Nov 27, 2009: Pigeon Express

xoxoxoBruce · 11-26-2009, 11:42 PM

Let's say you're running a white water adventure business, in the Colorado Rockies. And to make the most of the limited season, you want to sell the adventurer/customers, pictures of themselves in the thick of the river action. So you have the guide/photographers take lots of pictures to sell, but there's a problem... the pictures get to the end at the same time as the customer, and really don't want to wait. They've got to find dry clothes, or catch a plane, or off to the next memory.

Pigeon Express.

Quote:

The birds are owned and trained by Rocky Mountain Adventures, who fly 19 pigeons five times every day, usually travelling a distance of between 20 and 40 miles. Using the pigeons is quicker than driving down from the river and it solves the problem of producing photographic memories for the white water rafting tourists. It takes them just 20 minutes.

'We began this as an interesting solution to the problem we encountered with the distance from the bottom of La Poudre to our base 30 miles away back in Fort Collins,' says David Costlow, the head pigeon keeper at Rocky Mountain Adventures.
'We have lost some pigeons to hawks and eagles up here in Fort Collins,' he adds. 'We lose five on average every year, but we've only lost seven digital chips in the last 14 years.'

That's because he hasn't had to contend with hungry Cellarites... lucky for those birds there's a lot of leftovers around today.

link

Undertoad · 11-27-2009, 12:15 AM

This data transfer method has actually been documented for years in RFC 1149, "A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers".

The data loss for pigeons taken by hawks was not considered in the original RFC. Perhaps they should contact the Internet Engineering Task Force.

capnhowdy · 11-27-2009, 06:19 AM

Now we can use up all that cranberry sauce.

...slides knife against steel......

capnhowdy · 11-27-2009, 06:21 AM

Note: Remove memory card prior to cooking. And the backpack thingie. Feet are optional.

monster · 11-27-2009, 08:13 AM

They should send decoy/bodyguard pigeons to keep the hawks busy

Cloud · 11-27-2009, 08:56 AM

I thought homing pigeons were extinct. You mean regular sky rats do this, too?

Coign · 11-27-2009, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cloud

I thought homing pigeons were extinct. You mean regular sky rats do this, too?

The American Passenger pigeon is extinct. It was officially extinct in 1914. This is before the "homing pigeons" of World War 1 and World War 2 which used commonly used Rock Pigeons.

No, homing pigeons have never gone extinct.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homing_Pigeon

monster · 11-27-2009, 01:40 PM

pigeon-fancying is popular in the UK.

richlevy · 11-27-2009, 07:52 PM

Am I the only one who saw the words 'pigeon express' and immediately thought of takeout?

Pigeon Pie

Braised pigeons in chocolate sauce (I'm not kidding!!!)

monster · 11-27-2009, 09:08 PM

Vulhawkeon -pigeon in a hawk in a vulture

dar512 · 11-27-2009, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad

This data transfer method has actually been documented for years in RFC 1149, "A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers".

The data loss for pigeons taken by hawks was not considered in the original RFC. Perhaps they should contact the Internet Engineering Task Force.

It looks like 1GB per packet (in this example). But the lag time is pretty bad.

SPUCK · 11-28-2009, 05:29 AM

A ping must take hours!

richlevy · 11-28-2009, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPUCK

A ping must take hours!

Actually, I think the technical term is 'peck'.

Undertoad · 11-28-2009, 10:37 AM

At 20 minutes per GB, that's actually faster than DSL. It's a great technology!

ZenGum · 11-28-2009, 05:27 PM

Yeah, but the viruses include bird flu.

11-27-2009, 06:19 AM	#3
capnhowdy Blatantly Homosapien Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 6,200	Now we can use up all that cranberry sauce. ...slides knife against steel...... __________________ Please type slowly. I can't read very fast............... and no holy water, please.

11-27-2009, 06:21 AM	#4
capnhowdy Blatantly Homosapien Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 6,200	Note: Remove memory card prior to cooking. And the backpack thingie. Feet are optional. __________________ Please type slowly. I can't read very fast............... and no holy water, please.

11-27-2009, 08:13 AM	#5
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	They should send decoy/bodyguard pigeons to keep the hawks busy __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

11-27-2009, 08:56 AM	#6
Cloud ... Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 8,360	I thought homing pigeons were extinct. You mean regular sky rats do this, too? __________________ "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"

11-27-2009, 01:40 PM	#8
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	pigeon-fancying is popular in the UK. __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

11-27-2009, 12:15 AM	#2
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	This data transfer method has actually been documented for years in RFC 1149, "A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers". The data loss for pigeons taken by hawks was not considered in the original RFC. Perhaps they should contact the Internet Engineering Task Force.

11-27-2009, 07:52 PM	#9
richlevy King Of Wishful Thinking Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Philadelphia Suburbs Posts: 6,669	Am I the only one who saw the words 'pigeon express' and immediately thought of takeout? Pigeon Pie Braised pigeons in chocolate sauce (I'm not kidding!!!) __________________ Exercise your rights and remember your obligations - VOTE! I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting. -- Barack Hussein Obama

11-27-2009, 09:08 PM	#10
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	Vulhawkeon -pigeon in a hawk in a vulture __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

11-28-2009, 05:29 AM	#12
SPUCK Professor Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 1,911	A ping must take hours!

11-28-2009, 10:37 AM	#14
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	At 20 minutes per GB, that's actually faster than DSL. It's a great technology!

11-28-2009, 05:27 PM	#15
ZenGum Doctor Wtf Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Badelaide, Baustralia Posts: 12,861	Yeah, but the viruses include bird flu. __________________ Shut up and hug. MoreThanPretty, Nov 5, 2008. Just because I'm nominally polite, does not make me a pussy. Sundae Girl.

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