cadence gets gamegeared (from his blog)

" i'm opening for busdriver tonight at the back room. it's a favor to my dj, weez-l. i'm not getting paid but i'll probably get crunk as shit and i'll get to meet busdriver, which will be neat. he's a dope rapper. i can't see myself doing a lot more with this dj though, he's starting to take advantage and i'm finding that he always tries to sell me something whenever i talk to him. do you have friends who only want to talk to you if it benefits them in some way? "

The latest in korean fashion = fucking up "Canada"

man, fuck greenpeace; if they can build a fusion reactor that would be HUGE!!! I read an article just last night that said to date, all simulations of the fusion processes of a star have been unsuccessful in the lab. What a breakthrough it would be if this works!

I also noticed how japan was pissed they didn't win the bid for constructing this, and yet they were appeased by being given 20% of the positions for only 10% of the cost. And then also they have plans for that solar satellite system. Is it just me, or does japan have some secret agenda for becoming the global powerhouse for novel energy sources? If they do, and they're successful... well, let's just say japan's currently laughable economy will quickly become something to reckon with.

i know birthday marathon doesn't start till tomorrow, but tomorrow is a travel day and may not be on the web. so i say this now. happy birthday everyone.

live action Transformers movie? .....Spielberg...?

NU KUL LAR POWER

This doesn't look half bad for a free RPG. If nothing else Matthew Baldwin of defective yeti fame has it listed as his current obsession. Dammit I just don't have time to finish everything I want to start.

I started looking up some research on this idea and I found a FANTASTIC article about SPS (solar powered satellites) here.

I definitely recommend you guys read it. It's only 2 pages long and it's really informative and actually pretty interesting.

It figures that such a well-written and researched article on the practical application of this technology should be written by Ben Bova. These days it sometimes seems like there is only one type of person who takes this stuff seriously, and Ben Bova is one of those types. Who is Ben Bova, you ask? One of the world's best science-fiction authors, that's who.



But anyway, if I can't convince you to read such an excellent article, I at least implore you to read these facts which I took from it:

Yeah, I agree: thermal depolymerization is an EXCELLENT technology which needs to be put to better use. I also agree that solar power is an excellent alternative, but there are difficulties with building solar collectors on the ground; they take up large areas of space, the photovoltaic cells are only as effecient as the weather permits, as well as other similar problems. However, if NASA were properly funded like they should have been in the first place, we would have had solar-collection satellites in space by now that would transmit beams of energy (in the form of either lasers as japan is currently proposing, or also in the more traditionally accepted form of microwaves) to receiver stations on earth with around-the-clock reliability. In 1979 NASA completed a study which proved the feasibility of this concept, however they obtained no funding to build the first prototype, and no plans have been made to resurrect the concept.

Japan on the other hand is currently planning to go ahead with their own version of the concept. As I said before, they plan to transmit the energy via laser to low-orbit shuttles which would then send the energy to ground-based receiver stations as microwaves (although I'm not sure what the reasons are for doing a 4-step energy conversion is). I hope Japan can accomplish this project. If they do, they could become an economic powerhouse by simply selling reciever stations to other countries.

Also, today I read in DOSE that they are working on converting the braking-power of freight trains into energy which would be stored in massive battery cells. The energy it takes to stop a single freight train over the course of a year is enough to power 160 homes in that same year!!! HOLY SHIT!!! 160 HOMES!!!! Apparently trains run on deisel these days and they use a RIDICULOUS amount of it!!!


I had no idea trains were so fuckin insane!!!


But anyway, I'm getting off topic. Like I've been trying to argue from the get-go... space research is under-funded to a point that is detrimental to the entire planet. If we can't find ways to sustain the way we are living, then we won't just be fucking ourselves, but inevitably our entire planet's global ecosystem!!!

I still say that thermal depolymerization is a great start. It's not reducing the need for oil at all, but it's not extracting it from the ground and adding more CO₂ to the surface/atmosphere. Better yet the technology is already here, it's just being held back by the U.S. regulations because for some reason they don't count it as biofuel. Therefore they don't get the biofuel subsidy and it takes longer to develop to mainstream. Still, it's a really good system at 85% efficiency.