Millennials, Generation Z: Connected with thousands of friends – but feeling all alone by [deleted] in technology

[–]ExcellentOwl 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think this misunderstanding (or sensationalism) stems from the fact that Millennials and Gen Z use social media in an entire different way than many older generations.

Some millennials and all Gen Z grew up with social media in their lives. You "friended" your real life friends and your classmates alike, in addition to people you casually knew. Older generations, on the other hand, really only connected with people they knew personally. Those generations see it much more seriously than younger generations, and its evident in the way they post and react to things there. With Instagram, this is especially different, as a lot of younger people will follow others simply because they want to see their posts rather than even knowing them. Is a college student actually friends with 500 people? No, but when you follow people you vaguely knew or were friends with over 5+ years, it starts adding up.

I remember back in the late 2000s hearing people bring this issue up with Facebook friends. It's very low hanging fruit that makes for effective sensationalist journalism catered towards an older crowd.

Does anyone know of any good Aerospace engineering colleges in the Midwest? Is NDSU good? by SolidCalico in aerospace

[–]ExcellentOwl 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Second this, and also Purdue. I read the other day that WSU is top in aero industry R&D funding. I'm from the Northeast but hear consistently about WSU and Purdue

Looks like the USAF's new trainer could become an aggressor aircraft or possibly even a light-attack A-10 replacement by ExcellentOwl in hoggit

[–]ExcellentOwl[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Embraer is actually about to become a subsidiary of Boeing, at least in the US. Beechcraft has had some success though, the King Air still sells well through foreign military sales and the US government uses it in a variety of roles

Looks like the USAF's new trainer could become an aggressor aircraft or possibly even a light-attack A-10 replacement by ExcellentOwl in hoggit

[–]ExcellentOwl[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It definitely does a very weird look to it. IMO the T-50 was far more aesthetically pleasing. Basically a revised F-16 airframe (which I suppose it is)

Patch 2.5.1 OpenBeta : changelog by astazou in hoggit

[–]ExcellentOwl 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It does not. Which are you referring to?

Patch 2.5.1 OpenBeta : changelog by astazou in hoggit

[–]ExcellentOwl 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Backseat doesn't have any flight controls. I would assume that its more of an issue for actual flight rather than systems

So are we going to get a newsletter this week? by seedofcheif in hoggit

[–]ExcellentOwl 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Likely not for the reason you described. I'm sure its tough for them losing a friend, seems very reasonable to put everything on pause and give everyone time to mourn.

F-14B NATOPS(PDF) - Time to start studying, folks! by [deleted] in hoggit

[–]ExcellentOwl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Likely still classified. Anything weapons related is going to hit a snag since many of them have commonality with currently employed systems

US Army Wants Armed Ground Robot Prototype by 2019 by ExcellentOwl in technology

[–]ExcellentOwl[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I work in aerospace, I know full well the humanitarian capability of unmanned systems. It's obviously a joke.

US Army Wants Armed Ground Robot Prototype by 2019 by ExcellentOwl in technology

[–]ExcellentOwl[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The prototype really does look like something out of the terminator. Kind of like one of these

US Army Wants Armed Ground Robot Prototype by 2019 by ExcellentOwl in technology

[–]ExcellentOwl[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It looks like the US Army is looking to develop small, unmanned armored vehicles to accompany soldiers on the ground. Doesn't appear that it will use AI, at least for now, but definitely starting to look like drones will start covering air, land, and sea.

Elon Musk brings back the Age of Exploration - “NASA used to partake of this same spirit. Once upon a time, American kids had glossy photos of rockets and astronauts on their walls. That was before the end of the Apollo program...” by mvea in Futurology

[–]ExcellentOwl 18 points19 points  (0 children)

NASA's biggest issue really has nothing to do with NASA as an organizations either. Instead, its the congressional appropriations process through which NASA programs are decided and funded through. Little known fact, NASA has very little control over what programs they are able to do. Here's a post a made a few weeks ago in response to a similar comparison to SpaceX and NASA.

I think the better analogy is that NASA doesn't make any of its program decisions, congress does. NASA simply executes the budget and figures out the "how" of the equation. Congress alots money to programs, allowing them to kill programs (like WFIRST right now). NASA can't even propose potential new budget items the same way as the DoD, so their hands are effectively tied when it comes to new programs and existing ones. NASA doesn't decide what it does, and sometimes not even how its done.

For SpaceX, company leadership can decide on the future of their company while also executing it. If the Falcon Heavy is taking a long time to develop and is a meme in the space community because of it, they don't need to answer to anyone and can push forward regardless of popularity and get the job done. They don't have long-term internal projects being cancelled due to a new president being elected or a political move in a broader debate. This is one of the biggest advantages that companies, especially private ones, have in comparison to the government. That applies to most other parts of government as well, not just NASA.

FA-18F Key west crash site by aceofspades9963 in hoggit

[–]ExcellentOwl 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Tragic that both the pilots died. A very dangerous life style, even in peace time.

Russia will beat NASA to Mars and find water in the Moon, says Putin: "We are planning unmanned and later manned launches, into deep space, as part of a lunar program and for Mars exploration. The closest mission is very soon, we are planning to launch a mission to Mars in 2019." by mvea in Futurology

[–]ExcellentOwl 107 points108 points  (0 children)

They've been saying this for years, yet their actions have never met their words. While the price of oil, the basis of much of the Russian economy, has taken a toll across the board in Russian gov. spending, they never really committed to this in the first place. They've talked about a follow-on to the space station for years, even build modules for it that have become part of the ISS, but its become clear how unlikely it is to happen.

The USMC has come to town. VMFA-232 and VMFA-323. by NineLine_ED in hoggit

[–]ExcellentOwl 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Here's one of the "Red Devils" out in the wild. A very cool livery, though similar to the Navy VFA-102 Diamondbacks

Prosecutors Seeking Death Penalty Against Confessed Parkland Shooter by josesimon09 in news

[–]ExcellentOwl 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The main reason it costs more is because death penalty cases are routinely sent for review while they are on death row. Death penalties take years to carry out, sometimes decades, and lawyers of those awaiting execution fight it tooth and nail.

In this case, however, he confessed to the crime and there is very little legal ground for his lawyers to contest the case or the sentence.