The Last Days of Night: A Novel

The opening scene is well built, reeking of the times.

"He took in every detail of what he saw, not to remember, but to forget." 

"Paul was an attorney. Salvation by repetition."

Funny, Westington having his own line.

Remote control of electricity by Edison with last mile being traveling electricity and the rest morse code. A telelight if you will.

"They indicate how a technological accomplishment is also a multiple, complex social and communicative accomplishment, creating place and meaning for the new technology within the many discursive systems by which people assign value, identify uses, and create goals incorporating the technology." - Letters to Thomas Edison in Response to His Claim of Solving Incandescent Lighting, 1878

Historical timeline

"What I do has to be a function of what I can do, not a function of what people ask me to do." - Tim Berners-Lee.

"High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation" - Charles Kettering, inventor of electric self-starter

New technology

1. Explain AC. People understand power but misunderstand voltage.

2. Superior story wins

3. How Edison worked towards replacing kerosene

Tesla coil lightning with resonant transformer also used in telegraphy, radio transmitters and medical devices.

Reverse Salients 

Westinghouse setting up his "network of current" by subcontracting generator manufacturers.

 

A Life of George Westinghouse

rotary engine into water meter

air brakes into piping gas

The colorful hoses between the tractor and the trailer, one is for air brakes and the other for electricity.

straight-air brake works with increase in pressure Vs automatic air-brake with decrease in pressure. which is more fail proof? (pg 30)

Standardization saving safety, time and money.

Trend of railway cars - heavier tonnage, powerful locomotives, higher speeds, increased length of trains.

Still maintaining legacy - successive improved air brakes still being able to work with predecessors.

"The way in which Mr. Westinghouse had gone to work, directly he found that something was wanted, to design precisely the thing that was wanted, was as good an illustration of the spirit in which engineers ought to work as could be found anywhere. -(Discussion of Galton's thrid paper)" (pg 67) 

Contrast this with "What I do has to be a function of what I can do, not a function of what people ask me to do." - Tim Berners-Lee.

"The most surprising fact established by these trials was that the friction between two bodies, one or both being in motion, varies inversely as their relative speed."

Tribology or study of friction. Dry friction. Morin's Law. Coulomb's Law. Newtons Law.

"The general development of the electric art came on in great waves; first arc lighting, next incandescent lighting, then the trolley and the single-phase alternating current at about the same period, and finally polyphase alternating current and transmission of power."

"Westinghouse current"

Waterhouse system

Imagine bulbs making sounds pg 97.

"The energy expended in the arc became the important thing, not the kind of current" (pg 97)

Gaulard and Gibbs transformer

Hopkinson and Ferraris

Westinghouse used his mechanical design expertise to make H-plates ans then I-plates(pg 108). With his direction, Stanley made the E-shaped plate (pg 109).

"the gift of seeing things and the power to do a hard sum" (pg 128)

"Theres a meter in that and perhaps a motor" - Shallenberger (pg 129)

 

Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 

Changes in operating practices of railroads

1. Hand brakes to air brakes

Have you ever considered what would be invovled in braking a train. If you have seen kids learning to bike newly, when they brake, how they haul. According to Brake performance on modern steam railroad passenger trains, a train moving at 60 mph has a kinetic energy of 224 million ft-lb. This equals one-fifth weight of the Times square ball dropping from a height of 21 miles or a blast that could raise the train 120 ft into the air. 

Author Samuel William Dudley in 1914 writes that the brake problem has to do with "convenient, economical and harmless dissipation" of the kinetic energy of a moving train.

It started as a triple valve but with increase in the length and weight of the train, the design is being pushed beyond its margin of safety.

Westinghouse air brake Co. George Westinghouse's legacy makes you understand the importance of the ability of not just getting the train to run but how to stop it. He is also credited to have found the railway traffic as well as a pioneer in steam turbine development.

2. Coupling hook to automatic couplers

3. Iron to steel rails

4. Eight wheel locomotives to ten-wheelers

5. Ten-ton capacity to 40 or 67 capacity freight cars

6. Snowplows of wedge type to rotary plow

I'll take that

 Guide to Scott Alexander and Slate star codex

From a newsletter god

 Notes from Byrne Hobart interview

1. "if you were trying to decide if a stock is a buy or a sell, you do want to have your thesis, but you actually want to pay very close attention to who you’re arguing with and what their thesis is."

2."the healthiest way to approach things is you figure out how to reproduce the other person’s argent and then you figure out what they’re missing or, or you just figure out what fundamental disagreements you have."

Jonathan Haidt's morals affecting political ideology theory.

The part about newsletter piracy reminded me of Mine , HBO tolerates theft of passwords to hook the future audience until their affordability increases.

From 40 min oneards, you will enjoy the writing process of Byrne Hobart.

 

Raised in the Kitchen: Making Memories from Scratch One Recipe at a Time

Didnt realise that there was Buttermilk Powder with which you can make homemade pancake mix. wonderful idea to make s'mores out of cookie dough too. Nice pictures of oh so glorious food. love the stories behind the recipes - especially broccoli salad and the pizza one. What a smart kitchen aid who come sup wiht nifty ways of peeling garlic by soaking the cloves. Fun way of involving the family in the kitchen and cooking.

 

Pando: A Living Wonder of Trees

Very wonderful book, especially the illustrations make the book seem like a video.
Lots of fun facts told in an interesting way. The poem works too. Great way to think about sustainability and ensuring our treasures are guarded.

 

The Tree in Me 

This is a wonderful book. Poetry in its true essence of finding yourself in nature, nature in self, nature in others. The palette used by the illustrator, mainly pink and balck work very well. Very creatively used. I was reminded of Pando. Good spring read along.

This kind of ability of telescopic ability to expand self is a useful skill in developing empathy towards others and being resilient in any crisis.

How to Catch a Monster

 

 

by Adam Wallace of How to catch a tooth fairy.

Ninja gets stronger and now wants to prove his mettle by taking down the monster that lives around. On

There is abcb rhyme. The text placement is uncoventional, its like painter's strokes that urge your eye movement in the story direction, adding dynamic movement to the page.

It is interesting how Ninja realise sthat monster abilities require practise too just like his courage. Find out what happens after many gadgets are used to catch the monster.

Storytelling to influence

Stories That Stick: How Storytelling Can Captivate Customers, Influence Audiences, and Transform Your Business by Kindra Hall

Yesterday, when is aw that my daughter was not happy wiht a well done drawing. I told her the Picasso's It took me a lifetime story. Its actually 40 years. But you get it, she got it that it meant the daily practice. We had to peel some onions for that.

Then I was reminded of King Bruce and the spider. After telling the story or bare bones of it, I realised how much I missed out. The context of the war for independence. Bruce thought that the spider's struggles were similar to his. They were similar int hat they needed perseverance in surviving. While the degree of ti was that, spider's was that of daily survival and basic needs of food and Bruce being King, his predicament was of much larger scale. How did the spider influence Bruce?

Yesterday while looking for a fitness app, I came across how Nike has made their training center free forever.  ntc compared to other programs gives you some more idea of the program. While I had alreadt joine dthe program, I saw the how to use nike training club app and realised how I couldnt give someone a better peek than this at joining the program. With these information for an interested person, I was able to reduce the friction of joining a path. Look at the funnel there. The first news is about the general audience. The second one about someone who is comapring different programs. And with the last one, if you drill down, its now to the nitty gritty of what exaclty is the path going to be.

Sometimes working with a person, might increase trust. And then your natural instinct of distrust too might kick in. When you hear the same advise from an institution or an organization, then you might validate the points independently.

While practising a speech, I was going through different drafts, I was using Kindra Hall's book Stories that Stick. I love listening to Kindra talk and her energy. Through that process and analysing experiences, I am able to see the difference between how detailed you have to go, to influence someone. When you are telling someone to do something, focus on your CTA or the call to action of the level it is at - is it the general, exercise is good for health, or here is a tool, here is how to use the tool, or I did this program and I am feeling certain way. Would you like to test drive that feeling?

 

Power vs. Force

"Anytime you get a truth that humanity doesn't understand, thats a huge competitive advantage. Humanity doesn't understand Power vs Force." - Mohnish Pabrai

 

Grow the Pie: How Great Companies Deliver Both Purpose and Profit 

corporate social responsibility

 

Richer, Wiser, Happier: How the World's Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life

Mohnish Pabrai

13F filings of investor managers

 

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures 

Needed to know the book name after reading this

 

Just Eat: One Reporter's Quest for a Weight-Loss Regimen that Works

When your fad diet fails and it probably will just eat

Off to See the Sea

 

Off to See the Sea by Nikki Grimes

This is such a creative adventure where you can imagine waterfall and exotic shores right in your bathtub. Very colorful and dreamy.

Childhoods of Famous People

This is a very well done book int hat, little readers can choose to begin reading based on what catches their fancy. Pictures help. Kid liked the premise of the book that all famous people were once children too just like them. It is interesting to see, how they would have thought like children of their bright future.

Nice opportunity for kids to know how people lived so long ago, how their games were so different.

Shallow Water waves

 Lauren Williams showsPositive Grasmmannian can be used to study shallow water waves.

 

The Science of Science

Meet Adam the scientist who never sleeps

 

 

Ralph Tells a Story

This book is very creative with subtle ways of making us see how we are all telling stories, right from elementary school. Back on the schoolboard, the teacher hangs a quotation "stories happen to those who tell them". See how Ralph learns to tells tories after looking for them high and low. 

What if Everybody Did that is a wonderful eye-opening story. I overheard this one, when my Kindergartener's teacher was reading it.

 

 

How to Catch the Tooth Fairy

Can you imagine how creative the kids get to catch the tooth fairy? They use all kinds of things they can find to set a trap for the tooth fairy. Floss, slime and what not. But she hoodwinks them all with her fairy dust. Do you remember the time Peppa wants to catch the tooth fairy?

There is rhyme in the book. 

Hindsight: & All the Things I Can't See in Front of Me

 

Hindsight: & All the Things I Can't See in Front of Me by Justin Timberlake

"I dont want to do the same thing twice. I want to continue to learn and be creative... But I am still making things, and I dont move until I see it, until it all starts to make sense".

Finance for kids

Make Your Own Money: How Kids Can Earn It, Save It, Spend It, and Dream Big, with Danny Dollar, the King of Cha-Ching

 Auction for kids. Where Curious George auctions his mittens.

Wall Street Willy can teach you more about taxes and bitcoin.

Julia's bakery stocks by Wall Street Survivor. By the end of this one, kid understood that Julia's bakery is now worth the new price if someone wanted to buy it.

 

Two Beats Ahead: What Musical Minds Teach Us About Innovation

Dancer in the Dark

Bringing strangers with a common interest in music to play for the first time together. A lesson into the importance of listening in every stage of entrepreneurship - "from finding market opportunities to collaboration to connecting with audiences".

Foley room

Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams,

A Beginner's Guide to America: For the Immigrant and the Curious

 

A Beginner's Guide to America: For the Immigrant and the Curious by Roya Hakakian

"great part the contribution of the African-American struggles for equal rights that we as outsiders have benefited from what they have done in order to create a more just and equal society.'

"America doesn't require that we abandon who we are."

The Great Easter Race

 

The Great Easter Race!: A Springtime Sesame Street Story with Elmo, Cookie Monster, Big Bird and Friends! (Easter Basket Stuffers for Toddlers and Kids) (Sesame Street Scribbles)

A fun book with all your favorite characters. The theme of the story is an oldie goldie. It will get apparent quickly. There is rhyme in the book. What are you waiting for? Join the race. Do you think you could get Gobble Gobble Turkey to join the race?

What do you think is needed to win a race? Speed is necessary but even more essential is consistency. It aint done till you cross the finish line. Many a slip between a cup and a lip. What can help you reach your goal? Remembering and recalling that the goal is timed. In that time, you have to focus. You cannot allow distractions. It might even help to have a plan on how you are going to deal with distractions. 

Turkey's Eggcellent Easter (Turkey Trouble)

 

 

  Turkey's Eggcellent Easter for $7.99

Turkey goes through many hoops to take part in an egg hunt. Kids look forward to that special saturday where they can go on a treasure hunt to find eggs. Who likes competition there, no one and still Turkey is all set to be where he is not allowed. he takes on many disguises to get to the special egg. If you pay attention, you can guess the next disguise that Turkey is going to take on. Turkey is not alone in this act. He has many friends helping him with costume work. Fun read. Can you guess who gets the special prize and what does Turkey get?

How do you think Turkey would fare in The Great Easter Race. Turkey is creative in problem solving. He could win this race. He would have to believe that there is a special egg at the finish line. Sometimes we can see our goals. Other times you have to imagine an envision the future and work for it.

New 11th Gen Intel Processors pre-launch

 

Image:Amazon.com

Tuned for Gameplay: New 11th Gen Intel Processors Pre-launch

The Committed: A Novel

 

 

  The Committed a Novel  by Viet Thanh Nguyen

"we all become accustomed to the aroma of our contradictions".

Prose in poetry.