DanielBarker123

Stop the drip! Ace Hardware yard makeover contest

2011-05-15T14:06:00.000-07:00

Drip, drip, drip my garden would be perfect if I could stop the drip from the air conditioner removing the moisture. Solar electric panels would save energy, solar electric panels could keep my house cooler all day and no drip. I deserve funding for this genius idea. This benefits us all.

2010-08-30T20:07:00.000-07:00

2010-08-30T16:17:00.001-07:00

Third set of Franklin, N.C. photographs

2010-08-30T15:54:00.000-07:00

more pictures of Franklin, N.C. trip at Gunder's cottage.

2010-08-30T15:34:00.000-07:00

I llove Senator Franken!

2009-10-17T13:53:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Daniel Barker, I live in Lakeland, Florida.

I am a lifelong conservative, and left the Republican Party in early 2006 over the war in Iraq and corrupt defense contractors.

Like any good conservative, I totally opposed Senator Al Franken - until the following happened:

Last Thursday, Sen. Franken introduced an amendment (S.2588) to the FY2010 Defense Appropriations Bill that would restrict funding to defense contractors who commit employees to mandatory binding arbitration in the case of sexual assault. The legislation, endorsed by 61 women’s, labor and public interest groups, was inspired by the story of Jamie Leigh Jones, who watched the vote from the Senate gallery today.
Jones was a 19-yr-old employee of defense contractor KBR (formerly a Halliburton subsidiary) stationed in Iraq who was gang raped by her co-workers and imprisoned in a shipping container when she tried to report the crime. Her father and U.S. Rep. Ted Poe (R-Tex.), worked together to secure her safe return to the United States, but once she was home, she learned a fine-print clause in her KBR contract banned her from taking her case to court, instead forcing her into an “arbitration” process that would be run by KBR itself. Just today, Halliburton filed a petition for a rehearing en banc in the 5th Circuit Court, which means that Jamie’s fight is far from over.

(source: official site for Senator Franken)

After reading how our own government contractors abused Jamie Leigh Jones, I now support Senator Franken!

I ask everyone in Washington, D.C. visiting to do the following: when walking near the Capitol, carry a big sign that says "Daniel Barker, Lakeland, Florida, loves Senator Franken"

some comments on energy

2009-02-21T17:27:00.000-08:00

Yes, we have thought of that at various times. The leader of our motorcycle group asked me that - he was talking about cars - if they're electric, where do we get the electricity from? I had thought of it years before that, and he asked me years ago.

There are several answers for electric car. First, the electricity can come from whatever we want to use, whereas an internal combustion is primarily fossil (I know some people argue about an 'alternative', I'll get to that in a minute.) So if the power comes from a dam or wind or solar, no fossil fuel. Second, an electric car uses less energy. When it decelerates, it creates power. Also it is more efficient - the motor turning the wheel is better than an engine, transmission, drive shaft, differential, and so on.

Batteries for electronics - when solar panels hit affordability, people will use them. Right now, for a small unit (under 5K$), it runs about ten to twenty dollars a watt. A thirty watt panel runs about three hundred, plus the stuff - installation, control panel, and of course a deep-cycle battery to store the electricity.

It is only a matter of time for solar energy to become cost-effective. It started out at about a thousand a watt, now it's down to about five dollars a watt. That is the cost of the panels. When you factor in what it produces, it runs about twenty two cents a watt. As we're paying about thirteen, it doesn't add up. But Hawaii costs about twenty two cents on the grid, so recently solar energy hit parity, probably the first time in a developed nation.

There are ways you can cheat - reflect more light on the panels using mirrors. (A mirror costs nothing compared to the same size solar panel.)

Hmmm...getting fuel from corn and so on - right now, it takes so much energy (the plow, for example, and harvesting, processing the corn and so on) to grow the corn, that in general you are not saving any fuel - it takes about the same amount of fossil fuel to produce the corn oil as the corn oil itself produces.

For most people, a crank generator beneficial - first, it produces heat, which most of the time you need, second, exercise, which benefits, third, you are not using fossil fuel, which is good.

The only exception is climate - if tropical or sub-tropical, the heat produced has to be removed. The answer is obvious - a water-based generator. The crank generator works in a swimming pool. First, even in the summer time, you need to heat the pool, so the heat produced generating the electricity is not only not wasted, it is beneficial. The other benefits are the same - exercise and not using fossil fuel to make electricity. So we need to develop a human powered generator that works in a swimming pool.

With today's engines, a 50cc, or three-inch engine, would produce at least three horsepower, or about 4kwatts. One tenth of that, 400 watts, is much more than what I'm producing pedaling the bicycle. So just a 5cc engine would be a good size for me - it would produce up to about 400 watts, which to me is a lot of power.

I guess all this is happening because of the new president - everything is changing, how we look at things.

computer basics

2008-12-21T13:50:00.000-08:00

Computer basics

Most people know that to protect your computer you should use a power bar, designed to protect your electronics from dangerous voltage spikes.

What many people find handy is to use the power bar as a convenient way to turn on and shut down your system.

First, put your power bar in a convenient spot. Plug in your computer, your monitor, your speaker and everything else connected to the computer, such as your speakers.

Note: If you have wireless and a laptop, you will want to plug the routers into a different source so you can be on the Internet without having your computer turned on.

Next, turn the power bar on, and turn everything on except the computer - the monitor, the printer, the speakers, and anything else connected to your computer. Then shut the power bar off and you are ready to use.

When you want to use the computer, turn the power bar on. You just turn on your computer and when it is booted up you are all set.

When you want to end, shut the computer down, then when it shuts off, turn the power bar off.

The advantages of this are you do not have to worry about leaving devices turned on, such as the monitor or speakers, when the computer is turned off.

'Powerless'?

2008-12-17T15:48:00.000-08:00

Last week, a great winter storm left "about 1.3 million homes and businesses from Pennsylvania to Maine were plunged into the dark — and cold — by a storm that coated trees and wires with ice Thursday night into Friday. Most of the outages were in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and New York. About 880,000 remained without power Saturday afternoon."
This is according to the AP report.

As usual, utilities rush into great danger attempting to repair power lines as they deal with downed trees.
What nobody is reporting is that there is currently available a vehicle that would help with power outages. A hydrid electric vehicle, capable of producing tens of kwatts of power for several hours, could power a home for several days.
Let's start at the beginning. A hybrid vehicle has an electric motor that moves the vehicle, and either a battery or an engine, or both, to power the motor. The hybrid vehicle must be able to accelerate at regular rates to keep up with traffic. This means that the motor has be able to produce at least 50 kwatt of energy.
If the hybrid vehicle has batteries, then the batteries have to be able to provide electrical power for at least several hours to be practical.
What does this have to do with the power outage? If an owner of a hybrid electric vehicle that has batteries has wired the vehicle up to the home, then in the event of a power outage, the vehicle's batteries can be used to power the home.
If the homeowner conserves energy, the vehicle might be able to run the home for at least two days, and probably a lot longer.
In the years ahead as hybrid vehicles become common place more and more people are going to be self-sufficient, at least for several days, in the event of an outage.

The real racist

2008-10-22T18:07:00.000-07:00

Dear concerned citizen,

In recent days several incidents of racism have occurred, aimed at presidential candidate Barack Hussein Obama.
There is a certain irony that white supremacists groups are not the only side of the political spectrum preaching racism and violence against blacks.
Recently African-Americans have become the third biggest demographic group due to massive immigration of Hispanics, but they represent by far the largest group of abortions.
Five times as many abortions are performed on black women as on white women. And Barack Obama has stated as president his first bill he signs will remove all restrictions on abortions.
If white supremacists really wanted to eliminate blacks, they would openly support Obama. Obama as president means more abortions on black babies, resulting in less black people.

Daniel Barker

out of this world

2008-10-22T16:27:00.000-07:00

Dear concerned citizen of the world,

We all know the implications of a world dependent on petroleum and fission for energy; everything from the military to international relations, and climate change to the financial world and the environment.
Sometimes you have to look outside the box to put it all in perspective. According to many people, there is a source of energy that will provide all our needs.
According to scientist and engineer Sid Deutsch, the entire energy output of the United States could accelerate a 200 metric ton spacecraft at one tenth the speed of light in three years. This means that we currently have no ability to travel to another star - even with all our energy combined.
Therefore one spacecraft visiting the Earth from another star would have more than the capability to provide all the energy for the whole world.
That's right. The existence of one E.T. means no more oil, no more coal and no more nuclear power. So the next time you hear about a UFO, your first thought should be, what is the first thing I would change when we stop using oil, coal and nuclear.

Daniel Barker

wilderness: a paradigm shift

2008-10-22T14:50:00.000-07:00

Today, Frances Beinecke, President of NRDC Action Fund, wrote about saving the last 375 beluga whales of Alaska's Cook Inlet.
In the report was the usual suspect: "whose population has plummeted due to the industrialization of Alaska's most populated and fastest-growing waterway."
There it is again, growth and development. We destroy wilderness and habitat, then we are supposed to spend massive amounts of reources to preserve nature.
I am beginning to see a paradigm shift in how we perceive ourselves and nature. For example, people initally saw hybrid vehicles as an alternative to the interanal combustion engine due to higher mileage in city driving. Now we are now seeing that a hybrid vehicle is an alternative to a power outage; a hybrid vehicle has energy to power a typical home for several days in the event of a power outage due to the batteries.
We are also beginning to realize wilderness begins at home. Rather than go away from home to nature and wilderness, we are beginning to turn our yards into wilderness by removing lawns and putting in native plants.
I ask you - are your children going to live in a world with less wilderness? What legacy are we leaving?

Daniel Barker

The new Age of astronautics

2008-05-09T19:01:00.000-07:00

Astronautics

The minimum orbital velocity of the Earth is about 25,000 feet a second, rocket fuel exhausts at about 20,000 feet per second.

Because adding fuel increases velocity logarithmically, it is obvious that there is a very finite amount of fuel and response time that can be added. Doubling the amount of rocket fuel only adds ln(2) times the time, or about .69 times, tripling the amount of fuel. adds ln3 or about 1.098 times the amount of time the fuel lasts, and in order to have ten times the response time you would need about 22,000 times the rocket fuel.

There is a finite limit of the velocity of a rocket. If the entire universe were converted to rocket fuel, the mass would be the mass of the sun, about 2.0*10^30kg, an average sized star, times 100,000,000,000 stars in a galaxy times an estimated 100,000,000,000 galaxies, plus an estimated ten times the mass in dark matter, yielding 2.0*10^30kg*100*10^9*100*10^9*10, or 2.0*10^53kg. Taking the ratio of the Saturn V rocket, about 6*10^6lbs or 2.718*10^6kg, yields a ratio of about 7.36*10^46. The logarithm is about 107.9, meaning that if the whole universe were converted to rocket fuel, the Saturn V could only go about 108 times faster. This is incredible! (When I began doing these calculations, the space shuttle was not in existence.)

Yet current technology easily allows us to fly spacecraft more than a hundred times the velocity of the Saturn V, if we use fission.

In the current space age, the chemical age, the life of a rocket motor is measured in seconds, and missions are calculated in milliseconds. Fission allows engines to last for many hours. This opens the door for space travel beyond our imagination.
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Flying a manned spacecraft using fission in the solar system

I propose a manned mission flown by mission and payload specialists. Where would they fly?

The Earth is a double planet, so we would have to be beyond the pull of both the Earth and the moon, perhaps a million miles away. Realistically an average mission specialist cannot orbit the Earth closer than the moon.

Our first main consideration is the gravitational pull of the sun. At an average distance of about 93*10^6 miles, the gravity of the sun is about 1/800th of the Earth's gravity, or about .00125g or about 1.25cm/second/second.

To realistically travel in space we would need a safety factor of about ten, or about ten times 1/800th of a g or 1/80th of a g, or about 12.5cm/second/second.

Our next priority is debris. There are meteor showers; places where the Earth has collided with a comet and debris is left. We cannot travel near the Earth when the planet is near one of these clouds of debris.

Where would the mission go? The main criteria are radiation and debris. For example, a comet may have an irregular orbit due to ice vaporizing and perturbing the orbit, an unstable surface as ice melts and vaporizes, and of course a tail that might equal the size of Earth. Therefore a comet is out of the question.

We need to change our way of thinking. The reason space travel is measured in seconds and milliseconds is because a chemical rocket has a very limited lifespan. The nuclear age opens up the door. With fission as energy source life of an engine is measured in days and weeks.

It is obvious the Earth is a double planet, has measurable but insignificant hyperspace, debris, and atmosphere. This means it is impossible for a mission specialist to fly a manned spacecraft in an Earth orbit. Because it requires thousands of times the amount of rocket fuel to realistically extend the response time, it will never be feasible for a mission specialist to orbit the Earth.

When better nuclear engines become available we will fly further away from the sun.

While 1/800 g, or about .00125g does not seem much, if an object were to accelerate at this rate in two days it would be traveling at over a mile a second.

I would like to be the first mission specialist to fly a spacecraft. If I can do it, anybody can.

Electricity and common sense

2007-10-12T10:29:00.000-07:00

We are about to end our dependence on fossil fuel, beginning with petroleum, and our energy must come from somewhere. One good start are photovoltaics, solar cells.
Solar cells produce electricity, and there are ways we can use them effectively. First of all, solar cells produce electrical power when we need it the most, the middle of the day. Remember, businesses and factories are busiest during the day shift, from early morning until early evening. Producing electricity from 10AM to 2PM helps relieve the pressure on utilities to provide everyone with power.
Second, solar cells can be much more productive by simply reflecting more light on them. For example a 50 watt solar panel will produce almost 100 watts of electricity if the same amount of surface area is reflected on it. Reflecting more light produces more power. How much more? Believe it or not, up to a thousand times! Decades ago a French physicist produced an amazing one thousand times the rated output of a solar cell by reflecting massive amounts of light on it.
As mirrors are much cheaper than solar cells we can easily produce more power.
Third, in the summer time solar cells reduce our demand for air conditioning. Do you know why? Sunlight hitting the solar cell becoming electricity is not converted to heat - if the solar cell were not there, that sunlight would be absorbed by the roof, heating it.

wealth and prosperity

2007-06-24T19:07:00.000-07:00

We support President Bush and the Fascists when we drive our SUVs as macho, when we support shows that glorify violence (I would like someone to explain to me the difference between Pulp Fiction and Iraq), when we support Fascist slave labor (why is it the first words out of our mouths when asked where to buy something are "Wal-Mart"!), when we glorify the suffering of others under the guise of humanity (how many of us glorify Michael Moore's new film when he is responsible for suffering of others by eating too much meat) and when we glorify destruction of the planet by growth and development under the guise of 'amnesty' to illegal aliens (for the record I oppose growth and development in any form by practicing family planning - I have no children and plan on one child and adoption).
I support the Green, the Constitution and the Libertarian parties. If Al Gore had asked Ralph Nader to be his running mate instead of running against him he would have been declared president and we wouldn't be in this mess right now (I would like someone to explain to me if they support Broadway Joe of Connecticut who has morphed into a neocon).
You are right that the Republican Party is Fascist and opposed to human rights. You are wrong that Rightists support the Republican Party. Have you heard of Ron Paul (as I have for some years) opposed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? Have you heard of Alan Keyes (whom I went to see years ago and voted for in the 2000 primary) who states that man must serve his private duty and if he does not the State will do so?
I believe in free enterprise, not Fascism. You state that corporatism must be stopped because it produces wealth. For heaven's sake, look in the mirror!, if corporations produce wealth, than make everyone their own corporation! When Africans, Asians, Americans are free to start their own multi-national corporation we will all be better off.

Of course freedom is prosperity!

I believe in the freedom to make money. In fact the Founding Fathers originally wrote 'the pursuit of property' before changed to 'pursuit of happiness'.

As a Rightist I support prosperity - for everyone! I have written (and was about to post on my site) that I want to abolish labor and make every citizen in the world a corporation. You argue that corporations generate wealth. I couldn't agree more - if we want more wealth, make everyone a corportation!

Let Africans, Americans and Asians become as properous as possible. Money certainly buys me happiness - if I had money, the first thing I would do is buy a horse. (The second thing would be a tent to live as the cavalry did so I could travel the world with my horse.)

People complain they do not have enough money - when was the last time you heard someone complain they had too much? (I know two - the actress on 'The Love Boat' who spent her entire million dollar a year salary for five years on cocaine - and the poor husband in Texas who endured years of suffering in an abusive divorce, only to win the lottery the day it was annulled to have it start all over again.)

Yes, I want Iraq and Afghanistan to be prosperous, as well as the rest of the world. I want to end hunger and want. Don't you?

It's true

2007-06-17T22:10:00.000-07:00

Dear concerned citizen,

I know how you feel. You are scratching your head wondering why your organization is not receiving enough money when there are wealthy Americans who do not care about the poor. You know something is very wrong, and it is not your imagination.
I've been looking for the right word and today I found it. The problem is that mean-spirited people dominate our government, and money is not flowing freely. How do I know that? In the early 1960s, astronaut Alan Shepard was about to become the second man, and first American, in space.
A reporter asked him what he was thinking as he sat atop the Redstone rocket, waiting for liftoff, he had replied, 'The fact that every part of this ship was built by the low bidder.'" (Courtesy Gene Kranz in his book Failure Is Not an Option)
The obvious humor is the reality of fraility of life, but there is sadly a second meaning. Today, it is a fact that some government contracts are not going to the low bidder. In fact, some government contracts are not bidded at all. Contracts for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are going to whoever benefits the most.
Our government is corrupt at the highest level, we are paying the price, and I want to help you. I read your letters and I know there are people who need help they are not receiving. We must restore honesty and dignity. We must show people that money does not buy happiness.

The end of our universe

2007-06-08T16:38:00.000-07:00

Scientists announced they have detected a black hole nearly thirteen billion light-years from Earth.

In point of fact astronomers use AU (Astronomical Unit, the distance from the Earth to the Sun) and parsec, the distance of one arc of parallax, to measure distance in space. I grew up with light-years and is the distance I use.

Since the discovery of the telescope in the early seventeenth century man has been able to look ever further (and earlier) away. Before the telescope there was no proof even that the Earth was not the center of the universe. When Galileo pointed his telescope at Jupiter and saw the four moons orbiting it, this became affirmation that we are not the center of the universe.

As scientists look ever further and earlier, it begs the quesion; what lies beyond our universe? Is our Universe the only universe in space? As for earlier in time, physicists believe the universe was a single piece of matter that exploded, the Big Bang billions of years ago creating everything. What existed before that piece of matter? Where did it come from?

2007-06-08T16:06:00.000-07:00

How to end one's life without committing the unpardonable sin of murder.

People believe there are two ways of dealing with terrible terminal illness; endure till the end, or end the life early. There is a third choice which a man took in 1982 and was hailed a hero.

Barney Clark was suffering from heart disease and opted for a new procedure, the world's first artificial heart. Mr Clark knew he was not going to live long with the transplant. He barely survived 112 days.

When we are faced with an illness of immense suffering for which there is no ease of pain we should be able to decide to volunteer for medical research as Barney Clark did. There are always any number of experimental drugs and procedures that by law cannot be performed on humans because they have not been approved for use.

I believe in those circumstances the patient has the right to choose. This is not suicide. Barney Clark did not commit suicide, even though his choice was responsible for his death. His act saved lives as research on his artificial heart provided the medical profession with knowledge that could not be obtained otherwise. In the end he has been responsible for saving lives.

letter to Rosie O'Donnell

2007-05-31T15:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Rosie O'Donnell,

You said "655,000 Iraqi civilians had died. Who are the terrorists?"

The terrorists are people responsible for death of innocents. The illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanisgtan are funded by petroleum. I drive less than 7,500 miles. Do you travel by private jet? You are a terrorist.
A terrorist supports the gun industry. Many people who travel by private jet carry firearms or their guards carry firearms as they are not allowed to carry commercially. Do you or your guards carry firearms? You are a terrorist.
A terrorist supports a lifestyle that wrecks havoc with the planet. I eat four to six pounds of meat a year, which is not what the doctor ordered (he suggested I eat more). Do you eat too much meat? You are a terrorist.
A terrorist abuses the planet with growth and development. My posting on American Singles states I have no children and plan on having one. The leading cause of growth and development in the United States is illegal immigration - without illegal immigrants the population is actually decreasing. Granting amnesty that results in massive increase in population leads to more consumption of resources, including petroleum. Do you support granting such amnesty? You are a terrorist.