Fuck America

I just watched SiCKO by Micheal Moore.

Fuck America.

Watch the movie.

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Z-Stage Idea for the McWire RepStrap

Here is something else I scavenged from the Universal Stereoplotters. A nice z-stage setup for our McWire RepStrap.


In these images we have two full assemblies being shown. On the left is an assembly that is broken into its two components. The smaller shiny piece is the part you attach to the McWire bot while the darker piece above it is the part that gets the Extruder attached to it. To the right is the same setup--I got two--but put together.

An astute observer may ask how this assembly is kept together once in the vertical position? Ah, there is the cool part: MAGNETS! The two round portions in the dark piece with what look like lines through the centers of them are magnets. The other portion is metal so it gets held against the rollers but doesn't end up touching the magnets. Nice little setup that we should consider for the McWire RepStrap.

Scavanged Motors

These two motors and gearhead assemblies came out of a Universal Stereoplotter from my school. They are swiss made Portescap motors labeled as ESCAP 26L28 213 4 with Portescap gearheads labeled as ESCAP 26.1 156:1.

Pictures:

(One complete assembly with the other broken apart)

(That's the motor on the left and the gearhead on the right.)

(Motor on the right again and the gearhead on the left. Both from the other ends.)

I did some searching online for these motors/gearheads and came up with the following links:

26 Series Motors

K Series Gearheads
(Most of the way down the page and listed as 26.0 instead of 26.1. Don't know what the distinction means.)

My question is: How much are these worth. Neither listing is exactly what I have because they are fairly old though lightly used.

Rivers of Milk!

Apparently we have rivers and aquafirs of milk running beneath our feet! How else could gas be more expensive than milk!?

Let me explain. Cost of an item is usually based on its scarcity. Thus, since milk is cheaper than gas it must be more abundant.

Gas comes from oil which pools in huge underground reservoirs from which we have to extract it and then process it in mass. It is then shipped in pipes or trucks to your local gas station where it is sold in bulk.

Milk, on the other hand, must be produced in cows which have to be feed, tended, herded around, contained, bred, and finally milked. The milk is then collected into much larger batches than the cows can produce individually and processed to eliminate some of the milk fat and to kill of bad microbes. Then, after all this effort, it is packaged in little jugs, bottles and cartons. Crazy!

Just from a simple glance at the above two paragraphs we can see which one is longer and more complicated--I know, I know, very scientific measuring scheme!--so why is it that milk is less expensive than gas!?

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Online Advertisers Are DUMB!

While perusing the vast expanse of worthlessness that is my MySpace profile I was beaten in the head by just how stupid these advertisements are. I'm referring to two kinds of advertising; click able banner-game ads, and the phony profile ads. Let's take these two in reverse order.

Phony profile ads are just sad. Most of the time the profile doesn't even have a picture attached to it. The profile is taken down in a very short amount of time and who really clicks on that shit anyway! It takes you to a porn site sign up page--I'm one of the few who have clicked on it--which tells me nothing but how to pay for porn that I don't even get to peruse! WTF? At least let me sample the wares before you tell me to buy! Do you even have porn in there? Is this just a credit card scam operation? What a waste of your time. And I mean 'your time' as in the person who put up the site and the phony profile. What a joke. This is how you know that the stupid underbelly of American culture is still around.

Click able banner-game ads are just pathetic. Oh, look a game! I'll bet it's not one of those fake games like the others! I'll just play it and see! What I want to know is exactly how many people are dumb enough to do this? I don't just mean click and play one of the games--if it isn't one of the fakes--but to go on and pay for whatever the ad is trying to get you to fork over money for. Aside from the above mentioned phony profile people, I'm not sure there are a whole lot of those kinds of dumb people around. And the phony profile types aren't getting any money to speak of so... Well, a fool and his money are soon parted sot that means that only the first con-man gets paid and since he's probably a fool too it won't be around long. Fucking bunch of morons!

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Kitlers!!!

Thanks to my lover, Crackgerbal, I was turned on to one of the funniest things I've seen this year. It speaks for itself so here it its:

Kitlers!

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Butt Heart (or How Much I Love You!)

In the process of chatting on-line with Crackgerbal, it was discovered that I "Butt Heart" her very much. This may sound like a bit of a demented segway into anal sex but it isn't! I only mean that...well, (o) <3 her very much.

Let me explain a bit more.

"I" or (o). <3 or "heart." Get it now? No? The (o) looks like a butt--at least, according to Crackgerbal!--and the rest just follows from the sentences structure. (o) <3...butt heart.

Not one of the most enduring phrases when looked at this way but, I do what I can on a daily basis. ;-)

Sorry for the long absence.

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What Are We Seeing in Web 2.0 and Beyond

There is a lot of talk about empowering the common person through the Internet. I don't think that this is the big deal of the Internet or Web 2.0 or any other such things. The BIG DEAL is that we can now use the inherent habits of people--communication, gossip, and social hierarchies--to organize and sort data, build content, and dynamically expand the possibilities for advancement.

I mean that Digg and Craigslist and StumbleUpon and other sites offer a way to organize vast amounts of data through things that humans like to do already. Some are Web 2.0 applications--whatever the hell that is!--and others are just simple rating services. No matter what they are the next killer app is data coherence and content creation.

Camping Again and the Fall of Polyphasic Sleep Redux

I have to stop the planned polyphasic sleep agenda. This is ostensibly due to the fact that I am now going to see Crackgerbal every weekend. She is a full state away from me (approximatly 5 1/2 hours of driving) and I cannot continue my little sleep experiments. I'm wondering if this is the biggest reason why the polyphasic sleep thing has failed to catch on or be successful in people's lives. Who knows.

In other news...

Crackgerbal and I went camping again. No pictures this time--we forgot. We went swimming and floated down the river. Nice fun time but I got a sunburn. No big deal but a bit annoying.

Next weekend Crackgerbal will be coming down to see me here at home! She is riding the train so it will be a long, slow trip for her. Not nice but it is good to be seeing her every weekend. I can't wait. I miss her already.

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Polyphasic Sleep Redux (Day 1)

We are at it again as promised before. Not really much different this time other than I know have company for the long nights. It's kinda nice.

Here is a picture of what I'm getting up to while the long night wittles itself away. Mucho progress on that piece of chainmail I showed you before. Still 13" long but now 7" wide! This will be the rear-flap for Crackgerbal's skirt. Very sexy when it is done. I can't wait!


Just feeling a bit of tired and have a stuffy nose. That's the allergies for ya. Fuckers. I'll keep this one short so my 'vast' readership doesn't have to slog through many paragraphs of dense text.

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Polyphasic Sleep (Day 5)

I went to sleep!

Not accidentally, I got all cross-eyed and had to sleep. I am a little concerned about the effects it was having on me. I had control of all my major muscles but the minor ones started to revolt and doe funny things. I couldn't see straight--eyes kept crossing--I was stumbling and veering--fine motor coordination was lost, etc.

I will do the following: I will sleep on a monophasic schedule till Tuesday night at which point I will begin the polyphasic schedule again. This will allow me to recoup and go for it again. The only change will be that I will have two other people with me on this one all trying to do the same thing. This should help with the really bad times. They have also come up against this wall though on various days--two and three--and so we can all help each other through it to the end.

Starting on Tuesday night allows us to get the really shitty days done during the weekend when we don't need to be functional. Hurray for planning ahead.

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Polyphasic Sleep (Day 4)

The weird sensation of wanting to be unconscious is slowly starting to fade. It is somewhat ridiculous to think that I haven't had a full eight hours sleep since Sunday night! It is almost unreal.

I'm finding more annoyances with the scheduling. It is a pain in the ass to have to find a place in which it is safe to take a nap outside the home. Since I work at the College this summer, this isn't such a big deal--couches everywhere! Were I anywhere else, this would be a serious issue. As it is, the restriction it puts on the duration of activities is odd and often annoying.

The fatigue isn't really lifting. I'm currently at the time of my "day" which is most difficult to get through and it is more fatigue-intense than "yesterday." It is harder to deal with as getting the text to sit still is hard with my head bobbing around to stay awake. I'm just kinda bobbing around trying not to pass out in an awkward place. Not looking good.

Also not good is my headaches with this system. I usually need to take a shit-ton of caffeine to get rid of them. This won't work with my sleep schedule as I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep after that. I won't drive in this state as it would be extremely dangerous. Hell, I will barely ride my bike like this. This is sort of ridiculous. If this doesn't clear up a bit, I won't be able to continue this little experiment.

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Polyphasic Sleep (Day 3)

Hump day! And boy was it a hump. The early morning was a bitch. I found myself having to do physical labor so that I wouldn't fall asleep sitting at my computer. The 2 am to 6 am shift is the toughest. I finally felt true fatigue and exhaustion. Very tough to work past.

I'm feeling it again right now and am trying to tough it out. This is the main reason why people fail. They don't have the willpower to push past this stage. They get pretty depressed at how hard this is and they eventually stop trying. No shame, it is very hard. You just want to pass out and let unconsciousness take you away to bliss!

Below is an image of me right now at 3:45 am on Thursday, July 5th, 2007. I'm pretty tired but still hanging in there!

The image is low quality because I used my web cam. Sorry all.


Here is what I have been doing tonight:

It's a 1-3/4 " X 13" piece of chainmail. It's made out of 18 gauge aluminum wire and will be a skirt and halter-top for Crackgeral. Very sexy! I've been doing other stuff too but this is a huge time sink.

No real insights into the process. Just working through the tired when it hits and enjoying the times when I am not so tired. I also have really been looking forward to each nap. They are a real treat once a bought of exhaustion hits.

Crackgerbal brought up something tonight while I talked to her on the phone. I'm dense and hadn't really considered all the ramifications of this little experiment, luckily she set me straight. Turns out that if I stay on this, we will get no real sleep time together. One of the things we enjoy doing a lot is sleeping together. All night cuddling is very healthy for the relationship and is extremely emotionally satisfying for both of us. With a polyphasic sleep schedule, we wouldn't be able to do that because I would only be laying down for a nap while she would be laying down for an 8 hour block. Not satisfying.

Due to this--and other less problems with scheduling--I will not be continuing the polyphasic sleep schedule after this summer. I'm going to continue it until the end--assuming I don't wimp out first!--but I will not be going any further. Just to let you know up front. I value my relationship much more.

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Camping

This last weekend Pam and I went camping again. We had gone before at the same place but had not taken any pictures. We now have pictures! Here are a select few for your viewing pleasure:

OnePam up a tree!

A long stair to...up!


The suspension bridge at Metzler Park. The white spot is probably a raindrop on th lens.


The stream at Metzler. Very pretty.


Me by the "water fall" in Oregon City.


Pretty Pam and Goofy Stan!

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Polyphasic Sleep (Day 2)

I've done a bunch more reading on this now. Many of the failings of others I have simply ruled out by my habits and lifestyle. For instance, I'm very structured to begin with--hurray for engineering students!--and this allows me to keep to the rigid schedule I need. A very good blog can be found here but be warned that the guy is out there a bit. I'm not nearly as spiritually based as him but a lot of his experiences match mine.

At the time of this writing it has been 42 hours since I last woke up from an eight hour sleep period. I haven't missed any naps--though I have pushed a few out longer--and I have not overslept even one minute. My last sleep period, which I took at 10:30 to 11:00 pm was the only one I had any trouble falling asleep on. I did manage it but it was a bit of a struggle. I didn't toss or turn, my mind just wouldn't slow down for a bit--perhaps ten minutes. No harm, no foul.

As the physical sensations of this...I was expecting a lot more fatigue and drowsiness. They are there but only at a minimum. I think perhaps what is different from myself and others is that I started after I had been up 18 hours since my last sleep cycle. Others--Steve Pavelina--started directly upon waking up from a monophasic sleep cycle so they weren't really tired to begin with. I don't know if this is the case--need more data and a larger population to sample from--but it seems to be true.

The time thing is stranger than you think it will be. I had read about what others had experienced and was still in no way prepared for the 'other-ness' of the thing. I simply want to be unconscious. Not because I am particularly tired or anything, it just seems the right thing to be after this long awake.

That sense of being awake for an extended period of time is also weired. True to other's accounts, it is still the same day I started this in my subjective time. Leads to very odd problems concerning what day it is, how long ago a thing was, etc. Not annoying, just interesting and a little disconcerting. I'm fairly certain this will pass due to the texture of the feelings elicited. They seem to be a bit ephemeral, if that makes any sense.

Crackgerbal is a bit worried about the health consequences but I'm not concerned. Call it ignorance or just stupidity but I feel young--because I am--and healthy--because I 'sorta' am. :-)

I'm getting a shit-ton of stuff done. This is a no-joke way to get way more hours in your day. I have a lot of projects that I'm working on with or for other people--as well as my own--and this allows me to get to all of them in a 24 hour period whereas before I would have to spread the rotation out over two or more days.

My specific schedule seems to be shaping up like this:

• Naps at 6, 11, and 4 (am/pm) though this can spread and contract as needed.
  
• Shower when I get home from work at 4 pm and then straight to nap.
• Eat whenever I feel like it.

I have made up my mind to take more frequent naps at night if this seems necessary to maintain my pattern of not oversleeping as this seems hugely detrimental. Most others failed due to this over sleeping. I won't make that mistake--I'll make others, I'm sure! ;-)

I will continue to post other blog entries but all of the ones concerning my Polyphasic experiences will be labeled Polyphasic Sleep (Day #).

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Polyphasic Sleep (Day 1)

Crackgerbal and I just had a bit of a tiff over me doing housework and such while I talked on the phone with her at night. This has been our schedule since she went away for her internship. She says she doesn't feel like I'm paying full attention and I feel like I don't want to give up another hour of my day to the sole activity of talking on the phone. Does this make me an asshole?

Directly after this--coincidence--I get a call from our Wal-Mart hating stoner friends who tells me about P0lyphasic Sleep. I immediately see this as interesting and a solution to Crackgerbal and I's problem--was that grammatically sound? Needless to say, I'm trying this little experiment. For a break down of what it is, follow the link.

So, to that end, I will be sleeping about 2-3 hours a day in 20 minute naps. I hope to continue this through this summer--famous last words!--assuming I can hack the initial break-in period. I'll post daily here on my progress--or lack of it so you can all laugh at me--and to let you know I am still sane.

I looked into the validity of this and found evidence on both sides. Very little in the way of hard science has been done with this so I decided to give it a try and prove/disprove it empirically. Let's all see how it goes.

It's 3:30 am right now and I just got up from my first 25 minute nap a half hour ago. Was rough for the first five minutes but after that I settled in and am not having too much difficulty. I'm coherent and am able to concentrate. Actually did manage to get to sleep in the allotted time--perhaps the last 15 minutes of it--and so I think it did "some" good in the overall scheme of things.

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It's Been Awhile And Here's Why!

My posts have become sporadic. I read a little bit of text once on how to make your blog famous (stupid article by the by) and it said that you should blog consistently and often...Damn! I'm a failure.

Just took my final Final! (Nice bit of wordsmithing, that!) Did a shitload of programming for Crackgerbal this past 5 weeks and have nary a working bit of program to show for it. Another failure. On the upside, I think I got another 4.0 this term. Stupid freshy classes. It'll get better/more interesting as the years go by.

I'm working as deepcleaner here on campus. Not a great job but it's low stress and solid hours. Very predictable. Let's me focus on the Project/Venture I spoke of several posts back. We will now begin making some progress!

Thanks for ya'lls comments on these posts. They are nothing if not enlightening (unless they happen to be sarcastic, rude, stupid, irate, irretated, or just inane! :). Makes me feel as if I had a readership!

Good luck to Papa Rick and Sheri in their upcoming baby venture! I hear if you just start having mad sex in every possible position ten or twelve times per day, the baby just gets tired of all the jostling and comes out on the spot! Give it a try, if Papa Rick is man enough!

I'm starting to build a bit of machinery. Take a look at the RepRap project. They are doing some pretty cool shit. I've ordered a couple of the electronic components and will begin building when they arrive. Soon--hopefully before summer ends--I will have my very own REPlicating RAPide prototyper. 3D plastic printing! It's awsome. I'll keep ya'll posted.

Crackgerbal got her Order of Engineer's ring! I'm so proud of her. She wears a size 3 ring on her pinky!!! Holy Fuck! I didn't even know they made that size! Little girls have bigger pinkys than she does. Anyway, we got all fancied up:



I know, I'm a nerd. I didn't clean up the picture at all so just bear with me. It's hard to get Crackgerbal to stand still for any picture so this is the best we could do. Only got one shot. She's so pretty...I'm a softie.

Got a 1983 Chevy Blazer from Crackgerbal's dad! For FREE!!! Can't beat that shit. Runs well and doesn't require any immediate maintenence so I'm happy as shit. It means I'll be able to go visit Crackgerbal this summer while she is away at her internship! Thanks to Crackgerbal's dad!

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Do Fish Fart?

The short answer is, YES!

Here's the story. Crackgerbal and I were sitting on the couch the other day (nice, ambiguous phrase, that) watching the fish. One of our fish--a simple gold fish, emphasis on the "simple" part--occasionally gets a bloated belly and has trouble not floating to the surface of the tank.

At first, we were worried he was going to die. We just started the tank about a month and a half ago and have had various goldfish dying the whole time. We thought the same toilet-type fate awaited this one. Not to be.

No, this fish likes to swallow air. He has been seen on occasion rising to the top and sucking down a bubble or two. Funny but we didn't think anything of it. Not until it popped out his ass!

There we were--just picture it--watching the fish going about their fishy daily lives when--blub!--out comes a bubble form this wayward fish's ass! Craziest thing ever. Wish we had gotten it on video. Another day in the life.

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Bike Problems

This last Saturday--Yes, I know it was a bit ago!--I had a few bike problems. It went something like this...

My plan was to take a bit of the fish tank water down to the fish store to have it tested to see if we can begin stocking our little tank with some pretty fish rather than just goldfish--the cockroach of the fish world! I would then hit the hardware store as I'm making chainmail again. Sounds simple and straight forward since my house is only about a mile away from both places. Savvy.

I make it to the fish shop on my bike with a little Tupperware container of fish water. It turns out to be nitrate heavy and thus about a week away from being stable. I leave the fish store and head for the Bell hardware. They only end up having a few of the parts I need so I figure I will ride out the Heaten Steel and see if they have what I need.

This is about another mile away so it takes a bit to get there. No luck, they are closed. Okay, I know I can go out to Pacific Air/Gas (incidentally I now know they are closed on the weekend) which is something like 3 to 5 miles away from my current location. Not a huge ride but a bit of a jaunt.

I start out and get about a mile and a half when I spot Grover electric and decide to see if they have what I need (wire of a smaller gauge). They don't and when I come back out to my bike, my tire is flat!

Now, this is the second time in a week. I had just replaced the tube the day before! WTF!!!? I call up Crackgerbal and ask her to come get me and take me to Hutch's bike shop which is about a mile from our house. She isn't happy--doing homework--but comes and gets me.

She drops me off at Hutch's and they tell me they can fix it in 5 minutes. I tell Crackgerbal to head home cause I'll just continue riding when they fix it. Five minutes later I'm back on the road heading out to Pacific Air/Gas again. About a half mile past where I got the first flat, I get another!! SON OF A BITCH!!!

I am near a home improvement place so I stop in and find the wire I need (at least a bit of what I need). I don't want to call Crackgerbal again so I begin pushing my bike the two or so miles back to Hutch's bike shop. When I get there--hot and grumpy and tired--they guy finds out that the tube was defective and fixes it at no extra charge. Small favors! Feh.

In the end I never made it out to Pacific Air/Gas. I got a small amount of *some* of the things I needed and that was all. A pain in the butt!

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I Don't Own My Arm or Shoulder Anymore

Apparently, upon agreeing to be in any sort of male-female relationship (this may be the same for male-male and female-female) I lost possession of my arms and shoulders. Yes, they no longer belong to me but are at the sole disposal and convenience of Crackgerbal. It does not matter that I am uncomfortable, hot, cramped or just itching to move. Crackgerbal owns my arms and shoulders.

This, you would think, wouldn't be a real problem. You would be wrong. Many men and women about the planet--I'm sure in the billions!--are afflicted with this sort of limb-enslavement. They are not the sole owners of their limbs and must whore them out on command to an--admittedly--grateful and attractive person. This appreciation and attractiveness notwithstanding, limb-slavery is a horrible and heinous institution causing many a numb limb and sleepless night.

You may notice that this was posted in the wee hours of the morning my time (pacific standard). This is directly due to the enslavement of my limbs (small print: and a headache). Please, send help quickly! Donate now and stop this vile abuse of arms and shoulders across the globe! For only $19.95 per month you will get a personalized photo of the arm or shoulder you are helping and yearly updates on their progress. $19.95, that's only the price of a mid-range hooker in downtown LA. Don't hesitate, call today!

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