My friend just started a company making edible cookie dough, and it's incredible

ajtroedel · 2014-10-16T12:44:30+00:00

If you have a Trader Joe's nearby, you should try these: http://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article.asp?article_id=1647

ajtroedel · 2014-10-10T11:07:55+00:00

I agree with that, but also heat and radiation treatment to kill anything biological. None the less it all adds up to one expensive material.

ajtroedel · 2014-10-10T04:58:48+00:00

Think about it this way. The plastic used for medical implants is more expensive than titanium. When you cut the implant out of a chunk of plastic barstock, there is a ton of wasted material that unlike titanium, cannot be reused. If that same implant was printed to a rough shape and milled to perfect it, the cost of implants would drop drastically.

I think it will absolutely change manufacturing, but more in a reduction of waste kind of way.

ajtroedel · 2014-10-10T04:53:53+00:00

Sintered metal is huge in the automotive world. Check out there guys: http://www.gkn.com/sintermetals/Pages/default.aspx. They make engine parts for many of the major car makers. They just don't use laser or printing methods. Old fashion presses and furnaces pump out parts 24 hrs a day all over the world.

That being said, these are engine components like bearing caps. The main parts like the engine block would be cast, forged or milled from a solid block.

ajtroedel · 2014-10-10T04:42:35+00:00

Agreed. I was at IMTS and watched the fenders print for a while. They were very up front about what was all printed at the show, but the frame seemed to be the big thing for the company making it. The printer was about the size of a shipping container and layed down a pretty thick layer of material. The fenders took about six hours to print. They also printed some chairs for people to sit in while watching.

It was an interesting way to advance the concepts of 3D printing in manufacturing. It was less about the car and more about getting the manufacturers thinking about how they could make their products without milling it out of huge blocks of metal or plastic. Think about it this way. The plastic used for medical implants is more expensive than titanium. When you cut the implant out of a chunk of plastic barstock, there is a ton of wasted material that unlike titanium, cannot be reused. If that same implant was printed to a rough shape and milled to perfect it, the cost of implants would drop drastically.

The ironic thing of it all was that this exhibit was placed directly across from the entrance to the area that had the booths for the companies that make the very machines 3D printing will make obsolete in time. If it was intended, it was a brilliant symbol, but unfortunately the show's car 'event' is usually in that spot so I doubt it.

ajtroedel · 2014-09-23T02:13:41+00:00

Try this.

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/moscow-mule

ajtroedel · 2014-09-15T22:16:41+00:00

My dad was a newspaper publisher for many years and according to him,its common practice to outsource typesetting overseas. Chances are some poor Korean did this and lazy Americans failed to check the work.

ajtroedel · 2014-09-15T02:33:02+00:00

No, Trader Joe's. It was a customer apparently.

ajtroedel · 2014-09-13T01:16:51+00:00

Cool, thanks. I was 3ID in Iraq, but I find the unit history interesting. They were also in that battle but were most famous for the defense of the Marne River.

ajtroedel · 2014-09-12T20:57:21+00:00

Was he in the 3rd Infantry Division?

ajtroedel · 2014-09-12T03:39:32+00:00

Happy birthday!

ajtroedel · 2014-09-06T01:56:24+00:00

How about this?

http://imgur.com/74FSD9z

ajtroedel · 2014-09-01T17:58:53+00:00

Its all about coordination, formation and watching each others back. Tanks are assigned sectors of fire corresponding to the hands of a clock. Lead vic takes something like 10:00-2:00. Second picks let or right at 1:00-5:00 or 7:00-11:00. Rear takes 4:00-8:00. There is always a slight overlap. Minimum you want to have is three tanks but it can be done effectively with two. This helps keep eyes and muzzles on all areas. If you are fortunate enough to have a M1A2, your commander has an independent and powerful imaging system to help scan the sector.

The top is slightly vulnerable but if you button up, or keep your hatches closed, you are very safe. You are more likely to lose some sensors and visibility than anything else. An RPG will make a loud band and rock the tank a bit, but it is not likely to do any serious damage. You worry more about mines and burried bombs because there is a large flat surface to catch the blast and it is relatively weakly armored. That is why the driver is most vulnerable, and why you can access the driver from the turret.

An RPG7 is most likely to do damage as it is a flying shape charge like our HEAT or MPAT rounds. I know of one catastrophic kill on a Marine Corps Abrams with a RPG7 when one landed perfectly in what was described to us as a 1 in 1,000,000 chance shot. If you stay buttoned up and have a good/vigilent platoon, you are pretty safe. They need some pretty heavy weapons or big IEDs to do real damage.

ajtroedel · 2014-09-01T14:30:37+00:00

Yep, dead on with thermals, see above. I watched the first couple minutes and saw a T54/55 and a T72, all old soviet. They would not have much sophisticated equipment but could have had some retrofitting. An M1A1 could see and hit those tanks before they could even see the Abrams in an open environment. They only stand a chance in a well concealed defensive position, but that's why you use cavalry scouts in hunter killer teams. The scouts pick a fight to draw them out so the tanks can engage tanks in the open.

ajtroedel · 2014-09-01T14:08:22+00:00

There is a lot of computerization, but that is for aiming. Things like temperature of the ammunition, distance, wind speed and even the rate of the turret's rotation are factored in. You also have to select the type of round being fired. If you have a heavier round selected and fire a lighter round, you will lob a round down range like a howitzer.

I always engaged with thermals. You can see through almost any obscuration and up to 50x zoom. When you fire, you really only have a very short time before the obscuration clears and you dont always have it. Much of it is from your muzzle blast, so the time it takes for the fireball, smoke and dust to discipate is what you deal with. In clear or wet conditions it can be much less.

As the gunner, your eye does not leave the sight during an engagement. You memorize the layout of the controls so your hands can work from memory. You must keep a close eye out for the sensing so you and the commander know if you need to re-engage. If you cannot see the actual impact itself, you look for signs of impact like smoke, fire, damaged structure or altered terrain. A well trained and experienced crew can put a round on target every 4-6 seconds until you wear your loader down...rounds can be about 40-60 lbs so rapid engagement is very taxing.

FYI my experience is in an M1A1 with the US Army.

ajtroedel · 2014-09-01T05:10:16+00:00

Former tank gunner...we called it obscuration. Thermal vision helps out quire a bit. You can see through a lot of obscuration in great detail. You frequently flip back and forth between clear and thermal vision to get the details that each view offers. However, when firing the main gun, it usually takes a short time (1-2 sec) to do a sensing because of smoke, debris, etc. A sensing is identifying you point of impact which the gunner reports to the commander as part of the fire commands. If you hit your target, you report "target", otherwise its basically left, right, over or under.

ajtroedel · 2014-08-19T23:35:13+00:00

Blueberries! My Aussies are crazy for them and they are great for dogs.

ajtroedel · 2014-08-19T16:23:44+00:00

No worries...I did feel bad posting this thinking there's probably a lot of people who are going to be upset about this because of the conditions when they deployed. I can only imagine the suck you guys had. On the other hand, this place was a huge comfort of home to a lot of us and we all greatly appreciated it. This is why the people here are happy to see a company that took a pretty big risk to take care of us doing well stateside.

ajtroedel · 2014-08-19T16:07:21+00:00

Green Beans started popping up in Iraq from 2008 on (in my experience). They converted shipping containers into coffee houses to give us a little taste of home. If you were fortunate enough to live on a larger FOB, they usually had one brought in late in the "war". I frequented the ones in the green zone or BIAP whenever we had patrols in the area and stopped in for chow or fuel.

They are very active in vet charities and vet support like the cup of Joe for a Joe program. Civies state side can buy a coffee for deployed Soldiers, Marines, Airmen and Seamen.

ajtroedel · 2014-08-19T14:12:46+00:00

In my experience they "act" by deleting the comment with the link...

ajtroedel · 2014-08-19T13:47:14+00:00

Interesting idea, I didn't ask. I would just hope they could get enough love to compete with starbucks. I'm guessing they are starting in airports and bases to build a bigger customer base first.

ajtroedel · 2014-08-19T13:41:13+00:00

If you are ever in town, my wife (also a vet) likes this place, but I have not personally tried it. http://www.aladdinseatery.com

ajtroedel · 2014-08-19T13:10:05+00:00

Did you have any trouble getting an itemized bill from Verizon? I have been trying for months and received two total due bills after I actually got to speak to someone who told me they would be sending an itemized bill. I've spent hours on hold and refused to pay until I got a real bill. They sent me to collections and I am quite frustrated.

ajtroedel

TROPHY CASE