| (no subject) |
[Oct. 20th, 2009|09:54 pm] |
So, Dollhouse is where all the BSG actors go now, is it? :)
Excited to see Summer Glau joining the cast soon, though. |
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| (no subject) |
[Feb. 18th, 2009|05:15 pm] |
I got to go fly a Zeppelin today over Moffett field. It was a pretty cool experience.
We had about 3 hours of ground school in the morning talking a bit about the physics of airships and the unique bits of the Zeppelin NT that Airship Ventures has in particular (the "unique" bits come from the fact that it has 3 vectored thrust engines, and is entirely fly-by-wire, which makes it much simpler than your typical blimp to fly).
Then, the 5 of us headed out to the ship and each got about 40m of flight time, including 2 takeoffs and landings. The first thing that you notice is that the fly-by-wire gives basically no control resistance/feedback like you might be used to in an airplane -- its much more like an old-style joystick on a computer before force feedback. The second thing you notice is that the airship takes any control input as... at best a rough suggestion of what it might think about doing sometime in the next 30-60 seconds. It is _very_ slow to respond to anything you tell it to do, and the wind and other forces have a surprisingly dominant influence over the flight.
Several pilots mentioned that they felt the need to stop down on the non-existent rudder pedals (since it was fly-by-wire the rudders all moved by computer control based on the stick input). And all of the students had a lot of trouble with the controllability -- including one 30,000+ hour ex-airline pilot who now flys airshows.
We also got to do some "aerobatic" maneuvers, such as a quick stop (a 180 turn from full speed to basically hovering at a standstill), hovering, and an engine-controlled rolling motion with the engines in the tilted-up position. We also had a bunch of fun because we were all so bad at overcontrolling that we were pitching the airship much more than they typically do during tours -- up to 15-17 degrees instead of the normal max of 5. Apparently one of the guests was in the toilet during a particularly steep climb/banked turn... which led to some amusement afterwards. (The person who was in the toilet later did a similar thing to the second pilot who was talking to the rest of us when we weren't flying-- so it was quite easy to do)
I've posted a link to the photos off my Facebook profile, so you can find it there. |
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| Red November |
[Feb. 3rd, 2009|06:47 pm] |
So, I ordered Red November from Amazon. Aparently, they made a mistake in shipping, and sent me the display package instead of the indivudal box. So, now I have 6 copies.
Also, I am now scheduled to go to Space Academy (er, Space Camp, for adults) in October. The registration process was a bit strange, because they still had my information from when I went there 15 _years_ ago. So, I got questions like "Are you still living at [zip code from high school]?" and "I guess we don't need you're parents' names on this record any more..." |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 10th, 2009|06:26 pm] |
Man, that Stargate Atlantis Finale was... terrible.
Though I thought the thing they did for Don Davis was really nice. |
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| Rock Band Drums |
[Nov. 23rd, 2008|10:48 am] |
After a long time, I finally got fed up with the fact that the yellow pad on my rock band drums would only register about 50% of the hits. So, I looked up the warranty (60 days) which wouldn't help even if I had gotten if fixed immediately after it broke.
I found this site: http://www.oxmonline.com/article/features/presses/how-fix-your-rock-band-drums, however, which allowed me to be brave enough to open up the pads and investigate if I'd have to solder.
As it turned out, the failure was that the wire from the pad sensor to the rest of the controller had become disconnected (or, at least loose). Since it was just a regular jumper, I just plugged it back in (which required more force than I expected), and suddenly it works again.
Yay! |
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| Exciting Flight |
[Oct. 25th, 2008|06:05 pm] |
Exciting flight down to Harris Ranch today... Half the electronics in the plane failed just before I got to the airport.
Thankfully, nothing critical was lost (still had one radio, and the plane's starter), and I was able to come back home safely, after arranging with ATC that I wouldn't have a transponder.
Also, once I landed, I saw our new zeppelin maneuvering near Moffet. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 25th, 2008|10:55 pm] |
The bank I use locally, WaMu, just failed in a fantastic way.
The CEO was on a plane, in the air, when the goverment brokered the deal. He gets a cool $19M or so out of it. Not bad for a week or two of work. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/business/26wamu.html?ref=us)
From their website (soon to be taken down, I presume), a letter from the new CEO:
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https://online.wamu.com/banking/offers/campaign001/landing/customer_note
September 22, 2008
As WaMu’s new chief executive officer, I am writing to discuss the extraordinary economic environment for all banks in the United States and why you can count on us to continue to serve you safely and soundly.
...
I came to WaMu because I think it is a great bank with a strong franchise and a solid financial position. We take very seriously our role as the stewards of your hard-earned money. I want to personally thank you for your loyalty and the opportunity to serve your needs.
Update (9/26, 6:55am): As expected, the note is now gone. |
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| spore so far |
[Sep. 9th, 2008|06:55 pm] |
So far:
- Requires that multi-gpu mode is disabled (huh?)
- Takes 5-6 minutes from double clicking the icon to any indication the game is running at all, and then its a blank screen that it sits at for another 2 minutes. I know loading screens are annoying, but even that would be better than wondering if my double click was taking at all...
Update:
- Does not accept numbers in your password (huh?) |
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| Happy 10 Years, CMU Orientation Class of 1998. |
[Aug. 18th, 2008|12:00 am] |
Because AB Tech is neurotic and keeps their schedules around forever, happy 10 years to the class of 2002:
% zcat schedule.f98.gz
...
Date: Tue, Aug 18
Event: The invasion arrives. Battle Stations.
Location: Here, There, and Everywhere
Call: 9am?
Show: 4PM-4:30PM - Presiden't Cohon's speach
4:30PM -Snack Music in the tent
8:30PM-10PM - Playfair! in the Stadium
10PM-11:30PM - Dance Party/Lighting, Hammerschlag
Strike: ongoing
Equipment: Full mains... _2_ mics on the Prez... gotta have _2_ mics...
Delay stacks, gels on hammerschlag, LA's by schlag
Lots of stuff in the stadium. Lots.
TIC:
...
Its been great knowing you all these years. Don't be strangers. |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 28th, 2008|08:36 pm] |
Beat Rock Band's Endless Setlist today. Played all 58 songs on the guitar, took about 4.5 hours straight through.
Sadly, didn't do it on my Xbox Live account, so I'll probably want to do it again some time, if I can find people insane enough to join me. |
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| Rock Band! |
[Apr. 7th, 2008|11:18 pm] |
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Still Alive is now available for Rock Band. Squee! |
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| InPgh |
[Mar. 27th, 2008|11:53 am] |
...until saturday at noon.
Surprising things I noticed on the drive in:
- They are ripping out the onramp-of-death (forbes and blvd. of allies, with the nice stop sign). The overpass is totally gone.
- There is a chipolte across the street from Qdoba. I wonder who is winning.
- The beehive theatre is now... a t-mobile store?
The Q400 turboprops that continental is running for short hops from newark seem awesome -- except they get stuck in the low 20k altitudes, which means bumpy. But they _are_ quiet, smooth, more fuel efficient, and carry more passengers, and only a mite bit slower. |
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