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By C. Jake Williams. April 3, 2008
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Rumor has it I need a bulletin board or comments box on the page, but I haven't figured out those logistics yet. PLUS, I have an idea of how you can leave comments on the site AND get my feedback to those comments. That's right boys and toys, it's time for the inaugural Readers of me Mailbag!!! (name subject to change since that one Blows)
These are actual messages from actual readers.
Q: (responding to I draft while driving) What if my car is, say, twice the size of the car in front of me? And is this assuming you're going a constant speed? - Brittany W. (El Portal, Cali)
J: Driving a bus works against you from an aerodynamics standpoint when you're behind its wheel because it displaces so much air, but that's exactly why it works for you when you're behind its rear bumper. Driving behind a Mini Cooper will have the opposite effect. My advice: find a Boeing 777 to follow and sit three seconds back.
As for the acceleration question, here's the deal. Lets say matching the Mini Cooper's speed is our control case. Travelling faster will increase the resistance hitting your hood and slower will decrease that resistance. But this becomes a moot point because you're bound to either hit that coop or fall too far back to draft. If you're going to draft, match speeds with a big target.
Q: You have too much faith in other people's thinking... See if my thought process makes sense: If you drive directly behind the car in front of you, then it will make BOTH of you drive more efficiently. Drag is induced by the airflow streamlines breaking behind the car. If you insert your car behind the one in front of you, before those streamlines break, it will make it run more efficiently, too (since it doesn't have to overcome that drag). You could mess with the car in front of you by offsetting yours some, but that won't help your gas mileage. -Kajal P. (Laurel, MD)
J: In the interest of full disclosure, Kajal is pretty smart. Like a rocket scientist. In fact, she IS a rocket scientist from Maryland. Kajal, here's one way to think of the airflow behind the lead car. Think of an airplane's wing. The top is curved so the air has to travel a greater distance, which decreases the pressure above the wing. The difference in pressure Pulls the wing up and gives my mom a job with Continental Airlines.
Now consider the lead car. The air in front has to travel around the entire front profile but in the back that distance is smaller because the air knows a second car is coming. The result: The air pulls the lead car forward, towards the place with lower pressure, just as with the wing.
But wait, you may be saying, didn't Jake just admit he's wrong? Indeed he did. Jake was wrong, once again kicked in the nuts by a rocket scientist. It must be a Thursday.
Q: Why am I the unluckiest poker player in the world? -Shane W. (West Jordan, Utah)
J: Karma, my brotha! That's what you get for charging me a Big-brother Tax growing up. And stealing the best basketball cards from me whenever you'd "Help me" open the packs. Enjoy the rest of your seventeen years bad luck. That's when I'll take the rubber band off the Shane-shaped voodoo doll stategically hidden in mom and dad's house!
Oh and, uh, quit chasing flushes when you only have three diamonds on the flop. The river isn't coming quadrilateral unless you're blowing the dealer.
Q: I would love to see something of a Bio about you with things like where you're from, your family background, long term goals, favorite color, etc. I think there is where you should post a really stunning photo of yourself. Within your rantings or perhaps your articles I think you could supplement with stock photographs or (you really need a camera) you could snap some photos while you're covering your piece... you know just to make it interesting. -Kagan G. (Logan, Utah)
J: I don't need new pictures, I need LOTS of new pictures! Kagan is right, does anyone have a camera I could borrow? I need a serious haircut first, but then I'll put some decent pictures on the site.
As for the Bio, I'm game. I need something new to replace the text on the homepage anyways, so I'll get to work on this. If any readers have specific information about me that you think should be in the bio, send it to me. I know myself ok, but really I can't remember every detail. So help me out friends.
Q: The site looks great. I love you honey. -Mom W. (West Jordan, Utah)
J: Hey, thanks mom! I love you too. See you at graduation.
You were there.