polypoke: Misc

Busy week (or two)

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 01:58:48 GMT

There are a lot of things going on this week (and the next).

Sun-N-Fun
The "Oshkosh of the south" kicks off today in grand fashion. Garmin has already made some impressive announcements with regards to the new synthetic vision system in the G1000. Liberty Aerospace and Aspen Avionics have announced a partnership to include the new Evolution Pro PFD as standard equipment in the IFR trainer version of the XL-2. This is just the beginning. I expect to hear other major announcements as the event progresses.

Red Bull Air Race
The Red Bull Air Race kicks off the 2008 season this weekend in Abu Dhabi. Mike Mangold will be defending his 2007 championship in front of a crowd of thousands! This year also brings the event to the United States twice - a new venue in Detroit and a returning visit to San Diego. With newcomer Glen Dell from South Africa joining the group of 12 pilots, things are surely shaping up to be another great year of competition!

Master's Golf Tournament
You may be asking what this has to do with aviation, but this time every year, three airports in the CSRA (that's the Central Savannah River Valley) swell with activity due to the Master's Golf Tournament. Thomson-McDuffie County (KHQU), Daniel Field (KDNL), and Augusta Bush Field (KAGS) all become quite active with everything from single-engine Cessnas to Gulfstreams. Augusta is about an hour drive from where I live. If I can find time before my trip to Seattle, I'd like to take my daughter to see the action.

Trip to Seattle for the MVP Summit
Speaking of that trip ... I leave on Sunday morning out of Charlotte (KCLT) for Seattle via Delta Airlines. I am from Greenwood, SC - closer proximity to Greenville/Spartanburg (KGSP) and about 2.5 hours away from Atlanta (KATL). So why fly out of Charlotte (also about 2.5 hours drive) and not Greenville/Spartanburg or Atlanta? I looked up fares from both of those fields, and was floored at the price difference! The flight out of KGSP was nearly $300 more than out of Charlotte! It is nearly $200 cheaper for me to fly from Charlotte to Atlanta, and then to Seattle than a direct flight (on the very same flight number no less) from Atlanta to Seattle. Delta is expending more fuel to get me to my destination and yet are charging me less. Does that sound like "green" activity to you? Just because the flight from Atlanta to Seattle is a direct flight, it is considered a "luxury" therefore fares are more. No wonder airlines are going under. Anyway, I'll be pretty busy next week. I hope to get a lot of great pictures to share once I return!

A little easier on the eyes

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 03:45:07 GMT

While doing some sleuthing on some HTML code, I managed to figure out how to get line spacing working. It's actually CSS code that I didn't realize worked on Spaces (until I tried it). I used Time Magazine for a template. I've converted a few of my most recent blog entries and I'll be sure to utilize this from here on out.

Apology to Steve Halpern & Flight1

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:40:19 GMT

In my piracy post, I made mention of the Flight 1 wrapper in an inappropriate manner which to some was conveyed in a negative light. That was not my original intent and therefore I have removed all reference to it. I hope Steve Halpern and the rest of the Flight1 team accept my sincere apology. The point I was trying to convey was that it really doesn't matter what vehicle is used for e-commerce distribution - there are going to be pirates out there who will figure out a way to share illegally the content, and I stress the word content.

I've been blogged!

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:21:44 GMT

It is funny thing how the internet works. I was browsing my statistics page the other day, and saw where someone had linked to my blog via a website that I had not heard of (at that moment) called blogged.com. Intrigued, I chose to follow the link and low-and-behold, there is a page with my blog listed! There are hundreds of thousands of blogs listed there in all sorts of categories. How mine #1) got listed on blogged.com and #2) ended up in the graphics section is beyond me. I guess I really don't fit in any single category very well and I do tend to have more graphical in-game renders on my posts than most, so I can't really argue too much.

In the left pane, I've got a "I've been blogged" icon that you can follow - there you can write a brief review of my blog. I've currently got a 7.6 rating by the editor - not where I'd like it to be, but I'll take it. What'll you say ... will you throw me a bone?

Colin McRae 1968-2007 RIP

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 01:40:30 GMT

I was deeply saddened by the news I stumbled upon this evening about the tragic helicopter accident that claimed the life of Colin McRae and 3 others on-board, including his 5-yr-old son. I have been a fan of the Codemasters' series of rally games named after Colin since the very first version that I had to buy as an import from the UK in 1998. I have owned every version since as I have always enjoyed the virtual rally experience of driving. I was surprised that Codemasters dropped Colin's name from the product with the latest version of their rally software called DiRT. Did they know something we didn't?

My condolences to the McRae family in this time of shock. Colin was instrumental in introducing the world to the WRC and bringing the Subaru Impreza into the spotlight as a competitive platform for the WRC, which it remains to this day. Rest in peace Colin.

Microsoft Live Labs Photosynth

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 22:13:55 GMT

Every once in a while I'll run across something so impressive and ground-breaking that I've got to spread the word about it. This afternoon was one of those moments, and its name is Photosynth by Microsoft Live Labs.

Microsoft Live Labs is a collection of scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs who are interested in improving the online world. They have developed some really incredible web applications that will revolutionize the way we view images on the web. Photosynth can be test-driven on the web right now. Go check it out. You will be amazed.

Check out the youtube video below from this year's TED Conference.

What's going on?

Mon, 21 May 2007 17:19:29 GMT

Yes, long time, no post. I decided to take a bit of a break from the computer over the weekend, catching up on a lot of things around the house in preparation for a dinner party Christy and I hosted Sunday night. It went very well, and now that the house is looking good, I'm back to work. On what you ask? I just completed revising the paink kit for the FSX Columbia, and I am uploading it to Ron as I type. Hopefully it will be a short time before Ron is able to post it. It is quite substantially larger in size that the traditional paint kits due to the fact that I have included specular maps. Next on my plate with ESDG is continuing on with the Citation X 2.0 and finalizing the paint on the Twin Comanche. Onward and upward!

[EDIT] Ron has just posted the paint kit for the FSX Columbia 400 on the downloads page.

Here are some interesting aviation headlines that I've run across browsing the web this morning...

New aircraft owners beware of Florida (Aero-News)
Close call for Aerobatic pilot at Alabama show (Aero-News)
Transcript Supports Pilots In Brazil Collision (AVWeb)

And one final thing before I close, Phil has posted a collection of FSX.cfg tweaks for those who feel comfortable doing so. Until next time!

33

Fri, 11 May 2007 15:08:16 GMT

Some findings regarding the number 33...

33 is the largest positive integer that can not be expressed as a sum of different triangular numbers...whatever that is.
Alexander the Great died at the age of thirty-three.
33 is the atomic number of Arsenic. (I am a chemist by degree, so I just had to throw that in)
Famous athletes who’ve worn the number 33 include: Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Patrick Roy, and Tony Dorsett
A normal human spine has 33 vertebrae when the bones that form the coccyx are counted individually
Anyone born on May 11, 1974 is 33 today. Oh wait, I was born May 11, 1974.

Polypoke has had a makeover

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:31:23 GMT

Microsoft unveiled a brand-new set of features for Live Spaces today. Details of the new stuff can be found at the Space Craft. The new code took away my "hack" that allowed me to add custom HTML where I wanted, but I was able to add the "official" HTML sandbox. We can now remove unwanted gadget titles, so that cleaned up things a bit. Thanks MS for the new features - I'll be exploring more soon!

How do you like my new title banner?

And now for something completely different...

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 02:07:58 GMT

I have had a blog for about a year and a half now, and I've often wondered exactly what my readers (you) are interested in hearing and seeing from me. I know that I have roughly 60 or so consistent readers on any given day, courtesy of my clustrmap, and I'm very thankful. I often read the blogherald and a topic caught my eye today - "Blog Relationships: Are You Listening To Your Readers?"

Some bullet points that Lorelle points out are quite interesting, and I've got some comments to each:

Do you tend to stay focused and on topic or does your conversation style jump around leaving incomplete thoughts and sentences dangling?

I think I stay pretty focused and on topic. I know my writing style is not the best in the world, which probably is attributed to my disposition of English classes in high school and college - I just did what I had to do to get by most of the time. If I knew then what I know now, I probably would have payed more attention.
We tend to love the sound of our own voice, so are you talking just to make noise or do you have a point to your story?

It can be difficult to bring something new and innovative to the audience of simmers and aviation enthusiasts, when there is generally a limited amount of info worthy of speaking of on these topics. Writing for such a niché audience is a challenge.
Do you feel like you just “have” to share a story for the sake of talking or is the story really important enough to be heard?

I am generally a pretty quiet person, just ask my mother-in-law. I don't generally talk for the sake of talking, as that seems just too much of a waste of time to me. When I write, I generally take the same approach - is it worth putting time and effort into publishing? Do I need to be a bit more care-free in this stance?
What is the purpose and deeper meaning behind your story? What emotions are you expressing through your story?

First, I don't write much that you would consider a "story." I like to be an informed person, so I generally write in an informative style, so I can pass along things I find interesting to know, such as useful tips for Flight Sim as an example. My life isn't very interesting in a sense of story telling. Believe me, I'm horrible at that. They say good story tellers are also good joke tellers - I'm horrible at both. I'm much more comfortable behind the keyboard, where I can make revisions at will. Let's see, I'm on revsion #5 of this article already. :)
Just because you had trouble catching the bus doesn’t mean we have to hear the whole story of how much trouble it was to catch the bus. Do you have to tell this story? Why?

Nope. I don't ride the bus, thus I wouldn't look for me writing about that. But I catch the drift of this question.
Consider the importance of what you have to say to other people. Do they need to hear this? Is it appropriate for the time and place and the emotional state you both are in? Can it wait?

This is where I need some help. Am I writing on topics that are interesting to you? I know it is bad form to ask (no, beg) for comments, but I could really use the input. What would you like me to write about more? Less? What am I doing that you like or not like? Be as candid as you like - I'm a man, I can take it.
Is your mind racing ahead of your words so you can be ready to speak when there is a pause, not even listening to the responses? Conversation can be challenging when you are focused on what you are going to say rather than on what is being said.

I try to think out what I'm writing ahead of time, but I often find myself just changing that midstream - hence revision #6 of this article.
Do you talk to make yourself feel good or look good? Do you talk the way you do to make yourself look more important to the listener? Do you tend to put others down when you talk? Do you tend to use a lot of “I” statements?

Okay - so "I" am guilty of using a lot of "I" statements. "I" apologize. "I" will try to do better. :) Yes - I am an MS FS MVP and I am very proud of that, but don't look for me to use that for a vehicle to say that I'm better than Mr. X or Mrs. Y, life's waaay too short to belittle others. I'm here to build bridges, not tear them down.
Do you play the game of one-upmanship? If someone tells a story, do you have to tell a better story? Does the competitive spirit goad you to tell an even bigger story, because whatever happened to you must be better or worse than what happened to them?

There's nothing that unnerves me more than someone trying to one-up someone. So, you'll not find that here. A lot of the time I'll make mention of someone else's article simply to get the word out to a larger audience (an audience of 60 - who am I kidding?). Well, at least my 60 readers may not read Mr. X's blog - again, who am I kidding, simmers are a tight-knit group. All jokes aside, I post what I "think" my audience will find interesting to read and see.

Speaking of "seeing," if you cannot already tell, I'm a graphics junkie. Aside from this article, I typically include at least one relevent graphic - something that catches the eye. Yes, when I was growing up, I "read" books just looking at the pictures. Guilty as charged. Hence my English class comments above. Oh if Ms. Lindler could see me now...

Time for a little R&R

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 15:44:28 GMT

This week is spring break for Christy & Christy Lake. My wife & mother-in-law have rented a cabin up at Lake Lure, NC for this break and I have Monday off from work, so I'll be resting and relaxing there until Tuesday. Catch you when I return!

Feed now on feedburner

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:20:18 GMT

Those of you who prefer to subscribe to my site via RSS feed, please update your readers to point towards my new feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/polypoke They have some pretty interesting tools that give me a little more flexibilty versus the raw feed coming from spaces. Thanks much!

Windows Live Spaces... the place to be!

Mon, 22 Jan 2007 02:35:22 GMT

Yes, I have made the grand leap from Blogger over to Windows Live Spaces. I found the customization so much easier, as you can add any number of gadgets, making this feel like a true "home page." Often I would have to search for weather, etc. and now I can have it displayed all right here. Besides, if Brett, Hal, Tim, and Mike have all made the change - it must be the place to be!

I'll keep my blogger site up for the archive of family stuff, etc. but anything new will be posted here.

-JOH