Kzoppistan

Thanks. My only redeeming quality.

I like this. Big fan of anything with James Maximus. Good luck with changes.

So after re-launching a new nation... ("Just when I thought I was out...they pull me back in!") ... I decided to try something different. I was tired of alliances. I wanted independence. How long could I survive in a wild world without protection? The easiest way to do this, sans safe mode, I figured was to idle under the radar just biding my time selling tech. And in some sense, why bother building a nation, when only by sneak attacking and having superior numbers can you ever take advantage of being a little above in NS, since there will always be someone above you. Without the protection of an alliance, you are just meat ready for raiding. By staying at the bottom, I have a better grasp of the combat system than most noobs and with some money socked away, can war for a long time if need be. Anyway, to make a long story short. I just purchased my first wonder. Having never risen above 300 infra. All on tech selling money. It took 8 months. Not certain, but that might be a first in CN. If not a first, pretty rare, I'm sure. I had it 4 months ago, but I did finally get raided. (2 days before my purchase.) Took another 4 months to save up enough scratch again. Anyway In 8 months made about 7 mil., paid 3 in bills. but I bought a 30 mil. wonder. So not even breaking 300 infra and I have been nuked and bought a wonder. Maybe a first? Good times.

:smug: I love you. Also, good luck here, I have several friends on each side so I will just say have fun. *Edit: ok, it's true, I don't actually have any friends but uh... good luck, ect.

Drugs are bad, mkay? Just do what I do, Chax, skip work and drink all day. Don't do what else I do, which are possibly felonies, and, though not illegal, I would place putting Rey in charge up at the top as equal to a stomach full of a lethal dose of balloon tied cocaine pellets. . ;) Good luck fellas. (Congrats Rey) Nice Flag

Anybody who was around for theAUT probably already knew he was yala misr, Mogar. Hard to mistake the bombastic posting style. Like the screen frothed at every post.

needs more AUT

There, now quit bitching about the flag. Also, thanks for the well wishes, appreciate it.

there, I've made it the "golden ratio"

Ugh, so bland.

Hmm, good point, Bob. A bit garish, eh? Let's try something more subdued. Still pretty busy for a flag, but smoother.

Think I like this one better.

Shenanigans! Have fun.

Congrats, NADC.

In my defense, I was incredibility drunk.

What is is what has ever has been and what ever will be. The House Of The Serpent pulls back the veil. Destiny awaits. #coil Protected.

Or is it the other way around? Ha ha

Seek and ye shall find. I sought, and I found. My only regret is not having started earlier, but every operator must first be immersed in the despair, driven to the point of breaking, like a piece of work upon the anvil of life that must be struck again and again by the hammer of reality until its shape is bent into usefulness, only until one has been dunked and emerged from difficulty, can they begin to realize that life is a strategy to be devised, a one shot experience, a turbulent sea that must be navigated, and the brief periods of respite greatly cherished. On which the conscious obsesses, the subconscious creates.

ha ha

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Hmm, interesting. I'll look into it.

So... I did this today. The reason a coil of wire can create a magnet out of a piece of ferrous material, such as this steel bolt in my picture, is because of a very interesting affect of elctro-magnetic fields. When electricity flows through a wire it generates a magnetic field that travels in a circle along the diameter of the wire. When such a wire is twisted into a helix shaped coil, the fields overlap. Now a meta-field travels in one direction along the inner part of the coil and travels around the edge in the opposite direction on the outer side of the coil. Thus, the field which travels through anything else in its path draws the alignment of the spin state of the electrons within atoms parallel with the path of the magnetic current. This amplifies the dipole attribute of the ferrous molecules, since, in effect, developing a strong attraction to the opposite charge (by the combined alignment of the electrons,) the material becomes a magnet itself. Even with the electrical force removed, the electrons remain in their "combed" state until changed by a stronger field or heated. That is a simplified model, the particulars behind why some materials, like iron, or nickel, develop and retain strong magnetic forces is of course a bit more complex, involving crystaline lattices and the atomic energy exchange model, but none-the-less a fascinating look at a small part under the quantum theory umbrella.

@Helbrecht: Yes, I have several other projects in mind. Namely, a chess set and some more practical automotive parts. I'm also kicking around plans for a new furnace, probably without the wire mesh, but definitely with the fireclay refractory walls. I'd like to move into copper and someday iron, but for now aluminum affords an ease of design and fuel choice, as charcoal is easy to use. Someday I'd like to construct both a waste oil burner and blower once I get my workshop up and running. @enderland: Thanks! What was originally going to be a small diversion from my chemistry studies, has actually turned into quite an interesting hobby. Once you get the bug, all you can think about is designing home foundries and melting things.

I now present my miniature blast-furnace. It will be used to melt scrap aluminum. It should be ready to be fired in about 4 days once the curing is completely done (it's been 3 now). It is constructed out of a large steel can and quickcrete. As you can see, I sawed a steel pipe with a hacksaw and inserted it in the bottom by punching out and filing a hole in the bottom of the can before filling the can with concrete. By first figuring out the volume of the can, and then subtracting the volume of plastic coffee can which was submerged in in it, I managed to calculate how much concrete to use without wasting any. I also had to figure out how many cubic inches a 60 pound bag of mix would first make, then use that number to divide the recommend amount of water in ounces to get the amount of water to add, too. After it is cured, I will fill it with briquettes, and the steel can crucible, add the scrap aluminum, set it on fire and cover it. The pipe will serve as a way to force air in from a hairdryer (I actually ended up using a cheap roadside tire air compressor) in order to raise the temperature (1220 F) high enough to melt the aluminum. I expect to get one or two runs out of it before it crumbles. Concrete is not a very good refractory material, but it is cheap and so should serve as a good beginner's test run. A few things may go wrong, such as not reaching a high enough temp. If that doesn't happen, I will feed a propane line through the pipe. Also, very unlikely, but it may actually over heat, melting the crucible and pouring the aluminum melt into the bottom of the can which would pretty much ruin it. Also, with the residual water in the concrete, it might explode. So there's that. In the meantime, I will be carving a positive of a small decorative gear out of wood to press into the mold, crafting a box and casting a sand mold, and filing the paint off the scrap aluminum. Then the action begins. I will post the results when it is all done. ----- Done ------ Here is the result of my aluminum can melts. I set up in the park. I got a few curious looks, two people stopped by to watch and several people shooed their children away. The loudness of the compressor was my only major concern. It took only 40 minutes for the cops to arrive. Apparently, there is nothing illegal about constructing a portable mini-foundry in the park, so after explaining my activities, I was wished a successful adventure by the inquiring police officer (who was quite friendly... in a nervous sort of way) and left to my own devices. Very fun. This is the mold I used. Orginally I wanted to make a decorative gear, but after putting everything off for a month and not wanting to spend more time carving the shape to imprint, I finally decided to just make an ingot mold by hand. I purchased a 50# bag of Hawthorn fireclay from a local supplier (Mudworks of Lexington, check them out for your pottery needs). It has been mixed 50/50 with play sand. Next time I'm going to create a box with removable sides and use an actual carved piece for the positive. This was my set up, the air compressor, which acted as the bellows was powered by my jumpstarter, fed into the pipe at the bottom of the furnace. As you can see, at the very center of the crucible is a small glob of liquid aluminum melt. What I found interesting was that, contrary to my fears, the aluminum cleaved together and excluded non aluminum particles. Here is the pour directly after cooling. Due to excessive foreign materiel and a sloppy pour, the dross, of mostly al. oxide I reckon, filled in the top left of the mold. The final result after removing the dross and doing some filing. The ingot is extremely light weight. If this weren't my very first attempt, I would melt it down and use a better mold. But alas, this piece of mangled metal is my first-born, my own little bit of the tri-force, so I will keep it for sentimental value. So there you have it.