Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for January 20, 2014

I predict that the trap shooting of drones will become a popular new sport.

Heart warming.

Context. Context. Context.

Some looneys out west wanted to sell permits so the heavily armed paranoids could shoot at drones.Bad idea for two reasons:(1) R/C model airplanes would be considered ‘drones’ by definition (they’re remote controled aircraft). &…(2) Do you really want to attract the attention of the real drones?

Well if they do go with the drone idea, Google better get the street numbers right… on Google Maps my house’s street address is incorrect by two digits. If I Google my address I see a house down the street from mine.

Some people already raise cain about how wind turbines ruin the skyline. Imagine how they’ll feel when they can’t open their front door without seeing a dozen “robo-pizzas” being delivered

Thanks, Cap’n Eddie… – I mean “Thanks, Bob!”

I’m OK with wind farms, but didn’t somebody suggest delivery by pneumatic tubes over a hundred years ago? Didn’t happen.

I wonder when we will see FedEx iRobots on Sundays, Saturday and Holidays only…??

INGSOC, you know, I don’t really worry about that happening much now….

I like Bob a lot….It’s good to see him….. I see he has an orange slice on his drink this morning….Must be out of limes…..But then I have heard the price of green ink is through the roof….

Question to All: How fast do the drones fly? And do they freeze up?? I’m thinking of it trying to get a large pizza w/bread sticks and a large bottle of pop delivered on a typical winter day in South Dakota (25mph winds, 20 below).

Or so the technocrats would have us believe….But, f’rinstance, what really is the point of HD 3D stereo plasma TV when there’s nothing worth watching for which your 1980 colourset isn’t perfectly adequate?

No tips tho.

Amazon and drones seems a good fit. In my little patch of paradise, ladrones is Spanish for thieves. Just sayin’…

Where did get the dragons from…Berk?

One advantage to living in the country… we still have rural routes. Only a few programs actually show my street, some show the street, but not the street name, and none, yet, show my address. I don’t give my address to people, I give directions. Applied for a debit card, wouldn’t give it to me without a “physical” address. Well, it’s pretty physical here, the location hasn’t moved in 10 years. Now we recently got E911 addresses, but it’s gonna be a while before anyone uses them. Also… how much of the airspace above my property is legally mine? I won’t pursue that line of questioning in a public forum, but think about it….

Wonder where he gets his information? Maybe his nightmares or ?

Actually I like the idea of GPS assisted flying dragons, however it would probably affect my ordering frequency……

Street addresses on my block, and on other blocks in the area, only run from one to 50, but the mapping services think they run one to a hundred.

To Wiley: I didn’t get to comment on yesterday’s strip, but I thought it was masterful. You’re one of the greatest! I take it that it may be a reminder of the MLK, Jr., message.

Googel maps figures that the houses are equally spaced along the block. On our street the houses don’t start until about ¼ mile from the corner, so most houses used to show up in the wrong place.

Apparently they figured out a way to fix this problem at least for my house. They actually put the marker at my front door and not on the street at the mailbox. That’s 300 feet up the driveway. Oh, and that 300 foot driveway, shows up as an unnamed road. Even my Garmin GPS thinks it’s a road. I get to my mailbox and it tells me to “turn left on road.”

Oh, and I think it would be great fun to hack into and hijack a drone.

Amazon got the idea from storks and babies…

of course it would reduce the cost. Who tips the robot?

My brain thinks “but kept getting the packages on fire” is wrong . Maybe, “but the packages kept catching fire” or “but kept lighting the packages on fire”.</grammar-nazi>

Have you encountered Brunel’s Atmospheric Railway? Not a very practical idea but at least he tried it. Give it a “Google”

NightShade09: An RC modeler in Dallas found a strange red streak on the footage from his plane. It turned out to be a tributary creek to the Trinity River, and the red was blood illegally dumped by a slaughterhouse. The local corporate media immediately started calling RC models “drones” in any coverage. They urged prosecution of the modeler, but the real criminal was allowed to reopen with other disposal methods.

NEVER ask a lawyer a question without expecting more of an answer than you really want.

I’d say Bob has a point with his “metaphor.” The problems are too many and too complicated to go into here. Not to mention that reality (read: money) will likely tank the idea faster than technology. The logistics alone will give their accountants nightmares. I’m not being old-fashioned, I just have a better idea of how the tech works (and doesn’t work).

neeeurothrush, OK, I’ll admit it….I am familiar with such a drink in more than one way…….But in my defense, I was the Banquet Beverage Manager at the Kalamazoo Hilton….somebodyshort…Wait, let’s stop right here..,…Shooting beer out of the sky? Don’t even think about it. That would just be wrong….

Gokie5: The nimbys were satisfied with it being trucked off to locations unspecified – you are probably right in your suspicions.

Amazon recently (2023) discontinued yet another drone delivery trial. Nobody wants noisy drones in the neighborhood so impatient S.O.B.s can get their packages a day earlier.