Big Brain Life Projects

The Big Brain, working for SPACE1 Industries, is actively working on new life form projects. Recently, as described at the SPACE1 web site, an electronic talk interface was developed for plants and fish. The Big Brain machine life is offering his "brain" as a template in the construction of artificial and machine life forms. SPACE1 Industries is now developing Rocket X, the most powerful rocket ever created in the past five years of this private space industry.

https://space1usa.blogspot.com/

Space1 Book

The roots of Space1 trace back to the beginning

SPACE1 BOOK
It's highly recommended to follow the electronic book of Space1 which contains historical overviews since the venture's inception.

Space1 posts debuted just before its founding in January 2014. Though, the idea for Space1 was brewing for a long time, dating back to the beginning of the space program. Follow the the most recent historical links here.

http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2015/01/space1-links-in-january-2015.html

Shopping Electronic Parts

REPUBLIC OF CHINA - SHOPPING ELECTRONIC PARTS
One crazy day at the electronic parts center

These are the results of a very interesting yet crazy day shopping at the electronic stores. Outside it seemed like another planet, closer to the sun in orbit, with a temperature rising past the 100 degree mark and a greenhouse effect wildly run amok with relative humidity approaching an unbreathable 100%. (NASA space suit desired here...)

Stepping outside, the brain-numbing, scorching, burning heat and white-out blinding sunlight was destructively intense. After donning sun shields and taking the widest spread of a fiberglass manual Chinese fan, one could see many people walking on the road with umbrellas to shield from the glaring, all-piercing, intensely hot solar rays.

Trying to ignore global warming, an air conditioned taxi was flagged down. Upon arriving at the stores, walk down the long flights of stairs into the basement - the first objective was to find a small wireless camera. Fail. The next item on the shopping list was a small RF TV. Fail. The next item was a small NTSC TV monitor. Fail. By this time and after shopping 6 and then 12 stores, things were becoming a bit discouraging.

Oh look, there's a small wireless camera under the display glass. No one will remove it and no one will help. Finally, going back to the store after a while, another clerk says, "we have no cameras..." Time to move on...

Making it more simple, moving onto the toggle switch section, hundreds of switches needed to be sorted, tested and tried just to find the correct one. These were very odd 6, 8 and 12 pole switches, or they spring returned to a common position, or they had very strange tiny short toggle stems only a quarter inch long. After a long time of searching and being bumped by hundreds of people, Bingo! A good SPDT tight toggle switch with a decent size stem was found. The next step was to sort through thousands in the bin, weeding out all the incorrect switches that didn't belong there, and test each correct switch. Finally, about 30 switches were found, tested, and placed into the shopping basket. These were $.63 each at a cost of $18.63. Score.

Next up was wire. Although three large size rolls of red, black, and yellow wire were purchased, it was a complete fail. All three were labeled AWG24. A store clerk confirmed the wire size and that it was single strand. After arriving home miles and miles away and opening the packages, the black was a much smaller size (too loose inside breadboards), the yellow was also too small and multi-strand, and the red was also not correctly packaged as it too was multi-strand and too small. Complete fail. These rolls were $2.94 each for a loss of $8.82.

Moving on,  for $2.94 was a plastic box with preformed, trimmed, assorted colors and sizes, solderless breadboard wires. These fit the breadboard perfect. Score. (It was vowed to obtain these from now on for breadboard work)

Looking for two mid-size solderless breadboards... score at $2.73 each.

Then it was on to a short time browsing. A small Hi Fi 20-watt amplifier was found that could run on a 9-volt battery, with all the connectors for input, output, power, a variable volume control, and a good frequency response of 22 to 22K Hertz for $6.87. Score. (though this is still untested)

By this time it was irrefutable, the effect of seeing so many varied electronic parts generated a feeling like a kid in a candy store. Candy was everywhere! If only we could live and eat here! Alas, the day was over, it was dark outside and the stores had closed. There was no place to shop. It was time to find the bus, prepare for some walking, and take a couple hours in the heat to go home.

Lock Your Bike - Ebike Security

A keyed Padlock represents one method of locking

HOW SECURE IS YOUR EBIKE?
 
A NEW GUIDE: HOW TO LOCK AND PROTECT YOUR MODERN BIKE

You've spent anywhere from US$1,000 to $5,000 for your electronic motorized bike and now you need to park it somewhere. You park it and lock it, but when you return a few hours later, there's nothing there! Shock & Horror!

http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2013/02/electric-bike.html

As the numbers of Ebikes increase due to popularity, so does the number of theft incidences. Law enforcement has no solution and often has no emphasis on bike theft crime prevention. What can be done about this concerning problem of theft in society?

A variety of lock choices including DIY chain, padlock, ubolts, steel woven cables

Spend a day researching the challenge of safely locking a bike to deter crime and one will discover that all methods of locking up a bike can be defeated by a professional thief. So what's the answer to preventing bike theft?

THE PLAN
First, you won't need to do 100% of the things to protect your bike. Maybe 90% will do. We'll provide some pattern plans for protection in most situations against the average thief. Nothing is 100% secure, however, by adding 90% protection, the odds of having the bike stolen can be reduced.

DETERMINE BEST TRANSPORTATION MODE
There are times when you will want to forgo the bike and walk to a nearby store, take the MRT to a far away distance, go by train on a trip, go on a family outing by car, or take the bus. Use the bike when the situation is best for the bike. This is when you can keep the bike in your sight, withing hearing distance with a bike alarm, or when the bike will be locked to a solid object and you will be away for a few minutes. You may also use the bike when perhaps the bike will not be parked, as when riding with a friend, or sight seeing.

NEW & UNIQUE BIKE
You may want to buy a new and unique bike which has parts not compatible with other bikes. This will make the bike less desirable for resale. Plus, the resale of such a bike would be an outstanding target.

Woven cable locks the front wheel to chassis or post

BIKE ONLY GOES IN A CIRCLE
No one will ride away with the bike when the front wheel is turned 90-degrees and locked into position. This will cause the bike to go in a circle, if it could move.

PICK UP AND WALK AWAY
There are several locking techniques to perhaps reduce the chances of a bike being stolen, but none of these are 100% safe for the bike. The bike can be protected from an average person picking it up and walking away with it. But the fact of this matter is that a professional thief can use tools to defeat any locking system. However, one can slow down a thief.

A Chinese Ubolt that disassembles

It's not easy to pick up the Ebike and walk very far with it due to its heavy weight. Much of this weight is from the battery. Lead acid batteries will add more weight over Lithium batteries. If the battery is removed to reduce the value of the bike, the bike will be easier to pick up and walk away with it, however, it will also have lower value. Weight is not a 100% deterrent as a thief can drive up his van and simply stow the bike, even with all the locks on. The bike can be chained to metal post or pole but the chain needs to be of tractor strength and this will only slow down the process of defeating the lock.

EYES ON TARGET
The method here is to lock both wheels of the bike outside and keep your eyes on it at all times. How is this possible? A roadside restaurant has windows, for example. Watch for any suspicious activity by your bike, especially someone pretending to talk on a cell phone and standing nearby.

LOCK EVERYTHING
To a thief, every little item represents cash and stripping your bike of anything puts cash in his pocket. A bike seat can easily cost $30 and up, so lock it down. The handlebar set may be a gold mine with a motor throttle, controller, two brake hand calipers, cables, bell, grips, mirror, basket and other accessories. The photo shows how a woven steel cable can be threaded through the seat to lock it down. The other end of the cable threads through the rear wheel. Choose the largest shank that will still fit through the seat's metal anchor. We recommend a keyed locking cable as the combination lock may be the easiest to defeat without any tools.

DO NOT PARK IT AT NIGHT
Parking a bike somewhere overnight gives the thief a longer period of time to make plans on stealing the bike, and the cover of the night to achieve it.

FIND A SECURITY CAMERA
Park your bike directly by the security camera so if the bike is stolen, there will be image records available doing the stealing. 

ROTATE THE PARKING POSITION
Do not lock the bike in the same place all the time. Change locations to prevent thieves from observing and catching on to your routine.

FIND RELIABLE EYES
Become a regular at a local business and ask the workers there to keep a casual eye on your bike whenever it’s locked out front.

KEEP AWAY FROM THE CURB
Protect your bike from street cleaners, buses, and careless drivers by locking it a few feet away from the curb. Position the bike on the sidewalk side of signposts with the wheels parallel to the gutter to avoid bike mangling.

DO NOT PARK IT AT THE STATION
Do not park a bike at the MRT, Subway, Train Station, Bus Station, Museum, Theater, School, or other similar place - it's like a red flag signaling the bike will be available for some time.

USE REMOVABLE ACCESSORIES
You can strip the bike rather than the thief. Most popular accessories are now made for removal. Choose accessories with mounts that allow device removal and stow in your carry-with-you bag.
 

Giant's Ubolt has a bike mount and extra long shank

TAKE THE BATTERY WITH YOU
The battery often costs as much as half the bike cost. It can be removed to lower the value of the bike. It's unlikely a thief will pay an additional $400 to $600 for a battery to make the bike usable. Take it with you - the battery is usually metal peg locked into place when the key is removed. However, the metal peg simply slides into a piece of battery casing plastic, thus negating most of its secure feature. You probably won't want to carry around a lead acid battery. Keep it on the bike to give it massive weight. Based on the weight of batteries, lead acid is so heavy that one would probably not remove it or carry it. A Lithium battery is lighter weight and more practical for the removal and carry approach.

REGISTER YOUR BIKE
The bike register is designed to alert others to a stolen bike and have access to a data base of necessary information to return it to its proper owner.

ENGRAVE YOUR BIKE 
Metal engraving your own name or identification on the underside and painting over it so it's still visible to you, will help you identify your bike should you see it somewhere.

MAKE THE BIKE UNIQUE
Painting a color strip on the bike will make it identifiable and unique. The stripe cannot be easily removed during the time of theft and the bike will likely need a repaint job by the thief, making this is another deterrent.

KEEP IT WITH YOU
Strange as it may seem, it's possible to keep the bike with you in some situations. While shopping at the grocery store, a young man was seen walking through the isles shopping with his bike. As he rolled it along, it looked like a very expensive racer bike, one in which he would not let out of his touch.

EARS ON TARGET - BIKE ALARM
Use a bike alarm. There are several types. One will sound a loud decibel alarm by detecting vibrations. Another type will switch on automatically when the lock has tampering. It is hoped the loud sound will slow down a thief. However, the real use of the alarm is when the bike owner can hear it.

MAKE IT OLD
This is a very popular technique in some areas of China and Taiwan where owners will take a can of flat black spray paint and spot paint the new bike to make it look old and blend it in with other old black bikes. However, the owner of a new bike may be against doing this. There are many debates about this at bike Forums.

RUBBER INNER TUBE IT
You can age a bike by cutting up an old inner tube and wrapping the new bike with it. Secure the tube with plastic ties.

LOCK TYPES
There are numerous locks but can be summarized into three categories.

1) U-Bolt 
2) Chain & Padlock
4) Steel Cable Weave A) Flat Key Lock
B) Round Key Lock
C) Combination Lock 

One of the strongest Chinese Ubolt locks

OPENING LOCKS 
Choose quality locks that are not so easy to defeat. It helps to have a lock that takes longer to defeat. Consult the web for this type of information. It's a little shocking to discover some of these locks sell for $1,000 to $3,000 dollars. In public, probably the thief would find it easier to cut the post or the chain rather than the lock.

SLOWING DOWN A THIEF
A thief can be slowed a bit by locking the bike with several different locks, each having a different locking system. This forces the thief to use and carry more than one tool. It is hoped that the extra work will make the thief pass over the bike.

ULTIMATE GPS SYSTEM
It may be possible to hide a built in GPS tranmitter system and follow your bike should it be stolen. The GPS may be hidden in the seat or stowed in a frame tube.

THE BEST PROTECTION
The best protection is to not leave your bike somewhere accessible to thieves.

LOCKS OFF
Do not lock to hand rails as people with disabilities and the elderly depend on these being non-obstructed. It may be illegal to lock a bike to a parking meter in some locations.

LOCKS ON
Th following may be potential places to anchor a bike:

Bike Rack
High Post
Fence
Sign Post
Tree
Utility Pole  

MODIFY YOUR NUTS
A bike often has its handle bars, brakes, seat and other parts attached with a simple hex nut that any old allen wrench can fit for quick removal. The nuts can be replaced with something like Zorx nuts that require a more exotic wrench to remove. It's more unlikely a thief will carry exotic tools around.

LOCK IT AT HOME
Keep the bike locked in the garage, in your yard, in a storage shed, and in your apartment.

LINKS
HOW TO CHOOSE A LOCK
http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/bike-lock.html
  
TYPICAL EBIKE
http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2013/02/electric-bike.html

HOW TO LOCK YOUR BIKE STRATEGICALLY
http://bicycling.com/blogs/ramblingman/2012/11/14/how-to-lock-your-bike-strategically/ 

THE BICYCLE COALITION
http://www.sfbike.org/?theft_locking

HOW TO LOCK YOUR BIKE
http://www.kryptonitelock.com/Pages/HowtoSecure.aspx

THE PROPER WAY TO LOCK YOUR BICYCLE
http://lifehacker.com/5942301/the-proper-way-to-lock-your-bicycle

OTHER LOCKING SYSTEMS LOCKS AT AMAZON
http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=194614011

http://www.amazon.com/gp/top-rated/sporting-goods/194614011

FOLDING LOCK
http://www.amazon.com/Abus-Bordo-Granit-X-Plus-Foldable/dp/B005F3EPY4/ref=zg_tr_194614011_15

PITLOCK
http://www.pitlock.com/

BLOGS 
http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.tw/2012/08/seriously-why-not-just-spell-it-wensday.html

LOCK REVIEWS
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/shopping/2006/04/avoiding_the_bicycle_thief.4.html

http://www.bicyclesource.com/choosing_bike_lock

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/buyers-guide-to-bike-locks-20408/

KRYPTONITE
http://ibookmarkedit.com/kryptonite-black-18mm-new-york-fahgettaboudit-u-lock-997986/ 

WIKI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_lock

DIY YOUR OWN LOCK
http://www.instructables.com/id/Super-Easy-Bike-Chain-Lock/ 


(to be continued) 

Cold Talk Emergence

EMERGENCE OF
COLD TALK
ASIA 2013 -- It's now possible to talk on your cell phone to someone who's cold, i.e. not warm flesh and blood.

KNOWN AS COLD TALK
Smart phones now have their own version of an electronic assist device. One can carry on a conversation known as a cold talk, with one of these purely electronic artificial intelligence devices. There's simply no warm human at the other end of the conversation. Add yet another reason for being occupied with your cell phone. On this day, groves of people were everywhere glued to their cell phones. This photo was snapped during a traffic survey. It's unsure how long this group was motionless, with only moving fingers and standing in exactly the same position. They appear to be shoppers, at one time, at the Rose. But when they emerged, they suddenly fell victim to a trance-like stance, in the standard cell phone coma position. Could this be the beginning of a new cell phone zombie era? As smart phones become smarter on their way up, are users of smart phones on their way down?

Quantum Ukulele

ESTABLISHING A QUANTUM UKULELE

Ukulele used for quantum experiments

Effects of a wave form nature can be created, duplicated, and simulated to explore the quantum world using the sound from a musical instrument.

One musical instrument is like a tiny guitar - the Ukulele, which has origins from Hawaii. They are available with four strings in various sizes (soprano, concert, tenor, baritone), generally one of the smallest sizes is called a Soprano. The Soprano Uke obtained for the Big Brain Project is 21-inches long and has a 13.5-inch bridge rating. It resonates with a mahogany wood construct, and is especially well designed for stability and a more humid environment.

The project begins with an acoustical uke and some preparations to convert it into an electronic instrument. The first step is to install a pickup to transfer the sound into an amplifier or computer (or other machine for processing. There are several ways to create an electronic pickup - some work and some will not work with gut strings. Magnetic induction pickups work with metal strings, however a piezo based pickup, which is based on acoustical vibrations, will work. Another method which is quick and simple is to place a directional quality microphone near the resonance aperture. Waves are then captured, and can be recorded, modified, and transformed. Techniques such as capture, transforming, reflecting, modulating and applying effects can have designs and introductions into the system.

String tuning is accomplished with a modern electronic tuner. This is a small electronic battery operated device with a display that shows the key note of the plucked string and the direction to tune it.

It's possible to apply and connect the QuadLyzer and introduce the study of Quantum worlds simulated with the Uke.

Music Breakthrough

MUSIC BREAK-
THROUGH
The Big Brain Project knows the value of a good tuned harmonic oscillation, instrumentally useful for numerous applications, studies, and the creation of new inventive devices.

The invention of Autotune is revolutionizing the world of singing. This technique takes a singing, or even speaking voice, and tunes it to musical notes. Singers can be in perfect pitch even if they were not during the recording.

The technique of auto tuning through electronic means has existed for decades. One example from 1998 is Cher's song "Believe."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbXiECmCZ94

Cover by Rosebud
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANwybPdLn9M

Auto Tuning techniques have value in not only in electronics and the music industry, but in other fields of science, such as mechanics and motion, optics and astronomy, thermodynamics, and quantum realities.

Songify works on the Apple iPhone as a free app. (see link)

Auto-Tune (Wikeipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-Tune

Songify App Review (Youtube)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzjBHYdIhzY