Another big part is that many channels are constantly changing, due to tidal flows, and the harbor pilots are paid to know all the ins and outs of the channel to ensure safe passage. I live in Charleston, and the tidal range is like 8', so you end up with a LOT of sedimentary flow in and out of the rivers and marshes.

At the very least, the Crusader and the Skyhawk.

I think you're severely underestimating the F-35, and overestimating every other aircraft out there.

I picked one up for $20 via the Prime pre-sale. Well worth it, considering that this may or may not last forever. It sucks that I now need two streaming dongles, with my Chromecast, but at least I'll be able to finally get the Prime video that I should be getting.

Redundant? Perhaps. But what happens when all those current aircraft start to hit their airframe limits? The F/A-18 A/B/C/D models will likely need to be completely retired by the beginning of the next decade, and the E/F models some time after that. F-15s and F-16s will likewise need to start disappearing from…

And that's exactly what he did for Ghosts I-IV and The Slip. His website handled all distribution for the albums, and it didn't matter what you wanted to pay, you got the music, which was the important thing. However, once you sign a contract for distribution with a major record label, as he did with Columbia for Hes…

Yeah, the money goes directly to his production, rather than some myriad group of people that handle talent acquisition or marketing, and have very little to do with the actual product itself.

You're 100% right. Having once been in a couple of small bands in NJ, and probably sold all of 200-300 CDs that we self-recorded, self-produced, self-burned, made the artwork for, packaged, and sold, it's a ton of work, even for just that small number. I mean, the practice and recording is nothing compared to the…

Trent did it for two albums, Ghosts I-IV and The Slip and for the former, he offered several limited edition packages that included FLAC, high quality photo accompanyments, etc. I actually bought the $75 deluxe edition for my wife. It sits with our wedding album, it's that nice. For the latter, he basically GAVE…

Oh, we do. Unfortunately, given that Clear Channel and Live Nation control damn near all of the big venues, these days, it's impossible to get away from the top-down, force fed model of consumption.

Agreed. In this service-based/consumption-based model of an economy, you'd think that the old ways of forcing music down people's throats would have died, and with it, the need for big record companies, but we'd apparently be wrong. I hope that, in ten years, when my son really starts to get into music, he won't…

I was really hoping that Trent Reznor's foray into 'pay what you want' distribution would make a real positive impact on the music business, but even he's abandoned it. It makes me sad, not because I now have to pay retail for his music, but because I can't just pay HIM for his music, I have to pay for myriad…

Really? I'd always been told that the heat sensitive paint that aftermarket brake suppliers sell is to 1 - ensure the brakes get up to the proper temperature during the seasoning/bedding process, and 2 - to check the temperature of the brakes after a heavy track session.

I can't say much about it, for reasons I'm sure you can understand, but it's an intelligence gathering system that pulls data from various government feeds, and presents it in a manner that is usable to analysts. Because we use strictly COTS and GOTS software to integrate all the data feeds, the system can be out the…

Automotive is no different than any other industry, especially military, and if you read some of my other posts, you'll understand why.

I don't disagree that the roles that the F-35 is intended to fill would be better handled by several other, dedicated aircraft, especially given how specialized each variant of the F-35 is. Do you have a link to something that notes the USN looking at the Su-33 as a replacement for the F-14? I find that EXTREMELY…

Thank you for including information about seasoning the rotors and properly bedding the pads. I can't tell you how many people I know that either just don't know about that, or just don't care. This should be done, even on a brand new car, fresh from the dealer! It strengthens the iron in the rotors, and creates a…

It's no different with military testing. We test at board level, system level (whole chassis), cabinet level, compartment level (computer room), and ship level. Of course, I'm not counting something like ship qualifications or trials in my timelines, as they're completely out of scope for a small-ish system.

The problem, and I see this with my government customers, as well, is that there are too many mid-level project managers, who don't add anything, other than just give a rubber stamp to a part, project, or process. We also tend to rely too often on outside organizations, and conflicting priorities cause some projects…

You do realize that if a system dies on an aircraft carrier, and they have to turn that carrier around, it's a pretty big freaking deal, right? I understand statistical likelihoods, but you're talking about an infotainment system, as opposed to one that determines where to drop bombs.