Firestarter

 aircraft, Hmm..., weapons, youtube  No Responses »
Aug 302022
 

Randomly stumbled across a video of a drone or helicopter (sounds like a chopper, glimpses of what looks like a landing skid) attempting to start a forest fire. Some of the comments indicate that this was part of a controlled burn, but I couldn’t find out more about it. There are a number of videos on YouTube showing the “heli-torch” in operation, basically an unmotivated flamethrower package that can be carried suspended beneath a helicopter (looks like usually a Bell UH-1, but also Rangers and Loaches) for the purposes of started prescribed burns in more difficult to access locations.

In any event, a drone that not only can start forest fires but actually has would be an interesting development. Looks like it’s spraying out gasoline or something. But if, instead, it squirted out napalm or thermite, the military applications could be reasonably horrific; swooping in over trenches to lay down dribbles of fire on enemy troops would seem a first use. This sort of thing would be unlikely to kill a lot of soldiers except for the rare instance of setting fire to a pile of ordnance or a fuel dump… but flaming drips falling onto soldiers heads or backs would very likely take them out of action.

 

@swat_leader

#katastrophe #pozari #vatra

♬ Originalton – 𝕾𝖜𝖆𝖙 𝕷𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖗

 

Heli-torch vid:

 Posted by at 12:08 am

Hokey religions and ancient weapons…

 art, history, Hmm..., news, science fiction, weapons  No Responses »
Aug 292022
 

… are no match  for nearly a million dollars:

‘Star Wars’ blaster sells for $900,000 at Rock Island Auction Company

I probably shoulda gone to look at it while it was on display a few miles from here. Well… one real good way to feel inadequate *real* fast is to realize just how far short you’d fall if you tried to buy something like this. It sold for two to three times the original estimate.

This link says that the blast sold for $1,057,500. I assume that factors in the fees and such.

Han Solo’s DL-44 Blaster from “Star Wars” smashes auction records

The budget for “Star Wars” was $11 million in 1977 money, or something like $52 million today. So about 2% of the movies budget could have been paid for by selling one prop… and sending that money back in time somehow.

 Posted by at 8:41 pm

Have a Coke and a Meh

 Hmm..., Meh., russian empire, youtube  No Responses »
Aug 292022
 

So a Russian feller reviews the replacement for McDonalds. It’s sort of Uncanny Valley McDonalds… everything is *like* McDonalds, but a little off. There weird thing (to me, anyway) is the lack of fries. I always kinda thought that Russians had taters in vast abundance? Where’s their vodka come from? And $14 seems kinda pricey.

It seems a little strange to me to think of McDonalds as some kind of “experience,” to look back fondly on the “soul” and “love” of McDonalds. But I guess McDonalds emerging at the end of Communism must have been a heck of a thing, and to go back to the smile-free Soviet Experience must be a bummer.

 Posted by at 8:19 am

Next Artemis Launch opportunities

 news, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Aug 292022
 

From HERE:

  • Sept. 2 at 12:48 p.m. (Two-hour launch window); Landing Oct. 11 
  • Sept. 5 at 5:12 p.m. (90-minute launch window); Landing Oct. 17 

 

I’m having flashbacks to the early Shuttle days, when my parents would get me up at the crack of pre-dawn to watch the launch just before I had to catch my school bus, only for it to get scrubbed with one second to spare.

 Posted by at 7:56 am

Whoopsie

 AARRRGH, dumbassery, Gah., news, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Aug 292022
 

So who knew that newly manufactured rolls of foam sheeting are full of butane gas? This guy does. Well, he knows it *now.*

Fun fact:

https://www.borealisgroup.com/polyolefins/polymer-solutions/foam-solutions/10-frequently-asked-questions-about-po-foam

Question 1: Which physical foaming agent (gas) is the best in PP foam production?

Answer 1: The choice of the best physical foaming agent depends on the target foam. Hydrocarbons, like iso- or n-butane, are used in production of the lowest density foams, whereas inert gases, like supercritical CO2 or N2, are used in production of foams with densities typically higher than 200 kg/m3.

 Posted by at 7:53 am

Artemis I launch coverage: UPDATE scrubbed

 awesomeness, history, Hmm..., news, rockets, spacecraft, youtube  No Responses »
Aug 282022
 

UPDATE: Launch scrubbed, min engine trouble. Earliest next launch opportunity is September 2.

– – –

The 2-hour launch window opens at 8:30 AM Monday morning, Eastern time. Should be streamed live here:

Also here:

 

The SLS is an insanely expensive, ridiculously obsolete design, but damn if I don’t hope it succeeds. I did some work on those boosters back in the day… fifteen friggen years ago. Youch.

 Posted by at 10:43 pm

The stupidest thing you’ll read today

 Crazy, dumbassery, Gah., politics, religion, russian empire, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Aug 282022
 

The Conflict Between The West And Russia Is A Religious One

The war currently underway in Ukraine, which pits Ukraine as a proxy for the collective West against Russia, is primarily an ideological or religious one, with Russia representing what is left of Christian Europe, and “the West” representing a totalitarian ideology that abhors religion in general and Christianity in particular.

Ummm. Color me stunned, he goes on to implicate Da Jooooz.

Westerners – especially those who style themselves “conservatives” – who think that Putin is anything but a KGB  thug baffle me.

 Posted by at 9:12 pm

Good guy or bad guy?

 blather, Hmm..., youtube  No Responses »
Aug 282022
 

A clip from… something, a TV show or movie I suppose (UPDATE: it’s from the 2021 movie “Queenpins”). The question: is the guy right?

My own interpretation: you are under no obligation to do anything for anyone, up to and including raising a finger to save their life. That said, a refusal to raise a finger to save a life will be seen as (and probably is) a serious personality defect. But being inconvenienced in order to provide someone with unearned satisfaction or amusement? That’s not the same. And we *do* live in a culture where far too many people are far too entitled, believing themselves *owed* other peoples time, effort and resources. “You have something I want, gimme.” “Boo hoo, I made whoppingly ridiculous financial decisions that predictably bit me in the ass, I want you to bail me out.” Perhaps kids finding out – and then learning to accept – that they can’t always get what they want simply because they want it – is a truly valuable lesson that should be taught and learned more often.

Or maybe the guy’s just a jerk.

But if I’m comfortably seated in a seat I specifically chose – perhaps having paid extra to select that seat – then perhaps I *really* don’t want to get up and move elsewhere. How are you going to compensate me for my cost and bother?

 Posted by at 12:09 pm

So *this* is nationalized health care…

 AARRRGH, blather, Crazy, dumbassery, Forward!, Gah., Hmm..., I'm from the government, news, politics, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Aug 272022
 

Canadian veteran suffering from PTSD and a traumatic brain injury was offered EUTHANASIA when he called Veteran Affairs Canada hotline for help – as Canadian Government orders ‘full and thorough’ investigation into the case

Well, euthanasia *is* a form of healthcare. So as the economic burden of taking care of vast numbers of poor, sick “migrants” and “refugees” continues to mount in places like the US and UK, expect to see euthanasia offered – and then pushed – onto those where the math just doesn’t add up. If you cost more than you add via taxes, if you vote the wrong way, if you don’t make the demographic quotas look right, or if you just contact a government employee who’s having an off day, is in  a particular mood, or if he/she/it/they simply dosen’t like the sound of your voice… well, there’s an easier, cheaper way to deal with your heart disease or cancer or PTSD or chronic acne.

Assisted suicide is spiralling out of control in Canada

Next year, Canada will begin allowing mentally ill individuals to qualify for assisted suicide under this formulation, and it is likely that this autumn the government will receive a parliamentary report recommending that children deemed competent (“mature minors”) should also be eligible.

*NEAT.*

I’m all in favor of euthanasia when the situation calls for it. Are you being eaten alive by a horrific cancer that cannot be cured? Are you trapped in a wreck of a body with no hope of any sort of quality of life? Is your nervous system on fire, making every moment unending agony, with no prospect of fixing it? Then, yeah, I can see taking a few deep lungs full of pure nitrogen as a merciful alternative. But because you’re *sad?* That’s a “no” from me, buddy. Especially Canada’s nonsense about making mental illness among minors eligible for an assisted dirtnap… because how many hormonal teenagers *can’t* be fairly described as bugnuts? Get them away from the social media and their weirdo pervert teachers, deprogram them from CRT and SJW, and just let them mature a bit, and most people will be fine.

And euthanasia should almost never be promoted by the people paying the bills.

The video below has some slightly spicy language. I’m not entirely sure, but I think he’s a little upset about this.

 Posted by at 12:28 pm

The Wisdom of Stallone

 art, awesomeness, history, wisdom, youtube  No Responses »
Aug 272022
 

Sylvester Stallone made a career out of playing “action heroes” who tended to be all muscle and little brain… or at least that’s the stereotype. A lot of his characters and movies *seemed* like that on the surface, but were very different underneath. “Rocky” is often thought of as a boxing movie, but it’s really a love story with some boxing thrown in. “First Blood” is thought of as a simple shoot-em-up, but it’s really a story about how society threw away a whole generation of veterans… that monologue at the end *utterly* makes the movie. And “Demolition Man” seems another simple shoot-em-up with sci-fi trappings, but it’s a reasonably deep commentary on political correctness. And the man, when he had the right material, could *act.*

Stallone himself seems to be a pretty smart guy. This comes across *brilliantly* in this clip from a BBC interview from 1977:

A more complete version of the interview:

 

 Posted by at 1:11 am
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