Howellerman

Interesting. My flight sim posts on FacePalm have inspired two people to take up simming, and when I used to post pictures of "party flights" from San Jose to Lake Tahoe, listing who was sitting where in a Beechcraft 350, people would chime in and say "Hey, I want to go on the next one!". Never had a problem explaining it - universally, people I know thought it was cool.

I got to ride the Bullet Train once on a business trip, but rode it at night so it was a very different experience. For one, there was very little sense of speed, and the ride was very smooth. We sat all the way to the rear of the car, and I became transfixed watching the front of the car (they are quite long) warp slightly as it entered and exited the curves. We were going so fast it was hard to see what was outside the window, but I do remember the illusion that buildings were tilted because the train was at such an angle in the curve. Again, zero sense of speed, and smooooooth.

The camera work and editing is excellent. I can see why your kids were engrossed!

When I was young I was taught a life-saving technique for surviving (temperature willing) a long time in the water. If I remember correctly, you conserve energy by minimalist floating, arms out and your head down in the water. When you need to breath, raise your head, take a number of normal breaths, and resume the head-down position. No flailing, no treading.

Just finished a leisurely read through Ed Dover's original book. It is a good story, but I must say the writer from the overview at the start of this thread is a much more accomplished writer in conveying suspense, tension, and setting up a story line.

I would look into the 4080 a little closer, Ryan. I read an article on TechRadar (I believe - it was on my phone) that said Nvidia really hobbled the 4080. 192 bit memory bus versus 256, less than half the cores, making it appear equal to a 3060 or thereabouts. Not sure if they will fix it, but you may be forced to buy a Ti version again.

Really well written! Just ordered the book by Ed Dover as well.

Cataract surgery! It got so bad I had to stop motorcycle riding - I was a danger to myself because of my inability to see into the corners, and my peripheral vision was shot. Even the big E on the chart looked like Klingon! I had the left eye done first, and the contrast to the right eye caused an immediate decision to finish both eyes. I elected to remain near-sighted, as 90-percent of everything I do day-to-day (reading, computer, cooking, phone, et al) is within 1-3 feet of me. However, I did get a pair of glasses that is optimized for the computer and the perceived detail while flying is simply amazing. Highly recommended!

Fully agree. I achieved a "Grade 10" (Director) position in my company, but as an inDUHvidual contributor versus a manager. My on-the-job training provided me with knowledge, and I enjoyed the corresponding respect for that knowledge. I never had a degree, but happily let people assume I had one from Stanford. I also met a lot of people who were educated beyond their level of comprehension. However, as you suggest, I was a rare non-degree employee swimming in a pool of high-tech degrees.

Keep your Sky Force for the textures. ActiveSky works great with the REX textures.

Regarding the Verge hub-less bike, that is a LOT of unsprung weight. Hit a large enough bump at speed and your rear end will be airborne for quite some time.

I took the family to dinner last night to celebrate my #1 daughter's graduation with a Doctorate in Psychology (woo-hoo!). The restaurant was in Berkeley, California, and it is a big "college town", being host of the University of California, Berkeley. No surprise, there are a log of young-uns out and about, all very adept at using new technology. But, I have to admit, I was taken aback slightly by the restaurant and how it operates. Your table has a QR code on it which you scan for the menu. The newly download app also allows you to order your food and pay the bill, all without interaction from the restaurant employees. Indeed, they are pretty much "food delivery" workers, and I have a feeling that if robots could navigate the multiple levels of the dining courtyard that robots would have served me my Hefeweizen and artisan pepperoni pizza. I just handed my credit card to my #2 daughter and said "you drive". It was not so much due to "resisting technology" as it was I did not feel like being the focal point for everyone's ordering process. However, the future of technology and how we deal with it came into much sharper focus!

Hi Noel, By Quest Kodiak I am assuming you are referring to the LHC Kodiak? I used to have it my hanger, enjoyed it (I flew the float version), but it got lost in the "store" conflict, and I have yet to get back to it. I am right now ping-ponging between the TBM 850 and the PC-12, both Carenado offerings. I like the idea of 200 kts+ (if only to get across Africa and Asia!). I know a lot of people disparage the Carenado offerings, but they pretty much do exactly what I want them to do. The write-up from Avbuyer.com (https://www.avbuyer.com/articles/turboprops-compare/daher-tbm-850-vs-pilatus-pc-12-46565) suggests the TBM is superior, but I am still debating. Actually one of the more entertaining internal debates I have had... 🙂

This will be great to see, Noel, and I agree with you, planning is half the fun. I too am contemplating an ATW trip, but want to 1) take my family along on certain legs, ordaining at least a six-seater, and 2) generate a travelogue narration. What are the highlights of the places we visit? For example, the first leg is San Jose Norman Mineta (KSJC) to San Diego (KSAN). How can anybody not visit San Diego overnight and not have dinner in the Gas Light District, or stay at a posh hotel overlooking the harbor? Virtual money is no object!!! I am still debating the aircraft to use. I had everyone home a couple of weeks ago and asked if they would rather sit rear-facing or front-facing, and without hesitation it was front-facing. This rules out a lot of airplanes! I also had them fess-up their current weights - clearly, the pandemic has been tough on the whole family! But, in the interest of realism I needed to know. No jets are in consideration, and very likely a turboprop will be the choice. After all, PT6As are ubiquitous throughout the world, so "repairs" could be handled in Nairobi as easily as San Jose. But, like I said, I am just starting out. I use Plan-G from Tim Arnott for flight planning, and he was kind enough to tell me how to configure Plan-G on my household (non-sim) computer where I can safely access the web for the investigation of the places we visit. My sim computer is locked down, very limited external access, and has a dinky keyboard that is not suitable for touch typing. But, I think it will be fun, and could very well take up a fair number of days to plan and certainly to execute. Have fun, Noel!

LGKR, knowing your video card at a minimum would be nice. I believe a lot of the older Nvidia cards may not find any benefit from the updated drivers, as the underlying technology may not be able to support them.