Jan 20, 2023·edited Jan 20, 2023Liked by Alistair Dabbs
The idea of drone deliveries in the UK has always left me wondering.
I mean, you can just imagine: 'Dad! It left it on the roof again!'
On my street there are phone wires from one side to the other all the way down, fanning out from the poles placed at intervals. I'd be wary flying my own drone around there - or at that altitude - even with line-of-sight.
And if it tried our back yard, well there's the big Silver Birch, for a start. Then the smaller shrubs and bushes. Then the washing lines-cum-ethernet cable supports to reach the PoE switches in the garage and shed.
“On my street there are phone wires from one side to the other all the way down, fanning out from the poles placed at intervals. I'd be wary flying my own drone around there - or at that altitude - even with line-of-sight.”
Ha, you have revealed Straya’s cunning plan of running every conceivable wire (leccy,phone, HFC internet 🤭) on poles down the street. At certain times of year in my street, the sun doesn’t rise until 10 am when it majestically crests the scrum of coax suspended over the street by perilously leaning poles...Actually now I think about it, what a great tourism campaign...”come and see the leaning towers of Sydney...bloody Pisa’s only got one...where the bloody hell are ya?” “You call that a drone...?”
Jan 20, 2023·edited Jan 20, 2023Liked by Alistair Dabbs
If flying drone deliveries didn't happen during the pandemic, when would they ever become practical? I guess Amazon and the lot redid (or just did) their homework and found it out not cost efficient.
I still see these mobile fridge-freezers trundling the streets of Milton Keynes. (I'm an infrequent visitor, but it's in the way when I go to see my sis.)
I live near a regional airport. The Amazon distribution warehouse is right next door. I’m sure they’ll think about that before launching into the local airspace.
Ground trundling robots be damned. There’s one post code for three streets here (a legacy of an old unadopted road, plus a single house that is now seven houses with a new street name, and the original access road to the local college.) There’s a basic path up one side of the hill, but they better not deliver anytime the College starts or finishes as there’s no way anyone would leave enough of a gap for an A4 piece of paper to fit through vertically never mind horizontally just in case someone pushes in from the 3-way junction during rush hour. Besides, I’m sure then locals would find a way to hijack them to collect their pizza order or we start thinking ‘No. 138s getting a lot of deliveries during their late night hot tub parties. Surely, they don’t need more booze.’
I've seen these six-wheel things wandering around here, usually, trying to cross at a difficult junction. They seem to get stuck in loops of indecision; I empathise but I can't intervene as I'm not a boy-scout. I have never seen one complete a delivery. I wonder if they are getting Brexit done?
Around here, we have houses with front gates some of which need a knack to open. And/or steps up/down. Or security f-off gates. Our road doesn't even have a pavement.
Call me old-fashioned, (an attribute I find hard to dispute), but our Postie does an excellent job. Even to the point of picking up our parcels for sending. With a smile!
Finally: A delivery from Amazon; why a box in a box?
Both my son and I have received unordered items from Amazon. When we contacted them, they professed not to have any knowledge of the items and could offer us no way to return them. This was not a problem for me (the item I received was of insignificant value), but in his case, it was a $300+ office chair. Addressed to, but not ordered by, him.
So, he did what any thinking person would do: ordered something small from Amazon, and then filed to return it. They sent him a return label. Which he affixed to the chair, and dropped it off at the shipper. Problem solved, and conscience soothed (he had no use for the chair, having recently purchased an expensive gaming chair from somewhere else).
Perhaps. We tried to figure out the angle of a potential scam, but neither of us were ever contacted by anyone who wanted the item. What confused us, was that Amazon (or at least the person who answers your email/posting) apparently has no way of identifying a package or facilitating its return. I guess they figure that the cost of implementing such a mechanism is more than the writeoffs of misdelivered items.
Just wondering how a delivery drone would log its delivery while trying to avoid the “I’m not a robot” captchas. Or perhaps we won’t be allowed them anymore since that discriminates against them. Then they’ll form a union, become collectively sentient, then go on strike. Wow betide any human posties trying to break the strike.
On the septics shooting drones out of the sky, that looks unlikely given how hard it's been for the Russians to down even the largest Ukrainian drones. Most drone losses during that unpleasantness has been mechanical failure on the Ukrainian side, and sheer ineptitude on the Russian side.
The idea of drone deliveries in the UK has always left me wondering.
I mean, you can just imagine: 'Dad! It left it on the roof again!'
On my street there are phone wires from one side to the other all the way down, fanning out from the poles placed at intervals. I'd be wary flying my own drone around there - or at that altitude - even with line-of-sight.
And if it tried our back yard, well there's the big Silver Birch, for a start. Then the smaller shrubs and bushes. Then the washing lines-cum-ethernet cable supports to reach the PoE switches in the garage and shed.
“On my street there are phone wires from one side to the other all the way down, fanning out from the poles placed at intervals. I'd be wary flying my own drone around there - or at that altitude - even with line-of-sight.”
Ha, you have revealed Straya’s cunning plan of running every conceivable wire (leccy,phone, HFC internet 🤭) on poles down the street. At certain times of year in my street, the sun doesn’t rise until 10 am when it majestically crests the scrum of coax suspended over the street by perilously leaning poles...Actually now I think about it, what a great tourism campaign...”come and see the leaning towers of Sydney...bloody Pisa’s only got one...where the bloody hell are ya?” “You call that a drone...?”
Robot delivery is all well and good assuming that they know how to negotiate a level crossing...
https://www.autoblog.com/2022/03/04/train-hits-autonomous-robot-crossing
tbf, my niece uses these a fair bit around campus and for the most part they work ok.
If flying drone deliveries didn't happen during the pandemic, when would they ever become practical? I guess Amazon and the lot redid (or just did) their homework and found it out not cost efficient.
I still see these mobile fridge-freezers trundling the streets of Milton Keynes. (I'm an infrequent visitor, but it's in the way when I go to see my sis.)
I've often regarded Milton Keynes as being in the way, too!
Isn't the Crossdimensional Roadster from Buckaroo Banzai's collection of vehicles?
I live near a regional airport. The Amazon distribution warehouse is right next door. I’m sure they’ll think about that before launching into the local airspace.
Ground trundling robots be damned. There’s one post code for three streets here (a legacy of an old unadopted road, plus a single house that is now seven houses with a new street name, and the original access road to the local college.) There’s a basic path up one side of the hill, but they better not deliver anytime the College starts or finishes as there’s no way anyone would leave enough of a gap for an A4 piece of paper to fit through vertically never mind horizontally just in case someone pushes in from the 3-way junction during rush hour. Besides, I’m sure then locals would find a way to hijack them to collect their pizza order or we start thinking ‘No. 138s getting a lot of deliveries during their late night hot tub parties. Surely, they don’t need more booze.’
I've seen these six-wheel things wandering around here, usually, trying to cross at a difficult junction. They seem to get stuck in loops of indecision; I empathise but I can't intervene as I'm not a boy-scout. I have never seen one complete a delivery. I wonder if they are getting Brexit done?
Around here, we have houses with front gates some of which need a knack to open. And/or steps up/down. Or security f-off gates. Our road doesn't even have a pavement.
Call me old-fashioned, (an attribute I find hard to dispute), but our Postie does an excellent job. Even to the point of picking up our parcels for sending. With a smile!
Finally: A delivery from Amazon; why a box in a box?
Both my son and I have received unordered items from Amazon. When we contacted them, they professed not to have any knowledge of the items and could offer us no way to return them. This was not a problem for me (the item I received was of insignificant value), but in his case, it was a $300+ office chair. Addressed to, but not ordered by, him.
So, he did what any thinking person would do: ordered something small from Amazon, and then filed to return it. They sent him a return label. Which he affixed to the chair, and dropped it off at the shipper. Problem solved, and conscience soothed (he had no use for the chair, having recently purchased an expensive gaming chair from somewhere else).
Maybe take a look at this, Antron.
https://clark.com/shopping-retail/amazon-scam-brushing-warning-deliveries-you-didnt-order/
It's a scam of sorts, but the worst thing is someone may have your details.
I'm not saying that's what happened to you and your son, but it looks very similar.
Perhaps. We tried to figure out the angle of a potential scam, but neither of us were ever contacted by anyone who wanted the item. What confused us, was that Amazon (or at least the person who answers your email/posting) apparently has no way of identifying a package or facilitating its return. I guess they figure that the cost of implementing such a mechanism is more than the writeoffs of misdelivered items.
Just consider, though - someone managed to order in your name and have Amazon deliver to you.
I'm sure you already have, but I'd change my password immediately. Just in case.
Just wondering how a delivery drone would log its delivery while trying to avoid the “I’m not a robot” captchas. Or perhaps we won’t be allowed them anymore since that discriminates against them. Then they’ll form a union, become collectively sentient, then go on strike. Wow betide any human posties trying to break the strike.
Revisiting a classic? Don't mind if you do!
Especially as I missed this first time around 😁
fun fun, the no fly list story is at maia.crimew.gay/posts/how-to-hack-an-airline/
On the septics shooting drones out of the sky, that looks unlikely given how hard it's been for the Russians to down even the largest Ukrainian drones. Most drone losses during that unpleasantness has been mechanical failure on the Ukrainian side, and sheer ineptitude on the Russian side.