MetaFilter posts tagged with Columbia

highway hifi, ultramicrogroovey revolution!

jessamyn — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:41:06 -0800

Peter Goldmark, developer of early color tv technology, is lesser known for a cooler invention, the Highway Hifi – the first recorded-music player for an automobile. The under-dash system played records provided by Columbia Records which played at 16 ⅔ rpm even when the vehicle was in motion. It was first released with Chrysler models in 1956 but lackluster promotion of the option by both Columbia and Chrysler led to the option being discontinued before the 60s. More details from Goldmark's autobiography. Goldmark later went on to work with Recording for the Blind to develop small microgrooved records that would play at 8 rpm but that experiment was ultimately abandoned in favor of continuing to record at 16 ⅔ rpm, anticipating the rapid development of tape technology that would render talking book records obsolete. (more on the early Talking Books project)

A trip to Mars

Burhanistan — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:28:59 -0800

Columbia Hills Flyover 2.0 - "a flyover of the Columbia Hills on Mars using data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Spirit, the Mars rover. "

When the Shuttle program nearly ended - in 1988

Major Clanger — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 03:36:09 -0800

"I said to myself, 'we are going to die.'" Space Shuttle commander Hoot Gibson on his reaction as he saw pictures from the Shuttle's robot arm of gouged and missing tiles along its underbelly. Shades of Columbia - but this was mission STS-27, over fourteen years earlier. Yet mission control discounted the reports from orbit, perhaps misled by the poor quality of the downlinked images that resulted from encryption demanded by the mission's secretive military profile. In the end, Atlantis made it back, but with visible damage along her right flank. But like most classified DoD missions of the time, little was reported, and NASA was arguably wary of drawing attention to the near-loss of only the second flight since the Challenger disaster. But if this near-miss had been better known, might NASA have been more concerned about indications of debris damage during the launch of STS-107?

NASA releases Columbia report.

herrdoktor — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:57:59 -0800

NASA releases the Columbia shuttle disaster report. Space shuttle Columbia broke up during re-entry in 2003 as a result of damage sustained to its thermal protection system. This report details the possible lethal incidents and the investigation board's recommendations based on their findings. A synopsis on Wikipedia provides a good, brief review. Here's MetaFilter's original thread about the disaster. According to the report, there were five events with lethal potential: depressurization of the crew module, trauma from a "rotating load environment" and lack of upper body restraint as the as the forebody starting spinning, disintegration of the crew module, exposure to an extreme environment, and ground impact. It is believed that the crew lost consciousness very quickly and soon after depressurization.

Mr. Hollander's Opus: A Trilogy of Antifeminist Lawsuits

milquetoast — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:43:57 -0800

"Roy Den Hollander, a graduate of the Ivy League university’s business school, contends Columbia's Institute for Research on Women and Gender is discriminatory and unconstitutional because there is no equivalent 'men’s studies' programme." So Mr. Hollander is suing Columbia, thereby completing his "trilogy of antifeminist lawsuits." More at Gothamist.

stavrosthewonderchicken's home is dying

gen — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 07:05:40 -0800

Canadian expatriate (and Metafilter member) stavrosthewonderchicken has a detailed and depressing look at the impact of the mountain pine beetle in Northern British Columbia, where a perfect storm of "forest fire suppression, clearcutting (and subsequent replanting), [and] global warming" has led to the destruction of over 130,000 square kilometers of forest.

$150 a barrel here we come

humanfont — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 21:40:42 -0800

A high ranking FARC leader, Paul Reyes, was killed during a Columbian raid into Ecuador. Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, responded and ordered ten battalions to the Columbian border, threatening a key regional ally of the United States. Some think it is just more bluster by Chavez. Meanwhile Air Force 2 is in Aruba; which is just 18 miles off the coast. Also Exxon-Mobil was recently cut off from Venezuela's oil.

This is why we dont build on spec anymore

crunchywelch — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:09:33 -0800

Columbia Law grad is scammed, along with 78 other professionals, into working for free for weeks. Craigslist, some detective work, and the unusual motivation behind the scam all contribute to this interesting story of internets-related shenanigans.

Is Justin Timberlake a Product of Cumulative Advantage?

ericb — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 16:59:20 -0800

In a parallel universe Your Favorite Band Really Does Suck! Duncan Watts and others conducted a Web-based experiment [PDF] called Music Lab. Their findings: "while talent might distinguish good from bad, social pressure and pure dumb luck are also big influences on which bands gain the most fame." "Calling the [experiment] 'pathbreaking,' sociologist Michael Macy of Cornell University says the findings illustrate how a small advantage can snowball, making popularity hard to predict. Economist Robert Frank, also at Cornell, says the work shows 'we're all susceptible to the herd mentality.'" The effect of "cumulative advantage" has impact on the popularity of other aspects of contemporary culture: books, films, websites and more.

In Mission Control, while the loss of signal was a cause for concern, there was no sign of any serious problem

ae4rv — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 13:22:06 -0800

Four years ago today the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated shortly upon reentry. Here is a sad, but, fascinating real time video recreation of the final moments, compiled from various sources including Nasa radio transmissions.

She don't lie, she don't lie, she don't lie

jckll — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 06:36:41 -0800

Cocaine: Ever wonder how it's made? Matthew Bristow, a journalist working in Columbia produced two fascinating videos (1 | 2) that detail the job of several actual Columbian producers, without delving too far into the chemistry nonsense: from harmless leaf to unprocessed brick to that familiar white powder. [via]

"and their spears into pruning hooks... drumsticks?

weston — Wed, 03 May 2006 00:14:50 -0800

Six String Shooter. "What we want to create is an invitation to an attitude of change," [Cesar López] says. "It says a lot of different things — but the main idea is that weapons can be changed from an object of destructiveness to an object of constructiveness." Swords into ~~plowshares~~ axes, Music from Menace, Music Out of Madness.

Tales of Two Computing Departments

milquetoast — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 10:41:51 -0800

The exhaustive and extensively annotated Columbia University Computing History, from Brunsviga calculators to NORC to the IBM 7090 and beyond. Also, take the virtual tour of the Computer History Exhibits at Stanford's Gates Computer Science building, including stops at the Apollo Guidance Computer (DIY) and the mechanical calculators exhibit.

No nickel required!

Dr. Wu — Thu, 02 Jun 2005 21:50:53 -0800

Turtle's 78 RPM Jukebox
Popular Victor, Edison, and Columbia recordings, 1900-1930.

More On Anti-Semitism at Columbia

Postroad — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 13:49:15 -0800

More On Anti-Semitism at Columbia My interest in this story is primarily about how the New York Times, considered one of the great newspapers world-wide, in fact sucks!---"A week ago, Deacon and the Trunk posted on the release of a report by Columbia University on its investigation of students' charges of anti-semitic conduct by several of the university's professors. The report mostly exonerated the professors, while, at the same time, recording behavior by them which was appalling. One of the points we noted was the craven behavior of the New York Times, which said that it agreed not to report the viewpoint of the complaining students in exchange for early access to Columbia's report. The Trunk wrote: But what about the New York Times? Is it conceivable that the Times would enter into an agreement not to talk to the subjects of a report in exchange for being given access to the report a few hours before it is made available to the public? [The Times admits it!]

OH! Canada

edgeways — Tue, 15 Feb 2005 22:46:49 -0800

Canada, a 13+ link whistlestop glance at something from all the provinces and territories...Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, NWT, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, PEI, Quebec, Saskatewan, Yukon. Not to mention the talk about Turks and Caicos?

With Venezuela harbouring and aiding Columbian rebels

adamvasco — Sun, 23 Jan 2005 14:14:10 -0800

With Venezuela harbouring and aiding Colombian rebels; namely the leftist FARC is the US administration looking to intervene in Latin America? Possibility discussed here

The truth is out there

swerdloff — Fri, 23 Apr 2004 14:21:54 -0800

The truth that MeFites don't want you to know. As a follow-up to this post on "the Coffins GWB doesn't want you to see," it is revealed that many of the photographs that ran rampant over the Internet and wire services weren't of fallen American soldiers, but were of the crew of the Columbia.

Columbia's Final Minutes

jpoulos — Tue, 27 Jan 2004 13:07:59 -0800

Columbia's Final Minutes A fascinating (if horrifying) account of the shuttle's destruction.

Dude, Where's My Oxygen?

archimago — Wed, 10 Sep 2003 07:19:17 -0800

Columbia Univ. severs ties with Biosphere 2. I remember when Biosphere 2 opened and watched as the team of starry-eyed scientists entered the self-sustaining environment. It's even been the subject of a bad Hollywood movie. But now the structure may become nothing more than a giant scrap pile of steel and glass in the desert. The mission of the project was impressive, and despite glitches such as acidic water and "crazy ant" infestation, should an experiment be abandoned because it didn't go as expected? Or is it just man's folly to try and replicate intelligent design?

The Columbia Accident Investigation Board

tgrundke — Thu, 28 Aug 2003 07:00:45 -0800

"These are good people"...but changes must be made. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board final report was released on Tuesday. Putting technical answers aside for the moment, the report targets the organizational and behavioral issues that led to a breakdown in communication, safety and responsibility. While acknowledging the good will at NASA, the report holds no illusions that changing this culture will be very difficult and very necessary in order to return to flight. What types of management/behavioral obstacles have you encountered in home, work, school or social organizations? How did you try to effect change and what obstacles did you encounter in an effort to make it more effective, safe, productive or enjoyable?

Did downsizing and inexperience lead to Columbia's destruction?

tgrundke — Sun, 23 Feb 2003 08:30:57 -0800

Did downsizing and inexperience lead to Columbia's destruction? In the rush to cut costs and 'downsize' NASA in the 1990s the agency outsourced most Space Transportation System (STS, or the Shuttle) functions to a private consortium called United Space Alliance. Now, senior engineers at Boeing (lead member of the USA) are beginning to talk about the lack of experience, 'brain drain', and negative effects of downsizing and privatization. This begs the issue of market imperatives, relative value of privatization and the question of how to better manage projects of this magnitude in a mixed private/public arrangement.

Cosmic bolt probed in shuttle disaster

y2karl — Fri, 07 Feb 2003 00:32:00 -0800

Cosmic bolt probed in shuttle disaster - Scientists poring over 'infrasonic' sound waves Federal scientists are looking for evidence that a bolt of electricity in the upper atmosphere might have doomed the space shuttle Columbia as it streaked over California, The Chronicle has learned.

No snark for this foreboding...

troutfishing — Thu, 06 Feb 2003 19:48:14 -0800

A short, creepy yarn, and easily dismissed... "The loss of the Columbia space shuttle is suffused with symbols begging for attention. Columbia is named, in part, after Christopher Columbus and symbolically points to the very discovery of the American nation. Strangely, on the threshold of America's preemptive invasion of Iraq to eliminate its weapons of mass destruction, the shuttle's hold contained the first Israeli astronaut who in 1981 himself participated in a preemptive attack on an Iraqi nuclear reactor to eliminate its capacity for developing weapons of mass destruction. An uncanny echo, but certainly not the only one...As we are on the precipice of a war with Iraq, the whole Arab world screams that it is not Iraq but America's relationship with Israel and the Palestinian crisis that is the root cause of all Arab anti-American sentiment and certainly all terrorism. Suddenly the Columbia crashes with an Israeli astronaut over George Bush's home state as debris rains down on "Palestine, Texas."

Fire in the Sky

Tubes — Mon, 03 Feb 2003 21:32:03 -0800

Fire in the Sky.
Perhaps you saw moonwalk veteran astronaut Buzz Aldrin attempt on NBC to read a poem he received in e-mail Saturday, and falter in tears. It was actually lyrics to the Jordin Kare song "Fire in the Sky," a tribute to manned space exploration:
Prometheus, they say, brought God's fire down to man.
And we've caught it, tamed it, trained it since our history began.
Now we're going back to heaven just to look him in the eye,
and there's a thunder 'cross the land, and a fire in the sky
[via Space.com]