Life, The Universe, and Everything

[Rex Allers]

Very sad to hear the news of Doug's passing. His health battle progressed faster than most of us hoped or expected.

Doug's open sharing and smart insights on many subjects will be very much missed. I didn't always mention it here, but over many years I used Doug's opinions as a guide on many things that I did or purchased. A few random areas where I benefited: networking, arduino family, Raspberry Pi, Unix, solar energy, test equipment, machining, materials, and of course, fusor hardware and concepts.

RIP Doug, my remote internet friend and guru.

It sounds like the site preservation is in good hands with Bill, Donovan and Bob, but feel free to contact me if I might help in some way.

[johnf]

RIP Doug
Thanks for looking after him Bill

It was a privilege to stay with Doug a few years back.

[Paul Fontana]

My condolences to Doug's friends and loved ones here. I was sorry to hear he had gone. May he rest in peace.

I came here, like many, having heard many years ago about Doug's fusor fame, and curious to see if he was the Real Deal. He sure was. I've come back on and off when I wanted to get some inspiration from a free spirit, keen, sharp mind, entertaining blogger, and lover of life, and also to check in and root for him to finally find that fusion Holy Grail he seemed to stumble on once upon a time. Such a shame he didn't quite get back there, but I hope we can build on his work and close the loop. What a great memorial it would be to finish that work!

Peace to those who are mourning, and thanks to those who are taking care of his great legacy. Prayers for Doug and for us all.

-- pwf

[Peter Schmelcher]

My condolences to Bill and Doug’s friends. He was one of a kind and is missed.

I got to know Doug over many years via google video hangouts.

Often, he would quote a line from ‘The Hitchers Guide to the Galaxy’ and I would respond with some another.
Doug, Thanks for all the fish.

[Bob Reite]

I am now in possession of the large fusor and related equipment. By rights Bill should have the fusor, but Bill's wife said "No way" and nobody else spoke for it. Here is a link to a YouTube video of me rolling it off the truck into the shed where it's going to live. https://youtu.be/LGLbDHBGCiM. My ultimate goal is to reproduce the "Gonzo Mode" that Doug discovered about seven years ago. Safely I might add, Doug had set it up for remote control a couple of years ago, which is how it will be operated here. I will document the reassembly and progress as it progresses.

[Donovan Ready]

Right on.

[Paul Fontana]

Good luck, Bob! Doug never posted the details here because he was trying to patent it to keep the IP in the public domain. Do you have access to that private information? As I recall, Doug stumbled on gonzo mode while doing some preliminary setup and was not yet doing systematic experiments, and he may not have had all his diagnostics online. Are his records complete enough that you will be able to reproduce gonzo mode without too much guessing?

I'm glad the work is in good hands.

[Bob Reite]

I believe that Bill has a copy of the patent application, which he plans to share with me once it is located. I talked to Doug at some length about it, so I hope to have enough insight to be able to reproduce the event.

[Donovan Ready]

Dammit. I miss Doug, and I wanted to see some activity here.

[Bob Reite]

Ah well, maybe I can include progress reports on Doug's fusor. I have it reassembled and making neutrons once again as a "standard Farnsorth fusor" with Ion grid. Enough to activate silver.

Now the long process of rediscovering "Gonzo Mode".