Today, I have a job coming up actually for tomorrow morning. From Chicago IL to Lincoln, NE. So, here's the drill as far as transportation goes (remember that I'm carrying a large, heavy crate tomorrow so for me there is only one option-- this is for the sake of people who are getting themselves and maybe family from one place to the other). This information comes from Google Maps.
By airplane--- not counting the nonsense at each terminal where minutes become hours-- it's about an hour and a half flying time.
By car--- it's a little over 7.5 hours not counting stopping for fuel, eating, using the facilities and whatnot. Add another 2 hours just to be safe, so let's say 9.5 hours.
By Amtrak passenger train-- it's almost 15 hours. I kid you not. Only riding a bicycle would be slower. (But, after riding a bike for more than 500 miles you'd sure be buff.)
I really don't expect trains to catch on unless they can do something about that time.
Sorry, RJH--- maybe someday they'll come up with high-speed rail here. Until then, planes for any distance over 400 miles, cars for any distance under that except in the cities, where commuter rail has definite advantages over the car.
Somebody did a lot of work putting this together. The engine has to be made by the modeler-- you can't buy that from the store. Took about 3 years to build the engine. 9 cylinder rotary--- the old-fashioned kind, they don't make 'em like that anymore.
Getting the ignition switching right had to be a chore. The throttle is always open, there is no throttle control. Engine speed control was done by "blipping" the ignition switches--- which produced the weird sound when the pilot wanted less than full power. Sounds like the engine is about to quit while in flight--- that's just normal operation of a slowed rotary engine.
Making this work by radio control--- I gotta admit, that's really something.
I don't get down this way much, but this was something I found elsewhere (Voat.com) that I think needs exposure and this seems to be the place for it.
Facebook is getting ready to eliminate Flash once and for all. Firefox, which I use on occasion, has already done so. All versions of Flash are banned from Firefox because of security issues that Adobe still hasn't addressed even in the latest versions. Among other things, Flash is vulnerable to ransomware attacks. My landlord has experienced this so I know what it looks like--- you open your machine, all ready for another session of DnD, FB, Worpress or whatever-- and instead you see a screen telling you that the FBI knows all about the kiddie porn on your machine and they're coming to get you--- but if you pay a fee-- the "ransom"-- the problem will go away. Fun, ain't it?
Every now and then you come across something worthwhile. In this case, I was browsing Reddit/r/pictures when I came across this. Some guy has spent a lot of time putting together an impressive model railroad in his basement. I know RJHowie is a fan of railroads, and back in the day I used to have a small layout-- so I know this represents a lot of work to get it right. The fellow who put this together is retired now, so presumably he has the time and money to pursue his passions. Enjoy:
A couple of months back, I finally bit the bullet and replaced my old faithful XP laptop with this new Windows 8 laptop. A quickie check showed that my old flatbed scanner is permanently retired (no surprise, it came with Windows 98 software) but that my HP 932C printer still has life left in it. So, connect up the printer, and it works--- well, sort of.
Turns out there's certain jobs it won't do well, or at all. It can't print photos choosing photo paper to save its life, and a recent attempt to print envelops-- a job it used to do with ease-- was an absolute shambles. Fortunately I still have the old laptop, so, connecting it to the printer brought the old machine back to life. It's a software/driver glitch, no doubt.
Question: The HP site is found wanting for a driver that actually makes this machine do what it's supposed to do on Windows 8. They've got a driver that makes the printer work-- well, sort of-- but is there a driver or software that can bring the old machine to full capabilities, or do I replace it with new. Just so's you know, the 932C is not much newer than my old scanner so replacement is an option--- I just want to see if I can get a little more out of this old printer before having to drive a stake through its "heart".
