Stilgherrian » Engineering

Weekend reading revisited

Stilgherrian — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 23:04:56 +0000

Some things I found on the weekend which you might like. The UNIX-HATERS Handbook, which reminded me that for all the religious hype over Unix/Linux it really is just a kludge. (Hat-tip of the geekiest kind to Alastair Rankine.) A NY Times article How Dangerous Is the Internet for Children? Answer: not particularly. A fine Wired story about Titan Salvage, the smart, brave and somewhat scary guys who salvage ships. And Possums Pollytics’ wonderful response to an attack by The Australian’s Dennis Shanahan.

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In Finland, they go buses good!

Stilgherrian — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 04:44:25 +0000

Finland makes our buses look crap, as well as our phones. “Every bus and tram in Helsinki and the surrounding cities of Vaanta and Espoo are being fitted with Linux servers and GPS units. Every bus and tram in the conurbation will not only become a wireless hotspot serving broadband internet throughout the vehicle — for free — but every bus and tram is visible on a Google map (the beta version is at tinyurl.com/2gftso) that uses the same real-time passenger information as the controllers in their command centre.” Hat-tip to Guy Beres.

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If it can’t be fixed with duct tape…

Stilgherrian — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 04:16:11 +0000

OK, this one is dedicated to my friends in the SCA. They’ll know what I mean. Yes, it’s a billboard advertising a soft drink, but it’s also a deep, deep commentary on The Nature of Engineering.

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How & Why Wonder Books were… wonderful!

Stilgherrian — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 12:49:38 +0000

I’m currently writing an essay to explain what I mean by “middle class values”, but I’ve been sidetracked into childhood memories about cows (don’t ask!) and rediscovering one truly wond’rous part of my childhood: the How & Why Wonder Book series.

If you can point to one thing that made me the geek I am today, it’s this series of books.

Each one was just 48 pages long, and the illustrations were usually paintings — pretty corny by today’s standards. But they really did create a sense of wonder for the Science and Technology which was unfolding in The Space Age. The first one was issued in 1960 and they ran well into the 1970s.

Looking through the lists put together by collectors intabits and Joe Roberts, I reckon I had at least 23 of the titles.

My favourites were The How & Why Wonder Book of Planets and Interplanetary Travel (insanely optimistic, in hindsight), Rockets and Missiles, Atomic Energy (no nuclear waste here, just atomic trains!) and The How & Why Wonder Book of Robots and Electronic Brains — man, there’s a whole essay in that last title alone, eh?

I bet my mother still has them stashed away in a cupboard somewhere.

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Gimli Glider’s last flight

Stilgherrian — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 23:24:36 +0000

A milestone in aviation history this week. The Gimli Glider (pictured) made its final flight on Thursday 24 January.

I mentioned this amazing story a few months back. In brief, in 1983 an Air Canada Boeing 767 ran out of fuel at 28,000 feet over Ottawa and the pilots glided it safely to the ground — landing at an old airport which, unbeknownst to the pilot, was not a motor racing circuit. A very, very fine piece of flying indeed.

The aircraft was returned to normal service — there’s nothing a bit of panel-beating can’t fix! — and for the last 24 years has had a normal career.

Hat-tip (and the full story) thanks to Telstar Logistics.

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Train is coming! Train is coming!

Stilgherrian — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 08:51:39 +0000

A beautiful piece of advertising from… somewhere in Europe, I assume. I can’t quite make out the language. If the embedded video (below) doesn’t work, try this link.

Thanks to Alex Willemyns for the pointer — and for having the extremely good sense to link to my piece on Blackle. I totally agree with your point about bandwagons, Alex.

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Soap Glamour Pussy

Stilgherrian — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 14:00:01 +0000

OK, I had dinner with Snarky Platypus earlier tonight, and on the beer coaster in my pocket it says: soap glamour pussy. Apparently this was very important. Explanations please.

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Oven crashes: technology gone mad

Stilgherrian — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 22:01:29 +0000

Last night I had to re-boot the oven because it had crashed. I only wanted to grill a couple of tomatoes for our dinner. Does it really require that amount of computational complexity?

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My new long-distance love

Stilgherrian — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 18:57:59 +0000

Thanks to UK comedian Dave Gorman and the BBC Magazine’s Alternative tourist map of Britain, I’ve fallen in love with the Greenwich foot tunnel (pictured).

Look further! It has a dome at each end, almost infinite length and endless fascinating perspectives.

Opened in 1902, the tunnel runs 370m under the River Thames and is lined with white tiles — though the section in the photo has a thick steel and concrete inner lining to repair World War II bomb damage. You can see that more clearly in the Dave Gorman’s larger photo.

Perhaps it’s unpatriotic to lust after a very English tunnel on the 75th birthday of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but somehow this tunnel intrigues me. I suspect that once I see it “in the flesh” I’ll love it as much as ’Pong loves the Newtown railway underpass.

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Universal Manufacturing to transform the world

Stilgherrian — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 23:08:56 +0000

Remember the “replicators” of science fiction? You know, the gadget like a microwave oven where you dialled up “replacement gear wheel” or “9mm pistol” or “vegetarian lasagne” and out it’d pop? That’s what you’re looking at in the photo at right.

OK, not quite.

This is the Fab@Home Model 1 freeform fabrication system, sort of like an inkjet printer for making 3D objects.

These rapid prototyping (RP) systems have been around for a while, but the Model 1 has two key differences. You can build it yourself for US$2300 of parts you can buy off the shelf. And the plans and software are free.

The people behind Fab@Home reckon the Model 1 will trigger the transformation of the manufacturing and distribution of “hard” items, just like the Altair 8800 kit-built microcomputer of 1975 triggered the real computer revolution.

bq. Universal manufacturing embodied as today’s freeform fabrication systems has — like universal computers — the potential to transform human society to a degree that few creations ever have. The ability to directly fabricate functional custom objects could transform the way we design, make, deliver and consume products. But not less importantly, rapid prototyping technology has the potential to redefine the designer. By eliminating many of the barriers of resource and skill that currently prevent ordinary inventors from realizing their own ideas, fabbers can “democratize innovation”. Ubiquitous automated manufacturing can thus open the door to a new class of independent designers, a marketplace of printable blueprints, and a new economy of custom products. Just like the Internet and MP3s have freed musical talent from control of big labels, so can widespread RP divorce technological innovation from the control of big corporations.

I’m not sure their idealistic vision of “a new class of independent designers” will come to pass, at least not long-term. Most software still comes from cubicle farms. But it _will_ change things.

We’ll return to this story in 2040.

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How to destroy the Earth

Stilgherrian — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 06:36:49 +0000

It’s harder than you think. A shame, that. It’s Tuesday and I’m in the mood…

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Building Stonehenge, solo

Stilgherrian — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 08:20:19 +0000

This guy in cosmopolitan Flint, Michigan, thinks he’s cracked the technique for building Stonehenge — without requiring alien intervention.

Thanks to _Signal vs Noise_ for the pointer.