So I have never listened to a podcast. Does that make me weird? Anyhow, I decided why not listen to something I enjoy. So I went out on the web and found this marvelous podcast from RetroBits. This particular episode was all about the c programming language. The episode can be found here: http://podbay.fm/show/74839819/e/1162801320. Now, it takes a little while for the host to get around to the point, but I don't really mind the techie talk. The tone and pace of the podcast is very easy going.
I first became interested in the c language about four years ago. C++ was the first language that I started developing with, and naturally I became very curious with the c language. Lately I have been delving deeper into the c language and I am very intrigued with what I have found. The host of the podcast goes on to discuss the origins of the c language and it's importance to the development of the UNIX kernel. He covers the transformation the B language into c and the porting of c to other platforms. What I found interesting was the importance of the portable library that c used. Such portability of a programming language allowed c to be used across different systems. This was a monumental development in programming, leading to real portability of the UNIX kernel.
I was enthralled with this podcast. The host is knowledgeable, entertaining, and friendly. I actually visited the site and listened to another of the episodes. This experience has really left me rather disappointed in myself for not listening to more podcasts! I have made a resolution to myself that I will no longer allow such a wealth of information to go to waste. I have already downloaded several episodes and I am in the process of finding a decent app to use. If there are any suggestions, please enlighten me!
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Miniature Fission Reactors: The Future of Energy?
Energy. The limiting factor of all human society for the last hundred years. Ever since the advent of electricity, We have been struggling to produce more of it. In the 1950's, we developed nuclear power. The concept is that a power plant contains a sustained fission reaction that heats water into steam in order to turn a turbine, which then produces electricity. So, once we discovered this source of power, we began to construct these massive plants to produce electricity using nuclear fission. but, as efficient as easy as it is, nuclear power has a dark side.
Maybe you have seen the video footage of the hydrogen bomb tests in Nevada. Maybe you have read about the horrible effects that people have suffered from radioactive contamination. Nuclear radiation is extremely dangerous and lethal. On the 26th of April in 1986, the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, USSR exploded and melted down, spewing tons of radioactive waste and gas throughout the surrounding areas. The entire city is now a ghost town, and the radiation levels are so high that access is restricted to only those wearing protective gear. The problem with nuclear power is that the reaction can get out of control. When a nuclear reaction goes haywire, materials that are not meant to be involved suddenly become caught up in the nuclear reaction. This can cause massive catastrophic events and irradiate whole areas.
Sounds frightening, doesn't it? So who in their right mind would want a nuclear reactor in their backyard!?! Well, there is a man named Taylor Wilson who would really like to put a nuclear reactor right in the middle of your town. For those of you unfamiliar with Mr. Wilson, I'll provide a little background. At age 14 he became the youngest person to ever achieve nuclear fusion, in his garage. He is now 19 years old. Recently, he has assisted the U.S. Government in securing nuclear facilities around the country against potential terrorist attacks. This man is nothing short of a prodigy. And he has an amazing plan to bring affordable, clean, safe energy to your community.
Mr. Wilsons' marvelous idea is a mini fission reactor. A reactor that would be buried underground and supply up to 100,000 homes with electricity. But this is no ordinary nuclear reactor. First of all, it doesn't use the same type of fuel as your typical fission reactor. In fact, these mini-reactors can use multiple sources of fuel, the most useful being Thorium. Thorium is nice because it's not nearly as volatile and plutonium or uranium. It's also relatively easy to mine and much more environmentally friendly.
Second, these nuclear reactors can not melt down. The way that they are constructed makes meltdown virtually impossible. The fuel source is molten liquid already, and the reactor is maintained at air pressure! This means that even if there were to be some sort of puncture, not only would there be no chance of a reaction proliferating outside of the reactor, but there would be no chance of radioactive material spraying about and irradiating everything!
Finally, (the best part!) these mini-reactors require refueling only once every thirty years. A typical reactor requires refuelling every 18 months. This is good news for several reasons. Such infrequent refueling means that they use less fuel. It also means that they use the fuel more efficiently. It also means that nobody has to crack open the reactor and shove stuff inside it! So, we could potentially wire one of these babies up, bury it, and totally forget about it for 30 years. That sounds almost too good to be true.
As you can see, there are myriad benefits to installing these miniature reactors. We are struggling to find environmentally friendly ways to produce power right now, and a technology like this is too good to pass up. In my opinion, we need to get these deployed as fast as possible. We have had some bad experiences with nuclear power, but if we can improve our designs, rethink our approach, and be responsible, we can really take advantage of this emerging technology.
Credit for this post goes to Mr. Wilsons' awesome TED Talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/taylor_wilson_my_radical_plan_for_small_nuclear_fission_reactors.html
Maybe you have seen the video footage of the hydrogen bomb tests in Nevada. Maybe you have read about the horrible effects that people have suffered from radioactive contamination. Nuclear radiation is extremely dangerous and lethal. On the 26th of April in 1986, the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, USSR exploded and melted down, spewing tons of radioactive waste and gas throughout the surrounding areas. The entire city is now a ghost town, and the radiation levels are so high that access is restricted to only those wearing protective gear. The problem with nuclear power is that the reaction can get out of control. When a nuclear reaction goes haywire, materials that are not meant to be involved suddenly become caught up in the nuclear reaction. This can cause massive catastrophic events and irradiate whole areas.
Sounds frightening, doesn't it? So who in their right mind would want a nuclear reactor in their backyard!?! Well, there is a man named Taylor Wilson who would really like to put a nuclear reactor right in the middle of your town. For those of you unfamiliar with Mr. Wilson, I'll provide a little background. At age 14 he became the youngest person to ever achieve nuclear fusion, in his garage. He is now 19 years old. Recently, he has assisted the U.S. Government in securing nuclear facilities around the country against potential terrorist attacks. This man is nothing short of a prodigy. And he has an amazing plan to bring affordable, clean, safe energy to your community.
Mr. Wilsons' marvelous idea is a mini fission reactor. A reactor that would be buried underground and supply up to 100,000 homes with electricity. But this is no ordinary nuclear reactor. First of all, it doesn't use the same type of fuel as your typical fission reactor. In fact, these mini-reactors can use multiple sources of fuel, the most useful being Thorium. Thorium is nice because it's not nearly as volatile and plutonium or uranium. It's also relatively easy to mine and much more environmentally friendly.
Second, these nuclear reactors can not melt down. The way that they are constructed makes meltdown virtually impossible. The fuel source is molten liquid already, and the reactor is maintained at air pressure! This means that even if there were to be some sort of puncture, not only would there be no chance of a reaction proliferating outside of the reactor, but there would be no chance of radioactive material spraying about and irradiating everything!
Finally, (the best part!) these mini-reactors require refueling only once every thirty years. A typical reactor requires refuelling every 18 months. This is good news for several reasons. Such infrequent refueling means that they use less fuel. It also means that they use the fuel more efficiently. It also means that nobody has to crack open the reactor and shove stuff inside it! So, we could potentially wire one of these babies up, bury it, and totally forget about it for 30 years. That sounds almost too good to be true.
As you can see, there are myriad benefits to installing these miniature reactors. We are struggling to find environmentally friendly ways to produce power right now, and a technology like this is too good to pass up. In my opinion, we need to get these deployed as fast as possible. We have had some bad experiences with nuclear power, but if we can improve our designs, rethink our approach, and be responsible, we can really take advantage of this emerging technology.
Credit for this post goes to Mr. Wilsons' awesome TED Talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/taylor_wilson_my_radical_plan_for_small_nuclear_fission_reactors.html
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Two Different Approaches To Engaging the Customer Base: Social Media as an Advertising Platform
Did I Hear Someone Say Free Advertising?
Case Study: Domino's
I can see the expressions on the PR folks faces. Here they are, barely employed by an ailing company limping along, bleeding out quickly. The were desperate, they needed a gamble that would pay off, big time. They were Domino's employees. Recently had not been good. In fact it had been downright horrible. So they did would any logical person would do, they gave up control of their assets to the public. Domino's almost entirely devoted themselves to pleasing their customers. This is a great move on the companies' behalf. But it never would have succeeded without social media!
Domino's owes most of the success of their blitz to Facebook. Every minute they were on there posting replying, pleasing people. They were able to use the platform for maximum involvement by the consumers. And it totally worked. They have been a massive success, somewhat of a comeback kid in their respective field. The crushed it. The plan is so simple it's beautiful and quite ingenious. Take their audience (frankly that's everyone, I've never met a bloke who doesn't like pizza) and focus the entire attention of the company on them. They were there online in people's faces. Domino's became the friendly neighborhood pizza shop that wanted to listen to what you had to say. I can't even imagine the size of their social media staff.
The initial success is only half of the story. They continue to engage, the company continues to pay attention to their followers and loyal customers. Their Facebook page is a veritable cornucopia of games, quizzes, shoutouts, jokes, and general pizza talk. It is actually one of the most fun Facebook business pages I've come across. And they actually listen to you! If I were to send them a picture of a poorly made pie, there's a good chance that they would respond and even offer to compensate me. They have spread this attitude to their TV and print ads as well. The whole deal has made for a very successful engagement with their target audience.
Case Study: Best Buy
Now this hurts me to write. I like Best Buy. I bought the computer that I am typing this on from Best Buy, and it's a hardy piece of machinery. But Best Buy is just a retail outlet, so the quality of the products really has nothing to do with the company or their philosophy. Anyhow, This company has an extremely miserable social media presence. I'm sorry, there is no other way to describe what I am looking at right now. They have taken the marvelous tool of social media and abused it indescribably. This company has taken all of the advantages of the two-way communication paradigm and tossed them in the trash.
First of all, their Facebook page is identical to one of those annoying little advertisement magazines you find crammed inside your Sunday paper. There is almost nothing on their page other than promotional material. There is absolutely no effort to engage the consumers in any manner whatsoever. There are some event postings, but they all seem to be "Come to this Best Buy at X time to meet X important person and get in on this sale!" Other than this type of posting and the occasional contest (with a purchase of course) this site is strictly a big advertisement.
In addition to the supremely disappointing page, the company seems totally content to completely ignore their customers. 90% of the customer post I come across on the Facebook page are people who are downright infuriated with the service they have received form Best Buy. There are posts absolutely ripping the employees, posts begging for some sort of support or assistance, and posts decrying the injustices that these poor folks have suffered at the hands of the corporate arm of Best Buy. I even found a post by a man who claims he was told to "figure it out on his own" when he inquired about the specs of a TV. Frankly, Best Buy has one of the worst social media presences on the internet. Nothing at all would be better than this aberration.
So, the conclusion I have reached is that social media is an investment that can yield quite a beneficial return when used appropriately. When the audience is engaged and a proper plan is carried out, it seems that everybody has a better time. On the other hand, when misused or abused, the opposite effect appears to emerge. The audience can actually be driven away by the improper use of these tools. This is interesting, and it would appear that social media is much more powerful than traditional advertising.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Why am I at MATC?
I will begin answering this by describing how I was feeling about eight months ago. Outwardly, I appeared to be in a completely normal state. Actually, I would have appeared more ecstatic than usual. I had just quit my job. Twas a grueling, manual labor occupation. The sort of which built up calluses on odd parts of my fingers from the repetition of a single action for ten hours. Most of my week was spent either sleeping or working. The critical moment came when my supervisor strongly "suggested" that I work overtime, implying that I should devote myself to even more so to the recuperation of the slack from my facility. So I quit.
Quitting was incredibly easy. I felt absolutely no guilt. I despised every iota of time that I spent in that building. I was overjoyed. I believe I went fishing directly afterwards. Slowly the realization crept over me. I made an attempt to ignore it, but I was an adult. The feeling slowly devoured my consciousness until nothing other than despair remained. It wasn't regret, it was much more severe. It was despair. The only thing I could think about was where I was, what I was doing. I had four hundred dollars in the bank and an HSED. I still lived with my parents and I had just quit the best paying job that I had ever had. I had no idea what to do. Humiliation was my initial reaction. But I decided to be done with pitying myself. I made a proposition to a powerful man.
As I sat upon the couch in my living room, my pride suddenly seemed to become very insignificant. "Papa," I said unto my father, "I know I said I wouldn't ask you for money any more, but I want to ask you for a loan for college." His response was utterly shocking. Without hesitation, without so much as a hint of mistrust, he looked me right in the eyes and told me that he would be happy to help. The next day I was in the registration office at MATC Mequon Campus. I had no doubt in my mind as to what program I would enter. I barely remember not having a computer in my house. Heck, I remember when I thought MS-DOS was a toy. I wanted to make them go. I wanted to be the man behind the curtain. I had this insatiable desire to understand the mechanics of these magic boxes that were so perfect, so beautiful, and so logical. Not to mention, I had been learning C++ for about three months. I had my heart set on being a programmer.
So I applied, paid my dues, and began my educational career. Thus far, I have had nothing but a good experience. I have thrived in this place, I don't believe I can describe the feeling accurately. It's as if I were a wilted plant clinging to life that has suddenly found itself awash in all manner of clean water and delicious nutrients. Somewhere within this story is my motivation. I see it in my peers eyes' every day I walk the halls. We are the people who stood at the brink, gazed upon the chasm, and refused to allow ourselves to fall. We are the ones who see our lives as our responsibility. I am proud to count myself among the salt of the earth.
Quitting was incredibly easy. I felt absolutely no guilt. I despised every iota of time that I spent in that building. I was overjoyed. I believe I went fishing directly afterwards. Slowly the realization crept over me. I made an attempt to ignore it, but I was an adult. The feeling slowly devoured my consciousness until nothing other than despair remained. It wasn't regret, it was much more severe. It was despair. The only thing I could think about was where I was, what I was doing. I had four hundred dollars in the bank and an HSED. I still lived with my parents and I had just quit the best paying job that I had ever had. I had no idea what to do. Humiliation was my initial reaction. But I decided to be done with pitying myself. I made a proposition to a powerful man.
As I sat upon the couch in my living room, my pride suddenly seemed to become very insignificant. "Papa," I said unto my father, "I know I said I wouldn't ask you for money any more, but I want to ask you for a loan for college." His response was utterly shocking. Without hesitation, without so much as a hint of mistrust, he looked me right in the eyes and told me that he would be happy to help. The next day I was in the registration office at MATC Mequon Campus. I had no doubt in my mind as to what program I would enter. I barely remember not having a computer in my house. Heck, I remember when I thought MS-DOS was a toy. I wanted to make them go. I wanted to be the man behind the curtain. I had this insatiable desire to understand the mechanics of these magic boxes that were so perfect, so beautiful, and so logical. Not to mention, I had been learning C++ for about three months. I had my heart set on being a programmer.
So I applied, paid my dues, and began my educational career. Thus far, I have had nothing but a good experience. I have thrived in this place, I don't believe I can describe the feeling accurately. It's as if I were a wilted plant clinging to life that has suddenly found itself awash in all manner of clean water and delicious nutrients. Somewhere within this story is my motivation. I see it in my peers eyes' every day I walk the halls. We are the people who stood at the brink, gazed upon the chasm, and refused to allow ourselves to fall. We are the ones who see our lives as our responsibility. I am proud to count myself among the salt of the earth.
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