Illness – Control Surfaces with No Moving Parts – Recent Gallery – Verticals Plug
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Illness
Yes, sadly, I am finding out one can get the flu twice in a season. EDIT: 02/01/2023 I have asthma, and apparently an allergic reaction to eucalyptus in the lozenges I was scarfing by the bagful around the clock. I went to a clinic and tested negative for Covid and flu. I have been getting worse over the last few days. My doc says this flu season do be like that for a lot of people. So, this a cranky newsletter.
I had projects underway, I worked at a different school in Pittsburgh this past week. EDIT 02/01/2023. Staff offered me a long-term substitute job. So, I have an opportunity to use tools to build and shape curriculum, track behaviors, all the bells and whistles. I also just last night found out about an apprenticeship I can afford. I will substitute during the day and study at night. Going back to school is, for me, at this stage in my life, a vision quest. In a study that looks at the past decade or so, at least in PA, the students appear to be really suffering in math. I wonder how they did with the 2023 PSSAs.
Students came back from the pandemic all scoobied from lack of continuity. Students’ parents lost jobs. Teachers quit. The economic effect of Covid is a long-term problem, and it obscures enduring misery already unaddressed. I am going to try to teach some tweens some math this spring at a Pittsburgh school. I am just filling a gap locally. My day job is an effort to help kids, to be there. Showing up to work every day is a good example to set. I remember that being one of the reasons I enjoyed school. It was a relatively safe space compared to my house and neighborhood.
Why is it bad to pay teachers well? Why is it bad to be able to protect children, and monitor social media generated within the boundaries of a school system? Why is FERPA ignored? Why did Zoom not get sued for FERPA violations when the pandemic forced families to stream their environment in an age of object-recognition technology? Why did unpaid caregivers like me do the heavy lifting of ensuring kids did their work and obviously made a difference for no effect? I don’t want any handouts. I want to be pro, to shine, provide others with care and opportunities. I want to satisfy clients.
Hybrid jobs and remote work, at least in theory, are “greener”. Buildings serve less of a purpose. “This is where I work” is becoming “this is when I work”.
If you no longer need to commute an hour to work each day, you save gas. You pollute less. Buildings are polluters. The decline of metro traffic is giving some cities reason to offer more free parking, subsidized mass transit, and other perks to get people to spend money downtown. Downtowns are adapting. Cars ruled the 20th century. What will define us in the post-fossil fuel 21st century?
Cranky
While the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. If you work minimum wage, how else will you commute to work downtown? I found the local transit system in Pittsburgh to be an amazing value. I used it in Atlanta too. I would commute by bus to a metro station, then roller skate to work downtown. I used it in DC. I used it in Europe. I used it in Asia, in the Americas. I love public transportation. I love seeing people reading on the train. So, hats off to bus and rail drivers, ferry captains and such.
The Biden administration has just been more conducive to inequality than Trump could ever dream to be. If the rich paid their fair share of taxes, these students could have a better future. Their parents could save for rainy days. They save for that next trip to the hospital and assured bankruptcy.
Globalism seemed to hold progress in its hands for a while, but it passed it off to the multinational feudal corporate war fought by people with boring and vituperative schemes to feed infantile fantasies of power and domination. Success is poorly defined within such a crude domain. I mean, my cat, by comparison, needs none of those material trappings. How am I more evolved than a cat?
In its infancy, America, with its landed gentry, resembles today’s corporate aoverlords averse to oversight and accountability. Governors have been replaced with heads of state. Technology can create gulfs between groups who can access and use it or not. I know I will make a difference if I try to bridge that gap. That keeps me going.
The Doomsday Clock moved to 11:59:30 pm, largely due to the war in Ukraine. After pandemics, the world suffers wars. They always send the poor. Mass shootings plague our society with no end in sight. China looms large in the minds of the military-industrial complex. I know very little about Chinese culture. On the other hand, America is always a spectacle for the world to share. The 2024 election is a good time for creating trouble in the US. I am smart enough to know not to worry about it, but there is so much rental space in my empty head I dragged the market.
Control Surfaces with No Moving Parts
Plasma actuators that can change the direction of an aircraft without moving parts are an interesting design solution. An active flow control system helps restore boundary conditions in laminar flow for greater maneuverability. I am too sick to write anything else today, and it is affecting my day.
Recent Gallery
Verticals Community Learning Center
Drone Cinematography Classes!
So, everyone who attempted the test passed and earned an FAA TRUST certificate. We tested through a site administered by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University because I support their UAV technology courses.
The three days I participated as a volunteer instructor at Verticals were as follows: April 28th, May 5th and May 12th, 2022. I guided students through the process of learning how to safely fly drones in uncontrolled airspace. Two students flew my professional drone over the nearby Monongahela River, by an old truss bridge. One landed the professional drone, wow! On the first day! We planned a video with storyboards and a huddle on production elements. They brainstormed, scheduled shots, got gear, and produced the footage. One the last day, students edited and shared footage.
I basically hustled parts, minor repairs, battery charging, and network connections to and from supply to the production locations. I answered questions. One team was outside the building, another inside. I invited students to explore their own styles. They had fun. The teams erupted with creativity and effort. I had hoped to use the course module in a creative writing lesson or a programming lesson. The presentation that I use sort of serves as a class rubric, but I supply the students with worksheets to plan their productions step-by-step.
I learned some crucial limitations and opportunities for the next session. The most valuable thing is to have a report formatted to assign communication channels, teams, roles, and work schedules. Safety issues were routinely handled successfully. All craft and pilots, tablets and other parts of the Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) made it back in the box, so to speak. All inventory recovered, repairs and orders made, all data shared in the cloud, students back in their districts, rooms ready for the next class.
Verticals Plug
Verticals is a local community development center that gives kids a choice of after-school programs that enrich young lives and provide a sense of pride in community. A link to the group is provided. Some school districts, like Monessen and Brownsville, pony up transportation. It makes a huge difference to the kids, and I am grateful to meet the van drivers. They like the class, too!
- How to fly recreational drones with basic and advanced maneuvers.
- How to plan flights for capturing media.
- Get the soon-to-be mandatory – and EASILY OBTAINED – TRUST flyer certificate from the FAA, online for free.
- How to film, edit, and share a video you make with drone footage and apps.
- How to fly a drone with Scratch Python block code.
- Provide information about industrial drone applications and jobs.
Local Resource in Action
Community groups will have some authority to determine the nature of its flight operations in local airspace come this fall 2022. As long as a responsible pilot is connected to the group, the area can develop flight operations that best suits the needs of the group. A FRIA is basically an area supported by a Part 107 drone pilot or more qualified pilots. The FAA determines the location and quality of FRIAs.
I can see a drone academy being a part of an 21st-century community, so I am studying what we need to do to qualify to become a FRIA. I have a break from school in a month, and I like to read legislation. One of the problems is that it’s not 1986 anymore. These rules were written before the Internet absolutely debased the concept of community. It used to involve, at the very least, physical mail for remote correspondence, on land lines, even. Brick and mortar have given way to ones and zeros. The architecture is in an electric field instead of a dirt lot. “Model aviation” was a concept that existed before FPV, before streaming, before smart phones, before laptops. Ridiculous changes continue to occur and need to occur more quickly because of climate change.
- (1) is described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
- (2) is exempt from tax under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
- (3) the mission of which is demonstrably the furtherance of model aviation;
- (4) provides a comprehensive set of safety guidelines for all aspects of model aviation addressing the assembly and operation of model aircraft and that emphasize safe aeromodelling operations within the national airspace system and the protection and safety of individuals and property on the ground, and may provide a comprehensive set of safety rules and programming for the operation of unmanned aircraft that have the advanced flight capabilities enabling active, sustained, and controlled navigation of the aircraft beyond visual line of sight of the operator;
- (5) provides programming and support for any local charter organizations, affiliates, or clubs; and
- (6) provides assistance and support in the development and operation of locally designated model aircraft flying sites.
Topics in the Verticals Youth Empowerment program include artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, drones, digital fabrication, coding, media production, design studio, blockchain, and crypto. Courses in the topics are presented alongside fitness and wellness resources. The center director is retired NFL pro-football player William James, who stepped off the gridiron and into a new life arena. William has an amazing base of supporters, collaborators, volunteers, and stakeholders who help make this happen. Very grateful.
Verticals Youth Empowerment Center is designed to stimulate young minds, give parents an inclusive environment in which to socialize, and to offer youth a sense of pride in themselves and their community. There are other facilities in the works.
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I became a drone technology service integration researcher in 2017 while in university. I have a passion for drones. Contact me for information about services.
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