It would appear that Cerberus has decided that Blackwater is just too evil to invest in.
Category: Business
Bummer of a Birth Mark, Hal: Microsoft Edition
Bummer for Steve Ballmer not only has the XP SP3 update been delayed because it breaks an obscure piece of Microsoft software, but it also delayed Vista SP1.
What’s more, Dell, HP, and Lenovo will be offering a free “downgrade” to XP on their systems.
I can’t remember a product that was more of a disaster than Vista.
What’s more, in addition to issues with Norway, it now appears that the high court in the UK has decided to review the British Standard Institution’s decision to vote for OOXML as an ISO standard.
More A400M Delays
It looks like the first flight of the EADS A400M airlifter will will be delayed again (paid subscription required).
Once again, it is all problems with the engine, with the C-130 testbed not ready yet to fly, and the #1 aircraft will not be flying with final the high pressure compressor, which is in redesign:
The CEO admits that a number of issues could push the flight date out further. The most critical involves the software on the full-authority digital engine control which he said is three times as complex as that on the Airbus 380. Feedback from engine ground tests and static tests, which started in March, will also be critical. Suarez says the engine will total 1,200 hours on the bench by the end of May.
I would assume that the FADEC also includes blade pitch.
Of course, if they had bought the AN-70, it would be already for flying for less money, and if they had gone with the US engine proposal they might be flying already.
The #1 airframe is basically complete except for the engines.
Russia and Ukraine Plan to Restart An-124 Production.
I think that it is cool.
For most of the forces out there, what they need is strategic airlift capability, not tactical, and honestly, the An-124 pretty much owns the field, and will for the foreseeable future, as the only potential competitor in terms of size, the A-380 is far more restricted in terms of airports, if just because with its low wing, it will Hoover debris off an austere strip.
As the article notes, Anotov has some real problems, noting the fact that the An-70, which is a great tactical airlifter*, is languishing, and wondering if Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation might be looking at a corporate takeover.
*Once you replace the avionics with western equivalents, and allow one of the large western turbine manufacturers to license produce with higher quality materials to improve reliability.
Gripen Sales Pitch to Norway
Now that Sweden has rolled out the advanced Gripen demonstrator, they are aggressively marketing it to Norway.
Among other things, Sweden is offering co-development on some of the technologies, and a promise to upgrade their Gripens to this standard should Norway buy them.
My money is still on the steamroller that is the JSF, at least until deliveries start showing late and more expensive than previously anticipated, my guess is a price tag 2/3 that of the F-22 ($120 million a pop) as versus the $50-60 million for the Gripen.
At that point, the Gripen will look very attractive to countries that are taking a wait and see approach.
Yep, the Gripen is my fighter obsession right now. In an age of ever spiralling costs, it’s half a generation ahead of the F-16 at around the same prime price, though even with the additional fuel and thrust, it will be smaller and lighter.
An Additional 6 Month Delay on 787
This is now well into A380 territory.
I think that this is more of a failure of management than engineering. While the extensive use of composites is new for a civil aircraft, as is the “all electric” nature of the accessories, the degree to which Boeing has outsourced basic engineering and designs to so-called “partners” seems to be a much bigger part of the delay.
First flight is not in Q4 of this year, and if it’s before December 15, I will be very surprised.
Croatia Looking at Gripen
They are considering buying 12 aircraft.
This is not surprising. The Gripen is about half the weight of its next smaller competitor among the 4th gen fighters, and you pretty much pay for planes by the pound (or by the kilo for you metric folks).
I think that the Gripen may very well be the Mirage III of the 4th generation fighters.
It’s small, it’s cheap, it’s designed for austere basing, and by all reports, its avionics are superb.
Aurbus Still Has Issues with A380 Schedule
For those of you who have followed this, the delays are specific to issues with the wiring harness, and the first airframe with the new harness, MSN26, is expected to be powered up this week, but this is still about three months late, which makes it very difficult for Airbus to hit its target of 13 aircraft deliveries for the year.
Their eventual goal is 4 aircraft a month.
787 Partners Reorganizaton
One of the central “innovations” of Boeing’s 787 plan was the idea of bringing in suppliers in as fully involved partners, where they would bear much of the risk, and be responsible for much of the design and engineering.
Recent developments appear to indicate that Boeing is walking away from this policy.
Boeing has just bought out Vought Aircraft’s ownership stake in Global Aeronautica, which means that Boeing and Alenia now each own half of the enterprise.
Vought will still be a supplier for the 787, particularly the aft fuselage, but their more senior role in design and engineering has been taken over by Boeing.
I expect to see more in the way of recentralization by Boeing on the 787 to come, with yet more on their next project, a replacement for the venerable 737.
Full disclosure, the CEO of Vought Aircraft, Elmer Doty, was head of my division* when I worked at United Defense/BAE Systems.
*Yes, I have worked everywhere. Maybe I can’t hold down a job, but more likely this has been my role as “technical hit man”, where you are parachuted in to take care of a specific need.
787 Needs Wing Box Design
So, the latest update on Boeings increasingly delayed 787 has us seeing that Boeing and partner Fuji heavy industries will have to redesign the center wing box, because it is too weak.
Boeing’s delays on the 787 now rival that of Airbus on the A380, only once the problems with the European super jumbo came out, the all came out, and we are still getting this drip, drip, drip of bad news from Seattle Chicago.
This is yet another reason why the Boeing wonks who suggest that the 787 should have been used instead of the 767 are full of it, BTW.
The USAF needs its tanker sooner, rather than later.
1000 Words on Economics
Really, Really, Really Bad Ideas: Steve Jobs Edition
Steve Jobs is in negotiations with Universal Music about selling preloaded iPods, where the player will have a subscription attached to the device.
I’m not sure if this is a good or a bad idea, if I want music, I want to own it, and if you want me to rent it, I will just fire up µTorrent, additionally, eMusic is clearly threatening an antitrust lawsuit on this.
However, I do know that one thing is a bad idea, the idea of giving music distributors a cut of the hardware sales. There is a difference between making a subscription service available on your player, and giving a cut of each hardware sale to those distributors.
It is the camel’s nose under the tent, and it will be used ad precedent in future lawsuits against the hardware manufactures and against independent distributors of music.
It’s bad for the consumer and it’s bad for Apple.
Shorter Nicholas Kristof: Women Cannot Be Trusted With Their Bodies
Damn, this is really a day for incoherent NY Times editorials.
Along with the rest of the anti-sex anti prostitution crowd who think that and sex is icky.
Slowly, here is the equation: Pimps exist because prostitutes need them to protect them from a criminal justice system that victimizes them.
How is their job any different from bull semen “extractor”?
As to whether or not it’s “voluntary”, the claim that because of economic need, it’s not voluntary, means that I’m a slave.
I need the money.
What Technically Competent ISPs Do to Provide Service
Verizon is investing resources in a technology called P4P, a PEER TO PEER technology which promises to reduce the burden on ISPs with regard to the distribution of commercial and licensed high bandwidth products.
This is what Bit-Torrent was designed to do. It was developed for things like Linux distros, and the idea was that when you released an upgrade, you would get the downloaders to share amongst themselves, so your server would not be vomiting blood.
Ars spoke with Verizon senior technologist and P4P workgroup co-chair Doug Pasko, who tells us that Verizon observed download performance improvements of approximately 200 percent during tests conducted with Pando. The performance boost can climb as high as 600 percent in some cases. Verizon believes that P2P technology is moving into the mainstream and is being legitimized for large-scale commercial content delivery. The company sees P4P as a way to enable broader commercial adoption of P2P tech while unclogging the tubes and relieving network congestion.
Since the efficacy of the P4P protocol largely relies on the availability of network topology information, Verizon and the P4P workgroup aim to make the new protocol an industrywide standard and convince other carriers to share their own data and participate. “Quite frankly, any carrier should benefit from this,” Pasko told Ars. The initiative has drawn support from a number of ISPs, including Comcast, which is currently facing scrutiny for impeding peer-to-peer traffic on its own network.
This is not to say that Verizon is not evil, after all they are the phone company, but they are not evil and stupid as ComCast is.
Really, Really, Really Bad Ideas, Maryland Edition
The Legislature is looking at changing the law to allow for profit debt counseling services to operate in MD.
The change is being driven by Columbia based AscendOne Corp.:
AscendOne’s business practices are being reviewed by attorneys general in Maryland and several states, government sources briefed on the investigations said. The sources asked to remain anonymous because the investigations are ongoing.
We have an industry with a reputation for dishonesty and fraud. One where the business is exploding because of the requirement for credit counseling under the new clusterf*** US bankruptcy law, so at the behest of one of the dubious actors in this dishonest industry, the legislature is looking at making things even worse.
Sounds like business as usual in Annapolis.
Maybe, Some Accountability
As a result of the WaMu board decided that bad mortgages should not get in the way of obscene senior executive bonuses, it looks like some major share holders, and possibly some share holder rights groups are looking at trying to remove the board members.
It probably won’t come to anything, the regulations in place in the US make it very difficult for the owners (share holders) of a company to effect management decisions, but it’s a good start.
Tucker Carlson Canceled
It’s about bloody time, it’s been a ratings millstone to MSNBC for a long time.
Here is hoping that Rachael Maddow gets the nod as his replacement.
I’d like to see them get rid of Chris “Tweety” Matthews too, but his ratings are actually supportable. How about getting rid of Glenn Beck on CNN? As Atrios puts it, “No one watches his sh%$$y little show”.
787 Delayed Again
This is not the end of the world, any more than the delays on the Airbus A380 were, but there has been another 3 month slippage on the program, with the first flight moving from March to June.
It’s about a 1 year delay.
These are largely due to issues with suppliers, who have had much more authority than in previous aircraft, so one wonders if this might lead to a more centralized for the successor to the 737, which is likely next on Boeing’s plate.
Ziff Davis Files Chapter 11
I’m kind of surprised surprised by the news, but as a first step to cut costs, fire John Dvorak.
This is Funny, in a Very Sad Way
It appears that musicians are disappointed that they haven’t seen any money as a result of the royalty deals that Youtube cut with the RIAA.
They are expecting to get some money out of their record distributors?
What are they smoking????
Oh…Yeah…They are rock and rollers….That’s what they are smoking.
Seriously though, the RIAA does not, and has no interest in, raising money for the artists. They represent the record distributors, who make money by shafting the artists.