Infinitus Incognita

High frequency trading combined with 'flash orders' allow big investment banks and hedge funds to 'cheat' and probe the market to discover what the max and minimum limit prices are in hot stocks before flooding the market at just the right prices to maximize profits.  This creates big revenue for the trading systems.. and puts the screws to anyone not using such systems.  This means that trades happen at or very near your limit prices costing you more than they otherwise would historically.  It means that price moves are greatly accelerated to both the upside and the downside causing a large amount of market volatility... so much in fact that the practice is being blamed for the cratering we saw in October and March.  A recent report by the NYSE Euronext estimates that it is responsible for 46% of the daily market volume and that the trading systems are setup to cater to this type of market manipulation. 

Clearly this sort of activity has no place on a level playing field and I'd like to see investigations... policy changes.. even indictments.  This practice should be banned along with naked shorting and the reinstatement of the original uptick rule.

This is an update to my initial posting last July.   It didn't take long to figure out the lead batteries were not going to cut it for the sort of high performance bike I had in mind.  So shortly after I moved I replaced them with a LiFePO4 pack from Yesa.  I got this straight from the manufacturer in China at a considerable savings over other similar quality packs from retailers here.  I can only speak for my experience.. but the guys at Yesa were top notch to deal with and after more than 6 months putting their batteries to work I've had no problems.  The Li pack is lighter and I relocated it for better balance on the bike.  With a fresh charge on level ground it can sustain 40... but 35 is a normal top speed once you get past the first few miles. If I had it to do over.. I might go with a 72v setup and a motor with more windings. That would allow for lower power draw but still ample speed when you need it. Continue Reading for more technical details..

I've been meaning to write this document for a while... but only just did.  It took me a while to figure out how to do this 'right' so I thought it would be a good idea to write it all down and post it out here.. both for my reference and for yours.  I lay out exactly how to do useful and easy to manage traffic shaping on your linux router to make your VOIP calls sound good and keep all your other data traffic happy.

A good turnout at the first state level NC tea party. I see a few signs and pitchforks... but overall a peaceful gathering... speeches, music, cheering and clapping. The local media is keeping a low profile but I do see the channel 9 news van and someone from channel 3. I also see a few photographers working their way through the crowd.. interesting to see how this gets covered.  Sent via BlackBerry

Great game... WV 31 to 30

     You might not know this if you live in a reasonable part of the country.. but the entire Charlotte metro area has been hurting for gas for about a week now.  Since I work from home and now live near uptown I don't do a lot of driving anyway but I was getting below 1/4 tank with no sign of things getting back to normal.  Some estimates put availability at 20% of normal but during the day you can expect to wait in long 30+ car lines to get it.  Stations sell out within a few hours of receiving a tanker and deliveries seem to be randomly spread around the city.  So you can't count on a station you saw earlier (with a huge line) to have a supply when you see it later.  Of course the more you drive around looking.. the more it limits your options later if you don't find any.  It's a very weird situation.

     I had to get out and run some errands yesterday and tried, in vein, to find an open station.  So today I got up and out at 5:30am  to search for gas.  Luckily I'd found the site CharlotteGasPrices and saw reports of an open station just a few miles away and the reports turned out to be correct.  No lines at 5:30.. at least not yet.  I suspect that supply problems and panic buying will continue to impact the area for at least another week and possibly longer.  Combine this with the impending financial melt down and I'm sure it won't be long until we are living in a Mad Max world roaming the landscape with our trusty mutt searching for 'go juice' in up-armored SUVs and fending off motorcycle gangs.  Or perhaps not.

So once I knew where I'd be moving I started work on another option, an electric bike.  It's now basically finished and I've started trying to get the hang of it.  It's based on an Electra Townie frame with the Xtracycle extension. The low seat and forward pedal position makes this comfortable to ride and even I can put my feet down without getting off the seat.. which should make it safer and easier to handle. The Xtracycle extension gives it a longer wheel base, cargo bags in the rear and a nice place to mount the batteries.  To that I added a Crystalyte 5305 electric motor, Cycle Analyst computer, speed controller,  and a 4 pack of 20AH BB batteries that are made for electric vehicle use.   I seriously considered some of the new LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate) batteries but it seems there isn't a good source for high quality, small quantity cells (that are the right size) or a proven battery management system for these yet.  Hopefully by the time my pack is ready for replacement there will be.. I can then loose about 15lb and gain about twice the performance.  Read more for a collection of Ebike and related links.

I've been interested in small embedded hardware systems for a while. Until recently I was using OpenWRT on a reflashed Linksys box for my router. That worked.. but had limitations and since it isn't an intel based system that means you have to cross compile anything you can't find a package for. So recently I've been playing around with the new Alix boards from PC Engines. I ordered two model 2c3 boards which have 3 10/100 network ports, serial, USB, CF, and a mini-pci slot. In the case.. the boards are slightly bigger than a double thick CD case and only pull about 5w which is fantastic for any sort of solar/battery system (ie for outdoor wifi mesh network nodes). These boards are only about $130 and are ideal for all sorts of network related uses. Noticably absent are: vga port, pci or other expansion slots, power headers for disk drives.

It just occurred to me that I never published the results of my desk building attempts. So here is my new custom workstation. Some of the unique features... 4 post rack space in the center and some 2 post space on one side. The other side has a large full depth slide out shelf.The entire front work surface is height adjustable from sitting to standing and tilts up to 30 deg. If you tilt it too much the keyboard tray won't stay in though. It support 3 flatscreens from a metal pipe in back freeing up desk space under/around them. This allows room for a multifunction printer on the right and a small shelf behind the center screen to hold miscellaneous items. Overall the desk surface is about 60x46" and is covered in white laminate for a durable surface. Yes I do custom work... email me.

As Designed

Sitting Height

Standing Height

Here is a nice little utility that I put together and have been using for a while. If you use OSX and keep your contacts in the native Address Book application like I do.. and happen to have an Asterisk PBX... this will let you do a simple click-to-dial.

It should be easy enough to setup for just about anyone and installation instructions are included. I didn't wirte it from scratch.. but assembled it from various code snippits I found scattered around the net. It's very simple and even includes some basic security but I would suggest only running it on a private network just to be safe. It works well for me.. your mileage may vary. Enjoy: macdial-1.0.tgz

In preparing to move I have sold off all my large woodworking tools (table saw, jointer etc) and am left with hand held power tools and my router table. A freind ask me to make them a utility table that had specific dimentions to fit into their new home office layout and this is what I came up with. I designed it in google sketchup and I present here the source files and pictures of the final product released under Copyleft GPL. Enjoy and please drop me a line if you build one of these.

Via Google AP Wire:

"A witness saw Holland stroking the woman's hair while she was trying the sleep . . . Moments later, Holland fondled the woman who repeatedly objected and tried to get away from him. Holland was handcuffed by air marshals and taken to an empty seat in another part of the plane. The pilot opted to divert the flight to Pittsburgh so Holland could be removed. Abusive sexual contact is a federal misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and $1,000 fine"

Since when is it the job of air marshals to deal with mid air misdemeanors? Does anyone remember why we have these well trained and gun toting officers hidden away on airplanes? Anyone? Air marshals are in plain clothes and carry guns on planes to deal with real and serious threats to the safety of the plane and passengers. Weather you like to admit it or not.. they are in place to administrator a dose of lethal justice to anyone stupid enough to try to take over a plane or otherwise do serious harm to those on board. They typically operate alone with no backup. The only advantages they have are their extensive tactical training and the element of surprise. To give up that advantage over something as innocuous as this raises serious questions about the judgment of both the officer and the flight staff. Air marshals are best when they are invisible... called to act only when lives are at risk and to behave otherwise puts everyone on board in jeopardy.

Now lets also consider the actions of the pilot. This perp was already cuffed and separated from the woman he assaulted... why then was it necessary to divert a plane of over 180 people? I'm no marketing genius but isn't commercial air travel hellish enough already without going out of their way to make it even less convenient?

Personally I think it's time the big airlines and the hub-and-spoke model for air travel went away. I welcome the coming changes that will see small jets operating out of small airports. When so little is at stake for any one flight we can do away with all this illusion-of-security security and actually get where we are going on time and without worrying about the plane getting diverted because someone sneezed in a threating manner.