Late February post
Went on vacation, and had a wonderful time with my uncle Burt, and then later SCALE 12X (Southern California Linux Expo number 12).
My uncle Burt is an engineer who worked in pretty much every space program ever. He did batteries. I had the opportunity to visit with him, and plied stories out of him of his work in the various projects. I had a great time. I learned so much, and loved every bit of it.
He did ask me what the best publishing platform of the day is.
Problem is, I don't know the best answer. Wordpress? Squarespace? Facebook? Blogger? Tumblr? Live Journal? I happen to like Live Journal.
During the Apollo program, the engineers were all about The Doing, and not so much about The Documentation. My uncle Burt happened to keep a bunch of that documentation, and would like to publish it. But what is the best platform? He is old, and knows that he (probably) only has another five years to live. What can he do, to publish history that out lives him?
My uncle Burt has a story about the Pioneer Venus lander. He was brought in late in the project, and had to design a battery that would survive astounding "G"'s (as it bounced off the ground after "landing"), and was going to heat up to tremendous heat as it dropped through the atmosphere. (Before bouncing off the freaking ground at a supreme re-entry speed). The heat meant that he could not use Lead to hold the power, as a Lead-Acid battery would melt as the spacecraft descended through the atmosphere. These satellites were "one-shots" so the batteries were pretty much the sole source of power. Fly in the cold for many months, then light up and deliver all the power for the next 15 minutes.
His solution worked. Luckily, one of the child probes bounced, came to a rest with it's radio antenna pointing Earthward, and transmitted sensor data for another 35 minutes before the Venusian atmosphere corroded and dissolved the working parts of the Venus lander.
Anyway, I was happy to hear the stories of the USA's early space program from someone who worked in them. I had a great time.
After, I moved on to the Southern California Linux Exposition (SCALE). I loved it. But I'll tell those stories later. BTW, Professor Lawrence Lessig showed up at SCALE 12X and delivered a life-changing keynote to improve the political engine here in the United States. Your Representatives want to do right by you. But to get elected, they must pander to the 1%, for campaign funds, because the media demand so much money to influence the vote. Which means that the 1% will cash in "favors" to get legislation (like the Mickey Mouse Protection Act) turned into law. Anyway, Professor Lessig presented a plan that I think is a great idea and will work. Think school vouchers, but for election campaigns.
My uncle Burt is an engineer who worked in pretty much every space program ever. He did batteries. I had the opportunity to visit with him, and plied stories out of him of his work in the various projects. I had a great time. I learned so much, and loved every bit of it.
He did ask me what the best publishing platform of the day is.
Problem is, I don't know the best answer. Wordpress? Squarespace? Facebook? Blogger? Tumblr? Live Journal? I happen to like Live Journal.
During the Apollo program, the engineers were all about The Doing, and not so much about The Documentation. My uncle Burt happened to keep a bunch of that documentation, and would like to publish it. But what is the best platform? He is old, and knows that he (probably) only has another five years to live. What can he do, to publish history that out lives him?
My uncle Burt has a story about the Pioneer Venus lander. He was brought in late in the project, and had to design a battery that would survive astounding "G"'s (as it bounced off the ground after "landing"), and was going to heat up to tremendous heat as it dropped through the atmosphere. (Before bouncing off the freaking ground at a supreme re-entry speed). The heat meant that he could not use Lead to hold the power, as a Lead-Acid battery would melt as the spacecraft descended through the atmosphere. These satellites were "one-shots" so the batteries were pretty much the sole source of power. Fly in the cold for many months, then light up and deliver all the power for the next 15 minutes.
His solution worked. Luckily, one of the child probes bounced, came to a rest with it's radio antenna pointing Earthward, and transmitted sensor data for another 35 minutes before the Venusian atmosphere corroded and dissolved the working parts of the Venus lander.
Anyway, I was happy to hear the stories of the USA's early space program from someone who worked in them. I had a great time.
After, I moved on to the Southern California Linux Exposition (SCALE). I loved it. But I'll tell those stories later. BTW, Professor Lawrence Lessig showed up at SCALE 12X and delivered a life-changing keynote to improve the political engine here in the United States. Your Representatives want to do right by you. But to get elected, they must pander to the 1%, for campaign funds, because the media demand so much money to influence the vote. Which means that the 1% will cash in "favors" to get legislation (like the Mickey Mouse Protection Act) turned into law. Anyway, Professor Lessig presented a plan that I think is a great idea and will work. Think school vouchers, but for election campaigns.