Letters to the Editor
J T
Published Letters: 264 Editor's Choice: 25
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Echo Chambers
[Read the article: National journalists believe you should trust them]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]One of the main concers I have with stories like this, with no apparent qualified "sources" is the echo chamber effect that often follows them.
The media source publishes a story that uses anonymous sources, with no information as to the type of source, the next thing we see is some government official coming now saying " News is now reporting..." using the fact that it was on the news to make their statment appear more credible. How come no reporters are asking those officials: 1) Were you the source for the story? 2) That story was based on anonymous sources with no qualifications, how much trust do you have in this story? Why do you trust this story?
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Stairs and Sudoku
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Unfortuantely for me almost all of the airports I've been to use jetways, so it is always a treat for me to board a plane from the ground. It's a much better view to admire the machine that is going to take you on your journey. I even enjoy boarding the small turboprops that have their own built-in stairway in the door.
I'll admit I'm a sudoku player. It's something I do almost daily on my morning commute, mostly because it's mindless and relaxing. I try to challenge myself on how quickly I can complete them (An easy one, I should get that done in 4 subway stops, a hard one might take me 8-10 stops). I realize they're not for everyone, and do find that crosswords can be a more sociable event ("Hey Joe, do you know any 5 letter German rivers?"). But the number puzzles are simple, mindless, and provide some decompression from my workday. I've never bought a book of them though. They're easy enough to find in magazines or newspapers that I have for other reasons.
Thanks for pointing out that 777 wing load testing video. I got to work in a non-destructive evaulation lab (x-rays) in college where they evaulated a lot of aircraft parts, from turbofan blades to bulkheads. It's kinda fun to see some old-fashioned destructive evaluation.
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is this worth a story?
[Read the article: Tangled up in Seuss]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm trying to see where the story is here. As far as I can tell:
- Ryan, for a spot of fun, created recordings with Seuss "lyrics" and Dylan music (and voice).
- Ryan posted the recordings online, thinking others might enjoy them.
- Others found the recordings, and many enjoyed them.
- The Seuss estate found the recordings, and asked Ryan to desist.
- Ryan complied with the request.
Everything else is is some unrelated third party trying to make an issue out of it. The involved parties appear not to be talking about it, as there was no comments from the Suess or Dylan camps, and Ryan did not say much himself other than to say he didn't expect all the attention, and appears not to have profited from the above. Sounds to me the way all this copyright stuff was designed to work.
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ramblings
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Whew. When I saw the tagline about "airliner porn" and Patrick Smith starting talking about airliner movie sets, I was worried, but the article thankfully went in a different direction.
As someone who, had I been slightly closer to a major airport growing up, probably would've been just as obsessive about airplanes as those talked about in the article, it's interesting to see how far such obsessions can be taken. I've never gotten to the point of recording actual numbers of individual planes, but I do my best to identify the different types of planes I see at the airport, and especially those I'm traveling on.
I've always enjoyed how Patrick has used the links to Airliners.net to illustrate his articles, so thanks for telling us a bit more of the site itself.
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DC Regan National takeoff/approach
[Read the article: Ask the Pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I always enjoy watching planes take off and land at DC's Regan National Airport, especially from the north, where they have to follow the Potomac River in between restricted airspaces for the Pentagon, Capitol, White House, and other government areas. You get a nice view of the various DC sights if you're in a window on the correct side of the plane.
Coming up from the south isn't as interesting, but from my house I can watch incoming planes approach from the west, then turn to follow the river up to the airport. It usually makes me wish I was on a plane going somewhere.
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If I were commissioner...
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I was trying to figure out what I would do if I were Commissioner of MLB. It'd go something like this:
As Commissioner, one of my jobs is to be the #1 fan of the game, and as such, I would be honored to be present at such a historic occasion.
Then, if and when it happens, I'd stop the game for a brief time (3 minutes or less), hand over some huge award that I just happened to have sitting under my seat (something like the one they gave Rickey Henderson a few years back), shake Barry's hand, and ask to have the bat for the Hall of Fame.
Afterwards, when I got asked about it, I'd say that I was happy to be on hand to see another chapter in the great and colorful history of Major League Baseball.
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How will MLB respond?
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It'll be interesting to see how MLB responds to this admission of cheating. I mean, the integrity of the game is what's most important, right? I see the following possibilities:
- Consider the game as being under protest, as if the Pirates had protested the game per rule 4.19, and replay the game from after the point of Cota's home run.
- Suspend and/or fine Hopper. Cheaters need to be punished, after all.
What do I think will happen? Nothing. Aww, those wacky ballplayers, always finding new ways to deceive the umpires for their own gain, the scamps. And after all, what happens in Cincinnati stays in Cincinnati, especially when it's not even broadcast locally.
Anyway, it's good to hear that Freel only had minor injuries, and is recovering. And maybe, just maybe, MLB will surprise me.