I worked for Tracor Applied Sciences, Electronic Systems Division on Navy
contracts for a time before joining Charleston Naval Shipyard and civil
service.  One task we performed was to install an extensive
fire/flood/intruder alarm system into Tracor Marine's SEACON Sea
Construction Barge which was a neat little ship who's central structure
was a huge garage with the deck that opened up as well as its roof so you
could lower heavy objects picked up from the deck on the stern down
through the middle (center of moment) of the ship without tilting it.

Central to its mission was a sonobouy detection system that consisted of
4 sonar ping sensors.  A sonobouy was fired at the bottom over the spot
you wanted to put the barge.  Then, a PDP-8 minicomputer monitored the
sonar's phase relationship of the 4 ping, actually more of a click,
detectors.  The PDP-8 controlled 3 of the craziest propulsion plants I
ever saw.  A diesel engine drove a hydraulic pump and the computer
controlled valves that set a vertical "egg beater" contraption spinning
around a vertical axis.  The blades were controlled, hydraulically, and
could push the barge in ANY direction maintaining the barge without
anchoring lines that would get in the way of underwater construction
centered right over that little sonobouy clicking away on the bottom.

This contraption, however, could only make about 6 knots wide open, so it
was towed with an ocean tug on a LONG line to wherever the job was, like
Diego Garcia where it built a huge chain-fall anchorage in the center of
Diego Garcia's underwater volcano cone to tie ships out to.  I was nearly
Shanghai'd for that trip because of my electronic knowledge and a couple
of favors I did for her captain.  (The welders wanted me, too, because I
had watched them trying to hydraulic hand start a 6-cyl Navy welding
monster all day, on and off as I worked my job.  In the afternoon, still
not running, I walked down the pier and asked all these "mechanics" if
they had primed this brand new diesel engine...drawing blank stares like
I was from Mars.  After a short explanation to the assembled "experts", a
tool box appeared and I cracked open the EMPTY fuel filter and filled it,
opened the nuts on all the injectors after filling the injection pump and
turned her over twice to prime the lines and get the air out.  One last
long hand pump on the hydraulic starting manual pressure pump, close all
the open nuts and lines, open the throttle a little and STOMP on the
start valve button....VAaaaRRROOOOMM!!!, one welding machine up and
running!  One standing ovation from the poor sweating bastards that had
been pumping on it all day to no avail.  They just put lube oil into it
and expected it to crank itself....hee hee.)

We took SEACON out for a little pleasure cruise around Little Creek
Amphib Base and the river cruise to play with her joy stick and computer.  
What a cool way to run a boat!

Crank engine, let 'er warm up a minute.....
Move joystick to port away from pier...boat moves sideways away from
pier.
Release joystick at point where you want to stop sideways motion.  Boat
stops DEAD STILL, even though all diesel engines still running fast.
Move joystick towards bow slowly and boat moves towards bow in proportion
to how far you push little joystick!  This is GREAT!
Out in open harbor, recenter joystick and boat stops dead.
ROTATE joystick clockwise looking down on it.....BOAT TURNS CLOCKWISE ON
ITS AXIS as if boat is made like a washtub!
Recenter joystick, boat rotation stops dead still.

This is more fun to drive than anything I ever drove.....and SO EASY!

If you rotate the stick while pressing toward the NORTH, and move the
stick around so it continues to be pointed to the North, even though the
boat is rotating around under it.....THE DAMNED THING WILL SPIN UNDERWAY
GOING NORTH!  It only goes slowly, but it works!

There's never been a bow thruster to match this crazy propulsion
system....(c;

The food and coffee aboard SEACON was the worst I ever had....it was just
AWFUL!  Even the BUGJUICE was AWFUL!

"Must of"?

Yeah, brilliant.  "Must have," Einstein.  "Must have."

Congratulations on all points!  Today's kids would be a lot better off if
you handed them broken computer hardware or crashed software and told
them they couldn't do their homework until they had fixed it.  At least
they would have demonstrable skills, unlike high school graduates.

I have an English friend who lives in Atlanta.  Many years ago he found a
pasteboard box with a little black baby girl some crackheads had
abandoned in one of Atlanta's biggest malls.  A really good person, he
followed her into the terrible socialist services debacle and ended up
adopting her, the best thing that ever happened in her short life.  A few
years ago, she graduated near the top of her class in Nursing and is now
a well-paid RN in a major hospital.  My English friends are very well off
in commercial construction and real estate making all this possible.  She
looks almost a match for Brandi, the beautiful singer.

Whenever someone asks about his black daughter, he paints a terrible
picture of him and a teenage prostitute.  You have to know him to
appreciate the dry English humor in all of it....(c;

NOONE is more fun, drunk at a party....NOONE.

If you're saddled with 2G, Wifi is enough ALL of the time.....

Friend has a iPhone which on edge is great on battery life. Switch to wi-fi
and the battery is cut to half. He wants to get the new 3G model when they
come out.

He used about 35% of his fully charged battery in 30 mins on wi-fi. If 3G is
in the same ballpark as wi-fi in battery use, expect about 90mins before it
going dead.

When he tested the battery life, all settings were the same as the edge
testing. Without a battery door, I will never get one. We know why that
won't install a battery door. And it's not because of the size the iPhone
would be after.