Digital TV

Next month the world changes again. Analog TV disappears and it all goes digital. Once more the way we have done things will disappear and we will be dragged kicking and screaming into a brave new world. The line between computers, video games, and television will blur as they become integrated into one home entertainment unit. It will take time, but as people replace their old TVs it will happen. Even if you are using cable or satellite service, the day will come when your old set no longer works and you must replace it.

When that happens we will become part of that new world and there will be no going back. Everything from our phone service to the internet will be linked in some way to that TV and the way we receive information through it. You may never have used a computer in your life but you will now have one wither you like it or not. The service that supplies the TV will also supply our phone and internet service.

I can’t see the future but it does not take a crystal ball to know that things will never be the same again. When you want to watch a show you won’t have to be home to when it’s on, you will just click on shows web site and click play. It will truly be TV on demand.  Surf the net, make a phone call, and never get out of your recliner. The only sure thing is your life will never be the same.

Keep It Simple

Back in high school we had a saying that could save you all sorts of grief; it was “keep it simple stupid” or “kiss” for short. It didn’t seem like an important bit of wisdom at the time, but forty years later I begin to understand just how significant it is. We each waste vast amounts of time looking for complex answers to problems that have a simple answer.

A ping pong ball is in a piece of pipe, how do you get it out if you can’t reach it? You pour water into the pipe and float it out. How do you get a coin off the center of a large rug without stepping on the rug? You rollup the rug until you can reach it. The handle breaks on your microwave oven, fix the handle don’t through out the oven. As a rule of thumb the common sense answer is almost always the simplest answer.

If you try to hard to solve a problem nine times out of ten you will just make things worse. Remember if the TV does not turn on it might just be unplugged. If a vacuum cleaner does not pick up the dirt, either the bag full or the hose is clogged. Always look for the simple answer.

Trash Into Electricity

Gasification of trash.

 A local Michigan waste management company is asking to build a plant to turn trash into gas and make electricity with it. It sounds like science fiction, but it’s not. The process involves grinding up the trash and then turning it into a gas using the high heat of a plasma chamber. Could this mean the end to land fills in the future?

What’s next?

The following  from www.tech-fag.com  explains how it works.

Plasma Gasification

First, garbage is fed into an auger, a machine which shreds it into smaller pieces. These are then fed into a plasma chamber - a sealed, stainless steel vessel filled with either nitrogen or ordinary air. A 650-volt electrical current is passed between two electrodes; this rips electrons from the air and creates plasma.

A constant flow of electricity through the plasma maintains a field of extremely intense energy powerful enough to disintegrate the shredded garbage into its component elements. The byproducts are a glass-like substance used as raw materials for high-strength asphalt or household tiles and "syngas".

Syngas is a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide and it can be converted into fuels such as hydrogen, natural gas or ethanol. Syngas (which leaves the converter at a temperature of around 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit) is fed into a cooling system which generates steam. This steam is used to drive turbines which produce electricity - part of which is used to power the converter, while the rest can be used for the plant's heating or electrical needs, or sold back to the utility grid.

Therefore, aside from the initial power supply from the community's electrical grid, the whole machine can produce the electricity it needs for operations. It also produces materials that can be sold for commercial use so, at some point, the plasma gasification system will generate profit for its users.