? What are the protections afforded the workers? What insurers underwrite the risks? And who purchases the insurance? The divers? Their employers? The nuclear plant operators? Or the sub-contractors who hire contract divers (at $20 per hour)? How many hours per year do the divers work, and can they afford the insurance? And if they can afford the insurance, do they actually buy it?
David Goodwillie, writing in Popular Science, reports on the chilling occupation of nuclear divers in Swimming On The Hot Side excerpted below. Continue reading
Landmark Mistakes by the US Supreme Court
Dred Scott
Worst Three Decisions by the US Supreme Court: Dred Scott, Citizen’s United, and Florence v Burlington. Dred Scott reinforced slavery – and led to the Civil War. Citizen’s United puts really, really big money in politics – think Mr. Gingrich’s sugar daddy with his $10 million in PAC-Gingrich, and leads to what we have today. Florence allows the police to strip search anyone they arrest.
The good news and is that these decisions force us to recognize that the Justices of the Supreme Court are fallible men and women who sometimes make decisions emotionally and or based on their perceived financial interest, as the five members of the Taney court whos families owned slaves and who voted for slavery. This is also the bad news. The really bad news is that two out of three of these landmark mistakes occurred since January, 2010.
Looking with a long term perspective, the Dred Scott decision was overturned by the 14th Amendment. Roger B. Taney and the other six justices who voted for slavery and against freedom are history. Their names are generally not remembered. Similarly, Citizen’s United and Florence can, should, and someday will be overturned. Roberts, Alito, Kennedy, Scalia, and Thomas will someday join Roger B. Taney in the history books.
I am not a lawyer. But the Constitution is written for the citizens, not the citizens who are also lawyers.
This Football-Sized Robot Sub Handles Law Enforcement's Underwater Beat
This Football-Sized Robot Sub Handles Law Enforcement’s Underwater Beat
From inspecting cargo ships in NYC Harbor to searching for missing persons in South Texas, law enforcement is increasingly supplementing its human divers with these football-sized remote submersibles.
The VideoRay Pro 3 GTO is a tethered, remotely-controlled micro-submersible. The eight-pound machine can dive as far as 500 feet and move at up to 4.1 knots, thanks to its dual 100 mm horizontal thrusters. It’s sensor suite includes, among others, sonar imaging, GPS, water quality sensors, and metal thickness gauges. The Pro 3 GTO, which the NYPD employs also includes a grappling arm, wide-angle front-facing color camera illuminated with Dual 20W Halogen lamps, and an LED-lit HG black-and-white camera on the rear. The submersible is controlled remotely from a suitcase-sized control board.
The device is finding extensive use among in government agencies, like the US Army Corps of Engineers, the EPA, the ICE, and the US Coast Guard. Nearly 2,000 of the $31,000 machines are in use across the country—especially where conditions are too dangerous to prohibit human divers.
via This Football-Sized Robot Sub Handles Law Enforcement’s Underwater Beat.
WWII-era fire apparatus, Australia (image by Kristarella)
WWII-era ladder truck. Image by Kristarella/Kristarella.com
We’ve got a few reasons for publishing this image: Kristarella, an outstanding web designer and software developer, is also a fabulous photographer, and we encourage you to check out her Photoblog for page after page of images which will capture your curiousity, imagination and awe. But that’s not, strictly speaking, on-topic. These reasons are:
- We’re about to run a series of posts about firefighting apparatus – which is to say vehicles, mobile firefighting equipment, as opposed to infrastructure (fire water mains, sprinklers, hand-held gear and, as important as the rest, prevention), and thought this mid-20th century piece would be a good reference point;
- Note the following screenshot: Kristarella is a leader in managing the metadata – EXIF (Exchangeable image file format, Wikipedia entry; see alsoEXIF.org) which accompanies digital images. We hope to explore the ways in which EXIF data and images might be used to crowd source risk assessment, disaster planning, and disaster response. So we’ll be exploring Kristarella’s Thesography Plugin, and more tools that will exploit EXIF and other usable meta-data.
Al Qaeda cheats at paintball
“We figured they’d cheat; they were Hezbollah, after all. But none of us—a team of four Western journalists—thought we’d be dodging military-grade flash bangs when we initiated this ‘friendly’ paintball match.” Paintballing With Hezbollah.
posted by HumanComplex at 8:32 AM – 51 comments