What can 100-plus kilowatts kill? Hardy was cagey about specific targets, but a study from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments suggests that it could destroy enemy cruise missiles, drones, and even manned aircraft at significant ranges.
"A 150-200 kW laser could be capable against surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles,†said CSBA’s Mark Gunzinger...
One of the Brickmuppet's Crack Team of Science Babes, is here with an overview of what all this means.
"The fellow doing the analysis of the LASER CANNON is named GUNZINGER! Anime is becoming real!"
They work for the love of it. Brickmuppet is a stud.
...moving right along...
I don't believe in this as a weapon for a jet, not even a heavy bomber. But it's perfect for the Navy. A Navy destroyer is an ideal platform to mount a weapon this heavy, which requires this much power.
3
Electronic warfare and the limits of stealth are waaaay outside my bailiwick, but given the lethality of even current systems, we may rapidly be approaching the point where 'if it flies it dies' and planes are limited to standoff platforms and perhaps utility/liaison work. We may already be there with first world air defense systems like the S-300, Sea Viper, Aegis and Patriot. With lasers and railguns, it might just be a skeet shoot.
So even in the vanishingly unlikely event that Mao (from GJ Club) is right about her analysis, it probably won't be one of the genres that has dogfights. Hopefully it won't have zombies or hopping cyclops umbrellas either.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Tue May 26 17:27:29 2015 (ohzj1)
2. As the article points out, it's pretty easy to put a power source and mechanism onto a big plane, fly it somewhere literally in the middle of nowhere but air, and test things. You need a little more logistics with a boat.
3. As the article points out, once you know how to put a power source on a plane and then it gets small enough, it will probably be pretty easy to move the power source and mechanism onto a boat.
4. If you don't put it on a fighter but you do put it on a plane, it either has to be a Stealth plane or the fighters are going to come and kill your laser plane before it can do anything.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Tue May 26 19:37:38 2015 (ZJVQ5)
5
PS. I've seen the Laser 747 at the air show (on the ground), and some stuff they burned up really good with the laser. I've never seen the Laser Ship. The unit patches are cool.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Tue May 26 19:39:42 2015 (ZJVQ5)
I have not seen Rin-Kan previously and dropping uninitiated into episode eight I was initially surprised by the jerky animation and the freaky-deaky see-through hair on two of the young ladies.
"Oh Lord, it's like colored cellophane wigs!"
However, it really was a charming, poignant story.
I guess it is a sign of the times that the McGuffin that allows the non-psychic characters to interact with the supernatural is a smartphone ap. That's one hell of an ap.
It isn't a special app; it's just the ordinary camera app. Which is even stranger and a bit hard to digest. Why didn't anyone notice before?
As best I can handwave, it's because there weren't any ghosts around before. There are suddenly a lot around because they follow Amami around. It's been like that her whole life, so she doesn't consider it remarkable. But before she entered the high school, there weren't any ghosts there, so no one noticed them in their phone cameras.
There is an interesting interview with the Latvian Defense Minister here, which discusses amongst other things, that the little country is spending 27% of their budget on defense in light of current events.
Actually, China just dumped $50 billion dollars to help Brazil build infrastructure including a Transcontinental railroad to take Brazilian resources to ports in Peru (for shipment to China). It's unclear what other agreements are involved but with Argentina getting money and military kit gifted to them as well and Namibia getting a Chinese port, the South Atlantic is going to be a darned cozy place for Chinese ships.
Russia is playing chess, China is playing Risk and we are playing golf.
1
And we're not warning anybody off the American hemisphere, either.
And yes, it does look like that thing with China in Panama and Nicaragua was related. Great, just what we needed.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Sat May 23 05:24:15 2015 (ZJVQ5)
2
I would not oversell the railroad. The Tran-Siberian railroad has the highest utilization in the world. It has 3 to 4 lines on its whole length where Chinese influx hops on it around Blagoveschensk. Yet it only delivers about 7% of the shopbourne traffic from China to Europe and it took a century to construct and continuously improve for the smooth flow. Brazil's trade to China is going to be carried mostly by ship, especially if we're talking raw materials.
That said, Chinese money funds a number of interesting railroads, such as the one they mean to build across the northern Mexico for the trade with Texas. The limited capacity of Panama canal hurts them enough to make all these railroads feasible.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Sat May 23 12:10:03 2015 (RqRa5)
3
And Panama is about to start using the bigger locks they've constructed to allow the larger container ships through. So thee might be some interesting competition going on.
Posted by: Mauser at Sat May 23 17:34:16 2015 (TJ7ih)
The real problem for the Panama Canal is water. The way locks work, a lot of water is released from above to down below for every ship that goes through. That water is coming from that lake which is in the middle of the canal, and thus traffic in the canal is limited by the amount of rainfall in the watershed that feeds that lake.
Unless they do something like building massive pumps to move water back up to the top, I think I remember that the limit with the current locks is about 100 ships per year. If they build larger locks, they'll use more water per ship.
The proposed Nicaragua canal has exactly the same issue. (The Suez canal does not, because the entire thing is at sea level so there aren't any locks.)
1
And here I thought the only thing to watch this summer would be Gatchaman Crowds Insight. :-)
-j
Posted by: J Greely at Wed May 20 19:07:45 2015 (ZlYZd)
2
I lost interest in the manga when it became clear that it does not have any defined direction at all (right about the time Slime appeared). Hopefuly anime ends before that time.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Wed May 20 19:41:27 2015 (7aoDe)
3
J, aren't you looking forward to Bikini Warriors?
4
Sadly the Slime is in the credits... Like you I thought the Manga went downhill quickly after she showed up. (Though the SWAT team was mildly amusing). What strikes me as strange is just HOW risque the trailer is, and that the production values are indicative of a nontrivial investment. This series must have sold rather better than I would have thought.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Wed May 20 21:29:08 2015 (ohzj1)
Bittersweet Victory
Well, my trip to Kafkaland seems to finally be resolved.
This is kind of a shame as I was enjoying both classes. OTOH this is almost certainly for the best as it means I'll be caught up financially in a few weeks (I still need to get a car after all).
In any event, here is something that some of you might find clever.
1
Good to hear.
Update: Yay!
I wonder if I could get unsuspended from YouTube. I got suspended about eight years ago when Sony Music first turned on their little bot and it found my collection of anime ops and eds, and I'm still suspended.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Thu May 21 21:20:25 2015 (2yngH)
A Certain Irksomeness
Since the content below the fold can be nothing but a horrible, horrible warning, we decided to post some positive words to live by above it.
My girls are 14 and 12. I don't even speak of college anymore; just trade schools or marriage to a guy with a trade.
You've no 'donate' button on your site. That's one way to fix 1st world problems. I know that "charity" is a dirty word for those of us old enough to have pride, but caritas amongst us of the Remnant is another thing altogether.
Posted by: Clayton Barnett at Tue May 19 01:21:56 2015 (lU4ZJ)
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Tue May 19 12:21:43 2015 (ZJVQ5)
3
First world problems only affect the first world.
You are talking about debt and bureaucratic obstructiveness and I am lead to believe they are fundamental properties that pervade the whole universe.
Keep pushing and you may be able to resolve it.
Posted by: Riktol at Tue May 19 14:26:19 2015 (MQZN9)
4
I would not even bother with instructors, call the Reg/Adm office.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Tue May 19 20:43:58 2015 (8hfbc)
5
Yeah, my next stop would be straight into the Registrar's and/or Bursar's.
Posted by: RickC at Tue May 19 20:47:18 2015 (0a7VZ)
Yeah, my next stop would be straight into the Registrar's and/or Bursar's.
That was my second stop (after the attempt at online withdrawal).
Step FIVE was to go to the Old Administration Building and ask to speak to anyone named "Dean". That seems to have worked except that it appears that I'm still being billed for the classes. IIt seems that Dean is almost as cool a name as Maximilian.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Wed May 20 14:52:04 2015 (ohzj1)
I think the most profound difference between the US and Australia is not the lack of taipan funnel sharks over here, but rather the fact that Pixy did not have anything to say about "cultural appropriation".
Australia rocks!
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Wed May 20 14:58:58 2015 (ohzj1)
8
"That was my second stop (after the attempt at online withdrawal)."
Argh. Well, I guess I'm glad you got a resolution that isn't horrible?
The one time I found myself in a literal Catch-22 situation (Registrar: "Can't have your class schedule without a copy of your bill". Bursar: "Can't give you your bill without a class schedule") I managed to deal with it by asking to talk to the Registrar Dean, too.
Posted by: RickC at Wed May 20 18:58:09 2015 (0a7VZ)
Space-X successfully tested its launch abort system recently. Instead of a disposable tower the system uses the landing retro rockets to remove the capsule from an exploding rocket and send it down range.
1
Note that MaxLaunch system that NASA tested for Orion used disposable pusher engines. It was necessary for Ares V because it was too tall to fit into VAB with tower. It's my understanding that its reincarnation SLS is slightly lower, at least in the first block.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Wed May 13 10:06:36 2015 (RqRa5)
2
I watched that launch, and I said "Musk could sell tickets for just that part of the flight."
Posted by: Mauser at Thu May 14 05:24:40 2015 (TJ7ih)
Posted by: Wonderduck at Sun May 10 22:20:05 2015 (jGQR+)
4
So...Is it Sony's policy to only block GOOD videos of their music?
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Wed May 13 13:19:26 2015 (ohzj1)
5
My understanding is that they use a bot. What it looks for isn't clear, but you can find a dozen other RWBY amv's that use Uptown Funk. None of them, as you say, are nearly this good.
"I didn't even like that song before." Blasphemy.
Posted by: Ben at Wed May 13 15:04:11 2015 (DRaH+)
A Straightforward and Forthright Answer
I just stumbled across this which contains a quote for the ages...
You have worked at the eating lab for some time. What is the eating lab? What does one do at an eating lab? The concept of an eating lab is really cool, but I have to admit that I don't quite know what it is. I don't want to make it sound any less cool, but it is a lab. And it is where we do eating studies.....
There's more to be sure, but the rest of the article merely detracts from the purity of that.
That response is tied to something that I've blogged about in association with matters of far less importance before, I've been working on another post on the topic for months but its so damned depressing to me that it still festers in draft form. Fortunately, Ace has nailed it: You really should read the whole thing, but here is a particularly important excerpt:
This is about, specifically, the careerist, cowardly, go-along-to-get-along mores of the Upper Middle Class, the class of people whose parents were all college educated, and of course are college educated themselves; the class that dominates our thought-transmitting institutions (because non-college educated people are more of less shut out of this industry).
It is a class which is deathly afraid of social stigma, and lives in class-based fear being grouped with the wrong people, and which is more interested in Career, quite frankly, than in the actual tradecraft of that Career, which is clarity of thought and clarity of expression.
That is the bit that is getting quoted everywhere and I DO think it is making an exceedingly important point about the larger issue facing society.
The idea of a 'problem class' is on the face of it is pretty obnoxious. However, the upper middle class is an important barometer of a societies' health. This is the group that in other times were often minor nobility and they produce the bulk of a nation's great thinkers and innovators when a society is healthy.
When societies are not though, this demographic also produces about 100% of the Robspierres, Ches, Maos and disappointed Austrian painters. The herd dynamics ACE is referring to are at the core of a whole host of societal ills right now, the most troubling being the inability of so many people to stand up for anything like classically liberal principals....which is where ACE gets down to brass tacks..
One does not "support" someone's right to free speech by name-calling them and advertising how far one believes they fall outside the smug Upper Middle Class (leftist-dominated) Consensus.
One supports free speech by supporting those who speak freely.
I am so disgusted by how so many alleged thinkers seem to care more about social positioning than actual thought.
I should not advertise any hostility I may have towards Ms. Gellar to prove I'm "among the acceptable ones."
What he said...
The winning submission to the contest was by Bosch Fawstin
I have little to add except for this....One of the more worrisome arguments I've heard concerning political correctness recently is the idea that "...as long as the GOVERNMENT isn't shutting people up, then it isn't censorship...So kindly shut up" That argument may be technically true and indeed government enforcement of such things is a bigger evil. Its also pretty hard to pass constitutional muster in this country which is why we have these examples of things that are not technically censorship.
Unlike some other shows I've enjoyed of late,Sound! Euphonium is not hampered by budget considerations or any learning curve. Kyo-Ani are the pros from Dover when they apply themselves and they have really pulled out all the stops on this show. The production values are gorgeous and the writing, pacing and characterizations are excellent. More impressively, they have gotten me to care about a dramedy set in a high school band.
I'm not even going to try to catch up on episodic reviews of this show, in no small part because Ben and Wonderduck are already doing a fine job on this one, but also because there is such a lot to take in. Each episode warrants at least a second viewing to catch every character bit or subtle attention to detail. There is an awful lot to like here...
1
I watched 4 episodes and thought it was enough for now. It's a sports story and not a terribly amazing one (Initial D was better). As far as cute girls doing the cute girl things, K-ON was much better. It is incidential here anyway. So into the suspended folder it goes.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Sun May 10 22:50:12 2015 (RqRa5)
I still have a sinus headache in the right side of my head and I'm just a tad weak but I feel vastly better than I have in some time.
I still haven't gotten my grades back which is rather vexing, but there was this one bit of trivia in my academic status chart...
Note that credits applied counts 3 classes I am enrolled in for the Summer and Fall...but that is a set of numbers that should be very resistant to life's little curveballs..
First World Problems
Kvetching lurks below the fold. As compensation, here is a view of the most awesome transportation network ever...
Note Meteor Jr was actually a real project. Note too that the suffix "Junior" was because Goodyear had bigger things in mind. The math worked (though the third stage would have to be redesigned as re-entry issues were greater than supposed). Goodyear also was pitching Zeppelins for passenger and freight throughout the '50s.
1
I'm not ashamed to say I was more than a little concerned when you texted me asking what my "heart attack" felt like.
I'm glad the "thing on (your) heart" turned out to be relatively
nothing... and I'm REALLY glad the giant growling donut line got you
laughs.
But the thing I'm most glad about is that you're essentially okay. Good
call on the ER... you don't mess around when things are hinky
heart-wise.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Tue May 5 00:03:09 2015 (jGQR+)
2
Yay for doctors, and all the scientists, engineers, and technicians supporting their work!
Great diagnosis though. You have a cold. Also, maybe heart cancer.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Tue May 5 03:32:22 2015 (PiXy!)
3
Yeah, that's one of those epic colds that anime heroines get, where they look like they're going to die for days and days. (Albeit colds probably do get worse, in a humid climate like Japan and in houses with no central heating.) Tell your body to stop taking cues from hurt/comfort anime relationships!
However, I have to say that an allergic reaction to cough drops sounds like no fun whatsoever, and I'm very familiar with fun viral infections in various bits of lung being no fun whatsoever.
The unfun bit about straining your breathing muscles is that they like to keep aching for a while after you're well. (Unless you got very good drugs in good time, so then your muscles can start to feel happier.) But it's a great excuse for long showers and baths.
I will not suggest any crazy home remedies from the lore of singers, because your allergified body probably doesn't want to try anything new right now.
I bet you're going to be mentioning that bone spur to a lot of X-ray techs in your life....
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Tue May 5 14:00:12 2015 (ZJVQ5)
4
Heating pad might help your chest, though. Menthol rub might help, too.
Do not combine menthol rub with heating pad, unless they are being applied to TOTALLY different parts of your body. (For example, menthol rub on the philtrum under your nose a la Scully, heating pad on your chest.)
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Tue May 5 14:02:24 2015 (ZJVQ5)
No, that is not a typo, the number is nine hundred thousand.
This is not a full mobilization, but the country is sending letters to all reservists clarifying where they are to report in the event of one.
The Iranians have seized the MVMaersk Tigris. The vessel is registered to the Marshall Islands. This gets complicated because while the Marshall Islands is an independent country, they are a US protectorate. The US, New Zealand and Australia have arrangements like this with several of their former territories. The upshot is that this is exactly the same legally as if it were a US ship. Note that earlier on the 29th, the Maersk Kensingtonwhich IS US flagged, was intercepted and ordered to heave to in the same area but refused. There is more on this here. It appears the the Navy is going to be convoying US ships through the straits of Hormuz.
Finally, there has been some good news. There are reports that ISIS head Al-Bagdadi has suffered a case of extreme chiropracty due to some US bombs. This could strike at the heart of the caliphates legitimacy. More verifiable, is that 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria have been rescued from Boko Haram. These are not the girls who were kidnapped last August but some of the many other girls that have been kidnapped by the Islamist group.
Brickmuppet Interactive!
Congratulations loyal readers! As a free perk of reading Brickmuppet Blog, you get to take part in cutting edge technology decision making.
Click here and tell me what you see, what you hear, what browser you are using and if you got the harem ending.
For those who do not wish to partake in such a meta exercise, here is some scenery pr0n.
1
In Safari, I don't see or hear anything. Instead, clicking on the link downloads a "webm" file. In Chrome — Dick Dale, Homura and I all expect an apology. At least there's no "harem" ending.
Posted by: Mauser at Sun May 3 02:21:55 2015 (TJ7ih)
4
Chrome, duplicate of Don's findings there *in the Chrome tab*.
IE 11 for me directly opened media player with the same file.
No harems were harmed, or shown, in these tests.
Posted by: Doug O. at Sun May 3 04:16:29 2015 (XIFuK)
5
I should mention that I don't have WMP installed on my system because it was causing me a lot of trouble. I don't know what a ".webm" file is, and apparently nothing on my computer does either.
6
Chrome mobile; I get a prompt to open a media file with either Chrome or VLC. Open with Chrome and I get a streaming Madoka AMV that uses Misirlou and ends on pocky.
7
Thanks to everyone who participated. Apologies to Don, Dick Dale and Homura.
.WebM is interesting, but it looks like the support isn't really there yet.
Kind of like .APNG
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Sun May 3 16:53:29 2015 (ohzj1)
8
".WebMis interesting, but it looks like the support isn't really there yet."
IIRC, Microsoft has said they aren't planning on adding support for it in the browser, so it probably isn't ever actually going to get there. (You supposedly can make them work with an extension from Google, but I'm too lazy to try it out.)
Posted by: RickC at Mon May 4 19:24:25 2015 (0a7VZ)
9
Also--ugh, sorry for hosing up that comment. I did a copy and paste out of your post, and I guess the editor took the link. I meant to just put in text.
Posted by: RickC at Mon May 4 19:25:01 2015 (0a7VZ)
Oh! Now this is interesting! The comment looks fine to me in Epic. Chrome, Opera and Safari. What are you seeing and what are you seeing it in?
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Mon May 4 22:20:14 2015 (ohzj1)
11
In both Chrome and IE, the wiki link survived--I didn't just wind up copying plain text. I didn't realize it until I hit Post, and I was afraid it would cause the kind of ugly bare link that Wonderduck hates.
Posted by: Rick C at Tue May 5 13:53:19 2015 (ECH2/)
12
(and, just in case you don't like them either, I wanted not to do it. I forgot that sometimes browsers copy+paste more than just plain text.)
Posted by: Rick C at Tue May 5 13:54:11 2015 (ECH2/)
Hobby Space News of the commercial space industry A Babe In The Universe Rather Eclectic Cosmology Encyclopedia Astronautica Superb spacecraft resource The Unwanted Blog Scott Lowther blogs about forgotten aerospace projects and sells amazingly informative articles on the same. Also, there are cats. Transterrestrial Musings Commentary on Infinity...and beyond! Colony WorldsSpace colonization news! The Alternate Energy Blog It's a blog about alternate energy (DUH!) Next Big Future Brian Wang: Tracking our progress to the FUTURE. Nuclear Green Charles Barton, who seems to be either a cool curmudgeon, or a rational hippy, talks about energy policy and the terrible environmental consequences of not going nuclear Energy From Thorium Focuses on the merits of thorium cycle nuclear reactors WizBang Current events commentary...with a wiz and a bang The Gates of Vienna Tenaciously studying a very old war The Anchoress insightful blogging, presumably from the catacombs Murdoc Online"Howling Mad Murdoc" has a millblog...golly! EaglespeakMaritime security matters Commander Salamander Fullbore blackshoe blogging! Belmont Club Richard Fernandez blogs on current events BaldilocksUnderstated and interesting blog on current events The Dissident Frogman French bi-lingual current events blog The "Moderate" VoiceI don't think that word means what they think it does....but this lefty blog is a worthy read nonetheless. Meryl Yourish News, Jews and Meryls' Views Classical Values Eric Scheie blogs about the culture war and its incompatibility with our republic. Jerry Pournell: Chaos ManorOne of Science fictions greats blogs on futurism, current events, technology and wisdom A Distant Soil The website of Colleen Dorans' superb fantasy comic, includes a blog focused on the comic industry, creator issues and human rights. John C. Wright The Sci-Fi/ Fantasy writer muses on a wide range of topics. Now Read This! The founder of the UK Comics Creators Guild blogs on comics past and present. The Rambling Rebuilder Charity, relief work, roleplaying games Rats NestThe Art and rantings of Vince Riley Gorilla Daze Allan Harvey, UK based cartoonist and comics historian has a comicophillic blog! Pulpjunkie Tim Driscoll reviews old movies, silents and talkies, classics and clunkers. Suburban Banshee Just like a suburban Leprechaun....but taller, more dangerous and a certified genius. Satharn's Musings Through TimeThe Crazy Catlady of The Barony of Tir Ysgithr アニ・ノート(Ani-Nouto) Thoughtful, curmudgeonly, otakuism that pulls no punches and suffers no fools. Chizumatic Stephen Den Beste analyzes anime...with a microscope, a slide rule and a tricorder. Wonderduck Anime, Formula One Racing, Sad Girls in Snow...Duck Triumphalism Beta Waffle What will likely be the most thoroughly tested waffle evah! Zoopraxiscope Too In this thrilling sequel to Zoopraxiscope, Don, Middle American Man of Mystery, keeps tabs on anime, orchids, and absurdities. Mahou Meido MeganekkoUbu blogs on Anime, computer games and other non-vital interests Twentysided More geekery than you can shake a stick at Shoplifting in the Marketplace of Ideas Sounds like Plaigarism...but isn't Ambient IronyAll Meenuvians Praise the lathe of the maker! Hail Pixy!!
