Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with pilot

Who took this photograph?

bjrn — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:27:08 -0800

Help me identify this photograph. The form I have it in is cut from a magazine (or similar) and then glued to a piece of sturdy paper, the person I got it from doesn't remember where she got it. I just think it's a really nice picture and wonder if it'd be possible to get a better quality version somewhere. I've tried googling around, but to no avail.

What should we test for our web software pilot?

UMDirector — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:24:57 -0800

Doing a "pilot" for an new internet service product, what should be in our plan to verify it is a viable idea? So the company I work for is new and will be launching a new internet service product. We are going to do a pilot to verify that the idea makes sense, people will use it, etc before we go searching for round 2 of investor money. We currently have private investors.

So we need to do a valid test to make sure of a number of things such as:

What price will people pay, if they pay at all? What is the best way to test this price point, etc?
Are we getting the demographics we expect?
Can our servers handle the load?

As well as thinking about future business plans:

What happens if we succeed? How do we grow the staff, etc?

So without telling you any more specifics and without listing everything we already have...

Any suggestions?

What things need to be tested/proven out for a new internet service to verify it is a good service and a valid business & technical model?

Suggested websites, etc would be a great help as well.

Assume this is not similar to much else out there and is essentially a new service so we cannot easily compare to rivals because there are not enough that are close enough to our space.

Can I get my hands on the pilot for the US version of "The Thick of It"?

defenestration — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:58:38 -0800

Can I get my hands on the pilot for the US version of "The Thick of It"? In '07, Mitchell Hurwitz co-wrote and created a pilot for a US version of BBC's "The Thick of It"...

Is it possible to get my hands on this? I have not been able to find it anywhere. Have any non-TV industry people even seen it?

The pilot was directed by Christopher Guest... and man, the cast. I'm upset that it wasn't picked up and I haven't even seen it yet.

Hive mind, whatcha got?

Songs about Flying

Locative — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 15:45:55 -0800

What are some songs about flying, preferably in a plane of some kind? My friend is a pilot and I want to make a mixtape for him with some songs about flying. So far, all I've come up with is the following: AF607105 - Charlotte Gainsbourg (even if it does involve a crash, it's lovely) Learning to Fly - Pink Floyd Come Fly with Me - Frank Sinatra Anyone have any ideas? Thank you in advance!

Inexpensive Pilot G6 gel pens (or at least as good alt)?

nolnar — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 07:05:41 -0800

Help me find webshops with inexpensive Pilot G6 gel pen cartridges, or at least as good alternatives, that ship to private customers in Europe? BACKGROUND:
I write a lot by hand with gel pens, specifically the Pilot G6, mainly black or blue color. http://www.pilotpen.us/products/ ; screenshot: http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/2814/pilotrangelt1.png . I think Pilot uses the same ink cartridge for G2 mini, G2 pro, G2 and G6.

ALTERNATIVES:
Alternative pens/catridges should be at least as good as the G6. They should have the same or similar qualities as the G6, G2 et al: good flow, dry quickly, no "stuttering".

EXAMPLE:
I have locally found the Niji J-clear range of pens and have "testdriven" them for a while (http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/9688/nijijclear05ea7.jpg ; I can't find an official website when googling). The J-clear is normally almost as good as G2, G6 et al. But lines drawn with the Niji pens are in my experience always a bit more "fuzzy". And, a more serious problem, some of the Niji pens began to "stutter" after a while. With "stutter" I mean that even with least half the ink left in the cartridge the regular think ink flow frequently gets interrupted by half flow or no flow but then later works as it should again. That really makes a pen unreliable and obstructs efficient use. (I should note that I bought all the Niji test pens at the same time so maybe I good a batch that was old or otherwise nonrepresentative.) So any alternative to G6 et al should be "fuzzy" or "stutter".

VOLUME:
The pens/cartridges should also be available for bulk purchase by some internet enabled store that ships to Europe (to Sweden specifically). With bulk I mean something around 50-100 pens (I use up around 50 pens a year). But if a GREAT bargain price was available if a larger batch is purchased then that might also work.

PRICE:
the Niji pens cost the equivalent of 1.5$ over the counter where I live. That's for one pen (casing) including its ink cartridge. I have not found a place that sells just Niji cartridges. The G6 cartridges also costs around 2$ at local office supply stores.

But I have a hunch that there are DRASTICALLY less expensive gel pens/cartridges around somewhere but that I have just not discovered the brand name and where to get them. Maybe in the sub 0.5$ price range. Maybe from some webshop outlet in east asia with very low bulk prices even with the shipping cost to Europe included.

My hunch is based on my experience from purchasing electronical devices cheaply from such webshops, from reading about eye glasses consumer activism at http://glassyeyes.blogspot.com/ and from sheer optimism. If it works for mp3 players and glasses then why not pens, right?

Ok, I hope that is enough details for the question. Now I hope for your feedback.

Is preventative asthma medication doom for potential military career?

Malad — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 04:40:29 -0800

I know a 17-year-old now applying to colleges who wants to get into a branch of the military (AF Academy) but had a bout of childhood asthma when she was very young (age 2) and has been on preventive medication for the lsat several years. Can she still become a pilot? Her mother, a doctor, had her put on this medication since she had some exercise-related exhaustion in her teenage years that may have been asthma or may have just been the fact that she was out of shape. She has not had a definitive attack since that very early one, though, and doesn't feel she really has asthma, and that her mother has just been overly cautious in prescribing the medication.

What are her chances of getting into her dream school and/or any other branches, esp. with the goal of becoming a pilot of some kind? If she gets a pulmonary function test showing she has great lung function now, will that better her chances? Does she need a waiver, and if so, can she realistically get one?

I'm looking for a program that could serve as a perpetual, scrolling RSS feed that would cull news from various servers to be run on legacy OSes.

Lockeownzj00 — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 12:23:32 -0800

AsceticRSSFilter: I'm looking for a program I found by chance awhile ago that could serve as a perpetual, scrolling RSS feed that would cull news from various servers to be run on legacy OSes. I'm trying to turn my spare PC into something useful. I remember finding a program on the net awhile ago that serves what I'm looking for.

It was a command-line based client that would stream a sort of rss feed from this one website with miscellaneous news: local, weather, politics, etc. The program was meant to be installed and left on perpetually, and the feed would scroll as well. It could be run on old 386s and 486s, Palm Pilots, and pretty much any legacy OS without a graphical environment.

It was probably a one-word url/website/name, IIRC. Also, I found it through the comments of another website (which I can't remember) which I was looking at that gave tutorials on turning old laptop monitors into digital paintings/wall-pieces (ie 77 million paintings).

Thanks again.

New private pilot

nintendo — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 22:48:28 -0800

New Private Pilot help: I'm trying to take the FAA written exam, I've been doing lots of self study, read plenty of books, taken and passed a dozen free online practice test, and am ready for the real thing but am now being told I need some sort of "ground school endorsment"....? Am I going to have to end up paying some "online ground school" $100 - $300 now? I assume they are the cheapest place to get this "endorsement" This is starting to really look like a money making scam between these flight schools. Is it going to be like this all throughout the process?

Help me evade the aerial fashion police!

arnicae — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 16:27:50 -0800

Where can I find a pilot's watch (with a whiz wheel) sized for a small woman's wrist? I'd love to find a pilot's or aviator's watch that *has* a whiz wheel (flight computer) but is small enough to not make me look like a reject from the 80's. New, vintage, or antique, my only requirement is that it works and is
appropriate for a small woman's wrist.

I asked google answers this question in 2005, with disappointing results (pretty much everyone said, "give it up- it will be too small!") but perhaps the hive mind can help?

Helicopter Pilot

nintendo — Sat, 19 May 2007 01:58:57 -0800

Getting trained and working as a Helicopter Pilot-filter. - I'm getting out of the Navy after four years, with a worthless AA degree. Flying helicopters is something I’ve always wanted to do but not for the military. Any helicopter pilots out there that can tell me where to get started??? (I'd love to hear some personal experiences:) Some people say I need a private pilot licenses first, although two schools have told me it isn't necessary.

To get even more specific, I would like to use the GI bill for this, or even better, are there companies willing to put someone through school if a contract is signed. ...? Thanks everyone.

Palm III: Yea nor Nea

DU — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 05:14:41 -0800

Palm III: retro or hopelessly obsolete? Either my brain is shrinking or my life is expanding--either way, I can no longer hold all the detail and context I'd like to. Websites I want to visit, books I want to look for at the library, TV shows I want to watch and lists of numbers I want to track are among the things I've had to devise tricks to remember, such as setting timers or emailing myself at another location. The web of tricks is woefully inadequate on many levels, from not being portable to mortgaging my future attention to serve my current needs.

I finally remembered that I have a working Palm III that I stopped using a few years ago because I'd have to jump through a lot of security hurdles to use it at work. But it's reached the point where the hurdles are less annoying than the loss of information, so I'm going to pick it up again.

But will I be able to find applications for it anymore? Some of these needs can be met by a stock Palm III. But I'd also like some kind of generalized spreadsheet/graphing app and I will likely find other needs/wants. I googled around a little and found some crippled shareware--is that all there is anymore? Would I be better off just getting a small notebook (i.e. actual dead trees)?

Unintentional erection during high G loads?

c0nsumer — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 10:27:44 -0800

Do (male) pilots ever experience unintended erections while experiencing high G loads on their body? Pilots who regularly undergo high G forces wear g-suits to prevent the brain from being starved for blood, leading to unconsciousness. I would imagine that due to the additional blood forced lower in the body that unintended (and possibly very uncomfortable) erections are possible, but I can't seem to find any information as to whether or not it occurs and/or is a problem.

Wikipedia, Google, and the other usual sources are failing me as I'm trying to find information about this. (They are finding spammy pages and fanfic / slash, but that's not what I'm wanting.)

Can anyone help?

What's the process for submitting a tv script?

matkline — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 13:19:29 -0800

I have here in front of me a completed pilot script for what could be the next big television show. What should I do with it? 1. Is there anything else that needs to be done (except for the pilot)? (charachter bios, etc.)

2. Where/to whom do I send it?

3. Would anyone like to read it (email in profile)?

Thanks for your help.

What is the name of this book?

azuma — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 03:45:39 -0800

Name (or author of) of a biographical book about a RAF pilot in WW2 who loses both legs in an accident, but goes on to fly in combat and ends up in a POW camp, which he then manages to escape from.

Cruel pen! I need to remove an ink stain!

redteam — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 07:49:39 -0800

How do I remove a Pilot G2 ink stain from my pants? After washing and drying my pants, I saw a big, huge black ink stain by the back pocket of my pants. It was caused by me stupidly putting a retractable pen in my pocket - the ink soaked into the fabric. I tried "Zout!" (a stain remover) and it didn't get it all out. Actually, it removed a lot of the color from the surrounding area! Before I dye my pants brown again, I'd like to get as much ink out as I can. Please don't recommend that I bleach the area since I'm going to dye it anyway (although I'd like to know if bleach works for white clothing items). I want to know how to get rid of ink stains in the future as well. Also - does soaking an ink stain in milk really work? Does Oxy-Clean do ink? What can I do?

What is the name and method of the military theorist who had a 4-part(?) hueristic for fighter pilots?

wtfwjd? — Wed, 06 Jul 2005 17:43:30 -0800

Sometime in the last 2 years (I think!) there was a meme going around about a military theorist (from the 50's?) who came up with a rule set for fighter pilots. The idea was a fighter pilot was supposed to go around and around with these four(?) rules. Something like "assess / analyze / ?? / shoot" or something! Does anyone know who this is is, where I can get more info and the precise rule set?

bush pilots

Snyder — Fri, 20 May 2005 15:10:59 -0800

Does anyone know a bush pilot, have contact with one, or know anything about the becoming one? I'm thinking about becoming one, and while I've found a great deal of narratives about bush pilot adventures, I haven't found anything that that talks about it as a career path, which is what I'm primarily looking for.

HotSyncing an old, old PDA

S.C. — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 01:13:18 -0800

Where can I find software to sync my vintage USRobotics Pilot 5000 to my Windows 2000 PC? It was a gift from a friend who knows my affection for obsolete equipment: I've got the Pilot itself (in perfect condition! I could swoon), the pleather case, and the dock—but no software. I'd like to actually use the thing, but as it runs Palm OS 1.0 and ages of Googling didn't turn up anything for use further back than v3.0, I thought I'd turn to MeFi for help.

I gather from what I've read that Palm Desktop is what keeps your contacts, schedule, etc. on your PC and HotSync is the program that shuffles files between them. I need both, the equivalents thereof. Can anyone out there help me? Please?

How do I protect or copyright my new TV program pitch?

clavdivs — Sun, 23 May 2004 18:10:08 -0800

I have a Televison/Cable program idea that would require a "pitch". Question: how does one protect/copyright said "pitch"

Pitching a screenplay

dhoyt — Thu, 20 May 2004 11:30:49 -0800

For unknown or novice screenplay writers, which is the best tack in trying to pitch an idea for the first time? Should a tv pilot, for example, be submitted as a simple logline and treatment, or should a cover letter, story-bible, script and character synopsis also be provided? For the past year I've been preparing an extensive story bible for a pilot idea I'm working on with a friend, but just the other day I read that Friends (a show that couldn't be any more different than what I'm envisioning, btw) was originally pitched as a simple 5-page treatment without any sample script. Perhaps because they were established screenwriters their scriptless idea was purchased on good faith?

Frankly, the Friends concept doesn't sound like it could've been any more compelling on paper than was the final onscreen product, but that's just me.