Pain Is Weakness Leaving the Body

I'm pretty sure I injured myself with a balloon.
That's right,
A balloon.
I was helping out with the kids at church,
And decided it'd be a good time for balloon art.
Except for the fact that I didn't have my pump.
No problem, right?
I'll just blow them up myself.
I know they're long skinny balloons,
but it'll work out, Right?
WRONG!!!
I pushed so hard with my lungs,
I heard the left joint in my jaw start tearing.
not cool.
So I finish off one balloon and move on to something else.
It hurt a little,
But eh,
It's just pain, right?
I'll get over it.
Wrong again.
I tried to eat a banana this morning,
And that joint is now on fire.

That's right folks,
I hurt myself on a balloon.

All Your LHC Are Belong To Us

Ladies and Gentleman,
The word is out.
Osama Bin Laden is no longer trying to obtain access to Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD),
Such as nukes and warfare agents,
He is trying to access Weapons of Total Annihilation(WTA).
That's right,
Osama and his Henchmen are trying to take over the CERN Particle Accelerator.
Terrorists are trying to hack into the LHC and intentionally create a micro black hole that will send all of humanity to allah's doorstep wear the infidels will be judged accordingly.

...

Ok,
That was only half true.
And the previous statement was also only half true.
Which makes the above story about %25 true.
And if you divide that by Pi squared,
That's about how much actually happened.

A group called "Greek Security Team" did it.
That's right, Greek.
Like Sparta.
CERN scientists suspect rival teams from other particle accelerators.
apparently, GST was only one level of networking away from the actually computer that controls the 17 mile proton smasher.
CERN says this whole thing is a "scary experience"
I tend to agree.
While I highly doubt that machine will create a black hole,
It will pump out substantial amounts off radiation.
And if not controlled properly,
The people that live above it could get cooked.
(Yes, there are residential areas above the LHC)

The GST timed their attack to go just as CERN powered up their 424.3 million Dollar behemoth.
They left several files on CERNs computers,
But only alter one original.
Damage appears to be minimal.
They also defaced CERN web page.
I would have put something a bit different.

Gates and Seinfeld

In case you have heard...
Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld are teaming up to combat the Mac adds staring PC and Mac.
(Which in my opinion are funny)
Supposedly,
Bill and Jerry are trying to show that Windows Vista is in fact usable.
So far,
All they've shown is that Bill can't dance.
Big Surprise there...

For those of you that missed it,
Here's a link to their first add.


Add 2

We Will Never Forget

We Will Never Forget

We will always remember the the victims of 9-11 and their families.

To the ones that were are responsible,
We will always remember you too.
But for other reasons.


Taliban Bodies

Homosapian Parasite Transformation

I'm convinced,
Welfare is making society stupid.
Seriously,
If people would take the energy they invest in getting something for free,
And use it in a more traditional productive way,
Maybe America's average IQ wouldn't be 98.

Take this person for example,
Instead of buying gas,
Or even bumming rides from friends,
This rather creative individual has made a device that will allow himself to use suction cups to literally "hitch" a ride on a random vehicle.
This person obviously does not spend much time on the roads himself.
Even if this is just designed for local traveling,
I wouldn't trust my life to a total stranger like that.

And safety concerns aside,
I'm self conscious enough without wearing an article of apperal that makes me look like the space shuttle.

CERN's LHC Particle Accelerator

Yup,
They turned it on today.
And we're all still here.
That's ok though,
They're still not at full power,
And they didn't even collide the particles.
They just turned on the beam.
When they do start colliding protons,
They still might make that black hole that will kill us all.

But until then,
Here's a copy of the first image they've generated for you to enjoy.

The CERN Particle Accelerator

As I'm sure most of you have heard,
CERN is scheduled to start powering up that shiny new particle accelerator on 10-SEP-2008.
As I'm sure you've also heard,
There is a teeny Tiny percentage of a chance that it'll create a micro black hole.
The scientists assure us that if that were to happen,
according to Hawkins theories,
It would evaporate nearly instantaneously.
So there's absolutely nothing to worry about.
Except for the fact that all that is based on an unproven and unobserved theory.
...
So,
Here's a preview of what's going to happen on Wednesday

Video

BTW: I don't actually believe that,
I already know how the world is going to end,
That's right,
I cheated,
I read the last chapter of the book.

Citation Needed

The world would be such a simpler place if there were more individuals like this one.

Orion ReEntry Vehicle Test

Nasa tested the Apollo style chutes on the Orion ReEntry Vehicle.
This is the thing that's supposed to take us back to the moon.

Video
I feel really confident.
And all Nasa had to say after this was,
"Good thing we tested it"

This Inventor Won't Need a Pattent

Because no one is going to try to copy it.

And For My next Vanishing Act....

So...
I was helping some friends move some furniture into an apartment last night,
And when I went back to my car,
There was a something in my seat.
It looked disturbingly like my AC control panel.
It was.
Except usually,
My stero system was sitting in the middle of that unit.It wasn't there.
On the plus side,
Since Force equals mass times acceleration,
I calculate that I'll be using only 99% of the amount of fuel as before.
That means I'll be able to save enough to replace it in about 8 years.

Lost and Found

I found this on my phone.

Lt Gen Lorenz on Leadership

While cleaning my room,
I cam across what was left of the ragged notebook I used to take notes at Field Training.
After leafing through it,
I realized the vast majority of the pages were useless.
Not only because they were so dirty and smudged you could barely read them,
But what little was readable,
Was just basic daily todo lists.
Nothing very useful outside of that environment.
But then,
I cam across one page,
With the big title "Lt Gen Lorenz on Leadership".
While we were there,
Gen Lorenz came to speak to us.
(Apparently He was promoted to General just a few weeks afterwards)
Now,
I've seen a handful of general speak before,
Probably a good deal more than most people in my position,
And this had to be one of the best I've seen.
Now,
This may be because they had me so brainwashed by that time,
But after looking over my notes,
I don't think that was the case.
He had what he called "Lorenz's 13 points of Leadership"
I thought they were useful,
Maybe someone else out there will too.

1. Learn to balance shortfalls, because you will never have enough time, money, or manpower.
2. Life is a marathon, not a sprint.
3. Keep your eye on the ball.
4. The toughest word to say is "Yes".
5. Always make you decisions in the light of day.
6. Don't lose your temper unless you plan too.
7. You have to be able to lead your people, get along with your peers, and manage your bosses.
8. Ego is the number one facilitator, and at the same time detriment, to mission accomplishment.
9. Never develop a sense of entitlement.
10.Apply overwhelming combat power at the point which it will have the most effect.
11. Everything about leadership is grounded in Integrity.
12. You never know when you're going to make a difference.
13. Being in the military is about service to others.

He ended with this quote.
"My deepest fear is that I'll look back on my life,
And wonder what I did with it."

Here are some links to articles he published on leadership in the Air & Space Power Journel
Summer 2005 Lorenz on Leadership
Spring 2008 Lorenz on Leadership Part 2

Fire

So what I want to know,
Is When the Google people were driving around recording all this,
Did they Stop to help?
Link

Physics is Cool

Doc would be so proud,
Maybe now Marty will think physics is cool.
Just incase the Flux Capacitor wasn't enough to convince him.

Particle Accelerator Rap

Designer Clothing for the Warfighter

Have you ever looked at an article of clothing and thought,
"I wouldn't be caught dead in that!"
Have you ever looked at a standard military gas mask and thought these very words?
Well now...
You don't have to.
Introducing a brand new line of designer gas masks.
With the different models to choose from,
you can guarantee you'll go out in style.
Link

Over Clocking Gone Over Board

This is pretty cool.
Not sure I'd want one though.
I can Imagine this would get pretty annoying after a short period of time.

Link

Some People...

British Humor

Acted out in Battlefield 2.
I think it's funny.
Mine?

Link

Fuel Efficiency

With gas prices these days,
Every one seems to be talking about alternate fuel sources.
Some (like my dad and I) are too impatient to wait for new cars that will implement these new energy sources to be developed.
And others (also like my dad and I again) are too cheap to buy those new vehicles when they come out.
(Did you know a brand new car looses 25% of it's value the moment you drive it off the lot?)

For those of us that are either to cheap or impatient,
There are some things you can do to increase your current vehicle's gas millage.
Here are some things that I've found that work.

I own a 2001 Honda Civic EX.
I picked this car for several reasons.
First it had a manual transition.
Sticks are known for having better gas millage than an identical model with an automatic transition.
Second, Honda is known for it's durability.
As much as I like working on mechanical things, I honestly don't have time to get elbow deep in it every weekend just to keep it running.
And finally, it was the best option in the area that was in my budget.

The first thing I did when I got my car was go to Walmart and get a small notebook.
In this notebook,
I write everything that has to do with that car.
Every time I fill up the tank,
I put in the date, current mileage, miles since the last fill up, number of gallons I put in, and the total cost.
I then use this data to calculate miles per gallon and cost per mile.
This gives me a pretty good idea of my efficiency.
A typical entry looks like this.
26-JUN-2008
98587 mi
354.4 mi 10.149 gl $38.86
34.9 mi/gl .110 $/mi

Kelley Blue Book says my car should get 32 mpg city and 37 highway.
And most of my driveling is city,
So this is about right.

every time I change a part,
It gets logged.
Every time I try a new fuel additive,
It gets logged.

This is the first and most important step in increasing your efficiency.
You can't know if you've improved if you don't keep a record.

I've noticed that the more moderate your speed,
The better you gas mileage.
So yeah,
I know the speed limit on that interstate is 70 mph,
And everyone else is doing 75,
And it'd be very easy for you to do 80 and get away with it,
But this will kill you efficiency.
(and yes, I have documented this fact)
Most cars are designed to be most efficient at 55 mph.
Unless you drive a corvette or a lamborghini,
In which case you probably don't care about efficiency.
During Vietnam the Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act was signed into law.
It set a national speed limit of 55 mph across the entire country.
The idea was if we could force everyone to be more efficient,
It would keep gas prices down.
(Some are considering bringing back a national speed limit given the current situation)

The next thing I did,
Was add a fuel additive to clean my fuel line and fuel injectors.
I used two different kinds.
the first one I used was "RXP Engine De-Carbonizer"
I got this at Auto Zone.
The second one I used was "Lucas Upper Cylinder Lubricant"
Found at Auto Zone and O'Reilly Auto Parts.
This gave the car a noticeable kick in preformance and a documented bump in efficiency.
You can ask the mechanics at your local auto parts store for recommendations as well.

By far,
The one thing I did that increased my efficiency the most,
Was to change my spark plugs.
I'm not even sure what the car originally came with,
But when I took them out,
They were most disgusting looking.
(In retrospect, I should have taken a picture for comparison)
I replaced them with Bosch Platinum Spark Plugs.
I got four at Auto Zone for $12.99.
This has to be the single best investment I've made in my car.
I changed them out when I had a half a tank left.
And when I went to fill up the tank,
This is the entry that went in my book.
27-JULY-2008
100721 mi
451.7 mi 11.528 gl $42.98
39.2 mi/gl .095 $/mi
First of all,
That's the first time I've ever gotten more than 420 mi on one tank of gas,
And the gas light on my dashboard usually comes on.
And my fuel gauge still showed at least a gallon left in the tank.
Second, that's a 4.3 mpg increase in just a day over a month.
That's a 12.3% increase in fuel efficiency.
Third, this is the first time I've been under .10$/mi since 02-APR-2008.
Seeing as how I have a 25 mi trip to school one way,
That means I'm finally paying less that 5$ daily just for gas.
I don't know about all of you,
But $5 is alot of money for a college student.
That's like 2-3 meals if spent properly.

In summary,
Things you can do to increase your fuel efficiency.

1. Keep a log
2. Get some fuel additives
3. change you spark plugs.

Unless you've already tweaked your vehicle to be more efficient,
These three things should give you a noted increase in your gas mileage.