Electric vehicles

After reading about a Victorian(?) politician who became part of a company called Better Place which is seeking to develop marketable electric cars and most importantly electric car "re-fuelling" stations, I checked out their website www.betterplace.com and signed the petition to show market support for the idea.
I sent that link to a bunch of people and one mentioned the AEVA (Australian Electric Vehicle Association) www.aeva.asn.au
It's great to see how many people have made the effort to convert a car themselves (also check out worldwide conversions www.evalbum.com )
The Garnaut report apparently says that electric vehicles are not significantly more energy/carbon efficient than petrol vehicles. However, this is based on the power coming from coal fired power stations via the national grid. As soon as you get it from renewable source (your own roof top solar/wind, or via suppliers such as Jackgreen 100%, then it's all clean driving.

So, I'm heading down the path of doing a conversion. Information and even parts are quite readily available but the hardest thing is deciding what vehicle to convert!

Options
1) Small, old, cheap car that will be cheap to buy and run (but will have a pretty ordinary interior, possible other mechanical failings and doesn't do anything to promote/sell electric as an attractive option)
2) Small, newer car that's cheap to run and is in reasonable condition (but again doesn't really promote electric as an option to the current market)
3) Light commercial vehicle, newish, more acceptable to current market (but more costly to convert)

I'm favouring 3 as my best chance to help change the world in some comfort and style but I'll need to first set my wants and needs in specifications and project parameters.
*Minimum travel per charge
*Charge time
*Conversion cost including:
-vehicle
-motor
-battery pack
-controllers
-vehicle mods
*Vehicle surplus capacity#
* Vehicle body style


# - Electric conversions can weigh more than the engine etc that they replace, so smaller cars with less spare GVM (gross vehicle mass) capacity can result in the car going over the legal GVM (such as www.mightyboyev.com ). So a bigger car, while needing more power, can actually be a better choice to be able to carry more than just the passengers.

Vehicles and powers sources

So following on the ethanol fuel question.

I'm currently of the opinion that the capitalist way that ethanol fuels are being developed and managed is a BAD thing.
Pros
* Short CO2 lifecycle (plants grow taking CO2 out of air, we burn fuel putting it back in)

Cons
* Food crops are being diverted to ethanol production due to simple market economics and as a result it is contributing to world food shortages. (Fuel producers and car drivers are paying more.)
* Forests are being cleared to produce the ethanol sources.
* Ethanol is borderline on energy efficiency (ie: net energy in is sometimes greater than net energy out, mostly depending on fuel source)


As a tip, if you buy E10 or whatever fuel due to cost, be aware that;
1) not all cars can handle ethanol due to gumming up the jets
2) In my tests, E10 gives about a 6% reduction in fuel efficiency (ie: less km/L), so if the price is not >6% less, you're paying more $/km.

Global warming - who's interpreting for you?

Amongst the noise and arguments about global warming which is now more generally accepted as being true than not*. One of the things we mere plebs have had to rely on is interpreted data. I found this website www.free-the-memes.net (by searching NASA hottest year on google).
I think it gives a good dose of context on the data for the more scientifically minded.

Now out of this, I decided two things;
1) Global warming is happening with a link to CO2 etc
2) Human activity is contributing to the rise but may not be solely responsible (but we can do something about it to protect health, wealth and happiness).

* - Interestingly baby-boomers/people who were around in the 70's who went through the "next ice age" scare seem most sceptical (understandably)

Renewables energy balance - data!!

What should be THE key question and the most commonly known answer in debates about renewables is the payback period for the energy embodied in the power generator.
(ie: Can you use one to make more than another one.)
Sadly it's not, and I've only just found the answer (albeit easily now that I've looked for it).

Here's one site with some good data
http://www.awea.org/faq/bal.html
and another well referenced source
http://www.csudh.edu/oliver/smt310-handouts/solarpan/pvpayback.htm

Short answer:
Solar in the 70's couldn't. Now it can (payback 3~6yrs with a total 15~20yr life)
Wind can easily (2~22 MONTHS)
But coal and nuclear can easily too (0.7 months), I'm guessing the ongoing energy cost is insignficant.


Hrmm, now to look at Ethanol fuels...

invention # ?

Beam balance piggy bank. One side a standard weight hung at the saving goal marker, the other side, coin boxes for each denomination at the right offset for value-vs-weight.
Now to work out how much each denomination weighs.

October/November adventures

So the ankle is on track for a slow recovery, but at least a recovery that has allowed me to fight again. And I was happy to find that I still had it, even if the muscles are a bit weak and slow. So more fighting activity and a white belt here I come. (Rowany Yule, Dec 8th, really really)

The A&S type thing I've been working on is making inkle looms and having a go at making pteruges (the cloth hanging strips below the musculata). Check out flickr.com/people/blaeney for the blow by blow.

Definitely enjoying the effort of trying something new.

What's in an ankle?

Technology is amazing stuff, and I'm a bit of an idiot.

Last November I "sprained" my ankle in crown tourney but was enjoying the fighting enough that I kept fighting ...and again the next day. Did I mention I walked half a km home at 4am?

Ankle's sprain right? Bit's tear slightly or inflame and get over it, no problem. Sure, except when you half break it. In hindsight, with the effect it's had on my life I wish I'd broken it properly and gone through a known and obvious healing program. As it is, after 6mths of physio with the last three not fighting and limited dog walking, it didn't look like it was going to take care of itself so I got an MRI and then went to a specialist.

On 5th Sept I went in for keyhole surgery with the view that a reasonably definite heal time is better than an uncertain one. After seeing the arthroscope pics from inside my ankle I'm glad I did as I don't think it would have healed properly otherwise.

I have to say I was disappointed with the anaesthetic experience. One minute I'm bored while waiting in the pre-op room, next the nurse is telling me I have to go to the toilet and do I want tea or coffee (and is your lift here yet so we can go home). No fading out while counting backwards, no pink elephants, just blackout and then feeling like a record player that's still switched on sounds as the power comes back on sporadically.

Anyway, overall it was apparently successful. There is still a certain amount of finger crossing though as the doctor also found I'd damaged the ligaments joining my tibia and fibula, which, if they give me trouble once the other one is settled, means going back in for a pin. Downside of that is 6wks on crutches and 6mths of taking it easy rather than the current 10 days and 6wks.

And here's the pics:

First the side view MRI, red circled bit is the area of damage. Light grey bit on lower bone is bone bruising (ie: crushed), the wiggly thin black bit above that is the cartilage and should be a smooth curve, the bright white bits are fluid which shouldn't be there.


















This is the front view through the middle of my ankle (cool huh?). The bit in the blue circle is the same as the one above, with the smashed cartilage and the bit in the blue box is where the ligament damage is. This pic really shows something I never knew about ankles, they're a square peg in a square hole. Hence why rotating sideways is bad news!




(Warning: Pics of bone etc inside my ankle following, if you are squeamish ... this is a good chance to desensitise.)





















Now this is inside my ankle during surgery. The first pic is what good cartilage looks like and on the right is what missing and flaky bits of cartilage looks like. (The silver thing on the left is one of the surgical instruments.)

First they clear away the loose cartilage (pic1) and then roughen up the bone surface to promote a scab to form which will apparently heal like a fibrous form of cartilage just not as good. And I'm guessing I'll really be paying for it in 20~30yrs time.
And this is the gap between tib and fib where ligaments should be tenaciously doing their job of stopping the square hole getting bigger.

All up it's kinda cool and gives me hope of the end being in sight. Although it' going slow at the moment and I'm having doubts about my ability to be off the crutches this weekend and am really quite dubious about being able to fight by November. The doctor said that I could expect to be "good on level ground by 6wks with some issues on uneven ground".

Linking greenhouse, urbanisation, public transport and business emissions

Problem
Reduce energy usage by getting more people onto an efficient public transport system.

Issues
- Australians are entrenched in personal vehicle use.
- Public transport is currently seen as unattractive due to quality, availability and reliability of service.
- Public transport seen as too big an issue and is not linked to suitable incentives
- Majority (I think) of personal vehicle use is to/from work

Solution
Include employee/contractor work related travel in business related emissions calculation when determining "carbon tax".

Reasoning
- Puts direct pressure onto business economy which has the most established systems for change and interaction with govt departments at all levels.
- Encourages businesses to hire locally and/or create incentives to reduce individual vehicle usage.
- May result in a return to business towns (areas created to house employees of a big business) or at least business transport networks to make up the shortfall of public transport.

Negatives
- Some businesses will lump costs directly onto employees without supporting a change in their location/behaviour/needs.

Travel fuel efficiency

passenger fuel efficiency
http://www.lafn.org/~dave/trans/energy/fuel-eff-20th-1.html

facing the problem of decreasing the desire to travel
http://www.lafn.org/~dave/trans/energy/travel_less.html

Shame he has made a lot of unsupported statements, was looking good otherwise.

Political observation - our farmers are screwed

On hearing that farmers may get another 5c/? from supermarkets and that the expected resulting increase to the consumer would be ~50c, I started idly searching for some facts.
No real luck so far but this did turn up regarding the effect of US govt policy on food production which is long, but well worth a read.
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=5923

There's this which shows mark-ups on fresh produce in Ireland which may be representative(?)
http://www.finegael.ie/news/index.cfm/type/details/nkey/31982/pkey/653/

Some debate from NSW parliament which lists mark ups of a few fresh produce items.
http://www.anzacatt.org.au/prod/PARLMENT/hansArt.nsf/V3Key/LA20000607021

Perception managment - help needed

There's a couple of things that are bothering me so I need to enlist some help in getting some facts out. I'm resigned to Pratchet's ever insightful summary of "A lie/mistruth can run around the world before the truth has even got it's boots on", but one still has to try or give up completely.

First a minor thing, doesn't upset me, I'm just tired of dealing with it.
I didn't get knighted at Festival because Uther couldn't be there. It was entirely my decision, which was easy and instant, in fact it surprised him that I came out with it on the phone as soon as he said he couldn't make it. The reason he couldn't make it was the arrival of a new manager and the sacking of Uther's 3 workmates for being unproductive, which necessitated cancelling his pre-approved leave since he would be the only one left to keep things running until hiring happened. ie: real life is a bitch sometimes. The current plan is for Rowany Yule if it's on 8th Dec and not the 1st because he's on a "goodbye dad" cruise then. If Yule must be the 1st, then I'll look at Spring War. If he can't make that I'll do it at Yule without him to get it over and done with.

Now a thing that is weighing more heavily. I have taken an extended leave from SCA fighting to try and recuperate my ankle. This is hard for me to be the perceived "make a knight, lose a fighter" guy. If I can't return to fighting in a suitable time frame in a way that fulfils my self-imposed standard, then I will decline to be knighted. Knowing how the peerage councils work, I recognise that it would be akin to political suicide for ever getting the offer again, but living up to your own standards is important.
As to what's wrong with my ankle; I sprained it during November crown but kept going the next day. I rested it over Xmas and have been doing fortnightly physio but have also done monthly tournaments and some trainings up to about 2mths ago when it locked up at work and caused me to be unable to fulfil my work duties. Working in the steelworks, saying "Yes I can walk on my ankle but not that far" doesn't cut the blokey-mustard, which is not a game I play but a reality of politics that I must deal with. So faced with the simple choice of "it can deal with work but not work and fighting", bye-bye fighting, even though work is not my favourite place at them moment.
Fortunately my self-doubt has been quashed by the MRI results I got on Monday which show a slight crack/lesion on the tip of my tibia, bone bruising, fluid and a rough bit that's apparently not good for my cartilage long term. So, the current plan is more doing nothing and trying to stay off it as much as possible, then if that doesn't settle the bruising and other symptoms down, then it may need an arthroscopy with 6~12wk recovery.

Inspiring reads

I recently finished Way of the Peaceful Warrior again. And I'm glad I found it in the bookshelf when I did, as it helped remind me to breath, experience life, _have_ emotions then let them go, during a time when the four areas of my life all demanded attention.

More fighting related titles that also have a good life philosophy is Book of Five Rings (Musashi) which I was lucky to get as a double with Book of Family Traditions (I think that's its title) (Munenori). The best part of that is the section on having a "normal mind". Particularly that "it is normal to blink when something is thrust at your eyes. If an opponent does not blink when you do this, then they are in a state of agitation and not a normal/free state of mind. You will win." To understand the normal mind, think of archery, when you shoot an arrow you are not thinking about the mechanics of shooting the arrow, rather just the feel of the drawn bow, the awareness of the sight picture and the vision of the desired outcome. If you think about the mechanics you're mind will be constricted, you will over-compensate, and you will miss.
To quote The Last Samurai "Too much mind. No Mind!" This applies to so much beyond marshal skills.

From The Last Samurai DVD extra features, the summation of the Bushido is worth reading and thinking on ... and through.

Other good reads;
The Longships (a blend of norse sagas written as one continuous fiction)
The White Company (Arthur Conan Doyle) Getting past the "What ho, archer" style of writing isn't as hard as it seems.
Red Branch, the story of the Irish legend, Cuchalain, the hound of ulster.

Love it when a plan comes together

The May Crown List Treb is almost done and is looking cool. As usual it's coming down to the wire but I'll get it done in the evenings this week. I'm really chuffed that the jointing concepts have all panned out and I've had enough cunning plans to smooth out the design issues on the list tree attachment.
Now I just need to fit a brake of some sort to stop the list shields accelerating out of control. Hrmm, maybe better to give it a closer to neutral balance...
Since I seem to have an audience, photo's to come shortly. Maybe after crown though.

Why do I have word blanks?

When I'm talking, and sometimes even just thinking to myself I have mental word blanks. This morning I couldn't remember "procrastinate". And I just had to take 5 goes at it then. It's never that I don't know or am unfamiliar with a word, it just goes. This really sucks when I'm talking to people. Even worse when public speaking. It's made worse by knowing there is "the" correct word for what I'm trying to describe, and if it goes then I'm left with "the metal dealy that you dig food with".
I think I need to find out what's going on, it's not from being nervous, so what the hell is it?

People and history

"To know history is to know the future". I don't know if I heard that somewhere, have paraphrased it or made it up myself, but I like it.
It's something you come across in lots of literature and philosophical discussions. Usually in references to the "wheel of time" and other various circular analogies. Yet it still seems largely ignored as everyone busily races forward in their own little world of experience.
I think people confuse culture and society being different with people being different. Sure there have been great strides towards a more cooperative and peaceful global society yada yada, but I think individual fundamental motivations and resulting actions haven't changed. Only the way they are realised. Sex, food, physical comfort and status. It all boils down to trying to obtain some combination of these on greater or lesser scales.
On the greatest scale;
The US trying to bring peace, democracy and a steady cash-flow to the rest of the world. Sorry guys, Alexander (the Great) of Macedon's already had a shot at that, at least he admitted to seeking glory along the way while stopping inter-tribal conflict by making them part of a bigger whole. It worked for a while...
Rome sought to bring the best back to it, to achieve the great roman dream. Turning it into a great consumer, less and less able to provide it's own needs while creating more layers of bereaucracy, social divides and civil unrest before collapsing in upon itself. With a range of suppressed and opportunistic societies waiting for the sign of weakness before swooping in to gobble choice pieces and desecrate the symbols of previous greatness to achieve some petty greatness themselves.
On smaller scales;
People with a common interest gather together and a leader emerges. The community grows as more people are drawn to it and inevitably more leaders emerge. This results in tension as some leaders tussle for status and assume that the other leaders must have the same motivation. Conflict arises and people or groups are split off. Some going a short way, others going far. After which there is a lull as people come to grips with the new situation and then the groups start to grow again to a point where the process repeats. This is how the world was populated across its whole face by many species, not just we pans-narrans. (ie: story tellingmonkey. Read Pratchett's "Science of discworld 2").

By the way, watch out for that asteroid.

Well looky here

Yep, it's a post. And there's even interest and some potential motivation for more to come. I'm enthused at the moment... although evil second thoughts are pointing out that my enthusiasm is for non-work related items, particularly options for procrastination. Bugger.
Oh well, here's the fruits of procastination.
Actually, I think I'll uber-procrastinate and create a separate suitably titled post.

Publicly listed not-for-profit disorganisation

I've changed the setting to public listing so that a certain protegee can easily check here and go "Ha ha, you are blogging!"

So while I'm at it, here's why you should all put Blayneyism as your religion on the census next week.

1) Unlike agnosticism, you know there is no god, just cool people.
2) Unlike Jedi, argumentative and whiny nerds who don't get out and have a life that involves interacting with people face to face will not only be excommunicated but roshamboed.
3) Unlike christianity, Blayneyism must not be promoted with a straight face.
4) Unlike atheism, you get to believe in something so you'll get more readily accepted across the US mid-west.
5) (feel free to suggest other reasons in a way that won't overly upset people of that religion) (see tenet#1)

Tenets
#1 - Do anything you want that causes no harm to others.
#2 - Accept the consequences if you get it wrong

Life's full of disappointment

Not sure if or what I will post here so don't get too much hope up. My motivation for creating this is to create a multi-user blog for some friends joining me on a fitness challenge and of course I can now comment on other's blogs.
Although with the census coming up, I suspect this will be my platform for promoting my new religion - Blayneyism. With every 10,000 converts you get a free religious holiday.