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Comment Question: Is it also a damper? (Score 2) 39

Since the proposed device is taking energy out of the wind, is it possible that it could also be used as a damper or stabilizer?

Hypothetically: If the Tacoma Narrows bridge had something like this installed, would the collapse have occurred? Or, would it have, at least, taken enough energy out of the oscillations to allow the bridge to stand longer?

Comment Re:I'm deeply concerned (Score 1) 104

Certainly every soldier on the battlefield knows or should know that he's going to get shot at and that he can be shot & killed at any time and, thus, I agree that a robot to carry soldiers out of harm's way is a non-sequitur.

However, I think there is a good reason to develop the technology... Who says that the BEAR robot can only be used to rescue soldiers? I think we can all imagine some scenarios where using a robot to carry civilians out of harm's way would be very useful.

Even though I'm puzzled as the rest of you to see the military developing such technology, I'm hopeful that this technology could be spun-off for civilian use. Maybe it will... maybe it won't but here's to keeping my fingers crossed.

At least somebody in the Army is attempting to have a sense of humor by making the thing look like a Teddy Bear! ;)

Comment It was only a hole until today. (Score 1) 163

If it doesn't go all the way through the mountain and come out the other side it isn't a tunnel. Isn't it? So, up until toady when they finally broke through, they had only succeeded in boring a very, very long hole in the side of a mountain.

Actually, this story should read, "Workers succeeded in converting a very, very long hole in the side of a mountain into a tunnel."

Comment Re:airports - where are they? (Score 1) 524

I live 300 meters from the main runway of a medium sized airport. If I or anybody else wanted to bring down an airliner it wouldn't take a heat seeking missile and an iPhone app to do it. Any terrorist could literally drive up to the fence in their nondescript, unmarked, black van like I always see them driving in the movies, slide the door open, shoot their weapon of choice over the fence, bring the plane down then simply drive away. They'd be gone before anybody knew what would happen.

During the 2004 election year, George Bush landed here in AF-1. There were mobs of people standing outside the airport fence (and walking through my yard) to see the President's plane land. Any one of them could have brought it down with a well-placed rock launched from a slingshot. (Okay... hyperbole. But you get my point!)

People worried about iPhones are literally grabbing at straws. There are much bigger fish to fry.

Comment Re:Some of us were waaaaay ahead it seems. (Score 1) 502

Have not had cable TV since 1999. I didn't even own a TV between 1999 and 2001. The only reason I bought one was to get information in case of a nationwide emergency. (I kind of regret that I bought the dumb thing.)

I now get 9 channels of over-the-air television with a rooftop antenna. Perfect signal. Only got the 3 major networks reliably before. Got 2 more if the weather and atmospherics were good.

My wife watches more TV than I do. More than 75% of my entertainment,news and information comes from the TV. There are two or three TV shows I watch on a regular basis. If I miss them I will watch them on the internet if I really want to.

The only thing that bothers me is the way some people treat you like a criminal if you aren't watching the shows that they watch. "Did you see 'such-and-such' on TV last night?" I get incredulous responses when I tell them I don't watch much TV. My standard reply is, "I saved the $1,000 I would have spent on cable last year and bought a new computer." When they realize they could have a brand new computer every year for what they would have paid in cable TV bills, they shut up pretty quick.

Comment Re:14k buys a lot of film. (Score 1) 347

Buy the right film and you can a theoretical resolution of 800 l/mm.
http://www.adox.de/english/ADOX_Films/ADOX_Films/ADOX_CMS_Films.html

That's probably a far greater resolution than be resolved by any lens you can buy, short of going to NASA.

BTW: You can buy the supplies to process your own film at home for under $100. (Exclusive of buying an enlarger. Most people will probably still scan their film.)
And, if you're shooting any amount of film, at all, you should be buying it in 100 foot bulk rolls. Buying in bulk and processing at home can probably cut your film costs in half.

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