Much to ponder on as I look for small metal cutting lathes on Craigslist and peruse news sources about the global economy in advance of the USA election '24.
First to the metal cutting lathes, there seems to be many used options with some home hobbyists favoring EMCO from Austria.
I have 28mm Titanium barstock to thread, M8 down the center axis and M6 down the transverse axis for Jasmine's (Hobie 20) rudder fittings. The Hobie Assembly is outlined here: I need to fixture and drill the barstock, drill and tap and also cut/singulate the two pieces, one for each rudder.
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| Tiller End Cap from Ti Barstock |
Tech companies are struggling to adopt AI in meaningful ways as researcher Hinton wins a Physics prize for Computer Science and applied Linear Algebra work.
I take a moment to study how the ChatGPT "generative" system works following along with these excellent explanations by 3 Blue 1 Brown here: https://www.youtube.com/@3blue1brown
The essence of LLM appears to me as simple "Brute Force" minimization of a "Cost Function" where local minima are identified by finite difference methods, but on a grand scale.
The minima identified are particularly striking when paired with human language as the output, essentially next word predictions applied repeatedly to build up a corpus of text. (eg a high-tech plagiarized paper submitted by an unethical & grinning HS student.)
There is a random aspect due to feeding models such an incredible quantity of parameters (1.5+ Billion parameters) and allowing the model to chug probability distribution matrices in order to "generate" the next word in the sequence. Linear order minimization is apparently not a feature of human language, (Eagles that fly swim, swim describes Eagles despite being on opposite ends of the statement)
Using brute force is the last logical approach when the fundamentals of a processes of human cognition elude us -- it seems incredible wasteful, both time and energy wise, and that these higher order vectors can be "plugged and chugged" at all is a testament to improving GPU and Semiconductor technology as a whole.
IYC Race Director Skip and team have done an excellent job in organizing races - here are the remaining races for 2024. See you on the water!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/144kR7n9oKvdPFyaoOooioFcV6jj2eJ7D/view
I was fortunate to have a firm but fair FAA DPE and the following was my experience:
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| Important to know when you can turn (at what altitude) when not specified in an ODP, SID |
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| Speak on 122.1, you receive on 112.6 the Panoche VOR |
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| Snapshot of FXAIX Today |
The S&P 500, as measured by proxy FXAIX dipped to the $180 level and tested as high as $200+ within the last week. That is a 10% gyration in mere days. Investors have swayed from optimism due to Fed rate cuts and pessimism due to expanding war in the Middle East (Israel vs. Iran proxies Hamas & Hezbollah in Lebannon).
When Trump was elected in 2016, FXAIX was valued at ~$65. Contrast that to today, Oct 02, where the same fund is valued close to $198+. That is a 14% CAGR over the 8 year period. 4 of those 8 years were during the Trump administration, and 4 under Biden. The S&P appears more volatile in 2024 than in 2016 with a higher standard deviation (roughly twice) of $4 vs $2. However normalized to the average, the volatility in 2016 is higher 2.5% vs 2% over that trailing 63 days.
Compare 63 consecutive days in 2016 spanning the election to 63 trailing days in 2024 ending Oct 02, 2024
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| 2016 FXAIX was relatively stable, even over the surprise election Trump result |
Jasmine is getting a much needed refit after her adventures at this year's Hog Island Race. I was curious to see that an entrepreneur had taken the initiative to make replacement "buttons" for the tramp-lacing. It looks like this company below is out of Switzerland and even has a Stainless steel "beefy" version!
https://www.h2o-sensations.com/en/beams-accessories/1097-lacing-buttons-stainless-steel-121845mm-8215000869287.html
In other news, Jasmine's covers roughly fit and serve the purpose as towable trailer "yard" covers. I may need to modify these as I transition Jasmine to beach wheels for full beach launch capability.
Here is where I found my "trolly", a version of the "Cat Trax" called "Euro Trax".
https://www.cadkat.com/EUROTRAX_launching_trolley_for_catamarans.html
Quality appears good, very well though out for assembly, with long rolling delin bearings on an aluminium pole/shaft. Cradles somewhat customisable to different beach cats.
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| Jasmine with her new duds |
Galvanic Corrosion of jib car track:
I need to locate a new track supplier - haven't had luck yet. For now, I'll simply slide the Jib slug fore of this corroded area:
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| Galvanic Corrosion - SUS to Aluminum with significant material loss |
I changed the oil on Big Red (Porsche 924s) and it came out a red colour -- this appears to be the effect of not driving her for a while in the last 1-2 years and the oil not getting a chance to pick up combustion products/soot which would blacken the synthetic oil. Also the fact that the oil was Mobil Synthetic, Costco special.
On Richmond Beer Cans:
I started to join in 1-2 beer can races despite the traffic up from S. Bay (which is a deal breaker moving forward unless I'm already in N. Bay). These are great tune-up sessions with a simple course out to South Hampton Shoal. Incidentally, the light house taken from South Hampton Shoal is here:
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| A beautiful St Francis YC asset! Who knew? |
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| Richmond YC Wednesday night beer cans |
Application: I currently have Jasmine sitting on a boat trailer in the yard - these covers install on that trailer. This is the first set, the front hull covers, port and starboard.
Salt spray on the sea coast has a way of rapidly erroding covers and testing fabric life. I remade my front covers and here are some images if you are thinking of doing the same.
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| Starboard Hull cover - flap comes inward towards center of the boat to zip close from crossbar |
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| My Port Cover came out too tight compared to my starboard cover. Measure dimensions carefully to prevent this and allow sufficient closure space for zipper (don't pin too tightly) |
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| 84" YKK Zipper, zips fore to aft |
