Randy's Winding Road BLOG

Practical Technology - Potpourri

 

   ... Thoreau "Men have become the tools of their tools." 

Today we are not only 'tools of our tools', we are tools of our media. We face daunting technological change daily. Automobiles park themselves. Cameras recognize faces. Daily our world, our surroundings, our society, our lives are digitized. Vast amounts of data combined with immense processing and networking power consumes more and more of our existance.

5/26/2012

May 2012 

SpaceX Launch - YouTube ABC News
... back to the moon the asteroids, Mars and beyond. 

 

 

Using Graphene, Scientists Develop a Less Toxic Way to Rust-Proof Steel - Space Mart
University of Buffalo Researchers

February 2012

Graphene Frontiers

January 2012

A TED presentation: "Lisa Harouni: A primer on 3D printing"

 

 

From Nano Patents and Innovations - "Wonder Material Graphene Reveals Its Magnetic Personality"

From A Z Nano - "Graphene Nanowiggle Study Helps Develop New Era of Nanoelectronics"

December 2011

• Science Blog "GRAPHENE AS DEFENSE SHIELD FROM LASER CANONS?"
• "Graphene spun into metre-long fibres" Nature
  
  
• "New Graphene Lithium-Air Batteries Increase Energy Density and Decrease Costs" Inhabitat
  
  
• "Cambridge researchers translate graphene into printable circuitry material, bring basic 'Skynet' factory to you" endgadget
  

• "IBM Extends Graphene to Silicon Scales" IEEE Spectrum
• "Researchers enhance graphene to enable multicolor photodetection" Nanowerk

November 2011

 

• Electronics Industry Market Research and Knowledge Network

"Applications of Graphene by End User Markets"

Worth reading!

 

Honda's Asimo

 

• WOH! - Technical University of Denmark

 

 

Concept phone with nanoscale grass sensors :)

 

 

October 2011

The Honda Channel

 

"BIG MAC"  "Graphene Research Leaps Ahead with ‘Big Mac’ Architecture" (IT Pro Portal)

 

• Printed Chip - "New printed chip could spark cheaper sensor networks" (GIGAOM)
• The Prize goes to 'Graphene' "Graphene: Nobel Winners' Thin, Mighty Material Holds Much Promise" (PBS Newshour)

 

"Graphene Chemistry: Synthesis and Manipulation"

 

New Carbon Composite of Nanotubes and Graphene : DigInfo

 

Synthesis of Carbon nanotube

 

September 2011

 

• 3D Printing (The Atlantic Wire)

• "Graphene Based Metamaterials Now Possible" (Softpedia)

• "Graphene Flash Memory" (NextBigFuture)

Future Applications of Graphene (Samsung)

 

• "Super conductor graphene set for industrial production" (Reuters Video)

 

• "Nanometer Graphene Makes Novel OLEDs Display" (Graphene World)

 

• "MIT Creates New Center for Graphene Devices and Systems" (Green Car Congress)

August 2011

 

• Dr. Michio Kaku - "The World in 2030"
  CNUY Queensborough 

 

 

• Short Documentary by George Utsin featuring Hany Aziz Nano Technology Program at University of Waterloo

 

 

• Stanford University - "nanotubes + ink + paper = instant battery"

 

 

• " Taiwan unveils eco-friendly rewritable 'paper' "   (Bangkok Post )

 

• "Dream touch-screens from graphene at Rice University"

 

 

• "One Box of Girl Scout Cookies worth $15 Billion" (Rice University)

 

 

• "Graphene's first commercial use will be in flexible touchscreens" - Tech Eye
  
  Click here for a NOKIA video clip on their flex-screen phone research
  
  
• Graphene-based transparent touchscreens and solar pannels a step closer - gizmag

 

July 2011

• "'Wonder material' graphene boosts speed of electronic memory devices"  - NewKerala.com

 

• "Researchers use graphene to draw energy from flowing water, self-powered micro-robots to follow?" - endgadget

 

• Nanotechnology - Disruptive Technology

*Disruptive Innovation: Nanotechnology and the Future of Computing"

 

• "Nanocarbon Production Capacity to Exceed 12,300 Tons in 2015" - marketwire

 

• Graphene - Microsensors - Oil/Gas Exploration (redOrbit)
   "New Graphene Discovery Boosts Oil Exploration Efforts, Could Enable Self-Powered Microsensors"

 

• Pssst... want to charge that iPhone battery in a couple of seconds?
  
  Coming soon: 'Super batteries' - ZEENEWS

 

• "IBM NANOTECHNOLOGY VERY COOL! Moving Individual Atoms with Tuning Forks for Memory"

 

• "Carbon Nanotube Electronics" video
  
  

 

 

• Breakthrough - Rice University - Archair Quantum Wire
  A "weave of metalic nanotubes"...
  "Amplified nanotubes may power the future"
• MIT researchers working on heat bank technology:

        MIT News "Research update: New way to store sun’s heat"

• Solar Aircraft 

        Solar Impulse flys around the world

 

• Phone of the Future at NOKIA (flexible electronics)

        "Nokia banks on graphene for future tech"

 

•  Graphene "Paper" ("As Strong as Steel")

        "New Graphene Paper: Light, Strong, and Crazy Flexible"

 

Nanotubes + ink + paper (Stanford University)

• Russia (RT Forum -Brave New Nano: Flexible phones & graphene gadgets in RT's Technology Update)

 

 

Graphene and Nanotechnology Links...         

• grapheneworld.org
• graphene-info.com
• nanotech-now.com
• Science Daily Nanotechnology News
• Nature Nanotechnology
• NANO WERK
• PHYSORG.com Nanotechnology News

Academic Links:

• University of Washington Center for Nanotechnology

Wearable AR Guidance System #DigInfo

via www.youtube.com

Hmmm... part of a new interface.

Bipedal Cycling Robot Can Balance, Steer and Correct Itself #DigInfo

via www.youtube.com

I need you to go to Safeway and pick up a dozen eggs and a pound of butter.

WOH! - Must Read: Move over graphene? Erbium will boost fiber optics, solar cells, computer chips… | ExtremeTech

It seems graphene, the single layer of carbon atoms that can supercharge computer chips, optical circuits, lithium-ion batteries, and solar power generation, might have a competitor: a rare earth element called erbium. Erbium salts, like graphene, have very desirable optical properties — and today’s discovery is a new erbium compound that will allow photonic and material engineers to use up to 1,000 times more erbium in optical fiber, photonic switches, and solar power cells.

via www.extremetech.com

More reason to secure rare earths supplies. Who is the world's major supplier of Erbium? (China)

http://www.baotou-rareearth.com/er.html

 

Practical Technology - The Robots are Coming

When people discuss technology and the exploitation of technology, they frequently use descriptive terms like disruptive, and revolutionary.

Our technology based revolution continues with revolutionary new materials, advances in computing, and our knowledg of robotics. Technical change is moving fast, and may be accelerating, and there's no evidence it's going to slow down any time soon. 

Markus Fischer - Robot Seagull: TED

 

We now have robots trading stocks and currencies, assisting in surgery, flying missions in war, and watching our borders, delivering medecine, parts, food, and newspapers, and lost in space.

What tasks can a robot perform?" - eHow

What's next?

 

 

Practical Technology - RockMelt Social Web Browser

I made RockMelt my default browser this week, so I thought I would share one of the features I have come to like.

(RockMelt)    

One feature I really like is the ability to translate foreign language web pages. I have been using this feature for awhile now with Chinese language sites.

The screenshot below is of tech.hexun.com in Chinese. Even with the 20 plus tabs open, it takes around two seconds to translate a page like this.

The result is a translated page that is understandable:

 

 

Practical Technology - Down the Road a Piece

Graphene - Miracle Material - A global race is now underway to understand and exploit the incredible possibilities associated with graphene. A recent Business Insider article mentioned research in India on solar power, Texas research aimed at developing an "active, dynamically tunable invisibility cloak", and the material is being projected as a replacement for silicon, and component in batteries.

There are a number of informative videos on graphene. 

• YouTube clip below featuring Dr. Jhonathan Hare

 

• YouTube clip with Andrew Griem (A more technical introduction)

 

• Future Applications of Graphene (Cool :)

 

 

As the Business Insider article indicated, graphite is rare.  It follows that it is also expensive (Resource Investor article). I wonder if there's and graphite on the moon :)

 

References:

Graphene Info: Graphene-Info.com

PHYSORG: "Rechargeable lithium-sulfur batteries get a boost from graphene"

 

 

Practical Technology - $500 Telepresence Robot

Take a look at Johnny Lee's YouTube video, and visit his blog for detail on his innovative project.

 

... more information here:

http://procrastineering.blogspot.com/2011/02/low-cost-video-chat-robot.html

There's also an interesting Google site for iRobot Create Projects.

iRobot Create Projects

Practical Technology - The Willow Garage PR2 BEER Robot :)

Do you crave technology, dig new toys, experience strange gaps in real time wandering the aisles at Fry's Electronics?

 

Awesome!

Randy's China Notebook

I had the pleasure of spending a couple of weeks in China at the end of December, 2009, and in January, 2010, visiting Shanghai, Suzhou, Taian, Mount Tai, Jinan, Qufu, and Beijing as a part of a "Historic China" Tour.

The Air China 747 out of San Francisco was very comfortable, and we enjoyed great service. (I prefer the 747 or 777 on longer flights.) Our flight was direct to Beijing, with a connecting flight to Shanghai. It's a bit of an adventure to get from the gate at the International terminal, through customs, and then to the gate for the flight to Shanghai at the domestic terminal late at night. 

 

Shanghai

I have always enjoyed the time I have spent in Hong Kong, and now have another favorite city to add to my list - Shanghai. This is a spectacular city. It's history, architecture, and people make it interesting and comfortable. Whether we were enjoying coffee or tea in the French Concession, exploring the snack shops on Nanjing Road, taking a walk through the empty streets before dawn, rocketing to the top of the Pearl Tower, or trying to catch a cab New Year's Eve along with a few million other people enjoying the Holiday, Shanghai did not disappoint.

One of the things I enjoyed in Shanghai was the architecture, including the business signs.

 Nanjing Road is a blend of older buildings and some outstanding business signs.

More business signs on Nanjing Road, Shanghai.

Shanghai is full of buildings holding up the sky.

Suzhou 

The freeway from Shanghai to Suzhou, like all of the highways we traveled, impresses you because it is perfect. There are no potholes. There are no places where weeds are encroaching, or there's dirt on the pavement. The white lines are all perfect. For much of the trip, the highway passes through mile after mile of recent industrial development and business parks. I started counting construction cranes ("the national bird of China") and soon gave up. They are everywhere, and that's what we found traveling to Beijing as well.

 Construction cranes outside Beijing.

I had the pleasure of spending a couple of weeks in China at the end of December, 2009, and in January, 2010, visiting Shanghai, Suzhou, Taian, Mount Tai, Jinan, Qufu, and Beijing as a part of a "Historic China" Tour.

The Air China 747 out of San Francisco was very comfortable, and we enjoyed great service. (I prefer the 747 or 777 on longer flights.) Our flight was direct to Beijing, with a connecting flight to Shanghai. It's a bit of an adventure to get from the gate at the International terminal, through customs, and then to the gate for the flight to Shanghai at the domestic terminal late at night. 

 

Shanghai

I have always enjoyed the time I have spent in Hong Kong, and now have another favorite city to add to my list - Shanghai. This is a spectacular city. It's history, architecture, and people make it interesting and comfortable. Whether we were enjoying coffee or tea in the French Concession, exploring the snack shops on Nanjing Road, taking a walk through the empty streets before dawn, rocketing to the top of the Pearl Tower, or trying to catch a cab New Year's Eve along with a few million other people enjoying the Holiday, Shanghai did not disappoint.

One of the things I enjoyed in Shanghai was the architecture, including the business signs.

 Nanjing Road is a blend of older buildings and some outstanding business signs.

More business signs on Nanjing Road, Shanghai.

Shanghai is full of buildings holding up the sky.

Suzhou

 

The freeway from Shanghai to Suzhou, like all of the highways we traveled, impresses you because it is perfect. There are no potholes. There are no places where weeds are encroaching, or there's dirt on the pavement. The white lines are all perfect. For much of the trip, the highway passes through mile after mile of recent industrial development and business parks. I started counting construction cranes ("the national bird of China") and soon gave up. They are everywhere, and that's what we found traveling to Beijing as well.

 Construction cranes outside Beijing.

We visited a silk factory and took a boat ride on the Grand Canal while in Suzhou. I found the silk factory fascinating. Those are some very industrious worms. It's amazing what goes into the production of silk. 

Silk Factory - Spooling the silk thread.

Taian - Mount Tai

We took a sleeper train from Shanghai to Tai'an, leaving Shanghai around 10:30 pm. Whereas Shanghai had been very comfortable, we arrived in Tai'an along with a snow storm. It's a short bus ride from the town to the park to visit Mt. Tai,  The weather prevented us from getting to the top of the mountain, the gondola closed minutes after we arrived at the top. This is a mountain with beauty and power. 

 

Climbing Mt. Tai

Qufu - Home of Confucius

Confucius Family Compound

Qufu, the home of Confucius, and his family's residence was interesting. The family compound is large. The grounds and buildings are impressive. I like the rooflines on these traditional Chinese buildings.

 

Jinan to Beijing - High Speed Rail

There has been a lot of discussion recently about China's huge investment in high speed rail. I enjoyed our trip into Beijing on a high speed train that got up to 243 km per hour. It was comfortable, smooth, and preferable to air travel. I noticed all along the route, the construction of the new maglev high speed rail system. What impressed me was that it was being constructed simultaneously all along the route. 

In my opinion, this new high speed rail system which will link the urban and industrial cities along China's east coast, from Beijing to Shanghai and on to Guangzhou is a good investment. These cities comprise urban areas with over a hundred million people. Rail is the most important means of transportation in China today.

Boarding the high speed rail train in Jinan.

Comfort is the name of the game.

The Maglev train now operating from the airport to Shanghai will be a part of a 13,000 km of high speed rail network in China to be completed in the next few years.  

 

Beijing

We arrived at the Beijing train station a few days after a record setting snow storm. Traffic was crawling, but the city was functioning, and the blanket of snow added to the beauty of the city. Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and the Great Wall are difficult to comprehend from photographs. They are all impressive for their scale, beauty, and the history they represent, and they set apart Beijing.

 

Temple of Heaven

 

Summer Palace

Old - frozen man - Tiananmen 

The Great Wall (Outside Beijing) 

 

Observations

• China is a great tourist destination... they roll out the red carpet.
• The people we encountered were happy, helpful, confident, proud, and a lot like us.
• The prevailing view of China in the USA profoundly misses the mark... China is more capitalist in many ways than we are.
• China is gearing up to surpass the US on many fronts, and we continue to be clueless. 

 

 
 
 

 

 

Happy Holidays

I like the Hawaiian Island Greeting - Mele Kalikimaka 

 

Flood Recovery - Cedar River Flood 2009 - Post 5 - Wrapping Up

It's October, and we are wrapping up repairs from the January flooding. Some of the wrap-around decks were damaged when the flood water floated the decks, lifting them off of the supports.

Deck Replacement

The decking was not covered by the insurance, so it was not included in the repairs completed earlier in the year.

This was mostly an original deck, primarily consisting of 2X6 fir. After looking at all of the materials available, we chose cedar, and I'm glad we did. I had the carpenters remove the old nails, and we recycled most of the old wood. Meanwhile, the new cedar looks good.

New Cedar Decking

When we returned from vacation in Hawaii to our flooded home, it was a battle for survival. We hired a company to handle the restoration of our house, and moved everything out of the flooded first floor into storage in one day. The restoration process began, and we spent months living on the second floor.

Moving Out in January 09

Photos:

 

Our endless summer is coming to an end, and local governments, businesses, and residents in the Renton area are racing to build barriers to protect property along the Green River, which flows through the Kent valley through Auburn,Kent and Renton.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/21256216/detail.html and http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/ren/news/63774177.html

I'm hoping these preparations will not be tested this Winter.

 

Cedar River 2009 FLOOD - post 4 - Life in the Flood Lane

Welcome to the RATSNEST

 
This photo shows the bedroom before there was some semblance of order.

The master bedroom was destined to becomethe RATSNEST. A command center and refuge for the duration. Everything from the first floor, is now either in the restoration company warehouse for temporary storage, in the garage, or in the two bedrooms on the second floor.

I had the cable company add a second Internet line serving the second floor, and found the old router (the new one was not working).

Space is limited. We have one chair. Two computers, two keyboards and "meece" and a monitor and printer share the cart in the picture. It can be a bit confusing to sit down and get the wrong keyboard or mouse. Working this recovery process, however, would be a lot more difficult without the computers and Internet access.

As you can see if you check out my posts from Twitter, I am using Twitter to log progress on our flood recovery on a daily basis. I also have access to my email on my Blackberry, which allows me to reply or call in response to questions or to provide information.

Life in the Flood Lane here along the Cedar River - February 2009... more to come

Cedar River 2009 FLOOD - post 3 - Moving Out

The Cedar Riveris located in Western Washington. The watershed is high in the Cascade Mountains. The reservoir that feeds the river is a source for Seattle drinking water. The Cedar River flooded during a major storm in early January, 2009.

I called the flood insurance company and filed a claim, and Susan called a phone number that had been published to report flood damage, and got a list of contractors to call. Later that day we made a decision to go with a contractor to handle all of the cleanup, demolition and restoration work required. We would need to move everything out of the first floor of the house and the garage ASAP, and they would begin removing sheet-rock and flooring, cabinets, etc.

The insurance adjuster arrived the next day and toured the property taking photos and notes.

It's not easy to move everything out of a house like this in an afternoon, but that's what happened. Everything that was touched by the floodwater would be removed, cleaned, discarded, or replaced.

 

You can see the mud left by the river water onthe garage floor in the photo to the left. The water was about 9 inches high in this area of the garage. The freezer, washer and dryer will have to be replaced. Electrical appliances like these are impossible to clean, and are thrown away.

Like many families, we had a lot of "stuff" in the garage (lawn mower, wood, photo albums, video tapes, tools).

 

The kitchen pantry must have taken 6 boxes, and I don't know how many boxes of dishes and bowls and trays and glassware were in the buffet.

Of course we forgot to keep some silverware, bowls, knives, etc.

I scrounged a can opener that I had at work, and a Costo sized box of plastic knives, forks and spoons, and paper plates I had in the barbecue supplies.

 

The kitchen was taken apart like a big puzzle.

Once everything was removed, the demolition began. Two feet of drywall and insulation were removed, and the flooring was removed.

  Large fans and dehumidifiers were placed throughout the house to remove moisture.

   

Our living area is now the bathroom, and two bedrooms on the second floor.

My RATSNEST

Oh, and the Kitchen >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>!

Life in the floodlane.

more to come ....

Cedar River 2009 Flood - Post 2 ... "Homecoming"

We left Hawaii on Saturday January 10th in the afternoon. It's always a scramble to get into the line at the Honolulu airport for the agricultural inspection, open the bag so the inspector can see what goodies my wife is sending home, and then wait to checkin the luggage, etc. We arrived in Seattle around 11:00 PM, and made it to the house sometime after midnight.

By then the river was pretty much back in it's banks. There was a light coating of mud on the driveway, and some on the decks. Inside the house, the area rugs were wet, and there was mud around in the corners. From the high water mark outside the main enterance, you could see that the water had just gotten a bit above the threshold.

My Son's car was parked in front of the garage. It had several inches of water standing on the floorboards. It started, but sounded like a boat as water was pumped out the tailpipe. I gave them a ride home and returned to move as much of the carpeting as I could out of the house and onto the decks.

Some of the lower lawn was still covered with water, and I could see a thick layer of sand on much of the lawn. By 3 AM I had moved the furniture off of the rugs, and had all but one heavy wool rug off of the maple floors.

 

More to come...

Cedar River 2009 FLOOD - post 1

 The Cedar River is located in Western Washington. The watershed is high in the Cascade Mountains. The reservoir that feeds the river is a source for Seattle drinking water. It flooded in a major storm that swept through the area in early January, 2009.

 

January can be a perfect time to visit Hawaii. We were renting a townhouse in the Ko Olina resort during the first part of January, enjoying the perfect temperatures (in the 80's) and all that Hawaii has to offer. When my friend, Alice, (who was house sitting and taking care of the cat and the dog) first emailed me about the river rising, I took a look at the King County website, and the data from the gages at Landsburg and Renton.

Normally, when the river is rising I can judge roughly how high the water is and watch the upstream flow to see what's going on up river. Another day in the sun, some shave ice and poki and the river was up over the bank on the lower portion of the lawn that's upriver. This is fairly common. The river bed is shallow there, and the bank is quite a bit lower than it is directly in front of the house.

Alice and I talked by phone and I suggested putting a rock at the edge of the water to judge whether the water was rising, and how fast.

When I next checked the web sites, I could see the water in the reservoir upriver was rising, and the same was true for Landsburg and Renton. By this time a number of rivers in western Washington had already flooded, and the news reports that I could find on the Internet were full of viewer submitted photos of the flooding.

Our next conversation was late on the evening of the 8th of January, and the water was high enough that Alice had to wade to her car on the street.

Another friend from work, Chris,  called me the next day after driving by and taking pictures, and I learned the water was up above the level of the decks that wrap around much of the first floor of the house. As it turned out, these photos were taken near the peak flow.

 

 
The water is just over the road, and just above the level of the first floor of the house which is on the left.

 

 

This shows the water covering the wrap-around deck and the area between the garage and the house.

 

 

This view is Southeast. The end of the fence in this shot is the bank of the river.

to be continued....