MetaFilter posts tagged with carrier

What... is the Airspeed Velocity of an Avian Carrier?

filthy light thief — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:03:37 -0800

For thousands of years they were the worlds' fastest means of communication. Count Rothschild benefited financially when knew of Napoleon's defeat long before any other persons in England, thanks to a swift personal message. One critical message traveled 20 miles in 20 minutes and this speedy delivery saved 150 British troops from disaster by less than five minutes. But in 1851, German-born Paul Julius Reuter opened an office in the City of London which transmitted stock market quotations between London and Paris via the new Dover-Calais cable, and the days of pigeon post as a means of quick and reliable message transfer passed with the implementation of wire-based communications. Reuter had previously used pigeons to fly stock prices between Aachen and Brussels, a service that operated for a year until a gap in the telegraph link was closed. One of the last large-scale use of carrier pigeons ended in 2002, when India retired its Police Pigeon Service, opting for email and telephone to access remote areas. Contrary to appearances, this was not the end of the pigeon post. Though largely considered a spoof, IP over Avian Carriers was implemented by a group of Linux enthusiasts in Bergen, Norway in 2001, when they transferred a "ping" with help of Vesta Brevdueforening carrier pigeon club and Alan Cox, with a calculated network speed of 0.08bps (previously). When it comes to tough terrain and limited to no wired or wireless access, homing pigeons provide a quick answer to data transfer. Photos taken by a rafting company are transferred via digital media files or 35mm canister attached to a pigeon, allowing photos to be developed or printed and ready more quickly, though data loss or delay due to predatory birds and bad weather are still an issue (via). In South Africa, homing pigeons beat out business ADSL in an unofficial test run, with a timed run contest set up to take place on September 10 (via). More bird-racing fun: On calculating the speed of an unladen swallow, previously, and 4,233 replies on an account request procedure form for What... is the Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow?

Anchors Aweigh

ericb — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 11:47:12 -0800

"Carrier is not the story of a ship, it’s the story of shipmates." The 10-part documentary series, filmed by 17 filmmakers, focuses on eighteen people during a six-month deployment overseas on the aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz. The series premieres tonight on PBS. Opening of Episode One [6:02] || Preview of The Series [26:47]. Crew interviews and other clips. The USS Nimitz accomodates "about 6,000 persons...and reaches over 23 stories high from the keel to the top of the mast. The Hangar Bay extends for most of the ship’s length. It is used for major repair and shelters the aircraft not needed for that day's flight schedule. Four distilling units enable Nimitz engineers to make over 400,000 gallons of fresh water a day, for use by the propulsion plants, catapults and crew. The Food Services Department provides 18,000-20,000 meals a day. The Nimitz can stock at least 70 days of refrigerated and dry storage goods. One barber shop trims over 1,500 heads each week. The Post Office processes more than one million pounds of mail each year. Six doctors, including a general surgeon, provide everything from surgery to hydro-therapy. The ship also has five dentists. The Nimitz also features a 53-bed hospital ward, a three bed ICU, and acts as the hospital ship for the entire Nimitz battle group." ^*

SPLed beans

Blazecock Pileon — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 18:52:13 -0800

"Finding JTAG on the iPhone": a ten-step hardware unlock of the iPhone, allowing it to function with other carriers

Country's Namesake to be Sunk

rzklkng — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 19:42:33 -0800

Former Carrier, USS America, CV-66, leaves port for the last time The conventional powered aircraft carrier, USS America, CV-66, of the Kitty Hawk class, previously docked at the former Naval Base in Philadelphia (photo), has left for her date with Davy Jones. The Navy intends to "attack" the America with a variety of tactics and munitions, in order to measure the hardiness of US carriers, especially against unconventional terror attacks. Personally named by President John F. Kennedy and having seen active duty through much of the Cold War, from 1961 until 1996, it's suprising that the Navy decided to dispose of the country's namesake in this way. Veterans who served aboard the America are sad to see her go, and mounted an effort to save her from the bottom. Their efforts have been unsuccessfull - she left port for the last time today.