Zero zero, the jumbo jet graveyard
MORE on the occupants of the mysterious “zero zero” map location at 0° north by 0° west, which lies in the Atlantic to the south of Ghana (31 October 2009). John Relph tells us that he was an airline ground mechanic in the 1970s when 747 jumbo jets were introduced. He heard flight crews refer to zero zero as the “jumbo graveyard”.
“The Carousel inertial navigation system used magnetic core memory and space was very limited,” he explains. “Flight crews had to load new waypoints in flight and due to system problems, once in a while they inadvertently loaded and activated all the zeros as a waypoint. They were then alarmed when their jumbo headed off in an unexpected direction. Checks soon showed what was going on and it was easily corrected – so this jumbo graveyard remained mythical and no one ever got remotely near it.”
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Meanwhile, Andrew Doble tells us that a few years ago his British Airways flight out of London Gatwick airport was delayed by a computer problem in the cockpit. While the passengers waited on board, Andrew flicked through the TV channels and came across the flight map. “Our position,” he says, “was shown as south of Ghana, presumably at zero zero, although the actual coordinates weren’t displayed.”
“There is a ride at the famous Coney Island funfair in New York which offers “Simulated Virtual Reality”. “I think I know what they mean,” says Glyn Hughes, “but then again, I don’t.”
HAVE you wondered why manufacturers have taken to adding scents to more and more consumer products – including car tyres (28 March 2009)? If so, in the US Journal of Consumer Research, has this answer: “Product scent may be particularly effective at enhancing memory for product information as a function of its ability to enhance a product’s distinctiveness within its surrounding context.”
Shorn of its clunky language, what this means is that if products have a smell you’re likely to remember them better. That makes sense to us. We always make a point of remembering which products are scented so we’ll be sure never to buy them again.
HATS off to Humax, the Korean company that makes digital TV set-top boxes, for some quick thinking in a difficult situation.
Humax recently set out to demonstrate a neat new way to catch up on missed TV programmes for free, by using a free-to-air satellite set-top box, a broadband connection and an ordinary TV. Ironically the demonstration was at the same venue in London where Microsoft’s demonstration of Windows 7 had been marred by technical foul-ups (14 November 2009). Much as happened with Microsoft, the internet connection failed and Humax director Graham North was left with a blank screen – but he handled it very differently.
“The latest version of Murphy’s law on technical demonstrations,” he explained, “says that the more important an audience, the more likely it is that something will go wrong. So you must be a very important bunch of people. Have a snack while we have a look.”
We’re pleased to say that soon afterwards the internet connection came back to life and a roomful of journalists, all now fed, watered and glowing with self-importance, judged the pictures terrific. Take heed, Microsoft.
THREE and a half years ago, Nick Ewans emailed Kaspersky Lab Support with a technical query. Finally he received a reply, dated 16 December 2009. “Thank you for using Kaspersky Lab Support,” it said. “Unfortunately, due to the high rate of customer requests to our technical support service, the response time to your request 183596809, received on 06.04.2006 13:04:53 will exceed 24 hours. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. Your request will be replied to as soon as is possible!”
Well, they weren’t lying. The response time was definitely more than 24 hours.
WHAT is the worst packaging overkill that a Feedback reader has experienced? Derek Woodroffe thinks he has a serious contender. He recently took delivery of five integrated circuits, each of them a mere 5 Ă— 5 Ă— 1.5 millimetres in size. Four of the five items came together in a bag, but the fifth came alone in its own large bag padded with bubble wrap.
So Derek did some sums. He calculated that the volume of the item inside this package was 37.5 cubic millimetres. The volume of the packaging was 200 Ă— 320 Ă— 7 millimetres, or 448,000 cubic millimetres. This meant that the ratio of product volume to packaging volume was 1:11,947. Can anyone beat that?
FINALLY, we’re accustomed to stories of prolonged educational endeavour and perpetual studenthood, but we were as shocked as was Stephanie Burton to see the course handbook the University of Chester emailed her for the MA in education she was contemplating doing there. It shows that the course runs from 2009 until 20010.