WHAT IF ROBOTS UNIONIZE? PART 1
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE is making robotic devices smarter every day. The societal implications of this are profound in the near, as well as long, term. Here are two days of my … Continue reading
TWO WINSTONS—AND A FAMILY PORTRAIT
A TWO-PERSON biography described in The New York Times Book Review, June 11, 2017, reminded me of a family portrait in one of our bookcases. The common theme is the … Continue reading
ROBERTS 6X AEROPLANE ENGINE
THE ROBERTS Motor Company of Sandusky, Ohio, manufactured advanced aircraft engines in the early part of the last century. Indeed, according to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, more … Continue reading
WHAT AN IDIOT! WELL, IF THE POLL FITS…
I LOVE learning word origins. The New York Times, June 12, 2017, carried “Trump and the True Meaning of ‘Idiot,’ ” an interesting etymological piece by Eric Anthamatten. What brought … Continue reading
A GUY’S STUFF, PART 2
IL VITTORIALE, Gabriele D’Annunzio’s villa along the shore of Lago di Garda in northern Italy, is opulent to the extreme in design and furnishing. Here I continue yesterday’s tour of … Continue reading
THIS GUY HAD STUFF! PART 1
GABRIELE D’ANNUNZIO was an Italian poet, patriot, soldier, aviator, hypochondriac, scoundrel, libertine, thrill-seeking meglomaniac, womanizer, proto-fascist and, some say, even worse. Il Vittoriale degli italiani, loosely, the shrine of Italian … Continue reading
GOT ENERGY? KNOW HOW TO STORE IT? PART 2
THIS CONTINUES a discussion of energy-storage concepts, begun here at SimanaitisSays. The New York Times, June 3, 2017, “The Biggest, Strangest ‘Batteries’ ” is a primary source, along with my … Continue reading
GOT ENERGY? KNOW HOW TO STORE IT? PART 1
AS THE COST of renewable energy comes down, a significant challenge remains in its inherent intermittency of supply. It is well known to science (you’ll excuse the S word) that … Continue reading
CELEBRATING MORT SAHL
LONG BEFORE BILL Maher and John Oliver, even before Lenny Bruce and George Carlin, there was Mort Sahl. And there still is! A recent Tweet from Sahl: “Executive Privilege is … Continue reading
THE TSAREVICH AND THE BALLERINA, PART 2
THE RUSSIAN bioflick Matilda, detailing Tsarevich Nicholas’s affair with ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya, isn’t scheduled for release until October 2017. However, it has already generated lots of buzz in its homeland. … Continue reading
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