I love this performance so much. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLu2...

This is a very powerful piece by @jeffwise.bsky.social in @intelligencer.com Among the shocking details to me: How inexperienced *both* of the Army helicopter pilots were. (As an amateur, I had much more flying experience than both of them, combined.) Worth reading. nymag.com/intelligence...

Pretty bird! And, that 1st flight a half century ago was...unintentional!😊

I think that the linked essay is brilliant.

Ahoy @radiofreetom.bsky.social, my esteemed county librarian has come through again, having acquired the 2nd ed. of your "Death of Expertise"; now I can revisit the topic and I look forward to your evolved thoughts. Am likely to check back in a few days.

Shout out to @patrickmccray.bsky.social whose "README", his "bookish history of computing" I've finished. It's a delightful and informative work! Patrick, I particularly enjoyed learning about Don Knuth and the origins of TeX. His commitment to beautiful words on paper really hit home for me.

Future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier leaving Newport News, Virginia for initial sea trials - January 28, 2026 SRC: X-@johnmorgan726

Amen.

This is one impressive lady. The link tells the tale. RIP, Ma'am.

At its meeting minutes ago, the National Transportation Safety Board adopted the following probable cause and contributing factors to the January 2025 DCA mid-air collision. See replies for a few notes

Jan. 27, 1926: Army Air Service Col. Bill Mitchell resigns his commission effective Feb. 1. By doing so the outspoken critic of what he calls military neglect of air power renders moot his recent sentence of five years' suspension of rank and duty for insubordination. 1/2

Member Graham: "There will be some times where individual errors may be noted throughout the course of the day in relation to this accident. But I want to make it crystal clear any individual shortcomings were set up for failure by the systems around them."

Chair Homendy nails it here.

happy bday aviator Bessie Coleman, b.1892, Atlanta, TX, "the first African-American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot license." "I refused to take no for an answer." "The air is the only place free from prejudices."

"social permission to burn electricity"; nice.

Ahoy, @patrickmccray.bsky.social, look what my excellent county librarian has gotten at my request. It looks a delight; cracking it open on the train this AM, will report back in a couple of days.

Why @mark-carney.bsky.social 's speech yesterday was so effective and important. (By me. Main points before paywall; detailed annotation after.) fallows.substack.com/p/a-speech-f...

😁

Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42, post the second sentence. "Yet the lesson of Chicago is that there is ultimately no level of spatial detail that will ever be sufficient."

A small step toward consigning the traitor Bobby Lee to oblivion, where he belongs:

HAPPY 96th BIRTHDAY to Buzz Aldrin!🚀 Walked on the Moon with Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11, here he is during an EVA (spacewalk) on the earlier Gemini XII mission - Nov 13, 1966. (Digitally remastered from the original flight film for 'Gemini & Mercury Remastered' book):

Terrible restaurant could close unless people enthusiastically embrace bad food, complains chef.

It’s Penguin Awareness Day which seems like a great excuse to post the greatest ever Wikipedia edit.

Hah!

The coffins of Danish soldiers who died in Afghanistan in 2007, supporting America's Article 5 call. Denmark lost 43 soldiers in Afghanistan, which is the highest per capita death rate among coalition forces. #Greenland

As a Virginian, I heartily endorse this message:

"a lot more, for a lot less."

Semper fi, Mac...

Best tv intro ever.

But maybe Calvin will grow up. What about all rhe rest?

Watched Hell’s Angels, which I don’t believe I’d ever seen. The big dogfight is famous, and the second shot here, of the planes swooping into formation, is like Hermes Pan was behind the camera; then the edits: medium, suddenly on the wing, suddenly in the cockpit, closer in on a pilot.

Every journey, even one of 685,000 miles, starts with a single step. Artemis II is rolling out to the pad. It's happening! (Photo via Reid Wiseman)

When you hear a LEO say “bad shoot”, that has a specific meaning to other officers and agents. It means zero understanding and grace- bro you done fucked up. Seeing this term over and over is significant.

Astronauts (left to right) Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee, pose in front of Launch Complex 34 which is housing their Saturn 1 launch vehicle. The astronauts died ten days later in a fire on the launch pad. January 17, 1967 #apollo1 #as204 contactlight.de

And we are still talking with her. (RTGs for-almost-ever!)

We had a wonderful morning yesterday at the @sciencemuseum.org.uk filming with Doug Millard and @rooneyvision.bsky.social for our next episodes. Huge thanks to the team at the Science Museum for letting us play in the Flight Gallery, home to one of the best aircraft collections in the country.

This challenged -- effectively! -- everything I thought I knew about the Allison-powered Mustangs. HIGHLY recommended!

I know nothing about music, and even less about jazz. This is exquisite. youtu.be/7vQuPIjK1Ks?...

A "huzzah" here, as my family also called Paterson home:

Ahoy, whomever among you commended "His Majesty's Airship" by S.C. Gwynne (Sam?) to my attention a while ago. I've now read it, found it excellent, and cannot find the referral to express my gratitude. So, to whomever, thanks! The book is Very Well Done. Mr. Gwynne (who I don't find on here... 1/2

Ahoy, @rickbell.bsky.social, I just finished your "The American Revolution and the Fate of the World"; it's outstanding! Like you walk with us along the brightly lit path of Revolutionary history but pause to shine your light down dim side-roads and explain to us what lies down there. 1/2

Competence porn

FUN!

Good morning (0654 in Virginia) and Happy New Year. I' m on Metro to the Air and Space Museum on the Mall in DC to give the first public highlights tours of '26. What a great way to start the year.

One of the greatest, most admirable men in our country's history.

Pale blue dot...

Now 19 years old, this (along with Clay Blair's "Silent Victory", 25 y.o.) wholly revised my understanding of the Pacific naval war.

I very recently learned that the highway toll-payment transponder gizmo (which in the Northeastern US, at least, goes by the name "EZPass") has got a %&#@! BATTERY in it (I shoulda known, right?) that typically lasts 10 years or so. Of course said battery is non-replaceable. 1/3

Too funny!😆