Recent submissions

Comment · 11 years ago
I've seen a few documentaries on this device (though not sure if I've seen this one yet... just started watching), and I find it absolutely amazing. It always makes me wonder just how much technology has been developed and lost (and how many times this has happened) due to events like the burnings of the library of Alexandria (for example) and others we may not even know have happened. The fact that this device is more intricate and more accurately "machined" (for lack of a better term) than was thought possible for its age just proves we don't know just how far back some of what we consider to be modern developments go.
Comment · 11 years ago
This is a bit terse [0], but still very cool. I used to love to follow all of the new CPUs from the various vendors to see how they compared in performance, wattage, transistor count, etc. by following The CPU Info Center at Berkeley. Sadly, the site was abandoned around 2004 and removed some time after, but you can still see some of the content if you search archive.org for http://bwrc.eecs.berkeley.edu/cic (dig back to the spikes in 2005 or so). My favorite was watching the Alpha... every time HP's PA-RISC would bump past it, DEC would release either a new generation or maybe just bump the clock in the Alpha and completely blow it away. Hungry beasts though... and way out of my budget when they were being made. It would be neat to see a chart like that with modern CPUs - shame they abandoned the site.

0 - It has very short descriptions for each stage. There's not quite enough info to understand the "whys". Like it states that the 6501 was dropped after the threat of a lawsuit, but doesn't explain that it was because of it being pin-(and I believe signal)-compatible with the 6800, which the 6502 was not.

Comment · 11 years ago
I wonder how long until someone creates an Android client for this (one that is configurable, not hard-coded to point to the defunct Ubuntu One servers).

I'd love to run a ZFS-backed Ubuntu One server for all my family's portable devices.

Comment · 11 years ago
Comment · 11 years ago
I'm amazed that I'm reading in the same article talking about faults in limestone and "underground trapping of carbon dioxide emitted by power stations".

The water we're pumping down there isn't the only water deep in the earth. Water + C02 = carbonic acid, commonly known to dissolve limestone (frequently the cause of sinkholes when it happens near the surface). Am I the only one who thinks pumping enormous amounts of C02 deep into the ground (where it's going to come into contact with water and limestone) is a really, really bad idea?

Outside of that, very interesting article. Fantastic that they have access to a fault via an old military installation!

Comment · 11 years ago
As I understand it, the bolts were pointing forward towards the fuel tank which caused the puncture and (the threads caused) the spark, but this was only in the Pinto wagon, a far less popular variant of the car. The hatchback most people think of as the Pinto did not have this design flaw (the bolts were perpendicular to the car instead of aiming forwards).

So, you had to rear-end a Pinto wagon (not hatchback) with a nearly empty tank so the bolts entered at the fume level for any chance of fire or explosion.

Comment · 11 years ago
In addition to all of the other examples given, countless SoHo routers (just about everything from the old WRT54G workhorse on up) run MIPS processors.

Edit: Fixed typo.

Comment · 11 years ago
Comment · 11 years ago
Comment · 11 years ago
The article specifically mentions using this motor for hybrid passenger aircraft (which is what my post addressed). I mentioned nothing about UAVs or solar power (which is only possible with an enormous wing/fuselage ratio).

FTA: "This innovation will make it possible to build series hybrid-electric aircraft with four or more seats," said Frank Anton, Head of eAircraft at Siemens Corporate Technology

Comment · 11 years ago
I don't see how hybrid-aircraft make any sense.

The whole point of hybrid cars are the fact that you're only on the throttle periodically. You start, stop, speed up, slow down all the time (especially in S. Florida!). Normally when you're slowing down, you're burning off the energy as heat (friction from the brakes), etc. Adding an electric motor/generator to this allows you to recapture energy that is normally wasted slowing back down, so it can be reused to re-accelerate back up to speed. This is why hybrids (unlike non-hybrid cars) get better fuel mileage in town than on the freeway.

Aircraft, on the other hand, are at full-throttle on takeoff, and close to 3/4 throttle during the vast majority of the flight. There is no slowdown to recoup the energy until coming in for a landing. @beloch has already done the math showing the electric range would be downright miniscule, so there's very, very little to be gained here.

Until we have some utterly astounding advances in battery (or more likely, supercapacitor) tech (probably via graphene), this won't really be a cost-effective solution.

However, this would be an absolutely incredible motor for electric car conversions. Imagine a pair of these (each powering an axle)... it would be considerably more powerful than even the Tesla Model S P85D.

Comment · 11 years ago
I can't help, but wonder what the carotene levels are in the white, red, and purple variants of carrots. I'd expect it to be quite low, since carotene is where the orange and yellow carrots (and melons, and squash) are supposed to get their color.
Comment · 11 years ago
Comment · 11 years ago
I've wondered for years why people always gravitate towards Li-Ion cells when talking about a home storage battery. Li-Ion's advantages are far, far less important for a dwelling. Weight doesn't matter... you won't be moving them. Size doesn't matter nearly as much as it does in a vehicle... losing a few inches off an entire wall in a garage won't really be an issue for most people. Edison cells are incredibly durable and much, much more environmentally friendly than any other battery tech I know of. The lifespan is nothing short of incredible too... you won't need to change them out.

Thank you very much for the 2nd link. I was unaware any company was still manufacturing them. The last time I looked, the last company I could find that made them stopped a few years prior. I'm glad someone is making them still/again and marketing for an appropriate use.

The one odd thing is the price... for something as low-tech (relatively speaking) as an Edison cell, I'd expect them to be much cheaper. Must be the lack of competition.

Comment · 11 years ago
"The new rules would not apply to model aircraft." I think this is going to be a problem... when does a model become a "small unmanned aircraft system" and when does it not? It seems to me they're at least heavily overlapping, if not synonymous.

Does it have to resemble an existing aircraft to be considered a "model aircraft"? This could easily be open to interpretation of law enforcement. If so, my brother had some "small unmanned aircraft systems" back in the '70s (powered by 049 engines). They were most definitely "experimental designs" as some of them looked nothing like any (manned) aircraft ever produced. This proposal looks dangerously close to something that could make experimenting with new aircraft designs an illegal activity, including those designed for humor. Examples include flying lawnmowers, doghouses and witches. [0] How would they classify my Dragonflies? [1] They certainly don't resemble any manned flying contraption ever made, they barely resemble an actual dragonfly. Would these fall under the "more flexible framework for “micro” UAS under 4.4 pounds"? If so, that's utterly absurd. If your answer is "it's a toy", I agree, but then so are all of the quads and aircraft I've already mentioned. It needs to have a very distinct line distinguishing a "model aircraft" from a "small unmanned aircraft".

It doesn't even say "powered aircraft", so a large hand-launched remote controlled glider could be illegal (yes, I know this is reaching a bit, just trying to prove a point).

It's unclear to me if this will make illegal all of the automated fliers that have been built (such as those suggested on old episodes of Hak5, programmed to fly to a nearby building's roof, park for a period of time, then fly back, etc.). I suspect it will, since it makes repeated references to the "operator" and "line of sight", etc. I saw interviews with people (at DEFCON?) who had created some very impressive auto-navigating (beyond autopilots) craft as well. All of the machines produced with cameras and video feeds for remote operation would suddenly be illegal to fly in the manner for which they were designed. Among those would be a wonderfully implemented one with a full cockpit view. [2]

"A small UAS may not fly over people" This is really vague... "directly over" or just "kinda over" (what range)? Technically, if they're over 7 feet up, they're "over people" so already in violation. This will make flying remote control airplanes illegal in parks too... where will all the hobbyists be able to go? You can't launch and land in a cornfield.

[0] http://flyingthingz.com/ [1] http://www.wowwee.com/en/products/toys/flight/flytech/dragon... [2] http://hackaday.com/2014/06/18/rc-plane-flies-with-a-cockpit...

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