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: November, 2023

AMONG THE FIRST FLYING BOATS: DENHAUT’S OFFSPRING

THE FIRST HYDRO-AEROPLANE COMPETITION took place in Monaco in March 1912; the first Coupe d’Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, the Schneider Cup, came a year later. However, these races favored conventional … Continue reading

November 30, 2023 · Leave a comment

ETYMOLOGICAL FUN

WORDS ENTER A LANGUAGE BY A VARIETY OF MEANS: onomatopoeia (identifying a sound), evolution (derived from an earlier word), immigration (imported from another language), and, adding to the fun, downright … Continue reading

November 29, 2023 · Leave a comment

MANNEY DRIVES A LAMBO

INDEED, UNLESS TRACTORS ARE COUNTED, Henry N. Manney III’s drive was of a first Lamborghini, the 350 GT. As Henry wrote in the car’s July 1965 R&T road test, “Engineers … Continue reading

November 28, 2023 · 1 Comment

DAVID HOCKNEY: DRAWING FROM LIFE

GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT: Britain’s National Gallery will see a return of the five-star exhibition, ‘David Hockney: Drawing from Life,’ which was staged for just 20 days … Continue reading

November 27, 2023 · Leave a comment

A.I. TO REVOLUTIONIZE WEATHER PREDICTION

METEOROLOGISTS DESCRIBE IT AS “the ‘quiet revolution’: a gradual but steady improvement in weather forecasting.” Paul Voosen writes in AAAS Science, November 17, 2023, “Today the 6-day forecast is about … Continue reading

November 26, 2023 · 1 Comment

THE ZBROJOVKA/JAWA SIBLINGS

A GERMAN MODEL MAKER introduced me to two Czech siblings, the introduction brought about by my favorite British car magazine. Here are tidbits gleaned from several sources.  The Introduction. Classic … Continue reading

November 25, 2023 · 3 Comments

DINNER AT EIGHT—THEATRE WITH REAL LEGS

I’VE JUST WATCHED DINNER AT EIGHT for the third time on Turner Classic Movies, and this 1933 flick continues to delight. Its 3:01 trailer at IMDb serves as a fine … Continue reading

November 24, 2023 · Leave a comment

THE ORIGINAL 911

IN MARCH 1965, R&T was thinking “timeless” when it wrote, “If we exclude the special racing models, the new Porsche 911, née 901, is the first entirely new Porsche in … Continue reading

November 23, 2023 · 1 Comment

MAURO CALDI, PILOTA STRAORDINARIO

THE OCTOBER 2023 ISSUE OF Classic & Sports Cars introduced me to the motoring comics of Denis Lapière (writer), Michel Constant (illustrator) and wife Béa who colors Michel’s illos. Amazon … Continue reading

November 22, 2023 · 1 Comment

MORE A.I. BS

QUITE INDEPENDENT OF RECENT BUSINESS MACHINATIONS in the A.I. industry, there still remains the inherent problem of addressing hallucinations. SimanaitisSays discussed this in “On Chatbots and Other Hallucinators.” And in … Continue reading

November 21, 2023 · Leave a comment