Sign of the times

This sign is at a hospital entrance.

I thought that hospitals were for sick people.

Paradigms Lost and Regained

I just finished Paradigms Regained by John L. Castro ( ISBN 0-316-64816-7).  A great science read for the Big Questions. His conclusions-

1) Life arose out of natural physical processes here on earth, probably via an RNA world.

2) Human behavior patterns are dictated primarily by genes.

3) Human language capacity stems from a unique, innate property of the brain.

4) Didital computers can ( in principle ) think.

5) We cannot communicate with extraterrestrial intelligent beings in our galaxy even if they exist.

6) There is an objective reality independent of an observer.

The windscreen wipers are a-beatin' in time

Listening to ABC Country last night, I heard Slim Dusty singing.

It reminded me of visiting a record (i.e. analogue vinyl) shop in Mount Isa in 1984. The music was clearly divided into 2 sections - 1) Slim Dusty and 2) everybody else.

Backup required

As the pandemic lockdown gradually lifts we are permitted to travel further and further from home. 

We went on trip to an unfamiliar area. Of course we used the car navigation system. Wall's

But for the return journey the "Nav" screen on the car failed. This was a surprise as the car is about 11 months old.

Luckily the return journey was well signed as we were heading back to the Big Smoke.We also have a map book (2013 edition ) for our region sitting in one of the car seat pockets and our mobile phones ( 2 off )have map functions.

So three back-up in total.

And back at home there are two Tom-tom navigation devices. One is no longer supported and its suction cup device is broken but otherwise it still works. I trying to think of a use for it.

Reviewing it all having 3 systems dependant on GPS and the fourth system seven years out of date is not ideal. I will get updated maps for Queensland and New South Wales.

Update  - and Mazda replaced the faulty unit in the car- no worries.

Working in the light

Back in the early 2000's I had children to care for - my boss suggested that I work from home.

It was great, particularly during the school holidays. I used a mobile telephone for phone calls - I used a headset to ensure clarity. My computer connected back to work over a dial-up modem sometimes the modem call stayed up for a week. 

I was mostly running SQL on a database - the software was set-up so the only screen updates were sent to my computer not all the data (this was a thin-client) set up. Sometimes I would be testing user software, or sending email.

I could spend a lot of time working - work really benefited as did my children.

I remember that my computer mouse stopped working. After investigating I figured out that the sunlight coming in through the window was overwhelming the optical receiver inside the mouse - the plastic walls of the mouse were too thin to use in sunlight. I fixed it by adding aluminium foil shielding to the inside of the mouse. I wrote a mock report - the conclusion was that the organisation did not expect its employees to get close sunlight.

Decision diagrams

My suburb has a charity second hand bookshop.

Today I found -

The Decision Book by Krigerus & Tschäppeler (ISBN 978 1 84668 395 4).
Some of the models in it would have been useful to me long ago:
E.g. The Eisenhower Matrix - How to work more efficiency.
Some are useful to me now:
E.g. The Black Swan Model - Why your experiences don't make you any wiser.

As an engineer I love the diagrams.
As an Australian I object to the meaning attributed to the expression "black swan" - black swans are very common around here.

Black Plum Lover

I have a large fruit tree in my garden a burrpurr (also called Diospyros australis or black plum).

Unfortunately it gives no fruit - it only has female flowers. Today I went looking in a native nursery for another tree - a male.

The nursery is famous for its native plants and once featured on the national gardening show. Now it is a sad site - with a much reduced range and much empty space. So many plants looked half dead.
The healthiest plants appeared to come from a commercial wholesaler.
There were three Diospyros australis. I bought the only one that looked like it might survive, it could be male or female.

///unlocks.wafer.frail

With three words you can give an accurate location anywhere on earth.

The app that tells you the words is called what3words.

But you need
1) a charged a mobile phone with what3words installed.
2) a working GPS
3) a means of communication.
So it would not help Tom Hanks in Castaway.

A Grilled Burger

Eating a burger would, I suppose, not be worth writing about - usually. But We have not eaten out for 2 months -it's worth celebrating the lifting of social restrictions in the effort against the new virus.

On the radio, an announcer mentioned that many people had written to her saying how traumatic the lock down has been for them. But my beloved and I have not found it so. We have spent a lot of time around the house and with each other. Going out for groceries was a major expedition with hand wash and gloves.

Most meetings I used to go to went on too long - meeting over the internet is easier and you can surf the net if the conversation is irrelevant. I was not a person who needed social gatherings and parties.

I finished a couple of books that were on my reading list for years. I weeded the garden and tidied my hobby space. Altogether it has been a productive time for me.

I realise that I have not been taking children through school lessons and I have not been worried about loan repayments or job security.

Finished with Colour

Today I finished a book I started before the corona virus lockdown-
Colour by Victoria Finlay.
I enjoyed it very much. As I read the last chapters Indigo and Violet I was struck by how the author was freely travelling the world, something not possible today.

It is a large book (in a slipcase even), but what should I do with the book next. i am unlikely to read it again. I KNOW!- I will build a street library and give it away.

Ring your mum.

In the 1980s I did teletraffic design in regional Queensland- I decided the number of connections between and within telephone exchanges. This determined the number of calls that could be made at once.
For a small 90 line exchange this might be 4 internal calls, six outgoing calls and five incoming calls at one time.
The numbers were determined by measurements of the number of calls and mathematical analysis. The Erlang Loss formula which is recursive and probabilistic was the main tool. In the early days of personal computers I wrote a program to calculate the Erlang loss using the Pascal language.
I would be considering if a single telephone exchange should be able to make seven or eight outgoing calls at one time.

The units of measurement were Erlangs - One Erlang was one current call.

The busiest day of the year for phone calls was Mothers' Day. Everyone phoned their mum even though calls were expensive and if the network was congested they would try again.

Wi-Fi No Go

I figured out that I could make a free Wi-Fi hot spot with some unused components from around the house.
But with some research I found out that if I provided a free Wi-Fi point then I would need to provide additional security or risk security breaches for my home system and any users.
Security is serious - so no free Wi-Fi was implemented.

Mud pies

Today I made some mud then I squeezed it into the hollows of a couple of bricks.
I really enjoyed making the mud.

The project was to make a suitable nest site for the many solitary bees living around here. Some borrow into bare earth. So I placed the brick with the mud in a warm accessible spot.
Other bees make nests in crevices and hollow stems. The Northern side of the house is warm through the winter and many bees and spiders make a home between the planks.

Neon cuckoo bee on cucumber flower-

People will do anything to survive.

Virus lock down is a great time to read those books that are waiting on your shelf.
I have finished Empire of the Sun by J. G. Ballard (ISBN 0-575-03483-1) based on his boyhood experience of being confined in a Japanese Internment camp.
I had seen the movie but after reading the book I understood the meaning of some of the scenes.

Transistor hoard

Locked down in my home I have cleaned my workshop and cleaned my study.
I thought that I had never taken an inventory of my radios -
I found thirteen - all sorts from pocket sized to the AWA model for the outback (see photo).

In testing there was one that has poor AM reception but good FM reception - so my next project is to fix it.

Wrong way compass

 I have a wrong way compass - see the middle compass in the photo. Once it pointed to the north correctly but I suspect it suffered a severe knock.

The compass on the left has a bubble.

The compass on the right was previously posted  - it has wrong markings between south and west.

The middle compass is the easiest to use just remember the white end of the needle is north.

Wii reactivation

I am still in lockdown - needing exercise and entertainment.
So I have reactivated my Wii and Wii Fit.
I had to fit all the parts and reconnect them and then program the TV to recognise the Wii. Compliments to Nintendo - the system still works.
Wii Fit complained that it had been too long since I last weighed myself.

Unfortunately the WiiConnect24 service with the weather forecast is no longer available.
But I was able to buy Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings game over the internet at a reasonable price. I enjoyed Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and I am looking forward to continuing his adventures.

Faulty compass

I had this compass for 13 years, today I noticed it was faulty.
The marked divisions between South and West are 200, 320, 340, 280.
Until I realised what was wrong the calculations were driving me crazy.
I will have to replace this plastic.