dave2013

I can't even remember all the problems. It's been at least 5 years since I used it. I do remember it caused the sim to crash a number of times. When I disabled GSX, the sim didn't crash. I'm sure there was a fix if I'd reported it, but I just didn't think it was worth the hassle. I liked it, but it didn't improve the realism that much for me. I use a freeware pushback/taxi app by Rob Barendregt with sounds and some interaction with ground crew which is good enough for me. I know that GSX does more than that, but I really don't care about watching passengers board the plane. Dave

I quit using GSX years ago as it just caused lots of problems. It uses these strangely named programs to hack the sim in order to make the pretty ground operation animations and scenery, and it doesn't always play nice. Dave

He lives in California, the most expensive State in the U.S. Lately, hordes of Californians are escaping and moving to other States. My mother's new neighbors just moved here from Cali. The bad thing for the "natives" is that these pesky Californians sell their exhorbitantly overpriced houses for huge sums compared to other States, then they show up in a low cost State and bid everything up in price, so now houses here have gotten very expensive. I just hope they don't bring other, let's say less tangible things, with them. Dave

That's the way to go for you guys in the UK and northern Europe, I think. You only need to cool down a room or small house/flat maybe 5-6C to be more comfortable for a week or two a year when it gets really hot. Plus they use a lot less electricity than a large, full house unit. We have little window air conditioners in the U.S for the same purpose. We used to only have these type of ACs before the 1980s, but people still use them to cool down a room as needed. We know some Italians who have them. Lately they're not quite enough, as Italy is going through yet another heat wave with temps 35C+, but in the past, when it rarely got so hot for so long, and almost never hotter than 30C, they were adequate. Yes, I said that Italy was overall cooler 25+ years ago, but I attribute that to a natural cycle as opposed to other, let's say more speculative, explanations.😁 Dave

They are indeed. However, if a certain airline declares that it will hire and train a certain number of pilots based on race and gender, attributes which mean nothing and over which one has no control, then what the airline is actually doing is potentially excluding better qualified and experienced candidates who are not of that particular race or gender. They're limiting the pool of qualified candidates, which is never a good idea. In the long run, you end up with less of the best qualified people. You can look up which airline has openly stated this as their goal. I'll certainly never fly with them. Dave

I did a bit more reading about the transmissions and you're right. The newer eCVTs that use the planetary gear system are much better and very reliable compared to older CVTs. Dave

I won't belabor this issue with any more posts about it, but there are videos all over Youtube of disappointed and regretful EV owners. There's an article out recently discussing how badly EVs depreciate in value compared to conventional vehicles. You can believe the marketing propaganda, AI-generated slop, or real people who've actually owned an EV, Your choice. Dave

So the engine provides power based on the load, acceleration, and battery state, which is what I thought. Ray made a comment that the car couldn't go more than a couple of miles on the batteries alone, which perplexed me a bit. Anyway, hybrids sound great, but they are very complex due to having both a gasoline engine and electric motors and batteries, especially the special transmission which can take inputs from multiple power sources and combine them, meaning a greater chance of problems over time. I'm also guessing they are very expensive to repair. EVs would be the way to go for simplicity, but they have their own drawbacks like expensive and very heavy batteries which degrade over time and need replacement within 10 years, lack of charging stations for longer trips(especially in the U.S.), and charging times of half an hour or more. I think I'll stick with my simple V6 gasoline powered truck for a good while longer. I'm sure that within maybe 10-20 years EVs will be ready for prime time and I'll make the switch then. I also find it amusing how some countries, who for many years were so critical and hateful of fossil fuels and nuclear power, are now desperately scrambling to find new sources of oil, gas, and even coal. What happened to wind and solar providing all the power we'll ever need? Funny what a difference a few months can make. Dave

Can you provide a link to the source article? Thanks. Dave

Console users are a large component of the MSFS user base, therefore much of its success, and continued funding and development, relies on that user base. If the news is true regarding financial problems with Xbox, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss it, as it could have a significant adverse impact on MSFS. Dave

I thought that hybrids use only the electric motors up to a certain speed and then beyond that or when going uphill the gasoline engine starts and begins contributing additional power. At a certain load/speed the gasoline engine becomes the primary source of power. Do they work differently now? Dave

Yeah, I can't believe the temps in the mid-Atlantic and New England lately. It's about 10 degs. cooler where I'm at in middle TN, and we're in the South! Just shows you how strange the weather can be at times. Dave

I've looked into that and it does sound like a good diet. It seems that the human digestive system is actually well-adapted to meat and protein in general, and less well-adapted to carbs, especially the bad carbs prevalent in the American diet. The main problem for me is that meat and vegetables are so expensive now that my grocery bill would skyrocket. We eat mainly pasta(a "good" carb in moderation), rice, cheese, frozen fish, small amounts of bread, and vegetables. We'll eat a frozen pizza every 10 days or so. We rarely eat fast food, like once every 2 months, as it's the absolute worst "food". I failed to mention that fast food is another reason Americans are so obese and overweight. Every time I go out, at any hour of the day, the fast food restaurant parking lots are full and there is a long line of cars at the drive-thru. Dave

Oh, yes. Thanks for the reminder! Dave

If you're using Enhanced Atmosperics, then sky textures aren't used by the sim. ASCA or ENVTEX sky textures will make no difference. Dave