Doing Math

There are so many things that I run calculations on it is weird when I can’t because there are too many unknowns.

For instance a budget. Really no problem. Figure out how much we are bringing in, plan for expenses, keep extra money for unknowns, done. No sweat, other than just getting it done. But for some reason planning time is drastically more difficult. In fact my ability to waste time has probably hindered my growth; there are plenty of things on the internet to look at and read. In fact if I am so lucky, you are reading this now.

The problem with time is that you can’t really keep a reserve in an account, it’s use it or lose it, and now. Many people will sacrifice one way of spending time, friends, family, sleep to get ahead or play more games. But that’s just what it is at that point: a sacrifice. In order for an unforeseen time commitment to get its necessary commitment for getting done, it needs sacrifice from some other activity for the push to actually happen.

But there are people who will continue to push, sacrificing their time consistently. Some of these people believe in what they are doing, either that they will get some big payout in the end, or that they will help so many others. Too many do it because otherwise they wouldn’t be able to support their family that they never see.

Both of my jobs since college have been mostly regular, forty hour a week jobs. However, there is the chance that I could spend much more time with the current one. And it is right on the edge of I enjoy this/they don’t pay me enough. I do enjoy my 40 hours a week, and I know I could put in more for some of these projects because over the summer a few weeks I put in eight to sixteen more hours of coding on my masters degree projects. I was lucky in the fact that Jessie was working out-of-town for the weeks, so I didn’t have to worry about spending too little time with her during the week.

But now that the job is over I find it very hard to balance my priorities and I think both school and Jessie suffer because of it. Oh yes, causes me stress and then I waste time and not spending it at least somewhat productively reading, writing, or learning. One thing I read this week has worked on my mind: Inspiration is for Amateurs by Art of Manliness.

With Jessie around I get out of habits and try to schedule my time around hers. This works to some extent but often it leads to me dropping things that I planned to do because I no longer have enough time. On the other hand this balancing also helps me to focus the time I can manage in more productive ways.

But what about the routines mentioned in AoM? I think I am missing out quite severely on my potential because of my lack of routine and lack of discipline. So I must put my foot down and have a routine that allows me to progress and have a regular schedule on which I can build my discipline. It will be harder as the winter months are colder and it is tougher to roll out of bed, but it will also be at a lower cost than other parts of the day. Jessie doesn’t like mornings. She will get up if she thinks it is worthwhile, like for our hike in the park this last weekend, but the morning really starts at 8 for her.

So, although she doesn’t like missing me in the mornings before I go to work, it is still better than staying at work later because I didn’t get in until 9. It is a sacrifice, not eating breakfast with her, but it is somewhat like banking time that I can spend with her in the evening. But it has its other benefits too:

Traffic is lighter if I leave for and leave from work early, the office is quiet and I can get some big rocks (code and such) done before the standup meeting, I am fresh for those tasks and can generally think more clearly than in the afternoon. I just have to continue with the routine, otherwise it will be easy to spend the mornings cozily in bed and then not get home until late in the evening.

I want to become a “creative professional” but I need the discipline and need to set my routine in stone. I love doing math, but I know that my equation needs to be regular in order for me to be more expressive.

Sub-space Equations: Velocities and Depth

As promised from the previous post: Equations.

First let's start with an equation describing the relative velocities between normal space and subspace.

Where K is the constant of about 8.24x10^23 kg^-1m^2. v_n is the velocity relative to all influential gravitational bodies, depending on the precision needed. The more precise this needs to be the more bodies need to be considered, such as for sensitive instruments going into subspace to observe anomalies. If it is an emergency or the computer power is limited, which in this time period would probably mean there was also other emergencies, less n bodies can be used. Of course if the right bodies aren't considered it can be catastrophic in when a wrong exit point is determined.

The second equation calculates the "depth" that the system will enter into subspace, or the potential energy.

Where G is the gravitational constant, m is the masses of objects and d is the distance from those masses. With further posts I will give further equations on depth, but essentially this is the potential energy of the system and can be modified for the benefit or detriment of ships in subspace.

I think this is all about geeking out over playing with numbers. And setting up equations which I can throw real numbers into to see what happens.

Fun Physics and Fiction

Time is the enemy. Dramatic events are unfolding, but will our hero be able to save the world, yet again, in time? Used to dramatic purpose time is a very useful tool as there are very few people who haven't been up against a deadline, real or constructed. They can feel the tension building, the expectation of succeeding slowly winning out over defeat or receding as panic sets in. Split seconds described in paragraphs that take ten times as long to read than to happen in book time.

Time can also be used dramatically in a longer term view in science fiction. Where will we be in so many years? Time travel is another way, and then there are the books that stitch together star systems with relativistic travel, decades long travel between stars and everybody that you knew when you headed out is long dead and hundreds of years have passed. To me it is depressing, or rather actually scary. When we travel on Earth we get those same affects, but since we are no where close to the speed of light we don't notice that those people sitting still are relatively older than us.

So most science fiction that isn't diligently exploring what life would be like without a go-faster-than-light card creates a way to travel faster than light without the time dilation problem. However, they try to limit themselves with problems such as gravity wells and where and how the drive works. So let me introduce an idea for FTL drive that is limited in its own way, I might have equations...

First, the Basics

Discovery of a universe "below" ours that our universe is wrapped around. It is smaller in the fact that things can move much faster through it. The main feature of the neighbor universe, sub-space, is that it has no electromagnetic force, but it does show the effects of our universe in terms of gravity. A ship going in unprotected would just fall apart as all the electromagnetic forces holding atoms and molecules together would collapse.

Also gravity wells are a major player, essentially entering and leaving the sub-verse must be done at a similar gravitational potential energy. Coming in at higher potential energies cause major power stripping coming in, lower potential energies means the possibility of overwhelming systems with incoming energy. There is no limit to how far inside or outside a gravity well a ship must be however, orbital and absolute velocity relative to mass and proximity affect the velocity in the sub-verse.

What do I want my timelines to be in the universe? Do I want to make it such that we are retelling old sailing tails and battles on the high-ocean? Or skipping across the universe seemingly unfettered? I think I have enough restrictions to play with both logically and dramatically, but I also want a bit of down-time, unable-to-do-anything time that my characters might need to experience. I think reasonable speeds would be about two light-years in and hour, meaning about 8760 times the speed of light. Of course that is highly variable due to the gravity well that you are exiting.

One of the major problems with early travel using this drive was pointing and timing. Hitting a star's or planet's same orbital potential in such a way that you weren't just plummeting toward its surface but instead tangent and able to establish an orbit was extremely hard, however the first wave of extra-solar colonists risked it.

I will continue these thoughts in the next installment.