Jaggar's New Writeups

If at first you don't succeed (idea)

2004-04-16T07:43:27Z

Wow, where to start...okay, here goes...

Try, try again -- It's very possible that you just fucked up. That's not a problem. It happens to everyone. A lot. The important thing is that you take a minute or two to reflect on your failure and then put your best effort into not making the same mistakes on attempt number two. Of course, repeated failures are never a good sign, so keep reading.

Reevaluate your priorities -- Some things are just hard. Land wars in Asia, dating people of incompatible sexual orientations, and getting a Ph.D are all examples of things that probably don't merit a first attempt and most certainly don't smile upon second tries. In the immortal words of Mark Twain, "...there's no use being a damn fool about it." Maybe you should look into a new, more reasonable hobby.

Get a bigger hammer -- Maybe you just didn't apply enough metaphorical firepower. The fact of the matter is that candles and…

Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle (thing)

2003-07-02T15:01:57Z

An advanced unmanned weapons platform envisioned by the United States Defense Advanced Research Administration (DARPA) as a response to the changing face of international conflict.

The HCV

The HCV will be designed and constructed under DARPA's open (for now) Force Application and Launch from the Continental United States (FALCON) program. The goal of the project is to develop an unmanned hypersonic aircraft that can launch (cheaply) from a runway in the Continental United States and deliver 12,000 lbs (5,500 kg) of precision munitions to a target 9,000 miles (14,500 km) distant in about 2 hours, and then return safely.

It is expected that this aircraft will be based on recent NASA hypersonic vehicles, notably the X-33 and the X-45, and will likely involve some sort of scramjet and aerospike technology. The expected cruising altitude is around 100,000 ft, very near the fuzzy edge of space. The most interesting munition to be…

engineering hammer (thing)

2003-06-25T20:54:26Z

A large hammer with two flat faces. Identical to a small sledge hammer with a short handle. They typically weigh around three pounds and have a one to two foot handle.

I have absolutely no idea what they are supposed to be used for, but I found one while digging through a pile of equipment in the RF Engineering Lab of a major Midwestern university. Sitting there, surrounded by the miniature screwdrivers, ultra-fine tweezers, X-acto knives, and dental tools used to work on delicate RF electronics, was this giant sledgehammer. Since I didn't see any railroad ties or house frames anywhere, I can only assume that someone got tired of debugging a particularly difficult piece of hardware.

If it first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer.

Sears sells these things for about $20.

http:/www.sears.com

Thermo-Depolymerization Process (thing)

2003-06-18T17:44:22Z

What it is

The Thermo-Depolymerization Process (TDP) is a proprietary technology developed by Changing World Technologies in conjunction with about a dozen other companies, primarily ConAgra (makers of just about every pre-packaged food product not owned by Philip Morris. Yes, even Big Momma Sausage), to convert biological waste into water, minerals, natural gas, and fuel oil. That's right, light, sweet crude that's chemically indistinguishable from No. 2 fuel oil and can be further refined into things like gasoline and kerosene. Essentially, it works like Mr. Fusion from Back to the Future. Take absolutely anything with carbon in it, like milk jugs, medical waste, turkey guts, banana peels, or Sprite and throw it into the TDP machine. Hell, throw the Sprite can in too. It won't make any oil, but it certainly won't hurt. Then, wait a half hour, and oil comes out the other end.

How it works

Nearly every previous attempt…

Magnetar (thing)

2002-11-09T04:23:02Z

A class of neutron star officially known as Soft Gamma-Ray Bursters (catalog designation SGR) are called magnetars due to the recently confirmed theories of Christopher Thompson, which indicate that they have staggeringly huge magnetic fields on the order of 10^15 Gauss. To put this number in perspective, it impossible to build a magnet on Earth with a magnetic field greater than 4 x 10^5 Gauss because after that, the magnetic forces exceed the tensile strength of most suitable materials. A magnetar's magnetic field is 10 billion times more intense than that and could theoretically erase floppy disks and attract ferromagnets from a distance greater than that from the Earth to the Moon.

SGRs were first detected in the mid 1970's by gamma-ray detecting satellites designed to enforce nuclear test-ban treaties but were not originally distinguished from "classic" gamma ray bursts. In 1979, it was noticed a particular point (designated SGR 1806-20) emitted more than one burst (thus…

Eta Carinae (thing)

2002-10-11T16:27:11Z

Eta Carinae is a sixth- magnitude star located between 8,000 and 10,000 light-years away in the constellation Carina (the keel) which lies in the southern hemisphere. It was first cataloged in 1677 by astronomer extraordinaire Edmund Halley. The star originally attracted attention due to its extreme variability. Halley cataloged it as a fourth-magnitude star, but has varied widely and wildly, ranging from 8th magnitude all the way to -1 magnitude, outshining every other star in the sky except for Sirius. The star is presently in the middle of a rapid brightening period.

Further investigation shown that Eta Carinae is possibly one of the most remarkable objects in the sky. It is the most massive star known, with a mass between 120 and 150 solar masses, and is thought to be one of the most massive stars in the entire universe. It emits 5 million times the energy of the Sun, 99% of which in the form of infrared radiation, making it the brightest object…