FM anger at cap badge speculation

Alex Salmond says any attempt to drop the names of historic Scottish army regiments shows "arrogance".

FM anger at cap badge speculation
Thu, 10 May 2012 13:31:15 GMT

This is a typical piece of Salmond bombastic bluster. The most enduring tradition of the British Army is that since Elizabethan times regiments have been raised, amalgamated and disbanded continuously. I wonder if he or his officials know that, for example, what we know now as the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards(Scotland’s senior regiment) is a recent entity, having been formed on 2 July 1971 from two other regiments and at the time of Waterloo were known as the Royal North British Dragoons, the 6th Dragoon Guards (The Carabiniers) or the 3rd or Prince of Wales’s Dragoon Guards depending on which of the forebear regiments you fancy!

So tradition has it that cap badges must go.

Sic transit gloria mundi

Scientists bend gamma rays, could neuter radioactive waste

Well well! How interesting!  Could this be the real beginning of a Brave New World?

Bending most light is easy; bending it in gamma ray form, however, has often been deemed impossible given how hard it is for electrons to react to the extreme frequencies. University of Munich scientist Dietrich Habs and his Institut Laue-Langevin teammate Michael Jentschel have proven that assumption wrong: an experiment in blasting a silicon prism has shown that gamma rays will refract just slightly through the right material. If a lens is made out of a large-atom substance like gold to bend the rays further, the researchers envision focused beams of energy that could either detect radioactive material or even make it inert by wiping off neutrons and protons. In theory, it could turn a nuclear power plant's waste harmless. A practical use of the technology is still some distance off -- but that it's even within sight at all just feels like a breakthrough.

Scientists bend gamma rays, could neuter radioactive waste originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 May 2012 05:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Scientists bend gamma rays, could neuter radioactive waste
Jon Fingas
Thu, 10 May 2012 09:54:00 GMT

Here’s your latest update on the unsinkable F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

The JSF woes continue.  The good news (for the RAAF, the RAF and the RN) is that the US is not abandoning the most important fighter programme of the day.  The bad news for the US is that they are not abandoning the most important fighter programme of the day.(probably)

Here’s your latest update on the unsinkable F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program’s flight testing from Lockheed Martin — who just yesterday received a $237 million contract from the Pentagon to fix design problems with the jet that were discovered during testing. Among the highlights of this announcement is the fact that the plane just passed [...] Here’s your latest update on the unsinkable F-35 Joint Strike
John Reed
Tue, 08 May 2012 17:51:39 GMT

USAF Re-Opens Light Attack Contest.

 

The USAF dithers on in its quest for a light attack aircraft.  Shades of KC-X.  They’re not quite at the top of their game at the moment.

Well, the Air Force’s effort to buy a fleet of 20 or so light attack turboprops has kicked off once again. Yup, several months after a ‘paperwork error’ caused the service to tear up the $355 million contract that it gave Embraer and Sierra Nevada for 20 Brazilian-made Super Toucans in February, the effort is [...]

USAF Re-Opens Light Attack Contest.
John Reed
Mon, 07 May 2012 17:56:23 GMT

Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE

htc, the maker of high spec smartphones has just announced that their blazingly amazing EVO 4G LTE handset is available for pre-order.  But only if you live in the States and can afford what is bound to be a stiff price.

LTE or long-term evolution is the future standard  for smartphones and will improve quality and capability no end.

And for the UK?  No word yet but you can bet your life that the large networks will charge you dearly.  Maybe even the the first £100 pm tariff! And don’t get too excited ‘cos the UK infrastructure is so poor and ancient that you won’t be able to get a signal, not even in London.  As you can see from the map we don’t yet have it and we now lag well behind the rest of the Western World for coverage.  But fear not; it’s planned.  Like the HS2 rail link to Scotland, the Edinburgh trams and fibre optic to all internet users.

In case you took a pass on that Sprint-branded GNex or the LG Viper 4G in order to wait it out for HTC's EVO 4G LTE, well, now's the time to get your wallet ready and unleash the cash. As promised, The Now Network has the LTE-friendly EVO priced at $199.99 (50 bucks less on Wirefly) with a beloved two-year contract, while those ineligible for an upgrade will have to shell out around $550. That being said, chances are you won't get to surf those Long Term Evolution waves when you get device, but at least you'll be all set once the rollout finally commences. While Sprint's yet to give an official release date, Wirefly (somewhat reliable in the past) does say the ICS / Sense 4 slab will be shipping on May 18th. Hit either of the source links below to get your pre-order on.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading PSA: Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE up for pre-order today, May 18th release date hinted at Wirefly

PSA: Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE up for pre-order today, May 18th release date hinted at Wirefly originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 May 2012 12:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PSA: Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE up for pre-order today, May 18th release date hinted at Wirefly
Edgar Alvarez
Mon, 07 May 2012 16:23:00 GMT

Casey Does It Again

Casey Stoner delivered another consummate performance to see off Horge Lorenzo at Estoril in the Portuguese Moto GP, the first time he has won the race. He now leads the World Championship by a mere point and it is going to be a very close season with Horge and the Yamaha in top form.

Moto GP is far more exciting than F1.  They race, they go fast  200 MPH on a bike!!, they lean over at ridiculous angles, they crash and there are no pit stops

For highlights of the race see the BBC footage

VIDEO: Test flying a human-powered plane

Perhaps had the producers paid more attention to understanding basic physics and less on creating an “artistic” video we might have been spared this dreadful enterprise.  I feel sorry for the “pilot” who seemed so enthusiastic yet ignorant in that wonderful public school way so many BBC presenters have

Bang Goes The Theory's Jem Stansfield attempts to build a plane which is kept in the air by the energy of his own pedalling.

VIDEO: Test flying a human-powered plane
Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:56:50 GMT

A short holiday from Blogging

Seems ages since I’ve blogged but there is a perfectly good reason for this.  For the last 6 weeks I’ve been in Oz and unable to to do any.

But now I’m back so expect more ridicule, celebration and interesting things!

Like the excruciating symbiosis between Victoria Beckham and the horrid Landrover Evoque.  Franco Scaglione would turn in his grave!

Don’t You Just Love Clint

Clint Eastwood, a World Living Treasure, doing what he does best…being patriotic.

Rumormill: BMW 1 Series GT tipped for Parisian debut

How is it different?  They all look boringly the same.

Filed under: Wagon, Paris Motor Show, BMW, Rumormill

We know what you're thinking: Another day, another BMW bodystyle. Except this one's different.
The Bavarian automaker, much like its fellow German marques Audi and Mercedes-Benz, has exploded its product offerings with spinoffs of its established models. So the two-door 6 Series has bred a four-door GranCoupe version. The 5 Series, in addition to the sedan and wagon, has given us the oddly proportioned 5 Series Gran Turismo. But the upcoming 1 Series Gran Turismo is another kettle of fish in that it is not expected to share the small rear-drive platform with its recently revised namesake, but rather pack a new front-drive platform.
According to BMW Blog, the long-rumored 1 Series GT will finally make its debut next fall at the Paris Motor Show. When it does, the tall hatchback will be targeted directly at the Mercedes-Benz B-Class, slotting (in form at least) in between the existing 1 Series hatchback (pictured above) and X1 crossover. But if front-wheel drive isn't how you picture your BMW channeling its power, an all-wheel xDrive version is also tipped to be in the cards, as well as a hybrid model.

BMW 1 Series GT tipped for Parisian debut originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumormill: BMW 1 Series GT tipped for Parisian debut
Noah Joseph
Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:29:00 GMT

Get Ready for the EQ-4 Global Hawk

Maybe we haven’t seen the last of Global Hawk quite yet.

The US Air Force is paying Northrop Grumman $47 million to equip two more Block 20 RQ-4 Global Hawks with BACN. You know, the communications link that allows different types of  datalinks to communicate with one another; allowing troops on the ground to easily share data with pilots in jets overhead even if they’re out of [...]

Get Ready for the EQ-4 Global Hawk
John Reed
Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:01:34 GMT

Scary Future

The future is now…the future is scary (really scary) like an Arnie movie with tiny UAVs flying in formation. From

 

Press focus on Goodwin 'humbling'

Let’s be quite clear here.  The problem is self-serving, technically incompetent greedy BIG business such as banking that single handedly, through unbridled greed and without remorse created the mess that we the tax payer have to deal with in an economic environment where the impact of said BIG business has made us much worse off than we were.

For the Institute of Directors to conflate all endeavour as “business” as if it were homogenous is a travesty.  Many of my friends have their own businesses and operate ethically and responsibly, unlike BIG business, but now find it almost too hard to keep going as a result of the crisis.  Their livelihoods are now at risk.  Against this background who gives a shit if Fred Goodwin loses a Knighthood that he didn’t deserve and should never have received in the first place

Surely the role of the institute of Directors is to promote ethical, competent trading by businesses, not to whinge and whine about image.  Someone should explain the differences between criminal, unethical and incompetent to this august (?) body.  Surely they don’t really mean “do what you like as long as it’s legal” or do they?

I for one am utterly sick of the self-justification and greed.

Press focus on Fred Goodwin's 'humbling'

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:19:08 GMT

Adios Global Hawk, U-2 Will Stick Around

 

From DefenseTech

Wow, so it looks like we’re seeing the first of the upcoming budget cuts for the Air Force trickle out. The AP is reporting that the Air Force is cancelling the RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude spy drone opting instead to keep the legendary U-2 Dragon Lady in service (for now, anyway)! Yup, the 50-year old [...]

Adios Global Hawk, U-2 Will Stick Around
John Reed
Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:56:35 GMT

Donner und Blitzen

The F-35’s first night flight.  I feel the need the need for speed!

Hamilton cannot make Sutil trial

When you are as important as Lewis Hamilton driving cars clearly takes precedence over the Course of Justice.

From the BBC

Lewis Hamilton is not available on the day he has been asked to testify in the trial of Adrian Sutil.

Hamilton cannot make Sutil trial
Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:10:52 GMT

Hi Tech Car Windows

Toyota started the trend to interactive passenger windows with its Window on the World

Now the General’s Future Lab has a crack (no pun intended) at it too.

Inside story of the UK's secret mission to beat Gaddafi

 

Sounds more like Spooks than SEAL Team 6

Are we really up to covert operations in foreign countries?  It must have come as quite a shock to realise that Arabs could tell that Chinooks weren’t theirs.

Inside story of the UK's secret mission to beat Gaddafi
Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:56:09 GMT  From the BBC

Cars, Guns and Fun

What a fabulous use of Licence Fee payer’s/taxpayer’s money…is this the first of a new style on Top Gear?  What’s next? Depth charging wales? Shooting down airliners?  Fortunately they’re not very goods shots.

New technologies unleashed at CES

And I’ll have some of theses too please.

The latest tech comes to town at CES 2012 in Las Vegas

New technologies unleashed at CES
Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:41:58 GMT

VIDEO: Will 4G be faster than home broadband?

It will in Dunblane which manages only 3 MB per second on a good day.

But LTE will be of no use however until Dunblane gets a decent mobile phone signal.

From rural outposts to high-speed cities, Dan Simmons reports on 4G's promise of super-fast broadband everywhere.

VIDEO: Will 4G be faster than home broadband?
Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:19:25 GMT

Report: North Korea claims Kim Jong Eun mastered driving at age 3

I wonder who this little boy’s hero is – someone Russian I think.  Unfortunately his toys may include nuclear weapons which is worrying.  Would he be satisfied with a new Play Station?  Regrettably I doubt it.

Filed under: Government/Legal

There's been no lack of dubious claims for us to raise our eyebrows at over the years, whether it's about some fantastical car reaching the market on schedule and on budget, the veracity of a concept car's space-age powertrain, or reports of a blogger actually stepping outside and into the sunlight. But this one, like all glorious claims of the past - may their memory bring honor to their country for a thousand years to come - takes the proverbial cake.
In an ongoing and largely futile effort to show their recently and rapidly promoted supreme leader as the experienced governor and all-around superhuman mastermind the rest of the world doubts he is, the so-called Democratic People's Republic of Korea is painting one heck of a picture of Kim Jong Eun. According to North Korea, the scion of the late dictator Kim Jong Il was already driving a car at age 3. Impressive, but what's more is that he could apparently speed down a dirt road - rally-style - at speeds up to 75 mph by age 8.
It may be too early to tell if Eun has achieved anything of consequence in between having mastered driving while still in diapers and assuming control of a totalitarian nuclear power, but we can tell you this won't be the last dubious claim that we'll hear from his office in the near future.

North Korea claims Kim Jong Eun mastered driving at age 3 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: North Korea claims Kim Jong Eun mastered driving at age 3
Noah Joseph
Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:04:00 GMT

Detroit: 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet brings warm weather to Detroit [w/video]

At last…a Porsche that looks half decent!  Must be using Italian designers!

Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Convertible, Performance, Porsche, Design/Style, Luxury

The Motor City has been blessed with unseasonably warm weather and mostly clear skies this week, so consider it fortuitous that Porsche has gifted the Detroit Auto Show with the global premiere of its 911 Carrera Cabriolet.
This topless 911 carries with it a unique top mechanism that comes off like a particularly snug-fitting canvas lid that follows the roofline of the coupe beautifully - Porsche says it carries rigid panels like a folding hardtop along with its fabric top. The goal? Increased security and noise abatement along with improved styling. The new power retract cap can be raised or lowered at speeds up to 31 miles per hour and also includes a novel power wind deflector that can deploy in seconds.
The 3.4-liter Carrera reaches 62 miles per hour in 5.0 seconds with the seven-speed manual (4.8 seconds with the PDK and 4.6 seconds with the optional Sport Chrono) thanks to its 350-horsepower 3.4-liter flat six. Like the coupe, the Carrera S gets a displacement bump to 3.8 liters and a commensurate rise in power to 400 horsepower. 0-62 mph is dispatched in 4.7 seconds with the seven-speed manual and as little as 4.3 seconds with the PDK Sport Chrono. Check out some rolling footage of the Cabrio after the jump and the official press release.

Continue reading 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet brings warm weather to Detroit [w/video]

2012 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet brings warm weather to Detroit [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Detroit: 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet brings warm weather to Detroit [w/video]
Chris Paukert
Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:58:00 GMT

Exclusive: Sareni United's Chevrolet Camaro GT turns pony car into thoroughbred

Is this mean or is this mean?

Filed under: Motorsports, Chevrolet

Hans Reiter, the chap you might know from Reiter Engineering and its winning Lamborghini racecars, started a company called Sareni United for one purpose: to build a Chevrolet Camaro GT3 race car. The resulting silver shockwave is powered by a 7.9-liter Katech V8 rated at up to 650 horsepower and 627 pound-feet, and the racer's lead engineer says it has lap times "similar to the Lamborghini Gallardo" but that there is still a lot of work to do.
More importantly, the plan wasn't to simply make a race-worthy Camaro, the brief was to make one one that was cost efficient enough to lure new entrants into the racing game. Planned overhauls for the engine and gearbox are at 5,000 kilometers and other parts at 10,000 km.
The Camaro GT3 has been homologated by the FIA, Reiter says two cars are already planned for use in Germany's ADAC GT Masters series and that other inquiries have been made about GT4 and touring cars. It is priced at €195,000 + VAT ($253,056 U.S.).

Sareni United's Chevrolet Camaro GT turns pony car into thoroughbred originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Exclusive: Sareni United's Chevrolet Camaro GT turns pony car into thoroughbred
Jonathon Ramsey
Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:29:00 GMT

Many are Called but few are Chosen

As I have blogged before Outback Australia is the original destroyer of reputations.  A natural vehicle Terminator.  The latest big name to go under is the Mercedes Benz G Wagon.  As the film shows had it not been for the convoy mechanics and air support the team would have perished.  So don’t try this on your own!

 

p.s The sole Mil Spec G wagon in the convoy behaved perfectly.  The Australian Army have just ordered 2000 of them.  Seems they know a thing or two.

ET Call Us

They really want us not to be alone.

Don’t Try This at Home

WWF Praises Dam Moratorium

The WWF has welcomed the moratorium on damming the Mekong for the time being.

I applaud it too!

Why We Have Soldiers

A compelling raison d’etre piece on the importance of democratically controlled monopolies on violence, by the Chief of the Netherlands Defence Forces General Peter van Uhm:

Are They Bonkers or What?

Whilst they might have all the fun surely this proves that Norwegians are utterly bonkers!