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

Author Archives: simanaitissays

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

R&T’S MOGGIE TRIKE TEST, MOTTA’S ILLO, AND MY BRIEF DRIVES

HERE’S A TRIO OF MORGAN TRIKE TIDBITS gleaned from several sources: R&T March 1957, R&T December 1965, SimanaitisSays May 4, 2013, and my own memory bank. A Classic Trike. Back … Continue reading

November 20, 2023 · 2 Comments

TURING’S BOMBE; HOLMES MEETS HARRY NILE 

TALK ABOUT SERENDIPITY: November 30 marks publication of Alan Turing’s 1936 paper “On Computable Numbers, with Application to the Entscheidungsproblem.” The November 2023 issue of BBC HISTORY recounts this idea … Continue reading

November 19, 2023 · Leave a comment

EARLY AIR MAIL SNAFUS PART 2

YESTERDAY, WE CAUGHT UP WITH the latest valuation of a rare “Inverted Jenny” air mail stamp. We also began the tale of Lieutenant George Boyle helping to inaugurate air mail … Continue reading

November 18, 2023 · Leave a comment

EARLY AIR MAIL SNAFUS PART 1

IT’S INTERESTING ENOUGH that a philatelic screwup complicated early U.S. air mail, so too did prenup nepotism. Here in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow are tidbits especially focusing … Continue reading

November 17, 2023 · 1 Comment