Fallen Heretic

Beat cops have CS spray, but I dont think they give it to the traffic cops, as they arent expected to need it. Or they just wont splash out the money to equip them with it.

Some kind of weird suicide pact maybe? The uncensored version from the traffic cops show is on youtube.

This is funny, but sad in equal measure. Its clearly rubbish though. There are several things in writing such as urban ledgends or messages from space which are inconsistant or give the wrong amount of detail in the wrong place. Its pretty easy to spot once you learn what to look for. For instance, shes been trying to sound like an alien. So she has been trying to decide what things an alien would and wouldnt know about us, but has been inconsistant with it. For instance, how come the alien knows what a day, year and month are in the first paragraph, but in the second, they suddenly dont know and call it "your 24 hour periods", despite that being technically a day. Or, she could just be genuinely deluded, like those folks that are convinced we can live on just air, or that David Ike guy who turned up on the Wogan show claiming to be the Son of God. I wonder if after the date passes with no ship appearing, it will be explained away as only those who beleive could see it. Which of course is different from what this message says. And another thing, why would someone telepathic be able to translate another language? German people think in German, english people think in english, and aliens with think in alien (whatever language that particular species use).

^At least do it justice and get a decent picture of it! lol. Ive never driven one, but Ive heard all the gizmos and electronics that live between the driver and the mechanics of the car dont feel like they are interfering, but do make it an amazingly fast cornerer. Transparent technology. The Mini. They have been anything but mini since BMW re-introduced them. The big beemer mini (as I like to call it) is not small at all. Its taller than my Celica, and has roughly the same wheelbase as a Land Rover Discovery. Get a proper old mini Cooper, back when they really were small cars. They were just so nimble. Plus you always felt like you were in the (original) Italian Job film, which is always a bonus.

^ah, that explains it... When I was in Blackpool on Wednesday last week, I saw a truck parked outside Big Blue with a load of floor sections and a couple of whip cars loaded onto it (no photo, sadly). Good to hear that its not going to the scrapheap.

Thats a pretty cool layout, I like it. Ah, the Coasterdynamix 'too fast' thing. Well having seen a couple of models run in real life, it can say that a side effect of the video compression, the way it blurs and the lense angle makes the train look MUCH faster on video than in real life. Its the same with the Comet model. Now the realistic speed thing. The only way I think you could possibly get a train which looks like it also has scaled down gravity is to use a flywheel system, but you cant fit that in a train this size and even if you could, it would lose too much energy. A heavier train will NOT go slower as Gravity pulls all near earth objects with (as near as makes no difference) the same acceleration. Thats the same acceleration, not the same force, the force gravity exerts is different for object of different mass. So a lighter and heavier train will be going pretty much the same speed down the first drop. The heavier train will have more momentum at that speed, and so require a greater force (friction) to slow down. So im pretty sure the quicker course time for heavier trains is due to a relationship between momentum vs friction with increasing mass. OR...it could just be that the heavier train is less affected by imperfections in the rails or non-flush rail joint. i suspect the latter in most cases, actually. EDIT: FYI, even if you did build a perfect scale replica, right down the the mass and friction effects all scaled perfectly, it would STILL not run at slower 'scale speeds' as you cant scale the force of Gravity which drives the whole thing!

Its been quiet for a long time and they missed their April target date. however, yesterday the myspace page put up a new blog entry... They wont make London this year, but are planing a limited run, with details to follow soon. Im so glad this is still alive. I had feared it had quietly died.

It would also repel the train as it approached the magnet, slowing it down and likely stopping it. You cant have a passive launch system. You have to put energy into it in order to convert that energy into acceleration. If it was possible to launch a train without actively pumping energy into the system, then all the worlds power needs could be solved overnight, the laws of physics would break down, and the space time continum would unravel. Or something.

It wont quite work that way. The problem is that when the magnet being accelerated passes the magnet attracting it, it would then deccelerate as the magnet tries to pull it backwards. Thats why LSMs require electromagnets which can be turned on and off. It is possible to build a magnetic accelerator similar to what you describe to launch metal balls, but it requires having each magnet already loaded with a ball in place, and when you stick one in the loading end, it knocks the next ball out of place which is accelerated to the next magnet, which knocks that ball out of place, and so on. By the time the last one is ejected, its going at a high speed. In fact you can buy kits for this. I saw one for sale on thinkgeek. I dont think it can be adapted to launch a coaster model though.

There is no shame in running. My Wing Chun class teaches that your first action should be to try and get away. The ass kicking only comes when there is no other option. Then you play dirty. Or, as my SiHing puts it, "The sparrow never lands where the Tiger roams."

Concerning Audis... I also dont like the use of the LEDs under the headlights of the newer Audis. It ruins the good looks of the R8 in my opinion. I dont agree that all external LEDs are bad though. The tail and indicator LED lights are the way to go I think. The down side is too many companies are trying to make interesting patterns in the tail lights with them, which I feel is just distracting. As for headlights, the dury is still out whether the trend for halogen lamps should be replaced with high power LED lamps. My mates LED light on the front of his downhill bike is more powerful that the headlight on my car. Audi seem to be doing now what BMW were doing the last few years. They are being driven by idiots (in the UK at least). It used to be BMWs that would tailgate, barge in rudely, force you to brake hard at junctions, and generaly come across as arrogant gits who think its your duty to get out of their way. Over the last year or two, they all seem to have sold their BMWs and have bought Audis. Its a shame, cos Audis are good cars.

Sounds like an interesting plan. Really, its the magnetic launch that Im interested in. Im curious how you will go about it. Ive heard of experiments on coaster models to make LSMs which didn't prove too successful. I havent heard of anyone building a scale LIM for a model coaster, though I have seen one for a model Maglev. I would love to see your designs for this. Im really keen to see a good LIM or LSM launch on a model. I dont think it can be done for less than stupid money, but I would love to be proved wrong.

Well done Vekoma. I love it when the little guy looks like coming good. (I always used to root for the penguin, you know). I like that they are now using sprung wheelsets, and also double safety wheels instead of just one. The company has likely been slowly building their capital over the years by selling the cheaper option, and now are in a position to make proper advances in their designs. Even if they are a bit familiar. Good for them.

^^ The brabus roadster has a bit of power to it, I almost bought one instead of the Celica. However, when I test drove it, I couldnt get over how awful the gear change is at town speeds. Put me off the car completely. It does look good though.

Those Cobra trains look really cool. The track is pretty sexy as well. Heres hoping its got some substance and is not all just show.

I love the dash display on the Yaris, its great for your eyes. Im currently trying to convince a friend that an FTO is a good idea.

Dude, your Arse caption just made me almost fall off my chair at work. Im creasing here and everyone wants to know why. You git. lmao. And you get a special bonus point for watching Coupling! I must get myself along to a land of lego goodness soon.

You get a higher MPG from Diesel than with Petrol. In the UK, even though Diesel fuel costs more, you still save money in the long run as you dont have to fill up as often. I guess it depends just how much more expensive the Diesel is than Petrol there.

Channel 4 in the UK have been running this ident (the part that reminds you which channel your watching) since late last year. The idea is that in all their modern idents, the number 4 appears breifly in the background as the scenery moves into position. This one is my favourite, and I just found it on youtube. They have mashed a load of rides together for the scenery. Pretty cool, I reckon. And more importantly, why am I still awake at 1.30am when I have to get up for work in 4 hours? EDIT: Is that really Knotts though? Is it edited footage from Knotts or have they really just cleverly mashed lots of stuff together?

Well, since the scope of thread has been expanded... When I got my current car (2006 Toyota Celica 1.8 vvtl-i GT) I was originaly going to look at a 3 year old Honda S2000 on private sale. On the way I passed a dealer which had their ex-demo Celica sitting outside with a price on. I was instantly attracted to the look of it. Anyway, after testing them both, I bought the Celica even though its not as good a car and was 3K more expensive. Im still not sure why. Something just made me want it more. I know I should have bought the S2000. That said the limited GT edition (thats the UK GT, not the GT you have in the states) has been very popular. I looked into it and there were only 3 for sale in Scotland, and they were all bought the same weedend that I bought mine. Still, Im very happy with my Celica. You do have to rev the bejesus out of it to get any kind of power and its not got much torque. And the ride is really hard, but it does handles brilliantly for a FWD car. Has anyone else passed on a great car to buy an inferior one for no reason other than something inside just drew them to it? Or had a missed oppertunity, like I should could bought it but didnt.

I remember the Crystal Maze in Blackpool. It was in the Sandcastle building, where the Casino is now. I cant remember when it closed, but I do remember it was replaced by "World of Coronation Street". Pffft. I dont remember being that bad in 'the Blackpool night out' but apparently there is a video which proves otherwise. As long as no-one has a video of my dancing. EDIT: Dodgem spinny lady was one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

Very true. You have to admit though that its gloriously random. Its good in the same way that the movie "Surf Nazis Must Die" is good. Where else can you float sedately into the Blue Grotto, only to find yourself looking up at kids staring down at you while eating their pie? I think its quite cool that you can go to a park with the people you work with. The folks where I work just arent that sociable. It must make the days go quicker.

Yes, that looks nice. Looks like they got the aeros right on it. Thing is, even though it has more drag, I think the older Skylines just looks a little more aggresive, which I like. The new one certainly is sexy though. EDIT: I will just add, there is something Toyota-ish about the hood and lights though.

Its just you. The boat is coming towards the drop in the picture, thats the front your seeing. There is another boat just behind it. For some reason, some boats have low fronts, and others have the part sticking up. Thats classic Blackpool, really. I think some may be the old boats from Southport. Also, the camera is angled down, the 'lift hill' you see is actually a horazontal tyre drive. EDIT: Oh, and its the River Caves, not the log flume. Sadly the log flume is long gone. I hope that didnt make me sound to critical or pedantic there. Cos Im not like that. honest!

I miss the old bus stop chicane at Spa, that was always a classic section. It was a good race though, quite a few ding-dong wheel-to-wheel battles around the field. Fun to watch.