IEEE Consultants' Network of Long Island

No Petrol or Diesel - John Dunn, Consultant, Ambertec, P.E., P.C.

I was listening to British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) news recently via WNYC-FM and heard a report that Parliament has passed legislation to the effect that all "petrol" and diesel fueled automobiles are to cease production in the UK by the year 2040. In twenty-three years, all automobiles are to be differently powered.

I read about hydrogen powered cars as one alternative where the combustion products of that fuel are "harmless" water vapor. However, humidity levels here on Long Island in the summer can be very oppressive and stifling. Local weather reports frequently address that issue. Now imagine having hundreds of thousands of hydrogen fueled vehicles adding their water vapor emissions to already way too high humidity levels and suddenly water vapor emissions don't look so harmless anymore.   

Furthermore, I recall having once read a rather alarming article that there is approximately a ten percent loss of hydrogen that occurs whenever a vehicle of that design is fueled up and that the escaped hydrogen is a very powerful greenhouse gas. That is not so harmless either.

Alternatively, completely electric cars have historically had issues with limited range. Although there has been admirable range improvement of late, the recharge time of an electric car's battery is still quite long. You can't just pull up into the equivalent of a gasoline filling station, somehow "tank up" and drive off and if you are driving cross country, you need/want to be able to "refuel" and move on right away.

Although battery swapping has been proposed as a possible solution, that swapping would mean having to lift and move around some pretty heavy objects. Batteries are not light in weight and that is an unsolved problem.

It would appear that Parliament has passed legislation which decrees that future technological breakthroughs shall be made in a prescribed time span. Historically, that kind of planning for the future hasn't worked out because breakthroughs just aren't that predictable.

Back in the 1950s, there were predictions of rocket borne postal service, of personal valet robots and of atomic powered airplanes. In the 1980s, Dr. Teller told President Reagan that spacecraft x-ray lasers were an imminent breakthrough for the "Star Wars" defense system.

None of those predicted breakthroughs ever came to fruition.  

I hold that with the apparent intention of doing something good for our global environment, Parliament has committed a regrettable folly. Such is the price of not having carefully thought through the consequences of their action.

The Sandwich - John Dunn, Consultant, Ambertec, P.E., P.C.

Many years ago when I was working for Sanders Associates in Nashua, NH, a co-worker and I decided to walk over to a luncheonette on Main Street at noon. We sat down at the counter, placed and got our orders and were discussing something or other as the waitress now and then called out other customers' orders to the kitchen.

Suddenly we heard "peanut butter and bacon" which brought both of us to a complete stop. I asked the waitress "My we see the menu again, please?" and sure enough, right there in the center of the sandwich list, there it was: "Peanut butter and bacon". Neither of us had ever heard of such a thing so it took a little while to get over our mutual astonishment.

Some time later, I mentioned this sandwich discovery to my mother. Mom was from Wisconsin and it turned out that this was nothing new to her. "Oh, yes," she said. "That's a very popular sandwich in the midwest."

As it happens, I cannot stand peanut butter, To me, that item is distasteful in the extreme which fact often led my son to tease me with "Hey, Dad. Would you like a peanut butter sandwich?" and watch me cringe.

However, if you happen to like peanut butter, maybe that sandwich would appeal to you. It's widespread popularity according to Mom might be a clue for you.

Courier Fraud - John Dunn, Consultant, Ambertec, P.E., P.C.

The story below was sent to me by a friend who received it from a friend. Yes, "a friend of a friend" but even so, and as obvious as the described scam may seem, it is a cautionary tale worth reading and please do read it all the way through. I've made a few clarifying edits, but it came to me essentially as follows:

Wednesday a week ago, I had a phone call from someone saying that he was from some outfit called, "Express Couriers."  (The name could be any courier company.) He asked if I was going to be home because there was a package for me that required a signature.  The caller said that the delivery would arrive at my home in roughly an hour.

Sure enough, about an hour later, a uniformed delivery man turned up with a beautiful basket of flowers and a bottle of wine.  I was very surprised since there was no special occasion or holiday, and I certainly didn't expect anything like it.

Intrigued, I inquired as to who the sender was. The courier replied, "I don't know.  I'm only delivering the package." Apparently, a card was being sent separately (the card has never arrived). There was also a consignment note with the gift.

He then went on to explain that because the gift contained alcohol, there was a $3.50 "delivery / verification charge," providing proof that he had actually delivered the package to an adult (of legal drinking age), and not just left it on the doorstep where it could be stolen or taken by anyone, especially a minor.

This sounded logical and I offered to pay him cash.  He then said that the  delivery company required payment to be by credit or debit card only, so that everything is properly accounted for, and this would help in keeping a legal record of the transaction.  He added couriers don't carry cash to avoid loss or be likely targets for robbery.

My husband, who by this time was standing beside me, pulled out his credit card, and "John," the "delivery man," asked him to swipe the card on a small mobile card machine with a small screen and keypad.

Frank, my husband, was asked to enter his PIN number and a receipt was printed out.  He was given a copy of the transaction. The guy said that everything was in order, and wished us a good day.

To our horrible surprise, between Thursday and the following Monday, $4,000 had been charged / withdrawn from our credit / debit account at various ATM machines. Apparently, the "mobile credit card machine," which the delivery man carried now had all the info necessary to create a "dummy" card with all our card details, including the PIN number.

Upon finding out about the illegal transactions on our card, we immediately notified the bank which issued us a new card, and our credit / debit account was closed. We also personally went to the Police, where it was confirmed that it is definitely a scam because several households had been similarly hit.

WARNING:  Be wary of accepting any "surprise gift or package" which you neither expected nor personally ordered, especially if it involves any kind of payment as a condition of receiving the gift or package.

Globe Magnetic Poles - John Dunn, Consultant, Ambertec, P.E., P.C.

I noticed an annotation on our little world globe. In northern Canada, we see the lettering "North Magnetic Pole". This notation is WRONG!!! and has long been a minor pet peeve of mine.

If the responsible cartographer ( I use that term reservedly in this case. ) had simply added a suffix of "ern" to the first word of this three word phrase, I would have no issue. Then "North" would instead have appeared as "Northern" and would be factually correct.

Occasions have arisen now and then when I found myself in discussion with some folks who just can't get this straight. Eyes glaze over. Speech becomes slurred. Deep breaths get taken.

At such junctures, I have learned that I must give up.

W2BE - John Dunn, Consultant, Ambertec, P.E., P.C.

I came across two fascinating websites recently at "W1TP TELEGRAPH & SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT MUSEUMS" at http://w1tp.com and "ENIGMA MUSEUM" at http://EnigmaMuseum.com, both the work of Tom Perera - W1TP.

I was stopped in my proverbial tracks when I found what you see immediately below.

4058 SE68 NAVY SPARK KEY FROM WW1 SUB CHASER:(20KB) 1918 U. S. Navy 20 ampere key. All cast brass construction mounted on a black bakelite base. Very large 5/8 inch diameter replaceable silver contacts. Legs end flush with base. Label reads: AUXILIARY HAND SENDING KEY. 500 Cycles. Made for Navy Department BU SE by Lowenstein Radio Incoporated, Brooklyn New York. KW: 2, Reg No. 1689 NSA, Cont. No. 38279, Date 1918, Type No. SE-68, Serial No. 193L, A.C.Volts: 250, A.C. Amps: 20.

http://w1tp.com/4058.jpg

4058a This photo shows the tag:(27KB) Which reads: :NAVY KEY USED BY JOE, W2BE, IN WORLD WAR 1, 1918. ABOARD SUBMARINE CHASER U.S.S.C. #43. IN NORTH ATLANTIC CONVOY AND PATROL SERVICE.

http://w1tp.com/4058a.jpg

In the mid 1960s, Joe Maloney, W2BE and I were friends and both members of The Trylon Radio Club in Rego Park, NY.

At that time, I was in my early twenties and Joe was ninety-something. My memory of Joe is of a wonderfully friendly, upbeat man with the most ingratiating smile one could possibly imagine. Finding this little bit of information was a really profound pleasure.

Arabic Numerals on Keypads - John Dunn, Consultant, Ambertec, P.E., P.C.

Consider numeric keypads. Civilizations have been using Arabic numerals for a very, very long time so you would think by now that their use would always be easy, right?

Why then are the numerals in my PC's keyboard arranged differently from those at my bank's ATM and those in my desktop telephone?

Just to take note, the numerals on my cell phone match the two images on the left.

Cancer, Part 2 - John Dunn, Consultant, Ambertec, P.E., P.C.

Cancer, Part 2  -  John Dunn, Consultant, Ambertec, P.E., P.C.

The blood cancer with which I have been diagnosed is called "Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia". It's a name that's easier to pronounce once you get used to it than it is to spell.

So far, despite some symptoms I originally reported which led to its discovery in me, I haven't suffered any overt effects, even though diagnostic testing definitely confirms that I do have the ailment. Our family physician believes that some of the intermittent issues I originally mentioned are not likely to be arising from such a low level of the disease as is presently my case.

In questioning some extended family members, I was astonished to learn that a maternal first cousin, still living, was diagnosed with the same thing in 1994 and that a late paternal uncle also had it. This supposedly unusual form of cancer showing up on both sides of my original immediate family raised the oncologist's one eyebrow a little, but did not change his opinion or prognosis regarding my own case.

It is possible that I may have been harboring it for years or even decades, but there is no way to know.

At my age and with its expected slowness of progression, something else is likely to do me in first. In the meantime, I can still revel in loving my two grandsons and I am really grateful for that.

The Funny Stuff Keeps on Coming - John Dunn, Consultant, Ambertec, P.E., P.C.

My wife and I are members of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. We received new membership cards the other day and mine had an interesting change:

Fair is fair, I contacted The Met and they issued us two new cards with the error corrected, but there was also this note:

 

From a Chinese take-out meal:

 

This one was spotted by Jerry Brown: