Simanaitis Says

On cars, old, new and future; science & technology; vintage airplanes, computer flight simulation of them; Sherlockiana; our English language; travel; and other stuff

Monthly Archives: December, 2022

TOMORROW’S VISIT

SOME TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO, Santa Claus lore was collected into what has been called “arguably the best-known verses ever written by an American.” Author of ” ’Twas the night … Continue reading

December 24, 2022 · 6 Comments

JANUS 2022/2023 PART 2

YESTERDAY, JANUS STARTED LOOKING backward and forward here at SimanaitisSays. Indeed, he was sufficiently curious to find enough relevance for today’s Part 2 as well.  One Thing Leads to Another. … Continue reading

December 23, 2022 · Leave a comment

JANUS 2022/2023 PART 1

THIS TIME EACH YEAR, I EXPERIENCE nostalgia mixed with hope. Here, in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow, are tidbits gleaned from 2022 SimanaitisSays together with aspirational expectations for … Continue reading

December 22, 2022 · Leave a comment

WELL, THIS SETTLES THAT!

TANTALIZINGLY LATE FOR holiday delivery is a book described in AAAS Science almost a year ago , January 6, 2022, and reaffirmed in “New Books for Young Scientists,” December 4, … Continue reading

December 21, 2022 · 6 Comments

CELEBRATING THE SKYSCRAPERS’ GRANDFATHER AND KIN

I’VE NEVER BEEN TO “the grandfather of skyscrapers,” but I have visited its elder cousin. Here are tidbits about both. The Ditherington Flax Mill, 1797. Also known as the Shrewsbury … Continue reading

December 20, 2022 · 2 Comments

THE LOTUS ELEVEN—IN A RETROSPECTIVE AND IN TONY’S WORDS PART 2

BACK IN THE OLD DAYS, intrepid sports car drivers could, at least in theory, finance their motor sports through starting stipends supplemented by occasionally finishing in the money. And so … Continue reading

December 19, 2022 · Leave a comment

LOTUS ELEVEN—IN RETROSPECT AND IN TONY’S WORDS PART 1

AS RECENTLY AS 1995 (ha, recently for some of us), an R&T Salon celebrated the 1956 Lotus Eleven for its “Engineering prowess, esthetic appeal, and absolute timelessness.” Way back in … Continue reading

December 18, 2022 · 8 Comments

PLATO, THE INTERNET, EDUCATION, AND A.I.

“WHAT WOULD PLATO SAY about ChatGPT?” asks Zeynep Tufekci, a young lady with more than just an interesting name: Dr. Tufekci is a sociologist, a professor at Columbia University’s Craig … Continue reading

December 17, 2022 · 3 Comments

A CAST OF FALCONS

AN ASSEMBLY OF BIRDS OF PREY of the genus Falco is known as a “cast” of falcons. How utterly appropriate, in that I’m thinking of the multiple personages portraying a … Continue reading

December 16, 2022 · 1 Comment

CHANGING TIMES? ADDING ZEROES AT EITHER END

THE JULIAN CALENDAR USTA BE just fine, thank you, until Pope Gregory XIII was informed in 1582 that the actual length of a year was a tad less than the … Continue reading

December 15, 2022 · 1 Comment