Archer Quinn picked up his toys and went home

I made a post a couple of weeks ago about Archer Quinn's announcement that he would release an open-source simple to build and easy to replicate over-unity free energy device on June the 20th.

Since that time he has actively engaged with the 'free-energy' community over at www.overunity.com with a series of increasingly bizarre posts. His last was profanity laced and truly a remarkable picture of a man losing his grip on reality.

As always, whether it is UFOs, Scientology, Mormonism, or String Theory, my interest is not, and never really has been, some objective truth about the 'reality' of these things but, rather, on why people believe what they choose to believe. (And, let me assure you they *do* choose, whether they admit it or not.)

I find the psychology of belief absolutely fascinating. Why does anyone believe what they do? Why do they feel compelled, or not compelled, to convince others of their beliefs? Why do they defend their beliefs with the same ferocity a bull gorilla defends his territory? (In the case of most religious organizations people believe what they believe due to good old fashioned brute force imprinting and brainwashing throughout their formative years. More interesting is why people succumb to conspiracy beliefs or fringe topics like UFOs.

Let me give you this example. After extensive research for many years I have come to the personal conclusion that UFOs are 'real'. Now, I cannot tell you what kind of 'real' they are but I share the opinion of Jacques Vallee that there is a real-phenomenon that has existed and interacted with human culture throughout all of recorded history. Now, given all of that, I have also concluded that UFOs don't really matter much at all and my ability to 'care' about them one way or the other is fairly low.

When UFOs actually affect my daily life, then I will take more notice. When I can buy a free-energy device at Walmart, I will suddenly begin to care about them as well. Meanwhile, why do so many people allow these beliefs to consume their lives to such an extent that it can often times be self-destructive?

Reading the entire thread over at www.overunity.com about Archer Quinn's announcement and subsequent engagement of the community is an amazing real-time experience of delusional thinking and beliefs based on wishes, hopes, fears, and conspiracy thought.

Personally I don't believe in over-unity or free-energy devices. It's not even that I don't believe in them because they 'violate the laws of physics' (after all, if they work they will be in accordance with the laws of physics; and these laws (really just models after-all) will simply be revised.) No, I generally don't believe in over-unity devices because none of the damned things actually works.

For centuries people have been trying to build a perpetual machine based on some combination of gravity, bouancy, and magnetic fields. Even Leonard DaVinci designed a non-working gravity wheel. In all of that time, with all of that effort, no one has ever succeeded.

Still, that doesn't prevent the over-unity faithful from returning to the well, searching for that holy grail device that will liberate them from the tyranny of big oil while shouting a big 'F-U' in the face of all doubters.

Of course, I'm sure my Scientology friends will feel the same way when Xenu shows up, my Mormon friends when some golden plates are finally found, my UFO friends when a spaceship lands on the White house lawn, and my string-theory friends when the super-conducting super-collider produces a black-hole that eats the earth in an eye-blink.

Here is a link to an Endgadget story on the topic.

Here is a link to the full thread over at overunity.com which is can be highly entertaining if you have the patience to wade through it.

Here is the link to Archer Quinn's website which keeps changing on a daily basis. It may not have any content soon enough.

Here are some site links that are no longer accessible from the home page but, as of this posting, are still live.
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Finally, for my own amusement, I made the following post to the overunity forums after Archer Quinn self-destructed in a brilliant online flame out.

The post is titled 'Archer Quinn takes his ball and leaves the playing field'

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Well, it appears that the brief saga of Archer Quinn is now over. After a series of ever more incoherent posts on this forum, and his website, he has decided to call it quits.

It was certainly an interesting exercise in sociology and I think the 'roll on' thread, is likely to live on in infamy for some time to come.

In some respects it is surprising that this story got as much play is it did. I believe it is because of the way Archer Quinn played/interacted with his audience that provided most of the entertainment value, that and the seductive promise of open source FE for all on a specific time and date.

As a bit of a debrief of the whole affair I had the following observations.

(1) Archer Quinn never provided anything but 'claims'. No videos, no photographs, no blue-prints, sketches, and not a single coherent explanation of an alleged complete and working device. The only thing he did offer was 'free energy for all' in a completely open source fashion. This promise holds at its core the essence of the divine allure of the FE Holy Grail quest and for this reason alone it attracted OU readers like moths to a flame or, in this case, flies to a bug-zapper.

(2) Archer Quinn presented himself as a very strong personality. Having never met a spell-checker he couldn't ignore, his posts were highly emotional, full of bitterness and attacks on Isaac Newton; as if Sir Isaac had at some point in the past done something to deeply personally insult Mr. Quinn. In fact the open anger, bitterness, bile, and spurious attacks on Newton were bizarre to witness as they unfolded. His use of profanity, and inability to communicate in anything approximating a coherent fashion, added some spicy Cajun sauce to this over-unity gumbo. In point of fact the poor grammar, atrocious spelling, foul language, incoherency, and generally bizarre nature of Mr. Quinn's communications seem to have created the tipping point in this unbalanced wheel of hype, promises, and inanity..

(3) Patient builders such as Clazner were quite happy to try to replicate whatever device Mr. Quinn had to offer but even Clazner's patience wore out in the face of an onslaught of verbal diarrhea spewing from Quinn's rambling and incoherent 'explanations' of a device that, to be frank, didn't seem particularly different than any one of hundreds of other gravity wheelesque designs which have failed throughout history.

Is this story really over? Probably not. To date every time Archer has posted an announcement that he wouldn't do this or that anymore, he has come back to join the fray.

I hope that Mr. Quinn learns something from this exercise.

(1) Stop wasting your time and energy attacking Newton, or anyone else. It is pointless and a distraction from whatever it is you have to offer in terms of a working device.

(2) Stay on message and limit your commentary to the device itself. Yeah, yeah, we all hate that oil prices are high and, yeah, yeah, we all want to shove it up skeptics ass if/when any OU device were ever to come to light. Nevertheless, the focus is, in fact, on producing such a device.

(3) This one may be the most difficult of all, but show a little bit of humility. Acknowledge that it is reasonable for those trying to understand what you are saying to be skeptical or to question the claims that you make.

(4) Just because you personally think/believe your device works, don't assume anyone else is going to accept, as fact, what amounts to nothing more than your unsupported claims. The only proof is in replication. The only real proof is in mass-produced replication (i.e. anyone can purchase an OU replicated device for $29.95 and submit it as their science fair project). To accomplish this goal takes time, patience, and a lot more than you have offered to date. It takes pictures, videos, sketches, diagrams, blue-prints, and coherent explanations.

As usual, the 'Holy Grail' of FE is back up for grabs. Let me know when I can buy a device, I have $29.95 burning a hole in my pocket as we speak.

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As absurd at the whole Archer Quinn thing was to begin with a whole lot of people on the forums became quite emotional when he stormed off. They were especially angry at those who were critical of Quinn as having scared him away. I received a most delightful response to my post and I enjoy cross-posting my reply here.
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Konduct wrote the following:

>>Well...I just have to say...I hope you guys are pleased with yourselves by finding all the faults within Mr. Quinn.

Yes, I am pleased, thanks for noticing.

>>You've successfully pointed out all of his apparent weaknesses. Spelling, language, general communication skills.

I am impressed at your skills of observation in recognizing and acknowledging my skills of observation.

>>So if you guys are so good at finding weaknesses, why haven't you spent your energy on finding weaknesses in the methods of producing energy?

Finding weaknesses in fraudulent claims of OU proponents is, in fact, spending energy in an effort to find methods of producing energy. It takes a lot of hard work, critical thinking skills, time and patience to read and follow these threads and ultimately reach conclusions about the efficacy surrounding the proposals presented by various FE proponents.

As you may, or may not, be aware free-energy, or over-unity if you will, is not generally considered to be 'possible'. Over the course of centuries of effort there has not yet been one single easily reproducible and demonstrable technology,machine, device, or invention in all of that time. Universally all attempts at replication of every patent, drawing, sketch, explanation, or video has resulted in a complete and utter failure. In fact the only thing that keeps the dream of an over-unity device alive is the mythology surrounding it. In fact, the only tangible 'thing' you can point to in FE is the mythology that has evolved around the various proponents of these devices which ingloriously fail to work.

Yes, it takes a lot of energy to wade through the piles of crap and nonsense which is peddled in these forums. And, God bless the patient souls like Clanzer who actually takes the time and trouble to *build* these devices. In my own case, in addition to monitoring the evolving myth surrounding these claims, I have made clear that I will be the first to purchase a working device once it becomes available at Walmart for $29.95.

If that's not commitment I don't know what is. Sometimes I think the largest part of the market for neodymium magnets in the world is comprised of 'free-energy' researchers.

>>Don't we look for different avenues of positive energy production and research?

Yes, we do.

>>Focus on the strengths and avoid the weaknesses right?

Yes, we do. Did you happen to notice that Archer Quinn has some 'weaknesses'?

>>So, how does your morally superior stance on communication skills help the energy problem?

It helps weed the wheat from the chaff. It applies logic, reason, and critical thinking skills when evaluating claims of the improbable; if not the impossible. Logic dictates that if hobbiests and inventors have been tinkering with gravity wheels and magnet motors for centuries and, in all of that time, not a single person has ever been able to produce an easily replicable device, then it is rather dubious to accept the claims of someone like Archer Quinn at face value. Look at Clanzer on these forums as an example. He doesn't curse. He doesn't rant and rave. All he does it build intersting gizmos and post the videos, blue-prints, sketches, drawings, and explanations online for everyone to see and share. The first time Clanzer reproduces an OU effect you know that many people here will take it seriously because he has earned that right through his dedicated efforts.

Let us all say it together, "I know Clazner, Clazner is a friend of mine, and let me assure you that Archer Quinn (not even his real name) is no Clazner."

>>How did it help Mr. Quinn?

I am hoping that it helped him towards a moment of introspection and reflection. I am hoping that it helped him realize some of the mistakes he has made in communicating his ideas, and given him some direction on how he might improve int he future. I am here only to help because, from where I am standing, Archer Quinn definitely could benefit from some professional help.

>>Did you focus on his strengths?

Yes. Please read previous posts on this forum where I praised him for his open-source attitude and willingness to engage the community directly. Of course, this was before he developed a penchant for cursing everyone out and calling Sir Isaac Newton, or anyone who has learned from him, a fool.

Let's take a case in point.

Here is a link to Archer Quinn's website where he explains basic physics. It is entitled http://www.surphzup.com/gpage.html">'Physics 102'.

Now, compare and contrast, here is a link to http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=umhistmath;cc=umhistmath;rgn=full%20text;idno=AAT3201.0001.001;didno=AAT3201.0001.001;view=pdf;seq=00000023">Principia Mathematica by Sir Isaac Newton.

Now, I want to be fair and all, but I have to be honest that when I read these two side by side, I have to wonder which one of the two is really the idiotic fool that Sir Archer Quinn claims? (I decided I could give Archer Quinn an imaginary Knighthood since that isn't his real name anyway.)

>> Or did you just want to make yourselves right since he's so easy to make wrong with his bad grammar and all?

I am sorry to say this but I do believe that it is fair to asses the relative intelligence of an individual by how they write. When someone appears to be a barely functioning semi-illiterate foul mouthed buffoon in their online discourse then I think it is fair to judge the rest of the claims they make against that impression. So, you are saying that if someone is unable to express themselves in a way that demonstrates even a high-school education that I should take them seriously when they attack Isaac Newton as a fool and an idiot? When did I enter bizarro land and how do I get out?

>>He is a little incoherent.

You are too kind.

>> Did anybody make an honest effort to help eliminate the communication gaps?

Yes, several forum member had private email conversations with Archer and even made an effort to correct his horrific spelling and grammar when they cross posted his commentary online. Far greater an effort than I would ever make, so kudos to those brave members of our tiny community.

>>Or did you just widen them farther?

I too privately emailed Sir Archer Quinn with personal advice in an effort to shorten the communication gap. Unfortunately it appears that the sincere efforts of our forum members were unable to make a dent in the opinion of Mr. Quinn.

>> Did anyone help, or did we all just act like douchebags to "purge the idiot from our presence"?

Many people helped. He purged himself in a furious flame-out of unprovoked profanity and misplaced anger.


>>I'm just asking rhetorically of course.

Uh-oh. So all of this was rhetorical questioning? Pardon me for answering anyway.

Brother John

Swingers : The Documentary

This evening my daughter Lauren, President of the Wentzville Holt High School Art Club, hosted the first ever Student Film Festival. It was an entertaining evening for all of those in attendance. Just for this event Lauren and her friend Kelly Brooks created a documentary about Swingers which you can view above.

At the end of the evening, though not part of the competition, Lauren showed her satire 'Honolulu' which got a lot of laughs from the audience who stuck around to see it.



A special surprise was when my son Alex Ratcliff, a freshman, submitted a stop-action short film he made with editing help from Lauren.

You can view his video on YouTube here.

Prom 2008

Last evening was Senior Prom for Wentzville Holt High School. My daughter Lauren was on Prom Court and looked absolutely lovely in her dress. I am uploading a number of photographs of Lauren and her friends so they can download copies if they wish. Click on any picture to see a larger size. If anyone wants an extremely high-resolution version of a particular photograph let me know and I will get you a copy.




In the morning I drove my new car in the Shriner's Parade In St. Charles.

June 20th, the day the world will change, thank you Archer Quinn

I am excited to announce that on June 20th, 2008 the world will change. Australian Inventor Archer Quinn is going to release his free energy generator open source to the world at large. You can read more about this at Archer Quinn's website located here.

A compelling interview with Quinn can be read online at the Free Energy Truth blog located here.

After reading the interview with Quinn it appears that his invention is some form of a gravity wheel.

I've been waiting my whole life for something like this and now the day is nearly at hand. How exciting the world will be when it is transformed by unlimited free energy by sipping at the well of the perpetual gravitational pull of the earth.

This blog will keep you updated as the date approaches. I can only hope and pray that Archer Quinn is not killed by the evil nefarious henchmen of the energy mafia!

And here I thought my new car was small!

How cool is that? I've seen this car before, it was used in 'Brazil' but I always assumed it was a movie prop. How funny that it is a real vehicle.

It's the end of the world as we know it

I had the most surreal experience this morning that I felt compelled to post a blog entry about it. Earlier today I got a knock at the door. When I answered the sweetest looking elderly lady was standing at my door step. She reminded me of Aunt Bee from the Andy Griffin show. She had a nice smile and was terribly pleasant.

I could see right away that she had some religious material with her but, since I could tell it wasn't Mormon or Jehovah's Witness, I decided to cut her some slack. Now, I don't go door to door telling people how silly I think it is that they believe in miracles, but I guess it is ok if people knock on mine to tell me the contrary.

I figured Aunt Bee was there to tell me about her Church, and I was quite happy to stand there politely and not be rude, or unpleasant about it in any way. Aunt Bee did start by talking about her Christian faith but, abruptly, started talking about 'these end times' that we are entering....

I couldn't believe what I was hearing and, as nicely as I could while being dumbfounded, I gave a smile and said (and I quote) 'Hon, I don't believe in that stuff.' ..and closed the door'.

Now, I could have handled that situation in a whole lot of different ways, but I'm pretty happy with how I dealt with it. Aunt Bee didn't want a lecture from me any more than I wanted a lecture from her so I simply decided to let her wander off to annoy my other neighbors.

What is going on here?

I live in an upper middle class community where people spend most of their time thinking about boating and getting their kids on the ski team, boy scouts, and soccer league.

How bizarre is it that someone can walk up to your front door and casually discuss the 'end times' like, of course, we all know that is what is coming.

This was the most twilight zone moment I have had in my own community in quite some time. Now, if I lived out somewhere rural, where the Pentecostal and other evangelicals hang out, I wouldn't have been so surprised.

How prevalent is this delusion? How strong is this eschatological mania sweeping our culture?

I never cease to be amazed at the extent of the mind boggling delusional thinking of the average person in American culture.

Sometimes I think I'm the only rational person left in the world and, realize, that *I* believe in UFOs and ghosts!

"Wonderfalls" the best TV show ever made

(The complete unaired original TV pilot. This is almost identical to the first episode that aired except for some cast changes.)

I have mentioned "Wonderfalls" on my blog a couple of times before. This weekend my wife was away at a NEA conference and I ended up having my own 'Wonderfalls' marathon, watching all 13 episodes and finishing up last night around 3am.

I haven't watched "Wonderfalls" in over three years, so I think this gave me some perspective. While I did remember the general story arc, it was a long enough time that much of it seemed fresh and new.

And, once again, I am amazed that this show was canceled. It would be as if 'I Love Lucy' was canceled after the first four episodes aired.

I watch a lot of television and I have to say that this show is, in my personal opinion, the greatest story ever told. If you haven't heard of the show before, or never got around to renting it on Netflix, I cannot recommend it enough.

Below is a short review I wrote on this blog four years ago after having seen the fourth episode and (to my absolute and utter shock the *last* episode ever aired).


The other show I watched was called “Wonderfalls”. I watched the first episode and laughed about half the time. Unfortunately the other half of the time I was groaning. However, I read a review in the paper that said “each episode gets better’, so I stuck it out. Thank God I did!!

This last episode was incredible. It was extremely funny, strange, quirky, and insightful. If you don’t already know, “Wonderfalls” is some kind of a Gen-Y slacker rip-off of “Joan of Arcadia”. Our young protagonist is plagued by a mental illness where small sculptures and plastic toys speak to her and tell her to do odd and inexplicable things. This always produces a Rube-Goldberg chain of events that unfolds as an unpredictable mystery in each episode. The biggest mystery is whether Jaye is actually insane or is being ‘touched by the Universe’.

In this episode Jaye has an exorcism performed as she tries to come to grips with her new reality. It has more biting religious commentary than any Simpsons episode and is shockingly refreshing. It has more in common with an Ethan and Joel Cohen movie than the typical network sitcom. Sadly, because the show is so good, it is surely doomed to be canceled by the time you read this blog.

Here is a review from Amazon.com
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Wonderfalls is probably the most hilarious show you've never seen. An hour-long "dramedy" about a young woman who hears the voices of inanimate objects--which instruct her to help out total strangers--the show aired on Fox in early 2004 to critical acclaim and dismal ratings. After airing four times in terrible time slots, the show was quickly canceled, but not before a hue and cry from a small but fervently devoted cadre of fans went up, begging for all 13 episodes to be released on DVD.

Thus, the highest-profile DVD release of a canceled show was born, and the nine unaired episodes of Wonderfalls are finally seeing the light of day.

You may be wondering: is it worth it to check out a show that was axed so quickly? The answer is an unqualified yes, as Wonderfalls is quirky without being precious, sardonic without being bitter, and smart without being a show-off about it.

Jaye (Caroline Dhavernas) is a graduate of Brown University who's opted not to put her education to work, and instead lives in a trailer and works at a tourist shop in Niagara Falls, to the consternation of her affluent, successful family. All seems to be going well for this self-proclaimed slacker, until one day a small toy lion speaks to her in enigmatic epigrams, commanding her to help people. Loath to deal in any compassionate way with the rest of humanity, Jaye warily obeys, if only to make the voices stop. Soon, though, she finds herself to be an unwilling humanitarian and accidental hero when more inanimate objects start talking to her, and more people turn out to need her help.

The premise may sound a bit too off-the-beaten-path, but Wonderfalls' meddling with the ethereal was grounded in a keen awareness of post-college life and the travails befalling young twentysomethings who had no idea where their life was going. And instead of being sanctimonious or inspiring, the show was instead a complex mix of the heartfelt and the angsty, and Dhavernas was one of the most cynically hopeful heroines to grace the small screen. The rest of the cast was also topnotch, including Kate Finneran as Jaye's high-strung sister, Diana Scarwid as her caustic mother, and Tyron Leitso as bartender Eric, whose tentative romance with Jaye was both affecting and hilarious. Think of Wonderfalls as less of a failure and more of a rare opportunity to see some of the most creative television in recent memory. --Mark Englehart

And another:

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The 2003-2004 television season was one in which critics and fans expressed their growing outrage at the decay of standards in commercial television. On the one hand, the WB decided to cancel the critically acclaimed ANGEL despite an unprecedented fan effort to save the show. A growing stream of increasingly offensive reality shows made many wonder if there was any future for scripted television, or whether we were doomed to see shows like the widely condemned THE SWAN. But for many, the low point of the entire season was the cancellation by FOX of the extraordinary new show WONDERFALLS after only four episodes, despite a host of great reviews, many of them proclaiming it the finest new show of the year. More than this, it was as if FOX were determined for the show to fail, first placing it on Friday evenings (the worst night of the week for attracting viewers) for three weeks, before putting it on Thursday night opposite a host of the most popular shows on TV, therefore dooming it to low ratings. With the great reviews, one would have imagined that FOX would have found the show a new time slot and built an advertising and promotional campaign around the critics' ravings.

Luckily, WONDERFALLS is being released with the four original episodes and nine more that were completed but not released. The great news for those who saw those first four shows is that the next nine are even better. Indeed, if you were angry at the cancellation of the show based solely on those four episodes, you will go ballistic when you see how good these others are. The writers were obviously in defense mode from the first. One of the executive producers, Tim Minear, had been victimized the previous year when he served as executive producer of FIREFLY, which FOX similarly killed prematurely. This time, they assumed that the thirteen episodes might be all they got. As a result, WONDERFALLS is essentially a single self-contained story in thirteen parts. It could easily have led to a second season with new story lines, but the one season they did produce tells a single tale, with no major loose ends at all by the end of the final one.

As most who have heard of the show know, WONDERFALLS is the story of Jaye, a slacker living in Niagara Falls, NY (though most of the footage at the Falls is from the Canadian side) and working in a menial job in a souvenir gift shop. Her life is mundane and unpromising, when suddenly one day inanimate animals start talking to her. A lot of people who hear this aspect of the show are turned off, but trust me, it really won't be an issue for long for anyone who gives the show a chance. We never do learn why the animals talk to Jaye (though in one spectacular episode a bronze monkey, in response to her question of why they are all singling her out, tells her, "Because you listen"). In one episode near the end of the season there are hints that Jaye might actually be a spirit seer, and if so it is highly satirical that in American consumer society that she would be addressed by artificial, utterly fake animals instead of the real animals that Native American seers acknowledged as spirit guides.

The animals don't really give Jaye much choice in the matter of whether she is going to heed their commands. She learns very quickly that if she doesn't do their bidding, they will drive her crazy by such stratagems as singing endlessly "One Hundred Bottles of Beer On the Wall." She also learns that if she refuses to do their bidding, things can go very bad very quickly, and that if she does things can go miraculously right. For instance, she is commanded to do a number of things through consecutive episodes that apparently destroy a potential relationship with Eric, the young bartender who came to Niagara on his honeymoon, only to have his wife (played by FIREFLY alum Jewel Staite, as unlovable in this role as she was adorable as Kaylee in that show) cheat on him their first night there. Eric seems perfect for the prickly Jaye, but the animals don't seem to want to cooperate. I won't give away the end of the series, but I think the final episodes end about as perfectly as one could hope. After thirteen episodes in which Jaye has functioned as a pawn of fate, seeing her finally a little happy and content is a wonderful moment.

The cast is absolutely first rate, and by the end of the series all make a great contribution. Caroline Dhavernas is really fine as Jaye. She is not supposed to be a good or lovable or nice person. She definitely isn't a saint. As she puts it in one episode, in which she inadvertently saves a baby from injury, "I'm not a baby saver!" She ends up being a good person despite her own best efforts to the contrary. Tyron Leitso is enormously likable as Eric, who seems to be way too nice of a guy to be involved with a brat like Jaye. But the chemistry between Jaye and Eric is great, especially as their relationship gets enormously complicated by life (and inanimate animals) later in the season. At first I was alarmed that Jaye's family was going to play such a prominent role in the series, but all the performers were so exceptional that it ended up being one of the show's greatest assets. William Sandler as her doctor father, Diane Scarwid as her author mother, and Kate Finneran as her lawyer sister (all three highly successful in their jobs) were great and serve to emphasize how unsuccessful in life Jaye has been.. And I really liked Lee Pace as her brother Aaron, a doctoral student in religion who is the first to catch on that Jaye has an unusual relationship with the powers that be via fake animals (something he first suspects when he catches her talking to a cow coffee creamer). And Tracie Thomas is quite cute as Mahandra, Jaye's best friend and the surreptitious lover of Aaron (a fact only revealed to the other characters only in the final episode).

This is one of my favorite series of all time, and while I profoundly regret that FOX didn't give it a chance, I am grateful that the producers managed to tell a brilliant and compelling story. And I loved the setting in Niagara Falls. It was one of those rare shows where very nearly everything was perfect, except that it appeared on a network run by the mentally challenged. See this! I promise one of the most enchanting experiences of your viewing life.

The Joe Cell : Modern Mythology in the Making

I haven't had a good healthy rant in a while, so perhaps I will today. I could rant about what is going on in Freemasonry in West Virginia but, last I checked, the rest of the blogosphere has that topic covered quite nicely. (For an excellent resource on the topic of PPM (perpetual motion machines) I highly recommend Donald Simanek's Pages. A highly entertaining site well worth a lengthy visit.)

I have really been enjoying using Google Reader. It is without question the best way to get content from the Web. While I am waiting for a long compile I will quickly browse through news feeds that I have subscribed to in various categories. Several of the news feeds I am subscribed to are related to energy technologies. Some of these sites are pretty out there as they mix compelling coverage of developments in solar and wind technologies with fringe topics like Free Energy.

I enjoy reading speculative and out-there stuff, I find it all quite entertaining. However, at times, some of it is so far out there and replete with such a mind-bogglingly stupid mythology that I am shocked when I see that a rabid audience of cult-like devotees are attracted to these schemes.

The main gathering point on the Internet for the spread of this modern mythology (Who's God is Nicolas Tesla) is the Pure Energy Systems Network which sponsors the repository for their mythos at the PSEWiki.

The major themes of free energy these days fall into a few categories.

Magnetics : Every child is fascinated by magnets. They are such fun and wonderful toys. However, it seems that some grown ups never got tired of playing with them. They build contraption on top of contraption to arrange magnetic fields in such a way that they believe that once they get the thing going it will begin to accelerate so they can bleed excess (over-unity) energy out of the device. Of course no one has ever built a working device based on these techniques and, of course, there is no scientific basis to believe one ever will. Nevertheless, that doesn't prevent thousands of hobbyists from building contraptions and uploading their videos to YouTube (I will provide links at the end of this post). Nor did it prevent investors from giving a company called Steorn millions of dollars to build such a device; a device which died an inglorious death when their widely advertised public demonstration was a flop.

Gravity: Things fall down. In fact, they accelerate when they fall down. In fact, we get lots of power from gravity as every hydro-electric dam runs on this principle. Still, there are some people who believe they can build a contraption that costs less energy to lift mass up then it releases when it falls down. These gizmos are called 'Gravity Wheels' and, apparently, there are a lot of devotees to this particular free energy scam. I will include links to YouTube videos below.

Electrolysis: (Sometimes called 'Water Fuel Cell') This one is kind of interesting. Electrolysis is a well understood process, both chemically and electrically, that involves splitting apart water into its component parts of hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen can then be burned as 'fuel', and can even be used in an internal combustion engine. Of course, it takes a lot more energy in the form of electricity to split the water molecule than can be retrieved by burning the resulting hydrogen oxygen mix. Nevertheless, there was one man who chose to see things differently.

The myth begins, and pretty much ends, with Stanley Meyer. Meyer was an inventor who claimed he had a water powered car (the car was not powered on water, it was powered on hydrogen which was produced from spitting the water molecule. Moreover, there is no proof he ever did this either.) Meyer's myth is elaborate and includes patents all over the world (the key patents expired last year so we should all be driving our water powered cars any day now). Other key elements involve the military contracting Meyers for top sekrit operations and a shocking and sudden death, allegedly by poisoning but, according to the medical examiner by a brain aneurysm..but the examiner may have been in on the konspiracy....). Who could have killed Meyer? Why the evil men who control the petroleum based fuel economy of course!

However, a funny thing happened on the way to Meyer's untimely death; before his death some of Meyer's investors sued him. During the course of the legal proceedings Meyer's device and vehicle were inspected by scientific experts who concluded that nothing was happening other than ordinary electrolysis in the device. The judge ruled Meyer guilty of fraud and he had to pay back his investors.

Of course, none of these little details bother the Meyer devotees. They are confident that anything negative ever said about the man was as a result of the evil konspiracy out to get him.

So, here is the science, if there could be such a thing, behind Meyer's device. According to the legend the key to produce over-unity electrolysis is to apply an electrical signal at a particular resonant frequency that interacts between a series of metal tubes or plates. When this configuration is all just right, not only does it produce incredible amounts of gas but, also, it produces not two hydrogen molecules and one oxygen but, rather, one H-H and one Oxygen. The ionized hydrogen pair is known as 'Browns Gas' (Oxyhydrogen) and packs an incredible wallop. (For the record, this is is not a wacky technology, devices with these properties are sold at industrial scale for welding.)

So, this particular free energy claim does bear some scrutiny since it isn't as wacky sounding as most of the others. However, in the end, the patents have been available for decades and in all of that time no one, and I mean no one, has ever created a simple easy to reproduce device that demonstrates even one tiny fraction of over-unity output. Moreover, most of the people involved in this field get obsessed with 'powering a car' when what they should be focused on is powering a small electrical generator. I rant more about this topic later...

(Since first posting this some new advertisements have started showing up at the top of my page. I encourage my readers to click on the link, or simply follow the following link to check out one of these excellent products. If any of my readers purchase one of these devices and install it on their car, I would love to hear about your experience; that is if you survive the experience.)

Cold Fusion: Remember cold fusion? I bet you do. Remember how it turned out to all be a scam and a lot of bullshit? Well, it seems that it is still around. There has been a lot of success at reproducibility in experiments and now the biggest arguments swirl around whether the output energy is a result of chemical or nuclear reactions. The underlying science behind this is a bit beyond me, but from what I gather the jury is still a little bit out on this one.

Joe Cell: Without question this has to be the biggest load of bullshit circulating the 'Free Energy' community these days. What is a 'Joe Cell'? Why, it's a gizmo invented by a guy named Joe. Who is Joe? Can't tell you, you see, if we tell you then Joe will get killed by the 'suits'. Who is Bill Williams? Why, he's a guy who replicated the Joe Cell but was threatened with death to himself and his entire family if he didn't shut up and destroy his work. (By the way, if you find my rant on the Joe Cell a bit 'harsh' I suggest you check the following link out on the Urban Dictionary, by comparison I think I sound quite reasonable.)

Are you seeing a pattern here yet? What is a Joe Cell? Good question. Apparently it's a device that you put 'treated' water into (from what I understand this is water that you meditate upon and give it good new age vibes or something). Then you 'charge' that 'treated' water with a battery. Next, you hook it up to your car. (Always the car isn't it?) Next, and this is the good part, somehow via magic, it powers your car with incredible energy. No fuel goes into your car, instead your engine implodes because of ions, kryptonite, or some other bullshit teleporting into the combustion chamber. Watch out though because, not unlike Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, your vehicle may go zooming off out of control and, sometimes, even levitate!! And, that's not all! The 'Joe Cell' can transmutate matter too!!

Actually, it was the 'Joe Cell' that led me off onto a rant. In fact, there is only one thing more 'out there' than the 'Joe Cell' and that is something called the 'Hutchison Effect'

Hutchison Effect: I don't have time to go into the entire saga of this particular bizarre and surreal mythology but I guarantee you it is quite entertaining and worth a read. I will include some embedded YouTube videos of the Hutchison Effect in action at the end of this post.

I'm sure I haven't touched upon all of the wacky Free-Energy 'technologies' out there but feel free to subscribe to an RSS news feed or browse the PESWiki for your own entertainment.

Now, finally, to the rant. Yesterday I subscribed to a Yahoo list server on the topic of the 'Joe Cell'. Today I ran through a series of messages by the 'Joe Cell' devotees, cultists, psuedo-scientists and self-professed inventors. After reading them I couldn't resist a good healthy rant which I will cross post here on my blog so that search engines can dig their fingers into and draw 'Joe Cell' fan-boys to my site so they can flame me with their levitating cars.

P.S. If it turns out I'm wrong and one of you guys really does invent a free energy device let me make clear (A) I will be happy to buy one so I can disconnect from the grid and (B) I will apologize, though I don't really expect it will come to that.

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I just joined this forum to find out what this 'Joe Cell' thing is all about. I have to admit, I'm terribly confused. I have read all of the available material online and, to be frank, it sounds like a bunch of nonsense. I have read up on the Stanley Meyer thing and at least that concept has some possible correlation with reality. His claim is merely that he found a more efficient method of performing electrolysis. Now, his claims went too far once he said he achieved over unity, which violates the laws of physics.

Recently some people have decided to wave their hands and claim these over unity results come from interaction with the 'Zero Point Energy Field'. Of course, in the context that these claims are brought up you can simply replace the phrase 'Zero Point Energy Field' with 'Magical Power Fairies'. It really doesn't make any difference. It reminds me of how all of the New Age magazines today are filled with references to 'Quantum Mechanics' to give a psuedo-scientific aura around their crystal hugging beliefs.

Stanley Meyer was proven a fraud in a court of law and no one has ever been able to reproduce a version of his device that achieves over-unity results.

Now, the conspiracy minded folks who flock to free-energy claims will talk about how these technologies are 'suppressed' . However, the best way to get past suppression in the internet age is to release everything open-source and in the public domain. So, why doesn't this happen? Is it because the crazy inventor who has this technology doesn't want to 'lose credit' for their work or 'lose their chance at millions of bazillions' of dollars? Well, isn't this just the most selfish attitude to possibly take? If this crazy inventor has a true, reproducible on demand, technology that could transform the planet earth and humanity as well I think he should feel some sense of responsibility and obligation to make it available to all, for free, and now!

So, to those who claim they have invented such a technology but choose to keep it sekrit for selfish reasons, I say shame on you Mr. Wizard, shame on you.

Now, let me get to my next pet peeve. What is this obsession with powering cars!!!! Cars running on water. Cars running on nothing.

WHO CARES ABOUT CARS!??

It is safe to assume that if someone claims they have a technology to power a car, what they are really saying is they have a technology that can power an internal combustion engine.

My question is why aren't all of you focused on getting your Joe Cell's and Stanley Meyer Fuel Cells to POWER AN ELECTRICAL GENERATOR!?! ?

Is it because it is so much easier to obscure the truth when you bring a car into the equation?

Look, if you power an electrical generator and claim you have over-unity then things are really simple. Start your device up, which should in turn power an electrical generator which, in turn produces electricity which you can feed back into the device to keep it running. Remove the power source you used to get the thing started and watch it run forever. If you can't do this simple task you sure as hell can't power a car engine!

In fact, the amount of energy needed to power a multi-ton vehicle is mind boggling compared to the much smaller amount of energy needed to power a few horsepower 1,000 watt generator.

I will be much more impressed when I see that kind of a demonstration. I really think the whole 'run a car on water' is an transparent rhetorical device to distract people from focusing on the fact that none of these gizmos actually work.

Now, let me return to the 'Joe Cell'. The claims for this device are fantastic beyond belief. In fact, they are patently absurd and smack of alleged paranormal phenomena. If you dare question any of it, of course you are reminded of the scary guys in suits who are out to 'git ya'.

Why are any of you wasting your time on this complete and utter nonsense? Have you lost all critical thinking skills somewhere along the way?

I am really quite surprised by all of this. Maybe I'll go grab some magnets and start making a skateboard wheel spin around so I can fancy myself on the bleeding edge of new energy research.

Really guys?

John W. Ratcliff

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Here is the first response I received from 'Bernie'
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John,

My suggestion to you is to do further reading. Just skimming the surface does not tell you what a JC is all about.

First of all, since it's possible to run an ICE without power applied to the cell, I guess it's definitely an over unity device by most peoples definition of over unity. But in reality it isn't, as it actually extracts energy from the environment and the molecules of water in the cell and converts it into a torsion field, which in turn impresses a field on an ICE such that gas is no longer required to make it run. In fact it's not the only device that will do this.

People work on cars because most everyone has one and gas prices are skyrocketing! Actually they aren't, the dollar is getting more worthless by the day, hence it takes more of them to buy gas. Several people are working to run small generators on JC's, but water cooled engines are easier to to run on the cells.

I suspect that a well funded lab could actually turn this JC phenomena into a serious solution to the global energy crisis in short order, but that would be contrary to the best interests of some very wealthy people who don't want to be force weaned off the trough that they've been feeding at for many years known as the petroleum industry. I tend to include most governments in that as well, as they've used taxation to slurp out of the same trough.

Believe me, this thing is real. Just drive around with working one sitting inside a car for a month and you would believe it as well.

Bernie

------ My response to Bernie ----------------------

Bernie,

Thanks for the reply. I did read about the topic and I found it all a bit silly. I heard claims of a car levitating and the transmutation of metals. I heard claims of cars running on no fuel whatsoever.

So, let's put the proof in place. Why not put a 'Joe Cell' on an electric generator and then produce free energy from that device. If you have enough power to run a car then clearly you could run a very big ass generator. I would love to get off the power grid big time. More to the point, a running electrical generator on a 'Joe Cell' with absolutely no other fuel of any kind, is a lot closer to the kind of convincing demonstration one would need to entertain these wild claims.

Sorry, but I'm more than just a little bit skeptical.

John

--- Here was an interesting reply from Viktor Lantos ---------------

Nice rant, I don't mean to "flame" or anything, but you overlook some stuff here. The obsession with cars, obviously, is because maintaining one costs a lot of money, usually in the form of gasoline. While overunity may not be achieved, getting a Joe Cell to run the motor on hydrogen/oxygen gas costs significantly less money and takes significantly less electricity to operate than refueling your normal car with gasoline or electricity.

Most people who go into such 'free-energy' experiments are people who have an open mind, and are willing to spend some time and money to have a little fun with an interesting project, which may or may not yield interesting results. Bear in mind that most great inventors were dismissed as idiots, and, while overunity may never be achieved, we at least have the right mindset.

I for one believe that one can obtain more energy from a system than one puts in, provided the energy comes from somewhere else. Quantum physics and Zero Point Energy did not arise because of a silly dream some lunatic had: just like scientists speculated that the earth was round, just like they speculated the atom existed, and just like they speculated that atoms were subdivided into smaller units, scientists today are speculating that such phenomena exist, and one should maintain an open mind and not ignore ideas which seems to be out of the ordinary.

Keep an open mind, don't dismiss ideas just because they sound ridiculous. That is all.

Good day - if I ever do manage to get my Joe Cell to generate free energy, I'd be happy to share my results with you. For now, it's an interesting project of mine.

----- And my response to Victor as follows ----------------

Thanks for the kind reply. I like to think I do have an open mind, otherwise why am I reading about all of this stuff. I have an open mind on the water-fuel-cell thing (ala Stanley Meyer) as well as cold fusion. I just don't like to keep my mind so open that my brains fall out. It was when I was reading the 'Joe Cell' mythology and heard about levitation, transmutation, and magical energy (not hydrogen) imploding the fuel chamber that I decided I should shove my brains back into my head.

My concern about any of this, open mind and all, is whether or not it is in fact a true phenomenon.

To do that, we have to get away from cars and focus on easy to reproduce definitive experiments that can be carried out by anyone.

In all that I have reviewed and studied to date, no such thing exists for any of the so-called 'free energy' technologies.

And, yes, you are correct. Quantum mechanics is real. And the zero point energy field is real. However, you cannot apply these two scientific topics (topics which require an advanced degree in physics and a mind blowing grasp of mathematics to even discuss intelligently) and use it as a magical elixer to explain any paranormal phenomena that you might experience.

Haven't you noticed how much the New Agers have been throwing the word 'quantum' into all of their psychic mumbo jumbo? That doesn't make their psychic mumbo jumbo any more 'scientific' in the process.

Likewise, you can't just shout 'zero point energy' as an explanation for any anomalous energy system.

That is not to say the ZPE might not have something to do with it, especially if the effect is 'real', but if you don't have the science to back that claim up you might as well stop talking about it. Science is conducted via a strict experimental and peer review process. Inventors tinkering in their garage really don't have anything to do with it.

My point is that if there is supposed to be any reality to any of these free energy claims, they must be submitted to the same exact process.

It doesn't do me any good if 'Joe' can levitate his car with a 'Joe Cell' unless I can buy a car levitation device at Walmart and have it installed by their mechanics.

Let's get down to the basic science of the matter. Create simple, irrefutable, reproducible experiments and then subject them to scientific scrutiny and peer review. I know, you might complain that 'mainstream' science wouldn't publish the work. However, today there are plenty of scientific journals devoted to alternative energy fields and a clear and simple reproducible experiment is going to be difficult to repute. Especially if it is in the public domain.

John

--------- And Bernie replies with an offer to augment a gas generator -------

Being a skeptic is good! I'm a retired electrical and was a very big skeptic when I got into this. Now I'm a believer.

If you'd like to provide me a "big ass generator" driven by an all aluminum water cooled engine equipped with a standard points based ignition system and adjustable carb(s) I would be glad to try to convert it for you. Suitable test engines are hard to come by any more, since the proliferation of EFI gas hogs. EFI engines can be converted, but the timing needs to be changed radicly, and most newer engines do not provide this capability.

The real value of a JC is in it's ability to be used as a booster in much the same way as hydroxy boosters are. They are actually better in that they don't even need to be plumbed into the engine and seldom need to have power applied. Figures of up to 40% mileage gains have been reported. I've personally gotten 15% on an EFI engine without any effort to fool the computer into reducing the fuel flow. If I tried to spoof the computer I could probably double that.

Bernie

Magnet Motor videos on YouTube









Gravity Wheel videos on YouTube






Stanley Meyer videos on YouTube










Joe Cell videos on YouTube









Hutchison Effect videos on YouTube (Great entertaining stuff!)

A great video about belonging to Freemasonry

My friend and brother over at the Burning Taper already posted this video but I want to include it on my site here as well. This is a fantastic piece promoting Freemasonry and the statements many of the brothers on the film make echo my own sentiments exactly.

Team 1706 : First Robotics Competition 2008

The First Robotics Competition (FRC) was held this weekend. Our regionals were at the Family Arena right here in St. Charles. Teams all across the country competed in the game 'Overdrive' on Friday and Saturday. Our team, 1706, had a very respectable showing especially considering the fact that we are a young team with a very limited budget. (Here is a link to some recent news stories about the competition.)

We heard that some teams had budgets in excess of $100,000; I heard of one that was over $150,000! (By comparison our budget was $7,000.) Some of the robots were built by technical schools where the entire student body was involved and had access to incredible facilities.

What I felt was the most amazing robot, at least based on software, was the team 148 machine. It was able to perform two revolutions of the track, avoiding other robots in the way, in fully autonomous mode. When I spoke to one of the team mebers I learned the software was written by an engineer who had been competing in FRC for 19 years and was now in his sixties! As amazing as that is, you gotta wonder how are a handful of high school students with limited budget, resources, time, and facilities going to be able to compete at that level.

The matches themselves were simply amazing. I recorded all of the final matches on video tape and hope to transfer them online at a later date.

Another fascinating aspect of our robot competition this year is the fact that PBS is doing a two hour documentary about First Robotics. Out of the over one thousand robotics teams five were chosen to be profiled and, it just so happened, that my son's team, 1706, was one of the teams selected. On Saturday evening the team went out to a local restaurant to celebrate their success. The 35 of us took over a massive portion of the packed restaurant and when it came to give speeches and thank yous we were surrounded by a film crew. It was a surreal experience and I took pride in explaining to curious people in the restaurant what it was all about.

Here is a short news story about the documentary feature:

National FIRST Robotics Competition Sets the Stage for Five Teams of Students, Including Group From Wentzville’s Timberland and Holt High Schools

In January, KETC/Channel 9, the St. Louis public television station, began production of FIRST Robotics Competition: 2008 (working title), a two-hour documentary scheduled for broadcast nationally on PBS in late 2008 or early 2009. KETC received full funding for the project from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). It is being shot and edited in high definition.

The program will follow the experiences of five groups of high school students from around the country as they engineer, build and operate robots to compete in regional and national FIRST robotics tournaments. The FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition began in 1992 with 28 teams; today it attracts over 37,000 students on 1,500 teams from eight countries in this “varsity sport of the mind.”

For the national documentary, a KETC production team has been following a group of competitors from Wentzville’s Timberland and Holt high schools; they’ve named themselves Ratchet Rockers. Each team is given six weeks to build their robot from a kit of common parts provided by FIRST. The robots will compete in the St. Louis regional contest to be held February 28–March 1 at the St. Charles Family Arena. The St. Louis regionals will host 43 teams from 12 states; the St. Louis area alone is contributing 14 teams from 29 high schools. Winners will move on to the nationals April 17–19 in Atlanta , Georgia .

Not only will the documentary explore the technical challenges faced by the students, but it will show them negotiating obstacles from daily life, including a lack of funds, personal rivalries, immigration requirements, physical ills and family problems. In addition to the Wentzville team, the documentary will profile an all-girls team from Baltimore ; a team from Idaho headed by a young man with Muscular Dystrophy; a team from a youth corrections facility in Colorado ; and a first generation Chinese student on a team from Seattle who must battle his non-English-speaking parents to let him participate.

“Through our production of FIRST Robotics Competition: 2008, KETC is bringing recognition of our region’s expertise in science and technology to a national audience and at the same time highlighting the Saint Louis Science Center, the competition’s local sponsoring organization, and many community-minded corporate supporters,” said KETC President and CEO Jack Galmiche . “This cooperative effort across so many platforms—educational, cultural, scientific, engineering and technological organizations—demonstrates St. Louis ’ continuing role in innovation, and Channel 9’s role in showing the world that innovative spirit.”