News and Views From my kids accomplishments, to my heretical perspective of the world

When I worked in the real world I wore a wrist watch all the time. But since retiring, and especially since getting a smart phone, I have found it more bothersome than helpful. If I want to know the time there are usually clocks around, and if not I can pull my phone out of my pocket pretty easily. And as a retiree it isn’t too often that I really need to know the time.

But I have been intrigued by the idea of a “Smart Watch” that is Bluetooth linked to your phone, and so I got one for my birthday. There are a few on the market, but the “Pebble Watch” seemed to be the most useful.

When something arrives at my phone, such as email, text messages or phone calls, the watch vibrates and shows me a summary of the event. Without pulling the phone out of my pocket I can read the message, and if it is a phone call see who is calling and either reject or accept.

The watch also gives control over music playing on the phone, but I rarely listen to music and don’t expect to use that capability.

There are more and more apps available that can give information such as weather, stocks, sports, Tweets, etc. It can display GPS turn-by-turn info, give feedback on exercise, or act as a pedometer. I’m still exploring.

I’m still not sure how useful it will be, and if the inconvenience of wearing a large (though lightweight) watch on my wrist will be worth it. And I can already hear comments about how tied we already are to our phones in this always-connected world. I enjoy being connected, but this may push it too far.

I’ll post an update after wearing it for a few weeks.

There’s a very useful webpage, ninite.com. Put a checkmark next to all the programs you have installed on your computer, click “Get Installer”, and the page will download and install all updates. It even makes sure to leave out the add-ons so many programs like to include, such as the despicable Ask bar, or McAfee Scanner.

Many of my favorite programs are listed, including OpenOffice, 7-Zip, VLC, CDBurnerXP, Faststone, and many others. Everything I’ve read about it gives Ninite thumbs up for safety. There’s a Pro version that keeps things updated without having to check in periodically, but I think the free version is just fine.

It works best if you exit all running programs when you start, since some programs cannot be updated while they are running.

How do airplanes fly?
I was taught in high school that the reason a wing provides lift is because the top is curved more than the bottom and that the air flowing faster over the top has less pressure. There is some truth to that, but the major source of lift is angle of attack, the front of the wing being higher than the rear. As a child I experimented with this effect by sticking my hand out the window of a moving car and noticing how the air would strongly push my hand up or down depending on how I positioned it. The curved top of a wing helps to smooth out the airflow and reduce turbulence and drag, but has a smaller effect on lift. If you doubt this, then consider how a plane can fly upside down. It’s not quite as efficient because the airfoil is working against you, but angle of attack easily counteracts that.

Why does a meteor burn up?
We frequently hear that a meteor or re-entering spacecraft heats up because of “friction” with the air. It’s true that the object moving through the air will generate some heat from the air rubbing against its sides, but most of the heat is generated by the air being compressed in the front (i.e. “Ram Pressure“). As the meteor enters the atmosphere, air in front is unable to move out of the way as quickly as the meteor is falling, and the air gets extremely compressed. Compressing a gas raises its temperature. Think about where the heat shield is on the old Mercury or Apollo capsules: On the bottom surface that leads its descent. The sides of the capsule are much less insulated because the air flowing over the sides adds little heat.

Just before coming to Taiwan I bought a tablet computer — the Nexus 7 from Google. It’s a 7″ Android tablet. Small, but perfect for traveling.

Now here in Taiwan, I found a compatible Bluetooth keyboard, and plugged a mouse in to the USB port (this could also be Bluetooth in a future iteration) and now have a “micro book”. Smaller than a netbook, and somewhat limited, but really not bad. I am writing this post now with it. Much, much easier than using the on screen keyboard. And when I’m not using it, it folds up smaller than the tablet itself.

By the way, with T-Mobile’s new free tablet connection plan, I can use the tablet in the US and get free internet, up to 200Mb per month wherever T-Mobile has coverage (no jokes about T-Mobile’s coverage, please!). Where available it will connect with Wi-Fi as usual.

Kind of cool!

I’ve had my Chevy Volt for about 18 months now. Update: I still love it. Still fun to drive, still extremely economical to drive, after you get past the purchase price (which has recently dropped $5000).

I’ve put about 13,400 miles on it, and used 48 gallons of gas. I typically drive about 90% of the time on battery, only using gas about 10% of the time. I always regret having to dip into the gas tank, but it’s great peace of mind knowing that I can. I think I would be too nervous driving a battery only car, at least until there are many high-speed charging stations everywhere I want to drive.

Mileage when I am using gas varies from 35 to 40+ miles/gallon, depending on my speed, air conditioning use and driving style. Battery range varies from 30 to 45 miles, depending on the same factors. I have to admit that I am usually closer to 35 than 45 for both battery range and gas mileage, since my driving style isn’t the most conservative. But I can usually get to Mom’s house and back on a single charge, and it’s 18 miles each way mostly on the freeway.

I mainly use it just to drive around town, though I have been to Tucson and Flagstaff. It’s a fine highway car, but as I mentioned I hate to run it on gas any more than I have to. I usually go about 3 months between gas station stops unless I am taking a longer trip. Driving on electricity costs about 1/4 as much as driving on gas, at current gas and electricity costs.

It’s notable that the Volt sales total is higher than Toyota Prius sales total was at this point after its introduction (33 months, over 45,000 sold). I still rarely see another Volt on the road, but I don’t get many stares or questions any more either. And the Volt is still at the top of the Consumer Reports list for owner satisfaction (“Would you buy this car again?”).

On a related topic, if you haven’t heard of the Tesla electric car you should take a look. It earned Consumer Reports acclaim as the best car they have ever tested. It earned a perfect score on NHTSA safety tests. The top end model can go over 250 miles on a charge, and accelerate from 0 to 60 in about 4 seconds, faster than almost anything else on the street. The company is installing a network of fast charging stations throughout the country, with several already in place in California. Only Tesla cars can use them, but they are free for Tesla owners. This might be the future of electric cars. If they had charging stations around Arizona, and the purchase price was half what it is, I would be very interested. But for me, my Volt works out better.