Slashdot Mirror
Star Wars Landspeeders Are Here
smitty777 writes "All you Jedis can stop building fake landspeeders in your driveway now — the real deal is finally here. Wired is reporting on an Israeli company that has been testing one for use as an ambulance called the AirMule. Watch out, Womp Rats."
This is lame, it looks and functions nothing like a land speeder and I'm struggling to figure out why not just use a helicopter?
I can see why these aren't in demand any more. I'd also prefer the XP-38 to this noisy thing. And where are your droids supposed to sit?
Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
Landspeeders are unarmed and womprats are just over 2 meters across. It's like hitting a deer.
You want to menace womprats, you need a T-16 Skyhopper...
boo for making it past Slashdot "editorial" "filter".
For every benefit you receive a tax is levied. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
It might be a hovercraft someday, but right now it's mostly photoshop. Look at the shadows. Then notice that every shot with someone sitting in it, it's sitting flat on the ground.
Wow, it's amazing how an article title of "Video: Israeli Landspeeder (Sorta) Takes Flight" becomes "Star Wars Landspeeders Are Here" when the thing look and functions nothing like a Star Wars Landspeeder. Nor would you be shooting womprats in one you fucking poseur since it has no weapons.
boo for making it past Slashdot "editorial" "filter".
Yep, just try and draw a line from the tip of the nose shadow thru the tip of the nose, and the tip of the tail shadow through the tip of the tail -- They don't intersect at the sun... that last pic: they go off at very bad angles like: /------/ or even |------\ or /------|
\------/ instead of \------\ or
You may get \------/ on overcast days with lots of ambient light, but not those hard shadows -- Clearly a fake.
I think everyone is getting tired of these 'flying car' stories, be they on /., Wired, PopSci or wherever.
...and while we're at it, a 'Jetpack' should be good for at least several hour's flight. A 30-second hop is not a 'jet pack.' For greater clarity, see:
Just so the editors understand what we're talking about here:
A Flying Car uses some kind of anti-gravity device. It can float. Don't show me a hovercraft, helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft. For greater clarity, see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qcMjG1KL2Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMQwT9z0Jyc
The only thing that you can afford is the Adidas Vehicle Collection | X-Wing Edition.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
A loud penis is just another dickhead full of hot air, also belonging to the specimen of politician.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
Get it on mainstream media outlet cameras and I *might* believe it.
Here is another video showing it at a car fair(skip to 1:30) with other custom cars.
Fill-flash does not cause the shadow under the craft to be "harder" than a shadow coming from the roof top. It's the same SUN! If I took the time to photoshop the pics, I wouldn't then say. "Yea. You got me. They are fake." Maybe he is just hiding the wheels or something, but it just don't look right.
The hardness of a shadow is highly dependent on the distance from the shadow casting object and the ground. Something a foot from the ground will have a harder and darker shadow than something ten feet from the ground, since the edge dispersion and ambient light will both be greater.
His website has pictures of him building it, including the chassis with wheels that are clearly inset enough that they wouldn't be visible in the final vehicle. What is so unbelievable about this to you? It is an electric three wheeler with nicely crafted body, not exactly an impossible feat.
"What a piece of junk!"
This is a decent piece of engineering that got butchered by spencer's editorial.
As one commenter in the original blog mentioned:
Well's spencer's knowledge on the subject is: Aeronautics is an engineering degree and I have a liberals arts degree in English so I can can blog about anything.
Even more surprising is that not a single slashdotter bothered to check what's really shown, instead relying on BS from Wired
http://www.urbanaero.com/Frame-whatsnew.htm/
This is an unmanned rapid combat zone casualty extraction vehicle - way cheaper than a helicopter (and thumbs down to all the commentators who couldn't count to 10 without a helping hand) and capable of reaching areas a helicopter would only dream of approaching.
But hey, don't let the facts confuse you - on with the "it's just junk" comments from these who couldn't figure out which way the pilot wasn't seating...