So, as you know, I recently upgraded to DSL from Cable. The Actiontec DSL modem provided by Qwest is really cool and provides quite a few features, but the firmware upgrade provided at the company website makes the thing stop responding.

My self-assigned quest was to figure out exactly what was going wrong, and to do so in a non-destructive way. This involved attaching a serial cable to the modem’s circuit board and using it as a console to interactively diagnose the issue.

Some disassembly required. Some pictures provided.
http://www.tlarson.com/guides/dslhack

I was recently searching through the NTSB accident database, curious to find out some details on a minor plane crash that happened here a little while back. While so doing, I ran into a very interesting accident.

It seems that back in May, a small 1950’s-era helicopter was taking off at from a ranch in rural Colorado. Everything was going smoothly on takeoff until, “the right rear skid caught on a nearby truck trailer fender.”

Now, I must admit, I’m not a helicopter pilot. Some of the finer points of helicopter operations may perhaps escape me; however, I like to think that my powers of spatial reasoning are at least up to scratch. And if I read that quote correctly, the helicopter managed to catch the rear part of one of its skids on the fender of a very-close-by vehicle.

Wow. Think about the setup that had to be in place for that accident to happen. Someone feels stupid. (There were no injuries.)