Let's see if we can make this happen.

The original intent for this blog was to capture my progress in what would some day be the start of a new business. A side hustle. Something to keep me occupied during my hours at home. Since then, I have had five different jobs that have definitely made me question my place in the fabric of this world. I know this is purely anecdotal, but the people at these companies, despite what they say and promise, do not care about your goals or interests. At least if it doesn't help them make more profits. Which is fair. I believe that a business should always have the business' best interests in mind. I cannot help but feel pain when considering all the promises that were never kept by these individuals who profit millions of dollars off of the hard labor of everyone who works on a project. I know they do not have to disclose where those profits are distributed, but it would surely help to make the team feel like their long hours meant something. 

I don't know if I could do any better. I really don't. I say I would like to be more open with my employees about the company and its finances, but I honestly do not know if I would be capable of such a feat. Before I could even get to that point, I first need a business to start off with. I've thought about video game development, but never actually cared to learn programming that mattered. I know enough program language to make a badass spreadsheet. I need to learn a real computer language. Another potential business plan was to start a publishing company focused on literary books, novels, and comics and board games. I really liked this business model because the investment was minimal. I would need to secure material and an avenue for distribution. Simple. The problems started occurring when I really looked at what I wanted to do. I didn't care for the books and board games. I enjoyed the company of the people who did enjoy these materials. 

This got me thinking. How can I make a living by bringing together individuals who share common interests and would share in a conversation with me. This is where I am stuck. I grew up thinking that mathematics and science were everything. My entire education was about polishing my analytical skills and applying these skills to life's challenges. An education that I applied to every aspect of my life. I lived for systems and control. Yet, here I am. Unable to decide on my future because I am afraid of the uncertainty. 

COVID-19 is still very much in full swing in the United States. I've been unemployed for the last six months and my unemployment benefits ends this week. It never occurred to me once, "What if I cannot find employment?" I never considered that the United States would be thrown into so much chaos. Then I remembered my anecdotal experiences with corporate companies. Yeah. It all makes sense. At the same time, I hate that it all makes sense. 

Six months of patiently waiting for an employer to graciously offer to pay me wages to make them profits that I will never see. I am disheartened at the idea of not finding meaningful work. At the same time, I resent this culture and its constant need to consume. 

That's when I had a light-bulb moment. I rigorously watch YouTube, but the people I follow are human and cannot realistically produce content fast enough. I've stopped watching YouTube for a few days to allow for the creators' content to build and then consume in one sitting. This was a habit of mine as I typically used their content as background noise as I worked. Now it has me thinking. I want to create a publishing company for people to discuss the material being discussed. I've always liked forums and there are so many websites that operate as a forum of sorts. I want to be different. I want for people to engage with the material differently. 

Let's start with a platform. A platform for games that tell a story. A story that engages the reader. The reader who is linked to the community and influences the game. Almost like the people in the community are creating a story for the game. Give them the tools to generate new stories and allow others to play through each story. Analytics behind the story can be linked to the community to promote more creatives to make more stories. An open world where the players decide the story they want to play. The world is made by players. Choose your own adventure. Heh. I basically described Dungeons and Dragons. Well, that's what I get for trying. 

Good night.

-A

Center-line Displacement for Cross Bracing

DETERMINING CENTER-LINE DISPLACEMENT FOR EQUIDISTANT CROSS BRACING STRUCTURE

PROOF

SOLVE FOR h, PROJECTED HEIGHT, BY USING TRIGONOMETRIC RELATIONS FOR r, INCLINATION ANGLE. FROM DETAIL A, THE FOLLOWING RELATION IS REVEALED:



USING THE MAIN DETAIL, SIMILAR RELATIONS CAN BE MADE USING THE FOLLOWING:



ASSUMING CONSTANT VALUE, u.


MAKING THE RELATION BETWEEN TANGENT, SINE AND COSINE:

 Edited (16 JULY 2013): Pasted pictures of equations... Looks more professional.

Space Oddity - David Bowie (Sung by Chris Hadfield)

Inspiration to all.

Qualifying Engineering Experience... Professional Engineer

http://www.nspe.org/Licensure/Resources/LandQP.html

Qualifying Engineering Experience
In order to constitute qualifying experience, the experience must meet a number of criteria...

1.  First, the experience should be from a major branch of engineering in which the candidate claims proficiency.
2. Second, the experience must be supervised. That is, it must take place under the ultimate responsibility of one or more qualified engineers. Generally qualified engineers must be licensed professional engineers. However, some jurisdictions will accept experience supervised by a qualified unlicensed engineer in industry situations where there is no offering of engineering services to the public.
3. Third, the experience must be of a high quality, requiring the candidate to develop technical skill and initiative in the application of engineering principles and sound judgment in reviewing such applications by others. The experience must be of a nature that the candidate develops the capacity to assume professional responsibility for engineering work. 
4. Fourth, the experience must be broad enough in scope to provide the candidate with a reasonably well-rounded exposure to many facets of professional engineering. Along with highly specialized skill in a particular branch of engineering, the candidate should acquire an acceptable level of competence in his or her basic engineering field, as well as the accessory skills necessary for adequate performance as a professional. 
5. Finally, the experience must progress from relatively simple tasks with less responsibility to work of greater complexity involving higher levels of responsibility. As the level of complexity and responsibility increases, the candidate should show evidence of increasing interest in broader engineering questions and continuing effort toward further professional development and advancement.

In assessing whether the candidate is sufficiently competent and responsible to be entrusted with or independently engage in engineering work or to supervise engineering work, state engineering license boards look for evidence of independent decision making and assumption of personal accountability in design and application. In short, while the experience must be gained under the supervision of qualified professionals, it must also be professional in character. 

Most of the functions that mark the engineer's work as professional revolve around various decisions that must be made in the course of a project. Examples include:

• the comparison of and selection among alternatives for engineering work;
• the determination of design standards or methods;
• the selection or development of methods or materials to be used;
• the selection or development of testing techniques;
• the evaluation of test results;
• the evaluation of a contractor's performance, methods, and materials; and
• the development and control of maintenance and operating procedures.

As an example, in mechanical engineering, the following types of experience may be considered "professional experience":

1. the design of machines, machinery, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment, power plant equipment, engines, tools and processes, mill or industrial layouts, mechanical systems for commercial and institutional facilities and/or the supervision of the construction of any of these;
2. the development of industrial plants and processes and/or consultation or contribution to such development;
3. operation, control, and testing of major mechanical installations, manufacturing plants, and power plants;
4. the writing of technical reports, manuals, and the like;
5. full-time teaching at an accredited college-level engineering school.

In contrast, mechanical engineering experience that is generally considered subprofessional would include the following:

1. construction and installation of machinery, heating, ventilating, and air conditioning equipment, and other mechanical structures;
2. operation of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment, power plants, stationary machinery, mechanical manufacturing plants, and foundry and machine shops;
3. drafting, tracing, detailing, laying out, and checking shop drawings;
4. designing tools, jigs, and fixtures;
5. recording data and routine computations under supervision and inspection of materials;
6. maintenance and repair work; and
7. teaching as an assistant without full responsibility in an engineering program.

Some types of experience may be classified as either professional or subprofessional, according to the other types of work they are performed in conjunction with. If performed in conjunction with other professional work, they may qualify as professional experience. If they constitute the whole job, or are performed in conjunction with subprofessional work, they may not qualify. In mechanical engineering, these borderline tasks may include the following:

1. calculations of heat transfer, fluid transport, etc.;
2. the preparation of flow charts or logic diagrams;
3. the design of components and parts and the design of simple systems (e.g., fire protection and noise control);
4. reliability analysis;
5. installation of control, production, or environmental systems;
6. the laying out of plant equipment.

Sales work can be credited as qualifying experience only if it can be conclusively demonstrated that engineering principles, knowledge, and skill were used in the work. Selection of equipment from a catalog or similar activities cannot be counted as engineering experience.

In general, the greater the complexity of the engineering work and the greater the responsibility it entails, the more likely it will be counted as professional experience. It is important for an engineer-intern to seek opportunities to perform more complex work and to undertake greater responsibility, so that within a few years time, the candidate will be operating fully at a professional level.

I believe I need to get to work

Applying for Patent Information...

http://www.uspto.gov/patents/index.jsp

Interesting information on this webpage. Thinking of submitting a patent. need to be willing to consent production of product, otherwise, I'll be wasting my time and money.

Old Research

Was scavenging through my old laptop hard drive and found some interesting documents from a research paper I wrote a couple of years ago... To this day the technology does not exist to make this idea work on a large scale... Microbial fuel cells using photovoltaic microorganisms. I think I may have found my new interest.

Virtually Unemployed

Seems that saving the company I worked for five million dollars was not enough to keep my job. Something about the big guy not liking how I would show up to work around 7:30AM instead of before 7:30AM. I can guarantee that I was not needed that early in the morning, but that was the only excuse I received when they walked me out the door. Oh well. I'll have to move on and forget about it, like so many things I've done in my life. Good news is I've had some much needed time to think about what I need to do with my life, reevaluate my goals and structure my ideal job. Maybe someone else will see my true value.

NO MORE SECRETS!

Turns out that the internet is no place to be sharing my theses. I will will be more than happy to supply articles and other odd things that I come about, but I will keep my ideas to myself until it is certain I can patent stuff.

Russian Meteor Blast February 2013

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/15/world/europe/russia-meteor-shower/index.html

This is truly amazing. I cannot begin to imagine how people felt during this stunning anomaly. The sonic boom created by this object is just amazing.

Correct Weeknum Excel

=MOD(WEEKNUM([@Date],1)-1,52)+1

Hope this helps anyone else seeking a solution for the leap year, 53-week dilemma.

Light Pollution Thoughts

This past weekend has definitely been one that I won't soon forget... Back on topic! To dissipate light over a given distance to reduce light pollution, seems all but real now. I'm slowly working on the physics and will hope to share my findings on this blog. Assuming of course, that I actually anyone reads this. In either case, thank you for reading!

I need a super awesome name for this invention...

[Street Sweeper - The Oath]

Face and Head - Extraterrestrial (playlist)

Insane Storm

Was driving back to Denton from an out of town meeting for the Young Adult Ministries and this was waiting for me when I was crossing into Tarrant County...

Curoisty Landing 06 August 2012

Touchdown confirmed!
Congratulations! NASA has done it again. Curiosity has landed on Mars.

Quakecon 2012

Oh yeah, I'm going! Thinking about buying a T-Shirt... maybe.

EDIT - No shirt, but awesome time!

UTA Racing - Formula SAE & Formula Hybrid

Yesterday was an amazing day for inspiration! Was in Arlington to see the latest competition for FSAE.

Sketches: Starcraft Protoss Carrier

I've started making some sketches for what I want this model to actually represent. Not sure if I want to make the side panel removable and give people the view of the inner workings of a Protoss Carrier or actually make the model fly! I feel it is more within my budget to have a nice internal view. I shall wait, maybe make the Mothership capable of flying ^_^

Long-term Project: Starcraft Protoss Carrier

I've decided that I will make a model of the Starcraft Protoss Carrier based on the super awesome painting by Peter Lee '07.

This project will be on a fairly large scale, not too large though. I'm thinking around the length of four feet to maybe six feet. Will definitely be fun designing the inner components and getting the material necessary to construct this.

Pray for me that I actually complete this.

Following Through on Projects

I really need to follow through on a project. Not only have I neglected my awesome lighting for my bookshelf, it's become a place to store whatever doesn't fit on my coffee table! I am looking at installing a new television in my bedroom and maybe get a dresser or some sort of furniture to take up the large empty wall space. Will need to run a cable line the length of my apartment to operate the cable box correctly. Question is, what size of television to look into. I currently have a 42" in my living area. Would not mind mounting a 50" in the bedroom. This I will decide on, later! I need to organize my bookshelf and get the lighting array set up because it's been bothering me for the last four months!

[Current Mood]
Alphadeus - Nonsensicals

NEW JOB!!!

I am officially done with Sears (Frisco, TX)!!! I have finally obtained the Manufacturing Engineer Technician position at Weber Aircraft in Gainsville, TX. My official duties are to inspect the product line (commercial seating for aircraft) and develop new and efficient means of production on the floor. This news came after three and a half months of talking with their staff.

I will be moving out to Denton, unfortunately. As for now, it seems I will have the money to finally start up my robot creations!