Goose Gun?
The ABC article on Amazon drone delivery project discusses the general privacy unease that drones cause in the US, which has ratcheted up since the Snowden revelations.
Knowing my local community, the discussion will be about how much gun you need to take one out. Obviously a 10 gauge shotgun with a 36-inch barrel will do the job, but it is too much gun? Then there is the selection of pellet size and spread pattern. These things are important to real hunters.
I don’t see drone delivery as a realistic system in the US, but there is a company in Australia hoping to use drones to deliver text books to isolated settlements, if they can get flight clearance.
Personally I’m against drone flights in the US because of flight safety issues. Even the remotely piloted drones used by the military lack the situational awareness necessary for collision avoidance in crowded airspace. I was in entirely too many incidents when flying out of Offutt AFB in Nebraska involving collisions with geese, to wish anything heavier and harder be added to the airspace that lacks the ability to sense a threat and get out of the way.
8 comments
No fear. As was pointed out by Wired, the whole Amazon drone story was nothing more than a marketing ploy to suck the air out of coverage of other retailers. The notion of delivering items via drone contradicts Amazon’s entire business model, which is based on the bandwidth of a UPS van full of packages.
– Badtux the Cynical Penguin
Came across this and had to share:
The concept is dumb from the start. The only areas that could even support the current flight time of small heliodrones are urban, and the concept would only work in where single family houses was the norm.
I can see it working in Australia for remote stations, but not in the US.
BTW, they really would be blasted down here. There are a lot of people with no sense of humor on the Panhandle.
LOL LOL LOL
Mde my day! I missed this… Though I’ve not been looking at news etc. as I try to finish up a couple thing before I getaway! Yahoooo! 😀
Yeah, it might well work here. We have many remote communities that are difficult to get to, and usually by small aircraft or chopper (with extra fuel tanks). Though, given that we are now as good as the USA at making things actually work… Not gonna happen! We had designed and built a really good STOL aircraft perfect for Aus., the Nomad. Looks like they may be back in production. 🙂 They would be a lot better and cheaper than any drone.
GAF Nomad
OT:
Well, here’s the spec for the final Monsta Build(tm) 😉
MAIN SYSTEM
———–
1 INTEL (CM8064601464206) Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) Quad Core Unlocked CPU, LGA1150, 8MB L3 Cache, OEM, Delidded
1 ASUS (Maximus VI Formula), Z87 Express, mPCIe Combo II: 802.11ac/BT 4.0/M.2 NGFF, CrossChill Air/Water Cooled
1 XFX (R9-290X-ENFC) Radeon R9 290X, 1GHz core, 4GiB 512bit 5GHz GDDR5, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2, Unlocked
1 MUSHKIN (994126R) Redline Ridgeback 16GiB (4x 4GiB) DDR3-2800MHz (PC3-22400), C12-14-14-35, 1.65V RAM, Red
1 MUSHKIN (MKNP44SC960GB-DX) Scorpion Deluxe SSD, PCIe x8, 960GiB, Seq R/W: 2,160/1,980 MiB/s, 4k rnd R/W: 78k/107k IOPS
1 ARECA (ARC-1882I) PCIe x8 SATA3/SAS2 6Gb/s 8-Port RAID Card, 4 GiB DDR3 ECC Cache, RAID 0/00/1/10/1E/3/5/6/30/50/60/100
6 SEAGATE (ST2000VN000) 2TiB NAS HDD, 5,900 RPM, 64MiB Cache, SATA3 6Gb/s, 600,000 Load/Unload Cycles, 8760 POH
1 ASUS (BW-16D1HT-PRO) 16x Blu-Ray Burner, 4 MiB Cache, 100GB/128GB BDXL + M-DISC + 3D Blu-Ray Support, Cyberlink SW Suite
1 ANTEC (HCP-1000-PLATINUM) High Current Pro Platinum 1000W PSU, 94%+ Efficiency, 100% Modular Cabling, 7yr Warranty
1 AEROCOOL (EN56847) Strike-X ST Devil Red Super Tower Case, 10x 3.5″/2.5″ Bays, 4x 5.25″ Bays, 2x USB3, 3x Fan Ctrl
PERIPHERALS & NETWORK
———————
1 EIZO (FG2421) Foris 24″ VA Turbo Gaming Monitor, 1920×1080, 240Hz, <1ms GtG, Pro Gamers Colour Presets, 5yr Warranty
1 SENNHEISER (504122) PC360 G4ME Headphones + Noise-Canceling Microphone, 15-28,000 Hz, 112 dB SPL
1 KLIPSCH (090524082714) ProMedia 2.1 THX Speaker System, 200-watt Digital/linear A/B amplifier, 31Hz – 20kHz, 80 fps avg, 68 fps min.
1 DUCKY (DK2108S-BUSALB) DK2108S Shine Zero Mechanical Keyboard, Blue LED Backlight, Cherry MX Brown Switches
1 DUCKY (KB-590) Keyboard Wrist Rest, Genuine Stitched Leather, Firm Foam Rubber Inner, 440 x 95 x 20mm
1 RAZER (RZ01-00750200-R3U1) Naga Hex MOBA PC Red Gaming Mouse, 6 Customizeable Mechanical Thumb Buttons
1 XTRACPADS (855360001064) HYBRID Nanofiber/plasic Molecular Blend Mouse Pad, 254 x 406 x 4 mm
1 INTEL (E1G42ET) Gigabit ET Dual Port Adapter, 2x RJ-45, 82576 Controller, Intelligent CPU Offload, iSCSI & NFS
1 HP (2116883) 1810-8G v2 Switch J9802A, 8 RJ-45 Autosense Ports, Trunking, 128MiB RAM, 512KiB Buffer, Jumbo Packets
1 TP-LINK (TD-W8980) N600 Wireless Gigabit ADSL2+ Modem Router, 3x 5GHz + 2x 2.4GHz Antennas, 4x Gbit Ethernet, 2x USB
1 CYBERPOWER (CP1500EPFCLCD) PFC Sinewave Series 1500VA UPS with LCD, 2 Years Advanced Replacement Wty inc. Batteries
COOLING & NOISE REDUCTION
————————-
1 EK (3830046990839) EK-Supremacy Clean CSQ Acetal+Nickel CPU Waterblock, Nickel Plated Copper Body + Black Acetal Top
1 EK (3830046990884) Supremacy PreciseMount Add-On Kit for Naked Ivy/Haswell for EK-Supremacy Series CPU Waterblocks
1 EK (3831109868560) EK-FC R9-290X – Full-Cover Acetal+Nickel Waterblock for Radeon R9 290X Series Graphics Card
1 EK (3831109868577) EK Full Cover EK-FC R9-290X Backplate for Radeon R9 290X Series Graphics Card
1 ALPHACOOL (14179) NexXxoS UT60 Full Copper 420mm Radiator, 468mm L x 144mm W x 60mm D (3x or 6x 140mm Fans)
1 ALPHACOOL (15167) Repack Dual 5.25″ Bay Station Reservoir, for Dual Laing D5 Pumps
2 AQUACOMPUTER (41093) Laing D5 Variable Speed Pump with USB & Aquabus Interface (for Aquaero 6 Controller)
12 MONSOON (RO-45-34-BK) 45 Rotary Angle Fitting with Port, 1/2″ x 3/4″, G1/4 thread, Black
2 MONSOON (FCC-1234-6P-RD) Brass Compression Fittings, 1/2″ x 3/4″, Red (6-pack + tool)
10 MONSOON (SPL-RD) Premium G 1/4 Solid Brass Plug with 1x black, 1x red 2.4mm silicone O-rings, Red
1 SAINT-GOBAIN (ACG00038) Tygon 2475 IB, Plasticizer Free, High-Purity Reinforced 1/2″ x 3/4″ Tubing, Crystal Clear, 3m
2 ICE DRAGON COOLING (ex-liq-203) Advanced Nanofluid Coolant, Non-Conductive, 32oz (1ltr), White
7 COOLJAG (F121425BUAF) Everflow 140mm PWM Fan, ~600-2600 RPM, ~40-126 CFM (restricted), ~0.30-5.22 mmH2O, ~20-43 dBA
1 YATE LOON (D12BH-12C) DC High Speed Quiet Slim Ball Bearing Fan, 120 x 20mm, ~2,200 RPM, ~76 CFM, ~35dBA, Black
2 COOLERMASTER (R4-MFJR-07FK-R1) 200mm MegaFlow 200 Silent Fan, ~700 RPM, ~110 CFM, ~19 dBA, Black
1 ALPHACOOL (17700) Teflon Tape, 0.1mm x 12mm x 20m
1 PHOBYA (38175) Radiator Adheasive Foam Rubber Sealing Strip (200cm x 15mm x 3mm)
1 PHOBYA (38177) Rubber Fan Shroud and Decoupling Gasket 120mm x 7mm, Black (single)
1 PHOBYA (38247) Rubber Radiator Fan Shroud and Decoupling Gasket 140mm x 7mm, Black (4 Pack)
3 PHOBYA (38337) Radiator Fan Gasket, 140mm x 10mm (for 140mm Fan), Black (single)
1 MNPCTECH 200mm (8″) Cooling Fan Grill, Laser Cut 1/4″ Thick Cast Acrylic, Black
1 BITSPOWER (BP-CDRG420ALBKMBK-HC) Radguard 420 (3x140mm) with Gasket/Screws/Wrench, Black Aluminum Honeycomb Mesh
1 DEMCIFILTER (DEMCIFILTER120-RD-RD) DEMCiflex 120mm Magnetic Fan Washable Dust Filter, Red/Black
1 DEMCIFILTER (DEMCIFILTER200-RD-RD) DEMCiflex 200mm Magnetic Fan Washable Dust Filter, Red/Black
1 ACOUSTI (APExtS) AcoustiPack EXTRA Sheet PC Soundproofing Kit, 7 x 457 x 431mm 3-Layer Sheets
MONITORING & CONTROL
——————–
1 AQUACOMPUTER (53146) Aquaero 6 XT, 4 Channel PWM Fan Control, 2x Laing D5 Pumps, Graphic LCD Touch Display, IR R/C
1 AQUACOMPUTER (53093) Copper/Stainless steel Water Cooling Block for Aquaero 6 XT
1 AQUACOMPUTER (53083) PowerAdjust 2 USB Ultra, 1 Laing DDC Pump cable, 1 Flow Sensor Cable, 4 Fan Connects
1 AQUACOMPUTER (53084) Brushed Stainless Steel 5.25″ bay Mount/Bezel for up to 3 PowerAdjust-2 USB Ultra Modules
1 AQUACOMPUTER (53132) MPS Flow Sensor 400 (21-106 Gallon/Hour), Internal/External Temp, Aquabus/USB I/F, G1/4 Thread
1 AQUACOMPUTER (53047) Aquaero Power Connect 24-pin ATX Standby Power/ATX Break on Fault Detect
2 AQUACOMPUTER (53122) Aquabus 4-pin Female-Female Cable, 70 cm, Braided Black
4 MONSOON (MON-TPL-RD) Premium G 1/4 Temperature Sensor Fitting, Red
2 MONSOON (FCC-1234-1P-RD) Brass Compression Fittings, 1/2″ x 3/4″, Red (Single-pack, 2 total)
2 MONSOON (RO-45-34-RD) 45 Rotary Angle Fitting with Port, 1/2″ x 3/4″, G1/4 thread, Red
2 MONSOON (SPL-RD) Premium G 1/4 Solid Brass Plug with 1x black, 1x red 2.4mm silicone O-rings, Red
CPU clocks @ 5GHz, RAM @ 3GHz, Vid Card: Core @ 1.2GHz, RAM @ 1.56GHz (6GHz effective)
Example test results:
Battlefield 3 @ 2,560 x 1,600, 4x AA 16x AF, ultra detail settings, DirectX 11 –> 80 fps avg, 68 fps min.
Crysis 3 @ 2,560 x 1,600, 0x AA, Very High Settings –> 51 fps avg, 40 fps min.
Unigine Valley 1.0 Benchmark @ 2,560 x 1,600, Ultra Detail –> 2582
As a comparison, in the Unigine test (with stock cooling), a GTX Titan scored 2586, Radeon HD 7990 scored 2545
It’s a really sweet BEAST! 😆 It can get loud when the 6 Everflow’s on the RAD are going full tilt!! But if you are not pushing it to the extreme, it’s not too bad (surprisingly!) 😀
Oops! I just noticed I left out one item from my parts list (it was a last minute addition).
1 PHOBYA (PH-31103) NanoGrease Extreme, Conductivity: 16W/mK, Density: 2.7 g/cm3
It’s used for the MoBo & Vid Card waterblocks (and actually makes a big difference over the pads and std TIM the manufacturers use/supply), and only costs $12. *shrug* 😆
Oh! Final price for the system is AU$8,990. It seems people are happy it’s under $9k, and wanted a couple extra’s like some high-end speakers, high-end ADSL-2 router was next… and something else I forget for now! Which naturally bumped the price up from $8,620. People are funny! 😉 😀
Well… It would cost them about $10k to buy it all themselves! So it’s a bargain really! 18 sold now! Wahoo! 😆
Have fun in the wilds.
That’s a lot of technology to play games, but then not so much when you look at what countries pay to host the World Cup or the Olympics. It’s not like they have ever made money doing it. At least the computer looks like it will make some money and generate some jobs, which is always good news.
I can’t believe that someone hasn’t figured out how to make money with routine deliveries to isolated outposts. There ought to be a way of networking bush pilots to fly out of some central depots – a distributed system instead of centralized.
Believe it or not, but that’s one of the things my company was working on and why we started it back in ’98. But that’s a long story. Part of it was our SOE/SOS system I’ve mentioned before. Anyway, it’s history now.
An opportunity has come up for me to get away tomorrow if I am to take advantage of some good deals etc. Not sure if I’ll be away two or three weeks.
The system above was designed for more than games. It’s quite a decent multimedia system also, video creation & editing etc., graphics design, CAD and so on. I designed it for me, truth be told. 😉 If others can make use of it, good for them 🙂 The best designs (of anything) are always those one would use for oneself. We should always be wary of *Things designed to be used for & by others*, with all the assumptions inherent in that. 😉 I never design anything I wouldn’t want to use myself.
OK. Have a great Xmas, and have some downtime yourself. 🙂 I wish everyone a happy and safe season. See you all in the new year. Hopefully, it won’t be the same as the old one! 😉 😀
No point replying. I won’t see it. Take care and thanks.
Expect me when you see me! 😉
Hmmm! Looks like that wasn’t my last post after all (but this will be!) 😀
I was just checking my eMail before bed and received this.
As well as Kingsoft Office (that i posted about on Thanksgiving), I have also used SoftMaker Office on Win & Linux. They have released a FOSS version this year, called FreeOffice. They have a special deal whereby if you d/l a copy they will donate 10 EUcents for every copy downloaded, and the s/w is free. Also, you can d/l some of their fonts for free that are normally 20 Euro’s. There are 26 Font Families in the set: Elegant Holiday Fonts 2013
It’s a very worthy cause, and worth doing even if you don’t use the s/w (though it is quite good). And it’s Christmas, even if nobody cares. It’s free until Dec 24th.
You only need provide a name, eMail, country and the download & registration details will be emailed to you.
SoftMaker “Load and Help” 2013
I think it’s a worthy cause, and you get something for nothing and get to help someone in need for nothing also. Win-win. If you think it’s worthwhile Bryan, please post about this so others can see it and can do some good this Xmas. 🙂 It’s up to you of course. 🙂
Right… now I am finally off to bed and off to have a break when I arise. 🙂
Cheers again! And best wishes! 😀