Thursday, February 15, 2024
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
Adjustable Manhole Frames Avoid Costly Problems - Kelowna company
This Canadian invention seems like it would save a lot of wear-and-tear on both roads and vehicles. And a simple solution, also.
Related "pet peeve:" why are manhole covers always placed exactly where every vehicle hits them, instead of in the middle of the road or middle of the lane? Like this crazy example in Seattle of a dozen manhole covers directly in line with the rut of tire tracks.
Saturday, February 10, 2024
The solar system to scale
Have you seen one of the many videos depicting the solar system to scale? It is mind-blowing.
De-engineering rivers to prevent flooding.
Riparian marshland reduces catastrophic flooding, but was systematically removed during the industrial revolution. 4:44 Adding "leaky dams," of mere logs and branches, to suburban tributaries holds water back - and has successfully avoided flooding more economically than dykes or retaining walls.
This reminds me of the beneficial effect of beaver dams in retaining water to reduce forest fire risk.
The graph shows greatly-reduced fire damage upstream of the beaver dams. A resurgence in beaver population may actually mitigate climate change catastrophes.
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Releasing male mosquitoes that sterilize females to eradicate virus transmission
5:09 Controlling Kauai's Zika- and avian flu*-carrying mosquito infestation with Wolbachia-infected male mosquitoes pad on the injection during mating, surprising the female that acquires this specific bacterial infection.
6:13 in the wild, they are seeing 95% reduction in population numbers, and this is highly targeted to this single species.
6:36 only 6% of mosquito species bite humans.
*7:46 native birds have no resistance to actual flu.
7:57 one species has a 90% mortality after a single mosque bite carrying avian flu
Tesla dashcam icon missing 2024
Finally solved this one. Although the 256 GB flash drive was working fine, it was not partitioned correctly by either the vehicle or my laptop. Rebooting the Tesla with the scroll wheels did not work.
Due to some arcane rules of disc formatting, I uncovered here that the problem is a disc formatting issue. at
Tesla does not currently support NTFS formatting.
I found out that Windows defaults to NTFS formatting for drives over 32 GB, and you must use a third-party formatting software to force FAT32 formatting onto the flash drive.
This video walks you through formatting a flash drive with FAT32 even if it is over 32GB, which your laptop can't otherwise do.
You then have to add the folder "TeslaCam" using your Windows File Explorer, before plugging the USB into your Tesla.
Threading the needle with a superyacht
I enjoyed this whole video, where they are taking a very expensive yacht through a very tight bridge opening. All the planning and crew positions and radio calls to make it successful. They had at least 2 drones and 3 wide-angle cameras on the yacht to give you every angle of this stressful passage.
I looked up that vessel in the video, and you can rent it for a mere €560,000 a week, "plus expenses." I'm wondering what expenses wouldn't be included in that price! *
*I had to look it up. "Expect to pay 25-to-35-percent of the charter fee with your final payment to cover all additional costs. Industry talk for this payment is an APA — Advanced Provisioning Allowance... running expenses like food, dockage, and fuel."
And then, of course, there's the expected 20% tip.
Split wood when it's green or dry?
"Easier to split when green: apple, black locust, yellow birch, red maple, cedar, cherry. Easier to split when dried for awhile: red oak, pine." https://firewoodhoardersclub.com/forums/threads/splitting-wood-green-or-dry-by-species.38187/
Friday, February 2, 2024
Canary Island's circular hollows to protect plants
5:06 after lava flows devastated the landscape, someone noticed that a shallow wall of porous picon rock sheltered plants, extracted moisture from the winds, and absorbed heat.
Thursday, February 1, 2024
The future of shopping
Alibaba is the Amazon of Asia, with huge investments in cutting-edge technology for shopping in-person, online, and even robotic restaurants. None of this is new, but this venue provides all 3.
Blocking in movie making
This series about movie making technique is well illustrated and explained. Most of them are long but this one is short and very illuminating.
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Robots deep-learn methods of walking
I love watching robots learn to walk. Clumsy at first, but in the end probably a lot more efficient than coding from the start. And self-taught robots can adapt to unfamiliar environments better.
Combating desertification
Terrible amateurish video, misquotes the facts at 2:03; the correct percentages should be "More than 70 percent of the Earth's land has been altered by human activity, and up to 40 percent is degraded, meaning that it has become less biologically or economically productive over a sustained period of time. - Global Land Outlook 2, a new report from the UN's Council to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)." 2022
Mossy earth is a non-profit aiming to reforest sustainably.
1:18 China's efforts may ultimately be detrimental - decades of reforestation may be in vain because of planting a monoculture of fast-growing trees that are fragile and unsustainable. 2:28 only 15% of planted trees have survived 2:03 the planted monocultures overshadow and kill native species that were well-adapted and rooted, ultimately worsening soil conditions. Frustratingly, 3:42 people were cutting down existing trees in order to plant non-native species, because of a government incentive to do so.
Canary islands' circular hollows protect plants
5:07 after lava flows devastated the landscape, someone noticed that a shallow wall of porous picon rock sheltered plants, extracted moisture from the winds, and absorbed heat.
Sunday, January 28, 2024
Schizoaffective disorder and the cycle of homelessness and incarceration
The Man in Room 117
A disheartening and in-depth portrait of a man bouncing between his delusions and a family desperately trying to coax him into treatment.
He, like many homeless people, cycles through incarceration, treatment, and release. "A 1975 Supreme Court decision set the bar for involuntary treatment high, ruling that people who pose no danger and are "capable of surviving safely in freedom" cannot be confined to a psychiatric hospital against their will."
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