04 March 2009

Yessirree... "we have the technology"

Or, more to the point... it may have us...

-- Associated Press -- At a news conference in The Hague, Mr Van Vollenhoven said the plane had been at an altitude of 595m (1950ft) when making its landing approach to Schiphol airport.

But the altimeter recorded an altitude of around ground level.

The plane was on autopilot and its systems believed the plane was already touching down, he said.

The automatic throttle controlling the two engines was closed and they powered down. This led to the plane losing speed, and stalling.
Technology can certainly be a double-edged sword. Even here at the relatively low-tech "Halls".

For example... the house here was built so tight, that we require an air exchanger (hooked up to our contantly rotating furnace blower) to use our woodstove. If that system hiccups, we're on electric heat... and that's assuming the problem isn't with the blower motor.

I'm no luddite... but I firmly believe that sometimes... "simple is better". I'm just not sure you can put this particular technology genie back in the bottle.

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2 comments:

Frank Hilliard said...

I have a natural gas self standing fireplace that works with or without its small blower. Convection currents up the stairs keep the upstairs within 1 Degree F of the main floor. The thermostat runs off the pilot light so the whole system will run without power. Highly recommended.

Neo Conservative said...

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i hear ya frank... but it's gonna be a while before the natural gas people lay pipe in this neighbourhood.

even then i doubt i could afford to run the connection up my 700 foot long driveway.

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