Yeah, all the stuff about the stamps possibly having a "use by" date is silly. The APC stamps simply indicate when the stamp was printed, that's all. The line above the date itself even says "date of sale." Stamps don't expire.
And as far as relying on the date to fool someone regarding the postmark, it only has a chance of doing so if the stamp doesn't happen to get a cancellation mark stamped on it, which according to the blogger, still happens 50-60% of the time.
So all of this is really useless information.
As an aside, the post office will often reject a stamp if it appears as though it may have been previously used, even if it isn't canceled. I recently addressed and stamped a letter to someone, then realized I forgot to put something in the envelope. So, I tore it open, corrected the problem, addressed a new envelope, then cut the stamped corner off the old envelope and taped it to the new one. The post office sent it back, claiming the postage was "reused."
"Is it magic brass? If not, then no, it's not in ANY effect making it lighter."
Technically, you're right. I believe what he meant, though, was that the wings were acting as a counterbalance, relieving some of the downward pressure on the mechanism -- in effect, you might say, making it lighter on the mechanics.
Kudos to the guy, but it has annoyed me a bit that he's received so much media attention. People have been doing this for years, and for even less money.
Here's just a sampling: http://hackaday.com/2009/09/19/high-altitude-balloons/
"Because my Bible tells me so" is the only thing we can come up with to "disprove" evolution? No, thanks. You'll have to do better than that to prove your little story.
And as far as relying on the date to fool someone regarding the postmark, it only has a chance of doing so if the stamp doesn't happen to get a cancellation mark stamped on it, which according to the blogger, still happens 50-60% of the time.
So all of this is really useless information.
As an aside, the post office will often reject a stamp if it appears as though it may have been previously used, even if it isn't canceled. I recently addressed and stamped a letter to someone, then realized I forgot to put something in the envelope. So, I tore it open, corrected the problem, addressed a new envelope, then cut the stamped corner off the old envelope and taped it to the new one. The post office sent it back, claiming the postage was "reused."
Now that's what I call abuse. Abuse of the English language! Ha! The objective "me" would be appropriate here. :)
The desired knowledge comes from -- get this -- reading the damned article.
Technically, you're right. I believe what he meant, though, was that the wings were acting as a counterbalance, relieving some of the downward pressure on the mechanism -- in effect, you might say, making it lighter on the mechanics.
Er ... so you watched the one video and completely ignored all the links in the article to all the other people who've done it in the past?
And as I said, even that is just a sampling.
Here's just a sampling: http://hackaday.com/2009/09/19/high-altitude-balloons/
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and sometimes it isn't.
Wow. A more irrelevant straw-man argument, I've never heard.