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Hello Wikipedians.
I have a question concerning something I observed on the night sky, south-southwest of Portsmouth, UK tonight. I consider myself an avid aviation enthusiast, so I feel I know very well the distinction between strobe lights, navigation beacons, collission lights and landing lights on commercial jetliners. What I observed, however, did not fit with any of these. It moved roughly from east-northeast to west-southwest, and was a bright orange hue - and of course I thought of fire and flames. It flickered somewhat, but the city air could have been disturbed. It moved at a speed common for commercial jetliners, though I couldn't tell the range or height very well. I certainly would not think it above 30,000 feet - much more likely it was between 10 and 20,000 feet. There were no lights apart from the bright orange, which was also much greater in size than a single steady wingtip or beacon light might've been. It kept a steady height as far as I could tell, but I only had it in view for 20-30 seconds before it passed behind a block of houses.
So. Presumably an aircraft with a bright orange light. When does that ever happen? What is the likeliest explanation for what I witnessed? Thank you in advance for any help. 213.104.126.183 ( talk) 00:04, 21 April 2014 (UTC)
Thinking bigger, Hot air balloon competition to take place on the Isle of Wight at some date "between the 22nd March and the 2nd May, weather permitting." Alansplodge ( talk) 12:01, 21 April 2014 (UTC)
Although I don't have a source for this, I think it would be reasonable to assume that most people find the designs of exotic cars like Maseratis or Ferraris to be more aesthetically appealing than more conventional cars like Toyotas or Hondas. Why don't the latter, the more conventional car companies, imitate the sleek designs of exotic car producers?
Obviously, copying cars verbatim is probably against some copyright laws, but why don't Toyota or Nissan make more of an effort to shape their average sedans or coupes to resemble those of exotic car companies?
I understand that a lot of high-end cars use more expensive materials like carbon fibre, but surely Toyota, for ex, could just recreate it using steel. It can't be more expensive from a material perspective right? It's more or less the same mass of metal.
Obviously I only speak for myself, but I would be more inclined to purchase a 2-door Honda Civic if it looked similar to a Ferrari F458 or something.
THanks. Acceptable ( talk) 01:58, 21 April 2014 (UTC)
I understand that a car shaped/structured like a F458 won't be practical for a family, but perhaps Honda could shape their 2-door coupes to look something similar. For their 4-door sedans, maybe they can copy design cues from a Maserati Quattroporte or something. Minivans I guess would be excluded from this discussion.
Acceptable (
talk)
04:20, 21 April 2014 (UTC)
You don't think a Honda Civic would sell better if it looked like this instead?
[ [2]]
Acceptable ( talk) 04:22, 21 April 2014 (UTC)
Thanks Jayron. However, the NSX is still a little pricier than a regular 2-door coupe Honda Civic. Why doesn't Honda, Toyota, or Nissan just style all their family cars like an NSX or Ferrari?
@TammyMoet, so is it mainly an ergonomic consideration then? Acceptable ( talk) 00:53, 22 April 2014 (UTC)
I think the problem is that those very extreme sports-car designs are hugely impractical. They are hard to park, the low ground clearance is a nightmare, you can't see much out of the back, so reversing is a pain. Their various internal systems tend to be wedged in there very tightly, so the cars are hard (and therefore expensive) to service. Putting those things into an "every day" car would be a very bad idea. Most people who own those very high end 'extreme' cars don't drive them to work every day - and they don't have to haul shopping back from the supermarket or carry more than two people. Sure, they look cool - and they are cool to drive at ridiculous speeds on the freeway...but driving them around town and doing things that most people's cars are called upon to do every day is just a horrible experience. SteveBaker ( talk) 17:59, 22 April 2014 (UTC)
I remember watching something just a few months back, but can't for the life of me remember whether it was a show or a movie. There is one part where two of the characters are playing locker pranks on each other (one girl and the other a boy, I think). At the very end, the girl infuriates the boy by putting a painted tampon in his locker. And that's when the pranks come to an end. Does anybody remember where/what this might have been? La Alquim ista 12:21, 21 April 2014 (UTC)
The house we just bought has some pretty ancient thermostats for the A/C & heat system. I was pleased to discover that upgrading to new ones was super-simple. Honeywell sell four different thermostats - in exactly identical cases and with identical interfaces and identical displays. They range in price from $18 to $65 depending on how fancy the scheduling system is. Basically:
Clearly this is a rip-off - even the tiniest microcontroller chip has enough memory to remember a month of times and temps - so the hardware has got to be identical for all four of them. I very much doubt there is 100 lines of software different between them - and as a programmer myself, I know that I could write the software for one of these things in an afternoon! So charging me almost $50 for the fancy features is ridiculous. Then there are some really up-market thermostats with WiFi or Bluetooth interfaces, so you can program them with your phone/PC. Those are over $250!
Well, I know that the electronics for this should cost around $5 and the bluetooth chip is another $5...and I *KNOW* the software is easy - so maybe I should make my own?
So...here's the question...what do the various wires going between the thermostat and the A/C + heat unit actually *do*? Mine has five wires, colored red, green, yellow, white and blue - and the blue wire wasn't connected on the old thermostat. The color code seems to be some kind of a standard because the new thermostat uses the exact same labels (R,G,Y,W,B) as the old one.
SteveBaker ( talk) 19:44, 21 April 2014 (UTC)
OR: In NYC, steam heating is free (you usually have to open the windows in winter it is so hot and humid) and you have to buy a window unit A/C that has its own thermostat. The worst mistake my parents ever made with their central air was to replace the original mechanical thermostat with an electronic one. The old thermostat had a heat/cool switch, and a maximum and minimum temp setting that kicked in according to whether it was set on heat or cool. At bedtime they turned the temperature down if they wanted. In the morning they turned it up. No programming, no resetting, no problems with power outages. Now they spend several minutes each day cursing at the programmable thermostat, and have to reset it regularly. If your current mechanical thermostat is not broken you may want to consider not fixing it. μηδείς ( talk) 02:26, 22 April 2014 (UTC)
In the description section, second paragraph, there will need to be rewording soon for updating. http://www.bakersfieldfreeways.us/project_StateRoute58GapClosure.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by ElkeWylie ( talk • contribs) 20:00, 21 April 2014 (UTC)
Miscellaneous desk | ||
---|---|---|
< April 20 | << Mar | April | May >> | April 22 > |
Welcome to the Wikipedia Miscellaneous Reference Desk Archives |
---|
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages. |
Hello Wikipedians.
I have a question concerning something I observed on the night sky, south-southwest of Portsmouth, UK tonight. I consider myself an avid aviation enthusiast, so I feel I know very well the distinction between strobe lights, navigation beacons, collission lights and landing lights on commercial jetliners. What I observed, however, did not fit with any of these. It moved roughly from east-northeast to west-southwest, and was a bright orange hue - and of course I thought of fire and flames. It flickered somewhat, but the city air could have been disturbed. It moved at a speed common for commercial jetliners, though I couldn't tell the range or height very well. I certainly would not think it above 30,000 feet - much more likely it was between 10 and 20,000 feet. There were no lights apart from the bright orange, which was also much greater in size than a single steady wingtip or beacon light might've been. It kept a steady height as far as I could tell, but I only had it in view for 20-30 seconds before it passed behind a block of houses.
So. Presumably an aircraft with a bright orange light. When does that ever happen? What is the likeliest explanation for what I witnessed? Thank you in advance for any help. 213.104.126.183 ( talk) 00:04, 21 April 2014 (UTC)
Thinking bigger, Hot air balloon competition to take place on the Isle of Wight at some date "between the 22nd March and the 2nd May, weather permitting." Alansplodge ( talk) 12:01, 21 April 2014 (UTC)
Although I don't have a source for this, I think it would be reasonable to assume that most people find the designs of exotic cars like Maseratis or Ferraris to be more aesthetically appealing than more conventional cars like Toyotas or Hondas. Why don't the latter, the more conventional car companies, imitate the sleek designs of exotic car producers?
Obviously, copying cars verbatim is probably against some copyright laws, but why don't Toyota or Nissan make more of an effort to shape their average sedans or coupes to resemble those of exotic car companies?
I understand that a lot of high-end cars use more expensive materials like carbon fibre, but surely Toyota, for ex, could just recreate it using steel. It can't be more expensive from a material perspective right? It's more or less the same mass of metal.
Obviously I only speak for myself, but I would be more inclined to purchase a 2-door Honda Civic if it looked similar to a Ferrari F458 or something.
THanks. Acceptable ( talk) 01:58, 21 April 2014 (UTC)
I understand that a car shaped/structured like a F458 won't be practical for a family, but perhaps Honda could shape their 2-door coupes to look something similar. For their 4-door sedans, maybe they can copy design cues from a Maserati Quattroporte or something. Minivans I guess would be excluded from this discussion.
Acceptable (
talk)
04:20, 21 April 2014 (UTC)
You don't think a Honda Civic would sell better if it looked like this instead?
[ [2]]
Acceptable ( talk) 04:22, 21 April 2014 (UTC)
Thanks Jayron. However, the NSX is still a little pricier than a regular 2-door coupe Honda Civic. Why doesn't Honda, Toyota, or Nissan just style all their family cars like an NSX or Ferrari?
@TammyMoet, so is it mainly an ergonomic consideration then? Acceptable ( talk) 00:53, 22 April 2014 (UTC)
I think the problem is that those very extreme sports-car designs are hugely impractical. They are hard to park, the low ground clearance is a nightmare, you can't see much out of the back, so reversing is a pain. Their various internal systems tend to be wedged in there very tightly, so the cars are hard (and therefore expensive) to service. Putting those things into an "every day" car would be a very bad idea. Most people who own those very high end 'extreme' cars don't drive them to work every day - and they don't have to haul shopping back from the supermarket or carry more than two people. Sure, they look cool - and they are cool to drive at ridiculous speeds on the freeway...but driving them around town and doing things that most people's cars are called upon to do every day is just a horrible experience. SteveBaker ( talk) 17:59, 22 April 2014 (UTC)
I remember watching something just a few months back, but can't for the life of me remember whether it was a show or a movie. There is one part where two of the characters are playing locker pranks on each other (one girl and the other a boy, I think). At the very end, the girl infuriates the boy by putting a painted tampon in his locker. And that's when the pranks come to an end. Does anybody remember where/what this might have been? La Alquim ista 12:21, 21 April 2014 (UTC)
The house we just bought has some pretty ancient thermostats for the A/C & heat system. I was pleased to discover that upgrading to new ones was super-simple. Honeywell sell four different thermostats - in exactly identical cases and with identical interfaces and identical displays. They range in price from $18 to $65 depending on how fancy the scheduling system is. Basically:
Clearly this is a rip-off - even the tiniest microcontroller chip has enough memory to remember a month of times and temps - so the hardware has got to be identical for all four of them. I very much doubt there is 100 lines of software different between them - and as a programmer myself, I know that I could write the software for one of these things in an afternoon! So charging me almost $50 for the fancy features is ridiculous. Then there are some really up-market thermostats with WiFi or Bluetooth interfaces, so you can program them with your phone/PC. Those are over $250!
Well, I know that the electronics for this should cost around $5 and the bluetooth chip is another $5...and I *KNOW* the software is easy - so maybe I should make my own?
So...here's the question...what do the various wires going between the thermostat and the A/C + heat unit actually *do*? Mine has five wires, colored red, green, yellow, white and blue - and the blue wire wasn't connected on the old thermostat. The color code seems to be some kind of a standard because the new thermostat uses the exact same labels (R,G,Y,W,B) as the old one.
SteveBaker ( talk) 19:44, 21 April 2014 (UTC)
OR: In NYC, steam heating is free (you usually have to open the windows in winter it is so hot and humid) and you have to buy a window unit A/C that has its own thermostat. The worst mistake my parents ever made with their central air was to replace the original mechanical thermostat with an electronic one. The old thermostat had a heat/cool switch, and a maximum and minimum temp setting that kicked in according to whether it was set on heat or cool. At bedtime they turned the temperature down if they wanted. In the morning they turned it up. No programming, no resetting, no problems with power outages. Now they spend several minutes each day cursing at the programmable thermostat, and have to reset it regularly. If your current mechanical thermostat is not broken you may want to consider not fixing it. μηδείς ( talk) 02:26, 22 April 2014 (UTC)
In the description section, second paragraph, there will need to be rewording soon for updating. http://www.bakersfieldfreeways.us/project_StateRoute58GapClosure.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by ElkeWylie ( talk • contribs) 20:00, 21 April 2014 (UTC)