Friends are Electric

I’ve written previously about my distaste for Toronto.  I’ve also claimed that this is not a mentality unique to myself, for truly it is not.  I explained one theory which I think provides the why to the action.

Now I shall refine that thought further.

I find Toronto as a physical place to be greatly unpleasant.  This is, however, just an opinion.  Many of us who grew up outside of the world’s largest cities would share such feelings owing to the total lack of anything natural within the city.  Certianly trees are planted all about, but never do they appear natural.  Even when a forested area is left, it is ruined by the excessive noise pollution of the roads which inevitably follow along near it.

This is not to say that the physical city lacks any attraction, since the ample opportunity for one to exercise boundless consumerism would be a desirable quality to many.  Any with an interest in urban architecture would also find their interests addressed within the city.  My argument is that these aspects of the physical city are insufficient to derive any enjoyment from, at least in my case.

There is the cultural city of Toronto as well.  One would be hard pressed to negatively write about this, and I shall not.  Pure cultural diversity is not the only thing that matters by a long shot, however, it can be a very positive thing.  I would say that Toronto as a cultural entity is somewhat positive in nature, if not wholly positive in nature.

The problem is neither the physical city nor the people who live in it.  The city itself is rather ugly and oppressive to me.  The people are friendly enough so long as you never utter the greatest blasphemy known to them, that Toronto is not the greatest place to live.  No, neither of these are the true nature of my distaste for this city.

The real problem is the idea of Toronto.  That, by virtue of living in Ontario at least, and perhaps Canada as a whole, one should be familiar with the street geography of Toronto enough to recognize a caricature of a map is the centre of the issue.  Toronto expects and demands awareness and seems unable or unwilling to cope with the idea that perhaps it is not the ideal form of life, eve for one person.  That, by living in the same province as the city, we should be informed of who the mayor is and what his daily actions are is an example of this.  (This last point is weakened by the fact that recent mayors of Toronto are eccentric enough to often warrant such coverage regardless of their city’s relative importance.)

I understand that Toronto is an important location and a very populous one.  I just find it impossible to care about where street x crosses street y and what shops can be found in such a local.  So please, a little understanding.

Passive heating  and cooling of buildings is a fascinating topic.  Ever since I worked on a coop term at Natural Resources Canada it has interested me.

Today’s idea has two parts: a natural cool air intake and a solar chimney.

A solar chimney is a dark coloured, sun-facing wall.  It should be able to conduct heat through it quite easily. For passive cooling, it should have duct work connecting it to all the rooms which are to be cooled.  It should also have an opening at the top.

As the sun shines on the dark surface, energy is absorbed. The energy is transferred to the air inside the solar chimney, which rises and leaves through the top openings.  This forms a low pressure area, which draws in air from the rooms connected to it.

What is needed next is an air intake which naturally cools the air.  Persians have for centuries drawn in air over a covered pool of water, who’s very high heat capacity lowers the temperature of the air and adds a small amount of humidity to it.

This added humidity is undesirable in Waterloo.  An alternate intake takes advantage of the fact that under the soil, the temperature is always somewhat cooler.  Drawing air through holes in the ground can also lower the temperature of the incoming air.

Adding these two components together and placing the solar chimney vents near the tops of rooms, you can make very efficient, passively powered ventilation systems.

I am alive. Something will happen sooner or later. I am writing. I updates the About page. Have been reading more recently.  Will write sometime. That is all.

So I’ve been customising things, editing other things, and over all just trying to figure out how to use this software efficiently.  Of course, since I am an avid procrastinator, I’ve been reading the news as well.  I found this story to be interesting.  Take that Holocaust deniers.