Darren New wrote:
> Mike Raiford wrote:
>> Sidekick comes to mind as a particularly troublesome TSR.
> 
> But very popular. Indeed, Sidekick was why people invented the SysRq key.
> 

So, that's why the SysReq key ...

-- 
~Mike

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Nicolas Alvarez <nic### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> News today: an 8GB *RAM-based* solid-state drive:
> http://tinyurl.com/8d64qv

Hum... why would anyone want such a thing?

For persistent storage of data, I guess it would be a *very* bad idea. Lose
power = lose data.

For nice fast swap space, I guess it would make more sense to put those 8GB
right onto the mainboard, so you don't need the swap space in the first place.

For fast temporary storage of mass data (like, say, in scientific simulations),
it's plain too small...

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Mike Raiford <"m[raiford]!at"@gmail.com> wrote:
> And whatever you do, don't get me started on Harley Davidson motorcycles.

I heard they're actually for bad combustion, in order to get that typical
sound...

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Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> I'm still puzzled about the Race of Champions. They raced several
> designs of car which seemed to be using *external combustion* to propell
> themselves, rather than the more traditional *internal combustion*. (As
> evidenced by the huge flashes and bangs as they raced round the track.)

Military planes do it, so why shouldn't a car benefit from an afterburner, too?
=B)

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clipka wrote:
> Nicolas Alvarez <nic### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
>> News today: an 8GB *RAM-based* solid-state drive:
>> http://tinyurl.com/8d64qv
> 
> Hum... why would anyone want such a thing?
> 
> For persistent storage of data, I guess it would be a *very* bad idea. Lose
> power = lose data.
> 
> For nice fast swap space, I guess it would make more sense to put those 8GB
> right onto the mainboard, so you don't need the swap space in the first place.
> 
> For fast temporary storage of mass data (like, say, in scientific simulations),
> it's plain too small...
> 
> 

It would make a darned nice Photoshop scratch disk. Make it about 50GB 
and it would make a decent video editing scratch disk.

-- 
~Mike

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"scott" <sco### [at] scottcom> wrote:
> Maybe someone could find a way to convert the sound energy from an engine
> into mechanical or electrical energy...

Some do, in a way: Resonance exhausts. They're designed to use the acoustic
"bang" produced when a cylinder is opened to expel the exhaust gases, to
resonate in the exhaust system in such a way that a lower-than-average pressure
is achieved when the next cylinder opens, helping expel it.

Probably must be tuned to some certain rpm optimum though.

So that may be another reason why racing cars are particularly loud - and why
the statement "loud == inefficient" is not totally true.

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Patrick Elliott <sel### [at] npgcablecom> wrote:
> > - It appears that "solid state harddrives" are now reaching useful sizes
> > and sane pricing levels. (E.g., when I first looked at this it was
> > something like £1,000 for 10 GB, which is obviously absurd. Now it's
> > something like £2/GB with sizes up to 250GB.)
> >
> Only problems are: a) slow (faster isn't much faster, and costs double),
> and b) limited number of "write cycles". And, no, the 250GB one is not
> $2/GB. lol

Just recently read about SSD's; two things to consider:

- If they're reasonably good quality, it seems you can't really "kill" them,
even in years of excessive abuse... because they can only do so many write
cycles a second ;)

- If you don't need to *write* too much, then faster *is* much faster! (Don't
try to replace a speed-optimized RAID box that already maxes out the connection
speed though ;))

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Mike Raiford <"m[raiford]!at"@gmail.com> wrote:
> Magnesium. The ultimate in portability. My camera still blows me away,
> the chassis is a Mg alloy and feels like plastic.
>
> Of course, I don't know how well Mg deals with heat.

I bet the game geeks will discover that material soon enough - if only because
it makes car wheels faster as well :)

(IIRC you shouldn't try to build something out of pure Mg though... unless the
thing to build is an outdoor fire starter ;))

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On Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:46:14 -0600, Mike Raiford <"m[raiford]!at"@gmail.com>
wrote:

>
>Of course, I don't know how well Mg deals with heat.

Woosh! Thermite :)
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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On Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:56:10 -0600, Mike Raiford wrote:

> Jim Henderson wrote:
> 
> 
>> They could, but my experience was generally good.  Unless the TSR was
>> poorly written, in which case it got used only once. :-)
>> 
>> 
> Sidekick comes to mind as a particularly troublesome TSR.

Yeah, it had some useful features, but not *that* useful.

Jim

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On Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:02:16 -0600, Mike Raiford wrote:

> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> 
>> I just had a picture flash through my mind (if you'll pardon the pun)
>> of a case made out of pure Magnesium.  In my mind's eye, it didn't last
>> very long, but it was spectacular. :-)
>> 
>> Jim
> 
> Something like ...
> 
> http://macenstein.com/default/archives/1405

Yes, something like that - I'd forgotten all about the NeXTCube.

Jim

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clipka wrote:
> Patrick Elliott <sel### [at] npgcablecom> wrote:
>>> - It appears that "solid state harddrives" are now reaching useful sizes
>>> and sane pricing levels. (E.g., when I first looked at this it was
>>> something like £1,000 for 10 GB, which is obviously absurd. Now it's
>>> something like £2/GB with sizes up to 250GB.)
>>>
>> Only problems are: a) slow (faster isn't much faster, and costs double),
>> and b) limited number of "write cycles". And, no, the 250GB one is not
>> $2/GB. lol
> 
> Just recently read about SSD's; two things to consider:
> 
> - If they're reasonably good quality, it seems you can't really "kill" them,
> even in years of excessive abuse... because they can only do so many write
> cycles a second ;)
> 
> - If you don't need to *write* too much, then faster *is* much faster! (Don't
> try to replace a speed-optimized RAID box that already maxes out the connection
> speed though ;))
> 
Well, I updated the 8GB SSD in my Asus 900A with a 64GB. I had two 
choices, a slower Patriot for $96, or a Runcore, for $178... Yeah, would 
nice to have it faster, but... not at double the price. I would "much" 
rather have a 1TB device that I could throw at a wall without breaking 
it, but.. we just don't have it yet. ;) lol


-- 
void main () {
   If Schrödingers_cat is alive or version > 98 {
     if version = "Vista" {
       call slow_by_half();
       call DRM_everything();
     }
     call functional_code();
   }
   else
     call crash_windows();
}

<A HREF='http://www.daz3d.com/index.php?refid=16130551'>Get 3D Models, 
3D Content, and 3D Software at DAZ3D!</A>

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>> I'm still puzzled about the Race of Champions. They raced several
>> designs of car which seemed to be using *external combustion* to propell
>> themselves, rather than the more traditional *internal combustion*. (As
>> evidenced by the huge flashes and bangs as they raced round the track.)
>
> Military planes do it, so why shouldn't a car benefit from an afterburner, 
> too?
> =B)

Because to get any remotely significant extra acceleration you would use up 
the whole fuel tank in 10 seconds :-)

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>> Maybe someone could find a way to convert the sound energy from an engine
>> into mechanical or electrical energy...
>
> Some do, in a way: Resonance exhausts. They're designed to use the 
> acoustic
> "bang" produced when a cylinder is opened to expel the exhaust gases, to
> resonate in the exhaust system in such a way that a lower-than-average 
> pressure
> is achieved when the next cylinder opens, helping expel it.
>
> Probably must be tuned to some certain rpm optimum though.

Oh yes, that is done already in most (all?) modern cars, the length and 
geometry of how the individual pipes from each cylinder join up together is 
very important in making an efficient and powerful engine.  In road cars of 
course efficiency is usually the design goal (and the designed rpm is much 
lower) rather than overall performance, but sometimes in sportier cars and 
racing cars you definitely really tune the exhaust for a high rpm (usually 
around maximum power revs), this results in the exhaust system getting 
noticeably louder at a certain point.

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Stephen wrote:
> On Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:46:14 -0600, Mike Raiford <"m[raiford]!at"@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> Of course, I don't know how well Mg deals with heat.
> 
> Woosh! Thermite :)

Not nearly as hot as thermite, but it can be (and is) used to start a 
thermite reaction.

-- 
~Mike

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> Not nearly as hot as thermite, but it can be (and is) used to start a 
> thermite reaction.

But did you ever try to light a piece of Magnesium?

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scott wrote:
>> Not nearly as hot as thermite, but it can be (and is) used to start a 
>> thermite reaction.
> 
> But did you ever try to light a piece of Magnesium?
> 

No ... But from what I've seen, the strips used as a fuse can be 
somewhat tricky to light.

-- 
~Mike

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> No ... But from what I've seen, the strips used as a fuse can be somewhat 
> tricky to light.

From what I remember at school we had to put the bunsen burner on the "hot" 
setting and hold the Mg strip in it for a few seconds before it lit.  I 
don't think you're going to accidentally light it at home...

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scott wrote:
>> No ... But from what I've seen, the strips used as a fuse can be 
>> somewhat tricky to light.
> 
>  From what I remember at school we had to put the bunsen burner on the 
> "hot" setting and hold the Mg strip in it for a few seconds before it 
> lit.  I don't think you're going to accidentally light it at home...

I lit a thin magnesium ribbon with a match.

OTOH, a nice solid lump of it probably won't burn too well. I hear they 
make pencil sharpeners out of it. (Or, more likely, some alloy of it.)

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Invisible wrote:
> scott wrote:
>>> No ... But from what I've seen, the strips used as a fuse can be 
>>> somewhat tricky to light.
>>
>>  From what I remember at school we had to put the bunsen burner on the 
>> "hot" setting and hold the Mg strip in it for a few seconds before it 
>> lit.  I don't think you're going to accidentally light it at home...
> 
> I lit a thin magnesium ribbon with a match.
> 
> OTOH, a nice solid lump of it probably won't burn too well. I hear they 
> make pencil sharpeners out of it. (Or, more likely, some alloy of it.)

Great. Now I'm just going to HAVE to get a pencil sharpener and set it 
ablaze. Thanks Andrew :)

-- 
~Mike

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>> I lit a thin magnesium ribbon with a match.
>>
>> OTOH, a nice solid lump of it probably won't burn too well. I hear 
>> they make pencil sharpeners out of it. (Or, more likely, some alloy of 
>> it.)
> 
> Great. Now I'm just going to HAVE to get a pencil sharpener and set it 
> ablaze. Thanks Andrew :)

DON'T DO IT!

ESPECIALLY IF YOUR PENCIL SHARPENER IS PLASTIC!!!

:-O

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On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:57:21 +0100, "scott" <sco### [at] scottcom> wrote:

>> Not nearly as hot as thermite, but it can be (and is) used to start a 
>> thermite reaction.
>
>But did you ever try to light a piece of Magnesium?
> 

But have you ever tried to put burning magnesium out?

I remember from a fire fighting course I was on when I worked offshore that
there is a technique for doing it. You have to pour copious amounts of water on
it very slowly. Not use the normal jet from a fire hose or you have a very
spread out fire. :)
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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Invisible wrote:

>> Great. Now I'm just going to HAVE to get a pencil sharpener and set it 
>> ablaze. Thanks Andrew :)
> 
> DON'T DO IT!
> 

So bright ... XD

> ESPECIALLY IF YOUR PENCIL SHARPENER IS PLASTIC!!!
> 

Eeew, no way. Burning plastic is no fun. Toxic fumes make me sick.

> :-O

XD

-- 
~Mike

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Stephen wrote:

> But have you ever tried to put burning magnesium out?
> 
> I remember from a fire fighting course I was on when I worked offshore that
> there is a technique for doing it. You have to pour copious amounts of water on
> it very slowly. Not use the normal jet from a fire hose or you have a very
> spread out fire. :)

Ummm. Water on a metal fire ... isn't that just going to exacerbate the 
reaction and create hydrogen gas?

Some will even burn in nitrogen.. I think they have foams for helping 
extinguish metal fires.

-- 
~Mike

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> Ummm. Water on a metal fire ... isn't that just going to exacerbate the 
> reaction and create hydrogen gas?

Not magnesium, no. (Not at any appreciable rate, at least.) Try it with, 
say, sodium and you've have a Big Problem. Magnesium is far too 
unreactive for it to be a problem.

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On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 08:53:30 -0600, Mike Raiford <"m[raiford]!at"@gmail.com>
wrote:

>Stephen wrote:
>
>> But have you ever tried to put burning magnesium out?
>> 
>> I remember from a fire fighting course I was on when I worked offshore that
>> there is a technique for doing it. You have to pour copious amounts of water on
>> it very slowly. Not use the normal jet from a fire hose or you have a very
>> spread out fire. :)
>
>Ummm. Water on a metal fire ... isn't that just going to exacerbate the 
>reaction and create hydrogen gas?
>
>Some will even burn in nitrogen.. I think they have foams for helping 
>extinguish metal fires.

Yes, but the obvious circumstances of a magnesium fire offshore is a helicopter
crash. The build up of Hydrogen would not be a problem as it would be outside or
on the helideck. We would have used AFFF (Aqueous film forming foam). The water
being mainly a carrier for the AFFF and for cooling.
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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Invisible wrote:

> Not magnesium, no. (Not at any appreciable rate, at least.) Try it with, 
> say, sodium and you've have a Big Problem. Magnesium is far too 
> unreactive for it to be a problem.

But when the metal is at the combustion point it would react with the 
water, right?

Yes, right ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesium#Precautions

The only way to douse the fire is to smother it. Water will simply piss 
it off.

Sodium reacts if you so much as look at it wrong...

-- 
~Mike

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Stephen wrote:

> Yes, but the obvious circumstances of a magnesium fire offshore is a helicopter
> crash. The build up of Hydrogen would not be a problem as it would be outside or
> on the helideck. We would have used AFFF (Aqueous film forming foam). The water
> being mainly a carrier for the AFFF and for cooling.

Just make sure its Class D. :)

-- 
~Mike

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>> Not magnesium, no. (Not at any appreciable rate, at least.) Try it 
>> with, say, sodium and you've have a Big Problem. Magnesium is far too 
>> unreactive for it to be a problem.
> 
> But when the metal is at the combustion point it would react with the 
> water, right?
> 
> Yes, right ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesium#Precautions

Oh, well, I've only tried mixing it in water at room temperatures.

> Sodium reacts if you so much as look at it wrong...

Yes. ;-)

And calcium bubbles quite a bit.

And magnesium... well after about an hour a few tiny bubbles had formed 
on its surface. So I guess that's a sort-of reaction?

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Invisible wrote:

> And magnesium... well after about an hour a few tiny bubbles had formed 
> on its surface. So I guess that's a sort-of reaction?

Its every bit as much of a reaction as iron rusting ... yes.

-- 
~Mike

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>> And magnesium... well after about an hour a few tiny bubbles had 
>> formed on its surface. So I guess that's a sort-of reaction?
> 
> Its every bit as much of a reaction as iron rusting ... yes.

And about as much fun as watching iron resting... yes. :-)

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Invisible wrote:

> And about as much fun as watching iron resting... yes. :-)

Absolutely :D

-- 
~Mike

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>> And about as much fun as watching iron resting... yes. :-)
> 
> Absolutely :D

Or even "rusting"... :-}

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