Data is key but don't let it take over

I teach construction technology, with a slight biast to data use via a course entitled IDD or integrated Digital Design, mostly;y is about the digital aspects of construction, but now and again I stray away and start looking at other aspects of data use.

So when I see an article in this Saturdays issue of the FT, a paper I buy rather to regularly, on the open page of the Life & Arts section by Yuval Noah Harari, I sit and take time to read the article carefully. Not only is it a long way from my normal sphere of knowledge, but it has no link to construction tech. Instead, it's all about the way data has played such an important and influential part in so much of the UK Governments decision making and law-making around the Coronavirus. Good or bad, this is an article I need to read, and I suspect several times. After all, look who the author is, Yuval Noah Harari, whose books include Sapiens, Homo Deus and 21 lessons for the 21st Century, the first two I have read, the last, well its now on order with Amazon.

In construction we use data to track materials areas, lengths, numbers of most things, and do the odd calculation, thermal response, energy use structural cals, the list is getting larger by the week, and the more I get involved, the more I can see its use, But the data being generated by coronavirus is in a league of its own, because governments are taking note of it and using it to generate law.

This is dangerous, not because the prime minister is probably not capable of understanding the data, but because he relies upon experts to guide him. The same applies to other heads of governments.

I can see why the UK government went the route they saw as correct and waited to see if the herd could self infect and gain protection, but as data came in from places like Italy that had gone that route not because of any decision but because of a lack of decision, it must have become clear, the virus we now battle has spread to far and killed to many to consider the herd method a viable route.

But that's not what Yuval warns against, its far more sinister, Control. The governments might take to much interest in experimenting and ask us to wear data collectors that would help to fight the virus, but also allow so much more, an extension of control that could be far more dangerous than any virus.

The temptation is, for some people, one that can't be ignored. Take a look at what supermarkets do with data, there is a very good reason why I receive coupons. Then there is Google, and the likes of Amazon. Google I tend to trust, but Amazon, well there's another story.

But back to the human data, to get through this Virus we need data:

• Who
• When
• Where
• Weather
• Temp
• My Temp, the ten of those around me
• Just about every social interaction

Its this last item some politicians might find just too irresistible knowing what we do, not the public data, my shopping habits, but what I think, what I might think and who I think about. my reaction to the news. How is this collected, my mobile phone is the obvious answer, but that's so obvious, and not full proof, I can switch it off, leave it at home, lend it to my partner, leave it in a draw. 

The Coronavirus is the perfect excuse, lockdown is one thing checking to see if we are staying put another. Drone Technology is the perfect answer to this. The UK is one of the most video'd nations outside of China,  but its not enough to check on strays wondering out and spreading contagion.

Drones are perfect for the job

 CPD Update

Week Commencing 24th August 2020

This newsletter is meant to link into my CPD web site and highlight current CPD I have found to this week. Take a look at the website for a complete list of information linked to CPD.

So down to this week, a lot of the week has been updating the web site to show new webinars, and what I call static webinars on Youtube. Plus I have extended the site to cover, my reading, plus a specific photograph section. Record-Keeping had also been included plus research, which I now see as the basis of so much CPD, search techniques and search term and filters.

Active House

 I am happy to annouince, on the Blog, that I have become the Chairman of ActiveHouse UK 

Test Blog

Design Thinking from the 16th Century: The De l'Orme Solutio

 Design Thinking from the 16th Century: The De l'Orme Solution

#Philibert-de-l’Orme

#structure 

#Friction 

#Pitched-Roof 

#sustainability 

#thinktank 

#Future 

#Japan 

#Japanese-Earthquakes

When designing a pitched roof, we have a number of choices, stick built, or truss, are the most common, but both need at some point quite large timber sections, and often long lengths.

I started to write this article as a section for my Future page, and it will remain as that, but I realised that it was more than a future item, it was sustainability, Structure, and a classic alternative thinking process, or an article I could so easily add to my ThinkTank website.

When facing the high cost and scarcity of massive structural timber in 16th-century France, architect Philibert de l'Orme  didn't seek a bigger budget; he sought a smarter way forward. His masterpiece, the Bois Cintrée system, detailed in his 1561 treatise, “New Inventions for Building Well at Low Cost” is the ultimate challenge to think like an innovative designer. A copy is available on the Internet, in both the original French and as a translated text. a search in Gooogle Scholar will find many different copies, perhaps the best, is an English book, available on Google Books, describing his work, and the discovery of his method, roughly around 1800 not surprising realy as Holland was under French rule at that time and many architects were trained in France.

The Challenge: Resourcefulness Over Raw Power

If you cannot procure large, expensive, old-growth timber beams (Pannes or Cheurons) for a wide-span roof. You are limited to thin, short, common planks (often as short as four feet).

His Goal: Engineer these small, seemingly weak pieces into a single, cohesive, large-span arch capable of bearing the full weight of a roof.. De l'Orme's Solution was the Engineering Fixation from Scratch looking at the forces he would encounter and relying on first-principles physics and geometry to solve a structural problem:

Instead of relying on the tensile strength of one large beam, De l'Orme realized that a gentle curve offers an immense contact area. His short planks are stacked as a dry laminate, with each laminate  offset to its nabour, but adding laminate layers all offset to each other multiplying the surface available for connection.

Next, instead of gluing or bonding the laminates together or  clamping the laminated together with iron bolts  he utilised the Power of the Wedge: and used timber connectors  replacing the expensive iron fasteners with simple wooden keys (clefz). These keys, when "strongly driven in with large hammer blows" (chaffees à grands coups de marteau) into the connecting ties (Liernes), generate a massive Normal Force (N). The use of continous small purlins as the connectors, with wedges either side of the laminate truss, together with individual conectors, made the errection a simple matter of connection the planks into simple trusses read to be connects together and clamped by the use of wedges hammered into place.

The laminates were now utilising friction to increase the length of available span from one plank length to several, add the shape to the equasion and sudenly you have a curved roof, clamped together with wedges to lock the hundreds of small pieces into a single, monolithic, load-bearing arch. This results in an "incredible force" within the structure, a non-adhesive, reversible mechanical bond.

 De l'Orme: Designed the joint not to resist a force, but to generate the necessary fixing force internally through the application of a simple, reversible mechanical principle, Friction. This approach—utilizing ubiquitous, inexpensive materials and maximizing strength through geometric intelligence and physics—is precisely the spirit driving contemporary modular and digital fabrication projects like WikiHouse.

The fact this simple principle was later copied on many French projects, and later spreading into negbouring Belgium and Holland, many of which are still in existinace, and recoreded in a number of Chataeu repairs, shows the unique and versatile construction method, and sustainability of this design method.

Below I have included two original drawings by Philibert de l’Orme, which I think show the method very clearly.

You might also want to watch the nice little video in Google YouTube showing the repair of the magnificent roof at Chateau Purnon France, which also shows the construction clearly.

included in my hashtags, but a part of my Apple Notes is a link to some Japanese Carpentry methods, and systemic test showing how their timber structures remained in place when concrete and other ridged structuures did not, it was the carpentry that I saw as the link, again do your own research. make your own links

Design Thinking from the 16th Century: The De l'Orme Solution

#Philibert-de-l’Orme

#structure 

#Friction 

#Pitched-Roof 

#sustainability 

#thinktank 

#Future 

#Japan 

#Japanese-Earthquakes

When designing a pitched roof, we have a number of choices, stick built, or truss, are the most common, but both need at some point quite large timber sections, and often long lengths.

I started to write this article as a section for my Future page, and it will remain as that, but I realised that it was more than a future item, it was sustainability, Structure, and a classic alternative thinking process, or an article I could so easily add to my ThinkTank website.

When facing the high cost and scarcity of massive structural timber in 16th-century France, architect Philibert de l'Orme  didn't seek a bigger budget; he sought a smarter way forward. His masterpiece, the Bois Cintrée system, detailed in his 1561 treatise, “New Inventions for Building Well at Low Cost” is the ultimate challenge to think like an innovative designer. A copy is available on the Internet, in both the original French and as a translated text. a search in Gooogle Scholar will find many different copies, perhaps the best, is an English book, available on Google Books, describing his work, and the discovery of his method, roughly around 1800 not surprising realy as Holland was under French rule at that time and many architects were trained in France.

The Challenge: Resourcefulness Over Raw Power

If you cannot procure large, expensive, old-growth timber beams (Pannes or Cheurons) for a wide-span roof. You are limited to thin, short, common planks (often as short as four feet).

His Goal: Engineer these small, seemingly weak pieces into a single, cohesive, large-span arch capable of bearing the full weight of a roof.. De l'Orme's Solution was the Engineering Fixation from Scratch looking at the forces he would encounter and relying on first-principles physics and geometry to solve a structural problem:

Instead of relying on the tensile strength of one large beam, De l'Orme realized that a gentle curve offers an immense contact area. His short planks are stacked as a dry laminate, with each laminate  offset to its nabour, but adding laminate layers all offset to each other multiplying the surface available for connection.

Next, instead of gluing or bonding the laminates together or  clamping the laminated together with iron bolts  he utilised the Power of the Wedge: and used timber connectors  replacing the expensive iron fasteners with simple wooden keys (clefz). These keys, when "strongly driven in with large hammer blows" (chaffees à grands coups de marteau) into the connecting ties (Liernes), generate a massive Normal Force (N). The use of continous small purlins as the connectors, with wedges either side of the laminate truss, together with individual conectors, made the errection a simple matter of connection the planks into simple trusses read to be connects together and clamped by the use of wedges hammered into place.

The laminates were now utilising friction to increase the length of available span from one plank length to several, add the shape to the equasion and sudenly you have a curved roof, clamped together with wedges to lock the hundreds of small pieces into a single, monolithic, load-bearing arch. This results in an "incredible force" within the structure, a non-adhesive, reversible mechanical bond.

 De l'Orme: Designed the joint not to resist a force, but to generate the necessary fixing force internally through the application of a simple, reversible mechanical principle, Friction. This approach—utilizing ubiquitous, inexpensive materials and maximizing strength through geometric intelligence and physics—is precisely the spirit driving contemporary modular and digital fabrication projects like WikiHouse.

The fact this simple principle was later copied on many French projects, and later spreading into negbouring Belgium and Holland, many of which are still in existinace, and recoreded in a number of Chatue repairs, shows the unique and versatile construction method, and sustainability of this design method.

Below I have included two original drawings by Philibert de l’Orme, which I think show the method very clearly.

You might also want to watch the nice little video in Google YouTube showing the repair of the magnificent roof at Chateau Purnon France, which also shows the construction clearly.

included in my hashtags, but a part of my Apple Notes is a link to some Japanese Carpentry methods, and systemic test showing how their timber structures remained in place when concrete and other ridged structuures did not, it was the carpentry that I saw as the link, again do your own research. make your own links

USA messing with the Global Market Place

 USA Messing with the Global Market Place

I have been watching to actions of the USA like a hawk, as I am sure more of the global construction market is also doing.

Its frightening, how bad the USA’s decission to inpose tarifs on all goods entering the USA, I am sure there will be exceptions, there always is, but the Construction Market will be hit, of that I have no doubt.

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I have read most of the FT article on this, and for the first time, had major talks with three AI programs, Grok, Pi and Gemini , all have much the same feeling, pun intended, the ripple we will see, if its not already started, will be:

* Increased Material Costs:

* The US tariffs, particularly those on steel and aluminum, directly affect core construction materials. This leads to higher import costs for UK construction firms that rely on these materials.  

* Supply Chain Disruptions:

* The tariffs can disrupt established supply chains, forcing UK companies to seek alternative sources for materials. This can lead to delays and increased logistical complexities.  

* Competitive Pressures:

* UK construction firms face increased competitive pressure as material costs rise. Those unable to adapt may see reduced profit margins or even be forced out of the market.

* Project Delays and Budget Overruns:

* Rising material costs can lead to project delays and budget overruns, impacting project timelines and financial stability.  

As I have been working since 1969, I have been through several major political upheavals, the Miners strike, several recessions and strikes, mostly I happen to be working on large projects and rode out the bulk of the problems, Architecture does tend to ride out some of the blips, but with this recent upheaval I tend to agree with the general consensus, the market place is going to take a major dive just because of a lack of materials.

But, and like always, there is a but. Its quite possible the market place might just level out, because the major players will seek out alternative markets, just to keep materials flowing, and offer good discounts.

I worked in several material manufacturers mostly in a tech position, but I can see sales managers bringing in all there top staff, and sending them all over the world, with one goal keep our factories running, do deals.

OK there might be a few exception, but if I were a construction buyer, my phone would be red hot, not with incoming calls but by me phoning contacts, trying to secure materials, and strong secure partners.

I can see the major distributors looking for secure supplies, some will be already smiling, as they do not deal with the USA, but be careful, the ripples are starting to rise and the USA will need its share of the market, and be trying to offer lower tarifs, just to keep supplies inboud to the USA,

Its a strange market, and one that will need carefull negotiations, I once sat with a guy on a plane, we sarted talking, and but the time we parted, I had his card, and a deal.

Would I have got that deal and the friendship by threats and harsh words, no, trade is as old as the earth, it takes time, a meal, a few beers if thats ok, or in my case very strong coffee, a long discussion on sport, a few laughts and a simple email thanking him for cutting a long flight into an enjoyable trip.

President Trump, you have made a vast mistake, yes it might make the USA wealthy, but come the next big problem, countries will remember your actions and refuse to help. I had been planning a trip to the Missasipi soon, not now.

I might be wrong, I hope I am, but I see major problems, and some surprising new relationships for the UK, A stronger EU relationship, China surprisingly being more interesting, Australia, India and certainly Africa, and the southern Americas, all needing friends and strong partners.

Google NotebookLM

I was listening to Leo Laport yesterday, Friday, on his Intelligent Machines Podcast, which used to be This week in Google, and he had a guest on from Google, Steven Johnson, and the conversation was all about Google NotebookLM. Now this is a show all about AI, but it was clear from the start, NotebookLM, the subject, is not your ordinary AI, this AI has been designed, without the benafit of a LLM or Large laguage Model. It seems to be a clone of Gemini but without the access to a huge global knowledge base.

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Instead the interface expects you to provide the information to answer questions. This is done by linking files, text YouTube, and of course a heap of word, and Google docs, alas no Apple pages yet, although it runs very well in Safari.

Then there is the usual question box, if you have provided enough knowledge is gives a detailed response, but only from the information you give.

This means no waffle, no linking to stuff that not realy relevant, of wishfull thinking on behalf of the AI, the responce is very factual.

Also there is a detailed citation of relevant information in the response, so you can easily see where the information comes from.

Next is the insanely useful creation of a podcast from the links given. Now NotebookLM makes a file up for each collection, they are separate, and can be used again in other queries but these folders as of yet can’t be linked, you have to make a new subject and reattach relavant files. See todays Audio file, two AI people talking about me.

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Now the real  fun begins by asking questions via the AI, from here it sounds and feels like Gemini, I asked Gemini earlier about this and it confirmed that NoteboookLM is based on a subset of it, but without the Vast internet Knowledge base other than what you link.

It goes without saying using Google Docs, and othe google  files make life easier, but NotebookLM can take straight copied text, and PDF files. So using it on a Mac is not so bad.

Now another very useful tool is the mind map showing the links between each file on the sources window. Mind blowing!

So will I be using it, well yes, I plan on taking all my saved Apple Notes on a specific subject, and copying and pasting it in, plus my Apple Pages and making pdf files, and asking question of it.

The Benefit is something I have been looking for in Apple for all my notes, and I have a lot. 

So go over to Google NotebookLM and load it up, I use Chrome in the begining, but trialing it on both Safari, and the iPhone app, was instant all my files were there as my Mac knows Google and linked in perfectly. I walked my dog listening to the AI generated podcast, on my iPhone,  see above, and was amazed at the way two AI voices could pull the information together so well. I also started a new file ready for my return home.

As always memory is limited, so any answer needs saving as a note, otherwise its lost on reloading.

One area I fully intend to follow up on is the use by large corporations who have vast repositoties of data in the form od articles, research documents, comments and who knows what else, Google NotebookLM is made for them.

One last thing Steven Johnson writes a lot, and also used Substack, well worth following.