[production-notes] 13.2 & 13.3 (Patreon)

Hi folks, another double-feature! I had another production crunch last week with my youtube project 'No Boilerplate'. I'm going to rethink my schedule there, lost terminal is always priority #1.

13.2

The central conflict is revealed - what is up with the radio net? I feel like a whole disaster movie could be made just like this in our time, but It'd be called "NO BARS" and it'd be terrifying, wouldn't it? So much of our, and the LT world, is based on clear instant communication.

Yeshi's workshop is based on a real workshop, southlondonmakerspace.org! it's my favourite place, and I find it just as inspiring as Seth does Yeshi's. Your local community workshop will be the same, I bet, and if you don't have one, find some like-minded people and start one! It's always energising to be surrounded by enterprising folks.

The sign on the lathe 'this machine wants to kill you' is based on my experience at the old London Hackspace (rip), where someone had laser-cut this sign and hung it on the machine. They're safe if used correctly, but they'll treat your arm like a crocodile would, if not!

I'm leaning a lot more into ham radio technology this season, I hope you are finding it interesting. The technologies I talk about in Lost Terminal, for the most part, exist. They might not be as popular or as scaled-up (such as the Iron Engine), but I try to keep everything grounded in not just science, but engineering. There's ALREADY so much wonderful stuff in the world, I rarely need to invent more!

The radio stuff is a big exception - everything I talk about is possible now, with very cheap equipment. I'm sure I've shared my video on amateur radio before, but here it is again, I LOVE this stuff https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcF6tvepRlg and I owe my research for LT for getting me into this fun world!

13.3

Keysigning party! A real thing that security people do. Protestors or folks working in hostile environments might swap keys IRL to ensure their safety. Signal, the messaging app, allows you to do this. Whatsapp does not. When I attend environmental protests here in London, we organise on Signal.

I love sailing, though living in London I don't ever do it. Growing up by the ocean I learned to sail a 1-person boat, and we'd race each other across the estuary. Sounds a bit scary to me now! But it was a very formative experience. 

Did you read in the news, the proposal to improve the efficiency of supertankers with sails?! What is old is new again!

Sailing, as Lyosha found out, is not always an uneventful endeavour. I hope my story today hasn't put anyone off sailing - the trick is to not go out alone with no radio (or a non-functioning one). VHF marine radio is very good for this, and I'd find it fun to operate on water. My ham licence conditions forbid me from operating on anything other than dry land, for now. 

I'm publishing 13.4 today for you early, then we'll be back on schedule. Stay tuned, and thank you so much <3