With the economy getting worse in all countries, some to the point of falling apart, it’s becoming more important to have a backup plan in case of emergencies. If the entire power grid was wiped out what would you do for power? Even if you have plans of alternative energy through solar panels or wind generators the inverters would be fried unless you had a faraday cage. But what are the odds of that happening? Considering that an HEMP (high-altitude electromagnetic pulse) blast can be the size of an entire nation as big as the United States it’s something that everyone should look at as a realistic situation.

What is an EMP and HEMP attack exactly?

An EMP attack with an electromagnetic pulse generated without the use of nuclear weapon is called an NNEMP (Non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse). The range of an NNEMP is extremely smaller than a HEMP because they require a chemical explosive as their initial power source. That being said we’ll be talking about HEMP’s since, as stated, they could be as big as an entire country. A HEMP attack is employed by launching a nuclear bomb (even a simple one) 25+ miles above Earth’s atmosphere and detonating it. The pulse overloads all electronic devices (and batteries such as the one from a laptop will be “shorted”). If this were to happen and a nuclear bomb was launched ~30 miles above the atmosphere of the United States and detonated above Kansas it would take out ALL electronic operations in the entire U.S. The same kind of reaction is possible with a solar flare (it has the same geomagnetic storm as an E3 area of a HEMP).

But you have a backup plan for your power source?

Unless you have your inverter in a Faraday cage it will be fried along with transformers and power lines. ANY electronics not protected WILL be destroyed. (Whether or not you have a surge protector or if they’re not plugged in a socket).

Solar Flares:

A big concern with EMP’s are with solar flares, but why is that? A severe solar flare has a similar geomagnetic storm to an E3 area of a HEMP. Solar flares happen every day and in most cases it takes less than a day to reach Earth (sometimes only 17 hours). If your entire city was told you had 17 hours until a solar flare might destroy your city’s power for a few weeks would you be prepared? Or more likely you wouldn’t have a warning (like the province of Quebec on March 13).

March 13, 1989: The ENTIRE province of Quebec was blacked out when the EMP created by the solar storm found their way into the power grid of the Hydro-Quebec Power Authority. Their capacitors tried to maintain the currents but couldn’t handle it and within seconds 6 million people found themselves without power. The only thing that stopped this from happening to the US was the fact the extreme zone hit Canada instead. It would have been an estimated cost of $6 billion damages if the capacitors on the Allegheny Network had been hit like they were in Canada.

Another one that’s interesting:

October 29, 2003: One of the fastest moving solar flares to date causes a $450 million dollar satellite to crash to Earth.

How can you protect against a solar flare/EMP? One of the more trustworthy methods is a Faraday cage.

What is a Faraday cage?

A Faraday cage or Faraday shield is an enclosure formed by conducting material or by a mesh of such material. Such an enclosure blocks out external static and non-static electric fields. Two things to remember is a Faraday cages HAVE to be grounded and there can’t be any gaps in the protective material. Even though a Faraday cage isn’t fool proof it will increase the chance of saving your emergency electronics infinitely (since it WILL be destroyed if it’s not protected). The higher the frequency of the EMP, the faster it is. If it goes too fast it will causes a burn out. This is why the cage must be continuously grounded and the openings in the mesh/material cannot be too large. If they holes in the mesh are too large then the magnetic pulse will manage to slip in. A simple Faraday cage would be to get a small box (or you could easily make the basic wooden frame of the box) and use very fine mesh (2×4 brass mesh sheets are fine) and stable the brash mesh on the outside of the box. Make a secured way to get in the box (a simple lid with hinges would work) and solder a ground wire to one of the corners and ground the cage. If you want to go the extra mile to protect against any type of EMP bury the box under a few feet (2-3 feet would work) of soil. You can place all your emergency battery operated equipment in it (remember to include batteries in the cage as well).

With a properly constructed Faraday cage you can most likely protect anything that was placed inside it from an EMP or solar flare.

IMPORTANT:

Electronics that are not properly shielded WILL be destroyed if they are hit with an EMP. It doesn’t matter if they are plugged into the wall or not. (There have been rumors that say if your electronics are not plugged in the wall then it they will be fine. This is not true). If you’d like the full explanation as to why you can email/message me.

A Faraday cage that uses only mesh or sheet metal can only shield against a magnetic frequency up to the RF range. Electronics nowadays are useful in the SHF, UHF and VHF range (such as your television). To efficiently protect your electronics from a EMP that is higher than an RF range you need some steel, iron or thick copper.

When you need a way for clients, students, employees, or anyone else to communicate with you from distant areas of your campus or property, a callbox or call box is one way to do it. A call box is a box made of metal or fiberglass that contains electronic circuitry that enables someone to press a button or pick up a handset and call a central location for assistance. Some callboxes also allow calling a portable radio so that assistance can be mobile.

There are two main types of callbox units available, wired and wireless. A wired callbox involves running a cable to it from the central location. This guide is about the other kind, the wireless units.

The benefit of a wireless callbox is that you save money by not having to do trenching and running expensive cable to the unit. You also don’t have to pay any air-time or telephone service fees with these wireless systems. As mentioned, another benefit is that since the unit is wireless, people monitoring the units can carry handheld radios that communicate with the callbox. That allows your monitoring people to be mobile.

The range of these units is several miles, which can be extended by adding an external antenna. Some units can use radio repeaters to extend this range even more.

If you have existing two-way business radios, you’ll want a system that can integrate with them. Some callboxes can be programmed to be compatible with virtually any brand of VHF or UHF business band radio.

You can get call boxes that require an FCC license, or you can get units that are certified for use on special FCC License-Free MURS Business Frequencies. If you choose a licensed version, the license is usually not too difficult or expensive to obtain.

One problem you may have in placing a call box is the lack of available power. You’ll want to choose a system that lets you use battery or AC power. You can also get units that have optional solar power so that they can run for several days on a single day of sunshine.

If you need to remotely control gates, magnetic door locks, or barrier arms from your portable 2-way radio or desktop base station intercom, then select a unit that has this capability. With this ability you can let someone in a gate or door when they call you. There are units that also let you turn on a strobe light at the callbox location to help draw attention to it.

Another useful feature is the ability for call boxes to store a voice message that is played when someone presses its button. This could be a message that gives the caller specific instructions on what to do. These units can also send a second and different voice message alert to the monitoring central location or portable radios. This message could give the callboxes location or it could be an emergency message of some type.

If you have several callboxes in use and you need to know the location of the unit calling in, then you can get a call box that transmits a unique numeric identifier to a radio that has the ability to decode this identifier. This is like having a telephone with Caller ID capability.

By adding a motion detector or some other detection device, you can be alerted when that detection device is activated. Some callboxes will send either a tone alert or a custom voice alert when the detection sensor status changes. If this voice message is not immediately answered, the alert message is resent multiple times.

If you are running your system on battery power, you need a unit that has battery conservation mode. In this mode, only the absolute necessities for operation are powered, and the unit can not accept calls to it; it can only make calls. You can attach an external sensor to automatically put the unit into full power mode when someone is detected near the box. This will allow you to make a call to it.

Other useful features:

– If you want to listen to what’s happening around the call box, then you’ll need a unit that can be paged so you can use the callbox microphone to monitor the sound around it.

– A low battery alert or external power fail tone is sent to the monitoring portable radio or base intercom.

– A paging feature allows selective calling of individual boxes or a group of callboxes simultaneously.

– The busy channel feature prevents someone from transmitting if someone else is using the radio channel.

– Wireless callboxes have fast installation since no wiring is required.

– Entry keypad with built-in relay lets people enter a code at the call box to open a gate or door. Remote opening of the gate by monitoring personnel can still happen also.

These callboxes are being used for applications like parking lots, college campuses, airports, hospitals, construction sites, manufacturing facilities, resorts, hotels, farms, warehouses, delivery docks, campgrounds, gated facilities, or anywhere people may need assistance. So by using call boxes, you can put clear wireless voice communication anywhere you need it, quickly, without expensive trenching and monthly air-time fees.

When Were Emoticons Created and Who Created Them?

Text emoticons are a modern form of expression. Humans have been expressing themselves through written word for decades. Dating back to the Egyptians, all cultures have created some way to scribe their thoughts and experiences in the form of hieroglyphs, tablets, and journals. As cultures became more civilized, the way to communicate and write became somewhat universal across the globe. While some would argue that emotional icons like the smiley face were created decades ago, most scientists agree these written symbols started somewhere around 1897. The symbols were take to another level as the computer gained popularity for word processing. Scott Fahlman created the first smiley and frown face by combining the parenthesis and the colon. The simple combination of the two symbols is considered the birth of virtual text emoticons.

Advancing Technologies Create a Need for Evolved Virtual Text Emoticons

Emoticons have been used since the early days of the Internet. When AOL Messenger and chat rooms were in their prime you probably exchanged your fair share of communications with friends and individuals who shared your same interests. In the early days of the Internet, the simple symbol combinations were the only way chatters could use text emoticons to express their current mood. The smileys and emoticons you see today were not available when the Internet was considered young. As more households invested in computers and logged onto the Internet, developers realized that the information super highway was here to stay. New Web browsers, Internet companies, messenger platforms, and social media networking platforms started to flood the Internet at a rapid speed. Advancing technologies in online communications eventually led to the need for more advanced text emoticons. Now, individuals have more options than they could ever use when it comes to emoticons.

Text Emoticons and Social Media

Text emoticons were first used in emails, chat rooms, and instant message chat boxes. As cyberspace advanced, there was a growing need for graphics that would let the user express themselves without using symbols combinations that could be confusing. The first graphic text emoticons were introduced on messenger platforms and some email platforms. These emoticons were yellow faces that expressed some type of emotion. You could pull down a box, browse the various graphic text emoticons, and choose the emoticon that described your current emotion so the individual you were communicating with knew the tone you were using. At first, not all communications platforms were compatible with these symbols. Now, emoticons have been adapted to be compatible with a variety of different technologies.

One of the most popular avenues where emoticons are used to convey emotion is through social networking. With social networking becoming more popular than email and talk combined, it is no surprise that the generations that use these platforms love the opportunity to express themselves in a universe that was once devoid of emotion. The keyboard has become the world’s new pallet and if you want to paint a picture of your current mood, chances are you will use text emoticons. While some do not appreciation the transition from talking to typing, those who are embracing modern communications can truly benefit from finding and using their own special text emoticons.

What Features Are Available Now?

Do you really want to represent yourself as a yellow smiley face? If you answered no, then it is time for you to customize your own text emoticons. New technologies let users choose from a variety of different pre-made emoticons and they also offer the option to customize. You can create faces that look like yours, or goofy faces that are simply fun. Some platforms even let users log in to an application to change their text emoticons clothes or even their hair. While this may sound like overkill, millions of people use these applications to create their own unique icons and even avatars to post on their profile. If you want to be unique in a conforming world, this is one way you can stay on top of your game.

Emoticons for Cell Phones

The world of emotion and emoticons has not evolved as quickly with cell phones. While a large percentage of the population owns a smartphone, individuals who do not cannot view emoticons that have been typed by the other party. The face may come through as symbols on a basic phone, or it may actually come through blank. This is an issue cell phone providers are trying to address. Until it is addressed, individuals with smartphones and Internet capable phones should only use text emoticons if they know the recipient has a smart phone. Stick to basic symbol emotions if your friend still have a flip.

Text emoticons are fun and silly. If you are looking for a simply way to express your emotions and you are not the most artistic person, emoticons will suffice. Text emoticons are tools that allow self-expression for the younger generation as well as Baby Boomers who are now computer literate. If you thought your could not convey emotions electronically, think again. It is amazing to look back and see how much the Internet has advanced. While more people appreciate new browsers, applications, and sites, some people really do put text emoticons to use. Review the faces and icons available on the Web and show your true emotions with creative emoticons.

Seems like everywhere we look the world is a tangle; tangled extension cords, tangled holiday lights, tangled boxes of thread, tangled wires behind the PC desk. And don’t forget about the bird’s nest of cords that go with our portable devices, such as MP3 headphone cords, cellphone headsets, and car and wall chargers, etc.

Ever wonder how that neatly-coiled, carefully-stored box of computer cables got all tangled-up by itself? Researchers at the University of California at San Diego have published a study of how strings of things (like… strings) become tangled and form knots. Their work is being used to understand how important knots like those found in strands of DNA are formed.

Sometimes getting knots in things seems to be a plus, as in the aforementioned DNA, but when dealing with portable-device cords, a tangle is a nuisance.

From a durability point of view, one of the problems with cables that come with portable devices is that the gauge of the wires is very small. That is, they are intentionally made thin in order to be lightweight. The result is that the wires are prone to breakage due to their weak mechanical strength. Even if by hand you carefully roll them up, each turn of the wire that you make imparts a twist in the wire inside the insulation that could further weaken the cable. To compound matters, those cables will often come out of your purse or backpack in a tangle, and pulling and sorting one cable from another adds to the possibility of damage.

In the cellphone-accessory world some manufacturers have invented a method to eliminate the knots and bulk associated with portable devices by using a retractor.

Retractors can be used on stereo headsets, cellphone headsets, 3.5mm stereo AUX cables, USB cables, car chargers, and many of the cables we use to connect, synchronize, and charge portable devices.

At the heart of the retractor is a flat metal spring wound in the shape of a coil and mounted to a spool inside a durable ABS plastic housing. During the manufacturing process the coil spring is wound up tight and held in place by an internal locking mechanism. Then the mid-point of a straight cable is placed in the center of the retractor and the lock is released, allowing each side of the cable to be wound onto the spool. To extend the cable for use, both ends of the cable are pulled at the same time. The action of extending the cable adds tension back to the coil-spring, and a locking mechanism holds the cable extended. Simultaneously pulling on both ends of the cable releases the mechanical lock, and the coil-spring pulls the cable back into the retractor housing.

The center-winder retractor as described above is used for stereo headsets, USB syncing & charging cables, stereo AUX cables, and any cable where both ends need to be connected to a device. Another type of retractor called the end-winder retractor is used in car-chargers, where one end is a connector for a portable device, and on the other end is a charger. The end-winder retractor employs the same type of coil-spring as the center-winder, but rolls up the cable around the internal spool like a garden hose onto a hose-reel.

In both cases, not all of the spring-tension is released when the cable retracts. Even when retracted completely into the housing, the coil-spring provides a small amount of tension to keep the cable snugly retracted and out of the way, ready for its next use.

While science continues to make amazing strides in understanding a complex world (and indirectly, how a box of old ropes in the garage can go from order to chaos) engineering-efforts continue to make real-world application of that science in order to make modern-life easy, more convenient, and in some instances, even tangle-free.

Here is a link to the String Article at the UCSD Division of Physical Science.