Found this great web site that shows real-time flight traffic around the world, OK, most of the world – guess the one that has radar.
What I found interesting is the amount of traffic in the air at any given moment in time – and the difference between Europe and North America. As expected, North America has more traffic, but Europe’s traffic is more up to date (yellow v. orange).
Recently I reported on my findings about the Google Chrome parameters
Now I had to set up a computer for somebody with two main gmail accounts and I wanted to have direct access from an icon in the windows 7 task bar to each of these two gmail accounts.
It required a bit of juggling all these Chrome parameters but I finally managed to have two gmail icons in the task bar that allowed the user to get her two gmail accounts without ever having to switch accounts. The following solution also avoided the confusion that was created by the fact that Chrome remembers the last User that was active when Chrome is closed.
The first icon has the following parameters:
%path-to-chrome%\chrome.exe --user-data-dir="C:\usr\browser\chrome-0001" --profile-directory="Default" -app=https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0
and the second is different in selecting another user within the same profile
%path-to-chrome%\chrome.exe --user-data-dir="C:\usr\browser\chrome-0001" --profile-directory="Profile 1" -app=https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0
You know how to set the properties of a pinned icon in the windows 7 task bar, yes?
Really? You are good – it was more by accident that I ran into this and was rather relieved when I did – Right-click on the icon, and then right-click again on the name of the application (usually the second from the bottom if the application is not running, otherwise the third.) This is how you get to the usual window for the properties of a shortcut.
Stanley Kubric’s movie 2001 must be my most favorite movie – how could it be not – I have watched it probably about 10 times. But then again, that was a long time ago.
When I wanted to share that love with my son a while back he got bored with it really quickly. I realized that this is definitely a movie for which you have to have patience and that is not trained with today’s fast-paced flicks.
Finally, somebody came a long and made – at least – a trailer for this cinematic masterpiece that might appeal to the new generation. They might be disappointed once they start watching it for real – especially the long takes in the beginning – but maybe they gain some patience and learn to enjoy scenes that are longer than three seconds…
Ran into a video at the YT Academy (YouTube) of autonomous little robots ganging together to play the James Bond theme. Sure, they did not build all the instruments themselves but I am sure this is just a matter of time.
But all these little guys jamming it out makes them really look alive and having fun…
I had to look a little bit further on what that actually is all about, and found this TED talk…
I’m just waiting for this to be offered to associated so that I can use it for Thaidye -tie-dye clothing…
These are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while the exchanges were taking place.
Attorney:What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
Witness:He said, ‘Where am I, Cathy?’
Attorney:And why did that upset you?
Witness:My name is Susan!
Attorney:What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
Witness:Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
Attorney:Are you sexually active?
Witness:No, I just lie there.
Attorney:What is your date of birth?
Witness:July 18th.
Attorney:What year?
Witness:Every year.
Attorney:How old is your son, the one living with you?
Witness:Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can’t remember which.
Attorney:How long has he lived with you?
Witness:Forty-five years.
Attorney:This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
Witness:Yes.
Attorney:And in what ways does it affect your memory?
Witness:I forget..
Attorney:You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?
Attorney:Now doctor, isn’t it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn’t know about it until the next morning?
Witness:Did you actually pass the bar exam?
Attorney:The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he?
Witness:He’s 20, much like your IQ.
Attorney:Were you present when your picture was taken?
Witness:Are you shitting me?
Attorney:So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
Witness:Yes.
Attorney:And what were you doing at that time?
Witness:Getting laid
Attorney:She had three children , right?
Witness:Yes.
Attorney:How many were boys?
Witness:None.
Attorney:Were there any girls?
Witness:Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?
Attorney:How was your first marriage terminated?
Witness:By death..
Attorney:And by whose death was it terminated?
Witness:Take a guess.
Attorney:Can you describe the individual?
Witness:He was about medium height and had a beard
Attorney:Was this a male or a female?
Witness:Unless the Circus was in town I’m going with male.
Attorney:Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
Witness:No, this is how I dress when I go to work.
Attorney:Doctor , how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
Witness:All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight.
Attorney:ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
Witness:Oral…
Attorney:Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
Witness:The autopsy started around 8:30 PM
Attorney:And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
Witness:If not, he was by the time I finished.
Attorney:Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
Witness:Are you qualified to ask that question?
Attorney:Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
Witness:No.
Attorney:Did you check for blood pressure?
Witness:No.
Attorney:Did you check for breathing?
Witness:No…
Attorney:So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
Witness:No.
Attorney:How can you be so sure, Doctor?
Witness:Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
Attorney:I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
Witness:Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.
Thanks, Beverly!
Seen this way makes things a bit more obvious, right?
If you are a gamer you know Donkey Kong. It was actually the first game my son ever had. I just learned that when I asked him how it’s spelled.
Spelling! This brings us close to the crux of this little article. The name is a translation error, a spelling error between languages, so to speak. Have you ever wondered why a game about a monkey is called DONKEY Kong? Rumor has it that it’s simply a translation error – the Japanese translator just mistook the D for an M and now we are stuck with a Monkey called Donkey. Other data suggests that the Japanese character creator used Donkey as a representation for stubbornness and Kong to indicate the monkey-ness (King Kong is a apparently a term for the generic big ape.)
Whatever is right – I like the first explanation better and stick with it, especially as it allows for a much better transition to the following video that shows that Gmail has been spelled incorrectly from the very beginning.
Here is the correct version – G-Male – and what it really means…
We found a real nice house that is more or less perfect in many regards:
Altogether, it just feels right, we all like it – so we want it.
Now we just have to create the reality that within a month we move into this place and one of the reasons for this blog post is for you all to help create this reality.
So, now altogether please – create the picture of us being in this house with plenty of money left over from the sale of the old house. Oh, yes, and the old house is bought by a friend for whom it would be real good as he wants to have a family.
There is always that little innuendo when discussing the question if size matters.
But I don’t want to get into this, even though I chose that headline to get your attention – – did work if you are reading this, didn’t it?
So, take a look at this one example where size does not matter…
Before the mighty FAA, we are all created equal. Once you have your clearance, it’s yours. You might give it up to let a big guy with 300 passengers go first, as these big guys are probably burning a lot more fuel on idle than I in my single-engine plane will use for a whole trip.
Two tales come to mind. One was that of a flight instructor telling the story at the Pilot’s Co-Op of catching a ride on a business jet once and how the crew was treated to a nice dinner at the FBO when they stopped somewhere for gas. It was only when he saw the bill did he understand why they had been treated so royally.
In the other story, I was a participant myself. It was right after my primary training that I advanced from the Piper Tomahawk to a Warrior at the Pilot’s Co-Op. My instructor, during the checkout on that new type of plane, put me through the paces of practicing my landings. Our airport, Burbank, has intersecting runways. One of them – 15 – was often used for commercial traffic. If there was a 737 ready for take-off on runway 15 and another – smaller – plane on approach to runway 8, the departing plane, and all its 150+ passengers, had to wait. Runway 8 is very long and the length from touch down to the intersection with runway 15 was plenty enough for a little plane to touch down, stop, and leave the runway so they never crossed 15. So, it was customary that traffic control asked the landing traffic if they were able to land short of 15, meaning they had no intention of getting to or even crossing runway 15. If the landing traffic confirmed that they would not get to runway 15, the tower could let the big iron take off on runway 15 while the landing traffic was still on approach to runway 8.
That was standard operating procedure, but now yours truly, a new pilot being checked out at a new airport and on a new plane, enters the picture. On approach to runway 8 for the fifth or so time, I confirmed that I would hold short of 15 and so the tower controller gave takeoff clearance to the Southwest 737 and it started rolling on runway 15, the runway I had promised not to cross or in any way to mess with.
Just then my flight instructor, who I was so glad to have had with me, made the decision that I had messed up the approach – I was too high or too slow or both, floating too far down the runway. He grabbed the yoke – MY PLANE!, pushed the throttle to the firewall, and keyed the mike: “Tower, Cherokee 888 going around!!”
Now that was not good. The 737 was rolling towards the intersection and we, in our little tin can, were now climbing out over runway 8 towards the intersection with runway 15.
Tower: “Southwest 114 ABORT – Southwest 114 ABORT!”
All went well, the 737 stopped before the intersection and we sailed unscathed across the intersection. I was too busy digesting all this so I did not take a good look into the cockpit of the 737 that was sitting right there on my left side. But I could imagine that the pitch of the captain’s voice might not have been as low as it usually was.
We got the expected call from the tower: “Cherokee 888, Tower, contact the tower after landing!” Was I glad that I was only the student, and my instructor legally the pilot in command! A bit after we landed and tied down, I saw my instructor on the phone with the tower – very meek and apologetic – rather different than his usual boisterous self. Fortunately for him, he got off with a warning.
It was a big story at the Pilot’s Co-Op and many guesses were made about how much money in kerosine this incident had cost Southwest. I mostly felt with the poor passengers who did not really know what was happening: the usual bit of anticipation or fear at the takeoff roll and then suddenly screeching brakes – it might have convinced some never to fly again.
I myself only had one instance of “Call the tower after landing!” after hearing “Cleared for takeoff” while the tower had told me “In position and hold”. I was able to weasel myself out with the excuse that I was going someplace further away and could truthfully tell the controller that his tower would be closed when I returned. So, he just scolded me a bit and told me to listen better next time.