Category: Technology

OK, so I’m starting out learning to fly very cheap and simple RC helicopters. My current one is showing here. A basic v911 fixed-pitch heli which can be flown indoors or outdoors in light wind:

I am looking to upgrade, at some point in the not so distant future, to a collective-pitch model. I am looking at the Blade mCPX v2, or debating whether I want to jump to something bigger. If I’m careful, the wind isn’t too bad, and don’t hot dog very much, I can avoid crashing.

My eventual goal is to work up to a larger bird, capable of lofting a video camera, transmitter, and possibly flying autonomously if necessary. I’m not sure how much bird I’d need to loft that much gear, but that’s more in the distant future. My sometimes co-blogger Jason (owner of the CNC and 3d Printing hardware) was working on a quad-rotor design a bit back with more advanced capabilities than typical RC helis, so at some point I might talk to him about reviving that, but for now I am just enjoying learning to operate these things and harassing the neighborhood bird population.

So any transmitter advice anyone can offer would be appreciated. I’m probably thinking a six channel, like the Spektrum DSX6i, and if anyone has any experience with the Blade mCPX as a beginner collective-pitch heli, I’d be happy to have advice or warning there too.

Interesting thoughts here. I think there are a few things we’ll look back on in 50 years with horror. One of them is drugging an entire generation of jittery boys with amphetamines instead of dealing with the problem through proper discipline, and the other is over-prescribing of anti-depressants. I think these drugs can help some people, but these days doctors I think are too keen on making problems go away with drugs than with taking the time to deal with the underlying problem a patient might be having. I don’t blame them, because family doctors aren’t therapists. But the idea that SSRIs don’t come with any downside I think is a fanciful. Clayton’s observation is interesting:

In addition, the warning information on SSRI antidepressants now includes the very real hazard that a person who is severely depressed, once taking the antidepressant, may now have enough energy to plan and carry out a suicide.

Could be. We don’t really know a whole lot about how the brain works, which is why I’m skeptical about tinkering with brain chemicals in new ways and expecting that every issue is going to come out in clinical trials. It’s a lot more complicated than treating other well-defined medical problems.

Today was an office day, and there was much to do. In addition, I had to swing by MicroCenter on the way home to exchange some memory I bought last week which turned out to be defective. Took a few hours on the memory tests to make sure these sticks were OK, but lo and behold:

We will now return to our regularly scheduled blogging.

I came across this new controversy yesterday of some random lout posing herself in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers and appearing to shout and flip the bird. Pretty reprehensible, sure, but I’ll never really get the Internet’s penchant for obsessing over random idiots and louts. There’s a whole lot of Lindsey Stones out there in this world, and life’s too short for me to concern myself with them. But then again, maybe there’s not nearly enough public shame in this world for poor behavior, and perhaps we could use a lot more of it.

UPDATE: From Tam:

It’s the difference between lighting up next to a “NO SMOKING” sign, and lighting up next to a “NO SMOKING” sign in a pediatric lung cancer ward. One’s rebellious, the other’s reprehensible.

Yep.

I’m surprised, lately, by how much decent news Google passes by. It’s easy for anyone with an Internet site, who isn’t a traditional blog, to get categorized as news, even if the content they are producing is shit no one reads, or would want to read. The signal to noise ratio has become quite high.

Thanks to Tam for this very interesting “The Scale of The Universe 2.0.” Great way to explain this kind of thing to kids too.

We have a Google Voice number that answers for our NRA Election Volunteer activities. As part of that, it’ll e-mail you what it thinks is a transcription of your voice message. As much as swear at Siri for not getting things right, Google’s technology isn’t any better. There’s a certain state of the art, which isn’t that great, and no one really has advanced much past it. Take this nonsensical transcription:

Hi Kate, My name is Dave Abuser. I let me know. I’m not gonna member. I hope you’re fit with you. My address is XXXX when you both Road, New World. And my phone number is XXXXXXXXXX too. Thanks Kate, we’re gonna get the grass. Bye.

When I listened to the audio, it makes absolutely perfect sense. I’ve XXX’d out parts it got right enough to protect the innocent, but you see how bad Google is at transcription. My actual name is close to, but not Kate, and the person certainly was not an Abuser. I am an NRA member, and so is he, but neither of us are “gonna member.” I am certainly not fit, and if I was, it wouldn’t be with you. Maybe Google just can’t understand the Philly accent very well, but it’s not even remotely unintelligible to someone raised here.

I will say, I’ve already gotten more response this year than in any year I’ve had this “position” since I started a few years back. At least 5 calls since the magazine went out a few days ago. Previously I was lucky to get one or two. So I’ll take Google transcribing “We’re gonna get this guy out,” as “We’re gonna get the grass.” I just hope Google doesn’t share their transcriptions with the DOJ.

UPDATE: Seems I’m not the only one who is amused.