SpiderDroid 0.02: 3D Models

I have published the 3D Models for the upper (and most interesting) pieces of the leg design of the 0.02 SpiderDroid in TinkerCad under easy free licensing.

https://www.tinkercad.com/embed/e5ogrbWnosU?editbtn=0

NOT becoming a Supervillain by mistake

I do a lot of cryptoquote games.  Way too many, probably.  So I have a stream of notable quotes offering themselves for my fleeting consideration on most days.  Lately I have been adding "... as a Supervillain" to the end of them, like one might add a phrase to a fortune cookie message.

Example fortune cookies:

"Today it's up to you to create the peacefulness you long for" ... as a Supervillain.

"If you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it" . . as a Supervillain.

Example Cryptoquotes:

"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself" ... as a Supervillain. (George Bernard Shaw)

"Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies" ... as a Supervillain. (Aristotle)

The story I am telling myself is that this activity will help me avoid becoming a Supervillain by accident, because there might be trapdoors into evil thoughts under high minded thoughts.

😁

NOT Being A Supervillain LLC

In the second (depending on how one counts, it might be the third) trimester of the COVID-19 global pandemic, I have decided that I need to do something besides simply making pandemic masks and obeying rules.  So I have established the NOT Being A Supervillain LLC as a North Carolina USA company.  I plan to offer computer consulting services, including security audits and challenge tests.

SpiderDroid 0.02: Leg twitches

I am happy to announce that I am making progress on one of the wishlist projects that I have imagined for the next few years.  At the moment I have two assembled legs (with servos) that I like for this second incomplete design/build and two more 3d printed but not assembled yet.  Early walking experiments with only 4 legs will be creepy but useful.

I hesitated, because in the midst of this global pandemic the distributor for my preferred servos went 503.

Fortunately, HiWonder seems to be distributing those LX16A servos now, so I am rolling. :D

Allan Dickson

You might think that not becoming a super villain is simple common sense.

You might be right, I suppose.  I seem to be among the people most uncertain about what common sense is.  

The examples I can first recall just now of decisions that I have heard people describe as "just common sense", are "Don't touch things that are hot enough to burn you," "Wear shoes when you go outside in the snow," "Don't break the law," and "Only eat when you are hungry ". 

Each of these examples has a tree of exceptions and gray areas that leap immediately to my mind.  

Having accurate judgement of "...hot enough to burn you..." requires a wide range of levels and kinds of experience in different circumstances.  How long does a plate have to be out of the oven before the waiter can carry it safely using the specific towels or tools they have available to them?  How long does a piece of iron need to be in the quenching water or air cooled after it has been red hot to be touched safely?  These questions are meant to show that using this example of Common Sense requires some uncommon knowledge in order to practice it.  So is calling it "common" just casual hyperbole?

That objection, or others, seem like crippling weaknesses to all the tenets I have considered as candidates for Common Sense, including "Don't be a supervillain."

"Really?", you might think.

Yeah, it isn't really a moment by moment thing, for me; deciding not to be a super villain. You are right to be thinking that.  It is, as you no doubt expect, more complicated than that.

The key question involved in my mind is about where the boundaries of villainy, and super-villainy are, and whether or not I am dealing with pressures and ideas that move me closer to them.

I try to hold that question as the subject of daily meditation (or at least consideration).

So maybe "day by day" is more accurate, and only on the worst days are there a series of moments of decision.

Moment by moment, deciding not to become a super villain

This is a moment in which the decision not to become a super villain has a special weight in my mind.  My partner and I are socially distancing ourselves from everyone else to do our part to protect each other and everyone else from the fast natural spread of the first global wave of SARS-CoV-2.

The chief example of community identified evil in this moment, perhaps worldwide, is the selfish refusal of individuals or groups to take action and change behavior to help the community, local to wherever you are, to protect their weakest members.

Not an inspiring example.