Sonic Time

Sonic Report 2012 I have never purchased a new car. It’s not that I’m necessarily against it, it’s just that there are very few new cars I could stand to drive day-in and day-out, and the ones that I could stomach are easily priced out of my means. In fact, there are also very few new cars that are really bargains. Except the Sonic. We’ve got thousands of miles racked up on the odo now and I’m fairly impressed. The build quality is quite good, the audio and displays are excellent. The engine is responsive and the manual trans has a good feel to it. None of the Japanese ergo oddities. None of the inconsistent font sizes and styles. No ‘lawn mower’ mimicry under the hood. The only issue we’ve had to date is a broken shifter cable, which was handled quickly and professionally. The mileage is almost unheard of which causes a new set of problems. Because of where we live, a trip “across town” can easily rack up 20 miles one way. The most recent mileage report on the Blazer was 11.5 MPG. Ouch. Needless to say, the Blazer doesn’t see a lot in the way of running errands these days. At a third of the cost of fuel, the Sonic has been filling in admirably. The problem? I always end up the passenger!

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2012-chevrolet-sonic-new-cars

Random (Access) Thoughts

Still working on my computer design, off and on. Refining the instruction set, walking through theoretical problems to see which faculties are present, and which are needed. Tossing around some interesting ideas..like a nixie readout for the program counter, or how to decrease instruction time given a clock of 6 pulses/second. Everything gets written down, revised, some done on computer, others in notebooks. What gets put in? What gets left out?

Here’s an interesting thought. That nixie display for the program counter. Simple enough, right? You have 12 binary bits…convert them to decimal on the fly. Well…20 years ago they made chips that could do the conversion (they were actually pre-programmed ROMs). I’d need roughly 8.

1- this violates my relay/vacuum tube leanings but I won’t entirely rule it out. 2- you can’t get them anymore if you tried. 3- We’re looking at something like 2000+ relays in a brute-force method just to convert binary to decimal for a simple display. 4- today this would be done with a little microprocessor solution: Faster, cheaper, and more powerful than the entire computer itself. 5- In 1965 a paper was presented on how to do this conversion with solid state logic. It was found to be an affordable solution compared to other methods. It cost them $1300.

I really need to get to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA before I get too carried away.

King of the Electric Carving Knives

It’s been a whirlwind tour. Two weeks away from work, though only one away “from business”. We left the Saturday before Jul 4^th for the annual trip to the grandparents up north. Not only did we need to be ready for that trip, but I had to make sure my ducks were in a row for my assignment at work that would take place immediately after coming home from a week’s vacation. There would be no office-stopping in between. Having made arrangements with a test house in Chicago, shipping instructions for a full sized vehicle to get to said test house, arrangements with a Mexico-traveler witnessing the testing. External shipping docs to get test equipment from Waterloo….etc. etc. Rental car, hotel, yada, yada. So perhaps my mind wasn’t entirely on vacation…while on vacation. Nevertheless, it was a nice break, but the temps were hot and humid. No major scores up north but an RR-10 managed to find its way home from Minneapolis.

Back at the Lodge, we were left with the weekend. Arrived home Friday night to 104F in the bedroom. One might say it wasn’t exactly sleeping weather. Actually, with the place closed up for a week and the humidity being so high, we decided to head into town and take advantage of the parents’ vacancy. Except they were experiencing climatic conditions of their own up north- rain. And lots of it. So they packed it in and were on their way back to town as well. Exhausted from our trip, we spent the night with the AC and bummed around Saturday running errands and hitting the thrift stores.

I should pause here to mention our cats. Little Kitty had 5 kittens before we left. At the time of departure, we were down to 4, figuring the smallest one had been given up on by the mother. Nature’s cruel ways and all that. Cara’s friend watched the cats while we were away but had mentioned prior to our return, that plants had been knocked over and Little Kitty had a swollen eye; happened sometime between her visits. Hmm. Fast forward to our return and things looked like a war zone. Little Kitty had lost fur over one eye and had a pretty big open wound. The spotlight in front of the lodge had been ripped out of the ground, rock strewn everywhere. The potted tree was missing half its dirt, and looked like it too had been overturned (and fixed by Cara’s friend). Electric wiring and landscaping cloth had been ripped out from under the side deck. All the grass and dirt clawed away around the deck as though someone or something had been trying to get under there. Lots of digging along the driveway edge too. Muddy prints everywhere. And poor little kitty staggering around looking generally exhausted. WTF?

We cleaned things up and hung out with the cats for a while that evening. Sunday morning, I set my alarm to be up and working outside a little after 7 on the new building. But it was a bittersweet cause. The one little kitten we had considered keeping for ourselves, “Scamp”, the littlest guy that would follow us all around the yard and climb right into your lap, was taken overnight. Presumably devoured by whatever had done all this damage. Of course Little Kitty was of no help. She could care less about the kittens. I proceeded to work on CS3 soffits the majority of the day and come nightfall, we scooped up the remaining 3 kittens and took them inside. I took a seat on the front balcony with the rifle and waited.

Sure enough. Right after dusk they arrived. Two huge raccoons, snarling at each other for food. Tearing up everything in their path. Digging. Knocking things over. Their grunts, snarls and shrieks something almost unworldly. My pulse raced as I eased my way along the balcony, trying to size up the situation. Now it was dark, only the cone lights on the building providing illumination. Here one was, over at the side deck devouring bits of cat food. I lined up my shot in the dark, pulled the trigger….. Neither the raccoon nor I knew what happened next. The water bowl, just inches in front of the ‘coon, exploded into a dozen pieces of flying ceramic. I raced across the balcony keeping pace with the animal. Him and his cohort made it to the grassy area west of the driveway and I took what shots I could. I’m pretty confident at least 1 or 2 of those shots were successful, but I’m also now pretty confident a .22 is no match for a large, angry raccoon.

And then the next morning I left for Chicago.

Silicon Valley of the North

Today we associate Silicon Valley with computing, but that was not always the case. In fact, Silicon Valley was, like the name might suggest, a hotbed for semiconductors, and only later became associated with computers (as they got smaller and cheaper and relied more heavily upon the latest microprocessors and semiconductor advances). Makes sense. But before all that, there was Minneapolis/St. Paul. All but forgotten now, this was the Silicon Valley of the computer industry for many years. Univac, Honeywell, Cray, even IBM out of Rochester. This is where the developments happened and where the competition was fostered. If it weren’t for the winters, things might have turned out very differently. Interesting, eh?

http://www.cbi.umn.edu/resources/MHHC/index.html

Week in Review

These last several days have been an exhausting blur. Make that this entire month. A social life? What is that?

Just glancing at the calendar, we had no sooner gotten home from Wright and Like on the 11^th, then we were out to dinner that night with our friend Don. He was also passing through Wednesday, but the first night of his arrival is when the best stories get told and all the catching up is done. Doing so around a fire with a cold brew on a summer’s night was a good time, even if it was way past our bedtimes.  After 4 days out of state, we were bushed, and managed some rest Tuesday before Don’s return. Wednesday, D-Day 2 with the parents, this time. Thursday, I may have actually gotten something done on the new building- actually, I may have made a Menards run and done more planting.  And Friday, I think I mowed the lane and slept. Maybe picking up the groceries and getting fuel for the tractor. Who knows? Saturday was getting the wagon fixed up and toiling in the heat before Damfest that evening and Sunday was spent  back on CS3, moving the picker and trimming the steel deck main support. In any idle moment (yeah right) is the guilty indulgence of my computer design, but being as there’s no physical work getting done, it really is a guilty pastime.

Which brings us to last week. While inside tasks were calling my name, I made it a point of doing at least _something_ on the new building each day, no matter how little. Monday I moved the picker and finished the last front fascia just as the sun set. Tuesday/Wednesday was putting up channels and hauling scrap. Then came Thursday which was an evening at Stuffed Olive for two very delicious martinis for a grand total of $7. Followed by the PL where more money was spent, but the atmosphere lacking. Being the lone person that had to get up for work Friday morning, the task was daunting, but I somehow managed. Tired, dragging, imagine my surprise getting a call at 3PM Friday that Cam, Jill and Alex were at the lodge. Well, nuts to this. Time to shut the computer down and head home!

We all hung out for an hour or two and took in the exquisite weather. Then headed into CF for a brief wine tasting at HVW&S; Cam and Alex went to check on the Intrepid while Cara and I went to pick up the Sonic. We met back up at Carlos for a big dinner, then downtown for Sturgis. You couldn’t have picked a better evening. I don’t think I’ve wandered so much in sandals in a LONG time, or so my feet told me. Thank goodness I found my second wind. We walked from 7^th down to Overman, then over to the greenspace east of The Cypress and wandered through the fair to survey the carnies. Next, along the river, over the 1^st st. bridge and across the old Clay Equipment area. Continuing east, a huge outdoor area teeming with people  and a giant inflatable screen for concerts was a new addition this year and in new area, as well. From there, we returned back across the river and wandered over to the Ice House where Crews was out glad-handing. Cam did his best to resist purchasing a satchel full of baklava and I attempted to gain dam access but security was pretty heavy. Hannah was preparing to stage some photos with the mayor but on our return, he had vanished!

Next stop, we walked up first street to Four Queens, eyeing some very nice wagons and el caminos (My Little Run-a-way) along the way and discussing the homes and their prior inhabitants. A strawberry twist cone hit the spot. By now my feet were screaming and we had lost Alex and his sister some time earlier. With a big night ahead tomorrow, we took a walk back downtown and over to 7^th and gave Cam a ride to his place. I believe it was around 1 or so when we got to bed. So much for a trip to Menards!

Saturday we did it all over again, but Cara was at work and the yard needed mowing. I ran the tractor, push mower and weed whip, and the occasional rain shower helped cool me down. A few hours later, with that done, I started inside with vacuuming, clothes, etc. Finished in time to hit Tony’s with Cara and meet up with a massive crew- Andrea, Robert, McCrea, Micah, Alice, Cam, Alex and Jill. The pizza was delicious but the bill was brought on one continuous receipt that required breaking down who-split-what and how many cards to charge. From there, the weather was with us and we all retreated to the Lodge. Any potential rain had long since passed over leaving a clear night sky and fields punctuated by fire flies. We kept the fire going through midnight once again trying new wine and oddball drinks and lounged outside while the radio played.

Sunday, I watched movies. Lots of movies.

But tonight, 9PM Bowling! Oh yes, and I leave the state in 5 days for the annual 9 day-vaca, only to return to leave the state again for work. So much for June.

Relay Computer Update Part 1

It’s no secret the past few years (5 now, wow) I’ve been scheming up building a relay-based computer of my own design. Such a thing would have been too far out of the realm of possibility had it not been for finding the webpage of a CS instructor by the name Harry Porter who, with very limited electronics knowledge, but quite bright in computer architecture, built his very own machine. His machine inspired others of various success, often taking the shape of breadboarded science projects, or table-filling trays of relays and lots of blue LED’s.  His project also inspired me, but it was clear there was more that could be done.

Relay computers have been around for a long time. Konrad Zuse built arguably the first ‘stored program’ machine, back in Germany around the outbreak of WW2, because he was sick and tired of doing civil engineering calculations for school by hand. Employing the assistance of friends, family, and discarded electronic components, he built his monster. At the time he went to the German high command for funding, but thankfully for the rest of us, they turned him down and so it was the Allies that took a gamble on electronic computers as a tool to fight the war (ENIAC for firing tables and the British Colossus for German codebreaking). While Zuse’s machines were electromechanical (and thus speed-restricted by mass and other physical properties) the future was clearly with vacuum tubes. But we’re straying here...

Now, undertaking such a project is not trivial- not in time, complexity, nor money. So ‘getting it right’ the first time is important. And unlike building a stereo or a spaceship, a computer is a limitless tool. It manipulates data based on strings of other data.  So how do you know when you’ve got it? Clearly, a set of ground rules must be established. What’s your input and how does it get put in? How much memory and of what type? Will there be output other than status indicators? And what are we to monitor the status of? What will the system clock be comprised of and how fast will it be? What are the widths of the data bus and address bus? And so on…

A big advantage is that I’m a fan of 1^st and 2^nd gen computers so I have spent the last few years reading everything from history books on Amazon to obscure technical papers scanned into PDF form by archivists. I’ve read bios of the pioneers, studied period trade magazines (courtesy of the Rod) and poured over pictures and layouts. Watched videos, read manuals, collected artifacts, etc. etc. In fact if my memory was worth anything, I’d be the equivalent of that guy that could rattle off the players and stats from some baseball game back in 1932.

Having that historical knowledge on one side, and the technical desire on the other, has pretty much shaped the design of this machine.   Roughly the size of an IBM 1620, but thousands and thousands of times slower. These other guys are flipping switches to input data but I’d like to see a Flexowriter interfaced, for both input and printed output. PLUS punched paper tape. Storage? They’re using paper and pencil. I’d like to design and build a magnetic tape unit to store and retrieve programs. And for RAM, I’d like to see a relay based RAM system in addition to something solid state.

There weren’t really relay computers in the 1950’s (the idea being obsolete 20 years prior), but if there were, I’d like to think that this design would be right at home.

More later……

Suddenly, it's June!

A productive weekend, if a little quiet.

Friday, the day job complete. A quick stop at Blain’s. Top off the fuel tank. Groceries picked up. Spirits elated as I arrive home to WHAAA? Did someone steal my hubcap? Yes, the front left wheel cover was missing from the wagon. No doubt I lost it in the previous night’s quick trip to Waverly. So let’s turn the Blazer around and retrace our steps. Now, knowing that hubcap must weigh something like 10 pounds, and knowing that even the flimsiest covers travel an impressive distance, my chances of finding it were slim. And there’s a lot of ditch weed between The Lodge and Waverly. Plus 218. All I managed to do was satisfy myself that I had at least _tried_ to find it. If that’s the worst that happens all weekend, I’m in pretty good shape.

Cam and Ben stopped out for a few brews, some fresh air and a screening of Winnebago Man. (Here’s a SFW link: http://articles.businessinsider.com/2010-05-05/tech/29980223_1_jack-rebney-winnebago-man-filmmaker-ben-steinbauer) Having never seen any of this viral video, but going on description alone, I decided to gamble a few bucks and buy the DVD. While not something I’ll probably watch frequently, I’d say that’s cheap entertainment.

Saturday. My first mistake was getting to bed around 1AM Friday night. Apparently I am not 24 years old anymore. No, no hangovers or anything like that. Just that general exhaustive malaise that removes any encouragement one might need for tackling manual labor in the hot sun. Deciding to make French toast and bacon for breakfast didn’t help either…I went all-out which meant the process from start to finish took about an hour and a half. You start with a certain density bread, then you bake out the moisture using a conventional oven (16 minutes). Then you prepare the egg mixture. Then after the bread is prepared you briefly soak the slices and arrange them next to the skillet which is cooking the bacon. Then you cook the slices several minutes per side on said skillet, and return to the oven to keep warm while you wipe and butter the cook surface b/w slices and continue to process. Plus getting out all the equipment and ingredients and doing the dishes and cleanup. Whew.

Eventually, I overcame that anchor and Cara gave me a hand in sorting fascia boards for CS3, selecting faces and edges that would be visible, and we began the confusing process of priming and painting. Why confusing? There’s around 2 dozen boards of varying lengths and widths. All surfaces need to be painted in some way to keep moisture out. But any visible knots or voids must be primed to fill in the imperfections and to keep sap and tannin from showing later on. Because priming takes longer than painting, and because there’s only so much sawhorse space, you end up with boards scattered everywhere. Some are drying in the sun, some are primed one side but not the other, some are primed both sides but waiting for me to top coat (Cara did the priming). And, oh yeah, some boards, but not others, require a 15 degree rip along the bottom edge (north fascias and south fascias) so those edges need to be considered when selecting what board goes where. Around dusk we packed up and headed inside, about 75% complete.

Sunday. Alarm went off. Up and running. Back to the fascias. This time everything was in order by noon. Primed. Painted. Drying in the sun. I moved the picker to the east side and started the arduous task of board installation. This is where experience pays off. Somehow you’ve got to get 36’ of boards to be razor straight, even when your subfascia isn’t. And do you think each board is naturally straight, either? The north and south ends must be mitered at 45 degrees to meet the complementing north and south fascia boards, but guess what, you’ve also got to get 15 degree angles on them, too. Plus all the splices need to be tight, so you have intermediate 25 deg cuts to join all the boards (36’=12+14+12 less excess). And I don’t own a sliding compound miter saw. It’s not rocket science, but it is a real PITA. By dinnertime, had finished the east side and the first north face board. Still more north boards to rip and hand sand. Grrr.

This is why, while outwardly simple, fascia boards and soffits are a real bane. You’ve got to get plywood sheets two stories up and into position with gaps no bigger than an 1/8” without screwing anything up. Every cut and angle just about perfect. Shims and spacing games to keep everything flat and even. And then it’s all got to be stained or painted. But it’s really the only way to get the color, texture, shape and angle you desire. This was the defacto standard for decades.  Until vinyl and aluminum got popular.

Ever notice today that a 100k house and a 300k house have the exact same soffits and fascias? Metal wrap over a 2x6 subfascia and stamped metal soffits that fit into formed channels. Three-Hundred-Thousand-Dollars, and that’s what you get. Because he can trim it with his shears in about 30 seconds and doesn’t have to paint it. Done. You also don’t really have 4’ overhangs on houses anymore. One, because it’s tough to integrate that kind of functionality on the style of today’s homes, and two, think of the material cost savings to the contractor.

Anyway, I’ll keep plugging away at the fascias. Soffits will be another matter. Because of the strip vents, multiple pieces must be installed to close up a joist bay, which means what you can’t finish in one session ends up as an open invite to any curious bird.