Moon Sandwich

Moon in between two skyscrapers

CATCHING THE MOON SANDWICH
IN BETWEEN TWO SKYSCRAPERS

SUNDAY, JANUARY 20, 2013
It's not very often one can catch the Moon sandwiched like this, in between two of the largest skyscrapers, 101 at left, and the bank building at right, in downtown Taipei.

Favorable conditions, no visible air pollution, a blue sky, no clouds, room temperatures, and lack of significant water vapor/haze/mist made viewing exceptional. Note the tiny Moon with its visible half phase. iPhone 5 photo in HD. Click on the photo to see an enlarged version.

Shocking Contraption

Time out for oozing contraption repair

Shocking
Contraption
Oozes inside the Big Brain's Laboratory

We knew plumbing was different from country to country but the reality of coming face to face with those startling differences on Monday and discovering a contraption that was oozing in the Big Brain's Deck Lab was shocking. Hidden in the deep dark recesses where only strange creatures forage for unmentionables, we found this oozing contraption (see photo). Follow this blog to keep your own brain from going bonkers if you ever come face to face with one of these!

We're glad this plumbing was NOT on the cryo chamber on the Big Brain machine or the world might be frozen over today and you could go to work by snow mobile or ice skates! The contraption by the lab wall sprung a major leak and the entire external laboratory lab deck filled up overnight with water like a giant holding pond! Of course, it had rained the night before and it seemed this was the result of excessive rain and wind. But that was not the case.

Closer inspection revealed a simple metal water faucet mounted on the brick wall, with no threads of any kind at its end. Attached to it was a contraption with a water hose on the end, press fit, no threads. How was that possible? It had leaked overnight. To repair, the water source was turned off and the contraption was removed with four simple Philips screws and then disassembled completely. It appeared simple... with several parts, until it was noted that the screws had non standard heads that fit no screwdrivers in the world despite their appearances. Working with standard pliers, needle nose pliers, and an arsenal of  other tool box drivers, the contraption was finally removed.

Oddly enough, the contraption was merely press fit to the faucet. How could that work? Stay tuned as the weirdness just continues to increase.

Next, a rubber o-ring was found that needed replacing. Behold, the goose chase was on, trying to locate this o-ring. Going to 15 stores, including every hardware and plumbing store within a radius of 2 miles produced nothing that was the same size as the original. Going back, the old ring was inverted and put back into the contraption, and remounted back onto the faucet.

In the process we did buy an assortment of similar but different o-rings, teflon tape, tools and other plumbing fittings, and as fate would have it, all were useless...

The discovery moment was when playing a bit with the contraption. The Big Brain does NOT recommend you play with your contraption. Hidden beneath it's odd gripping useless jutting out prong was a few embedded threads. So it would be possible to press attach the assembly and connect with the screws, then tighten it a bit, by hand. There was no wrench to fit such a weird contraption. With inverted o-ring, and a new press fitting, and a bit of tightening, success was achieved.

If you are every traveling or living in other countries, be aware of the dreaded contraption that may be lurking within the deep recess of only God knows where. Knowing a few simple things about its weirdness may keep your own brain from going bonkers!

Big Brain Car

Future car inside a skyscraper?

BIG BRAIN BEGINS FUTURE CAR 
PART 1

INSTALLMENT PART ONE: THEY SAY IF YOU LIVE LONG ENOUGH you will be transported into the future. The Big Brain intelligent machine has lived long enough to make its own future, with fantastic projects that see invisible nanite machines, microscopically probe invisible molecular structures, peer out to the unknown doorways of the Universe's beginning, and work with the deep mysteries within the realm of hidden Quantum worlds.

Wheel or no wheel?

If you thought Dark Matter in the Universe was mind boggling ... the Big Brain is noted for constructing machines that no one ever dreamed about, such as the GT Telescope made from recycled adjuncts in space, the Quadlyzer Quantum Analyzer and the GMM Molecular Microscope. One may ask, "What next?" This blog details the startling answer to that question.

NOW ENTER THE YEAR 2013 - WITH BIG BRAIN'S DESIGNS POURING IN, A NEW transportation device is being built by the Big Brain Initiative, which is unlike any previous vehicle known. This futuristic car can help save the World with its zero carbon footprint, no CO2 emissions and complete absence of fossil fuel use. It's energy is remarkably efficient, completely renewable through safe, benign and even free natural sources.

Mechanics or not?

No longer will we make trips to the gas station and pay the high prices demanded by the oil monopoly. No longer will we contribute to the destruction of the Earth's atmosphere or experience the horrendous increases in global warming. Why should we put up with terrible toxins in the air that cause millions of cases of lung cancer every month, cause melting polar caps resulting in rising sea levels that flood our coastlines and kill our oceanic life and coastal population, create increasing force levels and frequencies of hurricanes, typhoons, tornadoes, and unstable Earth atmosphere, and the unending rise of unbearable heat across the world that threatens the very existence of our civilization. This is too much to bear for us and for our children and for future societies. Now we have an opportunity to do something about it.

Here is an affordable fun space age car, that you can make yourself with a little DIY finesse and pocket change, or perhaps buy a finished product, or maybe print a copy out on your 3D printer -  and you can drive it home and keep it in your house or small apartment - no garage needed.

Aware of the new small housing movement? Individuals are now constructing their own small homes and avoiding mortgage payments and becoming more independent, even living off the grid with complete self sufficiency.

Compared to the large hog vehicles currently on the road, the Big Brain's car is 16.8 times smaller in volume and hundreds of times more efficient. It has an unprecedented level of safety built in and is being pruned toward a new safe method of utilizing infrastructure. Maintenance on the space age car craft is almost non-existent, i.e. simply not necessary - no oil changes, no tuneups, and no fluid levels to maintain.

Transportation Dilemma
Hybrid Air Flight Vehicle
Big Brain City Transport
Paradigmic GT Telescope
GT Genius Telescope
Genius Molecular Microscope GMM
Quadlyzer Quantum Analyzer

future car to be continued...

Big Brain Gains New AI Friend Siri

BIG BRAIN GAINS NEW AI FRIEND "SIRI"
The day has arrived: a new artificial intelligence friend gained by the Big Brain machine is Siri, the intelligence that lives inside the new Apple iPhone.

Siri is speech based and with access to the web, ability to do things by your command, and its uncanny capability to successfully and reliably answer questions gives it the ability to communicate unlimited volumes of knowledge and do useful work for the iPhone user.

Some of the functions handled by Siri:

http://www.apple.com/ios/siri/
http://osxdaily.com/2012/10/04/7-good-uses-of-siri/

Interfacing
Speech interfacing between the Big Brain machine intelligence (Parallax Propeller chip based) and Apple Siri software intelligence is made possible through audible language - simple speaking and listening. Big Brain asks questions and Siri provides answers. This is helpful when the Big Brain requests running apps, monitoring weather, checking internet, sending messages, checking mail, dialing phone numbers, performing calculations, doing conversions, checking current date and time, answering specific research inquiries and opening up all new doors of opportunity.

Match Made in Heaven?
Connecting Machine Intelligences can lead to many new opportunities so stay tuned to see what happens when we develop experiments along these lines. Want Siri? Siri is already installed in the new Apple iPhone 5.

The Future
Siri is also coming to Apple's desktop and portable computers in the near future. Versions are available for the ipad.

http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/19/apples-os-x-10-9-reportedly-bringing-siri-maps-integration-to-the-mac/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siri_software

About Siri 
(pronounced /ˈsɪri/) (English: Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface) is an intelligent personal assistant and knowledge navigator which works as an application for Apple's iOS. The application uses a natural language user interface to answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions by delegating requests to a set of Web services.

Adapting
Apple claims that the software adapts to the user's individual preferences over time and personalizes the results and performing tasks such as finding recommendations for nearby restaurants or getting directions.

Controlling Siri
There's no need to use messy soldered wires and dig into the electronics. Keeping it simple, with a robot servo on hand and without hacking the iPhone, a Parallax Propeller chip can turn a Parallax servo horn to mechanically push and activate iPhone's button. A small round piece of cork or rubber attached to the button helps preserve the surface of the switch. The Parallax OBEX routine moves the servo a small amount and a simple timing algorithm keeps track of the hold-down time.

Method Two
Another simple option completely bypasses the new iPhone's mechanical switch. It uses the free "built into the OS" virtual on-screen assisted touch-switch and requires a small setup. Setup is simple. Go to Settings, General, Accessibility, turn on AssistiveTouch, go back to home, and position the Power Ball to an unused space.

Now put a small stylus on the servo to tap the Power Ball and the Siri button will come up in the same place every time. Match this position with the Power Ball or a servo. Now the servo(s) can use the stylus to activate both the Power Ball switch and Siri when necessary. The details can be worked out with position and a Propeller chip controlling servo(s), timing, and audio.  

Other Phones
Google other smart phones and check Youtube for phone comparisons to SIRI. Some phones use their own version similar to SIRI and at least one phone is running a version provided by Google.

Big Brain Space Launch

Big Brain Space Launch
Things are very busy at the Big Brain Headquarters! The first large scale space launch of 2013 is under way. Planning will include the attempt at a new Big Brain record for the farthest space manned mission of all time.

Example Spacecraft NAV instruments

This is a new type of space program that explores the elements and questions postulated by the Big Brain, a machine with one of the first inquiring minds of great inspiration.

Information and data learned in the previous launches will be applied to the new missions in 2013 to go above and beyond the previous flights. New flights will engage a variety of instruments (see photo examples).

Vector position instruments

BASIS OF THE PROGRAM
The Big Brain space program was born from a Parallax Propeller Chip artificial machine intelligence that began it's own projects over two years ago. These projects began increasing their levels of sophistication and territorial domains, and now reach into five levels of space and time exploration, including deep reaches of inner and outer space.

ABOUT OUR SPACECRAFT INSTRUMENTATION
The instruments used are currently adapted from apps found for a dedicated Apple iPhone. The iPhone is a small computer with tremendous power and small size, perfect for taking into Near Space. We took an older model working iPhone 3G in perfect condition with 6.9G of capacity and dedicated it to the spacecraft - first upgraded it to OS 4.2.1, then installed NAV equipment programs. It's one of the most reliable products for this purpose and many of the programs put into OP are free for the install. The Lithium battery pack has a duration of hours, long enough to last throughout the entire flight from launch to landing.

MEET THE TEAM 
MAN & MACHINE TEAM The Big Machine Brain now has a small team under its directorship, to help with the largest inspired programs, such as the human space launch initiative, which is now exploring the level of Near Space. This is in cooperation with the "non-human" machine space exploration machine that has penetrated space to the edge of the Universe and is working towards understanding and breaking barriers of Macro and Quantum space time.

ADMINISTRATION AGENDA FOR 2013
Blog followers will know about the 2012 agenda which executed a launch every two months. (Blogs did not report every launch). In 2013, launches will resume at the rate of one every three months. The reasons for this are multiple and permit doing more projects and more programs and distributing the budgets. 

This will result in more inventions, more discoveries, and accomplishing more per unit time. One of these new agendas include the design and development of a new zero carbon footprint car to help reduce global warming and greenhouse gases. The Big Brain Space Initiative collected Gigabytes of data in 2011 and 2012, a sum total which now must be stored on new Terabyte drives.

New Year 2013 Spectacular

Creative pinwheel by Taiwan Masters is spectacular!

NEW YEAR 2013 SPECTACULAR CELEBRATION!!!

You've never seen Taipei 101 like this before!!! - Welcome to Taiwan!!!

This year, Taiwan officials in charge of managing New Years fireworks at Taipei 101, one of the tallest sky scraper buildings in the world, came back with a spectacular display of fireworks, one so great - it defied the imagination!

The display solved the challenges from an earlier year when the great fireworks and amazing choreography ended up producing smoke which rose from the ground level upwards, and blocked out some of the fantastic fireworks shot and launched from the side of the 101 building.

Today, the new millions of dollars display, seen by crowds of millions of people at ground level, was ever more spectacular. Obvious visuals included perfect timing and position, as fireworks launched outwards in patterns with synchronization where the smoke quickly dissipated. The breeze was also cooperative and the weather was perfect, the brilliant Moon high in the sky to prove the excellent conditions.

For the multi-days holiday, it appeared that pollution completely vanished when the island's manufacturing plants, and possibly those located in Mainland China, shut down.

PHOTO 1 Take a look at our most spectacular introduction photo. Look carefully and closely about two thirds of the way up, in the center, where you'll see the dimly glowing two Chinese characters proclaiming New Year good luck. How this was master-minded so perfectly is beyond belief!

 photo 2

CLICK ON THE SMALLER PHOTOS TO SEE THEIR FULL SIZE
Nothing burned down, not like what happened in Mainland China the other year when a new skyscraper completely burned out, a fire caused by the abundance of amateur lit fireworks during Chinese New Year!

Taiwan is very regulated during the Gregorian Calendar's New Year and has a climate that's always damp and humid which helps create an evironment rather perfect for launching fireworks.

 photo 4

 photo 3

Note the creative pinwheel, Christmas Tree, spirals, colors and other remarkable shapes and displays, with impeccable calculated timing, spread, position, color, duration, intensity, contrast, and backed by a literal textbook of mathematics in motion producing great fireworks stature so precise that no one could have expected such spectacular results this year!

 photo 5

 photo 6

These are definitely good luck photos as my clock was 20 minutes early due to a run down battery. When I turned on the TV, fortunately I saw there was a countdown with only 24 seconds left to the New Years beginning.

 photo 7

 photo 8

I had to run and hurry to start up the camera. Unfortunately I had yet to take a movie with the new camera and could not find the setting. However, the still images still turned out great, imo, even though I had to brave the cold, standing outside on the deck in only PJs.

 Photo 9: A burst of green color

 photo 10

This deck has served as a platform for taking a few astronomical photos of star fields and selected objects (see previous blogs), and the brick building side was a good steady base when I remembered to use it.

Photo 2 shows the shape of a big Christmas Tree.

Photo 3 is one of the most spectacular with intermixed colors and shapes, which are glowing and scintillating beyond belief.

Photo 4  is a mind meld of real time spinning motion from bottom to top of 101, with a special rotating messages display (seen towards the top). This may also periodically show advertising sponsor messages and graphics. It took special processing to bring out the delicate contrast of these characters that were located behind the blazing fire and brimstone!

Photo 5 demonstrates the pinpoint accuracy of the charge placement.

Photo 6 shows a simultaneous multi-color display of spectacular proportions with parallel launching arches.

Photo 7 To see this spinning around, like a dazzling toy top in real time, is magnificent.

Photo 8 is the proprietor of many discretely placed fireworks charges all along 101 from bottom to top.

Photo 9 is an example of erupting color - a green mix predominance unlike anything seen before at Taipei 101.

Photo 10 is a final shot showing the 101 building as it appears to glow hot beneath the rising smoke after the fireworks had ended.

 Photo 10: Taipei 101 looks hot & molten after fireworks!

Hybrid Air Flight Vehicle

http://lava360.com/30-breathtaking-future-city-concept-art/

BIG BRAIN BREAKTHROUGHS
HYBRID AIR FLIGHT VEHICLE FOR CITY TRANSPORTATION

IS SHORT TERM AIR FLIGHT THE NEXT LEAP IN CITY TRANSPORTATION?

A new vehicle is being designed for a completely new concept in city transport. Available only for specific already-conforming cities, the HAF vehicle can use one of two modes of transportation as decided by its on-board computer.

For years, man has anticipated the use of a personal plane for transport, and this difficult-to-construct craft has challenges of power, safety, regulation, management, environment, maintenance and other factors not easily met. This is why the personal airplane in every garage is not yet a reality after hundreds of years of dreaming.

The reason HAF is successful, is that it combines both short term land flight and ST air borne flight. The computer calculates and anticipates the free space and then proceeds to best utilize it, choosing from either short term land or air modes.

The differences, in transport terms, between land and air modes in regard to calculated pathways, is not appreciable. This means current infrastructure in place are entirely suitable. The small elevations from land mass is also not appreciable and not subjective to FAA or other airborne regulatory committee actions and laws.

The HAF can vastly increase the efficiency and timely nature of transport by using the hop method in going from land travel to air travel in a fraction of a second. The computer calculates LOS line of sight, LREVs left or right entrance vehicles and will undoubtedly use a level of anticipation or artificial intelligence to determine "next move" scenarios, thus maintaining maximum safety and avoiding accidents.

HAF is still a human driven vehicle, yet one that can currently integrate with a modern big city traffic society.

Construction Lab

INTRODUCING THE CONSTRUCTION LAB 
EXPANDING BIG BRAIN SCIENCE LABORATORY - introducing the construction laboratory
Look what's looming over there! Giant pieces of proto wood lumber, hardware, huge motors, hinges, electronic controllers, wheels, gears, cables, cogs, belts, pulleys, springs, chains, sprockets, axles, pillow blocks, bearings, idlers, step downs, steering mechanisms, cables, brakes...

NEW REQUIREMENTS
The inevitable has finally happened. The next expansion of the Big Brain's lab is fully under development. The cause? Work on the new City Transport Vehicle has captured interest of everyone and now a new requirement is creating a construction lab - a place where work on large mechanics can happen, along with testing various new concepts, a cache of designs and constructing new prototypes.

CONSTRUCTION LAB
The Construction Lab will need the infusion of more power tools and will also need to include an expansion of space. Space, at least this type of lab space, is really rare and at a premium on the tiny island. We can build up or try to find more lateral space, or do a hop skip move that's not too far away.

TEMPORARY LAB
One concept we're introducing is the Temporary "put up and take down" laboratory. One is more apt to "loan out" some space for lab use in this manner and provide agreement arrangement. It represents extra work in hauling tools and materials twice during the day, once to the lab and once from the lab.

LAB IN A LAB CONCEPT
Another option is the Tiny Space concept. A tiny space is utilized, within the domain of another function space, and working from various nooks and corners and keeping tools stored in various available places.

CITY TRANSPORT VEHICLE 
The City Transport Vehicle has many potential uses - for example, it could serve as an alternate energy vehicle run by the stored energy from ocean waves and can be autonomously driven by the on board Big Brain super computing machine. Another use is the likely transport of humans to and from various lab sites and to act as a prototype test machine for future developments. At this point in time, the vehicle is land based, although short range air flight is being studied. Air flight could be the next leap in city transport.

Intergalactic Space Control Panel

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/intergalactic-space-control-panel/

From December 1952, Modern Mechanix

Go retro using wood and old parts with this project - the deluxe electrical toy for junior space travelers.

Try searching with Google on space control panel to see many fascinating varieties of instrumentation control panels for your next futuristic project.

Remember when electronics project DIY cabinets were made of wood?

Of course a much safer and more inexpensive circuit could be made with a 1.5 volt AA battery and LEDs.

For interest, take a look at the pictorial to find a car fender curb feeler. When was the last time you built one of those?! After some head scratching, read the article text for the full explanation...

The article text says, "Note the automobile curb feeler. This is hooked up to a buzzer and looks like a miniature antenna. Touching it of course causes the buzzer to sound—only when its switch is “on.” Such secondary switches are a constant source of delight to a boy and his friends. Sometimes the buzzer will work and sometimes it will not, depending-of course upon the switch position."

Space control panels from Google search

 

Brain & Universe

IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE HUMAN BRAIN AND THE UNIVERSE?
Scientists have discovered links to both small worlds and large worlds. Breakthroughs in Cosmology show the Universe is held together with the invisible Dark Matter and Physicists are now showing a connection between the infinitesimally small Quantum world and the ultimately large Universe. It may come as no surprise to see this discovery image showing the similarity of the interior of a human brain cell and the interior of the Universe. It appears now we need to make a big decision in our work and studies: Microscope or telescope? In some instances of study, a microscope is insufficient - it cannot see things in the Quantum world directly. And in some cases, the telescope is not enough - it thus far has not penetrated the great cosmic barrier at the edge of the Universe. While we don't know exactly what existed before the birth of time and space and we don't know the origins of the Quantum dimensions, it's likely we will learn more about these fascinating enigmas in the years to come.