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

A WALK IN THE CITY

PEDESTRIANS AREN’T common in my portion of the world. (Book ’em on a 203—”Without a motor vehicle in the County of Orange, State of California.”) On the other hand, I … Continue reading

April 4, 2013 · 2 Comments

SHAKESPEARE, INC.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE a loan shark? A tax dodger? Worse yet, a hedge trader? Or was he merely a man of his Elizabethan times? And the greatest dramaturgist of all time? … Continue reading

April 3, 2013 · Leave a comment

OPEL’S RAKS

WHEN WE last visited the German aviation industry (in 1922; see http://www.wp.me/p2ETap-W8), the Inter-Allied Commission had demanded—and got—destruction of the Zeppelin-Staaken E-4/20. This passenger liner was simply too advanced, potentially … Continue reading

April 2, 2013 · 1 Comment

LIKES TELL A LOT

EVERY TIME you click on a Facebook “Like,” you’re telling something about yourself—and a lot more than your preference for cat videos. This observation comes from a team of psychologists … Continue reading

April 1, 2013 · Leave a comment

EASTER FLICKS

IT’S MID-afternoon. Maybe a holiday meal with the family is either in preparation or has been concluded. Maybe the familial/liturgical/political chatter has temporarily subsided. What to do? See if there’s … Continue reading

March 31, 2013 · Leave a comment

CLEANER GAS—ALL AROUND

THERE IS recent news that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will require cleaner gasoline nationwide (see, for example, http://goo.gl/s5Tc4). As is often the case with such news, it profits from … Continue reading

March 30, 2013 · 1 Comment

WINDSHIELDS IN NASCAR

AS WE’VE seen recently, NASCAR collisions result in debris flying everywhere. Wheel tethers and other safety hardware can do only so much. Even minor on-track debris can cause windshield damage. … Continue reading

March 29, 2013 · 1 Comment

SOLAR FLARES

AS IF we haven’t already had enough celestial excitement with asteroids, comets and meteorites (www.wp.me/p2ETap-SU). Add solar flares, and consider what happened when Earth experienced its most recent major one … Continue reading

March 28, 2013 · 1 Comment

“GOOGLING,” SO TO SPEAK

LANGUAGES ARE living things—and occasionally combative ones. So it was recently when the Språkrådet, the Swedish Language Council, had it out with no less than Google Inc., all over the … Continue reading

March 27, 2013 · Leave a comment

RED WINE

HERE’S TO your health! After many years of supposition and more than a decade of investigation, the nutritional efficacy of red wine is even more certain. No less than Science, … Continue reading

March 26, 2013 · 2 Comments