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: June, 2024

CONGRESSIONAL GOOFING AROUND WITH GOF PART 2

YESTERDAY WE  BEGAN SHARING A DIALOGUE of two scientists commenting at AAAS’s Community Forum about the virological term “gain of function.” Today we continue this knowledgable commentary from Drs. Robert … Continue reading

June 21, 2024 · Leave a comment

CONGRESSIONAL GOOFING AROUND WITH GOF PART 1

THERE’S A POLITICIZING OF SCIENCE THESE DAYS. Lamentable but not surprising, given the current dysfunction of our national legislative body.  As a case in point, Republicans are keen on convincing … Continue reading

June 20, 2024 · 3 Comments

PUR SANG TIDBITS PART 2

YESTERDAY WE ENJOYED SEVERAL TIDBITS from Pur Sang, a publication of the American Bugatti Club. Today in Part 2, we focus on fascinating applications of the differential: one in Bugatti … Continue reading

June 19, 2024 · Leave a comment

PUR SANG TIDBITS PART 1

MY COLLECTION OF MAGAZINES includes several of Pur Sang published by the American Bugatti Club. In fact, correspondence in its Thirty-Fifth Anniversary issue, 1960-1995, Winter 1995, prompted “Venice Grand Prix” … Continue reading

June 18, 2024 · 2 Comments

THE CASE OF THE KERNLESS “f” AND MISFIT “?”

SOME BOOK REVIEWS ARE JUST AS MUCH as I want to know. Others, like Gill Partington’s “Every Watermark and Stain,” London Review of Books, June 20, 2024, encourage me to … Continue reading

June 17, 2024 · Leave a comment

THE VENICE GRAND PRIX

NO, NOT A GONDOLA RACE. And not in Italy, but in Venice, California, March 17, 1915. What’s more, I learned about this Venice Grand Prix by leafing through the Winter … Continue reading

June 16, 2024 · 4 Comments

CC Me—And Be Thankful for Cамиздат

AN OLD-TIME RADIO REFERENCE got me thinking of carbon paper. (What’s ‘carbon paper,’ Grandpa?) Here are selected tidbits gleaned from one place or another. Carbon Paper. Wikipedia notes, “Carbon paper (originally carbonic … Continue reading

June 15, 2024 · Leave a comment

CAN YOU WHISPER ME NOW?

“STAND WITH YOUR EAR UP AGAINST THE TILE WORK in the domed intersection of walkways on the lower floor of Grand Central Terminal,” Atlas Obscura describes, “and you’ll discover a … Continue reading

June 14, 2024 · Leave a comment

RENOVATING MICHIGAN CENTRAL

A DETROIT BUILDING EVERY BIT AS ICONIC as New York City’s Grand Central is humming again. Today’s rejuvenated Michigan Central will be more than a railroad station. As described in … Continue reading

June 13, 2024 · Leave a comment

(NON-POLITICAL) PARTY LINES AND OTHER TELEPHONIC CURIOSITIES PART 2

YESTERDAY’S PHONE ACTIVITIES WERE local calls with the likes of Lum and Abner and Fibber McGee and Molly. Telephone operators played important (if sometimes unspoken) roles. Today in Part 2 … Continue reading

June 12, 2024 · 1 Comment