Punishment in Norway

As most of you know likely know this past weekend a bloke set off a bomb in government buildings and went on a rampage killing 90 people. He took full responsibility for his actions, admitting that his alignment far right extremist, and that he was unhappy with the country's immigration policy, believing that the country is allowing too many Islamic people into the country. So he bombed government buildings and then went to a small island on a lake dressed as a cop and started shooting. It took a while for police to arrive on the scene due to the remote location but when they did he surrendered shortly after.

The thing that gets me about this isn't so much why he did it but instead the consequences of his actions. Norway considers themselves a very civilized European society, and because of this no death penalty, and no life sentences. The maximum sentence is 21-years. They can than appeal the verdict and add on five year increments to this sentences, and although that is what the prosecution will try to do to get a life sentence. Officials in government know however that this won't happen as there is no precedent of this sort of crime in Norway.

Given this, buddy will be paroled in say 10-20 years. And his stay in prison will be quite comfortable. Norway prisons in comparison to say a Turkish Prison is much more like a resort then a prison. I want you to think about that and look at some pictures (courtesy of CBC).

One man, a bomb, two automatics, 90 dead, more injured. = some years in a person.

Issue one. Why was he even arrested? He surrendered after police called him out in about two minutes. Did he run out of ammo? Shooting at that many people, killing and injuring and missing I imagine that is a lot of shoots. Say about eight magazines? How many you think he brought?

So he walks up to police hands held high and surrenders. If I was the arresting officers I would have yelled gun and put a bullet or thirty to him. Why? 90 dead.

Issue two. Now I know Norway, which isn't actually significant in most ways, prides themselves on being civilized and won't allow this man to live the rest of his life in prison or simply take him out back the court house and shoot him. I mean really I am sure there is enough well adjusted family members of the victims that would have no quarrel with an opportunity to beat this man to death even if they were only given popsicle sticks. They would find a way to make it work. Maybe in prison they will do just that, the inmates anyway. If you are Norway and you want to say, we are civilized, we have civilized laws, then simply disappear the motherfucker. Wait a year or two while he is in prison. Lock him in the basement and simply forget to feed him. Few weeks later, problem solves itself. Tell the papers you didn't know he was flushing his food down the toilet, and malnourished. Simply get rid of him. There won't be any grand inquiries. No one of sufficient significance would make a fuss with this man suddenly being dead. And you know why? 90 dead.

I honesty believe that the evil in men isn't something that should be nourished and gently pampered. It should be something that should be surgically removed. Like a cancer. Perhaps I feel this way because I read a lot of Punisher. Perhaps it is because I am right. Either way I look forward to when the headlines read, Norway shooter killed in prison shower with a whole mop bucket in his ass. Until then, the waiting game...

Comic Con Debreif

I have been excited about the Calgary Comic Con for a few months now. It is a real unique experience that no matter you are you will find something there that is entertaining. Be it something from the influence of TV, movies, comics, books, artwork, and models. For those of you that haven't gone here is the lay of the land when you go there. We have photo-op area for some of the bigger names, an area for the big celebrities to do the signing, and then tons of booths for artists, comic and game shops. You can find a ton of nerdy stuff here that you can't find in other places. They have areas set up for panels, and workshops all included for the price of admission. The organizers support a lot of the local artists bringing new local talent out and a bunch of stores. The venue size is constantly getting bigger and bigger year to year. This year it moved into the Corral and the Round up Center.

The Con is always less about what is there but more about the people that are there. Everyone is there because they have a certain level of nerdiness about them and it really doesn't matter what it is that you are nerdy about either way you will find something. I say this because there was things people were nerdy about that even I didn't get the reference and when that happens it is definitely saying something. The only unfortunate part is that there are some people that come out that are a bit too nerdy for their own good. Some of the folk that come out are the kind that are so socially awkward that they get treated differently. For example at the Summer Glau booth there was a blog that said something awkward to Summer so when he was getting his picture taken, her arm was around his shoulder. Her arm was near a foot off of his shoulder, hovering but that is the kind of thing you see. I was in line shouting and talking to an old friend not in line and at some point some guy beside my friend started shouting back at me... It was obvious I was having a conversation with someone else, but he seemed to just want to pitch in.

Now that the scene is set lets talk highlights shall we. Unfortunately one of the big names that I was looking forward to didn't make it. The mighty George A Romero, the creator of the modern interpretation of the zombie got in a car accident a week before and had to drop out. That was a bit of a disappointment but still had a lot of fun. On the plus side, Michael Hogan is so nice, just fantastic with fans. He is all about handshakes and chatting you up which is great. Interacting with people you have seen so many times in movies and television and realizing that they are just cool people is great. When I was at Kate Vernon's booth she was saying how I have a great voice and should look into going into voice acting. A heck of a compliment and something I am actually considering.

I think one of the best memories of a celebrity will have to be Maurice Lamarche. You won't recognize his name, you would his voice. He is the voice of the Brain in the Pinky and the Brain, and MORBO from Futurama, as well as a lot more. He did this amazing impression of Orson Welles around the time he started to lose his mind and tried to do a read for a pea commercial it was great. All of them were great. The panel had Rob Paulsen (Pinky) and Jess Harnell (Americas Funniest Home Videos). They were just so entertaining to watch them banter and tell stories. Maurice was kind enough to pose with Nicole and I and was so impressed with the Nibble Nic made he took a picture of it to show to Frank Welker who voices Nibbler.

The costume Contest was pretty epic. It was in the Corral and the best part was that the first timers stole the damn show. The pros were good but the dude in the full master Chief outfit with full lights, weapon, a mic and speakers to talk to was really amazing. There was a dozen or so X-men that did this whole little skit together were they each stepped up, did a bit and the next person fought them off for the spotlight. Really well done. I love it. Imagine it, all the hard work that these people put into making these costumes to make them capture that creativity, the fun of the things of the costumes. I would love to dress up as Jayne Cobb, and do nothing more than try to get the whole crowd on board to sing the chorus from JayneTown. I think that would just be stellar. There would probably be enough people too to make it worth doing.

Something I really enjoyed seeing was the presence of a few Steam Punks around. For those of you that don't know what steam punk is I will tell you in another blog because I quite like it.

I didn't meet Shatner, wasn't really interested to to begin with, so no issue there, but we did sit in on his Q&A for a bit and man he is one wacky dude. What was significantly wacker was how many women were literally throwing themselves at him. During one question a girl's boyfriend informed Mr. Shatner that he was her free pass. Other fans knew intimate details about his past week. Like how his dogs were sick. Imagine being Shatner and having to deal with these folks. No wonder he is crazy, everyone he has to deal with is loony tunes. And something else I wanted to mention is the mediators where the two blokes from Inner Space on the Space network. I know they aren't gay, I think, but everytime I see them I think they are carbon copies of the Gay couple across the street in American Dad. Just saying...

Met a lot of people there. I have to say Felicia Day and the cast of the Guild were entertaining. And Summer Glau from Firefly and Sarah Connor Chronicles was a real treat. I got a bit of artwork of the Serenity from Jason Palmer who does amazing work, and I will work on getting all of the signatures from Firefly including Mr. Whedon's. It will take time and work but it will be great fun I think. Here is a pic with Summer, god was she working hard there

So in summary, if you ever have a chance to check out a comic con, I highly recommend. They are great fun and no matter what you will find something that wows you, something that makes you understand why these things are cool to check out. I say this cause I didn't even have a chance to tell you guys all the sights entertainment that was there.

The Future of Engines - Complexity

If you haven't read my blog on The Future of Engines - Serviceability, please go read it first.

So now that you have read it this one is going to focus on the notation of how future engines will be getting more complex and what that has the potential to mean. Engines are getting more and more controlled by computers, running at higher compression ratios, direct injection. But lets not forgot our friend just aft the mill, the transmission. Automatics are replacing Manuals, gears are going as high as eight now and each has many different settings. So lets jump in shall we.

Now here is something you have probably never ever thought of...
A car going a 100km/h, lets say at 2000rpm is traveling 100km which would take, an hour.
This means that in an hour the car's motor will turn over (2,000rpm x 60minutes) 120,000 times. Now on that average rate if your car has a 100,000km it has potentially spun 1,200,000,000 times!

I don't know about you but that concept blows my mind. Here we have a consumer product that does so much and we just take it for granted. Not only that it will last for a considerably long time.

Now what turbocharging and supercharging an engine does is force more air into an engine. To make it more efficient you add more air for a more complete burn. This adds power more importantly by increasing the compression ratio in each cylinder. The more compressed it is in the piston the more power the combustion will give producing more power at the wheel. This is where things can get complicated. With cars you are producing controlled explosions. When you are making a stronger explosion, you need materials that can sustain the repetitious force without shattering, keeping seal etc. In modern automotive engineer you want to do this as light as possible to save weight. A delicate balancing act.

Modern turbo chargers are more and more becoming power for free. Past chargers can produce a lot of heat and lag. Newer and future chargers will essentially give added power for nothing by using bearings and set ups with less friction and better aerodynamics. Lag is reduced in some cars by the presence of multi-stage chargers, using a small charger to give a small amount of boost until the larger one has enough exhaust pressure to click in and produce a wave of torque. One of the reason that turbos could do this when they never could before is that there is a bit more computer tech, not so much controlling them but controlling the engine map based on the output of the charger. If the charger hasn't provided sufficient boost it will increase the fuel in the mix. And once the air starts flowing in, the mix will change to accommodate the increased presence of oxygen.

Transmission are becoming one of the biggest game changers in the industry for speed and application of power. Sequential shifters can now allow a person to change gear in 0.4seconds, way faster then one could on any stick. Sequential shifters makes the driver train easier to warranty as you don't have to worry about people misusing the clutch and hurting the motor on shifts. It also has cut ins that won't allow a person to stall the engine or over rev it. And newer automatic programming with the engine are starting to make automatics better on fuel then manuals. More control on the revs, and all the engine outputs make it easier to manage the overall.

Back in the 50s cars had 2 speeds, 3 speed transmission automatics which are essentially how many modern lawnmowers have. Newer transmissions are getting as high as 8 speeds. This boggles the mind and the computer. Lots of these systems can't decide what gear they want like a child waffles about flavour of ice cream. It does however make sense. More gears means the more dynamic situations the car can handle, in essence, not sure if it works yet. The reason for a transmission is to reduce the amount of torque from an engine to make it more usable. Reducing the speed of the engine, while using it's power band provides more power to the wheels to make it easier to get going. As you go faster you want less reduction to better use the frequency of the revs, meaning you get closer to using the actual speed of the engine. These newer trannies have a great abundance of overdrive gears which means the output shaft of the transmission is spinning faster then the input received by the engine. This means more speed for less rpm. and less rpm means better milage. It is something that is altogether complicated to do but it makes better use of the better engines.

When you put all these little changes and improvements together you will eventually get faster, more powerful cars. The issue is that they will rely on more programming and computer software, and more complicated components. Some of this is great, but it may be making things a bit too complicated. As a rule the more complicated something is, the more likely it is to fail and the harder it will be to fix.

transmissions - always gear changing, the logic behind more gears

The Future of Engines - Serviceability

I love cars. I think it is amazing to have something that can do so much for so little. I mean it isn't just a method to get from point A to point B, they are lifestyle pieces.

Now I was reading an article recently from MotorTrend magazine that was all interviews with leaders in the automotive industry about where it is going in terms of drive train. Apart from the usual garbage about integrating hybrid technology with drive trains, for more power and fuel efficiency there was a lot of talk about the idea of making smaller engines that are more powerful through direct injection technology, turbo and supercharging engines. So one day we will see Ford Mustangs on sale and the top engine will be a turboed V6 that get 400hp and 40 mpg. Ford is going it with there notation of eco boost, and most other companies are following suit. Larger sedans are getting smaller power plants to do the same job. In turn vehicles are getting made lighter to make a smaller engine make sense.

This is all fine and dandy, more car for less engine. Okay, sounds reasonable, but what are we trading for this? To me it is a question of complexity and serviceability. This blog will talk about the serviceability aspect of future cars.

Modern engines can do significantly more then the engines of the 1960s and 1970s. They can alter valve timing on the fly, the on board computer can tell you what is wrong with it through a series of sensory checks, they can deactivate cylinders when coasting and turn off entirely when decelerating. And the price of admission for all this, and better milage and power is that they are now built out of layer of complex layer. Take for example and '71 classic Impala. If you were to look under the hood it would all be very organized. Engine here, master cylinder there, distributer cap here. All very easy to sort out. Now if you were to look under the hood of a modern Impala you could point not to the engine but the engine shroud that sits a top the engine, and there is so much more of everything and it is all placed inside as if it went through a trash compactor and what crush in and then wired up.

I won't preach about the reliability of old cars, mostly because they were about as reliable picking up a woman after being sick on yourself whilst playing a triangle. It simply won't happen. So old cars used to break down often. The beauty of it was that if they did break down, they were relatively easy to fix because by contrast to now they were so simple. Now if you need to fix your car, it is a massively complex undertaking that can take many expensive manhours to replace a .99 cent part. Now if you need your engine worked on the amount of accessories and items bolted to or at least in the way of picking it out is staggering. Days could be spent just getting an engine ready to lift out. And if it is fixed, in the process of being fixed something else could go awry and be broken when you pick it up.

The subject of this article is about futurecars and here I am talking about past cars, but for good reason. A modern car is massively more complicated to an old, classic car. Future cars are going to be even more complicated, and the more complicated it is the more it costs to fix. On the flipside of this particular coin there is a shiny beacon of hope. Old cars weren't made to last. There were books published on the subject of making consumer products that intentionally break down and fall apart and need to be fixed or replaced to sell new cars, new parts to make automakers more money. It is a selfish but reasonable concept. If it upsets you though, just take a look at Apple cause they are doing it now as we speak. Could they have made the Ipad 1 as good as the Ipad 2? Absolutely! They didn't because then there would be no need for an Ipad 2 and no huge lines spikes in sales etc. So, old cars were made to break down, which isn't too bad because they were relatively easy to fix. Now newer cars, harder to fix but luckily they are more reliable. When you been building cars for over sixty years, you should know how to do it better each time. For the most part they have, but usually if something is to go it is some minor bit, a sensor or something that can bring a car to a stop and you to your knees cursing a deity of your choosing because you don't want to be the kind of person that takes the bus because they have to not because they choose to.

More and more automakers are trying to block out mechanics by having more specialized tools and computer diagnostic systems to repair cars. Volvo was toying with the idea for a while that only your dealer could unlock and open the hood of your car. When shit like this happens it is hard to not feel like you are getting ripped off.

So I like the idea of making cars more powerful and more efficient but I would never go as far as to say that they are being built better. More reliable sure, but thats not hard cause the bar wasn't set very high back in the day. I just wish there was a way it could be done without a five hundred dollar bill for anytime something small is at fault.