Re: Pooh-Pooh Allegations [TANKS]

[Frank Pittelli <frank-at-rctankcombat.com>]

Peter Arundel wrote:
> Is the gun stabilised in elevation too?
> When I first found RCtankcombat.com, I mused upon the subject of gyro 
> stabilisation and was pooh-poohed by the powers that be! As General 
> Melchett said, "Never ignore a pooh-pooh!" and I'm just glad that 
> someone out there is doing all this good stuff that I, alas, only think 
> about . . .

Dear Mr. Arundel,

It is clear by your use of harsh words like "pooh-poohed" that you have 
strong feelings about the use of stabilization and perhaps feel that you 
have been wronged by one of your fellow hobby members.  Naturally, we 
take all such complaints seriously and have convened a team of experts 
to ascertain the facts behind the allegations and determine if you are 
indeed eligible for compensation.

Our expert team has broken the case down to the following critical 
questions:

Q1) Did you in fact "muse" about the subject of "gyro stabilisation"?

Q2) Did a member of the "powers that be" respond to those musings?

Q3) Did said member "pooh-pooh" you?

According to the advanced Google-powered search capabilities available 
for this mailing list archive, the team of experts found the following 
message authored by you on Oct 15, 2006:

     I know that there have been some attempts at using a
     video camera to steer (and aim) a tank but this video
     proves what can be dome with a bit of ingenuity.

     http://video.google.fr/videoplay?docid=-2237947353453839215&hl=fr

     Of course the camera would need gyro stabilisation on
     a tank but it is still very, very impressive!

Based on this evidence, the experts have determined that you did indeed 
"muse" about the subject of gyro stabilization and that (Q1) above is 
true.  Continuing with their analysis, the experts uncovered the 
following response to that message generated by one Joe Sommer (aka Dr. 
Sommer) also on Oct 15, 2006:

        Your camera, transmitter and receiver are obviously
        much better than our early attempts.  We can easily
        drive our tanks and visually acquire targets with video.
        However we had trouble aiming the gun and seeing
        hits at ranges beyond 30 meters (typical engagement
        distance).

        Do you have a paint ball gun or can you borrow one
        from a friend?  If yes, it would be very interesting to
        test if your camera can see paint balls as they are
        fired and fly down-range to hit a target.

        What camera, transmitter and receiver do you use
        and what do they cost?

Analysis of this message revealed that (a) Dr. Sommer truly doesn't read 
messages before responding, (b) Dr. Sommer was impressed by the 
technology, and (c) Dr. Sommer wanted to know more.  In many circles, 
Dr. Sommer would be considered a member of the "powers that be", so the 
experts have concluded that this is the message that you are referring 
to and that (Q2) above is true.  However, the experts were hard pressed 
to find any "pooh-poohing" in this message.  In fact, Dr. Sommer 
supported your conjecture and encouraged a deeper discussion of the 
subject.  Based on a lack of "pooh-pooh" evidence from this message, the 
experts pushed deeper into the thread.  The next message, from you, read 
as follows:

        Woa, hold on! The video isn't mine - wish it was - I just
        saw it and was impressed. Very impressed. Especially the
        slaving of the camera to the head movements of the operator. :-)

Clearly, you also determined that Dr. Sommer was slightly confused and 
the confusion was resolved in short order.  You continued to "muse" 
about the subject, but interestingly, you broke off the discussion with 
Dr. Sommer, failing to answer his questions.  Some experts felt this 
indicated some feelings of you being "pooh-poohed", but others pointed 
out that the trailing happy face contradicted such a conclusion. The 
experts proceeded to the end of the thread to find this message from 
"Phil" at Endurance R/C:

        I asked this a few weeks back. Seemed like no one was
        interested at that time. Take a look at my project.
        Its currently completed but mounted on a normal r/c car
        and not a tank.

        http://www.youtube.com/endurancerc

        Take a look at the head tracking video.

Here again, the experts consider this supportive of your musings, 
although it does indicate a certain level of "pooh-pooh" feelings on 
Phil's behalf.  Based on this possibility, some of the experts believe 
that you may be suffering from "transitive pooh-poohing", in which one 
party sympathetically participates in the pooh-pooh feelings of others 
because of a close tie.  However, in such cases, the transitive 
pooh-pooh-ee usually responds with an email to publicly demonstrate 
those feelings.  In this case, no such email was written in Oct 2006. 
Those same experts believe that your recent email indicates that you may 
be suffering from a case of "delayed transitive pooh-poohing", a rare 
but well-documented Internet condition.  However, these experts 
represent a minority of the team and given that they offer courses in 
the Treatment of Pooh-Pooh Disorders, it was felt that they had a 
conflict of interest in such a determination.

Therefore, based on the evidence found, the expert team has concluded 
that (a) you were indeed musing about the subject and (b) a "power that 
be" responded to those musings.  However, the team could find no 
conclusive evidence that you were in fact "pooh-poohed" by that "power 
that be".  Nonetheless, the expert team has agreed to keep this case 
open for the time being.  If any new evidence is uncovered that supports 
your pooh-pooh claims, they will consider it thoroughly.

Thank you for your participation.

        Dr. Frank Pittelli
        Director, Tri-Pact Clinical Analysis Team
        Tri-Pact Institute of Health and Welfare
        Tri-Pact World Health Organization

PS. A technical team of experts working on a top-secret research project 
completely unrelated to your allegation have determined that gyro 
stabilization is a completely insane idea :-)