Posts by C. P. Cosgrove 215 publicly visible posts • joined 28 May 2008
I was retired from RM five years ago, and had spent the previous five years as the Delivery Office shop steward. I don't know where this 'new' policy has come from but it was standard practice to try the neighbours here, and then put the card through the door saying where you had left the packet. I will admit that I was flummoxed once:
'Will you take a parcel in for so and so?' 'No, we don't talk' !
However I will apologise to the commentard above who works night shift. I always had the policy that when I knocked on a door the response was 'Ah, there's somebody at the door.' not 'Did I hear something' - sorry !
Chris Cosgrove
PS 'Here' is Central Scotland
At the time of Uncle Ted''s three day week I was a student living in Halls of Residence, but the proud owner of a Mini-Van, a spare battery and a battery charger. Removing a headlight as required gave me the best lit room in the residence ! What was really scary was driving through Edinburgh during darkness with no street lights and no traffic lights.
But correspondents above are right, subsidies for on-going projects never make sense, they just re-distribute income inefficiently. Government, ie tax-payers, funding of basic research is a different matter altogether.
Chris Cosgrove
I cannot speak from experience of the TSA, never having been to the States, but if they are anything like their UK counterparts then they won't need to go into overtime to have a negative effect on journey time reductions.
Four hours against fifteen, that's 27%. Unhappily, here, in the UK, you need to report for an international flight at least two hours before takeoff, and if you can get out of your destination airfield in less than one hour you are doing well. So that's us up to seven hours, 47%, and that's before you take into account how long it takes to get to and from your airfields of choice. And they have just put body scanners on-line at my nearest international airfields !
Chris Cosgrove
As I understand it, the jetstreams are commonly used or avoided by commercial aircraft, depending on their direction, so are included in aviation weather forecasts. Access to this information should allow the impact of these streams to be avoided, or at least minimised.
As to the other point, I thought it had been decided that launch would best take place before balloon burst, while the truss was still in a stable configuration. After all, isn't that what all this discussion about GPS is about ?
You would still have two points of kicking if the jetstreams cannot be avoided - on entering and on leaving, but I raise a glass to Anthony Stirk
Chris Cosgrove
Someday, someone must explain to me how you make a device - phone, tablet or whatever, that is meant to go in a pocket - that doesn't have rounded corners. If you don't round the corners it will just wear straight through the fabric.
But then I am just a confused silver surfer and one-time electronics tech.
Chris Cosgrove
Back in the late eighties, I said 'I think I could do better' to a friend of mine and found myself designing control equipment for an outdoor model electric railway. Total power wasn't a problem - 2 x 24V x 5A outputs - but this had to do everything. I designed and built a considerable number of points controllers which used a capacitor charging through a current limiting resistor, 12mA if I remember, and a transistor switch to discharge the capacitor through the points relay to throw it.
12mA was used because (a) I had plenty of that value resistor, and (b) it gave a reasonably quick recycle time. A much lower current could be used in this application because of the relatively long time to altitude, and a simple timer circuit could be used to trigger the discharge through the igniters. I am happy to say that these units proved extremely reliable.
If of any interest, I could dig out the designs.
Chris Cosgrove
Forgive me for being a hick from the sticks with straw in my hair, but I understood that the function of the Border Agency was to control the flow of live bodies across the Uk's frontier.
How does intercepting the flow of information equal intercepting the flow of bodies ?
Chris Cosgrove
I remember the Rutger Hauer ads, but the one that really floated my boat was the one with the group of surfers on a really foul day. 'Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock.'
I remember recording the advert - not the programme - so as to stepframe it and see how the producers did the transitions.
Sad, or what ?
Chris Cosgrove
Part of it may be laziness, but a very large part of it is ignorance - that it is possible to employ parental controls.
An elderly friend of mine who relies on me to clean up his laptop whenever he screws it up has no idea, as an example. He lets his grandsons, 11 and 9, play on it and was horrified when I showed him what they had set as the homepage in Firefox, which was not his default browser !
Still, more open and active supervision is a better solution.
Chris Cosgrove
OK, game set and match to LeeE.
I don't really disagree with you, the concept seems highly unlikely. It made for some cracking SF stories though. Unhappily I don't have time at the moment to dig through my collection of Analogs from the '60s and '70s - a souvenir of my youth - to dig out some references.
Chris Cosgrove
Mmmm . . . Not entirely convinced.
The origin of this thread suggests that one half of a binary system was captured to stay in orbit, while the other was ejected from the galaxy.
If the binary system was a very close one, then, as I understand it, stable planetary orbits are very unlikely in the first place. If the binary system was separate enough to permit the existence of planets, then I submit that, at some orbital confugurations at least, the difference in forces acting on the system around one of the stars would be much lower than you suggest since the whole system would be further away. A binary system can be considered in shape as a dumbell. if the 'bar' is perpendicular to the close contact with a BH, the forces acting on the far end will be much lower than the forces acting on the near end.
Chris Cosgrove
I must respectfully disagree with LeeE about the planets being left behind.
If this speed crazy star is belting along because the other half of its binary system was caught by a black hole, then the forces involved would have acted on the planets as well. If the planetary orbits were narrow relative to the binary orbit, then the forces acting on the planets would be essentially the same as the forces acting on the star. I could see relatively minor differences in the effect on the orbits of the planets depending on where they were relative to the binary at the time of break up, but I would expect the planets to trundle along with Mama Star.
Chris Cosgrove
I had a sales manager once who was a firm adherent of the above principle, however it all depends on the ignition lag.
Yesterday ( the 17th ) it was suggested that it might take up to 5 seconds of triggering to get the rocket motor to fully ignite. I am sure I have seen another estimate of approx. 200mSec..
If the latter is nearer the case, then firing on balloon burst becomes practical. Merely mount the main lifting cable on a point designed as a spring loaded switch, open under lift. When the balloon bursts, the spring relaxes, the switch makes, and the motor fires. A back up timer would be a good safety measure.
A night launch is almost certainly out of the question - has anybody seen the regulations for flying a kite at night ?
Simkin, above, makes a good point. Rocket motors are recoiless, upto a point. There is a considerable Sci-Fi literature considering using RPGs etc. in space combat - messy !
I still drink to your success !
Chris Cosgrove
I teach basic - very basic - computing in my local library and occasionally use one of their computers for my own purposes.
During a recent period of failure by my ISP, think broadband = 56K dial-up, I tried to access a well known computing forum - bleepingcomputer - and was denied access on grounds of 'unsuitable content'. I really must get round to telling BC that they are a hotbed of pornographic terrorist activity.
Chris Cosgrove
Accepting that the drawing 'Vulture 2 Launch system' is a concept drawing rather than a production engineering drawing, the placing of the teflon strips relative to the wings suggests that you anticipate a considerable amount of swinging on the climb. This would be inhibited to a very considerable degree by using the 'U' or 'V' shaped brackets against the wing trailing edges.
I know I am out-voted - I'm not building this miracle of rare device - but I must go with Ron B on the subject of the launch rail. It is a much sounder method of construction, and your concern seems to be that the swing would snap the guide buttons off. If trailing edge brackets can virtually eliminate motion around the roll axis, then surely a launch rail fixed at several points along its length is a more stable solution than a rod mounted at only one end.
Never mind - a glass of beer so I can drink to your success !
Chris Cosgrove
Tempest8008 makes a valid point about "little bits that can break off" and the Dyspeptic Curmudgeon has an interesting suggestion about a continously mounted keyhole shaped launch rail.
Where are you on airframe development ? I have just had a look at the library and failed to find any details on the likely shape of the airframe, although Southampton Uni are down to make it out of sintered nylon.
If it is still in the design/thinking stage, then, if you could mold a groove along the bottom of the fuselage, you could mount it upside down on DC's rail and a groove molded into the structure would avoid T8008's concerns about bits breaking off. It would also have the advantage of doing away with the elevon design and allowing a more conventional vertical rudder and horizontal elevators. I accept that there may be aerodynamic consequences to a lengthwise groove, but so would there be to a couple of 'ears' sticking up.
Chris Cosgrove
How could I resist your request for a comment, even if I am only a 'partial-contributing participant'. It's not my fault, I only have so much time in the day. It's a bit like going to my local T**** and being asked for my T**** card. I don't do loyalty cards - I cannot stop HMRC writing a database on me, but I can stop supermarkets.
I still like 'The Register', even if some of the articles verge on the metaphysical.
Chris Cosgrove
Pint pot because I like beer !
The video was great fun, but it may be the Special Projects Burroo can learn something from this. The Lucky Elephant team seem to have got a very stable relationship between the Intrepid Robot and the camera. As the last musings on LOHAN design that I saw contemplated some sort of beam arrangement, there might be something to learn here.
Power to the Burroo !
Chris Cosgrove
I have never had a problem being polite on any commentary or forum platform, indeed on occasion I have been positively helpful. But I am only an occasional contributor to any of my several interests, whether El Reg, simulation or computing fora. I enjoy 'The Register' and read it most days - when my internet connection (under discussion ) lets me - but I only comment occasionally. I don't think I have ever had any comment rejected, but I would need to start cranking them out much more frequently to get inside the 5 in 3 months rule.
As my late Auntie put it - politeness costs nothing. Apart from anything else, it is not difficult to be really insulting and terribly polite at the same time, but life is too short.
Chris Cosgrove
Unless I am completely wrong - which is, of course, always possible- the tricky and time consuming bit was always getting data back from Mars, Uranus or wherever to somewhere near Earth orbit. Bandwidth from near-Earth orbit to ground (a) hasn't been a problem for a long time ( ask Sky, NSA et al ), and (b) doesn't need a laser of astronomer - or indeed of any upward looking airline pilot - blinding proportions ( ask Sky, NSA et al ).
There are a lot of satellites up there already with high bandwidth connections down to ground.
Chris Cosgrove
While the drawing in the article is a graphic not an engineering drawing, it suggests that the base of the inner tube is mounted to the base of the outer. As this is likely to allow a significant path for heat transfer, it would be better to mount the inner tube on some form of stand-off. This would allow the insertion of either a layer of insulation in the gap between the bases, or the entry of some of the dry ice pellets to assist cooliing.
Good luck with the test !
Chris Cosgrove
I have read this article, and the ensuing comments, with some care, but I find myself confused by at least one paragraph. I refer to the one which starts :
"If Ms Cooper's argument is that, with respect to DNA retention, rapists who are not convicted are treated differently, or treated exactly the same as convicted rapists"
It was always my belief, perhaps naively, that if you weren't convicted, you were innocent. Even in the case of driving a push-bike without lights - never mind more serious offences - you are not guilty until the Foreman of the Jury says so. And if he doesn't say guilty, then you weren't a lightless cyclist or a rapist.
Chris Cosgrove
Unlike Cameron Colley, I have read the original article in 'The Register' and I am just as puzzled as to where this profanity came in, unless of course, EA are of the Satanist persuasion.
More seriously there is the problem of banning someone just because their opinions disagree with yours. I am a member of several forums, all of which have conditions and codes of practice. Since I have this weakness for reading the small print, a common thread in all of these terms is banning 'flaming' and offensive contributions but certainly not banning anyone, or their contributions, for disagreeing with the operators' positions.
It is one thing for the Moderators ( bow, scrape, the Mighty Moderatrix of El Reg ) to pull a thread or a contribution for breach of conditions but another thing to prevent the use of an asset which you have bought. There might be a case for action under the Sale of Goods Acts.
Guido - please don't slag off Ford. They might get our IPs mixed up and turn off my trusty Mondeo !
Chris Cosgrove
Two aspects of this debate puzzle me. The first is that you can arrive on a porn site totally by accident, as happened to me once when I was looking for some CAD software on Google - I think the exact search terms were 'PCB design software' . This isn't even closely related to the 'Great tits' quoted earlier !
The second is that any form of control tends to be a blunt instrument. As a volunteer, I teach basic computing in our local library - yes, we still have one ! I was showing someone how to use a search engine, and it is more relevant when teaching if the student has an interest in the subject. In this case it was angina, this student suffered from it. Plugging 'Angina' into Google came up with the message 'Access denied, information of a medical or sexual nature' !
When I queried this, I was told it was for child protection. Following a complaint from me, this policy has now been changed. The public access computer in the childrens' area is now fully restricted, the five or six in the adult area now have, as far as I know, unrestricted access. I haven't actually tried to access my favourite porn site from the library - why should I ? - but I can get information on angina without restriction !
Chris Cosgrove
I know exactly how Gavin Clarke feels.
Not long after we were married - 35 years ago - my wife and I found ourselves in the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu. To my amazement, we went round a corner and I found myself face to face with Mk 1 Scammell Scarab ( a light three-wheeled articulated tractor unit ) . In my surprise, I blurted "I learnt to drive artics on one of them."
To which my beloved replied "Darling, what's it like to know you learnt to drive on a museum piece ?"
I don't go back as far on computers as a Commodore 64 though.
Chris Cosgrove
I canot think of a name to outdo those above, but my admiration for the sheer dedication to their task of the design, construction and launch crews as well as the selfless application of those in a support role, knows no bounds.
The PARIS project has amazed me from the very first intimation to this crowning effort.
I will - unhappily - be more or less next door for the lauch, well in Northern France. The least I will be able to do is raise a sympathetic glass of some liquid with a reddish hue in support.
It has been a fascinating and hilarious saga : with heroes, challenges, setbacks, rising to a triumphal conclusion. Well, we all hope so.
Best of luck for the maiden flight of this possible shuttle replacement.
Chris Cosgrove
I don't know if it was flying or gliding, and it's not an argument I want to get into, BUT - it looks gorgeous, and it is a really fine bit of light weight engineering.
I used to make balsa wood flying models - but a 105 feet ( oops, sorry, 32 metre ) wingspan ? That was a little ( 30 metres ) beyond my wildest ambitions !
Chris Cosgrove
While I do not doubt for one minute the feasability of Burkhard Huhnke's remarks, one area he appears to have glossed over is the requirement for some sort of infrastructure so that his cars know where the road is, and agreement on standards so that only one variety of infrastructure is required.
I agree fully with his comments about under- and over- challenging situations. I used to drive trucks around Europe, and, a common response when told what my occupation was ' Oh, that must be exciting !' . No, getting exciting usually meant it was getting dangerous, and it is not a good idea getting dangerous with 40 tons at 90 KPH ! It's an awful lot of energy. But it could be bloody boring.
Chris Cosgrove
There hs always been a conflict in Islamic thinking between one of the central tenets of the religion 'There is no God but Allah, and Muhammed is his prophet' , and the clasical Islamic teaching that those of the Jewish and Christian faiths are 'Followers of the Book' and are to be treated at least sympathetically.
However, taking the Michael out of some one else's religious beliefs is not the way to go. There should be room for open discussion, but one can sympathise with the Pakistani respose to the Facebook campaign.
However, from what I have seen and heard, tolerance for those of different faiths, or no faith, is thin on the ground in the average Mosque.
Chris Cosgrove
While not entirely relevant to the article being commented on, we do not need 'smart' syringes to prevent - I presume The Silver Fox meant accidental - O/Ds, we merely need legalisation of all drug use, and consequent quality control of the various drugs.
Living in Central Scotland, death by accidental O/D is not unknown to me, but it is almost always because somebody has released heroin onto the street of an unexpected strength. With proper quality control, this risk vanishes and therefore we don't need the attached privacy risks of 'smart' syringes.
Chris Cosgrove
" DRS supplied the machines that were at the centre of the disastrous 2007 Scottish election "
I have no feeling one way or the other for DRS, but to be fair to DRS, it wasn't primarily the machines that were at fault, but a truly awfully designed ballot paper.
I voted in that election, and I am reasonably sure in retrospect that one of my two ballot papers was incorrectly completed - and I like to think it wasn't due to lack of intelligence or, at the age of 62 at the time, of inexperience of voting.
You would have to have seen the ballot papers to have believed them !
Chris Cosgrove
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