Quote from shiny_red_cobra :

But guys, I was being serious.

Look at the picture, aren't those tree branches on the left? They hit the windmill and it shattered.

You know what, you're absolutely right. Those stupid idiots.

Obviously the solution, if we're really going to make this "green" technology safer, is to cut down all the trees within a mile of every windmill just to be safe

Quote from Richard Torp :

He got you..

Simply a typo - nothing more

Quote from Jakg :

You getting me confused with someone else? I was talking about the people who build solar powered stuff in the shade of trees (which i've seen done)

Whoopse, I meant Shiny Red Cobra - my bad.

Quote from Richard Torp :

There are no trees near it. The trees you see is right outside her window and the mill is 700 meters away according to the information i has..

I was wondering how long it would be before someone took Shiny Red Cobra's comment seriously, lol.

He was being sarcastic, as the branches to look to strike it just as it tears apart in the video.

Last edited by Stang70Fastback, Sun 24 Feb 2008, 16:03.

Quote from Bob Smith :

They could always paint them bluey-grey so they merge in with the typically overcast weather. Although that might increase the birdkill.

The best solution is to build them out of lexan plastic, clearly (pun intended.)

Quote from wien :

That's not to say turbines don't have an environmental impact though. They kill a lot of birds and other wildlife for instance...

True, and even THAT is starting to become an invalid argument. Now that wind turbines don't have scaffolding on which they can nest, and the fact that they don't place them near any migratory routes anymore. Still sucks for them birdies tho. I wonder what the edges of those blades look like after a year, lol.

As for Tristancliffe, why must he always be so argumentative

Well, personally, I don't find them to be much of an eyesore. I think they look nothing if not interesting and futuristic (but then again, I'm an Aerospace Engineer, so that kind of stuff intrigues me.) Hell, we've even got a few in LFS! Don't tell me the first thing you thought when you saw them in Blackwood was, "OMG, that is SO ugly!"

Quote from beefyman666 :

Im not sure which would take more energy putting up, the ones in land or the ones out at sea?

The ones at sea most likely. Those have to have support structures built underwater to support them and special cabling run to shore. Additionally, I'm sure it costs more for the actual material seeing as it has to be stronger, and less prone to corrosion.

Of course, you also get a much more efficient and consistent wind source... and less eye strain!

Quote from tristancliffe :

Absolutely. They are terrible for the environment. The consume more energy to erect, maintain and remove than they recover in their entire working lives. So in other words we have to burn more fossil fuels to use them.

Could you back this up with proof? I have a hard time believing that a single wind turbine, providing power to 5,000 homes, would not be more efficient over its 15-30 year lifespan than a coal plant...

Quote from Lateralus :

I didn't know that too many modern family-type passenger cars had TC, especially front-wheel drive ones. I have a '98 Acura CL which definitely does not have traction control. Not that I would want it anyway.

Many, many modern cars have some form of traction control. All Audis, BMWs, ALL sports cars have it. Then there's stability control such as ESC, StabiliTrak, DSC, ESP, AdvanceTrac, RSC, etc (depending on the manucafturer - they all have their own sill acronyms.) Then you'be got ABS, ECS... Subaru has VDC - the list goes on and on...

Many front-wheel drive cars have some sort of traction control to help in slippery conditions.

Quote from tristancliffe :

Don't miss it. They'll probably build another one and cause yet more environmental damage with their stupid ideas about green energy. Local residents (well, the informed ones) should protest wildly against a replacement.

Are you serious?!

Awesome.

Quote from farcar :

I made the purchase and ended up getting the 320Gb drive. You're right, it's not that much more. It should be delivered by Wednesday.
If I can be arsed, I'll do a bit of a blog on putting everything together and post some pictures.

Sounds good. Keep us posted on how it turns out!

Are we going to lose traction control in the Formula 1 car? I hear that's what's happening in reality...

If so, I'm so screwed, lol.

Top speed, ball-limited to 200 mph...

Quote from Biohazard :

miranda ftw.

Here's mine. Also got Miranda IM and Rainlendar that fade in next to the weather app when I move my mouse over them - and I'm using Luna Element Black as my XP theme.

I desaturated the photo so that the car is just a bit red and there's a HINT of green in the bushes. It WAS a really bright, colorful photo.

Last edited by Stang70Fastback, Sat 23 Feb 2008, 23:08.

Quote from DarkTimes :

I guess it's like an F1 cars suspension. Designed to be insanely strong in a specific direction, but put a force on it in the wrong way, and it will snap off in an instant.

Yeah. Even so, I think it's probably fairly strong - just not designed for that kind of impact - understandably.

Quote from beefyman666 :

...it's surprising how flimsy the structures of them windmills are. It bent and collapsed pretty quickly. I always thought they were made of something stronger than what looks like fibreglass.

Well, technically it doesn't have to be particularly strong, considering there is generally almost no force on any parts other than the rotors. But considering the force with which those blades came apart, I wouldn't necessarily call that structure flimsy. Also, if you look closely at the video, you'll notice that the reason it collapsed was because one of the blades struck the tower as it came apart. I don't care what it's made of, that's a massive impact. It's basically like standing on an aluminum can. It is more than strong enough to support your weight, but tap it on the side and it collapses. That's what happened here, except that the tap on the side was more like a hit with a baseball bat.

Last edited by Stang70Fastback, Sat 23 Feb 2008, 21:28.

Loved the crash at the end. It's so rare to see a realistic looking crash in LFS, lol.

Quote from mrodgers :

The flame throwing exhaust people have spark plugs mounted in the tail pipe and a control system dumps raw fuel through the exhaust while pulsing ignition through the spark plugs. That's how it works.

Yeah - it's so bad for the engine too. Destroys all the seals very quickly. You have to disassemble the engine frequently and replace them. It just seems like too much of a hassle...

tho I guess if it's just a show car it doesn't runt that much anyway.

I'd like to know what caused that to happen. I know that these windmills have integrated braking systems to keep that from happening. Some sort of malfunction?

@ Tristancliff: I, for one, enjoy your steady stream of sarcasm

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/ ... omber.crash.ap/index.html

Would have been cool if it had a perfect safety record...

My phone - Nokia 6133:



My dad's phone:



Nokia FTW!!!

Quote from [The.O.C] LaughingGravy :

Do you mean a clear lense with the seperate coloured lenses within it?

Sometimes, but I was just talking about how the reverse-indicator light was distinctly separate. In other words, I agree with everyone else about the two-light setup.