rappa

Actually, A lot of people think that the distress signal is an abbreviation for “save our souls” or “save our ship.” But in reality, "save our souls" and "save our ship" are backronyms, and the letters don’t actually stand for anything. In fact, the signal isn’t even really supposed to be three individual letters. It’s just a continuous Morse code string of three dots, three dashes, and three dots all run together with no spaces or full stops (…---…). Since three dots form the letter "S" and three dashes form an “O” in International Morse code, though, the signal came to be called an “SOS” for the sake of convenience. That connection has led to the letters coming into their own as a visual distress signal divorced from Morse Code, and those in need of rescue sometimes spell them out on the ground to be seen from above. You could also break down the string into IJS, SMB and VTB if you wanted to. So why use that specific string of dots and dashes if there’s no meaning to it? Because it was the best way to get the job done. When wireless radiotelegraph machines first made their way onto ships around the turn of the 20th century, seamen in danger needed a way to attract attention, signal distress, and ask for help -- a unique signal that would transmit clearly and quickly and wouldn’t be confused for other communications. At first, different organizations and countries had their own “in-house” distress signals. The U.S. Navy used “NC,” which was the maritime flag signal for distress from the International Code of Signals. The Marconi Company, which leased its equipment and telegraph operators to various ships, used “CQD.” The “German Regulations for the Control of Spark Telegraphy” of 1905 mandated that all German operators use “…---…”. Having these multiple distress signals was confusing and potentially dangerous. It meant that a ship in distress in foreign waters had a language barrier to overcome with would-be rescuers, even if using International Morse Code. Because of this and other issues, various countries decided to get together and discuss the idea of laying down some international regulations for radiotelegraph communications. In 1906, the International Wireless Telegraph Convention convened in Berlin, and delegates attempted to establish an international standard distress call. Marconi’s “-.-.--.--..”, and “………-..-..-..” (“SSSDDD”), which Italy had proposed at a previous conference, were deemed too cumbersome. Germany’s “…---…”, though, could be sent quickly and easily and was hard to misinterpret. It was chosen as the international distress signal for the nations who met at the conference, and went into effect on July 1, 1908. The first recorded use of the “SOS” as a distress signal was just over a year later, in August, 1909. The wireless operators on the SS Arapahoe sent the signal when the ship was disabled by a broken propeller off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Not everyone got on board with the new standard as quickly, though. The Marconi Company was particularly reluctant to give up on “CQD.” The Marconi operators on board the Titanic initially just sent that signal after the ship struck an iceberg, until the other operator suggested they try the new “SOS” signal, too.

This is not exactly a one off. I sure hope DW is getting some good compensation from the utility company for the large amount of down time it's had from power failures recently.

I think the head needs to tilt back and take on a vomiting expression every time the train comes out

OMG you two re:Disney I should know better than to post something general and not target the overly pedantic points that will be made by people who feel the need to correct EVERYTHING even if it doesn't relate to the topic at hand. What I SHOULD have posted is that "Vekoma has built more Disney coasters than anyone and there are a lot of them" Honestky I think you can say Vekoma and Arrow have built most of them. The two retracting jobs don't count because it's clear Disney is just using them as a fabrication company. Im not even going to entertain the Intamin half pipes. Same goes for the ONE Mack coaster or the Spinning mouses because they are just off the shelf bought rides. So then you have what? Two Intamin clones, which clearly the second is only because they had the first, and then California Scremin which is likely Intamin because they wanted to launch technology at the time. My point WAS that Vekoma can make a good coaster if given the tools to do so. That's all, should have known better. Please dont feel the need to get into a "I know more about Disney" pissing match with me.

Look it could be awful when complete, but I highly doubt they are gonna get it wrong. If it looks great at night it could be really cool, and also terrifying lol Should be a really cool touch for the backwards row.

Yep I must say (and I know this is a miracle) that I like that. The cape thing is cool and could become a bit of a DC World 'thing' like Mickey Ears.

What's funny is Vekoma have build nearly every Disney coaster and they are all fine.

How are you confirming this?

Yeah the restriction is they want to do it when they make the most money.

I doubt Friday or Sunday would create more attendance than doing another Saturday I'm afraid.

Actually it's not on topic at all. Is the ride closed for maintenance? No Are people planning the family holiday around TOT going down for a while and coming to parkz to make those plans? No Its more like people have verbal diarrhea and can't deal without posting for more than 5 mins or else they won't feel loved.

Do we really need a bloody update every time a ride stops? This isn't the Gold Coast Bulliten you know

No, just no. If you're not even going to try your post will be removed.

Yeah neither of those comments above is true. The park hasn't released the cost at all. And let me tell you if it was 35 million it would most definitely be a total project cost and not just for the ride.

The overall tone of how you describe better places to watch than they suggest, etc, how they don't do crowd control properly. The comments on marketing. Just read as a very 'I hated the event, we're so great because we bought the special passes, park should love us for buying passes and not using them' review to me.

Not sure why we needed the centered text which made this hard to read. What I got from this overly indulgent read was that you didn't care much for the event and are sooo much smarter than both the park and everyone else. Fortunately for the park seems most everyone else has very much enjoyed the event. As for no advertising, clearly not the case given how many people are attending.

How did you see the view of the park with a blindfold on

Well even that isn't totally true given they raised the existing structure to accommodate the coaster.

Said it before and said it again. The 2017 world needs more jingles!

That's an amazing video... the VHS of this is actually sitting in my apartment.

That's my kinda coaster! Looks to just haul ass from go to woe.

Mate awesome post/find. Some great shots there!

The ride has been running, people have been riding it.... the discussion has reached a close folks...

That makes no sense from a liability or safety stand point. Either ride is safe and doesn't need an extra restraint, or it's unsafe and does need one. You don't just decide to increase ride safety on your own for no reason, and authorities don't become aware of a safety flaw and leave it optional to do something about it. Neither do insurance companies.

So has Aussie World changed theirs?