Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with wind

How do I build a balcony enclosure to reduce wind and noise yet preserve my awesome view of NYC?

jacquilinala — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 08:37:41 -0800

Help me make my noisy, windy city balcony more enjoyable. I recently moved into an awesome apartment in Brooklyn. It's on the 6th floor and has a balcony... which has an unobstructed, amazing view of the Manhattan skyline. However! My apartment faces the BQE and it's noisy. It's also freaking cold out now, and being on the 6th floor, it's very windy on the balcony.

I thought it would be a fun project to try to build a balcony enclosure of some sort. While I don't want to obstruct my view of the city, I would love to be able to go out there and not feel like I was going to blow away. Noise insulation of some sort would be great too.

I googled around and found this, and while that's the same idea, it's not what I'm looking for. I'm thinking more like going to a lumber yard, buying some kind of wood (?), and DIYing it. Some sort of noise insulation stuff. Maybe plexiglass on one side to preserve the view?

Of course, this would have to work in the summer too...

Ideas? Here are the dimensions... and a picture of the balcony.

129" wide (approx 126" within the railings)

49" deep (approx 46" within)

43" height of railing.

pic 1 and pic 2

Thanks!

How do I shepherd my trees through adolescence?

morganw — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:49:34 -0800

How should I support and trim my two trees so they'll grow up to be big and strong? They're past the sapling stage (in other words picture C) and when one broke its single support stick (about 6 feet high), I trimmed it and staked both. Now the untrimmed one caught enough wind to pull up a stake and break it's support stick.

The pictures include closeups of leaves & berries as I don't know what kind of trees these are. I'm in San Jose, California and I bought the house a year ago, soon after the trees were planted.

I've trimmed both down to 4 foot diameter cylinders so they'll live until I can get better support installed, but what's the tradeoff between trimming and support? Should I keep the support light and foliage trimmed to "encourage" the trees to thicken their trunks or do I need beefy support? The other trees on my street are also mostly young [Google StreetView] so the wind can be pretty strong.

Lastly, where do arborists get strips of tire?, which some prefer over wire through garden hose for spreading load & preventing bark chafing? The increasingly misnamed Orchard Supply Hardware (now owned by Sears) had sticks and stakes, but no ties of any kind.

WOOOSHHHHHHHHHHH

zazerr — Wed, 13 May 2009 08:55:44 -0800

Wind proof headphones for running and biking? I've tried many a "sports" headphone, but they all seem to increase the sound of the wind loudly wooshing past my ears. If I put my hands, or even just a finger, directly in front of my ears (around my temples), the sound goes away. Does anyone make quality head/earphones that do this?

For normal use, I love in-ear sealed type earphones, but they won't work because all I'll hear is the sound of my feet hitting the ground and the cord hitting me. Plus they're expensive.

I bet over-the-head, big-ear-pad headphones would work OK, but I suspect they'd make my ears very hot and sweaty.

Or do I just have oddly shaped ears?

Hackintosh + MSI Wind?

loquacious — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 14:20:36 -0800

Anyone have any recent experience with Hackintosh or OSx86 on the MSI Wind netbook? I'm preparing to try out OS X on an MSI Wind, which has recently released hardware drivers for OS X negating the wifi hardware swap required for it to work.

I'm looking for links, personal experience and information about pitfalls.

Changing to linux on the MSI WIND

maca — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 08:23:06 -0800

I recently bought an MSI Wind u100 160G 3 Cell netbook, and am very happy with the little thing. I used to have a mac, am familiar with windows, but am considering going the LINUX route. What are the advantages of Linux?

I must mention that I´m not terribly computer savvy.. Is this a change I could do myself? If so, what´s a user friendly distro that can be booted from a USB (no CD drive on the wind).

Has your wind turbine worked well for you?

soulbarn — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 09:27:35 -0800

We are considering buying a Skystream wind turbine for a new home we're building in Northern New Hampshire (in the U.S.) Does anyone have any first-hand experience with this brand of turbine? Has it performed as well as expected and held up over time?

Alternative energy - when, where, how, why?

zaebiz — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 19:31:53 -0800

What would it take of an alternative energy to make a serious impact in current global energy consumption? What cost/benefits would it need to demonstrate over and above existing sources? Who would need to seriously start using it? Anybody have some good sources of information or discussion on this topic?

Need daily worldwide wind data...

klanawa — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:39:15 -0800

I'm looking for daily data about current global wind patterns. I've seen NASA's and NOAA's wind maps and made my own with meteoblue, but what I really need is a daily (approximately), preferrably gridded summary of global wind velocities, including over land (NASA has many wind products, like QuickSCAT, but they only cover the ocean).

I could get velocities by sampling the pixels on a map image, but that leaves me without directions (which are generally only indicated by arrows or barbs) so I need some numerical data.

Googling has failed me. Anyone know where I can find this? Format is basically a non-issue.

Thanks.

Closed due to high winds

Morrigan — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:15:41 -0800

Some time ago, I was in Chicago and visited the Sears Tower. The observation deck was closed due to high winds. Why? Are they concerned with the hats or possessions of tourists blowing off or is it some sort of elevator issue? If the latter, does this affect office workers on high wind days as well? None of the above?

I love it, but it makes me smell

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 07:50:35 -0800

I was going to post this as myself, but I bottled out. I can be contacted on cabbagebreath68 @ googlemail.com. What can I do to limit the amount of gas produced by eating foods such as beans, cauliflower, radishes, etc? Backstory: I can't get hold of Beano where I am. I chew, chew, and then chew some more. I cook with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda. But I still suffer from flatulence after eating such foods. I don't suffer from it at all, normally. It's only when I eat "high gas" foods that I get it. I really enjoy them, though, so I don't want to cut back on them. I want to be able to eat them, and just not fart so much afterwards.

Actual question: What I'm looking for are things that I can do/take at home to help with the problem. Things like drinking camomile tea after meals. Eating papaya. Different cooking techniques (I mainly steam). Or massaging the digestive tract. Things like that. I'd rather steer away from OTC remedies such as antacids and such.

Going where the wind takes me.

laughinglikemad — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 11:09:58 -0800

I wish to travel the world, learning about renewable energy. Discuss. I have hopes to eventually get my European Master's in Renewable Energy with EUREC. In the meantime, however, I'm looking for leads on how to educate myself outside of the classroom. Room+board/volunteer programs would be ideal.

I'll be starting at the Earth Embassy, in Japan. There are ample amounts of solar-power NGOs in Nepal, like Swogun's Solar Aid or Himilayan Light Foundation. Australia seems like a ready-made solar powerhouse, but could I really expect to get a green-collar job with something like BUNAC?

And that's only solar power. What about wind, biodiesel, geothermal?

American citizen, best languages are English/Russian/German, fast learner.

Suggestions for wacky educational adventures like Thai massage courses are also appreciated.

Which Wind Instrument Requres the Least Amount of Lung-Power?

Buddy-Rey — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:37:09 -0800

Hi, folks! I'd just like to ask, out of curiosity, which wind instruments (especially brass) require the least effort and wind. I'm thinking of taking up something, but proper breathing is not my strong suit and I'm looking for something less taxing to build it up on. Any help with this query will be most appreciated!

Why is the car less windy with two windows open than one?

L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 09:15:47 -0800

When I'm driving, why is the wind less strong when two windows are open than when I just have the driver's window down? I've noticed this in several vehicles. If I roll down the driver's side window, the wind tends to buffet me in the side of the head pretty good. If I open one of the passenger-side windows as well, the wind isn't nearly as strong. I'd expect more openings to equal more wind, so can one of you physics-empowered folks explain why this happens?

You don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows

conch soup — Wed, 09 May 2007 23:50:14 -0800

Does the atmosphere rotate? In other words, is there a net shift in air around the globe, east to west? I got totally dumbfounded in a discussion about this, and Google didn't seem to help. Does the atmosphere have a net- rather than localized- rotation around the globe, or are all the east winds basically equivalent to the west winds? Do the Easterlies and Westerlies (http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/guides/mtr/hurr/gifs/mvmt1.gif) cancel out?
Example: In the midwest US, it would seem that the whole atmosphere has a general shift from West to East. But in the Caribbean it seems to go, on average, East to West. Does this all even out in the end, or is there a net rotation in relation to the terra firma?

Why do I have a headwind in both directions?

Mozai — Tue, 08 May 2007 07:50:22 -0800

I'm living the "uphill both ways" joke. I cycle to work, and I've always got a headwind, every day, in both directions. Why? Friends told me "you're moving at speed, duh," so I dismissed it at an illusion... until I noticed I pass by a flagpole on my route. Every morning for the past week, when I approach by the flagpole, the flag is snapping in the wind, pointing right at me... eastward when I'm travelling west in the morning, and westward when I'm travelling east in the evening. I've noticed other things like dustclouds, bits of trash, and people's clothes blown in the wind, and sometimes knock-me-over crosswinds when I make turns.

I'm somewhat thankful for the extra workout, but it seems really odd that I would get headwinds in the most difficult direction, twice a day, every single day (feels like every day, but I've only been measuring for a week). Why on Earth?

Other details: I live in Montreal, most of my route is along Lachine Canal, although I cross the urban area of Verdun and over Champlain Bridge -- the bridge is perpendicular to the Canal, and yet the headwind is just as strong!

A different kind of fencepost problem

adamrice — Thu, 03 May 2007 10:57:08 -0800

Stuctural-engineering filter: I need some help figuring out requirements for a temporary art installation that needs to stand up to the wind. The installation will resemble a fence made of T-posts and panels of vinyl banner material. Each panel will be approximately 2 m square (I have some flexibility on this), and will be supported by T-posts left and right, held to it by zip-ties through grommetted holes at 60 cm intervals. I'll be cutting slits in the panels to allow some wind to pass through, but it needs to be able to stand up to 60 kph winds. My questions are:

1. How deeply do the T-posts need to be sunk into the ground?
2. Can I double-up panels on T-posts, so a single T-post is supporting panels on both sides, or should each T-post be holding up only one side of one panel?
3. Another way to approach #2 is this: below a certain panel size, I could double up (I imagine). What is that size? I'm interested in minimizing the time and effort it will take to set all these T-posts.

I'll be grateful for any other suggestions along these lines. I've thought about anchoring the T-posts with cables and stakes front and rear, but site considerations make that impractical, and I am hoping it would be unnecessary.

'Wind of ball' injuries

bryon — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 12:21:48 -0800

Projectile filter: Anyone familiar with the injury known as "wind of ball"? I've just read Ian W. Toll's fascinating book "Six Frigates" about the early days of the U.S. Navy. Twice he casually mentions sailors of that era being injured or even killed by the wind of a cannonball passing close to them. "Wind of ball" was apparently used as a cause of death in the navies of the 18th and 19th centuries. Can anyone explain how such a thing is possible?

Looking for a picture of a windy day

uncanny hengeman — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 20:46:25 -0800

I'm looking for a link to a famous(ish) picture featuring an impossibly windy day. I've seen it two or three times over the years in gift/poster shops. Hopefully my memory isn't playing tricks. The clues I have:

* It's a painting or drawing, not a real photograph.
* It's set in a city.
* People are maybe waiting around for a bus or something.
* Might be set in the 1950s or earlier if you look at the fashions.
* At least one person is holding on to a railing or similar and is practically being blown horizontal.

Italian GSM card in US phone - PAC and PIN?

kickingtheground — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 09:08:05 -0800

My sister is in Italy - and is trying to use an italian (Wind) SIM card in her American cingular GSM phone. It's asking her for a PAC and PIN number - which she doesn't know. What does she do? When she left for Italy, her (samsung) phone was still locked. I bought unlocking codes on EBay, and emailed them to her there. These same codes worked fine for my (identical) phone, but she might have made some mistake entering them. Therefore, I can't be 100% sure that her phone is actually unlocked.

I have accepted that if I wish to preserve my reproductive organs, I will need to acquire a long coat rather quickly. but what to look out for?

krautland — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 11:21:54 -0800

I have accepted that if I wish to preserve my reproductive organs, I will need to acquire a long coat rather quickly. but what to look out for? I don't know if you noticed but it's really damn cold in chicago today and the wind makes this all the more brutal. I have accepted that if I wish to preserve my reproductive organs, I will need to acquire a long coat rather quickly. someome was nice enough to hand me a 20% off coupon for macy's but my dilemma is that -besides the obvious taste questions- I don't know what to look out for. I've spent the last six years in california! I've never collected intel on what makes a coat a good coat or not. I only heard I should look out for pure wool and nothing else in order to stay warm.

Kenneth Cole Reaction "Wyatt" Wool/Cashmere Overcoat With Spill Out Hood
Calvin Klein "Plaza" Wool/Cashmere Overcoat

any recommendations? is there anything obviously wrong with these choices I made from their website? what else do I need to be looking out for?

Wind power: does it blow, or no?

attercoppe — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 20:49:36 -0800

We're hammering out an ordinance to allow small wind turbine power generators in our town. We'd like to cover all the bases, and are looking for good and bad from other towns. We've found plenty of success stories - from manufacturers and vendors of the equipment! Ideally, we'd like to find a town (maybe similar to ours, but not necessarily) that has allowed, and subsequently seen installed, the same type of wind energy systems. We want to know what "the people" think regarding noise, views, property values, etc in an area that has seen a few to several personal-use wind energy systems installed.

Pointers as to where to find towns that have a significant concentration of these systems would be great; personal experiences are also welcome.

How to seal up a noisy downdraft vent when not in use?

TauLepton — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 17:36:51 -0800

Our cooktop has a downdraft vent to the outside. We live in a windy area and the flap on the vent bangs often. It's also a huge heat loss. How can I keep it closed when not in use? The cooktop is a JennAir four burner with grill. When cooking, you can manually turn on the downdraft fan by an on/off knob on the front of the unit. The cooktop also automatically starts the downdraft fan when you light up the grill.

Ideally, I'd like the vent to seal up when the switch is off and allow for normal use when the fan switch is on. (i.e. I'd like to use the existing wiring.)

I've considered an electromagnet switch, but am not certain what to purchase or how to wire it up. Would it need to be always on in order to make a seal? Is this a problem with electricity consumption or heat buildup in the magnet?

Is there a different solution that I'm not seeing? (Hopefully one that can be controlled from indoors - we're in a snow belt.)

Thanks!

you call him tarzipan!

MarvinJ — Thu, 11 May 2006 01:58:05 -0800

soundeffectfilter: Looking for the sound effect that is used when a bad joke falls flat. This sound effect was used, most recently on Shooting Stars(UK TV show).

What usually happened was the host, Vic, would deliver a joke with a bad punchline and, of course, no-one laughs.
You then hear the sound of a lonley church bell and the wind blowing.

I am looking for this as a wav sound effect but can't seem to find it any where on t'internet.

help!

Energy, Lots of Energy

BigBrownBear — Thu, 04 May 2006 07:42:04 -0800

If I wanted to learn all about the energy industy, what would be some good books and resources? From listening to the Watt and reading the Energy Blog, I've gotten very interested in the energy industry, peak oil, and alternative energies. I'd love to read some really good or really important books on the topic. These can be general overviews or technical.

Also, any good free online materials are great, because, well, they're free.

The impact of renewable energy

ganseki — Tue, 02 May 2006 15:47:44 -0800

What effect would a massive growth in renewable energy sources have on the environment? Besides the obvious impact of rivers dammed for hydroelectric power-stations, what effect would it have if, for example, every new building was fitted with solar panels and wind turbines, enormous wind farms were built or the Sahara covered in solar collectors?

I'm thinking on both a local and global scale - given enough wind turbines, could wind patterns be altered? Could the decrease in reflectivity caused by massed solar panels alter the local ambient temperature? More to the point, how many of these things would it take to see a significant difference?