Tag: Scotland

Fast, Faster, Fastest

I just read a really cool airplane story about flight over hostile territory in an SR-71 – a plane I’ll unfortunately, never fly. Everything else I’ve been in pales in comparison.

I love to fly. I am not a pilot, but I’ve flown in nearly everything.

Here’s my partial list:

  • Dual chainsaw motor power ultralight
  • Piper Cub J3 (with fabric covered wings)
  • Schweitzer glider
  • F/A 18
  • C5a (with midair refueling over Scotland)
  • C130 (two flights through two hurricanes)
  • Blimps
  • Copters
  • Lots of Cessnas, Pipers and Mooneys
  • Lots of commercial jetliners and commuter props
  • Hot air balloons

I just read a really cool airplane story about flight over hostile territory in an SR-71 – a plane I’ll unfortunately, never fly. Everything else I’ve been in pales in comparison.

If you too like planes, this story is for you.

All The News That’s Fit to Google

I read an article today about some of the shortcoming of Google News.

I have no idea how they do it – finding the most important news and putting it together on a web page without human intervention. It is an incredible artificial intelligence feat.

The headlines that appear on Google news are selected entirely by computer algorithms, based on how and where the stories appear elsewhere on the web. There are no human editors at Google selecting or grouping the headlines and no individual decides which stories get top placement. This occasionally results in some articles appearing to be out of context.

Still, though I check Google News all the time, I find it lacking.

One of the things I like about news on the Internet is the room available for detail. I’m not a USAToday kind of guy. I think Google misses the point on this by often choosing the wrong lead source for the stories that appear.

Here’s an example. In the current rundown is this headline: The Sopranos buries the competition. That’s a valid story in entertainment news, but the source is, “The Scotsman – Scotland’s National Newspaper Online.” The next listing was for the Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) followed by ABC News and Planet Out.

Shouldn’t Google ‘know enough’ to find a valid expert on entertainment for entertainment stories?

I still like it. I still use it. I wish it were better. Maybe people would help?