Man vs Four 747 Jet Engines

Man loses and falls into water.

Don't mess with Ohan and Whittle.

YouTube is Awesome

For no reason whatsoever, Google Video decided to pull the plugs on several videos related to the construction of A380 and its maiden flight. Thankfully, there's YouTube.

Construction of A380
A380 Take Off

If you've ever wondered how airplanes fare under strong crosswind, the answer is: Pretty well actually, given some pilot maneuvering. Generally, the plane reorients itself after the rear landing gears have touched the ground and just before the front gears come down. Boeing actually sent their planes all the way to Brasil just to run the tests. And there was actually one real life scenario caught on tape. The plane reoriented itself literally seconds before it landed, which was good, because the landing strip is on the water.

!Bike.isHere() == true

Sometime between Friday and Saturday, my little red Schwinn disappeared. I forgot to lock it to the rail on Friday when I went to pick up Mrs. Chen's bento, but I never thought anyone would take the bike. Today I printed out 40 flyers and put up a few all around the block on Levy St. A couple of neighbors talked to me and asked me about the bike description. While I was walking by I overhead a father questioning his son about a bike. I was going to go ask, but thought better of it, hoping that the flyers will be noticed and someone would be nice enough to return my bike.

The bike meant a lot to me...it was my first bicycle without training wheels. Another word, I didn't learn to ride the bike until I was 17, when I was working full-time for McDonald's. My mother got me a bike so I didn't have to walk 1.25 hour one-way to work every day, because everything in Tampa is so ridiculously far. The bike has its share of problems, ranging from bad chains, sensitive brakes, and a rusty handle bar. Nonetheless, I love that bike.

The culprit left a rusted Huffy in place of my Schwinn, and knocked my Amaryllis over during the heist. Though I am currently very unhappy about the whole week (seems like nothing is working out, with the whole grades not being changed, food poisoning, being yelled at by the instructor I work for, saving money for my move to Melbourne, getting a ticket even though I was parked in a student lot), I must say that I feel more optimistic about human beings in general, when some of the neighbors stopped to talk to me. I felt a little better after my afternoon excursion.

Things aren't really that bad...life has been good to me. I do wish that my little Schwinn will be returned to me soon in one piece...

The Making of A380

I did NOT know jumbo jets can do loops and fly upside down...


At the risk of sounding like an aviation fanatic (it's probably too late anyway), here is another Google Video on the making of A380. Same old complaint about the music, though this time they displayed the factories from different countries that made the components for A380. The aircraft itself was made through the works of engineers from Great Britian, Germany, France and Spain...which, at the risk of sounding like one of those world peace pamphlets, gives me great hope as a step towards unity of mankind.

A380 is OUT!

After a successful first flight back in 27 April 2005, the Airbus A380 is currently in London's Heathrow Airport for its test on whether the airport can handle the "superjumbo" jet. The A380 is larger than the Boeing 747-400, which was the largest passenger jet for over 35 years. I will always have a special fondness for the 747, one of the most graceful aircrafts ever to exist by human engineering.

Wikipedia released a simple chart comparing the sizes of three largest aircrafts:

The A380 is larger than the Boeing 747-400 but slightly smaller than the Antonov An-225, currently still the world's largest airplane. The An-225 was developed by the Russians during the Soviet era to carry the Buran, the Soviet version of the space shuttle.

Despite its gigantic body, the An-225 can only carry about 80 passengers, since it is mostly a cargo aircraft. The A380 boasts a capacity of over 500 passengers, and falls short of the 747 by a hair in terms of maximum speed (747: 600 mph at 30,000 feet, A380: 595 mph at 35,000 feet). The 747-400 weighs about 181 metric ton, whereas the A380 weighs around 277 metric ton. Still, both aircrafts are quite light relatively speaking, since they are simply enormous objects. The An-225 beats (or loses to, since you want the aircraft to be as light as possible) both jets in the weight competition with a whopping 285 metric ton.

Here is a clip of the A380 in her maiden flight last year on Google Video. I'd recommend you to turn down your speakers, since the music they used is quite annoying. The soundtrack I listened while watching the clip was Massive Attack's 100th Window. Here is another clip of the A380 being assembled. It's AMAZING to see that much of the assembly process is still being done by human hands.

The A380 are expected to be in service sometime at the end of 2006.

Fly on, A380...

(taken from the Paris Air Show 2005)

Wireless On Airplanes

Check this out: Tracking Plane Flight On The Internet

Jamie Zawinski actually had a conversation with a friend who was on a flight going over the Atlantic Ocean. Each aircraft is actually assigned a /24 IP address. Be on the lookout for the recent releases of Boeing planes.

Oh, and I've opened an account on LJ, for those of you who were pestering me about it. I've already added most of you as my friends. :p

Bleep vs. iTunes Music Store

If you've listen to Squarepusher or Aphex Twin (or have seen some twisted Chris Cunningham video renditions of their music), chances are you might have heard of Warp Records. In 2004, Warp Records released Bleep.com to distribute their artists' music in high quality LAME format, and some of the releases are also available in FLAC. Though the tracks are slightly more expensive (single track: $1.39, full album: $9.99, double album: $12.49, all prices in USD), it is not locked by DRM. No, this is not another one of those Russian con-artist websites. Bleep.com is totally legitimate and it done by a well-known record label in England.

You can read more about it on wikipedia here.

I NOT-HEART Relationship Labels

I do not like the term boyfriend, girlfriend, manfriend, womanfriend, husband, wife, etc. I dislike those labels. They indicate possible types of relationship between yourself and your significant other, but your significant other HAS A FREAKIN' NAME, and his/her name is NOT "my/your boy/girl/man/women/husband/wife".

Another pet peeve is: Why do people have to be so fucking possessive?

My friend Dana and I shared the same problem. We've met male engineers who are so paranoid as to distance himself as soon as someone without a pair of testicles asks him a question.

For example:
"Hey Julian! I was wondering if I can ask you about Calc II...?"
"I'M MARRIED!!!!"
Silence. "oooook, I wasn't asking about that, but how do you do deriva..."
"I'M GETTING LAID, I SWEAR!!! KEEP YOUR ESTROGEN AWAY FROM ME!!! STOP TEMPTING ME!!!"
Slowly backing away.

Another scenario:
"Hi. I'd like you to meet my girlfriend."
"Hi there. I'm Bing. What's your name?"
"Oh that's not important. She's just my girlfriend."
Pauses. "Ok, but I'm sure she has a name, right?"
"No. She has, and will always be, my girlfriend."
Pauses. "No, she wasn't always your girlfriend unless you were both doing it in the womb since conception. And that's gross because that means you were committing incest way before your genitals were fully formed."
Cat hiss. "SHE'S MY FUCKING GIRLFRIEND NOW LEAVE US ALONE!!! ARE YOU TRYING TO BREAK US UP!?!? I'M NOT INTERESTED IN YOU YOU STUPID WHORE!!?!"
I pounce on the asshole, with claws extended and proceeds to disembowel him. His girlfriend slowly comes out of the zombie trance.
"huh...what happened? Why is there blood everywhere?"
"uh...sorry, I just killed John. He was pissing me off. Now, what's your name?"
"Patty...you killed who?!"
"John...eh, your, um, boyfriend...?"
"I HAD ONE?!"

Ok, not an actual scenario, but you get the point (with a hint of mockery). I unfortunately, suffer a lively imagination.

Stomach Flu

I caught it this Tuesday, when around midnight I started experiencing vomiting and diarrhea. After one very sleepless night of chills and hot flashes, I finally went to Thagard Student Health Center. I had a temperature of 101 degrees F. I was put on a very bland diet for a few days, with lots of water, Gatorade and Tylenol. I canceled my bento order with my new neighbors, Mrs. Chen, and she in turn made me some special hot congee and placed a jar of Chinese pickles with some Gatorade in a box. Her husband delivered it to my apt. That was very nice of them...

I should be back on my feet after today. I'm really sick of staying around the house and laying in bed.

Colbert @ WHCA's Dinner

Seriously guys...you talk about how awful it is to see President Bush being uncomfortable that night at the dinner, but what do you expect when you put Stephen Colbert as the guest speaker?! People sometimes really underestimate certain comedians, not to mention Jon Stewart on Crossfire not too long ago...