Roadwolf's Blog

Near the end of the Into The Universe series with Stephen Hawking, he states that there is a force called Dark Energy which pushes space apart.  This is apparently the cause of the big bang, but no one can really figure out how this Dark Energy triggered the big bang, nor can they really prove it exists.  What I find really entertaining is the fact that Hawking himself stated in the same show that gravity is a very powerful and underestimated force (paraphrasing).

It is my belief that the Big Bang was actually a huge black hole, which reached the point of failure.  The point at which it could not hold any more.  It is very possible that a chemical reaction occurred, similar to how stars form.  Black holes behave differently depending on how large, or small they are.  So what about a super massive black hole?  Well, we cant really say how it would react, but chances are, there is a limit to how dense matter can get.

After running many simulations of gravity, I have found that if you leave them long enough, while many particles appear to have been sling shotted far away from a focal center point, they will always eventually find their way back.  Unless of course they run into something else.  Does the force of gravity have limits?  Likely not.  Galaxies millions of light years away from each other do effect each other through their gravities interacting.  I imagine the same holds true to galaxies and stars billions of light years away.  I imagine that the force of gravity will diminish just as visible light would diminish at such distances, but that gravity is still there, pulling on the objects and slowing its outward speed down ever so slightly.

Eventually, it is possible that star systems will end up in a deep freeze type scenario, where we find ourselves far away from other galaxies, seemingly on our own in the universe…  But eventually we should be sucked back into the great crunch.  We may wobble around it a bit, and perhaps form an elliptical orbit around it for many billions of years before we are eventually sucked into a massive black hole.  But I do believe that the universe will eventually collapse into itself again – only to eventually grow too dense again, compress all the particles back into hydrogen atoms, and start over again with another big bang.

This is almost like the war between the Elements and the Forces of Nature, the dominant force in this case being Gravity.

I understand that there are studies which have found that things are moving away from each other in the universe, and things are gaining speed as they move away, but keep in mind this is all a matter of perspective from where we sit here on earth.  It is also possible for galaxies to propel themselves by the many star systems sling shotting around inside the galaxy, thus shifting the balance of gravity, and causing the whole galaxy to speed up.

Eventually however, I think all the galaxies will eventually turn into huge black holes, and the black holes of the former galaxies would eventually gravitate towards each other and merge.  I estimate it would take a trillion years or so in order for the universe to collapse into it self again, re-condense the atoms to the simplest form, Hydrogen, and start the process all over again.

It is possible that there are other universes out there.   Perhaps there were star systems very close to the big bang when it occurred, but the blast obliterated them, or the force of the shock wave sent them flying further out into space then we can see.  Since most stars would of been formed long after the original blast occurred, it is possible that the stars nearest the big bang, were pushed away or destroyed long before the first stars in our universe came into being.  Thus we might not be able to look that far back in time by looking into space.

Either way it is an intriguing thought.  If someone wants to debate these theories with me, I would welcome the debate.  I am interested in hearing the points which support this Dark Energy theory.

Tags: Nature by Roadwolf
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So I finally purchased an Axixtech Torrent lightbar, and it arrived last week.  The bar is as clean and sleek looking in person as it looks on the web.  The bar is built in a solid manner. It is not easy to open up to gain access to the inside, and I do not recommend trying. Everything is very well sealed and enclosed.

The bar mounted up nicely on my 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo.  The support plates for the feet were all I needed in order to mount the bar to the rails of my roof rack.

My bar is a fairly standard configuration, full blue bar with dual color blue/amber LED modules at the back for the arrow bar.

The video above is very telling.  In direct sun, you can still make out the led modules.  And they are bright enough to cause lens flare, even in the same frame as the sun.

In the manner which I have mounted this bar, when it is not activated, it looks just like a luggage rack.  You can not tell it is a lightbar until you get right up behind my vehicle.  This is good, as it limits the number of people who ’shadow’ me on the highway, sitting in my blind spot, because they are too afraid of passing me.  I hate when that happens – but since I installed the Torrent, it hasn’t happened very often.

I have already had the chance to use this lightbar twice while responding to a call.  Both times I have had no issues or problems with people in my way.  On both sides of the road, everyone pulled over.  Cars, trucks, semi-trucks, and buses.  A huge improvement to just having a dash light.

In terms of brightness, this lightbar is bright.  Some of the guys at my hall were joking that it could be used as an airport landing strip light.  At night time, I think I need to activate the Dim mode so I don’t blind people.

In the day time this bar is easily visible from at least a mile away – if not more.  At night I imagine this bar would be visible from upwards of 10 miles away at full brightness.

I have dual halogen take downs in my bar.  In terms of lighting up a scene, they work more like floodlights (as opposed to spotlights) which is nice.  That being said, they are still brighter then the headlights when you look at the front of the vehicle.  The alley lights are nice as well.  They do work, but again they are not spotlights, so it is more of a flood light effect.   It is useful for lighting up a dark street or looking for an address.

In Warning Mode 3, the Takedown lights and Alley lights alternate.  There is nothing you can do to really avoid that.  That being said, I think they flash at half power, so they give you the flashing halogen effect from the front and side, but they are not overly blinding at night.  Also of note in Mode 3, you can not turn the Takedowns on fully, nor can you turn on the Arrow Bar.

‘Cruise Mode’ is also very useful.  Who needs scene lights?  Just give yourself White or Amber corner modules and activate cruise mode.  All of the corner lights light up, and stay on.  This is useful at events where you need to be visible for people to approach you through a crowd – or even for when your sitting waiting for calls,  flip it on, and it lights up the area around your vehicle.  I will likely be using this for camping and off roading, where I need to see around the vehicle, to save on flashlight batteries and such.

The lightbar has 3 main warning modes. We have already spoken a bit about Mode 3. Mode 3 is the ‘pursuit mode’ which is to be used while responding to a call, or chasing someone. Each LED module (pair) in Mode 3 is fully programmable as to what flash pattern it will use. In program mode, you can cycle through each set of modules and select various flash patterns. The same holds true in Mode 2.

In Mode 2, the takedown lights and alley lights do not flash automatically. The Arrow bar also functions in Mode 2.  I have set the light heads to alternate is a slower pattern in Mode 2, then I have them set at in mode 3.

In Mode 1, the whole bar alternates as if it was one single light module. You can select various flash patterns, but you have no control over which light heads are selected. I have set my Mode 1 up with Dim, and Front Cutoff, so it acts as a rear warning light. It works well.

You can view the wiring diagram and flash pattern diagram in the User Manual located here: http://www.lightningxproducts.com/pdfs/TORRENT.pdf

So long as the corner modules are all activated, this bar does meet and exceed SAE J845 specs. With the Amber Arrow Bar, this bar also meets and exceeds SAE J595 specs. And when configured properly, this bar can meet part of the SAE J2498 spec.

Buffalo Police Department uses Axixtech Torrents on their newer police cars.  They are very effective and after speaking to a few officers about the bars, I haven’t heard any complaints. Rightfully so, this bar is excellent.  Honestly, the Axixtech line of emergency lighting is easily on par with the big names.  In some cases Axixtech blows the competition out of the water. When I first was getting into LEDs, I was warned to stay away from any LED brand other then Axixtech. And I can totally see why. For the price, and affordability of these products, compared to the effectiveness and dependability of these products, Axixtech are by far the best out there.  I have owned various Axixtech lights over the past few years, and I must say they have never let me down.

I want to thank http://www.lightningxproducts.com for their help in making this project become a reality.  I highly recommend checking them out, as they have been very helpful. In conclusion, this is an amazing lightbar and I would highly recommend it to anyone who does emergency service work. You will not regret it.

Tags: General, Hobbies, Roadwolf's Rants, Volunteer Work by Roadwolf
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This update touches briefly on the old Newfoundland route I have been working on.

To date the main line is now complete, measuring a whopping 270 miles!  Several branches still require some work.  As do some of the cities and a yard.

I have started work on landscaping, and am well underway.  I am aiming for a fairly wild, and lush route, yet still trying to keep the fps rates up there.  So I am putting highly detailed items within about 200 meters of the track, and away from the track I scale back dramatically.   You really cant tell from the track that this is the case.

Here are some shots of the work in progress:

These shots are taken from my laptop, which has a microsoft video adapter GPU.  Therefore they aren’t that great of a resolution…   but  the fact that I can play the game decently on such a computer, with so many trees and on such a large route, is a pretty good sign.

Tags: Uncategorized by Roadwolf
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With various political and professional figures coming out recently, and telling their stories.  I figured it was time to tell mine.  While I do not believe it to be a very important close encounter in the grand scheme of things, it is none the less interesting to me.

It all happened one Summer night in perhaps 1990.  My parents were out of town, and my Aunt was over babysitting.  My cousin was also over.  He was about 12 at the time, while I was about 8.  It was maybe 11pm or so,  Ryan (my cousin) and I were playing with Legos in my bedroom, which faced out onto the quiet dead end street infront of our house.  I lived in Thornhill, which at the time was a quiet suburban community North of Toronto.  My Blinds were closed and my windows were opened a little.  It was a still and clear night.  Only the constant din of the nearby Highway 404 was audible as we played with my Legos.  My Aunt was already asleep, in my parents room, which also looked out onto the street.  This was a 2 story house, and all the bedrooms were on the 2nd floor.  There were no trees of any significance in our front yard, and no tall structures anywhere in view from my bedroom window.

Buttonville Airport was about a Mile away, and as such, it was a no fly zone unless aircraft were landing or taking off.  I would often see and hear many types of aircraft from my bedroom.  Air Ambulances, Helicopters, Corporate Jets, commercial jets, small props, the Goodyear Blimp, The Concorde! (6 times a year it would fly over my house), and even the occassional military cargo plane.  Not only that, but I was also on a glide path for Pearson International Airport which was a good 10 Miles away.  If I recall, Buttonville traffic usually circled about 1400 ft ASL, to 2400 ft ASL, and Pearson traffic on the glide path usually were about 3000 ASL over my house.

So obviously Ryan and I were quite shocked when my windows lit up bright, as if a spotlight was pointed at them.  The light in my room was on, but the glow around the edge of the window blinds was almost pure white if I recall correctly.  We exchanged confused looks, and both went to the window.  We both peeked through the blinds so wee a very bright light, in an oval shape hovering about 30 to 40 feet above the streetlight which was infront of my neighbours house.  I recall looking around at the other houses, and none of them appeared to be lit up at all.  Nor was my yard.  Infact if it wasn’t for a oval light in the sky, everything appeared normally lit.

My window was opened as I mentioned, but we heard no sound at all.  We watched the light float perfectly still above the street light, still apparently shining just at us.  Assuming the light was directly above the street light, and aproximately 30 to 40 feet above said street light (I recall it being the 2 times the height of the street light above the ground) – Then I would have to say that the light was about 20 feet across at its widest point.

We both watched quietly for a minute or two.  Then we saw the light dim quickly and as it did so, it flew off to the North in the direction of Aurora, / Newmarket and was gome in less then a second – gaining altitude crazy fast as it did so.  When the light was dim, we could make out a faint triangular shape which was larger then the source of the light.  Perhaps 50 feet or so across.

At the time, York Region, nor any police service in the area were using helicopters, so that was ruled out.  Also the fact that we did not hear anything.  I happened to have a book called “Aircraft of the 21st century” which I got for Christmas the previous year.  Ryan and I frantically looked through the book, looking for something that looked similar to what we saw.  We found nothing in the book.  At a loss, we barged into my parents room to find my Aunt asleep.  We woke her up and told her what we saw.  She told us to go back to sleep.  In the morning we got up early, and went outside to ‘look for burn marks on the ground’.  We did not find any.

Being 8 years old, I did not report it to anyone.  I did not see anyone else peeking through their windows that night.  I do not think anyone else saw it.  I would be willing to get more information as to the possible date, by co-ordinating with my Aunt, Parents and Cousin to try and fill in the gaps in my memory – assuming someone knew of a known report in the area in that general time frame.

Because of this event, I am sure that we are not alone.  What I saw was not man made.  I am sure of this.  Neither my cousin, nor myself were on any type of drugs, nor were we under the influence of any alcohol.  We were just 2 boys playing Lego.  We both remember it to this day, and I know that my Cousin does not like to talk about it.

Tags: Canadian Life by Roadwolf
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Well I figured it was about time for me to post an update here.

I have been hard at work lately, as well as balancing my time with trying to get my TF2 servers organised.  My previous gaming clan, the FastLaneCrew decided they could no longer support the servers, so they handed them back to me, and I thusly had to build up a small clan to support them.  So far things are going well, and I am working on getting everything running smoothly.

My Green Cheek Conure, “Paddy” is doing well.  He has started a molt, likely because of this hot weather we have been having.  But otherwise is doing fine.  The wart on his eye is gone that’s to some anti-biotic the vet provided for him.  Paddy has been a joy for me to have around.  While he is kind of like having a child in some respects, he is generally easier to take care of.  Paddy has attached himself to me, and he will often ask me to scratch behind his ears and enjoys cuddling under my hand when I am trying to type (which can get annoying…).  Him and Beryl generally get along okay, and I have let both out of the cages at the same time, and they both like to fly around together.  ‘Little Bird’ however is still a mean bitch towards Paddy..  She however has not gotten her wings yet, so we don’t let her out.  I have tried to convince Nightbird to start training the Parakeets again, but I don’t think that is going to happen.

Work is going well.  I am on night shifts now, which is interesting.  The job involves walking long underground tunnels…  I can’t really go into the specifics of it, as it is heavily monitored by DHS, but its pretty neat.

I have had a craving to go hiking lately – perhaps even to Zoar Valley again, so I can relax in the nude for a bit… lol  Meh, what can I say, it feels very liberating to do that…

I was kicked out of the firehall as my work schedule interfered with my drills which I was required to attend.  I did get permission to get excused from those drills from my chief, however apparently that fact was forgotten when the board of directors meeting took place and they were like… oh hes been missing drills…   no shit…   its called earning a living.

Not to worry, I am likely moving out of Buffalo within a year or so.  That hall was fairly boring, and I am not missing much.  In my opinion, they have some serious problems there, which should be sorted out.  But they won’t be, and eventually the hall will get shit-canned, and they will sit there scratching their heads wondering why.  Likely for the best I am no longer involved.

I shall try to post more often now that I am kinda getting settled into my new schedule.

Tags: Beryl, Buffalo Life, Flying Circus, Paddy, Roadwolf's Rants by Roadwolf
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Tags: Canadian Life by Nightbird
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