I'm not sure I understand all of this, but what I THINK I understand is MIND BLOWING--pun intended!
A 'Frankenrobot' with a biological brain - Yahoo! News: "From the very start, the neurons get busy. 'Within about 24 hours, they start sending out feelers to each other and making connections,' said Warwick.
'Within a week we get some spontaneous firings and brain-like activity' similar to what happens in a normal rat -- or human -- brain, he added."
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
E-Bike Battery Condition
So, I just spent a pretty penny on a kit so I could turn my old Huffy 3 speed into an electric bike. The kit includes a cargo rack to mount over the rear wheel, a rechargeable battery pack, a carrying case for that, a battery charger, a power converter, a controller, all the cables and a replacement for my bike's front wheel with an electric motor in the hub and a high performance rim.
Everything seemed to assemble fairly easily. I spend about a half-hour the night I got it checking out the parts and assembling the rear rack and putting that on the bike. The next day, I spent about 45 minutes mounting everything else on the bike.
I got to ride it around the block a few times and it was GLORIOUS. Later, when I was showing it to the neighbors though, the front wheel jumped off of the forks. Luckily, no one was hurt.
It turns out that the motor puts out way too much torque for this old huffy with its stamped fork ends. I'm guessing it's a combination of the torque and the weight of the motor all right there on the fork end.
So now, I'm without a bike, I don't have the cash right now to get another bike and I have all this expensive equipment sitting around laughing at me.
Anyway, I'm still hopeful. Most people agree that I should not replace the forks on the bike with forged ones and then use the bike for this. They all think it's too dangerous. So, eventually, I've got to save more money and buy another bike.
In the meantime, I did have some trouble with the battery. Here are some pictures:
See the little connectors sticking out one end for the red and black wires? These are NOT permanently connected to the battery. They are only held on by TAPE! This is not the intention of the seller. He has asked me to send it back to him so he can repair it.
The other problem is how the red and black wires attach to these connectors. The connectors just have these little tubes on the wiring end that I guess you stick the wire in and clamp the tube down on the wire. What I found when testing it all out was that the wires came loose very easily at this connection and each time I hit a bump, I lost power for a second.
Sigh--I hope to reduce my carbon footprint by a full commute before winter. We'll see.
Everything seemed to assemble fairly easily. I spend about a half-hour the night I got it checking out the parts and assembling the rear rack and putting that on the bike. The next day, I spent about 45 minutes mounting everything else on the bike.
I got to ride it around the block a few times and it was GLORIOUS. Later, when I was showing it to the neighbors though, the front wheel jumped off of the forks. Luckily, no one was hurt.
It turns out that the motor puts out way too much torque for this old huffy with its stamped fork ends. I'm guessing it's a combination of the torque and the weight of the motor all right there on the fork end.
So now, I'm without a bike, I don't have the cash right now to get another bike and I have all this expensive equipment sitting around laughing at me.
Anyway, I'm still hopeful. Most people agree that I should not replace the forks on the bike with forged ones and then use the bike for this. They all think it's too dangerous. So, eventually, I've got to save more money and buy another bike.
In the meantime, I did have some trouble with the battery. Here are some pictures:
See the little connectors sticking out one end for the red and black wires? These are NOT permanently connected to the battery. They are only held on by TAPE! This is not the intention of the seller. He has asked me to send it back to him so he can repair it.
The other problem is how the red and black wires attach to these connectors. The connectors just have these little tubes on the wiring end that I guess you stick the wire in and clamp the tube down on the wire. What I found when testing it all out was that the wires came loose very easily at this connection and each time I hit a bump, I lost power for a second.
Sigh--I hope to reduce my carbon footprint by a full commute before winter. We'll see.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Number One Reason to see Elegy
. . .lengthy scenes of the two actors just talking to each other, mixed with lavish but respectful attention to [Penelope] Cruz's body, especially her bare chest, which is treated as one of the wonders of creation. [Emphasis added!!!]David Denby, The New Yorker, Aug. 11 & 18, 2008
Number two, by a nipple, it's based on a novel by Philip Roth.
I have to admit, Penelope looks a lot better in the promos for Vicky Cristina Barcelona than in elegy, both movies look very good!
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