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: September, 2023

AIRCRAFT CUTAWAYS—A VARIETY OF STYLES

THE PURPOSE OF A CUTAWAY, of course, is to reveal inner aspects of something by selectively omitting outer elements. The intent, though, depends on the audience: Is it a technical … Continue reading

September 20, 2023 · Leave a comment

L.J.K. SETRIGHT’S TIMESCALE PART 2

WE’RE CELEBRATING THE WIDE TALENTS of L.J.K. Setright, as exemplified in his Timescale, a multifaceted timeline in his Drive On! A Social History of the Motor Car. Leonard John Kensell … Continue reading

September 19, 2023 · 1 Comment

TIDBITS FROM SETRIGHT’S TIMESCALE PART 1

AUTOMOTIVE JOURNALISTS WRITE ABOUT AUTOMOBLES. But some, like L.J.K. Setright, widened their field of vision considerably. His classic Drive On! is accurately subtitled A Social History of the Motor Car. … Continue reading

September 18, 2023 · 1 Comment

EVALUATING THE DE TOMASO PANTERA AND THE U.P. PART 2

YESTERDAY IN PART 1, R&T SHARED its evaluation of the 1973 De Tomaso Pantera, a Ford-engine exotic available at less than stratospheric price. Today, two women familiar to R&T readers, … Continue reading

September 17, 2023 · Leave a comment

EVALUATING THE DE TOMASO PANTERA—AND THE U.P. PART 1

CRAMMING AN AMERICAN V-8 into a mid-engine Italian exotic may not be without its shortcomings, but many of these can be remedied—or overlooked. Indeed, two young ladies from California had … Continue reading

September 16, 2023 · Leave a comment

ON OLD REFERENCE BOOKS

I PONDER OCCASIONALLY, AMIDST SCADS OF BOOKS, whether a few clicks of the computer keyboard wouldn’t replace them all. This, in a sense, is the idea being LLM, large language … Continue reading

September 15, 2023 · 4 Comments

CAR BUYERS AND USERS FOR SALE

IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG for the Internet to learn monetization. We are the product, not simply the users. And the automakers are now following suit. In *Privacy Not Included, September … Continue reading

September 14, 2023 · Leave a comment

MPC AIDING STEMMERS 

STEM STUDENTS (THOSE STRIVING FOR degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) have Calculus 1 as a first hurdle. And for many it’s a formidable one. According to AAAS Science, … Continue reading

September 13, 2023 · 2 Comments

DRIVEN TO CRIME PART 2

YESTERDAY WE GLEANED TIDBITS from Crispian Besley’s Driven to Crime: True Stories of Wrongdoing in Motor Racing. Today in Part 2, we find that clever deceits have a way of … Continue reading

September 12, 2023 · 1 Comment

DRIVEN TO CRIME PART 1

MOTORSPORTS HAS HAD ITS SHARE of rascals and skullduggery. See, for example, “Smuggling and Motorsports”, “Tripoli Tangles, 1933”, and “Politics and Motorsports” here at SimanaitisSays. For an entertaining collection of … Continue reading

September 11, 2023 · 1 Comment