psacake.com

10/3/2008

psacake.com

Just In case

HOW TO LAND A 747.

MAIN CHECKLIST

Get on the radio, and tell whoever's listening that you are landing a 747.
Engage a single channel of the autopilot � light one of the buttons labeled "CMD." Point the heading indicator in the direction indicated to keep the plane straight and level.
Find the checklists in the side pocket of the pilot's and copilot's seat. If the plane is a 747-400, engage the Automatic Landing System (ALS). If it is not a 747-400, see below under "Landing Without ALS."
If you can't find the checklists, use these:
Before Descent
EO's system check completed.
Pressurization set.
All a/c packs on. Set the airfield altitude so the plane is depressurized on landing.
Humidifier off.
HSIs: Radio. Switch horizontal situation indicators to radio navigation mode.
Auto brakes: set.
Approach Checklist
P.A. cabin call: "Cabin crew 15 minutes to landing."
Cabin signs and exit lights: on.
Ignition: on. This sets the engine igniters for landing.
Fuel system: set for landing.
Fuel heat: check/off
QNH: Set. So the altimeters read the airfield altitude on touchdown.
Landing Checklist
Gear check: handle down, handle in, light green.
Speedbrake: armed.
Hydraulics: checked.
Landing flap: set at 25 degrees.
SCCM's report: received. The cabins are secure for landing.
Find the Jeppeson charts. Locate the radio frequency.
Find the flight management system's buttons on the glareshield marked LNAV and VNAV.
Put the Jeppeson map on a 100 mile scale using the EFIS control panel on the front panel. You'll get a yellow FMC message on the middle screen when it's time to land.
On the control display unit between the pilots' seats, twist the knob until the little numbers go down to 100 ft. above field elevation in the Jeppeson notebook.
Get the aircraft set to land: press the LOC and G/S buttons on the glareshield. All three CMD lights will go on, and the system will automatically tune to the right ILS frequency.
1Turn on the autobrakes when the plane starts descending.
LANDING WITHOUT ALS

Retard the throttle: four levers for four engines.
Keep the nose up and descend to 20,000 feet. At 20,000 feet, bring the throttles back up.
You have to drop below 250 knots when you descend to 9,000 feet. Keep the nose up and throttle down.
When the tower brings you down to 5,000 feet. You need those flaps out so you can fly slow.
Drop airspeed by setting flaps to 5, then 15, when you're down to 4,000 feet.
As you start descending to the runway, you want flaps 20, then 30. Keep them there.
When you reach 50 feet or so, the radar altimeter will start talking.
When it says, "30," bring the throttle back to idle.
At 10 feet, raise the nose to slow down.
Lower the nose, reverse throttles, and apply the brakes.

9/18/2008

psacake.com

10 Year Old Cake

The 10th anniversary of psacake.com was 9/16. I hope you all got some cake.

The earliest 'blog' (before it was even called that) post that I can find on the WayBack machine is from September 27, 1999, which is Here (Scroll down). My current archives go back to January of 2001, but there are some that are incomplete postings. I have the complete history somewhere..

I was much better updating then, much less better these days. Unfortunately, most of the "good" stuff happens at work, and I learned a LONG time ago to not talk about work. So..

7/16/2008

psacake.com

Jib Jab

Jib Jab does it again..

7/2/2008

psacake.com

Our Turn

Hello Brooons fans.. wouldn't it be great. To bad they are cheap FiretrUCKS and we can't get real talent.

Chara 7.5 million? Come on.. Can't we get the crappy really tall defenseman Hall Gill back for his 2.1?

Manny Fernadez 4.5 to sit out
Tim Thomas 1.1 is probably a deal
Kessel $850k.. ouch
Zach Hamill $875k.. double ouch for Kessel

6/30/2008

psacake.com

How many bits in a byte?

First.. a little lesson.
There are 8 bits in a byte.
1,024 bytes in a kilobyte.
1,048,576 bytes in a megabyte.
1,073,741,824 bytes in a gigabyte.
1,099,511,627,776 bytes in a terabyte.
1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes in a petabyte.

Got all that?

Your collection of 260,000 songs takes up about 1 Terabyte.
20 Terabytes of photos are uploaded to Facebook each month
The Hubble space telescope has collected 120 Terabytes of data and images
The National Climatic Data Center has collected 460 Terabytes of Data
All the videos on YouTube consume 530 Terabytes
Ancestry.com's Genealogy database is 600 Terabytes
1 Petabyte is the amount of data processed by Google's servers every 72 minutes

6/24/2008

psacake.com

Tuned Mass Damper

What?

The enormous steel ball is the world's largest 'tuned mass damper' and sits near the top of the world's largest completed skyscraper on earth, taipei 101 in taiwan. the idea behind a tuned mass damper is quite simple: as a building sways (resulting from high winds, earthquakes etc), its tuned mass damper, essentially a finely tuned and ridiculously heavy pendulum, will move in opposition to the structure's oscillations and minimise any movement.

See more pictures a video and the whole story here.

6/5/2008

psacake.com

5/26/2008

psacake.com

Memorial Day

Who?

5/24/2008

psacake.com

The Good Ol' Days

According to GasBuddy the lowest gas price near me right now is $3.74 / gallon.

Gas in October of 2006 was about $2.10 / gallon.

So, for 20 gallons $78 v. $42 only about a 45% increase in 18 or so months. $36 per fill up difference, let's say 1x a week / 4x a month = $144 a month. When you bought your car.. would you have bought it if the monthly payment was $144 more a month?

Depressing..

For an extra kick in the nutz.. I found a posting I made on Feb 29, 2000 complaining about gas at $1.69. one sixty nine?! As compared to today.. that's a 230% difference in 8 years. Do you make 230% more now than you did in 2000? I sure don't.

Exxon Mobil earned more than $1287 of profit for every second of 2007. Current Stock price is $90.70. I'm all for capitalism and all.. but an $11.7 billion profit is obscene.

Ok.. that's enough rambling. It's not going to change anything..

5/7/2008

psacake.com

50 of �The Greatest� Life Has to Offer

Here�s some positive mental nourishment for you:
The Greatest Things � Are not things at all.
The Greatest Mystery � Death.
The Greatest Gift � Life.
The Greatest Work � What you love doing.
The Greatest Recreation � Based on the point above: Work.
The Greatest Feeling � Happiness.
The Greatest Sorrow � A broken heart.
The Greatest Sight � A sight imagined, but physically unseen.
The Greatest Thought � �I can.�
The Greatest Want � Acceptance.
The Greatest Need � Awareness.
The Greatest Trick � Proving the impossible to be possible.
The Greatest Waste � Hatred.
The Greatest Asset � Your mind.
The Greatest Tool � Your body.
The Greatest Smell � A familiar smell.
The Greatest Sense � Touch.
The Greatest Relationship � Long-term friendship.
The Greatest Criminal � A liar.
The Greatest Bankruptcy � Lack of confidence.
The Greatest Mistake � Quitting.
The Greatest Moment � Now.
The Greatest Bore � Repetition.
The Greatest Manufacturing � Recycling.
The Greatest Companion � One you can trust.
The Greatest Deception � Self-deception.
The Greatest Evil � War.
The Greatest Fool � One who thinks he knows it all.
The Greatest Sound � Silence.
The Greatest Art � Music.
The Greatest Love � Thyself.
The Greatest People � Family and Friends.
The Greatest Conversation � One that inspires action.
The Greatest Hero � A teacher.
The Greatest Laugh � One that hurts.
The Greatest Encounter � A pleasant surprise.
The Greatest Story � A true story.
The Greatest Communication � Eye contact.
The Greatest Wealth � Love.
The Greatest Beauty � Is an opinion.
The Greatest Compliment � An unexpected one.
The Greatest Step � The first step.
The Greatest Accomplishment � Finishing what you started.
The Greatest Resource � Time.
The Greatest Exercise � Sex.
The Greatest Service � Helping someone in need.
The Greatest Force � Momentum.
The Greatest Space � Uncluttered space.
The Greatest Expression � A smile.
The Greatest Comfort � Familiarity.