Hard drive problems

My site used to be hosted by 1and1. However they had problems today and their customer support is really bad. Anyway I'm going to be using Blogger's free hosting for a while (hence the ad up at the top).

Los Alamos Lab

My favorite science prof worked there years ago and it sounds like an interesting place. Too bad about the security problems though...

The Los Alamos national laboratory reports that they are missing two computer discs with sensitive weapons information. How embarrassing is that? Now we can't even find our own weapons of mass destruction. - Jay Leno

Arab opinion poll of America

An interesting study that surveyed Arab people in several countries.

In other words, and quite simply, what we found was that what ultimately determined how Arabs viewed America was how they saw America treating Arab people. In undertaking our second Arab world study of “Impressions of America” we sought both to measure whatever change in attitudes may have occurred in the past two years and to identify the factors that may have accounted for that change.

In a nutshell: They don't hate what the US has, but they really hate what the US does.

Overall favorable ratings toward the US have declined in the past two years.

New Helicopters

Our government has finally chosen a naval helicopter to replace our ancient Sea Kings. Starting in 4 years we'll be getting one H-92 Superhawk a month for a total of 28. The H-92 Superhawk is the military variant of the Sikorsky S-92 and we're going to call ours "the Cyclone".

The competition was between the Sikorsky H-92, EH Industries EH-101, and the Eurocopter NH-90. The NH-90 was eliminated earlier in the competition so it was really down to the EH and the Sikorsky. The press has covered this story (Toronto Star, Reuters, CBC, more...). I'm happy, this is way overdue and the H-92 looks like it'll be a great helicopter. I say looks like because it's so new no one has the H-92 yet.

Brand new design
The unproven H-92 concerns some people, but keep in mind the it's based on the Blackhawk/Seahawk, a helicopter used for years by dozens of countries. The US military has over 5 million flight hours with the Blackhawk family of helicopters. The H-92 is being considered by the US for their military and to transport the president. Sikorsky has been making military helicopters since the world's fist in 1942 (and the Sea King shortly after :)

Number of engines
The EH-101 has 3 engines, the H-92 has 2. Does that make the EH-101 better? I found an article comparing the EH-101 and H-92 as the 2 main candidates for the US President's new helicopters. 2 interesting quotes about the third engine:

Commercial operators have so far shunned helicopters with a "flying spare" engine that adds to acquisition and operating costs. The Navy prices a T700 (military CT7) turboshaft at more than $600,000, and Sikorsky engineers figure every pound of supporting aerostructure is worth around $1,000 in acquisition price. Fuel consumed and maintenance required by an additional engine adds to life cycle costs. Both RAF and Royal Navy pilots shut down their third engine altogether in cruising flight to save fuel.

CH-53E experience convinced Sikorsky engineers a third engine is a costly necessity for only the heaviest helicopters. The cost can be significant. A CT7 turboshaft weighs about 570 lb., and supporting structure and systems hike the cumulative weight penalty for an extra engine to about 1,500 lb. To that burden is added the weight of fuel carried for the flying "spare." Sikorsky engineers calculate a third engine ultimately takes the place of two passengers carried more than the same mission radius. Their system safety analysis notes that just having a third engine increases the statistical possibility of an engine failure, and a comparison of height-velocity curves reveals no significant performance advantage between the two- and three-engined presidential contenders.

Contract history

• 1992: Conservative government orders 50 EH-101's for $5.8b (~$116m each)
• 1993: Liberal government cancels the contract and pays $500m penalty
• 1998: Liberal government orders 15 search & rescue EH-101's for $790m (~$53m each)
• 2004: Liberal government orders 28 H-92s for $3.2b (~$114m each)

My "each" price is just total contract cost divided by the number

My final thoughts Would it have been a bit embarrassing for the government to choose the EH-101 now after they canceled the contract for it earlier? Yes. Are we now getting a bad helicopter? No. Lee Myrhaugen, a retired air force colonel and former Sea King pilot, summarized it nicely when he called the H-92 "an exceptional, state-of-the-art aircraft".

Bush vs. Kerry - It's funny 'cause it's true

If you find humor in US politics, I know you'll enjoy This video.

IE slowly losing market share

According to WebSideStory, IE's market share has dropped incrementally since the beginning of June from 95.73% to 94.73% as of July 6. Dutch web metrics firm OneStat reports a similar decline, from 94.8% in January to 93.9% at the end of May.

It's only 1%, but it's a start. Let's keep the trend going.

• Read more on this at InfoWorld
• OneStat.com
• WebSideStory

Fancy a game, comrade?

One of the rarest working arcade games in the world...

The Poly Play videogame was Eastern Bloc's answer to the capitalist's Pac Man but resembles something more like on old-fashioned TV set in a tall wooden cabinet.

The power of spin

CBC is showing a repeat of "Dark Side Of The Moon" on Friday July 16, 2004 at 10PM ET/PT . This is an excellent show that might just change the way you view documentaries such as my favorites, Fahrenheit and Bowling. Who knew Donald Rumsfeld & Henry Kissinger made the fake moon landing photos...

Cats... ha ha

Cats, of course, are easier to make fun of. The cutest cat is still a freak. Where dogs are sympathetic, almost tragic, figures, cats are pure comedy. Dogs are your buddies, cats are entertainment. They're like a TV show. There's nothing funnier than when a cat falls of something. When a dog falls down a couple of stairs, you rush to it and console it But when a cat does it, it's funny - you point at it an laugh (which they don't like, incidentally).

My thoughts exactly :) That's Darby Conley (the artist) in the preface of Groovitude: A Get Fuzzy Treasury which just came today from Amazon.