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If you are a fire artist in California, you might be interested in this change to the fire regulations that is coming up. This message comes from Dave X on the Flaming Lotus Girls mailing list with his consent to republish:

There has been concern among the Fire Arts community recently regarding the Additions to Title 19 Chapter 6.5 involving Flame Throwing Devices.

First a little background. This issue came about as the ATF (Alcohol Tobacco And Firearms) was attending a gun show in CA and found fully functional Flame Throwers for sale. These devices for sale at the gun shows were not “Guns” and not covered by any kind of background checks, waiting period, or age requirements.  This would have allowed Timmy terrorist or Sammy seven year old to buy it right off the table. With the intention of closing this loophole a group was formed to decide how to regulate the issue.

The Flame Throwing Device Work Group was formed by the CA State Fire Marshal’s Office.

The group was composed of members of the Department of Justice, ATF, State Fire Authorities as well as folks from the Special Effects industry and folks who are contracted to do fire prevention and suppression for the CA Fire Service. Clearly there were a lot of uses for flame throwing devices in such applications as setting preventative burns as well as in the film and entertainment industries. Early on Kevin Mathieu and I did sit on the group meetings and helped craft wording to protect the interests of the fire arts community. In the end I left the group feeling good about what was finally written. As with most states it was immediately covered in red tape and passed from lawyer to lawyer. Well here it is it is finally about to come into law and the public commentary period is open.

This law will not affect 99% of the fire arts community…

Lets take a look at it…

I emailed Diane Arend this week at the Office of the CA. State Fire Marshal Code Development and Analysis. She has reviewed this and agreed that this interpretation appeared consistent with the regulation.

Flame throwing Device: For the purpose of clarification, Health and Safety Code Section 12750(a) is repeated “Flame Throwing Device” means any non-stationary and transportable device designed or intended to emit or propel a burning stream of combustible or flammable liquid a distance of at least 10 feet.

First off this is only in effect in California…

If you are using these in Nevada it is not an issue. There may be some gray area as to its storage in CA.

This does not impact propane effects as it states, “Intended to emit or propel a burning stream of combustible or flammable liquid a distance of at least 10 feet”. Propane is in most cases used as a gas and not as a liquid. Even in effects where liquid propane is used it is for the most part completely turned to a gas before reaching 10 feet.

Liquid fueled effects usually describes a situation in which there are separate fuel tanks, hosing, controls and other attached gear which are “Not Portable”.  When set up, this is a considered a stationary effect.

If the supply tanks and operational controls were attached and able to operate in a mobile fashion it WOULD be a Flame Thrower…

OK so what if you have a device that is a “non-stationary and transportable device designed or intended to emit or propel a burning stream of combustible or flammable liquid a distance of at least 10 feet.” and you intend to display it in CA?

You can apply for this permit…

First off this is a big deal you must pass background checks, have a secure by state definition safe storage area, transport it in a secured manner as well as a surrender of you rights to search and seizure. You must also keep records on the use storage and sale or destruction of said device.

Unless you feel strongly that this regulation applies to you and you plan to operate it in California I would not apply!

You can apply for this permit…

First off this is a big deal you must pass background checks, have a secure by state definition safe storage area, transport it in a secured manner as well as a surrender of you rights to search and seizure. You must also keep records on the use storage and sale or destruction of said device.

Unless you feel strongly that this regulation applies to you and you plan to operate it in California I would not apply!

I talked to Matisse Enzer form the Flame Thrower Shooting Gallery project and as the name implies it IS a Flame Thrower.

He went through the application and he had this to say about how he got one:

The application process goes like this:

You need to get a Certificate of Eligibility from the California Department of Justice. This is an annually renewable certification that you are eligible to own firearms. It involves getting fingerprinted. This will cost a couple hundred bucks the first time and $20 or $25/year to renew.

<http://ag.ca.gov/firearms/forms/pdf/coeapp.pdf>

You will need to fill in the application form and describe the flame throwing devices that you have. The rules have not yet been finalized, but the application form I filled out in 2008 was pretty much the same as the proposed form.

Links to the proposed rules and associated forms:

<http://osfm.fire.ca.gov/codedevelopment/codedevelopment_title19development.php>

For example, the proposed new rules are:

<http://osfm.fire.ca.gov/codedevelopment/pdf/title19/FFDet.pdf>

The proposed application form is:

<http://osfm.fire.ca.gov/codedevelopment/pdf/title19/formft1.pdf>

Note especially the storage requirements: They are much stricter than for a handgun or rifle.

To summarize, please remember a word like “Flame Thrower” is not to be used lightly.

For the most part what we are talking about with fire arts is the use of “open flame and flame effects”. I hope this provides some clarification and that you all burn hard and burn safely…

Thumbs down on this book.

I got about 1/2 way through listening to the unabridged “Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)”. I couldn’t finish it. Not enough science, too angry, too snarky, too jerk-like, too monochromatic, too… a lot of things. And the reader amplified those emotions.

Here is my simplified version of the book:

You’ve seen this a million times before: some jerk cuts you off on a highway on-ramp at 5:30 on a Friday afternoon, you speed up to see who this moron could be and he waves apologetically at you! What could this doo-doo head possibly he possibly be thinking? There was a study about this. It said that most people on the highway aren’t really jerks. But let’s get back to this idiot who cut you off.

I kept thinking it would get better, that the author would dive more into the ample quantity of interesting studies he’s read, that he’d bridge together ideas from across the story-arc. That he’d propose some ideas that didn’t sound like they came from some white-knuckled, road-raged jerk. But that didn’t happen.

1.5 out of 5 stars. (0.5 stars for choosing a good topic)

That’s Rodin’s Gates of Hell at a garden museum at Stanford. I went there last Friday before going to SubZero. You can see The Thinker up top. Yes THAT “The Thinker”. He was originally designed to sit atop this piece so that be could ponder the sorry souls that were going through the gates.

The piece is astounding. I would say “simply Astounding” but there is nothing simple about it.

And that’s Adam and Eve standing beside the gates. Interestingly, The cowering Adam is the piece in this garden of naked people with the most fully formed junk. All the others have “tastefully” partially formed naughty bits.

Pertaining to “Art”…

Aesthetic is perception.

Perception is history.

History is stereotype.

Stereotype is a box.

I imagine the front of the t-shirt looking like the above image.

And of course the back of the t-shirt reads “Think outside the box”

– Marnia Johnston and I came up with this when considering the possible criterion for an art competition we’d be curating. We knew we needed an “aesthetic” criterion. Our discussion took us down this dark avenue.

“You need to have Jules Verne before you can have the submarine.”

Massively Multiplayer Thumb Wrestling.

• @rrmutt don’t read youtube comments. Just don’t. Ever. in reply to rrmutt #

I’ve been doing all manner of odd jobs recently.

• Due to the idiotic Swine Flu idiotic panic, Malcolm X Elementary School in Berkeley was closed for a few days. I babysat for Erin for a couple days.
• I’m still working on the T. Pen idea. After a week, the first beta customer is very happy with it. :-)
• I submitted a proposal to the San Francisco Unified School District with Noisebridge to teach an after school program. That might manifest in the fall.
• I’ve been making a little money on my Mozy referrals and Google adwords.
• I’ll be teaching a mechanical sculpture class at the Crucible in June.
• I’ve been working part-time for  Charlotte’s company, fixing computers and such. I logged many hours saving her computer this week
• I’m going to be working a trade show on commission with Charlotte soon.

I need a real job….

In other news…

• A problem and solution I had with  Sporatic bad LCD initilization in 4-bit mode of an Arduino and LCD is going to be turned into a code change in the main Arduino library.
• SWARM performed at the Google IO Developer Conference and we’ll be at Maker Faire, SubZER01 and Robogames. :-)

Do you want to know the secret to search engine optimization (SEO)?

Create useful, unique content.

That’s it.

There is no more to it.

Now stop reading.

And start clicking my ads!

Muhahah!

You are still reading!

I have teh google juice and I control your mind!

Now click! Click for all time!

Update 6-18-15: After several years of running Google Ads, they have pretty much stopped generating revenue so I removed them. Say “La vee”!

Doing:

* Sunday & Monday: repairing SWARM orbs for Google IO, finishing sound design, shelling etc.

* Tuesday: Charlotte’s office hard drive failed. Spent the afternoon and evening recovering

* Wednesday: More hard drive recovery, finished sound design for Orbs. Performed at Google IO with SWARM! (you couldn’t hear the music over the DJ :-(((((((((((((((((   )

* Thursday: Attended Google IO, priced out computer for Charlotte’s office, attended Professional VFX Compositing With Adobe After Effects class at Crucible, sat in on German class at Noisebridge with Charlotte for a few minutes

* Friday: more computer help for Charlotte, working on lesson plan for a Crucible class I’m teaching, tidying hundreds of loose-ends emails

The class I’m teaching at the Crucible:

Youth Extreme Gizmos

Learn kinetic techniques to design, engineer, and construct a mechanical sculpture, contraption, or gadget with lights and moving parts. Using new and salvaged components, you will learn how motors, lights, and switches work, how to create mechanical structures, how to create different types of motion, and how to incorporate switches to operate your very own fantastical contraption!  

8-12 year olds, June 15-19 2009

Cost: $235.00 (Tuition: $180.00, Materials: $55.00), Members: $217.00

Youth Radical Robots

[KIN15-Y]

Build a simple remote-controlled robot . From the wheels up, you’ll create your robot’s shape and personality from salvaged components, mechanisms, and electrical components. You’ll also learn soldering, mechanical construction techniques, and how to remove and repurpose these items. Each student will receive a kit of motors, wheels, and a remote control toy.  

June 15-19 2009

Cost: $295.00 (Tuition: $220.00, Materials: $75.00), Members: $273.00