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, 2025

LEST TRUMP FORGETS (AS IF HE EVER KNEW)      PART 2 

YESTERDAY’S MENTION OF ROAD TRIPS brought to mind The Negro Motorist Green Book published annually between 1936 and 1966. Perhaps it’s too much reading for the likes of Trump, what … Continue reading

September 10, 2025 · 2 Comments

LEST TRUMP FORGETS (AS IF HE EVER KNEW….) PART 1

SIDNEY BLUMENTHAL WRITES IN THE GUARDIAN, September 4, 2025, “Trump Wants to Rewrite American History. Maybe He Should Learn It First.”  Blumenthal observes, “Of all the presidents, Donald Trump—the man … Continue reading

September 9, 2025 · 1 Comment

PHOTOPHORETIC FLIGHT IN THE IGNOSPHERE, THANKS TO CROOKE’S RADIOMETER, SORTA

THERE ARE SEVERAL NEAT WORDS ABOVE gleaned from Annika Inampudi’s article “Featherweight Flyers Could ‘Levitate’ Above Earth Indefinitely,” AAAS Science, August 13, 2025. Let’s consider each of these words, then … Continue reading

September 8, 2025 · 2 Comments

R&T/B&B TESTS THE POGUAR

“ALTHOUGH IT MAY BE ARGUED,” Bounce & Bound wrote in January 1955, “that the scrutiny of a road test crew should be confined to the technical and performance aspects of … Continue reading

September 7, 2025 · 4 Comments

RETHINKING A.I. PART 2

YESTERDAY, Gary Marcus’ “The Fever Dream of Imminent ‘Superintelligence’ Is Finally Breaking,” a Guest Essay in The New York Times, described that today’s A.I. is failing to achieve Artificial General … Continue reading

September 6, 2025 · 4 Comments

RETHINKING A.I. PART 1

A.I. SPECIALIST GARY MARCUS WRITES IN THE NEW YORK TIMES, SEPTEMBER 3, 2025, “The Fever Dream of Imminent ‘Superintelligence’ Is Finally Breaking.” Here, in Parts 1 and 2 today and … Continue reading

September 5, 2025 · 2 Comments

ANIMALES FANTÁSTICOS

“AT AROUND 20 FEET TALL,” PBS SENIOR ARTS Correspondent Jeffery Brown recounts, “they’re hard to miss, brightly colored and intricately designed…. fantastic animals that have their roots in Oaxaca and … Continue reading

September 4, 2025 · Leave a comment

MORE DIRTY BOOKS

THERE—THAT SHOULD GET YOUR ATTENTION AGAIN. Who would have guessed Boccacio’s Decameron was once described as “probably the dirtiest great book in the Western canon.” I gleaned this from Barbara … Continue reading

September 3, 2025 · Leave a comment

ANTHONY COMSTOCK, CHAUCER’S LITHE-AS-A-WEASEL ALISOUN, AND PERSONAL CHOICE

AN ENLIGHTENED ENGLISH TEACHER ENCOURAGED US to master the first lines of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales—in Middle English: “Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote/ The droghte of March hath … Continue reading

September 2, 2025 · Leave a comment

ENOUGH ALREADY WITH PENCILS IN KNIFE FIGHTS

JIA LYNN YANG WRITES OF DEMOCRATS in The New York Times, August 15, 2025: “Will the battle over Texas’ gerrymandering lead to a new era for the party?” An interesting … Continue reading

September 1, 2025 · 2 Comments