My Day and Math

Come home. Queue up hard rock station. Relax.

And then we shall delve into what my day dealt with. So how many of you know how a seismograph works? Show of hands? Well it's not too complex depending on the type of machine you are using.

I'm sure everyone has seen the old type of seismograph with the pendulum suspended above the rotating drum of paper. We really don't use those anymore. Modern seismographs are completely electronic and full of all sorts of neat bells and whistles.

Modern seismographs measure displacement in the ground by way of sensors and accelerometers. It takes these measurments in frequencies. Specifically I would not get to play with an accelerometer (those are not cheap) so I basically get a single transducer called a geophone. That's fine. But these things are better.  Tell me these things are not amazing.

But the geophone is basically where my foray into math and harmonics began today. That's right I said harmonics. Basically lets get down to business, the machine that I need must take 1000 sample per second. Don't question. Just accept it. Each sample is a frequency reading from the geophone that will be stored in the machine. Those frequencies will all later need to be merged together into a giant harmonic chord of doom. And if I have learned anything! I have also learned that the equation that merges those samples is the FFT and God if I got this wrong I'll be reeeeally embarassed.

Later when I want to take the data and upload it to a computer I will need to make sure I have the proper software. ENTER where I spent my day figuring out what kind of software you need for this. Not just asking vendors if they provide it but making sure that I understand what the software needs to do so that I can make sure we get what is required.

Terrible Crafting Bug

So after spending the day out at the arts festival near the square where I live I came down with a horrible disease. It's infected me wholly. I have this ungodly urge to create. Currently that is to create things with a steampunk theme which is really kind of neat as I'm actually having ideas of my own with regards as to what to make.

To start with I wanted to get this book:

But I decided against it. While I actually do know how to sew fairly well, this seemed like something that I might not want to try as a beginner/novice. However I found jewelry books. And damn.it. I keep having ideas for jewelry with cogs, keys, and enamelware. Specifically old typewriter keys which I have no idea where to find. Someone mentioned maybe on Etsy. I did find a very nice book that will we teach me how to make some steampunk jewelry with polymer clay. I think I am going to start there. It will be good practice. If I fail miserably I know that I can work wire and solder things very well.

The only downside is my lack of money. I don't have a lot of money to play around with. I've been practicing making the shapes with some lower quality clay before I really give this a try. I probably won't give this a go until Christmas or later. If I still have the urge I know it's just not a passing fad and something I can stick with. That's the thing with me. I have a hard time focusing on tasks even when they hold my interest and the longer they do the more likely I will succeed at them.

I also have several books I need to read. I picked up 'The Years of Rice and Salt' while I was out. Couple that with the Fire and Ice books, the Apollo module book, and the Jared Diamond book I have at work I sort of have a lot to read.