User talk:Aleta Curry/Archive 5

Aleta stops into the forums somewhere between 0630 and 0900, and works on the wiki between about 1200 and 1500, time and weather permitting.

Hi
Hi Aleta, just thought I'd stop by and make your day! Hope it's a good one! :-D. Matt Innis 03:00, 27 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Me too! I had another reason, I just figured out that the hyperlink I had added to your Dog subgroup banner above was to the category page NOT the Dogs Subgroup homepage. I fixed that. I think that hyperlink might have predated a real home page for your subgroup, when I was still tinkering.  See my talk page for a more complete explanation.  By the way, that moving dog in your Subgroup header was just for a lark, if you want a more static version, maybe with a real dog, let me know. :) Chris Day 03:17, 27 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Moving dog?!!! I've got to see that!! Where iis it?? D. Matt Innis 03:23, 27 January 2009 (UTC)


 * I guess you found it :) Chris Day 03:27, 27 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Yep! I love it! Hehe. D. Matt Innis 03:51, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

Hi right back
Glad to see you both--even though Chris Day was obviously chasing me around the wiki yesterday! Changes happening before I could draw breath! I will go to your page and attempt to understand everything, though my chances are probably as good as those of a sneeze in a hurricane.

I love the dog, moi! I think you're right, now I come to think of it, you were working with the cats first because there was no dog homepage.

Some day, when God's in Her heaven and all's right with the world, I would like a montage with photos/drawings of a whole bunch of different dog breeds, but for now, scampering poochie is just great, thanks! Aleta Curry 22:36, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

Ill-defined fuzziness
Yes, very puzzling. However, a quick look in My Contributions showed that I had changed it at Terrier/Catalogs & not at the article itself. Which I have now done. Hope that's cleared up the mystery (wags tail). - Ro Thorpe 23:54, 27 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Oh, great--mystery solved! Thanks, Ro! Aleta Curry 00:25, 28 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Is this a cosmic hint that I need to make RIM-2 Terrier a blue link, or at least a definition?
 * Every once in a while I have to ask myself what on earth my friend Howard is talking about. It took me a little while to figure out that a(n) RIM-2 Terrier must be a car, plane or some variety of things that go. Aleta Curry 00:35, 28 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Things that go boom. First operational U.S. Navy surface-to-air missile.
 * Oooh! Did the same bunch of geniuses who bought $200 hammers mean to call it a terror??
 * Nah, just things starting with T, rather like many British warship names, of the same class, all start with the same letter. Three related missiles: Terrier, Tartar, Talos.


 * Don't know about Australian government tenders, but some of those hammers would have been $20 or so from a tool store. Tool stores, however, aren't willing to fill out the 200 pages of procurement paperwork surrounding the one page of "this is the kind of hammer they want." U.S. government procurement officials often operate on the assumption that it is perfectly fine to spend immense amounts of administrative dollars to be sure that no one gets two cents more than the authorized profit margin.


 * On the other hand, I did see a $10,000 or so coffeemaker intended for use in a low-flying, all-weather maritime patrol aircraft, and I was actually surprised they got it that cheaply. Look at the coffemaker in a commercial airliner, and how it's built so hot coffee doesn't fly out in turbulence, its thermostat doesn't bother the navigation system, it operates on the odd power supplies in aircraft (there for good reason) etc.


 * I have told you, I believe, about the Australian Army attack helicopter training simulator? Howard C. Berkowitz 01:54, 28 January 2009 (UTC)


 * If you did, I don't remember. Mea culpa. Aleta Curry 02:18, 28 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Now, if you really want a wagging tail, see AN/ALE-55. To a shipdriver, however, the tail is an antisubmarine warfare tool, about which we still giggle when a sonar engineer's young son referred to the Toad Array Sonar. Howard C. Berkowitz 00:20, 28 January 2009 (UTC)


 * The Army had a video simulator with quite good graphics. Some of the crews, however, decided it was fun to shoot at kangaroos.


 * Any humane considerations aside, this is really bad for a military crew. They waste ammunition, and fixate on a target. Apparently, the graphics people just had put in static pictures of kangaroos. The training officer decided to convince the crews not to get overconfident about their ability to hit things. Now, it got a little weird.


 * It would have made more sense just to remove the kangaroo pictures. No. He told the programmers to have them move. Well, the programmers figured as long as they moved, they really didn't have to move like a real kangaroo. Did they have any graphic software written for things that moved? Yep. Infantry. So, they put the infantry squad graphics into the simulator, and just changed the picture from men to kangaroos. They forgot, however, that this was pretty smart infantry software.


 * As it was described, the helicopter crews, who hadn't been told not to shoot at the kangaroos, went back to the simulator the next week. The infantry software, however, sensed an approaching helicopter. Now, I suspect the crews minds played a few tricks...because they insisted that the 'roo reached into its pouch....


 * Pulled out a Redeye antiaircraft missile....


 * And let fly. The Redeye wasn't that good a missile, but the crew got so excited they flew the helicopter straight into the ground. Didn't tell the next crew, who took such violent evasive action that they lost control of the copter. After about a week of this, the crews were indeed trained...never never shoot at a kangaroo. Howard C. Berkowitz 02:39, 28 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Now, I'd accuse you of telling me a tale, but you really can't make this stuff up! Aleta Curry 02:46, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

I saw your name
... next to the article First Lady of the United States and thought it was talking about you, Aleta Curry, First Lady of Citizendium! D. Matt Innis 03:53, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

stars and pipes
See, you can do it :).

Also, re: archiving, this little frill helps you navigate through your archives with the greatest of ease. Chris Day 06:26, 28 January 2009 (UTC)