How To Turn a 230-ton Airliner into Mounds of Scrap Metal in Just Three Days
When a 230-ton Boeing 747 jumbo jet reaches the end of its working life then the once mighty giant of the sky is reduced to scrap metal.
It takes three days for salvage teams to carry out the massive task – first the avionics equipment is removed from the flight deck, then the undercarriage is removed and finally the remaining shell is cut up with a huge earth digger.
Once separated out, the fuselage metal is sent away, smelted down and re-used for items such as drink cans, biscuit tins, bicycle frames or alloy wheels on cars.
Flight components and engines are sent for testing to see if they can be saved for use in other aircraft.
Video: Tptyvideos/YouTube
Getting a Sense of How A City Lives and Breathes
Technology is amazing.
Here is an example of how it can be used to visually represent ideas and concepts which would take a lot of words to explain in paper.
LIVE Singapore! is an ongoing initiative by the SENSEable City Lab at MIT which provides people with access to a range of useful real-time information about their city by developing an open platform for the collection, elaboration and distribution of real-time data that reflect urban activity.
Don’t worry if you don’t quite understand what any of that actually means because it is far easier to show you what it looks like instead:
Video: senseablecitylab/YouTube
A Picture From A Far Distant Galaxy…or Something Much More Mundane?
Look at this image.
What do you think it is?
Well without any sort of context it could be just about anything.
When I first saw it, I thought it could be an image from some high-powered telescope, capturing data from the furthest reaches of space.
But the truth is that the image comes from far closer to home.
It actually shows commuter flows and the routes people take to get to work in London.
OK so it is far less dramatic than an image from the edge of the known universe, but I don’t think that this knowledge makes it any less beautiful.
Picture: MappingLondon
A Harmless Prank or an Offensive Sexist Joke?
Last week Microsoft was forced to apologize for, of all things, a very short piece of hexadecimal code in one of its programs.
The small snippet of code which helps a Microsoft program work with Linux open source software looks like this: 0xB16B00B5
The problem is that is looks a little bit like the words “Big Boobs” and people have taken offense at that.
Personally I think there are a lot more pressing issues in the world to worry about than a little bit of schoolboy humor buried deep inside some piece of obscure code within a Microsoft program.
Via: YourGadgetGuide
The Perverted Psychic Who Didn’t See The Jail Sentence Coming
Karl Lang, 49, billed himself as a psychic who would help clients get in touch with friends and relatives who had died, or “passed across to the other side” as psychic lingo has it.
Lang, from South Wales, ended up in court because of his rather unusual technique for helping female clients communicate with the dead.
He told women that they would have more chance of a successful session if they stripped naked and told one of his clients to “perform like a porn star” to increase her psychic powers.
For added chances of success he also told them to send him naked pictures of themselves which he said would please the spirit world.
Lang’s antics landed him in court where he was jailed at for two years and banned from practising as a medium, clairvoyant, spiritualist or healer for 10 years.
He mustn’t have seen that coming.
Tragedy of Denver Shooting Should Put Our Day-To-Day Squabbles into Perspective
The mass killings of innocent movie-goers at the premiere of the new Batman movie in Denver, Colorado, sent shock waves of revulsion around America and throughout the world.
I know that in the online community we all have our different points of view and various disputes with others from time to time.
Sometimes these disputes can seem like the most important thing on the planet…but they are really not so.
When something huge like the events of the Batman slaughter happen then it tends to put everything else into perspective.
And finally…
As someone who likes to stay connected when I travel abroad I feel for my friend Sergio who posted this on Facebook before setting off on a recent trip to Las Vegas:
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Twitter: andrewstark
Hi Patrick,
Great to see the 747 getting destroyed, bet the people who built it were in tears it could be taken apart so quick. Isn’t it amazing that these things even get up into the air!
Andrew
Andrew Stark thinks you may like this post too..Birthday Bonaza
Twitter: chattopatrick
I am not quite sure I understand your last point.
Planes are specifically designed for flight so it is not really amazing that they can fly.
However it is interesting to note that even a small change to the flying control surfaces (such as a thin build up of ice or snow on the wings) can stop them flying.
P.
Hi Patrick. These are very interesting posts. I really liked learning about “How To Turn a 230-ton Airliner into Mounds of Scrap Metal in Just Three Days” and “Getting a Sense of How A City Lives and Breathes.”
Barb
Barbara DelGiudice thinks you may like this post too..Today Is Just A Sign Of Things To Come for Sitizens
Twitter: chattopatrick
Yes indeed they were great videos…I am glad you liked them. P.
Twitter: ITSergioFelix
Hey Pat,
Loved the 747 video and man, I can tell you the shootings on the Batman movie were a big deal in the USA. I saw a few witnesses interviews and I still can’t believe how this dude went out to do something like that.
Last but not least, thanks a lot for the mentioning. I didn’t even used the handycam and a few other devices so next time I’ll travel smarter (it all depends on where you’re going to and what you’re planning to do, not so much on what you’re carrying with you).
I’ll try to write about it on my next update, thanks again and hope you’re doing awesome Pat, take care my good friend!
Sergio
Sergio Felix thinks you may like this post too..Off For A Week!
Twitter: chattopatrick
Hi Sergio,
First of all many congratulations on your recent engagement…I wish you and your fiancée all the very best in the world and I am sure you will both be very happy together.
Secondly I am sure your recent trip was something from which you have many, many stories so I look forward to reading the ones that you are able to tell on your blog.
P.
Twitter: ITSergioFelix
Thanks for the very kind reply Pat, I really appreciate it man!
I keep on following these weekly newsletter that you keep on sharing Patrick, this is very useful, and I have to admit I really enjoyed it.
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