Across the Spectrum
Standards
11/8/2008
Does the statement "We've always done it that way" ring any bells? The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8½ inches. That's an exceedingly odd number.
Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US railroads. Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.
Why did "they" use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.
Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long-distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.
So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions. The roads have been used ever since. And the ruts in the road? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were alike in the matter of wheel spacing. The US standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8½ inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. And bureaucracies live forever.
So the next time you are handed a spec and told we have always done it that way, and wonder what horse's arse came up with that, you may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses.
Standards
Does the statement "We've always done it that way" ring any bells? The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8½ inches. That's an exceedingly odd number.
Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US railroads. Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.
Why did "they" use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.
Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long-distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.
And you thought being a horse's arse wasn't important!
And you thought
being a horse's arse
wasn't important! So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions. The roads have been used ever since. And the ruts in the road? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were alike in the matter of wheel spacing. The US standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8½ inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. And bureaucracies live forever.
So the next time you are handed a spec and told we have always done it that way, and wonder what horse's arse came up with that, you may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses.
Now the twist to the story ... when you see a space shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds.
So a major space shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's butt. And you thought being a horse's arse wasn't important!
Now the twist to the story ... when you see a space shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds.
So a major space shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's butt. And you thought being a horse's arse wasn't important!
And people worry about the use of instructions sets from the old 8086'sACCC Targeting Telstra.
29/7/2008
THE Australian consumer watchdog has issued an almost unprecedented statement saying it would take an even closer look at Telstra's broadband competition practices, despite its already hawkish eye on the telco giant.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced yesterday it has made a record keeping rule to force Telstra to retain records and report to the watchdog on all matters relating to access to its telephone exchanges.
The rule comes after the ACCC had received large numbers of complains over a long period related to delays in getting access to Telstra premises - and sometimes further obstructive practices - from market competitors.
Competitors had complained that Telstra had refused them access to exchanges on the grounds that there was insufficient space, and that they had been subject to lengthy delays in getting access to install equipment that would allow them to provide ADSL2 services.
"The ACCC believes that there is a strong need for independent oversight of Telstra's processes to cap exchanges to ensure that Telstra is held accountable and access seekers are not unreasonably denied access to Telstra exchanges," ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said.
"There is also a clear need to identify the exact cause of delays with Telstra's queuing system," Mr Samuel said.
"The record keeping rule will assist the ACCC in carrying out its statutory functions under the access regime in the Trade Practices Act and provide confidence to access seekers investing in competitive DSLAM infrastructure about the accuracy of Telstra's processes," he said.
A Telstra spokesman is quoted in Australian media saying the new record-keeping requirements were yet another cost-imposition on the company.
Telstra has had a difficult relationship with the ACCC, which it has previously described as a rogue regulator.
ICANN approves new Net names
2/7/2008
THE Internet's global governing body ICANN has approved a range of top level domain names that will lresult in the biggest expansion of the Net in its 40 year existence.
ICANN is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, and is the closest thing the Internet has to a governing body.
ICANN president and chief executive, Australian Paul Twomey, says the changes will give companies and individuals more choice.
"The Board today accepted a recommendation from its global stakeholders that it is possible to implement many new names to the Internet, paving the way for an expansion of domain name choice and opportunity" Mr Twomeys said.
A final version of the implementation plan must be approved by the ICANN Board before the new process is launched. It is intended that the final version will be published in early 2009.
"The potential here is huge. It represents a whole new way for people to express themselves on the Net," said Mr Twomey. "It's a massive increase in the 'real estate' of the Internet."
Presently, users have a limited range of 21 top level domains to choose from - names that we are all familiar with like .com, .org, .info.
"One of the most exciting prospect before us is that the expanding system is also being planned to support extensions in the languages of the world," said Peter Dengate Thrush, ICANN's Chairman.
"This is going to be very important for the future of the Internet in Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Russia." The present system only supports 37 Roman characters.