Thumpin’ the Good Book at 5000 Watts

4 Replies

It’s Sunday and the airwaves are positively crackling with overmodulated, firebreathin’ preacher-men poundin’ the pul-pits and spreadin’ the good word. AM radio in particular is an interesting place to dial in some of the more colorful characters preachin’, witnessin’, and evangelizin’ the Gospel. 

Around these parts we have an AM station that specializes in the Messianic message that broadcasts on a low power transmitter over what they call the American Freedom Network.

Between phone-linked sermons (homilies for the survivalist, really) you’ll hear infomercials hawking colloidal silver cure-alls, dubious gold investments, nutriceuticals, and other market flotsam. For a time there was a fellow who was reading off seismic data and coordinates for earthquake enthusiasts. It appeals to that quiet voice in the back of your consciousness that urges you to move into a small cabin and become a hermit. I’m afraid that one day while driving I’ll have a deer crash through my windshield because I was distracted by this stuff.

When I hear these people talking about getting religion back into the public arena, or “bringing God back” into public life, I’m mystified.  Many of the religious talking heads are striking back at the recent popularity of skeptics like Dawkins, Shermer, or Harris. These fellows have made a cogent and thoughtful appeal to the use of analysis and reason. I doubt there are more atheists per capita today than before. But it is evident that atheists and agnostics are a bit more vocal in public today.

Despite their popularity, they represent a minority view of the physical reality of religious concepts.  Their ideas will certainly never catch hold in the USA as a majority view because our very brain architecture predisposes us to adopt a belief in the supernatural. Only a few people seem to be able to break away from this notion. They (we) will always be in a minority.

But I can’t help but conclude that when the call is made to “bring religion back” to public discourse, the intent of those making the call is perhaps not what the rest of us might conclude from their words.

Bringing back religion to the public arena is not meant to imply that we will openly examine religion. It is not a call for analysis. It is a call for devotion.  In my experience, the evangelical elite tend not to examine their belief system scientifically or analytically. Rather, they tend to approach it devotionally. This is the big difference between those who dwell under the religious magisterium and those who do not.

The call for public implementation of American-style religiosity through the framework of the public commons of the government does not simply mean that we would suddenly be free to pray in the post office. We already have that. You can stand in the post office and make a silent prayer anytime and anywhere you want. I have prayed to any supernatural being who would listen that my tax return would arrive on time. There is no consequence for uttering a tackful plea to the prime mover. Only the most clumsy, clueless authority would attempt to subdue an individual who was quietly praying.  Of course, if one were to handle serpents or chant in tongues, the constable may be summoned to quiet the commotion of those frightened by the spectacle.

What I think the evangelical impresarios really want is to hold services in the pubic commons. They want to make a show of their humility. They want expressions of devotion and ultimately alignment to their way of thinking. They want to see a universal protestant Jesus haunting that pervades every aspect of our lives. Preferably with a Southern Baptist twang.

Rendering the commons religious in some way is only a blueprint for social upheaval. It is worth recalling that the Puritans did not come to the new world for freedom of religion. They came for freedom from other peoples religion.

What could people mean when they suggest that we govern according to Gods law? If this picture looks like Deuteronomy, I’m moving to Canada.  What does Gods law say about the uniform building code or municipal zoning or the transport of hazardous goods or ten thousand other ordinances and statutes that have the most real impact on our lives?

I’m pretty sure that the bible is silent on most of the code that affects our daily lives. But you can bet that people will line up to tell us what the Almighty has to say about it.

On Expired Patents

4 Replies

The website Latepatents.net has collated a top 100 list of companies with a link to their individual expired US patents.  Said patents have expired due to failure to pay maintenance fees and not due to normal expiry. I checked a random sampling at the USPTO and found that indeed the patents were expired.

Readers will have to determine for themselves the value of these heaps of company treasure lying about the Public Domain landscape like so many abandoned Buicks, tanks still full of gas.

Given the quality of the companies that have the prematurely expired patents, and the resources they surely spend on IP management, I’ll hazard a guess that most of these patents were allowed to expire on purpose.

Patents are obtained for many reasons. One invention might lead to prompt and exclusive sales and profits for its owner. Another invention might lead to possible cash flow in the future if certain circumstances align properly. Some patents may be intended to be put up for lease or sale. Still other inventions serve to block competitors from facile entry into your line of business, so called “picket fence” patents.

It is not unusual for a given bit of intellectual property to become obsolete before the natural expiration of the patent. Technology can advance sufficiently such that a process or composition is no longer competitive. A company can move away from a technology package for business reasons having nothing to do with the suitability of the patented art.

Finally, I think that some patents are obtained simply because the company has a “policy” that requires the disclosure of inventions and subsequent mechanical submission to the attorneys. If you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail. If you’re running an intellectual property office, every disclosure looks like a patent. 

If too many “improvements” turn into applications, it may not be the fault of over-eager patent attorneys. More likely, it is the result of choices made by company management. I have witnessed a few circumstances where managers have been reluctant to exercise business judgement and have heaped the decision to patent solely upon the hapless attorney. What choice does the attorney have but to prosecute the patent?

It is my opinion that business people far too frequently allow their attorneys to make IP business decisions for them. The typical excuse is that it is a “legal matter”. The question for a business person is this- Can we make a choice that prevents the issue from becoming a legal matter?  Sometimes we use lawyers because we need a surrogate to do the dirty work for us.

The common default choice found in IP is that if it can be patented it should be patented. This is an expensive and weak-minded philosophy and I’ll wager that the patents in the aforementioned list are expired as a result of some second thoughts on the value of these inventions.

Aurum Oracle, What Say You?

5 Replies

Watching the market take on water like a leaky Liberian freighter, I’m wondering about the wisdom leaving my assets in the 401(k) plan.  It’s a fact that the market goes up and the market goes down. The question is, what kind of games do the fund managers play as share prices fall? Do they sell-off many low priced shares for fewer shares of stronger stocks? If so, how does that affect your recovery as the market strengthens? I don’t know. Sounds like its time to understand this better.

Gold has been steadily increasing in value since at least June of 03 (near the limit of my horizon). Since stock prices started to nose downward in early 4Q2007, the slope of gold price growth increased. The inverse price trend with investor confidence in stocks is normal behaviour for gold.

But looking at the upward trend in gold prices this decade, I’m left to wonder if there isn’t some fundamental change happening. If the price is rising due to global demand, who is out there steadily driving up prices? Are there big players who are in the know?  And what are the consequences for individuals?

The Astute and the Cagey

1 Reply

It is possible to split business organizations coarsely into two camps- Old Testament and New Testament. Old Testament organizations tend to be conservative along all of the organizational degrees of freedom. Employees have conservative mannerisms and dress, decorum is strenuously observed, desktops are always neat and tidy, and the management of personnel tends to be rigid. Lots of complicated rules and no mercy.

New Testament organizations on the other hand, tend to be more tolerant of iconoclasm and Bohemian values. The New Testament company is all about redemption and mercy. Ties are hastily donned for visitors from Old Testament businesses because Friday business casual lasts all week. Startups tend to be New Testament.

New Testament businesses are like friendly Unitarians and liberal Quakers, while Old Testament businesses are like sober Pentecostals and Mormons. One is not necessarily better than the other, though if you are caught in the wrong “denomination”, you are probably very unhappy.

Having once experienced the transition from New to Old Testament management, I can say that it can be a very uncomfortable ride. This transition can cause people to elicit interesting or unexpected behaviour. One of the insights that I have had relates to the manner in which people may engage in discussion or negotiation.

Some business managers are naturally very shrewd or astute individuals. They are able to achieve penetrating insights into relationships and circumstances where others might just see a toothy grin or hear a plausible excuse. After all, even Freud had to admit that sometimes a cigar was just a cigar. But the astute business person may be able to intuit a more creative view.

Sometimes, however, astute is confused with cagey. A cagey manager can be shrewd, but the difference is that a cagey person is one who is fundamentally unwilling to reveal information. Why is this important? Because information is the currency of trust. Information truthfully (and carefully) revealed is what allows relationships to move forward. Information about your intent and interest can go a long way to make a potential customer feel better about the business decision to buy your products.

Cagey managers may go well beyond simple mistrust of everyone. They may also be convinced that they understand what the customer “really” wants or what their real intent is. It is possible for smart people to step across the line and enter a space where they believe they can see what is happening behind the curtain. It is a very dangerous thing for a manager to think he is smarter than the customer.

The time tested optimum path is to take the customers word at face value, even if it means that you will get taken advantage of now and then. Give the customer what they ask for and not what you think they really mean. You can’t fall off the floor.

Google Patent Search Tool

10 Replies

The Google Patent Search tool seems to be rather useful for some kinds of patent search activity. I had been using SciFinder or other search tools to find patent numbers that I would then enter into pat2pdf.org to get a single download file copy of the patent. The reason for going to pat2pdf was that it would combine the individual pages of the patent  from the USPTO and download a single combined pdf document of the patent. The Google search tool does this and more.

Our patent office seems to have failed to catch on to the fact that users would prefer not to download patents 1 page per file. Maybe the USPTO has changed this recently or has an upgrade in process. I don’t know.

Among the nice features, it provides links to citation and reference patents. It also provides links to the US classification designations listed in the patent. The default page seems to include the claims and with the click of a button the user can pull up the description or abstract. It also provides a link to download a pdf of the patent or a direct link to the USPTO.  A person can scan a patent without having to download a pdf.

I would say that Google has a handy search tool for at least fairly superficial work.

Wherein Gaussling Pontificates on Ridiculous Events

4 Replies

Th’ Gaussling holds a peculiar view of the theory of the universe. In addition to quantum physics and the big bang, I maintain that the universe will continue to exist until every ridiculous circumstance that can exist eventually does exist.

Accordingly, Th’ Gaussling is personally responsible for ratcheting the universe a few notches closer to its eventual doom. That is my frank admission. Here are a few examples:

Exhibit 1. Forklift-Boat Collision.  As a young lad I spent a great deal of time at our family business. My father and grandfather had a metal fabricating company that specialized in the manufacture of farm implements. As a result, the precocious young Gaussling learned to use power tools at a very early age. By age 12 I could perform arc, gas and spot welding; operate a variety of brake presses and heavy duty shears; layout; a small amount of blacksmithing; and operate a fork lift.

One day inside the plant the 13-year old Gaussling was joy riding on the propane powered forklift. The rear wheel steering with its short wheel base assured that the machine could turn on a dime, but it could be prone to over-steer in the wrong hands.

This day, turning around a corner just a bit too fast in youthful zeal I over-steered the turn and promptly over-corrected my recovery.

Unfortunately, the Pauli Exclusion Principle puts strict limits on how particles can occupy a given space and, as a result, the boat that was sitting on its trailer in the space I intended to occupy underwent an elastic Newtonian collision with the forklift. The boat appeared as though it would tip over from this collision, but for some reason it rocked violently and returned to ground state.  All was well, except for a meter long gash in the trim of the boat.

Exhibit 2. Airplane-Dog Near-Collision.  The clouds were scattered and the winds were light and variable.  Th’ Gaussling was shooting touch-and-goes solo at the local airstrip flying a left-hand pattern on runway 29.  Abeam the numbers on the downwind leg about 800 ft AGL I pull on the carburetor heat, chop the power to 1600 rpm, drop 10 degrees of flaps, and trim the airplane for 60 kts. This is the transition from flying machine to sinking machine.

“Longmont Traffic, Cessna 714 Yankee Bravo turning base for two niner.”

As I rolled onto base, I drop another 10 degrees of flaps, cut the throttle to about 1200 rpm, and dial in a bit more nose down trim. Things happen fast in the landing phase of flight and as soon as you get onto base you have to prepare to roll out onto final approach.

My favorite part of flying is landing. It is like ballroom dancing. The airplane becomes a part of the pilot and the two must deftly and with fluid-like motion arrange to kiss the wheels onto the ground. 

Coming over the fence I chop the power to idle, and rely on my peripheral vision to give clues as to altitude.  Coming over the runway threshold, I bring the nose up to level flight attitude (flare) and allow the machine to sink as airspeed bleeds away maintaining directional control with the rudder.

Just as I flare I catch a glimse of something ahead that boggles my mind. I can’t believe it! A dog- a black Labrador, to be precise- has wandered onto the runway dead ahead!  Somebody’s darling doggie is about to get sliced by the propeller.

Here were my choices- 1) Plow through the dog, 2) attempt to steer around the dog, and 3) attempt to hop over the dog. By the time these choices are in my head, the airplane has touched down and we’re in the landing roll.

Since I had slowed down to “full flaps” stall speed, I was reluctant to hop the plane into the air in ground effect for fear of the subsequent drop to the ground. The dog was too close for acceleration with added power, so option 3) was no good. 

Option 1) was highly undesirable for obvious humane reasons. But option 2) could easily result in oversteer off the runway at high speed in a 3-wheel machine full of 110 octane gas. This was no good either.

Instead, I opted for a combination of 1) and 2). I applied heavy braking while turning off center only slightly. I was not about to get injured trying to avoid this airdale that had wandered my way. If I hit the dog I would just have to deal with it. At the last moment, a black streak to port told me what happened.

I missed the dog.

Exhibit 3. Mercury Shower. Whether in production or on the benchtop, filtration is a problematic operation. Against ambient pressure, vacuum pressure is limited to a pressure differential maximum of 1 atm.  For a minimally equipped fume hood, pressure above can be supplied by carefully holding your finger on the nitrogen bubbler and carefully applying pressure to the Schlenk filter. This way, the filtration time can sometimes be minimized.

One day in grad school, leaning inside the fume hood I was attempting to apply pressure to my filter flask by holding my finger on the exit of my mercury bubbler. At some point, the seal of my skin yielded to the pressure and the high pressure N2 shot mercury up through the bubbler, past my finger, where its trajectory carried it to the top of the hood. As it is prone to do, the mercurial fluid broke into a zillion tiny beads, many of which rained down upon my head. I could feel the delicate tapping impacts on my prematurely grey locks and my shoulders. 

After the ritual spewing of foul utterances, not over pain or distress, but over the hazardous mess, I set about cleaning up the mercury spill in my space. I removed my shirt for disposal and shook my head until I was dizzy.

Hours later, I visited the university health office for a visual inspection of my scalp and ears. No point in delivering mercury to my pillow.  The nurse was at first reluctant to inspect me, but relented if only to hear the story of why I was there. Later I was pronounced free to go home where I would lather-rinse-repeat all evening.

These are stories of circumstances that have advanced the universe 3 clicks forward in the net cosmic ridiculousness.  This very post could be a 4th.

Skeptical of Hydrogen as a Mass Market Fuel

4 Replies

If one examines the composition of propellants and explosives, what you find is that the successful and desirable compositions are those substances that decompose to produce many more moles of decomposition products than moles of starting materials.  As a result, modern propellant compositions have not just a preponderance of nitrogen atoms, but also more skeletal C-N or N-N linkages that replace C-C linkages. Dinitrogen as a decomposition product is more atom efficient in producing PV work than is CO2 or H2O if only because a molar volume of N2 contains only 2 moles of atoms as opposed to 3. 

Designers of explosives and propellants are principally concerned with doing work (W=Fd=PV) against the environment. It could be moving soil, forming a shock wave, or a accelerating a projectile out of a tube. Some particular mass needs to be accelerated over a distance and extracting the last bit of work from the expanding gases is desirable.

PV work is performed by evolving lots of -kJ/mol from heat of formation and arranging for the expanding gas to do something useful. In the case of propellants, dinitrogen formation yields a healthy heat of formation produced from making a triple bond. Hot gases want to expand and move whatever they are in contact with. The more molar volumes of gas generated, the more work that can be done. 

Some of the above line of thinking applies to the combustion of hydrocarbons as well, though the necessary formation of triatomic gases lowers the atom efficiency. The combination of C=O and H-O bonds being formed leads to a net evolution of heat compared to heat absorbed in breaking C-C, C-H, and O-O bonds. Properly chosen fuels and oxidizers provide a net increase in moles of gaseous products leading to an increase in molar gas volume.

Now, consider the case of the combustion of hydrogen and oxygen to produce water: 2 H2 + O2 –> 2 HOH.   In this reaction three moles of gas react to produce only 2 moles of  gas. There is a net loss in molar volume of 1/3 at constant presssure.  Obviously H2 reacts violently with O2 to produce PV work.  Hydrogen can be used to power an Otto cycle engine. But the net loss of molar volume across the reaction would appear to be a drawback to this system compared to others. The question I have is, how does this figure into the overall efficiency of H2 as a fuel?? 

Hydrogen is known to be problematic in engines due to what is called a cooling effect.

One of the key issues to consider with hydrogen economics is the fact that every last molecule has to be manufactured from hydrogen rich feedstocks using energy input. Hydrocarbons have to be cracked in some way, water has to be electrolyzed, or metals have to be oxidized with acid to produce dihydrogen. 

Given that H2 has to be manufactured by cracking hydrocarbon resources or electrolysis of water, does it make sense to use H2 as an automotive fuel? Why not just combust the hydrocarbon that was cracked to give up the H2 in the first place? Better yet, combust H2 at a centrally located gas turbine power plant and distribute the energy as electricity.

Hydrogen isn’t easily liquified (like propane) and the compressed gas requires heavy containment. 

With xtal ball in hand, the more I peer into the next 50 years, the more the future appears to be electrically powered. Todays hydrogen and ethanol schemes found in the popular media result from our collective unwillingness to address the real problem: How do we modify our behaviour to consume fewer kilowatt-hours (or BTU’s) per capita?

The answer is that we need to live closer to work, drive fewer miles, divert fewer hydrocarbons into disposable products, and generally consume fewer kg of resources per capita. Hydrocarbons are a very valuable resource- we’re fighting in the middle east over access to oil output in that part of the world. 

Petroleum distillates have a wonderful combination of attributes that make them valuable. Petroleum distillates have high energy density, they are liquid in ordinary conditions and hence can be pumped and atomized, they offer a choice of flash points, and are reasonably safe for people to handle. This is a splendid set of properties! We should be more appreciative and take better care of how we use it.

For Americans, a glimse of the future can be had for the price of a plane ticket to Japan or Europe. Higher population density, smaller portions of most things, and a larger fraction of income spent on energy.

Archaic Chemical Terms

6 Replies

There are interesting sites out there that list antiquated chemical terms. One apparently authoritative site lists 18th Century chemical terms (compiled by Jon Eklund of Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology). 

Some terms seem to remain quite useful, some are hopelessly irrelevant, and others are just odd.  Naturally, I am attracted to the odd words. Have a look for yourself. Here are a few good ones copied verbatum from early in the alphabet-

Cohobation –Repeated distillations, or any cyclic process in which a liquid is vaporized and condensed as, for example, in refluxing.
Cucurbit – The lower part of an alembic. Shorter, more squat and ovoid than a matrass.
Decrepitation – Rapid physical decomposition of some crystals when heated. Characterized by a crackling noise.
Dephlegmation – To remove water from a solution, usually one of an acid or alcohol. There is a sense of purifying about the term, as opposed to simple concentration.
Desquamation – The process of removing scaly crusts which form on a surface.
Dulcification – Any process in which a caustic substance is rendered less corrosive.
Empyreumatic – Tasting or smelling or burnt organic matter.
Exalt – To make more spiritous, volatile, or generally more active; activate.

I wonder if any of these would get through the peer review process if one were to try to use them in a procedure submitted for publication? Perhaps if Roald Hoffmann used them, I suppose.

Professor Irwin Corey

3 Replies

Sunday morning and the poker is in the fire. Gotta love these 6 day per week jobs.

Enroute to other things (ETOT) I blundered into the website of Professor Irwin Corey. This guy dates from way back on the timeline.

Professor Corey is credited with numerous quips, among them-

“If we don’t change direction soon, we’ll end up where we’re going.”

“Wherever you go, there you are.”

“You can get further with a kind word and a gun than you can with just a kind word.”

Corey’s schtick is parody of the egghead elite. He portrays a kind of daffy, absent-minded professor who is forever stuck in lecture mode. He stitches together impressive sounding language into a maze of dead ends leading to a hilarious rhapsody of non sequiturs.

There is probably no relation to the other professor Corey at Harvard.