tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982272583947670559.post7394453738343704039..comments2019-09-27T05:07:37.759-04:00Comments on The Blog At the End of the World: InfrastructureLeananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569247909439327943noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982272583947670559.post-61151469733877132682008-04-29T08:12:00.000-04:002008-04-29T08:12:00.000-04:00I would think "the infrastructure problem" is goin...I would think "the infrastructure problem" is going to be the lead weight around our neck dragging us into the abyss as we lose the "lift" we are getting from our depletion of fossil fuels.<BR/><BR/>We have made a whole mess of stuff that requires constant maintenance, instead of building stuff that lasts.<BR/><BR/>We have mortgaged our future to "planned obsolesence", which assumes we will always have even more resources to replace what we have. This will prove to be a terrible assumption.<BR/><BR/>I stand in awe and envy of countries where I see architecture that dates back centuries, then I look at the machine I am typing on and wonder if I will even be able to use it in five years, and will all the information on it be rendered unusable because the digital locks protecting copyrighted information are no longer supported.<BR/><BR/>I can still play old vinyl records, as far as that goes, I can still play an old Edison cylinder with a cup and pin.<BR/><BR/>I can still read centuries old books and some of my friends can even read the old Greek, Syriac, and Hebrew of the Christian Bible.<BR/><BR/>Yet soon I will not be able to read computer files because their DRM licenses are being obsoleted... ( Yes, thats my jab at "Plays for Sure" by Microsoft).<BR/><BR/>I am an old engineer.<BR/><BR/>I hate these new paradigms of expiring works. When I build ANYTHING, I want it to last as long as its function is desired...millenia if need be. <BR/><BR/>We HAD good stuff. ASCII. HTML code. JPG. GIF. MP3. MPG. DivX/XviD.<BR/><BR/>This new stuff coming out in the computer arena is terrible. Its laced with all sorts of technology which renders it terribly unresilent and vulnerable to all sorts of failures from undue complexity. And slow as all getout.<BR/><BR/>Its like trying to use some newfangled contraption that takes hours to set up, and often does not work at all the way I want it to, when what I wanted in the first place was a plain old fashioned screwdriver.<BR/><BR/>I feel for the new generation of kids who never got the "fun" I had in the '50's and '60's when we could build anything we wanted with vacuum tubes, transistors, and later, integrated circuits. I got to build everything - and know exactly how it worked - from radio receivers/transmitters to my own computer - and I mean at the gate level with wirewrap.<BR/><BR/>Today, I can't even fix the newer stuff. Its not made where it can be maintained without specialized rework equipment costing thousands of dollars - and even then it would be uneconomical to do so.<BR/><BR/>It concerns me that the knowledge of how stuff works will be isolated to several people - and that knowledge will go to the grave.<BR/><BR/>I have already had to throw away way too much stuff because the technologies required to maintain it were no longer available. So far, I have always had the resources to replace what I had - but I am concerned the day will come when what I have expires and I have no resources to expend to replace it.<BR/><BR/>As far as my personal stuff goes, I can still design, albeit completely nonstandard, stuff I can maintain as long as I live.<BR/><BR/>An example is my home's cooling system, which will use an ice bank and use propane as a refrigerant. In order to isolate the obvious fire hazard, the ice bank hardware is outside. Only the ice water is circulated to the house for cooling. <BR/><BR/>Both my barbeque and my cooling system use the same amount of propane... and if need be I can use the barbeque's propane as a refrigerant, or use my refrigerant in the barbeque.<BR/><BR/>I will also use the "high side" of the compressor to feed a heat exchanger to preheat the water feeding my water heater. So if I am going to take a bath or wash clothes in the summer, I will make some ice while I'm at it.<BR/><BR/>Its the little things of building things to last that will be really appreciated when things are hard to replace because I simply do not have the resources to buy new, or likely from an economic viewpoint, the item I want may no longer be available. What I need will likely be in the junkyard.<BR/><BR/>We will make things far easier on ourselves by knowing what is coming and preparing for it NOW, while we have resources. I do not want to wait for winter and be under three feet of snow before I begin to "prepare the woodpile".<BR/><BR/>I know I got wordy here, Leanan.<BR/><BR/>You and The Oil Drum have struck a lot of chords in me, that I agree with wholeheartedly.<BR/><BR/>If I am out of place here, feel free to delete, but I wanted to share how frustrated I am with the way I see things going these days.<BR/><BR/>SteveAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com