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About Me
"I love Mankind -- it's people I can't stand."– Linus
I have an eclectic background in unrelated topics, as may be apparent in my contributions, because I am old and have experienced many things. I have studied classical music and biomedical engineering. I have worked professionally as an electrical engineer for 25 years in the development of the M1 Abrams main battle tank, the EV1 electric vehicle, and recently in Future Combat Systems. I also have acquired knowledge of blackjack, sailing, and Type 1 diabetes through years of extensive reading and practical experience.
Yes, I am a geek.
I am a middle-aged, married, bi-partisan American (in case this explains some bias in my writing and editing) father of three teenagers (explains my exasperation and temper). I am introverted (INTJ) and so tend not to communicate ideas until they have been well formed (in case this explains a perceived stubbornness). I can also be passionate (emotional) about topics that are dear to me, so I beg your indulgence.
I believe people come to Wikipedia to find information, but Wikipedia should still be fun to read. Exposition should be brief, but editing until every unnecessary word is removed detracts from the personality of a collaboration such as this (after all, this isn't the kind of encyclopedia that the salesmen have to carry door to door). I believe medical articles should be written for patients, not for doctors. I believe scientific articles should be written for students, not for professors. I believe articles should have links to outside sources as a path for additional information, not just to reference facts. I support the suggestion that users must be registered to edit an existing article (but should be able to submit new articles and contribute to talk pages).
I know I'm a poor speller. If you see an error, just fix it.
Students of music and intonation learn to adjust the equal tempered pitch to achieve the pure sound of just tuning intervals. By assuming that the root of the chord that musicians are presently playing is assigned to the pitch from the equal tempered scale, then all other notes can be played with a pitch adjustment relative to the tonic root. The pitch adjustment can be accomplished by ear -- holding the tonic steady and modifying the other harmonic pitches until a just interval is achieved (as evident by absence of beats). The pitch can also be adjusted by learning the cent adjustments for each interval relative to the tonic root and practicing with a tuning meter until the ear is trained.
While tedious in moving passages, power and purity is added by just intervals in the sustained tones of fourths and fifths of orchestral brass sections as well as the typical major and minor triads of the full ensemble.
As one example, the adjustments are derived relative to the equal tempered pitch for one octave from C3 to C4. Frequencies of the equal tempered scale are exactly 100 cents per semitone. Frequencies for the just intervals are derived relative to the equal tempered pitch of the tonic note. Comparing the frequencies, the adjustments in cents are derived.
The table is used together with a meter. Relative to a C-major base, the note E must be played -13.7 cents flat on the meter to achieve just intonation for a major third. Likewise relative to an E major base, the note E is played equal to the equal tempered pitch and the note G# is played -13.7 cents flat to achieve the just intonation for a major third.
Bolus Timing: the ideal time to pre-bolus a fast-acting insulin analog depends upon both the blood glucose level and the glycemic index of the food about to be eaten.
Playing a single note on an instrument will generate the fundamental frequency and its harmonics. The frequencies of the harmomics can clash with the frequencies of another note on the equal tempered scale. When playing in ensemble, this can sound "out of tune."
The motivation behind fuel efficiency testing is to enable the consumer to estimate the fuel they personnaly would use when shopping for new vehicles and comparing vehicle makes and types. Standardized test procedures are mandated and the results are posted on the sticker on new vehicles. The intent is to allow consumers to make informed choices regarding the fuel economy before their purchase.
Unfortunately, the existing metric used, Miles per gallon, is often misunderstood by the very consumers that were intended to be educated. It is a widely held fallacy that a few miles per gallon difference between 10 mpg and 13 mpg is relatively small, yet the fuel savings of changing from a 30 mpg car to a 60mpg hybrid car are huge.
A better metric would encourage consumers to think in gallons of fuel used. The metric “gallons per 100 miles” is a preferred metric as typical consumers are able to estimate gallons used accurately in their heads. For example, a vehicle which is rated at 20 miles per gallon will be equivalent to 5 gallons per 100 miles. For a typical driver who accumulates 200 miles per week, the fuel used is 10 gallons.
Consider shopping for a new pickup truck. The 2009 Ford F150 with the biggest engine is rated at 10 miles per gallon. The Dodge RAM is rated at 13 miles per gallon.[1] Car shoppers will both understand that both vehicles have poor fuel efficiency, but the difference is only 3 miles per gallon. Instead, if the stickers used gallons per 100 miles, a car shopper would easily calculate and compare that the F150 uses 10 gallons per hundred miles, compared to the Dodge RAM which uses 7.7 gallons per hundred miles. The difference is 2.3 gallons per hundred miles, so the driver who averages 200 miles per week can save 4.6 gallons per week.
Consider that a small car like the Ford Focus, which gets 24 miles per gallon, can be compared to a new hybrid vehicle such as the Toyota Prius, which gets 48 miles per gallon. The difference between 48 and 24 mpg seems like a huge impact in fuel economy. Instead, if the stickers show that the Ford Focus uses 4.17 gallons per hundred miles, compared to the Toyota Prius which uses 2.08 gallons per hundred miles. So a driver who typically goes 200 miles per week will save 4.2 gallons per week by changing from a Ford Focus to a Toyota Prius.
As is easily seen, the true impact in reduction of gallons used is greater between the trucks than between the hybrid and non-hybrid cars. As is in fact the case, the choice simply between the largest engine available compared to the smaller engine for the same large car, truck, and sport utility vehicle will have a greater beneficial impact than a driver of a small car who switches to a small hybrid car. The hope of the “gallons per hundred miles” metric is to encourage consumers to recognize the true impropriety of the gas guzzlers they choose.
Trevor Robertson, (born 19xx?, CITY) is an Australian sailor/explorer reknown for spending winters alone "frozen in" aboard his home-built boat Iron Bark. Without sponsorship, he has over-wintered in both the Artic and Antartic.
In (19XX), he sailed from NZ directly to the (which, where) Peninsula and because of this long approach passage, could not carry enough diesel to be able to heat the boat through the winter.
In (19XX), he sailed alone to (where in the Artic) ...
Together with sailor/author Annie Hill, he recently spent the winter aboard Iron Bark frozen in at Winter Cove in Greenland. Upon leaving, they sailed to visit the "Upernaviks Isstrøm," a glacier that comes down to the sea and discovered it has receeded 3 or 4 miles from where is was shown on the charts. [2]
