Motor Monday: Automotive Militia Purposes

Not militia purposes of the sort that call for combat, more the ones such as those the Organized Militia are called for, and ones that the unorganized militia are eminently capable of. Disaster recovery, aid delivery, and other such similar things. Pretty much breaks down into 3 main categories, all of which I'm looking at in my search for a new car.

Bootleggers

Vehicle archtype: Rally Car
Examples: Focus RS, Subaru WRX, most AWD or 4wd cars with decent engine power
Function: Deliver people or supplies in a hurry over bad roads or very gentle offroading at good speeds, (mostly) regardless of conditions. Get someone to the hospital, deliver something important. Also probably able to get other cars unstuck from minor issues like snow/ice thanks to AWD, and maybe tow the smallest of trailers. Better than most cars, but mostly just fun to drive.

Jeeps

Vehicle archtype: SUV
Examples: Jeep Wrangler/unlimited, Suzuki Samurai/Jimny, Hummer H1
Function: Go places, move stuff. Able to climb rough stuff, it's unlikely to get stuck and good at doing such things as dragging trees out of the road, hauling vehicles from ditches or clear of where they're stuck, and moving people and things through sometimes awful terrain. Usually able to haul at least medium trailers. Some larger models overlap with trucks in places, and certain exceptionally c-capable vans may be considered in this region

Trucks

Vehicle Archtype: Pickup Truck
Examples: Ford F series, Ram trucks, toyota... seriously, fullsize and larger trucks
Function: As SUV, but with less people space (usually) and a lot more hauling capacity, both internally and externally. Larger footprint is harder to manage off road, but the power is retained for such things as hauling debris out of the way and freeing trapped vehicles. Occasionally more capable examples will show up in the news following disasters doing such things as fording floodwaters and such with a load of supplies from nearby towns. Larger examples can excel in towing enormous loads, which are often used as an advertising factor. Curiously, often get better fuel economy than




Compounding the problem are not always classified vehicles;

Questionable Utility

Vehicle examples: Light Trucks, Crossovers
Problems: Both are lesser versions of above classes, smaller, sometimes cheaper, and lacking most of the actual capabilities. Crossovers tend to be functionally minivans with a facelift, while light trucks are analogous to things like the el camino and el ranchero of old, with sport versions attempting to gain the capabilities of a full truck but usually failing fairly miserably (ex, sport versions of light trucks have no fuel savings over there larger counterparts, precious little cost savings, and far less room). OTOH, there's basically no light trucks left in the states new production, if you're looking at that.

Veteran's Day

Thank you to those who served and fought. (Thank you to those who served and didn't fight, too, but that's a different day).

Let's all do our part in helping to protect the rights they fought for. Now if you'll excuse me, I've a drink to buy for a veteran, among other things

Themetweak: Still fixin' it

Made aware of people having problems with light text on a dark background. My eyes are damn sensitive and don't much care for more bright whites with black text than I already get at work/etc, but I almost never see the darktheme on my blog anyway. Might as well cater to the people who've had to deal with the remnants of my edgy teen darkness phase and change it to something not predominantly black.

Still tweaking it around, gonna see if I can find something else with a little more character, but for now this will do.

Motor Monday: Car Shoppin'

Got hired on full where I'm working, with a tidy little raise now that the contract agency isn't taking a cut out of my check. My car is, however, in the process of dissolving out from under me. It's late 80s/early 90s steel, and I'm up in Wisconsin. The two do not get along well.

This means it's time to go shopping! Car shopping. Thankfully, I can drive stick, unlike most of my generation, so I've got some fun options available that other people don't. I've got some basic criteria to narrow the field; Approximately 30 mpg highway, AWD or 4WD preferable, and above-standard performance; This can take the form of hot hatches or similar, cars with some extra zip, or smaller trucks or SUVs that offer actually capabilities such as towing and/or offroading. Max price is $30k, but less is preferable if I can get it. Unfortunately, there's an added complicating factor; I'm a pretty big guy. Tall and broad shouldered, I often either can't fit my legs into a car, or I'm wedged into the door when it's shut. I'd love to get something like the Elio, which is cheap and performs decently by virtue of light weight, except it's basically vaporware at the moment.

Below are a few I've tested out that I actually fit in.

The Subaru WRX is one of my top contenders. Good ratings for reliability, performance, and user happiness. It's got AWD, and they actually work pretty decent when taken lightly off pavement being rally cars. They're a little spendy, but it's just because they include a lot of features that are upgrade packages on other cars in the class (and that AWD adds a bit). They've got a nice roomy trunk, although the newer models that get fuel economies where I want them aren't available with a hatchback for some reason. Test driven them, and they feel mighty nice, and I FIT very comfortably. I wouldn't be going for the STI package, because more power and expense than I have a use for, but it sure looks pretty.

Next up, and the car I actually learned to drive stick for, is the Ford Focus ST. 2wd and fwd only, but darn near $10k cheaper and a lot more subtle with its extra power. Rowdy handful and great fun to drive, with decent space inside and enough room for me to fit. Unfortunately I can't go for any of the higher packages that come with more sporty seats, because I have big muscley manlegs that are wider than the seats allow for when they have the racing wings to help hold you in place.  Still, very solid contender.

Ah, ol' reliable. A truck. Big ol' truck. Probably a Ford truck. There's a formerly beat to hell Ford Ranger at the family business, if we can get a functional engine in it again, it'll be a new truck (everything ELSE has been replaced). But, it's still 15 years old, and offers... less performance in every conceivable way than the modern generation of trucks. I'd lean towards a light truck, but they've gone the way of the buffalo as fullsize trucks shrink slightly, yet retain their capability in ways light trucks never hoped to achieve. Toss on all the options I want and a shiny new one goes just a bit above my price range (and below my favored MPG), but it'll have the specs I yearn for across the board. Thankfully, decent trucks have been a thing for a while, and even going back several model years they've still got pretty fair fuel economy. A couple aftermarket extras to improve the aerodynamics and load distribution and I'll be set with a pre-owned, and still have money to spare for a nice truck gun safe. Gotta have the slightly extended cab, though, to make sure I FIT in the thing. Going to be way harder to find a place to park than my current compact car though.


In testing, I've determined beyond any shadow of a doubt that... I do not fit in Hondas. There is no car made by Honda that I can comfortably fit into, driver's side or passenger, front or back.

Tech Twednesday: better space exploration through non-newtonian propulsion

Away game crosspost.

http://www.iflscience.com/space/nasa-allegedly-conducts-more-successfully-emdrive-tests0


This is very interesting. A lot of hype and wild claims have been made about this being proof of warp drives (on the last go round of these). I'm not sure I'd go that far, but this does have substantial implications and applications if it's true.
First, there's plenty we don't know yet, so I wouldn't count out finding a way to interact outside of established newtonian physics. Quantum mechanics is completely separate and similarly well established. Perhaps we've stumbled onto a quantum thruster. Perhaps there's further realms of knowledge we're just getting a first glimpse of.Second, even if it's not warp, reactionless thrust (that is, being able to push something along without pushing against something else) will be our ticket to the stars. Nuclear reactors are practically old hat by now, able to produce substantial amounts of juice for very long times without refueling. Fusion reactors are being attempted (i believe i saw some German scientists trying to get one running in the moderately near future) and will be even better, allowing refueling with the most abundant thing in the universe. If we can work out what part of this EM drive is doing it, we can scale it up, and vastly increase our space reach.

Interstellar Warfare Wednesday: Shoot For The Moon

Meant to post this one last week but I was busy.

In the process of becoming a spacefaring species, our moon is vital. As our nearest neighbor, it serves as a stepping stone to the solar system and beyond. Its size, (lack of) atmosphere, proximity, and composition make it uniquely suited for a variety of roles.

The first step in any of this, to truly utilize the moon, will require reasonably available transportation to and from. Advances across the board in space transport have made it far cheaper than previously, but this still isn't enough. For ease of access, either purpose-built orbital launchers capable of accelerating crafts to a lunar rendezvous without the use of expensive fuels or a lunar elevator will be required. A trip to the moon needs to be on par with a transoceanic flight, or at least a ride aboard a cargo ship, able to ferry people and supplies to and from Luna without a lot of fuss and bother. These options, and specific details of their design, development, and implementation, will be discussed some other Wednesday.

Now, to get one thing out of the way: As soon as lunar colonization because feasible, there will be massive hue and cry to preserve the moon, with laws and treaties and threats of war if anybody does anything visible on the near side of the moon's surface. This is less of a hindrance than it seems, owing to the fact that the other side of the moon still gets decent light, and the fact that the moon has no atmosphere for breathing or protection.

The moon will be one, or more likely a series, of arcologies. Every last cubic inch of habitable space, and a great deal of the unhabitable space, is going to have to be put there manually. Much of it will be below the surface, to shelter from the otherwise unblocked cosmic radiation and space debris. The moon is, however, incredibly dense and contains a great deal of ore, which will be used in the colonization effort.

At 1/6th of Earth's gravity, even assuming things are made otherwise habitable for regular life, the human body will require assistance to maintain itself. At its simplest, clothing will be made featuring resistance bands to make the body work as if it were subject to gravity. Depending on advancements in technology, such things as the recently developed sonic tractors may be used to increase downwards force to create artificial gravity, or even rotational artificial gravity in the manner of a graviton. Still, this is of great use for functional industries such as shipyards.

One of the primary purposes for the lunar sites is to serve as starports. Ships that wouldn't be able to escape Earth's gravity and atmospheric resistance can be built, launched, and landed on the . These ships will open reasonable transit times to the farther reaches of the solar system, even with current propulsion systems.

Another benefit of the moon is easier orbital training. With less gravity, setting training facilities, orbital shipyards for craft too big even for lunar production, and so on into orbit can be done at much nearer to the planet and safety via escape pods or similar. Specific details of orbital stations will be discussed in a separate post.

Motor Monday: Slick Steam

Nice, hands off recirculating steam engine. Quick start-up, creature comforts, and nice and zippy! Seemed particularly relevant since I'm preparing for a Deadlands game.

I'm waiting for the Cyclone steam engine to FINALLY drop for consumer use, which I suspect is going to take off in a big way because power-to-weight ratio, fuel flexibility, ease of use, and price. Direct drive, no coolant system, no oil (water lubricated), no exhaust stuff (still has exhaust, but needs no muffler or emissions things) means it's basically going to be a perfect drop in engine for people looking to create stuff without much knowledge of things like gear ratios. But that will get its own post when they finally DO SOMETHING with the damned thing worth reporting, aside from occasional reports that someone else has partnered with them.