I guess piloting a ship is like setting cruise control on a car and hoping for the best even after an alarm sounds. What happened on that ferry? TGB suggests that autopilot on a plane is a more accurate description of autopilot on a ship. I disagree, with a plane you have to worry about left and right and up and down and a ship is just left and right and oh, I guess DOWN too. I stand corrected.
Actually my bad analogy was sprung from a Simpsons episode where Bart figures that cruise control on his car means that steering is controlled automatically and then he ends up driving through a corn field, while he’s oblivious to the danger. The scary parallel between that and this accident is what had me comparing the autopilot to cruise control.
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SaskTel wants a community TV station? What’s wrong with SCN which is already a government owned TV station? I can’t imagine Regina, Saskatoon and area needing another community cable channel, so obviously SaskTel should continue to be barred from operating a TV channel like the CRTC has decided time and again.
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Dave | 28-Mar-06 at 10:19 pm | Permalink
Actually, it’s not like cruise control. It’s more like the autopilot in an aircraft.
More information here.
Lance | 29-Mar-06 at 12:12 am | Permalink
And trust me . . . up and down are big factors in a ship too. maybe not a ferry though. They tend towards the left and right thing, and not a lot of that.
I’ve walked on bulkheads (walls) at midships and been lifted off my feet half a meter from the deck in forward and aft parts of a ship. Now granted, those conditions require a sea state of 4 or better . . . but still, something for an auto-pilot has to worry about.
Cheers,
lance
Saskboy | 29-Mar-06 at 12:41 am | Permalink
Still it’s not a matter of “steering” up or down. A ship won’t fly, and hopefully won’t steer down [unless it's a sub then all bets are off].
Ashley | 29-Mar-06 at 12:58 pm | Permalink
Brian left another Haiku for you on his site
Brandon | 30-Mar-06 at 9:10 am | Permalink
SaskTel sucks.