Latest Dreck...
EMP 102: Details Missing From Discussions On EMP
EMP or Electromagnetic Pulse seems to be a pretty hot topic among disaster preparedness enthusiasts these days. For those who don’t know, EMP happens when a powerful electrical disturbance in the upper atmosphere races towards ground (more precisely, THE ground), causing massive power surges in electrical lines and devices, effectively burning them all out. The cause of this disturbance can be either natural or man-made. A natural EMP would likely come from the sun in the form of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). The Earth’s magnetic field will block most of the event, but some energy does occasionally get through to cause a widespread Electromagnetic Pulse. The last major CME event was the Solar storm of 1859, which burned out many telegraph stations in North America and Europe.
Why Is LFTR So Important?
Why is the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) so important? A question no one ever has to ask me, but I feel the need to tell everyone the answer in great detail every time I’m engaged in conversation. Last night, a very dear friend of mine suggested I should list the answers to that very question in my blog. So here we go. I think most people have some societal or political issue they feel very strongly about. There are a lot of different problems in the world. Everything from pollution, to war and even to the very water we rely on for our very survival. For every one of these issues and problems, I see how LFTR can solve it. Directly, or indirectly. I really don’t think
Free Cell Phone Service Redux
It’s been a while since I’ve posted on my adventures in Free Cell Phone Service. Some things have changed recently, so I thought I should post an update. For some time I have been relying on a combination of Google Voice and Spare Phone over a WIFI connection to make and receive phone calls. Unfortunately, the author of Spare Phone has updated the app, rendering it completely useless if you install the update. Until now, I’ve been using an older version, not allowing it to update, which has been working. Google has recently integrated Google Voice into Google Hangouts. I thought I’d give it a shot and I was pleasantly surprised. Call quality using Hangouts is far superior to that of Spare Phone. No more echo, no more
Thorium, LFTR And The New Economic Arms Race
As I’ve written before, I believe Thorium (specifically the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor) is the future of energy production. A cheap, clean, abundant and safe form of nuclear power discovered decades ago, but largely ignored for economic and military reasons. It’s a disruptive technology that would displace petroleum as energy king, and it’s impossible to make nuclear weapons from. I just read a news article today that scares the ever-loving shit out of me. Chinese going for broke on thorium nuclear power, and good luck to them The nuclear race is on. China is upping the ante dramatically on thorium nuclear energy. Scientists in Shanghai have been told to accelerate plans (sorry for the pun) to build the first fully-functioning thorium reactor within ten years, instead of 25
A Nuclear Power Wake Up Call In California
A recent post from The Breakthrough Institute, posted on Facebook by Energy From Thorium, has me so pissed I can’t help but laugh my ass off. After shuttering the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station this past June, the state of California delivered an extra 18 million tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, in addition to the loss of 1,500 jobs and $50 million in revenue. A recent NPR report on California’s rising emissions mistakenly argued that the closure of the aging SONGS was still the right decision. The issue with the reactor’s steam generators was only present when they were run at a higher output – meaning that we could reduce the output to around 70% and still deliver over 13 billion kWhrs of low-carbon electricity each
Living With Free Cell Phone Service On Android – Upgrade
Here’s a little update on my life with free cell phone service using an Android phone. I finally got tired of the poor performance using my old LG Optimus S and decided it was time for an upgrade. I searched on Craigslist and found a guy selling a Samsung Galaxy S2 (Sprint Epic 4G Touch) for $150. I looked up the specs online and decided this was the cell phone for me. So, I bought it. Within 5 minutes of buying the phone, and while sitting in my truck outside of a local IHOP, I had my free cell phone service set back up. For those that have missed my previous posts, free cell phone service is as easy as setting up a purchasing Spare Phone from the
EMP 102: Details Missing From Discussions On EMP
EMP or Electromagnetic Pulse seems to be a pretty hot topic among disaster preparedness enthusiasts these days. For those who don’t know, EMP happens when a powerful electrical disturbance in the upper atmosphere races towards ground (more precisely, THE ground), causing massive power surges in electrical lines and devices, effectively burning them all out. The cause of this disturbance can be either natural or man-made. A natural EMP would likely come from the sun in the form of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). The Earth’s magnetic field will block most of the event, but some energy does occasionally get through to cause a widespread Electromagnetic Pulse. The last major CME event was the Solar storm of 1859, which burned out many telegraph stations in North America and Europe.
Why Is LFTR So Important?
Why is the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) so important? A question no one ever has to ask me, but I feel the need to tell everyone the answer in great detail every time I’m engaged in conversation. Last night, a very dear friend of mine suggested I should list the answers to that very question in my blog. So here we go. I think most people have some societal or political issue they feel very strongly about. There are a lot of different problems in the world. Everything from pollution, to war and even to the very water we rely on for our very survival. For every one of these issues and problems, I see how LFTR can solve it. Directly, or indirectly. I really don’t think
Free Cell Phone Service Redux
It’s been a while since I’ve posted on my adventures in Free Cell Phone Service. Some things have changed recently, so I thought I should post an update. For some time I have been relying on a combination of Google Voice and Spare Phone over a WIFI connection to make and receive phone calls. Unfortunately, the author of Spare Phone has updated the app, rendering it completely useless if you install the update. Until now, I’ve been using an older version, not allowing it to update, which has been working. Google has recently integrated Google Voice into Google Hangouts. I thought I’d give it a shot and I was pleasantly surprised. Call quality using Hangouts is far superior to that of Spare Phone. No more echo, no more
Thorium, LFTR And The New Economic Arms Race
As I’ve written before, I believe Thorium (specifically the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor) is the future of energy production. A cheap, clean, abundant and safe form of nuclear power discovered decades ago, but largely ignored for economic and military reasons. It’s a disruptive technology that would displace petroleum as energy king, and it’s impossible to make nuclear weapons from. I just read a news article today that scares the ever-loving shit out of me. Chinese going for broke on thorium nuclear power, and good luck to them The nuclear race is on. China is upping the ante dramatically on thorium nuclear energy. Scientists in Shanghai have been told to accelerate plans (sorry for the pun) to build the first fully-functioning thorium reactor within ten years, instead of 25
A Nuclear Power Wake Up Call In California
A recent post from The Breakthrough Institute, posted on Facebook by Energy From Thorium, has me so pissed I can’t help but laugh my ass off. After shuttering the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station this past June, the state of California delivered an extra 18 million tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, in addition to the loss of 1,500 jobs and $50 million in revenue. A recent NPR report on California’s rising emissions mistakenly argued that the closure of the aging SONGS was still the right decision. The issue with the reactor’s steam generators was only present when they were run at a higher output – meaning that we could reduce the output to around 70% and still deliver over 13 billion kWhrs of low-carbon electricity each
Living With Free Cell Phone Service On Android – Upgrade
Here’s a little update on my life with free cell phone service using an Android phone. I finally got tired of the poor performance using my old LG Optimus S and decided it was time for an upgrade. I searched on Craigslist and found a guy selling a Samsung Galaxy S2 (Sprint Epic 4G Touch) for $150. I looked up the specs online and decided this was the cell phone for me. So, I bought it. Within 5 minutes of buying the phone, and while sitting in my truck outside of a local IHOP, I had my free cell phone service set back up. For those that have missed my previous posts, free cell phone service is as easy as setting up a purchasing Spare Phone from the