Musings Of An Idealist

What?

2010-01-20T14:08:00.001-08:00

If you are bogged down by theoretical physics then you shouldn't really be worried, most people these days dont really have a clue whats going on. They know that there is a big experiment in CERN that makes things go really fast and bang into each other, but for what reason. A little background, first we get Einsteins General Theory of Relativity which has let us understand the way that gravity effect everything around it, using this we have sent spaceships to the edge of the solar system by slingshotting them using gravity to get speed boosts along the way. We have uing einsteins theory been able to put hundreds of communication satellites in space that are responsible for nearly every facet of communication these days. Those are some pretty impressive fallouts from one theory.
Then on the other hand in the relm of the very small we have what is called the Standard Model of Particle Physics, which is similar to the Periodic Table of elements, by grouping the different particles and forces we can show how they interact and do what they do. The standard model and quantum mechanics go hand in hand, QM is simply the laws by which these particles interact. These laws are difficult to wrap your head around and are counter intuitive to everyone. The ultimate feat of the standard model and quantum mechanics wa explaining radioactive decay of elements, in particular beta decay. We have been able to use this to revolutionise medicine through radiotherapy and MRI machines again no small feat of a theory.
The problem that remains in physics is having one theory that predicts both of these theories, one law from which Relativity and The Standard Model fall out. As with every physics theory that comes forward the mathematics used to describe them is more baffling than the last, but with nature there is always what physicists call beauty. Beauty from our stand point is after all the mathematics the end result is wonderfully simplistic, when I first derived E=mc^2 as a homework exercise there was 5 pages of equations, relationships and calculus that just seemed to be invented to destroy the soul, but when all was said and done, out popped this wonderfully simplistic formula to describe the relationship between mass and energy. The same can be said about Quantum Mechanics, the maths is again quite difficult and you seem to wonder how it was thought in the first place but after hours of toiling you end up with a simple equation with 4 terms, 1 is the energy of the system, 1 is a natural constant, then the other two are derivatives with respect to time and with respect to position. o you can know the relationship between position and time through a particles energy and a constant of proportionality. This is what we consider beauty.
The front runner for a grand unified theory is called String Theory, although this theory does the job it is not beautiful. It has the appearance of been given the answer and working backwards. The result seems contrived and does not show the natural simplicity of nature that always appears from great works. I may be wrong and it could be proved right but I hope not. Another theory is called E8, this is a theory of particle physics that uses the E8 group in mathematics. http://www.aimath.org/E8/mcmullen.html <-- The picture on that show the set, it has 240 points each of which is a particle and the lines joining them are how they interact. This E8 model is one of the two most beautiful sets in mathematics, the other being the Mandelbrot set. Some physicists argue that these is the grand unified theory, there are currently 22 empty places where we have not found particles, but if CERN can find them then hopefully the theory will gather more mainstream acceptance. Here is a representation of the particles as they interact in 8 Dimensional Space(not actual physical dimensions simply mathematical notation)

Also falling out from this theory is one equation with 10 terms that describes everything, from gravity to the positron and how they all interact.

Islanders

2010-01-18T10:28:00.000-08:00

The phrase "No man is an Island" was coined by John Donne to convey the thought that we as people require social activities to function properly. Studies has shown consclusivly that isolation causes mental problems and fits of paranoia to those that tried to live on their island.
I wonder if there are any more islands left, if you peruse cracked then you may have seen their rebuttal of NBC's piece on people being addicted to internet social media sites in particular Twitter and Facebook. Though I would not call those who spend a lot of time on these sites addicts it has to be said that these sites have given rise to people knowing more and more about their friends colleagues and the odd strangers you think you may know. There is hardly a weekend that goes by that I don't know who is going out and who has a hangover the next weekend. They have brought our friends closer than ever before, making the chance for isolation even more elusive. I often get mocked for my lack of appearance on these sites, I will go through fits of activity on them but any sustained period of non activity generally brings on a flurry of questions about what I was doing.
This is because their every move is on the world wide web for everyone to see and comment on. People have become more and more desperate for the highest friend counts and to start giant conversations to show that you popular and people like to engage you in status updates and little quizzes which can tell your future. I think that people need to step back a bit more and retreat to their island. It is in moments alone that I get my best thinking done, it's when I can look back and think about anything that comes to mind. To try and figure things out and to just ponder. Something that is lacking nowadays. Could you imagine the manic depressed writers of the 18th and 19th centuries on these sites, they would have found people of similar mould to them and more than likely been brought out of their states. Though depression is a serious problem if you can control it the fact that we can get instant gratification for whatever we do or think will lead to people with more problems than before.
There will be no need to sit back and think when others will sooth you soul for you. There is no need for personal growth when you can validate yourself through these mediums. Maybe I am being a bit pessimistic and people will still strive to improve even when they have a couple of hundred requests accepted and get 20 comments on each update they have or maybe they will just stay the same way they are now. Lets wait and see I suppose.

Broadband For Schools

2010-01-17T11:54:00.000-08:00

I said last night that I had a way to fix the current broadband issues that the rural commuinities have at the moment especially schools. Schools in Ireland have given access to 5 online encyclopedias including Britannia for free but what use is that if most of the schools cant access it. First lets see what is available to them,

1. 56 kb/s Dial-Up, this connection is best described by, A picture may be worth a thousand word but I would much rather download the words. This connection just doesn't cut it anymore, you can go on wikipedia for the day and answer a few emails but god help you if you have a gmail account. This is what most schools in rural areas are using.
2. Satellite Internet, this can offer speeds of up to 10 Mb/s which is about the standard being offered by companies outside of the major cities. It also has the ability for more so that 10 Mb/s is not an upper limit. The main problems with this connection is the start up cost, some companies were charging €3,500 for the service to be installed. So unless you have money to burn then its just not a viable option. There is also the problem with line of sight to the satellite, if there is heavy cloud cover or there is no satellite over head then your out of luck, no internet for you. Not a good idea for schools who cant afford the start up costs.
3. Mobile Broadband, this is offered around the country but the coverage deteriorates as soon as you leave a built up area. The download limits mean its not really viable for what is now considered medium usage. 1 Movie per night will have surpassed most of the limits after 22 Days. Not practical for schools as only one device may be connected at a time.

The last mile is the problem here, there is no problem getting the information to the local exchanges, its getting it from these exchanges to the houses or schools. In rural areas the most common reason for this is that they dont have line of sight to the exchange. There are two available solutions that would require some work from councils and some private companies who I am sure would love the extra customers.

First Solution:
Follow the Limerick County Council plan and place transmitters on top of the counties water towers. This would give line of sight to 95% of people, 100% if it was done properly but I am being realistic here. This would mean that every company offering broadband services would have the ability to provide it to anywhere in the county. So there would be fast reliable internet and healthy competition.

Second Solution:
WiMax, if you haven't heard of this already then Google it for more details or go to www.imagine.ie, they have a lot of details on it. This method promises fast reliable always on broadband and telephone services without the need for lines all that is needed is a base station. These base stations are 2 x 2 x 2 Feet boxes that can be easily installed at the schools around the county again providing a fast reliable service to nearly 100% of the rural areas. This though would have to be done only with imagine and there may be competition law issues or something, but it is cheap and doable on a very short timescale.

So these are two solutions that are cheap, quick and very very doable. It doesn't take much initiative to ring Eircom or Chorus and say "Any chance you want to tap into the forgotten about rural customer base", but alas I imagine my ideas are falling on deaf ears again but should any of the TD's I have suggested this to reply I shall inform you.

My Little Experiment

2010-01-16T21:23:00.000-08:00

I do enjoy little social experiments, there are 19 Secondary schools in Clare, their e-mail addresses are available on the Clare Library Website if they dont hae their own. So I decided to send a quick email to each of the schools in early November asking how many pupils are in their schools.
Instantly there we 9 bounces(I know Holy shit I didn't think we were this behind either) and I have received two (2) replies.My hope for more relies is slowly hitting rock bottom and if I don't get another by the end of this month then I am going to presume none are coming. I also have a rather simple and cost effective way of fixing that but its half 5 in the morning so I will leave that rant for another time.

So Which Way is Forward Again?

2010-01-16T20:25:00.000-08:00

Something that never ceases to amaze me is the willingness of people to accept tough times that are within their controll. As Haiti dominates the news those poor people are struggling now with the worst natural disater in recorded history. There was nothing they could do about that and my heart goes out to them. Here at home unemployment has reached 25%, the health service is at critical levels and our once booming economy is at its knees. So far the people have just accepted it and complain a lot assuming that these things are out of their control.
We have 1,000,000 people who are able to work not working. Why? Because there are no jobs apparently. We have the work force to put to work on fixing this. We pay €200 a week to people to sign a piece of paper once a month. The first thing that is to be done is cut that to €150 for those who wish to continue doing so. That is more than likely going to be the lazy and the youth. For those who wish to go back to work we give €200 a week to build our country back. The biggest industry hit was the construction industry. So we have many builders out of work and 32 hospitals that urgently need extentions for bed. FAS already do courses for those that need to be trained, and many already are so why not ask them to build those needed buildings.
You may argue that the money is not there to build these new hospitals but I would remind you that the function of the economy is to serve the people not the other way around as it now seems. This global economy will be the downfall of democracy if it continues this way, but if we have to play their game then lets. We find the niche and we exploit it to its fullest. The biggest thing at the moment is of course Green Energy, there is a company at the moment that has the expertise and the knowledge to make Ireland 100% Energy independent within 3 years. As soon as we have independence we can start working on exporting. We are at a slight disadvantage being an island nation but we are right beside a massive consumer of electricity. The infrastructure already exists between the UK and France to transfer power, we simply make it so we can export to the UK for X amount as a way to sell to the rest at Y amount. How may we do this? Nuclear Power, it has taken a rap because of the disasters it causes and rightly so, the safety procedures that were once in place were abysmal. The next generation of reactors are already running and are 99.999999% safe, they can be shut down in .1 of a second by pressing a button, there is no chance of an overload and they are better at extracting energy than the last generation.
So we put the million or so that are able to work and can reap the massive rewards in less than a decade, we can play the global game and come out on top. We give too much power to economists when their predicting methods are actually less accurate than those forecasting weather yet when the weather is predicted wrongly then its the god damned scientists fault, but when the markets become volatile then the economists could hardly be expected to know.

What gives me the right to comment, as long as every economist can make Global Warming statements I can make economic statements.

Chaotic Weather

2010-01-06T09:29:00.000-08:00

The current cold snap is quite awesome, the country is coming to a stand still and I couldn't be happier. A little bit of chaos is always exciting and this is no exception. All our secondary roads are closed and the primary roads are that much better. A run on hard salt has meant that there is not going to be much improvement on those roads. Many people have no access to running water or heating becasue the water in their pipes has frozen. One woman was even trapped in her house for 10 days having prepared properly though had enough food to cope with this weather.
So what is being done about this? Absolutely nothing apparently, yet another emergency that is caught up in the infinite bureaucracy that seems to guide our politicians. The grit supplies are running out quite fast as one would expect considering this is a one in 10 year event (our second in 3 months). The planning for extreme weather has been weighed, measured and found wanting. The general consensus is that we are in the front line of global warming but have we taken any steps to address this? Not a one.
What can be done I hear you ask, well there is one company who has over 100,000 tonnes of grit in the country, that is enough for this winter and another one after it. What is the problem? They are asking for up to 3 times the international market price. This is an emergency so I would FORCE the proprietor to drop his prices. He is going o be wholesaling his stock its not like he will not get a nice profit from it but no he must hold the country to ransom and make us get grit and salt from Sweden taking up to 3 weeks.
There is also the possibility of going to some our pharmaceutical companies who have many different sugar waste products which can actually be more effective at temperatures under 3 degrees Celsius. This can be used in combination to sand, salt and grit to bump our supplies to help us. Unfortunately our politicians do not look for scientific solutions or innovations which is sad, we have so many chemists and physicists in this country that are going to state funded universities that are not being asked to help the state.
I hear now as I write this that the army is being called in to help with this and its about time. Our army is one of the best trained in emergency situations which can be seen from their response during the floods where again they were called in too late by a bumbling government who have the worst "wait and see" attitude during these hard times.