Made in Canada, eh?

Ideas, inventions, and opinions freely given here.

HOWTO: Build a Low Tech Stationary and Wearable Cloaking Device

Jul 1

Posted by Dave in Invention | No Comments

Okay, I’ve been sitting on this one for a couple years now – way too long! It’s time to revealed it to the world (let me know if you google any prior art). Lets begin with the Stationary Cloaking Device. Note: the parts list will require pairs of two items (monitors, and webcams) -this is required for the fully built out wearable cloaker.

Now decide what object you are most interested in cloaking? Let’s say you’ve got a kid sister or brother or dad who’s always sneaking into your room and playing with your latest RC model racer. We can fix that. Let’s cloak the racer with a stationary cloaker.

Parts List

Part 1) RC Model Racing Car

rc-racecar

1/16 E-Revo VXL 4WD RTR

Part 2) Two 19 inch flatsceen monitors. (Note, only one needed for the stationary cloaking device)

19_inch_flatscreen19_inch_flatscreen

Part 3) Two webcams. (Note, only one needed for the stationary cloaking device)

webcamwebcam

Part 4) A cheapie laptop that has a second video port, and two usb ports.

laptop

Cheap Laptop

Part 5) A decoy – a ready made largish poster (not too interesting, and not too large). Use your imagination.

Avril Levine in Concert poster

Avril Levine in Concert poster

Assembly

  1. Tack the poster on the wall.
  2. Mount the webcam on top of the monitor pointing toward the wall (i.e. focused on the poster)
  3. Place the RC on a box so that it’s raised high enough to be hidden by the monitor.
  4. Connect the monitor and the webcam to the laptop
  5. Turn it all on and step in front of the monitor. Voila! the RC roadster vanishes…. (sorta)
cloaking_device_400w

Dad, thinking about going to the AL concert...

Okay, now we’re cooking with jet fuel! Let’s move on to the sure-to-freak-em-out Wearable Cloaking Device:

This device will use the spare parts from the parts list for the stationary cloaker

Parts List

Part 1) second 19″ flatscreen monitor.

19_inch_flatscreen
Part 2) second webcam

webcam
Part 3) Two 12″ lengths of light twine or shielded wire.

Assembly:

  1. Remove the stands from both monitors
  2. Mount the webcams on each monitor as follows: you’re going to wear the monitors, with the cameras mounted on them both cams facing away from the viewing side of the monitors.
  3. Tie both pieces of twine, or wire, to the backs of the monitors, so that the monitors can be hung over your head, with one on your stomach and the other on your back.
  4. Hook the second monitor to the second video port and the second webcam to the second usb port on your laptop
  5. Turn the suckers on and then gently pull the monitors over your head, so they hang over your tummy and back with the webcams point to the front and the rear.

wearable_front

Now call your little sister in…. :) heh heh :)

wearable_back

And there you have it! Cloaking, the low tech way. And they said it couldn’t be done! :) Let me know if any of you manage to build one… and let me know if you find any prior art on the Internet.

Happy Canada Day, eh!

Could Heart Monitor iPhone app assist in monitoring cardiovascular diseases?

Jun 26

Posted by Dave in Idea | No Comments

The Public Health Agency of Canada’s website states, Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in adult Canadian men and women.

After looking at the Heart Monitor for iPhone app, which allows you to find your heart rate, It struck me that, for the purposes of Tele-epidemiology, it would be interesting to invite folks who are using the Heart Monitor to allow uploads of their data to a publicly accessible database.

When mashed with anonymized user profiles (e.g. location, age, sex), this data might reveal some interesting and useful patterns. One question I have is whether this would be of any value to public health agencies and researchers.

My next question would be, what incentives would be necessary to persuade users to allow the upload of their data. My guess is many would be perfectly willing to allow it for the common good – if they could see how their data was being used (maybe with some nice visualization overlaying a map mashup).

And my final question is what would encourage the developers of Health Monitor to implement this feature? Some incentive might be necessary here… Don’t know.
Any ideas?

On Father’s Day

Jun 21

Posted by Dave in Opinion, Quotation | No Comments

Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh speaks with truth and beauty in his Statement Number 5 to the People of Iran and refers to the struggling peoples’ fathers by saying

… Don’t let “the delinquents and the strangers” [quote from Ayatollah Khomeini, quotation marks added] confiscate from you the precious heritage of the Islamic Revolution, which is built from the blood of your honest fathers.

Do Police Need a Makeover?

Jun 19

Posted by Dave in Opinion | 2 Comments

On Thursday it was announced that the Conservative government of Canada is trying to pass two new crime bills.

One will allow police to monitor our Internet activity – without requiring a warrant – and another to force ISPs to install “intercept-capable” equipment, enabling police to track “suspicious” activity and seize subscriber’s personal information – name, phone, address… Billing info?  Maybe, who knows? All of this while passing the cost on to us – of course.

In announcing the bill, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan defended the move by saying our laws governing telecommunications were designed in the “era of the rotary dial telephone” and that “Twenty-first century technology calls for 21st-century tools.” Police need these updated technologies to help them “catch up to the bad guys.”

Michael Geist points out this is a renege on a pledge by then Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day in 2007, when he announced the government had reversed its decision to force ISPs to hand over customers’ personal information to police without a warrant.

Also today, it was reported that a parliamentary committee recommended police should be given the power to conduct random roadside blood alcohol tests. A spokesperson for Mothers Against Drunk Driving praised the recommendation saying it was a good thing, because it would make people think twice before drinking and driving. Others raise concerns that a police officer, who felt a citizen wasn’t showing enough respect, might then demand they submit to a roadside breathe sample.

And really that’s what it all boils down to, respect. With cases in the news such as the horrible tazing death of Robert Dziekański and off-duty police officers beating and robbing a Vancouver newspaper delivery man, Phil (Firoz) Khan, the public loses its respect for the authorities.

And without respect, you don’t get to have cooperation, which is really the basis for law abiding behaviour. But where are the examples of respect and cooperation? Certainly not in parliament with the “big swinging dick contest,” going on daily.

It’s been said the RCMP need a good public relations campaign; this may be true for police agencies across Canada. But really, where’s the sense in putting lipstick on the pig? (No pun intended). Respect and cooperation have to be demonstrated at the top, before they will be adopted by the rank and file.