Author Archives: Sci Fi Engineer

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About Sci Fi Engineer

Husband Father Writer Engineer

Winston Churchill and Theodore Roosevelt

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Winston Churchill:

 Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.

Theodore Roosevelt:

The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.

Go have a look at other interesting quotes: BrainyQuote

Two men, great men many will say, and with great flaws.  But were those flaws…Bugs or just Features…in the time and society they existed in?

Looking backwards without the right perspective can distort more than it can clarify.  Just like the too common view today that Christians have been crushing the poor Muslims ever since the Crusades.  When in fact the Crusades were a rather haphazard and ultimately futile attempt to defend the Christian majority who had lived in the middle east since Roman times. Christians who were being conquered and subjugated by the (at the time) newly minted religion of Islam and the expanding empire it formed the basis of.  It was Christian Europe (with all its faults) and probably modern civilization that was under threat, not the Moslems.

Blue Model and it’s replacement…better not less

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Walter Russell Mead at his usual level of clear thinking:

As good quality education and health care become more expensive, it becomes harder for society to provide these goods to those who cannot provide them out of their own earnings. The development of a good $10,000 bachelor program would do more for low and lower middle income families than doubling the size of all student loan programs. Generally speaking, anything that makes education cheaper and easier — shifting from a “time served” model to a skills learned model for awarding qualifications and degrees, breaking the guild monopolies through accreditation and other systems so that more institutions can compete in the market — will make society less blue, but make the poor better off.

It’s probably right because it’s clean and simple looking.

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20120410-065045.jpg

From SAE drivetrain e-newsletter

Arens’ automotive-hardened traction inverters with power ranges from 30 to 500 kW (40 to 670 hp) are for applications ranging from large transit buses and medium-duty trucks to hybrid passenger cars. With the Powerpac series, adapting an existing vehicle design to hybrid power does not involve intensive re-engineering. The Arens Powerpac 100-kW (134-hp) traction inverter features a high power density in a compact enclosure designed to fit with the battery, in the vehicle’s existing battery box. The inverter offers an insulated gate bipolar transistor-based design and is suitable for truck, bus, agricultural, and construction equipment applications. All Arens inverters feature cast enclosures sealed to IP67 with intelligent thermal protection.

Jenny Hessler

Very much like what my team at SatCom came up with for the AIPM Advanced (or Automotive depending on the audience) Integrated Power Module. The switches are bolted to the base the bus bar connects across them with capacitors integrated as close to the devices as possible and the gate drive and controller board on the other major flat face. Doubt any of the Aren’s team ever saw anything we did, it’s just the most economic and sensible use of surfaces and volumes to get the best performance.

The North American XF-108 Rapier | Defense Media Network

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NorthAmerican XF108 Rapier

It was going to be the biggest, fastest and most heavily armed fighter in the air. The North American F-108 Rapier, designed in response to a U.S. Air Force preliminary study of Oct.

via The North American XF-108 Rapier | Defense Media Network.

This aircraft like many others died as the threat the Soviet Union represented became better understood.  But the technology for this fighter went on, the missile and radar were the basis of the F14 Tomcat’s Phoenix fleet defense system, stil an amazing system even though the system, utterly compromised by the Iranian’s who had bought the system during the Shah’s reign, was rapidly retired as soon as the AMRAAM and newer airborn phased aray radars became available. 

Tomcat on patrol

Tomcat on patrol

The Tomcat is in my opinion one of the iconic fighters of the twentieth century along with the F4 Phantom, the F86 Sabre, P51 and Spitfire…and no I’ve never found the fighters of WWI or pre WWII particularly attractive…though the Beechcraft Staggerwing is probably the most beautiful aircraft ever built.

Beechcraft Staggerwing in Flight taken in 2005

Beechcraft Staggerwing in Flight taken in 2005

Things to Think About Before Israel Attacks Iran | Defense Media Network

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An excelent piece by Larry Bond wargame Designer and author :

For several years, Israel has publicly and explicitly stated that if Iran attempts to develop a nuclear weapon, Israel will attack to prevent the program from succeeding or to destroy Iran’s nuclear capability. This is the most important security threat of the new century.

via Things to Think About Before Israel Attacks Iran | Defense Media Network.

Technology Review-high Frequency Soft Switching inverters could be a breakthrough enabler of small and mid scale Solar PV

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Novel Electronics Could Speed Adoption of Solar Power – Technology Review.

Not a new technology but if these guys can bring it to market at a significantly lower total cost of ownership number they are going to ignite the market.

Biggest issue with SftSwt has always been complexity and consequent reliability issues.  If these guys have reduced the parts and interconnect count (in other words integrated the controls and sensors)they are on the right path.