Merry Christmas to all and no AIs have nothing to do with it.

I mention AI because I watched a talking head on Television yesterday talking about AI and children. I don’t normally watch TV but had a news program on my leftmost monitor while I was working on a spreadsheet and what he was saying captured my attention for a few minutes.

He was promoting the idea that children in schools should spend less time learning knowledge and skills other than reading and more time learning how to interact more efficiently with AI systems. Since AIs have all of the world’s knowledge on call as needed there is no longer any need for children to actually learn anything. They can simply ask an AI when they require knowledge or information.

We’ve already reached a point where the majority of people in Western Civilization have few if any skills that would keep them alive in the absence of Electricity. It’s kind of sad to think that there are people promoting the idea of learning even LESS.

Fortunately there is a growing movement of people wanting to relearn old skills, to reacquire the knowledge that got lost through Convenience. I hope it continues to grow.

The Librarian

I’ve just added a new Category named Sulphuric Acid. In modern English that’s more commonly spelled Sulfuric and a couple of the books in the Category use the modern spelling but I chose to use the one predominant among the books in the group.

Sulfuric Acid is probably one of the most important chemicals used in the development of the Industrial Age and it’s not exaggeration to say that without it’s doubtful the Industrial Age would have proceeded at the speed it did. It’s an essential part of most metal production, fertilizer production, chemical synthesis, industrial cleaning. There is hardly an aspect of Industry that does not either use or is dependent on Sulfuric Acid.

There are a few references to its production in some of the other books in various categories but none specifically devoted to it’s Production as a primary goal.

Hope you find them as interesting as I do.

The Librarian

Just ran across this article this morning and thought I’d post it.

As AI booms, U.S. ignores one threat that could turn off everything

Nothing new but interesting to see the threat of an EMP discussed in the context of the AI boom.

The Librarian

I’ve just added a new Category named Soap. That would seem to be one of the more obvious and essential subjects for a rebuilding Society but early on I had a lot of problems finding books on the subject.

There are, of course, a number of chapters and sections in other books like ones on Homemaking and Home Economics and similar areas but I really had a hard time finding books on the specific subject when I looked a few years ago. Fortunately since that time there have been a number of them digitized and showing up in various collections.

There are about a dozen and a half and most lean toward that manufacturing side rather than making a few bars in your kitchen or utility room. But the information is much the same on formulas, ingredients, chemistry and includes a lot of processing information that would be just as useful to someone making large batches by hand.

The .ZIP file is included of course and they can be found in either the Category page or on the Last 30 Days page.

The Librarian

I’ve just added about two dozen files to the Wind and Water Category. They are all directly Water related. I’ve also updated the ZIP file to include the new files.

I have considered splitting that Category into two separate Categories and had that suggested many time but always decide against it.

A lot of folks bring up the subject of Wind Power for Electrical Generation. As recent history has demonstrated, rather conclusively, to anyone who really bothers to look Wind Power as a primary electrical source is a complete and truly epic failure.

For an off-grid cabin with a battery room? Sure. For a sailboat in mid-Ocean? Fine.

As a source of RELIABLE and predictable power on land able to power an industrial economy… not so much. A lot of countries have spent hundreds of billions of dollar building truly awesome windmills only to discover that they still had to keep conventional power generation facilities operating to provide reliable and constant power to their industrial economy not to mention to People’s homes in winter. Some were foolish enough to shut down those conventional sources resulting in blackouts and brownouts across many of their countries. You can shut a factory down when power fails. Not so much heating in People’s homes in mid winter in northern Europe.

I’ve also been highly entertainer by the way ardent Environmentalists who push Wind Power always suddenly go silent and look distinctly uncomfortable when asked about the elephant in the room of disposing of the several hundred feet long, up to 26 tons blades made of fiberglass when they wear out. As of now they just continue piling up in fields all across the world and everyone just pretends the problem doesn’t exist and looks the other way.

So I’m not wasting time looking for Wind Power books related to Electrical generation. Most Wind Power use in pre-electrical days was used for pumping water. That’s what I look for. Most of the materials, supplies and electronics needed for wind generated electricity won’t be available after an EMP or some other event that takes down the Grid.

I’m currently working on some additional files for Soap, Brewing and Sulphuric Acid and should have those cataloged and added sometime during the next week.

I have a pretty large backlog of files I’ve found here and there and had sent to me by folks. Now that the winter is here and weather is not great for outside work I have more indoor time to work on the files. I’m going to try to work on them regularly until I get caught up. Life has a way of messing up plans but I’ll do the best I can.

The Librarian