Airbus A320 Whistling Sound

Last week, aircraft landing at SFO were routinely passing over my house at ~10,000ft. Some of these aeroplanes  made a ghostly whistling noise for 5-10 seconds, and I used Plane Finder app to identify them as the Airbus A320. I don't mind the brief whistle noise. But what's causing it?

A320whine.com has the answer, and Airbus has the solution to eliminate this noise.

 "The noise is caused by air passing over circular vent holes under the wing, similar to the wind blowing over a bottle – just a much larger scale. These annoying wailing sounds good be heard on the ground ... "   -A320whine.com

"The President again made unfounded statements about...."

(I want to read that as the first sentence of a news article)

I live in California , and get my news from foreign news sources. The best domestic journalism is being done by comedians, such as Samantha Bee.

Journalists do not have to defer to politicians. And they must stop struggling to find the sense and reason in statements made by politicians who are not concerned with the truth of what they are saying.

A List of Beers to Avoid

The following is a list of beer names owned by Budweiser and Miller, from an article on Chicagoist.
Most of them are watery and sweet lager beers. Some pretend to be folksy microbrews.

You and I probably drank some of these when we were young and practicing hard to learn the limits of our alcohol intake.

I've drank Bass, Becks, and Blue Moon. They taste ok. But I don't want to give my money to any company that likes to smear its logo-feces around my city/stadiums/TV.
("logo-feces" © George Carlin)

Up Yours Coors. Here's the list:

Anheuser-Busch InBe

• 10 Barrel Brewing


• Alexander Keith's


• Antarctica


• Bass


• Beck's


• Boddington's


• Bohemia


• Brahma


• Bud Light


• Bud Light Lime Ritas


• Bud Ice


• Budweiser


• Busch


• Cass


• Chelada


• Chernigivske


• Corona


• Elysian


• Goose Island


• Harbin


• Hoegaarden


• Johnny Appleseed Hard Cider


• Jupiler


• Kirin


• Klinskoye


• Kokanee


• Landshark Lager


• Leffe


• Löwenbräu


• Michelob ULTRA


• Modelo Especial


• Natural


• Oculto


• O'Doul's


• Quilmes


• Redbridge


• Rolling Rock


• Sedrin


• Select


• Shock Top


• Sibirskaya Korona


• Skol


• Stella Artois


• Victoria


• Wild Blue


• ZiegenBlock

SABMiller

• 2M


• Aguila


• Aguila Light


• Alpha Pale Ale


• Arany Ászok


• Arequipeña


• Atlas


• Balboa


• Balimi Extra Lager


• Barena


• Beez Neez


• Birell


• Blue Moon


• Bohemian Pilsner


• Bohlinger's Lager


• Brutal Fruit


• Bulmers


• Carling


• Carlton


• Cascade


• Castle


• Chairman's Extra Stout Beer


• Chibuku


• Ciucas


• Club


• Conquer


• Coors


• Coors Light


• Costeña


• Cristal


• Crown Lager


• Cusqueña


• De Klok


• Debowe Mocne


• Dirty Granny


• Dogbolter


• Dorada


• Dreher 24


• Dębowe Mocne


• Eagle Lager


• Fat Yak


• Flying Fish


• Foster's


• Frisco


• Gambrinus


• Gingers


• Golden Light


• Great Northern Brewing Co.


• Green Mill Cider


• Grolsch


• Hamm's


• Hansa


• Haywards 5000


• Helga


• Henry Weinhard's


• Hero


• Icehouse


• Impala


• Imperial


• Indus Pride


• Keystone


• Kilimanjaro Premium Lager


• Knock Out


• Kobányai Sör


• Książęce


• Laurentina


• Lech


• Leinenkugel


• Lion Lager


• Maluti


• Manica


• Melbourne Bitter


• Mercury


• Mickey's


• Miller


• Milwaukee's Best


• Mosi


• NT Draught


• Ndovu


• Nile


• Olde English 800


• Peroni


• Pilsen


• Pilsener


• Poker


• Port Royal


• Pure Blonde


• Radegast


• Raffo


• Redback


• Redd's


• Regia


• Reschs


• Rhino Lager


• Royal Challenge


• Safari


• SalvaVida


• San Juan


• Saris


• Sheaf Stout


• Sibebe


• Skelter's Straight


• Smädný mních


• Snow


• St. Louis


• St. Stefanus


• Stone Lager


• Strongbow


• Suprema


• Timisoreana


• Topvar


• Trophy


• Tropical


• Tyskie


• Ursus


• Velkopopovický


• Victoria Bitter


• White Bull


• Wojak Jasny Pelny


• Wührer


• Zorok


• Zubr

up yours, Coors!

I saw that faded bumper sticker on an old car in 1986. I don't know what it was about. Then I read that the anti-union Coors family had supported the Contra militias against the democratically elected Sandinistas in Nicaragua. Then "up yours, Coors!" meant that to me.

Today Eater reports that MillerCoors is being sued for marketing Blue Moon as a craft beer when it is in fact a mass produced beer.

Coors is not the only macrobrewery marketing slop in a folksy label. Maybe soon it will be easier to tell the difference without having to drink it.

Head Hunter Looking for Brain Surgeon

Doctors' Wages:

Je Suis Charlie

" Religion, a medieval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms. This religious totalitarianism has caused a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam and we see the tragic consequences in Paris today. I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity. ‘Respect for religion’ has become a code phrase meaning ‘fear of religion’. Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, satire, and, yes, our fearless disrespect. " --Salman Rushdie

How a Radial Engine Works

Stream the 2014 Winter Olympics Without a Cable Subscription

This is how I watch the Winter Olympics: I open the NBC Olympics app on my iPhone, and turn the WiFi off. I enter my friend's cable account username and password. Over the data link NBC can't determine if I'm really a paying cable customer or not. I turn the iPhone WiFi back on and I watch the Olympics on my TV using Airplay. The app remembers my information, so next time it immediately starts streaming without asking for user my name and password.

Add a GIF to your iPhone Mail Signature

This tutorial is from CNET in 2010(!), and I'll summarize it here. The final result will be a home screen icon you will click to write an email that will have that GIF or JPG signature (emails written directly from the native IOS email app won't have the signature, and neither will a reply to an email sent to you).

1) The GIF or JPG you want to use must be 80KB or less.

2) Go to CoolGeex on your desktop computer and open a free account.

3) Fill out the form with the information and logo/GIF/JPG you want to be your signature.

4) Click "Create Signature at the bottom of the page to see how it will look.

5) If you like it, click "Email Signature URL" at the top left of the page under "Options".

6) Open the email with your iPhone, and click the link. A new home screen icon will appear on your iPhone. Use this new app to write an email.

 That's it. Granted, it is limited.

San Francisco In 1955 – A Driving Tour In Cinemascope!

Comparing Apple's Siri and Google's Voice Recognition

Siri voice recognition on iPhone works quite well.  But Google's voice recognition works very well.  You can directly compare their performance by opening the YouTube app on iPhone and hitting the search button (top right). Now you have the choice of using Siri (next to the space bar), or Google (top right).

My Cat Will Die at 5pm

Two hours from now my old cat will be dead. My younger cat can smell his illness, and stays away.

I have three hours left to say goodbye to him.  And I'm crying now for all the losses in my life I never cried for.  For the girlfriends that left me. For loneliness I felt in my 20's. For depression that has wasted my life and limited my choices.  I never acknowledged those losses.

My cat has never known an unkindness.  I am happy for the life he has had with me.

No Olympics for me

This year I thought I'd be watching the Olympics streaming online.  I was ready with Airplay, Apple TV, and Mountain Lion to stream the Olympics from my MacBook to my television (that's one of the great new features of OS X on newer Macs).  And I would be doing that, but I live in America, where NBC has chosen to only stream the Olympics to cable and satellite subscribers whose contract includes television. It's the dark ages.

I could setup a UK proxy and watch BBC coverage, but my past experience with iPlayer wasn't great.

Maybe I'm better off not getting streaming Olympic events from NBC:  I've read that their presentation of the games is the usual commercial TV sentimental slop: 'Heart warming' stories of US athletes overcoming something, and the camera shots of their parents in the crowd.

I just want to see athletes in top physical condition perform great athletic feats. That's exciting and compelling enough for me.

Now the medal count.  I know that it's not in the spirit of the games to compare national medal counts because individuals compete against each other. But everyone follows the national medal count.

This is how it's done: the country with the most gold medals is first.

This is how it's done in the US: the country with the most medals wins. Using this logic, a gold is equal to a bronze.

George Washington NSFW

This animation pokes fun at the insipid hero-worshiping (whoreshiping?) cartoons used to teach American children about their white history.
(The language is for adult ears only. It's a bit crude)

I'm Out of Here

Thanks  Reddit
Categories:Movies

2012 Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera Disco Volante Concept

       

This is the first Alfa Romeo since the 1970's that I think looks great. I like older Alfa Romeos. The 1750/2000 GTV and the Alfasud ti in particular.

This is a concept based on 8C Competizione mechanicals, with styling from the 1952 Alfa Romeo C52 Disco Volante concept car (which some think was the inspiration for the E-Type).

I adore the straight cut of the front fender openings, the line of the bonnet, the blistered rear quarter panels, and the way the cabin tapers. And for the first time in ages the Alfa grill doesn't look out of place.

The only mistake I can see are the telephone dial wheels.




Photos from Autocar
Categories:Cars

AirBeam Updated for iOS and OS X

AirBeam for the Mac/iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch has just been updated. AirBeam lets you use an iPhone as a wireless webcam for video and sound.  In the past, all devices had to be on the same WiFi network.  Not anymore.


I have my old iPhone 3Gs running the AirBeam app as a webcam on my WiFi network, but I can watch the feed using the AirBeam app on my iPhone 4G from anywhere using 3G data service.


And you can watch the feed on a Mac running the OS X version of the app, or watch the feed on any computer browser.


There's no setup. It really is the easiest way to watch your cats while you're away from home.


Free for iOS devices.  $4 for OS X, but you don't really need it.

Categories:Gadgets

The Sadness When Someone Notices That You're Dying Inside

One day you're there...

and then, all of a sudden...

there's less of you,

and you wonder where that part went,

if it's living somewhere outside of you.

And you keep thinking...

maybe you'll get it back.

And then you realize...

it's just gone.

Morning Tea

I loved these when I was a kid growing up in NZ.  At work I would pull the cord, and when the water boiled it would whistle and turn itself off. I'd then come back to the kitchen and make a pot of tea.  The whistle would have alerted my coworkers to the fact that it was teatime (even when it really wasn't) and they would come into the tearoom for their morning or afternoon break.  This way I could manipulate my coworkers to take a break whenever I pleased!


I haven't seen one in California.  Must be an Australasian thing.  It's especially useful where there is no provision for hot water.

Mirror iPhone Screen to TV Screen

There's a feature of the new iPhone 4S that no one seems to mention: You can now mirror the screen and sound to your television using an Apple TV. And it's not an app, it's built right into IOS 5 for the 4S.

Here's how:
Double tap the home button and swipe your way to the very left. Tap on the AirPlay icon, chose Apple TV then chose mirroring. That's it. You're done! What ever is showing on your iPhone will now also be on your TV. Of course it only works when the iPhone and Apple TV are on the same WiFi network.

Next I want wireless mirroring for OS X.

Categories:Gadgets