NationStates Jolt Archive


"Why don't they make the entire airplane out of the black box?"

Kejott
15-03-2005, 18:22
If I hear that joke one more time from bad comedians I'm going to go crazy! Are there jokes anyone else is tired of hearing?
McLeod03
15-03-2005, 18:23
The whole family of "What's the best thing about twenty-one year old's" jokes that went around for a while. I'm not even gonna tell you the punchline to it, for fear of upsetting people out there.
Silly Sharks
15-03-2005, 18:24
If I hear that joke one more time from bad comedians I'm going to go crazy! Are there jokes anyone else is tired of hearing?
This isn't a joke, but it has to be said... the "your mother" comments are drying thin.
I V Stalin
15-03-2005, 18:24
Why don't they make the entire airplane out of the black box?
It's not big enough - it's a cube with sides of about 50cm. Imagine fitting 350 passengers plus flight crew, engines, all the electronics etc in something that size. :p
Drunk commies
15-03-2005, 18:24
The whole family of "What's the best thing about twenty-one year old's" jokes that went around for a while. I'm not even gonna tell you the punchline to it, for fear of upsetting people out there.
I never get tired of that one. Especially when it's about Michael Jackson.
Neo Cannen
15-03-2005, 18:25
If I hear that joke one more time from bad comedians I'm going to go crazy! Are there jokes anyone else is tired of hearing?

There is actually a reasonable answer to that joke which is why I get so annoyed with it. The answer is is that black boxes are made of titanum useually, so making a plane out of it would make the plane too heavy. Even though Titanium is light and strong, aluminium is a far more efficent system in that regard.
Cannot think of a name
15-03-2005, 18:25
The 'parkway/driveway' thing. Fucking can't stand it. It's not funny, it's poorly examined.
North Island
15-03-2005, 18:26
"Your Mama" jokes make me sick. What is wrong with some people? It was not even funny when it first started. I hate it.
McLeod03
15-03-2005, 18:26
I never get tired of that one. Especially when it's about Michael Jackson.

It's funny at first, but it loses its humour when people get up to ninety-one year olds. That's even more wrong.

Oh, and the one about a baby in a bin. You all must of heard it, but Peechy will disembowel me if I say it, so I won't.
Drunk commies
15-03-2005, 18:28
"Your Mama" jokes make me sick. What is wrong with some people? It was not even funny when it first started. I hate it.
Even worse, how about the tired old comeback "Let's get off of mothers. I just got off of yours."
Cannot think of a name
15-03-2005, 18:32
Even worse, how about the tired old comeback "Let's get off of mothers. I just got off of yours."
Ah thats not fair, talkin' 'bout mommas . I can't talk 'bout yo momma 'cause I never met the man.



Actually I'm a little sick of that one because it's the only one I know (or I think I've ever laughed at)
Demented Hamsters
15-03-2005, 18:53
As a rule of thumb, whenever a comedian starts making 'humourous' observations about staying in hotel rooms while touring, you know that they've lost it.
Daistallia 2104
15-03-2005, 19:00
There is actually a reasonable answer to that joke which is why I get so annoyed with it. The answer is is that black boxes are made of titanum useually, so making a plane out of it would make the plane too heavy. Even though Titanium is light and strong, aluminium is a far more efficent system in that regard.

More or less exactly (although stainless steel seems to be more common than titanium, and they're a bit more complicated that just a simple box.

http://travel.howstuffworks.com/black-box6.htm
Using three layers of materials, the CSMU in a solid-state black box insulates and protects the stack of memory boards that store the digitized information. We will talk more about the memory and electronics in the next section. Here's a closer look at the materials that provide a barrier for the memory boards, starting at the innermost barrier and working our way outward:

* Aluminum housing - There is a thin layer of aluminum around the stack of memory cards.
* High-temperature insulation - This dry-silica material is 1 inch (2.54 cm) thick and provides high-temperature thermal protection. This is what keeps the memory boards safe during post-accident fires.
* Stainless-steel shell- The high-temperature insulation material is contained within a stainless-steel cast shell that is about 0.25 inches (0.64 cm) thick. Titanium can be used to create this outer armor as well.

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_001
Unlike the rest of the aircraft, which is mostly made of light materials such as aluminum and plastic, the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder are encased in stainless steel boxes roughly 10 inches by 10 inches by 5. The steel is maybe a quarter inch thick and the boxes are so heavy in consequence that the designers don't even bother enclosing the accompanying electronics, which in a crash generally meet the same fate as the passengers. As an added precaution, the boxes are lined with a liquid-filled foam bladder encased in plastic that's supposed to protect against the intense heat of a post-crash fire.

Simple answer if someone asks you this stupid question: I wouldn't want to spend my flight packed in a foam bladder, a inch thick silica insulating layer, and a quarter inch of stainless steel. How about you?


The 'parkway/driveway' thing. Fucking can't stand it. It's not funny, it's poorly examined.

Stupid answer to a stupid question: you don't drive in your driveway? How do you park your car? And what do you mean to imply by saying trhe parkway doesn't look like a park? Any intelligent person should realise it derives from the same root as a landscaped park!

(also courtesy of http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_080.html)

Those snappy (?) answers should quiet the ignorant masses.
Domici
15-03-2005, 19:31
There is actually a reasonable answer to that joke which is why I get so annoyed with it. The answer is is that black boxes are made of titanum useually, so making a plane out of it would make the plane too heavy. Even though Titanium is light and strong, aluminium is a far more efficent system in that regard.

Not to mention that it wouldn't make a damned bit of difference if the plane was strong enough to survive the crash. You'd still be laminated to the inside of the fusilage.

I read a Douglas Adams article about that very joke once. I liked what he had to say about it. I won't try to make it funny, but he pointed out that the unintelligent can enjoy the joke because they feel like they're joining with the comedian in jeering people who are so much more intelligent than them and it makes them feel justified in their ignorance.

A superior comedian with a superior audience can make the same joke funny in that the audience realizes that the comedian is playing the sort of ignorant bumpkin who likes to mock those who understand things he does not. This makes the joke an actual mockery of flawed human nature, which is the artistic purpose of comedy.
Domici
15-03-2005, 19:33
Stupid answer to a stupid question: you don't drive in your driveway? How do you park your car? And what do you mean to imply by saying trhe parkway doesn't look like a park? Any intelligent person should realise it derives from the same root as a landscaped park!
Those snappy (?) answers should quiet the ignorant masses.

Nah. I don't buy it. I think it's because if you look at any large parkway at rushhour you can see that the traffic is practically parked there.
Daistallia 2104
16-03-2005, 04:14
Not to mention that it wouldn't make a damned bit of difference if the plane was strong enough to survive the crash. You'd still be laminated to the inside of the fusilage.

Or suffocated in the foam insulation.

I read a Douglas Adams article about that very joke once. I liked what he had to say about it. I won't try to make it funny, but he pointed out that the unintelligent can enjoy the joke because they feel like they're joining with the comedian in jeering people who are so much more intelligent than them and it makes them feel justified in their ignorance.

A superior comedian with a superior audience can make the same joke funny in that the audience realizes that the comedian is playing the sort of ignorant bumpkin who likes to mock those who understand things he does not. This makes the joke an actual mockery of flawed human nature, which is the artistic purpose of comedy.

I like.
Cannot think of a name
16-03-2005, 04:23
Stupid answer to a stupid question: you don't drive in your driveway? How do you park your car? And what do you mean to imply by saying trhe parkway doesn't look like a park? Any intelligent person should realise it derives from the same root as a landscaped park!


You'd think that'd work.......but then you're overestimating the quality of the person who would think thats funny...
Daistallia 2104
16-03-2005, 04:43
You'd think that'd work.......but then you're overestimating the quality of the person who would think thats funny...

Yeah, I know they'd probably miss it. But it'd be a good laugh at their expense. ;)