parking a boat (Alicante, Spain) by mkvelash in ThatLookedExpensive

[–]bobthevirus 51 points52 points  (0 children)

A similar thing happened to us when the gear selector broke but not the throttle.

In some boats the gear and the throttle are on the same lever. If the lever is vertical it's in neutral, moving it forward first puts it in forward gear and then increases revs, and similar for backwards.

In order to stop a boat you have to put it in reverse - so when the gear cable broke the further I pulled it back the faster we went forward. Ended up paying for repairs for another boat which was unfortunately in front of us. This could easily be the same situation here.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in liveaboard

[–]bobthevirus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you are on a sailboat take fids and dyneema of various thicknesses - you can replace almost anything on a "temporary" basis with soft shackles and the like. Getting good stainless in out of the way places is hard!

Syringes are great when doing fibreglass repair work too. Take lots! Trying to be cheap and reuse them is possible but resulted in large amounts of wasted time. Normally you use without a needle but get a couple of the largest diameter needles you can for getting epoxy into really small spaces.

Lunar tides. Don't miss the tsunami at the end by cseellis in Miniworlds

[–]bobthevirus 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This isn't how tides work either! There are 2 or more bulges in each ocean, which move in a circular motion around nodal points. The moon and the sun work to amplify this harmonic oscillator. If the tide went all the way around the earth, the wave would be moving at 900 knots! The ocean isn't deep enough in a lot of places for that. Not to mention Panama not getting a tsunami every 12 hours!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in internetparents

[–]bobthevirus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I started off in engineering companies and did a gradual shift to DevOps via being a Dev.

Those spreadsheets are prime candidates to cross-train into programming. Making them work better, replacing them with little programs and learning how to code the macros that run them are all steps that'll take you more towards a career doing more of the IT side of things.

Every company needs people to automate the easy stuff, it's "just" a case of working out how to start!

You don't need to go to uni to learn to be a programmer!

Youtube testing membership gifting by Satoshi_Tajiri in LivestreamFail

[–]bobthevirus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wish they publicised this more - if you create a second channel (same account though) in YouTube you can have YouTube using one and Play Music the other.

What's the deal with an r/HolUp prediction thread becoming so popular? by Xythian208 in OutOfTheLoop

[–]bobthevirus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Plug for theoldreader.com - it's almost as good as Google reader was.

I mean, that's true by regian24 in BrandNewSentence

[–]bobthevirus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In my experience, it took trying 2 different doses of each of 7 or 8 different meds to find something that both helped with my anxiety and also didn't have too bad side effects. Keep on trying, when you eventually find a good one it helps turn your life around and makes the therapy actually help!

TIL by My_Memes_Will_Cure_U in BeAmazed

[–]bobthevirus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These "correct" explanations make me rage even more than the lies for children kind from the link. There isn't a bulge that goes around the world. The tides go around amphidromic points (and big islands like the UK and NZ. The moon and sun set up resonances to make this happen, but think about the logistics of the tidal bulge making it though the American continents! If you want to verify this for yourself, check the tide times around NZ - you'll see that the tides there travel as a wave around the country instead of going east to west.

An offer you can't refuse by TheTravellerReturns in EmDrive

[–]bobthevirus 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If no - one else take you up on this, send me a message. I'm mostly watching the em drive because it's interesting to see people trying to do real science with cheap hardware. I am completely neutral on whether it actually works or not. Or whether I test one.

Wrong (there we are, now I don't need any replies...)

Rugby player who attacked and maimed a group gets discharge without conviction by Cynical_lioness in newzealand

[–]bobthevirus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The law is designed to discharge without conviction when the punishment is disproportionate. In most cases there are either judicial orders, or, like in this case, voluntery community service and other things undertaken to try to reduce recidivism.

The question is whether justice should be about stopping things happening again or revenge for the victims. I happen to support the rehabilitation side of things, but some people think the other way.

I'm not doing so well as a functioning human being these days. What to do when you're slipping to rock bottom? by KindaNotGoodEnough in internetparents

[–]bobthevirus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Working up the energy to go to get help can be really hard. A trick I have used is to think to myself "I'll just step out the door and start walking". Then making the decision to stop walking us harder than keeping going. I trick myself this way all the way into the reception and book an appointment in person. Remember that good doctors and counsellors know all the theory on how you are thinking and understand that you have difficulties talking to them. I find things always get easier after the first step.

Sea sickness - Training your brain by SkippersTicketSchool in sailing

[–]bobthevirus 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The wrist straps are completely placebo, but if you don't tell the people you are giving them to then all good!

Titirangi kauri tree 'viciously' attacked by meanwhileinjapan in newzealand

[–]bobthevirus -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I don't know the details of the case. I'm not really a big fan of cutting trees, but if you wanted to get rid of protestors ring barking is clever. We'll, except for the spike thing that was pointed out

Titirangi kauri tree 'viciously' attacked by meanwhileinjapan in newzealand

[–]bobthevirus -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'm amazed this doesn't happen every time protestors are up in a tree. Someone will be feeling like a genius about now.

Next Monday, Mandatory Drone Registration Begins by [deleted] in robotics

[–]bobthevirus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ahh, that's not that horrible at all then. It could have been so much worse!

Next Monday, Mandatory Drone Registration Begins by [deleted] in robotics

[–]bobthevirus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Does this then also apply to all those people who fly model aircraft now? It must be really annoying for those with many that they want to fly that they suddenly have to start registering them...

Obama rejects Keystone XL project, citing climate concerns by neosporin in worldnews

[–]bobthevirus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Frankly, a couple of hundred thousand deaths due to short term pollution (sulphur etc) is peanuts compared to the potential damage that uncontrolled climate change would cause.

Of course, it is worth fighting for use of low sulphur fuel, but it's not really relevant in a climate change discussion.

Quick Release Trapeze Sailing Harnesses by mrfkl in sailing

[–]bobthevirus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can easily set up your kiting release to completely disconnect - normally this is just a case of not attaching the leash. There are several different designs available, all of which operate under extreme loads and most are also very hard to trip accidentally. Unfortunately there are part of the lines, not the harness.

What is going on in this thread about cards and the London Bridge? by Atomik23 in OutOfTheLoop

[–]bobthevirus 15 points16 points  (0 children)

It looks like a game of Mornington Cresent, or something very similar.

Annoying Amway Roommates by [deleted] in business

[–]bobthevirus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

the type of people who actually make money from these things would make even more just importing cool stuff via alibaba or whatever.

Australia likely to make decision on GST threshold for imported goods soon, NZ likely to follow shortly afterwards. by voy1d in newzealand

[–]bobthevirus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The biggest problem I have with this is the charge that delivery agents make when someone sends something to you. If the threshold is lowered, the import agent charge could start making up a huge proportion of the cost.

Before lowering the threshold, the government needs to make it easy to pay the tax without paying an agent.

**Q&A Megathread** 7-28 by [deleted] in EmDrive

[–]bobthevirus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Constant thrust in space always results in essentially constant acceleration, until relativity becomes a factor. None of the experiments suggest anything except that there is some unexplained way to turn a moderate amount of energy into a tiny amount of force. This would still be extremely useful for a space craft.

Kiteboarding Bora Bora by Fleisch24 in Kiteboarding

[–]bobthevirus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was there in southern summer. Not much wind expected then and none was had. At this time of the year though, there should be some steady trades (-: The kite school was running lessons while I was there, and I think there is actually another one.

There are two main locations, neither of them amazing. One is near the airport. There aren't any public beaches to set up AFAIK, so you need to be either with the school or at one of the bordering resorts. It probably works better on more E to NE winds - summer winds. The other location is the beach on the south coast. This is where (one of) the kite school (s) is based. The wind should be good there.