Two essays: my senior honors project

[Luca]

I got my BA in Classical Studies at the University of Rhode Island in 2011.  Separate from Classics, I completed the Honors Program.  The final part of that was a self-designed senior project; in my case a set of essays I wrote and then hand bound in leather books before my brief foray into hand bookbinding.

Anywho, though I make no mention of motorcycles in the essays, they were definitely on my mind when I wrote them.  I thought I'd share them with fellow forum members.  Not sure how much I like them myself anymore... but without further apologies, here they are.  There are no advertisements, etc.  There is a download button on the top-right of the page for the PDF file

http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/srhonorsprog/218/

[Lucky_Lou]

Interesting piece, was there a reason for the font changes in the first piece ?also I liked this quote.....

"The first time you put the fill cap back on and fire it up, you feel like you’ve just completed open heart surgery."

If you have screwed up the "O" ring you will wish you had done the heart surgery...
Lou

[Barry]

In the UK we have recently had a proposal to address distractions for inexperienced drivers. If it comes into being they will not be allowed to use mobile phones and that including hands free. Whether it happens or not at least it's a recognition of the problem which is very welcome and a step in the right direction. We then need to address the idiocy of other inbuilt distractions like BMW's i drive. I say that never having used one but I observe other drivers using them when they should be paying attention to the real task at hand. As you say Luca modern cars have far too many toys to play with.  I'm happy with the simple quality of my 1989 190e  which I've owned and maintained for 20 years.

We learn by doing and it's often easer to do than to think about. Sometimes we have to overcome the fear of the unknown and just do it. Often it turns out to be easier than we thought. Even if it doesn't we still learn something.

[Luca]

was there a reason for the font changes in the first piece ?

Not a good one.  It's a mistake, perhaps aided by the fact that I did most of this on an 8" linux powered netbook.

Whether it happens or not at least it's a recognition of the problem which is very welcome and a step in the right direction.

I think it's good that people are becoming more aware of the dangers of distracted driving, but I'm not a fan of banning things either.  I would rather change the way people think than take away their goodies.  In other words, I'd rather convince people that i drive is repulsive than tell BMW they can't make it anymore

[nhmaf]

I think it's good that people are becoming more aware of the dangers of distracted driving, but I'm not a fan of banning things either.I would rather change the way people think than take away their goodies.In other words, I'd rather convince people that i drive is repulsive than tell BMW they can't make it anymore  

As preferrable as this may be, and in alignment with some of the general principles of the founders of our country, unfortunately we are going the way of many European governments a bit more each year.   Many here no longer accept or even seem to want responsibility for their own actions - they INSIST that government be their nanny and take care of them, keep the scary, unhealthy, or dangerous things away from them, even if it means reducing personal liberty for themselves or for others.   I've been run off the road once and nearly run  off the road several times by distracted/inattentive drivers, despite the fact that we have laws on the books already for a number of these things.   Some claim that increasing the penalties for infractions may help, but I doubt it will.   I suspect the only way to get a majority of the population who are so addicted to their phones and modern media that they can't put it away and turn it off while driving is to have the car and/or phone disable the phone's ability to communicate while the car's ignition is turned on.   And, for the built in-systems in the cars, some similar level of restrictions on function while the car is moving/not in "park" may be required.

New technology is great.  The problem is there is a majority of the general populace who cannot use it responsibly.   They cannot even use old technology responsibly.   No matter what you do, you cannot give so many people the necessary IQ points to realize they are supposed to be controlling their 2-ton weapon and not texting or checking social media, or making their weekly call to mother at the same time.

[steve hawkins]

Unfortunately car makers are doing the exact opposite of suppressing mobile phones in cars. Some are thinking of fitting 'femto cells' (often called small-cells) in them, to ensure a good signal.  Only in top end luxury cars, but it is the thin edge of the wedge.

Cheers

Rev. Light

[nhmaf]

Actually Steve, what might first appear to be an exacerbation of a problem is actually a potentially effective solution...

Cell networks are handled primarily by the cell (towers) themselves, and not the phone.    When a cell determines that its signal from  a device 'x' is too weak it negotiates with the next cell controller to pass the connection onto it, seamlessly and without any knowledge by the user making the call or sending the instagram photo of the skunk he just ran over.   Now, if a cell is embedded into the car itself, it will by default have the strongest reception of the cell phone's signal of any adjacent cells, short of perhaps parking the car directly beneath a stationary cell tower.      This cell controller in the car could easily be networked into the automobile's other networks so that it is told whenever the car is in motion, and programmed to accept connections from the phone but to not forward them onto the cellular network, excep t when the car is stopped.  A built-in, hands-free phone device in the car might use a special encryption key in which its service requests could bypass the "block if moving" function of the car's micro cell.   The hand held cellular phone would not need to have any design changes for this feature to work - the system would automatically block any hand held devices - or any devices that didn't use the secure encryption code to access the cellular network while the car was moving.   The system could be bypassed, but not easily if designed properly.  This could in fact, be the "magic pill" to solve this problem, at least in upscale cars that embed the cell controller.   Sadly, most of the people who own those cars often have someone else driving for them anyway and aren't so much the problem as the teen/twenty-something in the 10 year old sedan...

Maybe I'ved discovered something marketable here, but I am sure I can't be the first engineer to have thought of it..

[Tony Smith]

I got my BA in Classical Studies at the University of Rhode Island in 2011.  

Bravo! There is still hope for the once ubiquitous BA.

I scratched a near 30 year itch in 2002 and completed a BA (hons) in History.
 
In my line of work it is expected that you put your "wallpaper" on display to provide the punters with some comfort that you know what you are doing. Because I am most proud of it (because I did it for ME and not for reasons of earning a living and the degree was based on my own original research and not the tedious learning of fact/principle/precedent/application) , the BA has pride of place, prominently above the rest of my "wallpaper"  in my office.

BA holders of the world unite I say!

[Luca]

The hand held cellular phone would not need to have any design changes for this feature to work - the system would automatically block any hand held devices - or any devices that didn't use the secure encryption code to access the cellular network while the car was moving.

Proximity jammers are out of the question unless they can be constrained to only inside the car.  Restaurants tried using them before the advent of smart phones, but were forced to take them down in case of emergency calls.  Would it not just be a matter of unlinking the cell phone from the car's controller to cheat the encrypted system?

Then there's coding the thing to make sure the GPS still works, that it will not block a signal with a car in Drive after a crash, and that you can tell it when your wife is 8 months pregnant.

I did it for ME and not for reasons of earning a living

congrats, Tony!  That's the way to do it.  I, however, was just shuffling down the pipeline.  Latin sort of fell into place as I had studied it all through high school.

Though I find it a little more bittersweet than some, I'm still glad I got the BA.  I've no intention of using it, though.  I'd rather find (or make) a job working on cars and motorcycles.

[nhmaf]

This is not a proximity jammer - jamming devices require FCC approval and TRANSMIT jamming frequencies.  This cell would operate as any normal cell would, excep that it would NOT allow any outgoing cell calls or data connections while the car is moving.  IT could for that matter, learn and store the cell ID from the flash card in the cell phone, so that after a few repeated connections to it, it would learn the numbers to be censored.  Depending on the design of the micro cell, you couldn't "unlink" the phone, regardless of whose cellular plan you were on.
It is the cell controller itself, not your phone, that determines whether it will "allow" your device to connect to it.  For that matter, it could still allow "911" calls.   Even the presently available active cell phone jammers used in prisons and some schools allow "911" calls to be made, and allow for specific, protected over rides.

GPS functions could be allowed, though most GPS systems use satellite for primary navigation, and only cell phones fall back to cellular tower data for fine interpolation, often inthe absence of satellite data (skyscraper cities).   You could also still have your Onstar functionality, too.

IF the car isn't moving, then you could still make your cell call - for that matter, simply turn off the car, and you'd be free to connect to any other cell controller nearby.

[Luca]

So what's your patent number!?!?

[nhmaf]

I have a couple US patents, but not for this.   Actually, a local paper is running a weekly column on a guy who is trying to get a patent processed for a method to stop texting/calling while driving.   His scheme is not very tenable, though he certainly could still get a patent issued for it.   Nowadays, alot of stuff gets issued patent protection that would be totally impractical or unusable.   The US patent office used to employ engineers who could employ logical thinking, now it is mostly just lawyers.

[steve hawkins]

Still it would be no good if you had offended 'the mob' and were trying to make a call from the trunk of a moving car......Sorry got a bit 'hollywood' there....

Cheers

Rev. Light