Dave Turpin wrote: Any power produced in a water main would first have to be powered from the pumps that pressurize said water main (or fill the water tower); a net loss of energy.
Well I'd imagine that the biggest issues to consider would be how many of these you could chain down the piping, as well as how much they would suppress the initial pressurized flow. As I understand it, fluid dynamics would keep the water flowing regardless of interference. After all, it isn't like we can stop the flow of a river by putting enough of these in a line.
these might not be the cost effective method for that either way though. It might be a better plan to use a different device with similar properties.
is it just me, or does this look like a great thing to set up one after another through a municipal water supply system? I mean even a mid-sized subdivision would have a large enough water main that you could string a ton of these together and power the neighborhood.
Either way, really interesting design, and I'd like to see how much could be done with it and other micro-hydro generator designs for a basic suburban life (not that i would wish it on anyone.)
i think you're right about the future of tech, in a sense.as the sustainability movement and the tech world start to dovetail together, its going to be increasingly common that we reach out to nature for inspiration and answers. this is a terrible example, but I can see "the last mimzy" being a sort of example, where we reach design and creation on a particle scale, and can fuse organic methods into our production stream.
I don't know how dune-y we'll be, or what other sci-fi things we'll create in time, but I'd imagine that we'd be hard pressed to want to just give up nature, since most can agree that it is still so important to some part inside of us.
I'll definitely post photos of the process as it go along.
I am going toward an eames style in what ways I can, and I do really love tech. My feelings are that tech and designers are going to play a huge part in curbing us back from disaster as a world. I want to do my part in that, but I still care a lot about environment and production ethics. My goal is to have as sustainable, cheap, long lasting, and good looking product as possible, that is made in the US, and somebody could be proud to own.
If I can do all that, and still compete well enough with Ikea or Walmart enough to get by, then I'm happy. I don't intend to make millions of these in mass production, as much as a one off for every request. Like an etsy for sweet modernist furniture. My time will be devoted to writing my book, making more art, designing other products, and doing interior designs and remodel plans for houses to make them much more sustainable and functional.
the money i get put in this is going to go to getting more equipment, and building a fab lab, probably in either lakeland florida, or savannah georgia. Whichever place it is, i hope to do as much as i can to really foster community, as well as use the land for forest gardening as well as whatever else i can do with it, probably even some beehives. Any extra money after that goes directly into helping others start up local businesses with similar ethos.
I have felt for a while that the permaculture community has had some serious problems in the abrasive, "all or nothing" attitude when it comes to tech and non permie lifestyles. Many people I meet are very enthusiastic about doing what little bit they can, and I do as much as possible to support that.
..alright I'm getting away from myself.
Style wise, I see that hand carved movement rise and fall every few years for people with money, but also a lot of other really interesting sea changes. Versatility and nomad design have been on the rise for the past five to ten years, and we're reaching a point where the minimalist movement is getting really strong. I'm just hoping to make something that can support all those ideals while being viable as a product for people.
Its only a roughed model in sketchup right now. I based it off a design that I used for my bed for 2 years. I'd have to beta test this design to make sure that its safe and sturdy. I can share the design in a pm or an email if you'd like.
In the end I'd like to do is to make this with a laser cutter or automated mill, but I'm hoping that the laser cutter would work out, so I can do etching of my own designs across the pieces of wood.
it's a simple platform bed design. really minimal, but made as a jigsaw puzzle style, where the parts fit together and don't require any tools or adhesives. the parts just interlock and hold it all together until you need to move or store it away, and then you just pull it all apart and toss it into a closet or a moving truck.
i'm really interested in woods that will be able to hold up to a good bed jumping (after all, who wants a bed that collapses when you're wildly porking on it?), as well as things that should be able to last a generation or two in a family.
if it works out, my goal is to build up a fabrication business for more furniture, as well as other products. I'd really like to use something that i know wills tand up, but i cant afford much at all, at least for my first run.
I'm a designer and artist, and I'm working out the details of starting a furniture business in the southeast, probably central florida. I need to work with plank boards at least 7' x 4' x 3/4". I'm trying to find the most sustainable thing that can hold up to weight and still be affordable and not ugly as sin.
my first place i called was quoting boards of carbonized bamboo plywood at $ 175 a sheet, which is just too high to be cost effective, regardless of how much i like it.
If anyone has any ideas or contact they know, please give me a heads up, because i'm really hoping to start this project soon, and i havent found much through research yet.
i acctually got my undergraduate degree in historic preservation with a focus in adaptive rehab, and i've been studying green retrofit technologies for the past 4 years, i'm working to incorporate it all into a book about revitalizing suburbia right now. if anyone would like to ever ask me for info on any specific style of building i'd be happy to do what i can.
that set of classes on robotics and machine learning have me interested to no end, but i'm already enrolled in the entrepeneureal one and the green building one, so i worry about spreading myself too thin.
the organizations that are working for no fish zones and replenishing areas are going to be big players in our future of fish. i studied it for a little while a year or two ago.
also as practices change, we need to make sure to buy/consume a wider and more rounded range of fish on a lower level. that way any fish that dies in a net gets eaten, so nothing is going to waste.
i have seen chinks of the reports from the newscasts that have been segmented online. but i don't own a television anymore. I sold it for cash a few months ago, not that i ever watched it anyhow.
i dont think that there isnt a meaning or focus behind the group, but i am saying that without even a short term voted spokesman or a set of official statements going out to leaders, they may as well get all of their info about the movement through fox news.
in savannah my old roommate started up the occupy there, and its a small steady number of people with about 10 visitors each day. the most of them are college age, without any money to go to school, and with the usual 8$ or less an hour job. (you can get by on it, but if you don't already own some land, expect spending a ton on the basics). Locals applaud them, and they know what they are asking for. you'd have to be blind and deaf to not get the idea of whats happening (and with congress now having an approval rating below 9%, its no surprise). Its just the need for those factions to form and start pushing hard for the parts of government that they want to see change.
the zeitgeist movement and a handful of other groups are going after the fed and the red shield banking system, the only problem is that so far they havent started to build an occupy in that front.
the young turks are working to do the basic goals that started the occupy movement. taking corporate money out of politics and requiring caps on things that politicians can receive from donors. they are beginning to form a full nation system to have a real push for a 28th amendment that will take corporate interests further from our politics.
the fair tax group is working on re-framing the tax system so that only new items purchased in the US (i think they don't tax food) are taxed. and you don't pay wage taxes or property taxes. this would bean you would OWN your land permanently once you paid it off, without the yearly property taxes. they haven't been out into the fray much yet.
NORML and the other drug policy alliances have yet to join into one big force and start pushing hard fro drug law reform, even though they could easily do it if they just got people to get up and do something.
the plenitude of conservation organizations have been stuck on small issues as well (I'm not saying the keystone pipeline is small, but the oil companies just keep finding ways to get around the system). coal and oil companies have muddied the water around politicians hard on this ,and without some really hard work to get their efforts away from our current politicians, we wont move the stone here.
it keeps going. i think OWS is going to be a huge marker for our history in the US, assuming people start fighting hard to make sure demands are heard from each SUB-group. because hte points made about the movement being tainted by a leader make a lot of sense.
but it is a digital movement, with a little work, organizers can help to direct people to choose specific topics of focus (taxation, politician pay rates, transportation, energy, environmental concerns) and build swells there. each of these groups can start pushing to effect their democratically decided agendas, without really needing more than short term, appointed leaders for ideas and planning.
with that, i think the system will bend to accommodate the people much more.
damn, does it smell political in here or is that just me?
but there has not of yet, been an official statement on that. plenty of groups have been working towards that though.
I'm really interested in wolf-pac. They seem to be working hard to make sure that their actions will ring clearly.
This link was pretty informative to me. If only there was more of a government hand in ensuring the clarity and honesty of political donors and lobbyists.
Anyways. New Orleans has had a 400 person surge in occupiers since the Oakland incident. I've got a test for a job on the 1st, and pass or fail, I'll be out at the park with the rest of them, difference being whether I'll be staying full time, or just supporting when I can.
hope I didn't come off as offensive. I do that sometimes without knowing.
i didn't say that they were leftist, communist, or anything else. I tried to write out my point as polite as possible so it wouldn't point fingers.
they are stuck in the train of thought now, of not having an opinion. everyone wants something, some people with more sense and some people with less, all facing in some direction and they haven't yet reached an agreement on a solid modus operandi.
part of that stems from there not being a leader. anyone who steps up as a leader is stepping away from the mood of the movement. The issue is that they are starting to need that leader now. people are interested in changing all levels and facets of society in one way or another. it seems like a prudent time for people to start voting up specific civic leaders that can be mouthpieces for a representation.
the leftists, rightists, and the shades and tones thereof will either agree or disagree, but with a situation where they have a tension building around them, and government and police officials openly looking for ways to undermine and displace them, they need their voices to begin to ring clear on some levels of demands.
i'd be all for joining in on the infrastructure and conservation section.
remember that the people of the tea party are all still people though. they can choose to push their movement wherever they want, just like OWS can.
the argument of that picture just shows how much the two sides are stuck in their ways of thought right now though, but with some time and understanding of what each other wants through normal talking, there isn't any reason that the two parties of protest wouldn't be able to join, at least partially.
it's just an issue of the media vilifying one side or the other instead of sitting in and trying for peaceful conversation. just talk it out over a game of chess or some food. a plate of good food makes any debate better.
that cloak idea is pretty genius nancy. if you used some goodwill clothes for some of it that might help keep costs low. hell i wander around an unheated house in a blanket kimono half of the time in winter, so it wouldnt be hard to make 2 cloaks from one decent sized blanket and maybe some tarp material.
if you can find any designs for it you should share them on parts of the web with a lot of occupy visitors and supporters.
if i get the job i'm trying for right now, i'll be sending as much wool as i can to the local movement, the one in DC, and the one in NYC.
after reading all the responses i think i should make my first official post.
i have been following politics and going out of my way to petition and call for change since about 2006. I'm only 27 now, young enough for some to say i'm a kid, old enough for some to say i should be doing more.
i graduated college witha degree in historic preservation of buildings, and a strong desire to go into infrastructural design for cities (more seeded cities, more walkable cities, green power, recycling systems). and i was shunted from the path to my dream. I've been unemployed for a year.
As an active person, i agree there needs to be more specifics in deciding what needs to be demanded. But the people are far too many to ignore. they may disagree about who should be doing what, they all agree, change has to happen and the new world order needs to have its wings clipped.
so for those who want to do something, and havent already.
take all of your money out of any bank, and put it into a local credit union, or a non profit bank
if you use a cell phone, consider moving over to credo mobile (thats more a personal choice, but i admire their company quite a lot)
visit an occupation, and maybe bring them some old business clothes or some supplies.
look into any of these proposed laws and support the ones you agree with
and gently spread the word to friends and family, try to talk to people who are on the other side of the aisle too. i'm not tea party, but i think that if the tea party members joined on making some of these changes, the movement would have ended a week after it started with all the pressure.
so i'm done, thanks for letting me into the forums. I'm probably gonna hang out in the green building section a lot.
