Osprey doing well in Iraq

Making a success of the Osprey says a lot about the persistence of the Marines Corps.

Osprey in Iraq: No mishaps | Crave : The gadget blog:
"The Pentagon hasn't been saying much about what's up with the Osprey in Iraq. That could be because it doesn't want to jinx what seems to be, after the first three months of deployment, a success story for the long-controversial tilt-rotor aircraft.
. . .
Since arriving at Al Asad Airbase last fall, the 10 MV-22 Ospreys of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 have accumulated more than 1,600 hours of flight time, carrying hundreds of passengers--from ground troops to VIPs--and thousands of pounds of cargo "without a mishap or even a close call," according to a story last week in The Dallas Morning News. That's no small feat for an aircraft that critics cited time and time again for its checkered history of fatal crashes
. . .
From day to day, anywhere from 50 percent to 100 percent of the Ospreys are ready to fly, the paper reported. That could be a sign of genuine and worrisome mechanical problems, or maybe just overly protective policies that keep airworthy Ospreys grounded."

The Osprey does permit the Marines to respond rapidly to places much further away. (NOTE: this link may misstate the range - some sources cite 200Nmi for the USMC version and 500Nmi for the Air Force version with extra fuel tanks, but there are other sources for the 2,100Nmi figure.)

V-22 Osprey Aircraft:
"The CH-46, which the Osprey is set to replace, has a range of 160 nautical miles, while the Osprey’s range is 2,100 with one refueling. This increased range will get Marines to the battlefield faster and from further away."

V-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor Aircraft:
"The V-22 has the ability to carry considerably larger payloads much greater distances than the CH-46 helicopter that it will replace. The V-22 could carry three times the payload, or fly five times the range of the CH- 46 (4,000 lbs and 132 nmi for the CH-46 respectively). While it will take off and land vertically like a helicopter, the V-22 will fly twice as fast. While the V-22's range, speed and payload capabilities are most frequently touted, the Bell/Boeing contractor team reports the Osprey exhibits the following survivability traits: The V-22 is up to 21 times less vulnerable to small arms fire than current helicopters, it is 75 percent quieter than helicopters, and it is the only U.S. tactical transport aircraft with designed-in radiological, biological, and chemical warfare protection."

You expect teething problems with a first of it's kind machine, but 25 years in development is a bit much.

V-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor Aircraft:
"Begun in FY1982 by the Army and now funded in part by the Air Force, the V-22 has been primarily a Marine Corps program funded by the Navy Department. The aircraft is produced by Bell Helicopter Textron and Boeing Helicopters, with engines produced by Rolls-Royce/Allison. Flight testing and operational evaluation of pre-production V-22s began in early 1997, with procurement of production aircraft approved in April 1997."

VTOL - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

"The V-22 Osprey is the world's first production tiltrotor aircraft, with one three-bladed proprotor, turboprop engine, and transmission nacelle mounted on each wingtip. The Osprey is a joint service, multimission, military tiltrotor aircraft with both a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing capability (STOL). It is designed to perform missions like a conventional helicopter with the long-range, high-speed cruise performance of a turboprop aircraft. The FAA classifies the Osprey as a model of powered lift aircraft."

The effort to eliminate consumer recording technology

More comments on a previous topic. If Dvorak is correct, then this industry needs some consumer oriented competition.

RIAA Goes After "Personal Use" Doctrine - Columns by PC Magazine:
"Suing customers for ripping CDs is an attack against fair use that, if successful, would reverse legal precedents and give some momentum to the slow effort to eliminate all consumer recording devices. This would include VCRs, CD burners, DVD burners, DVRs, and even copying machines.

While the likelihood of any of this happening is low, the various industry trade associations, with the probable exception of the consumer electronics manufacturing associations, are praying for it. The RIAA and the MPAA in particular are grasping for some way to make it difficult or impossible for us to reproduce copyrighted content, even for our own use.

Instead of finding some way to benefit from easy copying, these two associations and the companies they represent honestly believe that clogging the American legal system with John Doe nuisance lawsuits will somehow put an end to piracy—the definition of which is ever growing."

Microsoft Office 2003 - SP3 blocks common formats

» Microsoft hoses user data - again! | Storage Bits | ZDNet.com:
"Will Microsofties ever learn?
Without warning the Microsoft Office SP3 update blocks over a dozen common document formats, including many Word, Powerpoint and Excel documents. Install the update and you can’t open the files."

I think this is going to affect lots of people. Many folks have used Word 6.0 as the default save format for years because others could read those documents. We're going to have to open & Save As all of our documents before upgrading to SP3.

Frankly, I might decide that this is time to do all my personal work in Open Office which allows us to save as PDF for anyone to read.

. . . here is the complete list of blocked Word formats from the MS article.

Blocked file format:

* Word 11 saved by Word 12
* Word 2004 for Macintosh
* Word 11 for Windows
* Word 10 for Windows
* Word 9 for Windows
* Word X for Macintosh
* Word 2001 for Macintosh
* Word 98 for Macintosh
* Word 97 for Windows
* Word 95 Beta
* Word 95 RTM
* Word 6.0 for Macintosh
* Word 6.0 for Windows
* Word 2.x for Windows Taiwan
* Word 2.x for Windows Korea
* Word 2.x for Windows Japan
* Word 2.x for Windows BiDi
* Word 2.x for Windows
* Word 1.2 for Windows Taiwan
* Word 5.x for Macintosh
* Word 1.2 for Windows Korea
* Word 1.2 for Windows Japan
* Word 4.x for Macintosh
* Word 1.x for Windows
* All older formats

Update January 9, 2007:

Microsoft admits Office 2003 'mistake' :
"Microsoft updated the advisory on Friday evening and included links to four downloadable updates that would unblock the file formats. One update was provided for each of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and CorelDraw file types.
The downloadable updates should prove to be much easier to implement than a manual registry fix, details of which were retained in the updated advisory.
The software giant also provided four downloadable updates to reblock the file formats.
Shaffner said: 'For IT administrators, we recommend that they use the (registry) fix that was there before. For end users, if they frequently use the older formats, this (the downloadable update) is the way.' He suggested that if users did not frequently use the older formats, they should apply the update."

Credit Card refunds owed for foreign currency charges

FYI -

KFYI - "The Valley's Talk Station":
"If you've bought anything in another country using your credit card, you may be in for a refund. A recent settlement of a class-action lawsuit against credit card companies has resulted in the credit card companies agreeing to reimburse customers for overcharges in currency-conversion fees. That is, when your purchase – in francs, pounds, lire, euros, or yen, for example – was converted to dollars, the banks charged high, and undisclosed, conversion fees which the lawsuit settlement revealed were a ripoff. As a result of settling the 2001 lawsuit, the companies agreed to make $336 million available to pay customers back for those fees.

If you have all of your receipts from those purchases, you can use those to total up how much is owed you in currency conversion fees. Otherwise, you can submit the claim for the standard amount of $25.

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard says some consumers have thrown out the notices, fearing they were phony. Goddard says they are legitimate, as long as they came from P.O. Box 290, Philadelphia, PA. He warns there are copycat mailings out there trying to glean personal and financial information such as your birthdate, Social Security number, bank account numbers, etc. He says any solicitation that seeks any of that information should be ignored."

We're so concerned about privacy fraud (with cause!) that sometimes we miss out on legitimate opportunities.

A step to far - consumer rebellion likely

Download Uproar: Record Industry Goes After Personal Use - washingtonpost.com:
. . .
"The Howell case was not the first time the industry has argued that making a personal copy from a legally purchased CD is illegal. At the Thomas trial in Minnesota, Sony BMG's chief of litigation, Jennifer Pariser, testified that 'when an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song.' Copying a song you bought is 'a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy,' ' she said.

But lawyers for consumers point to a series of court rulings over the last few decades that found no violation of copyright law in the use of VCRs and other devices to time-shift TV programs; that is, to make personal copies for the purpose of making portable a legally obtained recording.

As technologies evolve, old media companies tend not to be the source of the innovation that allows them to survive. Even so, new technologies don't usually kill off old media: That's the good news for the recording industry, as for the TV, movie, newspaper and magazine businesses. But for those old media to survive, they must adapt, finding new business models and new, compelling content to offer.

The RIAA's legal crusade against its customers is a classic example of an old media company clinging to a business model that has collapsed. Four years of a failed strategy has only 'created a whole market of people who specifically look to buy independent goods so as not to deal with the big record companies,' Beckerman says. 'Every problem they're trying to solve is worse now than when they started.'"

Consumers almost universally see this as overreaching - many people copy their personal music for use at work & in their cars - they still own the CD which is sitting untouched at home while they listen to it's content somewhere else. If the industry succeeds in getting us to pay each time we listen to a song, they'll lose many customers (and lots of money) to other media.

Who needs an Internet-Connected GPS?

In a few years after I've paid for someones college tuition - I think I'll need one of these (maybe 1 for each car).

Dash Unveils the First Internet-Connected GPS Device : Gina Hughes : Yahoo! Tech:
". . . , the Dash Express along with the Dash Service do more than provide driving directions from point A to point B.
In fact, this is the first Internet-connected GPS system to provide you with interactive features that let you send an address straight to your system, conduct Yahoo! Local Searches, download RSS feeds of recommended destinations, and even plan alternate routes along with times of arrival so that you can skip traffic.
. . .
If you're on the road, you could easily have someone send your system an address, or you can send it straight from computer before you get behind the wheel. The possibilities are endless with this feature. Just imagine being able to send Evites in the future with a "Send to Car" address button that, when clicked, would send turn-by-turn driving directions to your guests' systems.
. . .
if you do a search for nearby gas stations, gas prices are also displayed to help you pick the closest gas station with the lowest gas price. If you're headed to the movie theatre, you can choose one based on movie times, and restaurants searches can be sorted out by a rating system
. . .
The Dash Express also provides you with up to three routing options along with traffic conditions and an estimated time of arrival so that you can select the fastest or shortest route. The latest updates are sent straight to your GPS system wirelessly thanks to AutoUpdate, so you'll always have the most current information"

It isn't cheap and the fancy stuff requires a monthly fee, but this looks like a service that could be worth the price to anyone who ever drives outside of their comfort zone. Look for it here

Update April 2008 - units are shipping:

Dash Express Review : Gina Hughes : Yahoo! Tech:
"The Dash Express is rather big (4.8'W x 4.1'H x 2.8'D) compared to other GPS devices on the market, but that's due to a large battery, and three antennas inside that support Wi-Fi, GPRS, and GPS. The touchscreen display is a decent 4.3-inches, with a 480 x 272 resolution. There's a speaker on top of the device along with a touch-sensitive volume button on the left and a menu button on the right. The power button is located on the right side of the device, and USB connection on the left. The complete unit includes a mounting arm and cradle, a mounting arm extension, car power adapter, wall charger, and USB interface cable. What's nice about the device is that it can be mounted on the window or the dash.
. . .
Unfortunately, as a GPS device the Dash Express wasn't all that impressive compared to my car's in-dash system. The voice prompts are very computerized, sometimes incomprehensible, so I relied on the direction icons most of the time. I also thought the system was slow to update when it starts mapping your route, and sometimes while its on the road, which can be frustrating.
. . .
Overall, I really enjoyed the Dash Express experience. I like having that constant connection to the Internet, and being able to send RSS feeds, and address from my computer just makes you look at GPS systems differently. The Dash Express is currently available at Amazon for $399.99, which includes three months of free Dash Service. After that, you have to pay a monthly fee of $12.99 or $9.99 if you sign up for two years."

Tomorrow's technology - tires that warn you of problems

Some folks are already driving cars that continuously monitor the air pressure in each tire. These folks moved the smarts from the wheel to the tire itself ...

"Smart" tires can warn of impending flat - Yahoo! News:
"CHICAGO (Reuters) - An experimental tire can sense damage and warn drivers of a potential flat, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday, offering the latest advance in 'smart' car technology.

Manufacturers already make tires that can warn drivers when tire pressure is too low but researchers at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, have found a way to make the whole tire into a type of sensor.
. . . "

At least initially, it looks like this technology will get a pretty stiff markup:

"He said the technology would cost manufacturers about $1 per tire, translating into something like $50 per tire for consumers."