IZation Labs

In this post you’ll find the first entry I made in my journal, in which I made my first endeavors to find someone willing to do the injection for me. As you’ll see, my research paid off.

Oct 27th, 2009
6:13 PM

After some initial introductory emails to a local Tattoo/Body Mod shop here in Ypsilanti, Michigan, (Liquid Swordz) I took a field trip there to meet the man that does all of their piercing work, Dave. He was in the back of the tidy shop, and upon asking if I could speak with him, one of the other men at the counter told me he would be right out and we could talk to my hearts content. Dave seems like a nice guy, albeit were one to run into him on the street they might not think so at first glance, if raised in a small rural town such as myself. Read more »

RFID. Radio Frequency IDentification. The technology comes in many different shapes and sizes, and is used in all sorts of applications. A very basic description of a tag would be to call it a device that uses simple radio waves to send its ‘name’ to a receiver somewhere, with no wires attached. They are around, even if you haven’t noticed them before, or just didn’t know them by name.

Click here to read the rest of the article

I have an implant.

Good. Now I have your attention. Stick with me, this is going to be interesting. Not long ago I wrote an article that gave the readers some insight into the inner workings of my mind, (yes, I know I’m odd to say the least). Now I’ll give them another insight, this one into my body as well.

The referenced article consisted of a conversation I had with myself. It was a conversation all about RFID technology and the effects it has had on everyday life. While the recollection was comical and lighthearted, the subject of RFID is a specific technology that I have been interested in for years now, and one which I take very seriously, both for its capabilities and its downfalls.

RFID has been used to track goods in warehouses, to bill drivers on large toll roads, as a form of security in locales such as stores, and even to connect information stored in a database to living things. Think back to that first line. I have an implant.

Click here to read the rest of the article

I’ve been doing more and more modeling in the ‘just for fun’ category, and many more of these have made it to Shapeways and are now printable. Six of the most recent items are shown below with their most base level prices, determined by the material used for production. Plastic = cheaper, metal = more expensive (yet cooler).  No matter what material you purchase, I still receive the same markup (typically a dollar or so, with my models). Click the name or the image to view the model at the IZL shop at Shapeways, and as always, you can click the link just above to get more info about the IZL Shapeways Shop and how it works.

Alchemic Necklace

This work was made using a reference image from one of my favorite animated series’, Full Metal Alchemist. It’s the necklace that one of the key characters use to ‘fuel’ the kind of stylistic alchemy that she prefers. Bonus points if you can tell me the name of the character.

This model is of sufficient size to be worn on a chain around the neck. ($5.00 USD)

Click here to see the rest of the new models

This is all completely true. This is really what it is like inside my mind.

I was exiting the library today, having just finished printing out all the necessary materials for my English class portfolio, when I snuck the typical heavy glance at the security sensors that everyone has to pass through near the main doors. True, they could be metal detectors, but then I think I know better. They are the same things you see in Wal-Mart, Meijer, Kroger, the campus bookstore, and any other place that often deals with small expensive items being taken illegally.

As I’m walking back in the general direction of the dorm, I posed a mental question to myself. What would you have done if the alarm had gone off?

“Well,” I thought back to myself, “I would just keep walking. I didn’t take anything, so I have no reason to stop.”

But think, my self exclaimed, hopefully not out loud, it does happen sometimes. If you just keep walking and don’t even look confused, someone may think you DID take something! What if you were at a store, and a security person came after you, insisting that you must have taken something to set off the alarm?!

“Then I would calmly explain that I took nothing and they had nothing to worry about, then continue on my way.”

But he would insist you go back into the store and let him check through your belongings!

“Gah. You are so persistent. Little punk. Alright. Fine. If that was the case, I would turn to the man and say this. ‘Listen. You seem like a nice enough fellow who I understand is only doing his job.’ I would point at the tower-like sensors and say ‘Do you have the slightest idea how those work? It’s not just magic, you know. Inside is a small copper coil that transmits a radio frequency at 125 KHz. When someone walks by with a stolen item, say, a sixty dollar video game, the small chip inside the box, called an RFID tag, uses an internal coil that picks up and actually powers the chip. Isn’t that amazing!?”

He would stare at you. Like you are a freak.
…because you are a freak.

“Shutup, I’m not done. ‘Now, that little tag modulates the 125KHz signal to send data to those biiiiig sensors-’”

You sound condescending.

“Shutup, I’m not done. ‘And the big sensors get a signal that either says 0 or 1, or in this case ‘stolen’ or ‘not stolen’.”

And he would look at you and think, Wow, this guy knows a lot about our security system.

“Yep! And then I would say, ‘Seriously now, think about it. The fact that I know so much about this generic little security system of yours means that I could easily find a way around it! I could build a device that kills the tag the same way the cashiers deactivate the tags when you checkout with the item, and then just walk out with it! Or, heck, I could just hold the item high over my head as I walk out, then it’s not even near the sensor towers, they only have a range of like 10 inches any way! What I’m saying is, if I wanted to steal something, I would be long gone before you would ever even KNOW ABOUT IT!’ I would have this big smug grin and he would understand my point, and away I would walk.”

Really?

“Sure! …………………wait.”

Here is a short video I made a few weeks ago that grew out of a tutorial I was following to make ‘plants’ grow. I also made use of Blender’s built in Python camera changing script for the first time. There are some problems with the frame switching between shots that I need to figure out, but I felt this render was good enough to post.

It took four or five days to render this out, as I used some badly implemented concepts to make the ground look better which took up far more processing power than If I had just modeled the ground to begin with. Final product is close to what I was aiming for anyway.

–Lace

While examining some ‘lifter’ videos on youtube, I came across this curious mockup of a device in the related video section. It’s dubbed the SEG, or a Searl Effect Generator. The device has the attention of many free-energy communities, but Searl says that his last working SEG was confiscated, so there’s no actual proof the device or concept work as described.

This mockup is powered externally, and only demonstrates how the actual device ’should’ function. The video of the mockup itself is interesting enough from an electro-mechanical perspective to warrant a post. Whether or not the actual device would work… The jury’s still out.

Cool, huh? For more info, check out the wiki article.

–Lace