Smoke On The Water: Burning Saltwater

Any article that starts out this way is going to grab my attention:

For obvious reasons, scientists long have thought that salt water couldn't be burned. So when an Erie man announced he'd ignited salt water with the radio-frequency generator he'd invented, some thought it a was a hoax. [From Salt water as fuel? Erie man hopes so]

Of course, it is not actually the saltwater that is burning. It turns out that the radio waves release the hydrogen in the water as a gas, which can then be burned. This is interesting on a lot of levels (including the little boy in me who once—okay, more than once—lit hairspray on fire), but I think the most interesting is this discovery's potential for transportation fuel. We won't be driving saltwater powered cars tomorrow, but this could be an excellent alternative energy source in the future. This discovery does raise a few questions in my mind, as well.

1. What would this do to the sea water if we used it in a billion cars?
2. How clean would the sea water have to be? (Would there need to be a purification step?)
3. From whence would the energy to run the radio frequency generator come? (Solar power could be an option.)
4. What kind of combustion engine redesign would be needed to implement this new fuel? (I am guessing that plain steel fuel tanks would not work, with corrosion caused by saltwater.)
5. Interference from big oil companies is almost a given, they have a lot to lose; What can be done to prevent that?

I am not the person to figure all this out, but I certainly hope that this potential resource does not go un-researched. This story is also pretty ironic in a humorous way for several reasons:

• I am not one to make a habit of fun names—I received enough of that for a lifetime already—but the irony here is to good: One of the scientists involved is named Dr. Rustum Roy. Since saltwater causes rust... :D
• The same person made the following quote:
  

  This is the most abundant element in the world. It is everywhere.
  

  Poetic irony anyone? "Water, water, every where, nor any drop to drink." Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  
• John Kanzius was doing research for the fight against cancer when he made this discovery (Can it really be an "invention" since it is taking advantage of the laws of nature, and naturally occurring substances to produce the flame?).

At any rate, this is a really cool discovery. The coolest parts are yet to come though, I hope. For more reading on this subject: Can Saltwater Be Burned As Fuel?

Linebacker, 59, to play college ball - Yahoo! News

My mom emailed me a story. It was good. Here is a quote to get you to read said story:

Most 59-year-olds would have laughed. Flynt's only concern was if he was eligible.

Here is a link to get you to read said story: From Linebacker, 59, to play college ball.

Life In Brazil on Squidoo

I started a Squidoo Lens about Brazil. I did this a while back, but never published it. Now I have published it, and am getting the word out. I would love to have your help putting great content in there, so if you know of any resources not on the Lens already let me know!

Brazil's culture and climate are varied and interesting. In the Northeast of Brazil, where I currently live, it rarely falls below 70˚ F. Vast expanses of flatlands combine with the intercontinental jet-streams to create spectacular lightning storms—making the area of Teresina one of the top-ranking places on earth for lightning strikes. [From Life In Brazil on Squidoo]

Thanks for the help!

Dell: Two (More) Steps Toward Stupidity

Dell has some videos on YouTube that have created a reaction in me. I don't like them.

How about we get some things out of the way; I am a fan and user of Apple's Mac OS X. I have an iMac. Using Windows is not something I like to do very much. Yet, the fact that Dell sells Windows-running computers (and Linux too) does not matter in this instance. I could use a laptop (particularly a tablet, which is what they are destroying) for my English school in so many ways. And I am not the only one who could use a computer (I have one, and am very grateful for that!).
What strikes me about these commercials is two fold:

1. Waste of a perfectly good computer.
2. The health risks of these stunts.

After living in Brazil for two years maybe I see the world differently, or maybe I see the First World differently. The minimum wage here is about seven (7) US Dollars per day. There is no way one could afford the cheapest computer on the market on that income. These professionally shot and edited viral advertisements destroy laptops that are certainly over US $1000 apiece, and probably a good bit more.

Another way to look at that: it would take 143 working days (assuming one does not have to purchase food, or pay bills) to come up with the $1000. We as consumers should not encourage, but feel insulted by this wastefulness.

The other problem I have is pollution. While this does not directly affect me, I wonder how well thought out this was on the health front. Computers require large amounts of substances that are not healthy to inhale to manufacture. Of the many, lead stands out as a main ingredient of solder. What precautions were taken for the safety of these employees? Especially the one where a guy cuts a computer in half with a chop saw.

Dell is not the first to have such an ill-concieved viral marketing campaign. There is also one from a blender company that asks the question, “Will it blend?” I find it equally repulsive and wasteful.

Viral marketing is a great way to market. My problem is with wastefulness and thoughtlessness. Another way of making the point would have been to send the laptops to someone who really needed them instead of destroying them. While not as dramatic, it is far less wasteful.

[composed and posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: blender, large amounts, will it blend, solder, something i like to do, running computers, purchase food, health risks, main ingredient, working days, concieved, marketing campaign, pay bills, stunts, chop saw, cheapest computer, viral marketing, youtube, minimum wage, good computer

How Soap Works

What happens when you are two and ask your father (who is a chemistry professor) how soap works?

Find out.

[composed and posted with ecto]

English School Update

Written Tuesday February 24, 2007, 3:15 PM.

Join me as I look at the belly-button of amerInglês.

I would love to just say that the English business is going well, and all that. It is unstable. December was a good month. January was pretty bad, but bearable. And February has been pins and needles. We aren't starving or anything; we have food and are (so far) able to pay the bills.

The problem we ran into (some of this is deduction, and some is information from students) is sort of two pronged: Christmas came, and people had to pay bills in January. And, in late January, or early February is when all the other schools start their year.

While I don't have very many younger students, I have a lot of parents of younger students, who pay for school, books, and other supplies for their children. Some of them also have other things to do in life. One student is also studying for the college entrance exams, and no longer has time to come to class.

Many have complimented me on my teaching ability, so I am not considering that as one of the reasons they are leaving (though one or two may not have liked learning English very well...). The number of students per week has dropped to around 5.

A new class starts next Monday with 12 students (possibly more). That gives me hope, which I need at this point.

Technorati Tags: ameringls, education, english, job, Job, language, languages, Life, Life In Brazil, Living Outside the US, english school, school

Away

Since you went to the trouble of visiting, I thought I would let you know why there are no new posts at the moment. We have moved to our own house (it is ours as long as we pay rent, anyway)!

Unfortunately that also means that the internet is not installed there yet. I have been writing posts, though, so there will be plenty to read when I get that data and an internet connection in the same place at the same time. I was going to do that today, but forgot the data at home.

It is really interesting how having the internet to communicate makes it so much easier to be far away from home...

"I'm a Christ-Follower" Videos

There are three more of these videos here.
I have these reactions:

1. What? I "get it," but is it really necessary to copy a corporate advertising scheme to get the point across? Are Christians that needful to look hip and cool?
2. They are to long. The originals are 30 seconds, and the shortest of these is over one minute. The scripts really needed some editing before "airing."
3. On the positive side, I have been striving to be a Christ-follower for a few years now. Being a Christian did not work out very well for me—it was a lot of work, and it left me feeling empty and... used.

There are a lot of comments in the various posts that I have listed here, I would encourage you to read them if you are interested by this. Here is part of a comment from Digg user Jeral the Digg post on the videos:

Abridged Version: Christianity is about realizing how much you suck and trusting in God to forgive you for being such a failure. It is not about elitism. It is not about works and showing off how "great" a Christian you are, because frankly, every Christian sucks at being one. It is not about the degradation of our fellow man. It is about faith and faith alone.

That sums up the point of both the videos, and Christ-following in general. I would love to hear what you think.

Related links:

Found via: TUAW
Original post: Think Christian
Original ads: Apple Computer
More "Christian" Spoofs: Sermon Spice

Technorati Tags: christ follower, results search, youtube, Interesting, Mac

The Big Birthday

As I mentioned in my last entry, Patrick came. He had a birthday, and we celebrated by going to a restaurant and having pizza.
Of course, pizza here is different than in the US, so we introduced him to two new (to him) “flavors” of pizza. First we had chicken and catupiry (a creamy type of cheese) pizza, and finished up with a banana and cinnamon pizza. The second was exceptional in my mind, but both were good.

Afterward we had ice cream (!!). It was a very enjoyable evening.

Here are the photos from the evening. They include notes about some of what happened, as well.

I have gotten a few questions in the past weeks from people who have missed an entry, or two. If this was you, its great that you asked me, but I thought I would give a couple of tips on how this blog (and many others) works:

A blog is a web page that is meant to be updated frequently. So, the newest material is on top–if you want older entries, you have to go to another page. There are two ways to get to other pages; the first is to click on the entry title under “Previous Entries.”

The second way to find old entries is to find the “Archives” menu on the right, and click on a month. All the entries from that month will show on one page.

Have fun exploring!

Computers, Computers

Life is crazy. Most of you know that, and if you don't you will undoubtedly figure it out soon.

At the suggestion of a friend here in Teresina, I erased, and re-installed the operating system (again) on my laptop. I had serious doubts as to this fixing the problem, but it has been working so far.

I am having mixed feelings about this, though. I am excited that once again I have my computer back, however, I find it difficult to be optimistic that the problems will not come back...

I guess that “cautiously optimistic” best describes my mood at the moment.

Maybe this is the first of a long string of good things that will happen to us?

One can hope.

Updated Site Feed

I updated the feed for this site yesterday, so you may want to re-subscribe, if you use that service.

If, perchance, you do not know what a feed is, let me try to explain it:

On this site, as in many others, there is a small orange square in the menu bar to the side. On this site it is above the button that says “I power Blogger." If you click on that button in Internet Explorer, you will get a bunch of text that does not make much sense. If you have a more advanced browser, such as Firefox, you can bookmark the page that opens, and when you click on it, it will show you the latest headlines.

Its a pretty cool little trick that a great many websites are offering. If you do not have Firefox, you can download it from this website simply by clicking on the aforementioned button underneath the archives section.

P.S.
In addition to that feature, there are many other advantages to the Firefox browser. For example, it has a much higher security rating than Internet Explorer. So its worth a try, right?

The Past Week, Or So:

Its been an eventful month. I considered opening with the first words from “The Tale of Two Cities,” but felt that might be overkill.

November 30th the DSL was turned off here for what the company said was going to be 72 hours. I was fine with that. I figured it might be longer, but hoped not.

I found other things to do with my time, but many of them (such as watching my movies) got old fast. I also started to miss talking with family, and friends via chat and email.

One of the more extensive projects I delved into was putting some music on “paper.” Before I came to Brazil I upgraded some applications on my computer, and got a new one called Garage Band. I had a lot of fun orchestrating different pre-recorded sounds into some semblance of a cohesive and musical retreat from the rigors of everyday life. I plan to review the application on my other site soon.

Monday of this week--or was it Tuesday--I don't remember, we found out that my application for permanent residence in Brazil was rejected because of a missed step in the paperwork. This was because we were given flawed instructions.

Looking back now, I can say that it is all in God's hands, and that he has it under control. But I really struggled for a day or two with the “Why?” question. Its frustrating that we have had so many delays to getting this process started. Sometimes it feels like one step forward, three steps back.

On Wednesday I started 3 or 4 songs (I had one of those really inspired days...), then I went to the shopping center to see about a job.

Talk about Divine appointments! The director of the school had called an American who had a Tourist Visa. He could not hire this person because it would cost the company R$8000 (a lot of money here) and likely his job as well. Once I explained that I was a different person entirely, and that I had the correct authorization to work in Brazil, he was excited--or it seemed that way to me, at least.

He said that he would call me very soon, as teacher training has already begun. I should know more by the end of the day today, and will let you know about it.

Another thing I started doing during the long days without internet, was re-reading a great book. Its called “Messy Spirituality,” and its by Michael Yaconelli. (The link has some excerpts from the book.) I HIGHLY recommend this book. No, its not the Bible, but it can help you grow closer to Jesus if you let it.

So, we are getting ready for Christmas. Tomorrow morning, Nádya and I are going to a market for veggies for a salad, and in the evening the entire family is going to dinner. I will probably have more pictures for you to look at soon.

For now, though, here is a taste of the thunderstorms we get in Teresina:

Technorati Tags: Life In Brazil, Music, Observations On Life, Our Activities, Our Story

Internet Problems

We have temporarily lost our internet connection at the house, so when it is back up I will write more.

We are planning a trip to Recife next week to start the visa process. Your prayers are appreciated!!