Samsonite

And which aircraft might that be? The a400M? Probably the biggest joke in military aircraft in two or three generations or the a380 that has trouble leaving the gate? If there are any a330 tankers flying, how many and with what countries' military?

Not so. The first time around the Air Force/Defense Dept. issued the specs and Boeing offered a plane that strictly met those specs. Midstream the Defense Dept. changed the specs to favor Airbust. Again, the specs have been issued and Boeing is, again, offering the best proudct that meets the guidelines as outlined by the Defense Dept. If airbust has chosen not to offer an aircraft that meets those specs, perhaps they don't have one, or, two, as suggested by another poster, they are so deep in the red due to the a380 and 400 projects they can't afford to bid for the tanker program. Probably the later.

IIRC, the primary reason the G.A.O. overturned the award of the contract to airbust was the Defense Dept. had changed the specs midstream to favor airbust.

Bullshit. A completely subjective opinion on your part.

It is this kind of complete thread f*&%ing that is ruining this board and has pulled it down to second place in traffic as compared to a certain other board associated with another bar.

But, but, but.... P&W didn't offer an engine for the 787. Sounds like they didn't want to make the investment, that is, spend the money to develop an engine that could meet the specs for the 787. "According to United Technologies Corporation CEO George David, Pratt & Whitney "couldn't make the business case work for that engine."[24]" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_787

It is called, ETOPS, Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards. Two engines jetliners cannot be more than xxx number of minutes from the nearest airport. While I would prefer a 4 engine plane for a long haul flight, the data generated over the years since two engine twin aisle jets first went into service has shown them to be every bit as reliable as four engine jets, if not more so.

Well, like I've said before, that is why they are called "test flights." BTW, it was Rolls Royce engine. Hmmm. Rolls...that is a British firm isn't it. It was a sensor that cause an "uncommanded" reduction in power. They checked the RR engines on the other two test planes before letting them go up again. As of 3 March there have been 74 test flights racking up 255 hours and 55 minutes. There were 3 more flights on 4 March, but I don't know the total number of hours. Three more planes will be joining the test fleet over the next several weeks. The first four test 787s have RR engines. The fifth and sixth planes will have GE engines. Here are two photos from the first flight and one from the roll out. The wings on that bird are amazing.

Found this on "another" board. I don't know who is worst in this regard, microsoft or google. http://gizmodo.com/5479567/the-secret-gove...want-you-to-see

Mr. Orwell would be so proud: "Microsoft's new 'phone home' anti-piracy practice unacceptable, says critic 'At what point is one free of this' perpetual checking, asks Lauren Weinstein By Gregg Keizer February 12, 2010 03:54 PM ET Computerworld - The Internet advocate who blasted Microsoft in 2006 over the daily "phone home" habits of its anti-piracy software took the company to task again today for a new practice that will examine consumers' Windows 7 PCs every 90 days to make sure they're running legitimate copies of the OS. Lauren Weinstein, the co-founder of People For Internet Responsibility (PFIR), urged Windows 7 users not to accept the option update to Windows Activation Technologies (WAT) when Microsoft begins seeding it to the Windows Update service later this month...." Rest of story at: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/915...ble_says_critic

Soi 8. It is on Soi 8.

No, not really. Every new generation has all the latest engineering, electronics, and materials available at the time and Boeing updates and improves their aircraft, where possible, over the life of the model. The Boeing 737 is even older, but when they launched the "Next Generation' 737 in the late '90s, it was all new from the inside out. Ditto the Boeing 777. The first 777 flew went into commercial service in 1995. In 2004 the 777-300ER went into service with 35% of the plane built with all new engineering including a new wing, landing gear and engines. The 777-200LR went into service in 2006 with the same new engineering as -300ER and is the longest range commercial airliner in service. In 2009 the Boeing 777F, based in the -200LR, and carries more cargo farther than any other aircraft in its class. In the short life of the Boeing 777-300ER, its range has been extended several hundred nautical miles due to refinements to the design and use of new materials. A couple of years ago the weight of the 737 was reduced by several hundred pounds, 700 IIRC, by switching to carbon brakes from steel. Within the first year of deliveries of the 747-100 enough improvements had been made that Boeing started selling and building the 747-200, and so on. It is an ongoing process.

Agreed, and you can hide an encrypted volume within another encrypted volume making it difficult, if not impossible, to detect even if you give someone the password to the outer volume. http://www.truecrypt.org/ BTW, it is Open Source, not Shareware. :)

Just when you think mickeysoft can't sink any lower...... "January 21st, 2010 Microsoft confirms 17-year-old Windows vulnerability Posted by Ryan Naraine @ 8:05 am One day after a Google security researcher released code to expose a flaw that affects every release of the Windows NT kernel — from Windows NT 3.1 (1993) up to and including Windows 7 (2009) — Microsoft dropped a security advisory to acknowledge the issue and warn of the risk of privilege escalation attacks. Microsoft warns that a malicious hacker could exploit this vulnerability to run arbitrary code in kernel mode. For an attack to be successful, the attacker must have valid logon credentials. The flaw does not affect Windows operating systems for x64-based and Itanium-based computers, Microsoft said. According to Tavis Ormandy, the Google researcher who released the flaw details, Microsoft was notified about the issue in June 2009. After waiting several months and not seeing a patch, he decided it was in the best interest of everyone to go public. As an effective and easy to deploy workaround is available, I have concluded that it is in the best interest of users to go ahead with the publication of this document without an official patch. It should be noted that very few users rely on NT security, the primary audience of this advisory is expected to be domain administrators and security professionals. Ormandy’s advisory includes instructions for temporarily disabling the MSDOS and WOWEXEC subsystems to prevent an attack from functioning. This can be done via Group Policy. The mitigation in Microsoft’s advisory mirrors the advice from Ormandy. Ryan Naraine is a journalist and security evangelist at Kaspersky Lab. He manages Threatpost.com, a security news portal. Here is Ryan's full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations." http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=5307 and... "January 21st, 2010 Microsoft knew of IE zero-day flaw since last September Posted by Ryan Naraine @ 12:34 pm Microsoft today admitted it knew of the Internet Explorer flaw used in the attacks against Google and Adobe since September last year. The flaw was in the Microsoft Security Response Center’s (MSRC) queue to be fixed in the the next batch of patches due in February but the targeted zero-day attacks against U.S. companies forced the company to release an emergency, out-of-band IE update. The IE update applies to all versions of the browser on all Windows OS versions and patches at least eight documented vulnerabilities that could lead to remote code execution attacks. The patches are included in the critical MS10-002 bulletin. The vulnerability used in the attacks (CVE-2010-0249) was private reported to Microsoft last August by Meron Sellen, a white-hat hacker at BugSec, an Israeli security research company. Microsoft program manager Jerry Bryant said the company confirmed the severity of the flaw in September and planned to ship a fix in a cumulative IE update next month. The vulnerability is described as a remote code execution issue in the way that Internet Explorer accesses an object that has not been correctly initialized or has been deleted. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted Web page. When a user views the Web page, the vulnerability could allow remote code execution. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the logged-on user. If a user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Even if you don’t user Internet Explorer for regular Web browser, it’s important for Windows users to apply this update immediately. That’s because the vulnerability can be exploited by including an ActiveX control in a Microsoft Access, Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file. “Customers would have to open a malicious file to be at risk of exploitation,” Microsoft’s Bryant said, urging users to disable ActiveX controls in Microsoft Office." http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=5324&tag=wrapper;col1

Not so. They separate the two. They are projecting xx in fuel savings and xx in maintenance (due to the composite structure vs aluminum, etc.) to come up with total operating cost savings.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Achieves Initial Airworthiness Milestone EVERETT, Wash., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) has completed initial airworthiness testing on the 787 Dreamliner. This milestone will enable more crew members to take part in flights and will allow more airplanes to join the flight test program. "This is an important step forward," said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "We are very pleased with the results we have achieved so far. The airplane has been performing as we expected." Since the first flight in mid-December, the program has conducted 15 flights, achieving several key accomplishments. Pilots have taken the airplane to an altitude of 30,000 feet (9,144 meters) and a speed of Mach 0.65. Nearly 60 hours of flying have been completed. Initial stall tests and other dynamic maneuvers have been run, as well as an extensive check-out of the airplane's systems. Six different pilots have been behind the controls of the 787. In the weeks ahead, the team will continue to expand the flight envelope at which the 787 will operate to reach an altitude of more than 40,000 feet (12,192 meters) and a speed of Mach 0.85. Subsequent testing will push the airplane beyond expected operational conditions. "The pilots have told me the results we are seeing in flight match their expectations and the simulations we've run. That's a real tribute to Boeing's expertise and the international team that helped develop and build the airplane," said Fancher. Flight testing will continue in the months ahead. First delivery is planned for the fourth quarter of this year." http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=1032

You have said you don't want to open the case, but that would be the easiest thing to do, i.e., install it into your present computer as a second drive. You would need the proper cable and be sure to change the pin settings on the HD to "slave." The second easiest solutions, IMHO, would be to install the old HD into an external hard drive case that has its own power supply and an USB connection.

Good for airbust. Question for you pommy: If they are selling and delivering record numbers of aircraft why do they need to put their hand out at every opportunity? DATE:08/01/10 SOURCE:Flight International EADS running out of patience on A400M refinancing By Andrew Doyle EADS is warning the Airbus Military A400M customer nations that time is running out to save the troubled airlifter, which programme sources say is costing the company more than €100 million ($143 million) a month to sustain. "We are negotiating," says EADS. "We cannot take the burden all alone. We need to share the burden." Sources close to the programme rate the chances of a refinancing deal for the A400M being agreed before EADS's end-of-January deadline at "50:50". The project, running around two years late (edit in: 4 years late) with the prototype having finally achieved its maiden flight in December, requires another €11.4 bllion of funding to complete. EADS has already made a €2.4 billion provision, leaving additional costs of around €9 billion that need to be covered by the seven partner nations and industry. EADS declines to comment on reports that it is seeking another €5.3billion from the nations. Representatives of the customer nations will reportedly meet EADS officials for further talks in London on 15 January. Germany, the biggest A400M buyer with an order for 60, has taken a hard line, warning it is not prepare to contribute more than a further €650 million to cover inflation and surcharges, as set out in its contract. France and the UK have taken a more conciliatory approach, saying that they expect deal to be reached to continue the programme. Meanwhile, development aircraft MSN001 logged its third flight on 7 January, completing a 2h 25min sortie. “We made considerable progress in further exploring the aircraft’s behaviour in different configurations and were pleased with what we saw,” says Airbus head of flight operations Fernando Alonso. The A400M’s operational flight envelope has been cleared during MSN001’s 9h 20min of flight activity so far, and Airbus says “the rhythm of flight testing is expected to increase substantially in the coming days”. Additional reporting by Craig Hoyle" http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/...efinancing.html "A380 to remain a financial burden for years: Airbus chief By David Kaminski-Morrow EADS chief Louis Gallois has listed cost control of the Airbus A380 programme as a priority in 2010. Speaking during a joint EADS and Airbus event in Seville today, he said: "Actual production costs are significantly above expectations." He adds that the production ramp-up remains "difficult to manage". "Clearly we are not out of the woods," he says. Airbus chief Tom Enders admits that the manufacturer has "not come to grips with this complex aircraft". He says it will remain a "financial liability" for "years to come", but flagged up airline customers' appreciation of the jet. Airbus is aiming to deliver at least 20 A380s this year. There are currently 23 in service worldwide." http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/...ars-airbus.html The news article just above is proof beyond doubt that airbust is nothing more than a government funded Public Works (jobs) Project. Any REAL Company that has to pay its own way would not, and could not, continue funding a money losing project that has no hope for breaking even within any reasonable time frame.

Airbus has their hand out again... "Please, Mom, Dad, I just need another 5 Billion or so....." DATE:08/01/10 SOURCE:Flight International EADS running out of patience on A400M refinancing By Andrew Doyle EADS is warning the Airbus Military A400M customer nations that time is running out to save the troubled airlifter, which programme sources say is costing the company more than €100 million ($143 million) a month to sustain. "We are negotiating," says EADS. "We cannot take the burden all alone. We need to share the burden." Sources close to the programme rate the chances of a refinancing deal for the A400M being agreed before EADS's end-of-January deadline at "50:50". The project, running around two years late (edit in: 4 years late) with the prototype having finally achieved its maiden flight in December, requires another €11.4 bllion of funding to complete. EADS has already made a €2.4 billion provision, leaving additional costs of around €9 billion that need to be covered by the seven partner nations and industry. EADS declines to comment on reports that it is seeking another €5.3billion from the nations. Representatives of the customer nations will reportedly meet EADS officials for further talks in London on 15 January. Germany, the biggest A400M buyer with an order for 60, has taken a hard line, warning it is not prepare to contribute more than a further €650 million to cover inflation and surcharges, as set out in its contract. France and the UK have taken a more conciliatory approach, saying that they expect deal to be reached to continue the programme. http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/...efinancing.html

As the article points out there were 263 new orders and 121 cancellations. The total for 2009 does not include United's order for 25 Boeing 787s, but does reflect an order for 11 more 787s placed in December.

Oh, why am I not surprised? ********* October 16th, 2009 Microsoft exposes Firefox users to drive-by malware downloads Posted by Ryan Naraine @ 9:24 am Remember that Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant add-on that Microsoft sneaked into Firefox without explicit permission from end users? Well, the code in that add-on has a serious code execution vulnerability that exposes Firefox users to the “browse and you’re owned” attacks that are typically used in drive-by malware downloads. [ SEE: Patch Tuesday: MS plugs critical IE, Windows Media Player holes ] The flaw was addressed in the MS09-054 bulletin that covered “critical” holes in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer but, as Redmond’s Security Research & Defense team explains, the drive-by download risk extends beyond Microsoft’s browser. A browse-and-get-owned attack vector exists. All that is needed is for a user to be lured to a malicious website. Triggering this vulnerability involves the use of a malicious XBAP (XAML Browser Application). Please note that while this attack vector matches one of the attack vectors for MS09-061, the underlying vulnerability is different. Here, the affected process is the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) hosting process, PresentationHost.exe. While the vulnerability is in an IE component, there is an attack vector for Firefox users as well. The reason is that .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 installs a “Windows Presentation Foundation” plug-in in Firefox. Now, Microsoft’s security folks are actually recommending that Firefox users uninstall the buggy add-on: For Firefox users with .NET Framework 3.5 installed, you may use “Tools”-> “Add-ons” -> “Plugins”, select “Windows Presentation Foundation”, and click “Disable”. This introduction of vulnerabilities in a competing browser is a colossal embarrassment for Microsoft. At the time of the surreptitious installs, there were prescient warnings from many in the community about the security implications of introducing new code into browsers without the knowledge — and consent — of end users. [ SEE: Microsoft says Google Chrome Frame doubles IE attack surface ] This episode also underscores some of the hypocrisy that has risen to the surface in the new browser wars. When Google announced it would introduce a plug-in that runs Google Chrome inside Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Microsoft whipped out the security card and warned that Google’s move increased IE’s attack surface. “Given the security issues with plug-ins in general and Google Chrome in particular, Google Chrome Frame running as a plug-in has doubled the attach area for malware and malicious scripts. This is not a risk we would recommend our friends and families take.” Of course, when it’s Microsoft introducing the security risk to other browsers (Silverlight, anyone?), we should all just grin and take it. Hat tip to Gregg Keizer. Ryan Naraine is a journalist and security evangelist at Kaspersky Lab. He manages Threatpost.com, a security news portal. Here is Ryan's full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations. ************* http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=4614&am...htCol;top-rated

The first Boeing 787, ZA001, went on its third flight, lasting six hours, on Monday, 28 December 2009.

Boeing 787, Ship ZA001 Flight 2, 787 Flight 3, KBFI Departure. "Boeing 787 ZA001 performing it's second flight, departing for the first time from KBFI (Boeing Field, Seattle, WA) at 2:55PST on 27DEC09 under the Seattle winter sun."

Oh, I agree. Somewhere in one of these aviation threads I've said it would appear the same people who drove McDonnell/Douglas into the ground somehow gained control of Boeing.

Simply not so. Again, you assume too much. It depends entirely on each company and their industry. I have been very supportive of what the EU has been doing regarding microsoft and Intel as it seems the U.S. Justice Department is either blind or corrupt. I'll tell you what really just angers me. Most of these Pattaya message boards are dominated by the British and many, in a very Pavlovian fashion, take every opportunity to knock everything American, often without any real knowledge of the subject at hand. The number of negative comments about anything European is miniscule in comparison. Maybe the British are just bitter that the sun sat on the empire many years ago and they haven't been a power of any consequence since, if not before, World War II. They are getting more like the French everyday, but, hell, at least the French make good wine and know how to cook.