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reignition / diversion

Wind and clouds of all types.

Jun 08
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R.I. has highest rate of illicit drug use, survey finds

01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, June 4, 2009 - Rhode Island had the highest rate of illicit drug use in the nation among people 12 or older, according to national survey conducted in 2006 and 2007.

Rhode Island is also among six states that saw significant increases in illicit drug use since the previous survey, in 2005-06. And among those ages 12 to 25, this state had the highest percentage of people who needed drug-abuse treatment but were not receiving it, the survey estimated.

That’s according to a new state-by-state analysis of substance abuse and mental illness patterns released Thursday by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA.


By Felice J. Freyer
Journal Medical Writer

Jun 03
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S.W.A.T

I like how that region of Pakistan controlled by the Taliban is called Swat. Remember that show S.W.A.T. from the 70’s? That was awesome.
Jun 02
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Brazil to France

Anonymous pilot commentary on Airbus fly by wire control system , relating to the Hudson River incident, but likely applying to the A330 down off Brazil. This kind of analysis is a must for any investigation.

Don’t be surprised if the Airbus fly by wire computers didn’t put a perfectly good airplane in the water. In an older generation airplane like the 727 or 737-300/400, the throttles are hooked to the fuel controllers on the engine by a steel throttle cable just like a TBM or a Comanche.

On the Airbus nothing in the cockpit is real. Everything is electronic. The throttles, rudder and brake pedals and the side stick are hooked to rheostats who talk to a computer who talks to a electric hydraulic servo valve which in turn hopefully moves something.

In a older generation airplane when you hit birds the engines keep screaming or they blow up but they don’t both roll back to idle simultaneously like happened to Flt. 1549. All it would take is for bird guts to plug a pressure sensor or knock the pitot probe off or plug it and the computers would roll the engines back to idle thinking they were over boosting because the computers were getting bad data.

The Airbus is a real pile of shit. I don’t like riding on them. Google the Airbus A320 Crash at the Paris Airshow in 1988. Watch the video of an airbus A320 crash into a forest because the computers wouldn’t allow a power increase following a low pass. The computers wouldn’t allow a power increase because they determined that the airspeed was too low for the increase requested so the computers didn’t give them any. Pushing the throttles forward in a Airbus does nothing more than request a power increase from the computer. If the computer doesn’t like all the airplane and engine parameters you don’t get a power increase. Airbus blamed the dead crew since they couldn’t defend themselves. A Boeing would still be flying.

Fatal and Significant Airbus A320 Events »

May 14
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May 05
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So, Gibson has jumped the shark, right? Photo from Sweetwater. Go there and buy things.
So, Gibson has jumped the shark, right? Photo from Sweetwater. Go there and buy things.
May 04
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Skatboarders, Musicians & Assistants

Wouldn’t be responsible journalism to ask how these two people, as described, could afford a 1 million dollar home and then pile another 500K on top of that??

Isn’t it the job of a newspaper to be inquisitive on all points?

I got three words for ya, Wall Street Journal.

Apr 22
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How we look from Sweden. My take: not very serious, although in point of fact we are very serious. As a heart attack.
How we look from Sweden. My take: not very serious, although in point of fact we are very serious. As a heart attack.
Apr 20
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Ridiculous (but great) Jackson guitar.
Ridiculous (but great) Jackson guitar.
Apr 17
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Algorithms Devised and Implemented by Thomas P. Stockfisch

  • Substructure Searching
    • extension of unique smiles to handle zeolites cages
    • core substructure search algorithm and extension to handle zeolite crystals
  • QSAR/QSPR statistical modeling
    • decision tree display coordinate calculation that conserves screen real estate
    • non-linear pls-analog neural net architecture for QSAR
    • accommodating missing X data for neural nets
    • accommodating missing Y data for neural nets
    • sensitivity analysis for neural nets
    • improved minimizer (weight control) technique for neural nets
    • automated cost-weighting of predictions among categorical, fingerprint, numeric, missing X, missing Y, and replicated X.
    • multiple Y RP
      • nodes near root apply to all properties
      • nodes near leaves apply to one property
      • useful for elucidating drug selectivity
    • chart-ahead RP
      • alternative branching explored
      • solves exclusive-or problem
  • Force Field Development
    • reduction of parameter correlation using penalty function
    • explicit partial charge assignment of heterocycles using substructure lookup
    • “implied scale factor” method of force constant scaling
    • new “distort” method that avoids all close contacts and gives a uniform and complete sampling of desired bond and angle ranges
    • robust and efficient torsional barrier geometry optimization
    • data-base analysis of missing parameters to guide force field research
    • “grid” computing for sgi’s
      • keyboard/user activity detection
      • automatic suspension and swapping from memory whenever user activity detected
    • extension of force field terms to cover variable bond orders
    • protocol for automated derivation of bifunctional torsions