Annoying Questions I'd Like Answered...

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 3:23 am

I'm attributing it to her. I don't honestly know that she is aware of its pejorative definition.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 3:30 am

It sounds like the borderline offensive term she wanted was "bohemian."

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 6:26 am

New question, for the materials/engineering types: What are the limiting factors on steel for building a solid structure?

How realistic/feasible is it for there to be a 1.81 km long, 7.5 m thick greatsword? How much could be hollowed out before it would crumple?

The idea is for that post apocalypse setting I'm working on. I want there to be a giant sword left from the war, ideally roughly as tall as the larger skyscrapers. It'd be kind of cool if there were people mining it and living in hollowed out chambers, which means, in order for it to be thick enough for small cells and passage ways, it needs to be 1.13 miles long total. This is about twice as tall as Burj Kalifa.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 7:05 am

fuck realism/feasibility in the eye with that swords tip and simply call it a day?
you are talking about people living in an 1810 meter long and 7,5m thick sword.
realism has left the building already.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 7:26 am

Really, I'm just wondering how much magical fortification would be implied by/necessary for the scenario.

Orca · Post by **Orca** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 9:09 am

Enough fortification to stop miners deliberately felling it, for a start.

Also that sword has resonant frequencies at multiples of 3.3 Hz I think, and nothing to damp it. Living in it is going to feel and sound very strange.

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 9:48 pm

Prak_Anima wrote:Ok, this is going to sound ignorant, but:

Why is gypsy considered a racist/derogatory/pejorative term?

The Romani people are not from Egypt, but happen to have brown skin. When they arrived in Europe in the 14th century, ignorant White people decided that they were from Egypt (and also "descendants of Cain") because all people with brown skin come from Egypt (and are descended from Cain).

It's kind of like referring to Native Americans as "Injuns". And they tend to get pissed off about it for much the same reasons. It's historically inaccurate, and was used pejoratively by people committing epic crimes against their ancestors for hundreds of years.

In North America, Romani people are not especially discriminated against, and the word "Gypsy" is often used to refer to people who travel around a lot. The combination of destygmatization and generalization of the word makes it a lot less offensive. You can talk about your "Gypsy lifestyle" in the US and people won't likely get offended. Do not attempt to do that anywhere in Europe. Because that is a place where Romani are currently being discriminated against and that word is used in a hateful context fairly often.

-Username17

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 9:55 pm

I'd read that they claimed to be from Egypt (but it's not like I read that from an exactly authoritative source). I also read that, as it is the word in legal contexts, a number of romani organizations actually use the word Gypsy in their org. name.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 10:09 pm

The german word for Gypsy is sometimes used as an insult.
That should tell you all you need to know.

hyzmarca · Post by **hyzmarca** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 1:29 am

Prak_Anima wrote:New question, for the materials/engineering types: What are the limiting factors on steel for building a solid structure?

How realistic/feasible is it for there to be a 1.81 km long, 7.5 m thick greatsword? How much could be hollowed out before it would crumple?

The idea is for that post apocalypse setting I'm working on. I want there to be a giant sword left from the war, ideally roughly as tall as the larger skyscrapers. It'd be kind of cool if there were people mining it and living in hollowed out chambers, which means, in order for it to be thick enough for small cells and passage ways, it needs to be 1.13 miles long total. This is about twice as tall as Burj Kalifa.

It isn't steel. It's just that simple. The amount of toque that it would be exposed to whenever it is swing is just absurd. If anyone tried to use it as a sword it would shatter under the stress of its own weight.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 6:13 pm

Right.

My computer hard drive died last week. Including an error on the boot sector

I got a replacement hard drive, and windows. You know, wiped out my spare cash when I had some for once.

Anyway. Hard drive is now installed, and windows 7 has been installed upon it.

Turns out it didn't include the fucking drivers for the network adapter. Irrational for me to expect it to, but it does make the setting the damn thing up a lot more of a pain in the ass.

So how the hell can I find out the network adapter type? My PC is a Dell Inspiron 580. I've tried looking on Dell's own website Here but it's too fucking much for me to wade through right now.

Any help would be appreciated.

Any bitching about how the computers old, or ANYTHING other than something constructive about getting my computer back online again, will be charitably ignored.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 6:33 pm

you realize that maybe there are no Win7 drivers for this, seeing how under downloads it only lists Windows XP?

edit:
disregard that, i think found what you need:

http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/ ... erid=YMHGV#

chose the upper one for download.

chose single file download.
when it's been downloaded, extract it using winzip or something like that.
then do a manual driver installation and point it to the win7 64 bit directory if you have installed a 64 bit version.

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 6:37 pm

http://ftp.dell.com/Pages/Drivers/inspiron-580.html

Scroll down to the network drivers. Looks like there were a couple different pieces of hardware on the shelf, just download all four and try them until one works.

-Username17

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 2:13 am

You guys are so damn awesome. I owe you a beer. Or something.

Grek · Post by **Grek** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 5:37 am

Sometimes, when it is very hot outside, my AC gets covered in ice and stops working. Why is that?

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 5:58 am

If I remember right, it can be a problem with venting.

Or the air conditioner working too hard. Ours used to do that, because it was having to work too damn long to chill the house down--because it was a size too small for the house.

Grek · Post by **Grek** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 8:01 am

I know that much. What I want to know is, why does it get covered in frost when it breaks down? It seems like a device that makes things colder should get hotter as it cools things, because of thermodynamics.

shadzar · Post by **shadzar** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 8:11 am

dissipation and condensation.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 8:12 am

The cooling coils chill the actual air. If they run for too long, the coolant that runs inside them can take the heat from the metal, and chill it to freezing.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 12:11 pm

Grek wrote:I know that much. What I want to know is, why does it get covered in frost when it breaks down? It seems like a device that makes things colder should get hotter as it cools things, because of thermodynamics.

the part outside of your room/house is probably hot as fuck.
it's ciculating a cooling solution that takes heat from your room and transports it outside to release it.
you know how computer water-cooling works? exactly like that, just with chemicals and not water. fridges work by the same princible too.
furthermore, high air moisture will add to the problem. high % of air moisture, a cool surface, it condenses there, becomes water again and then if the surface is actually cold enough for long enough it will turn to ice and accumulate.

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 3:00 pm

The AC is a heat transfer system, so it doesn't generate as much heat as you might expect from the amount it cools the house. Also, it's almost certainly designed to direct the heat away from the unit, because heat transfer rates are proportional to the difference in temperature. So its exterior fan will be blowing hot air while in operation but the interior will be cooler.

Meikle641 · Post by **Meikle641** » Sun Jul 28, 2013 6:49 am

Any of you know a good gunsmith, or someone good with 3d printers? I'm building an AR-15 from "scratch" over the course of like, a year, and I have my eye on the M203-style handguard. Only problem is that the hanguard will lack a bottom, as I clearly will not have a matching M203 grenade launcher, but the handguard is stylish as hell. I figure that a 3D printed piece could full in the hole and give me a decent bottom for it, or some sort of metal fabrication to do the same.

Tried emailing Red Jacket about it, but their email was so full it bounced. Got one or two leads for USA, as Canada doesn't license our gunsmiths, so I sure as hell don't trust them for this.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sun Jul 28, 2013 8:06 am

try tweeting them, either about the handguard, or their full email box.

That said, I googled the M203 and am now confused as to what you want. By handguard do you mean the grip on the bottom of the grenade launcher?

Meikle641 · Post by **Meikle641** » Sun Jul 28, 2013 3:40 pm

Yeah, I don't use twitter. I did find a better pic or two, which made things clearer for me: one and two.

I'm talking about the shroud around the barrel, with the round holes drilled in. Seems like I'll just need something to attach via cotter pins, so this could be easier than I thought. When I get it in person I guess I could make measurements and send it to someone for fabrication or something.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sun Jul 28, 2013 9:15 pm

So basically you want this?

So far as I can tell, it's a barrel support (or was on the browning machine gun which most iconically has this thing) and was used as a radiator, essentially. Not a gun expert, though, so I could be wrong.

The pic is from a forum. Looks like they're talking about .50s though.