Jet Pack Update: Jet Packs In Development For Faster Running

Screen cap from the ASU promotional video.

Arizona State University is developing a Jet Pack that doesn't fly but allows users to run more quickly as part of its 4MM (4 minute mile) project. The idea is that U.S. service members could use the technology "a warfare-type arena," according to Jason Kerestes, a researcher on the project. Details and a video of the jet pack in action can be found in this Washington Post story.

Two More BIAB Tips (Learned The Hard Way)

Adding to my original list of 6 BIAB tips:

7. The amount of strike water used for BIAB varies by recipe

...sometimes significantly. And I've erred both ways. For my Oberon clone (which had a light grain and hop bill), I used too much water and ended up with an extra half-gallon of wort. As it was a 2-1/2 gallon batch, that extra made a big difference, and I ended up with a weak and watery beer.

I had the opposite problem for a double IPA I brewed. It had a much higher grain bill and 4 kinds of hops (including some for dry hopping), all of which absorb water. I ended up with a bit less wort than planned, which wasn't that big of a deal apart from not getting the full yield from the recipe.

How much water should you use? That can be easily calculated with online tools. I use the Simple BIAB Calculator, but there are many others. Since I started using a calculator, I've been hitting both my OG and my volume targets on the nose.

Check it out - the specific gravity of Kool-Aid.
Oh yeah!

8. Know your OG and FG -- use your hydrometer!

In my years of extract brewing, I rarely took hydrometer readings. They were cumbersome and unnecessary, and though the readings could confirm when my beers were ready to bottle, I instead preferred to wait until I was reasonably sure the fermentation was complete. Since switching to BIAB, I've changed my thinking and now always get an original gravity and a final gravity reading.

I'm taking hydrometer readings now mostly because of #7 above. If I had taken an OG reading for my Oberon clone, I probably would not have pitched my harvested Oberon yeast into the too-light wort and instead brewed it again another day. (All was not lost -- I did wash the yeast and re-used it in another batch later, but that's the subject of a future post. And though the Oberon clone was not ideal, it was still drinkable.)

So not only do hydrometer readings tell you when it's time to bottle, they also let you know how close you are to your target and how efficient your process is. It also allows you to calculate ABV, a number which never fails to amaze non-brewers. So take your readings!

Brewing Experiment #2: Harvesting Commerical Yeast For Brewing

I grew up in Michigan, and when I was of age I grew to love the beers of Kalamazoo-based Bell's Brewery. Their American wheat ale, Oberon (originally called Solsun), was a particular summertime treat. I'm now living in Maryland, and Bell's beer is available all around us -- but not in Maryland:

So unfair! (Map excerpted from http://bellsbeer.com/brands/brand-finder/)

So I could drive to PA, WV, NC, OH, KY or DC when I want a Bell's. Or I could make my own. According to brewers on the internets, one of the keys to Oberon's unique flavor is the yeast they use.

Our Jet Pack Coverage Continues...

Fear not, forward-thinking readers. Coverage of Jet Packs will continue here at Today in Jet Packs -- but we have broadened our scope slightly and will include coverage of jet pack tech along with other explorations.

Two recent Jet Pack items of note:

• As part of the Smithsonian Future Is Here Festival (which for some reason, TiJP was not invited to), a brave pioneer piloted a Jet Pack inside the Ronald Regan Building. Slate.com has pics and video.


• Start your budding high flier off right with this snazzy DIY Super Sci-Fi Rocket fueled Jet Pack.
  
  

Six Things To Know About BIAB (Brew In A Bag) If You're An Extract Brewer

I've been a longtime extract brewer who has recently been experimenting with all-grain brewing using the BIAB method. There are many great resources to learn about Brew in a Bag on the interwebs, so I'm not going to rehash that. But are some tips and things I learned while experimenting that may not be obvious until you've done it. Cheers!

"A" is my first BIAB beer. "1" is a traditional all-grain brewing of
the same recipe. We were doing a blind taste test. They tied.

1. It takes longer

Using the BIAB method takes longer than brewing with extracts:

• You're heating up more water (the full volume + some extra that will evaporate off or be absorbed by the grains), which takes more time to get to temp.
• Mashing takes time. Many BIAB brewers recommend mashing for 90 minutes plus a ten minute mash out (which requires more the ten minutes to bring it to the proper temperature.)

So it can easily add a couple of hours to your brew day. My first two BIAB attempts took between five and six hours total.

Why We're Fat Is Common Knowledge, Right?

I don't watch Fox's Family Guy that often, but did catch a rerun the other day of a 2006 episode called "Peter's Two Dads." Peter is in Ireland, and in one scene shares the following wisdom:

 

His matter-of-fact statement is no revelation. The roots of our weight and health problems are common knowledge after all, right? Our problem is we eat too much fat and exercise too little.

But perhaps not, according to science writer Gary Taubes. Taubes has written a number of articles and books on the subject, including a 2002 article in the NY Times "What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie," and a 2007 book of his I recently finished called Good Calories, Bad Calories.  

If there's an overarching theme to Taubes' writing about this topic it's that many of our ideas about diet that we accept as fact are based on very little actual evidence that has often been cherry picked by a few individuals with a definite agenda.

In Good Calories, Bad Calories, Taubes sorts through over 100+ years of experiments in diet and exercise, calling into question many of our most fundamental beliefs about diet, including:

• The idea that a calorie is a calorie, no matter what kind it is (carbohydrate, fat, protein etc.)
• That caloric restriction is necessary to lose weight
• That weight loss (or gain) is a simple as the difference between calories consumed and calories used by the body
• That exercise is an integral part of losing weight
• That a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet is healthiest
• That obesity is a disease of overeating and lack of will
• That a variety of foods need to be eaten in order to satisfy a body's nutritional requirements

This is just a sample of what Taubes covers over the course of 600 pages. He also looks at the role of diet (specifically the role of certain carbohydrates) in cancer, dementia and diabetes. It's not easy reading, and Taubes often seems to circle back to the same point. But it is fascinating, both in the study results that he presents and in his tracing of the history of our predominant beliefs about diet.    

Taubes has his critics, some of whom have dismissed the book claiming Taubes himself is selective about the studies he presents in the same way he accuses others in the book. But if Taubes is right (and from this layperson's perspective he makes a fairly convincing case for it), then many of the most basic recommendations about diet and staying healthy are wrong -- and the implications are enormous. Taubes doesn't make a lot of specific recommendations (though it's hard not to develop your own as you read through),  apart from a 'this is what I think this all means' list at the end and a call for more objective research. (He has since launched the Nutrition Science Initiative to do just that.) If nothing else, Good Calories, Bad Calories did convince me that more research is needed. And Family Guy shows just how ingrained the ideas that Taubes calls into question are. 

A Flight Into the Future!

While on holiday recently off the coast of North Carolina, I got an opportunity to try out flyboarding, perhaps the closest I'll get to flying an actual jet pack until scientists get off their duffs and get serious about the future. Takeaways: 1) Jet packs will be awesome. 2) Leaning back on a flyboard is a not recommended.

A short video of a portion of my flight follows...

Adventures in Uncanny Columbia: Bioshock Infinite

Computer age preamble: may contain spoilers!

So I'm working my way (slowly) through Bioshock Infinite. For the most part, it's fun and well done and often beautiful, as the heaps of critical acclaim attest. However...

Where is this guy keeping a pineapple anyway? Perhaps it he had a pocketful of chunks or rings rather than the whole thing. In my scrounging, it seems that the diet of citizens of this city in the sky consists entirely of fruit, coffee, soda and deserts. (And hot dogs, maybe.)  I haven't yet found an insulin 'salt,' but perhaps that comes later in the game. (Nor have I found a pineapple that wasn't on a person. Where do they get them?)

Is he keeping the coffee in a flask? A wooden leg?

Found this filed under 'C,' I assume. At least that's where I'd file it. If cake was something that I filed.

Though most things are extremely detailed and purty (except boxes of fruit and veggies) in Columbia, sadly, you can't walk up the stairs to these beach shacks. You just can't. This reminded me of a lot of the furniture in Portal 2 -- you should be able to interact with it, but can't. It's the little things like this that make it hard for me to keep my suspension of disbelief going.

(Image from gosunoob.com, because I couldn't go back
 without losing my autosave.)

Life ain't nuthin' but cash and citrus! (So long as you have a lock box to keep 'em safe.)

The gentleman on the right ordered a hot dog for one Columbuck (or whatever their money is called, I forget), but the guy on the left never served it to him. I watched for about 20 minutes. Perhaps he finally did get served -- after the children of Columbia stopped twirling twirling twirling. 

As I wandered around, it became clear that lock boxes are the fashion accessory of the season in Columbia. Everyone was carrying them. (Don't tell the 'forever hungry' guy above, but this particular lock box contained... a hot dog.)

Though citizens were on the lookout for some things they consider criminal, no one ever to batted an eye as I rifled through the furniture, boxes and barrels of Columbia, robbing them blind.

This woman had to get out of the way so I could help myself to the loot in the drawer in front of her.

People just leave money everywhere in Columbia, and often just throw it away.

It was not a one-time occurrence. No wonder they didn't bat an eye as I ran around pilfering everything. They also love to discard ammunition in the trash cans. 

And though the people don't notice your theft, and there is obviously a hatful of Columbucks at my feet, I can't pick it up. It's fake money, just like the beach shack stairs.

I love pears as much as the next guy (though not quite as much as the people I've met in the game), but somehow this just doesn't seem appetizing. I'll stick to getting food from file cabinets, thanks!

It's kind of hard to see as this picture is dark but among the cool stuff I found scrounging around in a side area (whilst I was supposed to be rushing to save Elizabeth) was this violin case that was holding... cake. A Portal reference?

Speaking of Elizabeth, what is her hat size anyway? It seems freakishly large. Perhaps that's an important part of the story, that I'll find out further on...

A few other things I didn't grab screenshots of:

• Though the loading screens repeatedly invite me to retrieve weapons dropped by fallen enemies, some guns are pick-uppable, some are not. 
• Parts of this game are on rails. Literally.

More 'adventures' soon!

Leprechaun with a Jet Pack: Celebrating St. Patty's Day Right

As seen here: http://bowshooter.blogspot.com/

Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvzPQrEtO60

Samsung Galaxy S3 vs. HTC EVO 4G LTE - Long Term Test

There are already bunches of reviews of these two, the top Android phones currently available on Sprint. The following isn't mean to be a comprehensive review, really, but rather some things that I've noticed in using both of them as my primary phone for a few weeks. My last phone was an HTC Hero, and both of these are miles beyond what the Hero was capable of. Let's get started:

• Both phones had good battery life. I could use them both pretty heavily (mostly for data -- little for talking) and they would last through the work day.
• The screens on both phones are beautiful to look at. I couldn't tell you which one I prefer.
• Though I was a bit concerned at first about the ginormity of both phones, I quickly got used to them -- and spoiled by their huge bright touchscreens.
• The G3's TouchWiz skin/UI is more esthetically pleasing and easier to use overall than HTC's latest iteration of Sense. Icons are stylish, matched, big and bright - ideal for the phone's monster screen. The most common switches (wifi, sound, gps, etc.) are easily accessible (and configurable) via the notifications panel, much like vanilla Android. 
• HTC's Sense UI is not as elegant, or as useful. The icons and widgets are a mishmash of styles, some of which look as though they were ported from clamshell cell phones, or at least earlier versions of Sense. Some of the icons and widgets use gradients, some are solid, some transparent. Some are squared off, some use the lawsuit-ariffic rounded corners. The friendly screen overlays that offer guidance on how to do things in white text in a handwritten-style font are difficult to read. And with an incomplete set of toggles available on the notification panel, you're stuck either working your way through the settings menu or putting an array of widgets on your home screens that don't really match the styling of the phone. I made it work, but I wouldn't call the end result pretty.
• TouchWiz's gestures system as well as its check to see if I was still looking at the screen were handy. I didn't really use the S3's S-Voice all that much though. Talking to your phone in public is awkward.  
• I like the ideas behind some of the widgets that come with Sense, but wish they had more flexibility. The social media aggregator FriendStream, for example, only brings together Facebook and Twitter. It would be great if I could add Google+. And I wish I could add Google Music to the car app -- or truly integrate it into the HTC Music app.
• The cameras on both phones are frustratingly inconsistent, despite all the hype. Though they are quick with minimal shutter lag and have a lot of Instagram-like filters, it was obvious that most photos I took were from cell phones -- even in good lighting outdoors. Photos tended to be overly sharp and harsh or lacking in detail. Or just blurry. Both phones have a burst mode, but I was never able to get any worthwhile photos in that mode.
• The S3 has issues with Bluetooth when the headphone jack is in use, making hands-free use problematic. Connecting the S3 to my car stereo via a patch cable prevented me from making or receiving calls over Bluetooth. Neither Sprint nor Samsung would confirm if this would be fixed. 
• Both phones sometimes struggle staying connected. I frequently got 'no connection' warnings, even in areas where coverage should be good (according to Sprint). This occurred more often on the S3 than the EVO. Sprint's recently launched 4G service in Baltimore didn't help matters either. Both phones often got hung up switching between 3G and 4G. Switching the mobile network on and off corrected the problem, and made the data flow again. But it was still annoying.
•  The EVO also occasionally had similar problems with WiFi. Even though it showed that it was connected, sometimes it just stopped receiving data.
• The S3's smooth and glossy one-piece back is very slippery - not a good thing for a clumsy person like me. The EVO is less so, with a split anodized aluminum and plastic back. Neither has the rubbery, grippy back of my Hero, which I used for about 3 years without a case and rarely dropped.
• Plugging the S3 in to my computer to charge would cause the computer to keep beeping at a regular interval. I have no idea how to make that stop.
• The power cable for the EVO is really really short. It was a stretch to plug it into the wall and set the phone on my dresser to charge. It's easy to replace it with a longer standard USB to MicroUSB cable, but still...
• Is it ironic that the EVO comes with Beats Audio yet no headphones?

Overall, both phones are pretty good, but neither completely won me over. Many of the differences that could make or break the phone aren't obvious from the specs (or from first-day reviews). The best way to decide if one is right for you is to try it. 

Thrill-Seeking Couple Gets Married on Jet Packs

A hint of things to come?

A Jet Pack for the Ground? The Trek Superfly 100 AL Elite

Would I feel like this on a 29er?

When I'm not dreaming of solo jet-powered atmospheric flight, I like to spend time doing a different kind of high speed travel -- traveling through the woods on single track trails atop my trusty mountain bike. The bike I'd ridden for a several years now needed to be replaced, so I picked up a new Trek 29er mtb. A few months on and 150-or-so miles in, here are my thoughts.

Before I Start: What Sort of Rider am I?
I would say that I'm a solidly intermediate rider. I've been riding fairly regularly (once or twice per week, weather permitting) off-road since the mid-'90s, primarily in the Midwest (MI) and in the Northeast (VA and MD). Most of my off-road rides are 20 miles or less. I don't do a lot of jumping, barreling off of cliffs or other extreme biking, and have never raced. I've mostly ridden with less-experienced bikers or gone solo, and because of these things (and an overwhelming desire for a long, healthy and pain-free life) I’m probably more cautious than many other riders. Don't get me wrong -- I do like to have fun out there, do push myself, and have wrecked a few times (with the scars to prove it). When it comes to really risky stuff, though, I err on the side of caution.Typically.

Badvertising 4: Warning Consumers That The Product They're Buying Is Actually In The Bag

Long Overdue Video

The editors of Today in Jet Packs sincerely regret the lack of Jet Pack coverage in the blog as of late. We've been withholding the future, and are deeply ashamed. We will do better, and it starts here:

An Open Letter To Motorola

Dear Motorola:
Despite the Mountain Dew-ish extreme naming, I love the looks (and specs) of your new Droid Razr Maxx phone. I'm strongly considering making it my next Android phone. It looks like it's built to last, with Gorilla glass, Kevlar, nanotechnology coating, etc. And I love the idea of having a phone that I may not have to charge every day.
So why did you did you have to go and spoil it with a locked bootloader? Are you going to keep updating it with the latest the Android OS has to offer over the duration of my 2-year contract, or am I going to be stuck with an out-of-date phone way sooner than I'd like?
My first Android phone (an HTC Hero) didn't receive anything other than bug-fix upgrades six months after I bought it. That sucked, but at least I could load CyanogenMod on it fairly easily, and with the help of those fine folks I was able to keep my phone current for the past two years.
But now my contract is up, and I'm ready for something new. It's kind of sad: the only thing between me and your beautiful new phone is something so small.
Doesn't Google own Motorola now? Since their Nexus line of phones aren't locked, it surprises me that yours still are.
I read that you'll be offering an unlocked 'developer' version of the Droid Razr at some point in the future. This could be seen as a step in the right direction, but it has no warranty and no contract, and a premium price. And on top of that, I'm not a developer -- I'm just a user, a user looking to get a new phone that I'll be happy with throughout the length of the contract.
It doesn't seem like too much to ask for, does it?


Sincerely,
Jeff

p.s. If this petition is any indication, it looks like I'm not alone in my feelings about this.