Category Archives: personal
5G Rollout is a Disaster for Airlines in the U.S. But Why Not in Europe?
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CNN:
Why is there a potential problem in the United States, but not Europe? It comes down to technical details.
Mobile phone companies in the United States are rolling out 5G service in a spectrum of radio waves with frequencies between 3.7 and 3.98 GHz. The companies paid the US government $81 billion in 2021 for the right to use those frequencies, known as the C-Band. But in Europe, 5G services use the slower 3.4 to 3.8 GHz range of spectrum. The aviation industry is worried that US 5G service is too close to the spectrum used by radar altimeters, which is between 4.2 and 4.4 GHz. Europe does not face the same risk, according to the industry, because there is a much larger buffer between the spectrum used by radar altimeters and 5G.
There are other differences in how 5G is being rolled out, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Other countries are using lower power levels, restricting the placement of 5G antennas near airfields and requiring them to be tilted downward to limit potential interference with aircraft. In France — cited by telecom carriers such as AT&T and Verizon as an example of 5G and aviation working seamlessly together — the height of a 5G antenna and the power of its signal determine how close it is allowed to a runway and the flight path of an aircraft, according to a technical note from France’s National Frequency Agency (ANFR). Antennas around 17 major French airports are also required to be tilted away from flight paths to minimize the risk of interference, the agency’s director of spectrum planning and international affairs, Eric Fournier, told CNN.
The Passion of Creation (1892) – Leonid Osipovich Pasternak
Too Many People Still Use Windows XP
Windows XP, which turned 21 last month and has been unsupported since 2014, still runs on an alarmingly high number of PCs worldwide, including many in government.
So, why are some systems still using the outdated XP version?
The first category of systems that are still using Windows XP is those belonging to public sectors, known for their crawling upgrade speeds and hesitancy to use new technologies.
For many public entities, the bureaucracy of approving new system license purchases, upgrading hardware, and training the entire public sector is too complicated and costly.
The compatibility of custom-made 32-bit software tools is another crucial reason for still seeing XP in many places like industrial environments, hospitals, etc.
In many cases, there are no newer versions of these critical tools, or companies need to pay a lot of money to have them ported to new systems.
Then there’s the category of people who are using hardware that is too old and weak to run a newer Windows version properly, and they see no good reason to replace something that is still (technically) working.
Many users, including some in government, value ease and tradition over security … often to the detriment of public stakeholders.
Schoodic Peninsula, Maine
Portland, Maine
Portland was rainy and cool when we arrived this afternoon. It seemed appropriate to walk around downtown and take in this great port city under a gray, wet sky. After two hours of window shopping we had dinner at Central Provisions, which is housed in a building that once served the West Indies Trading Company. We had reservations for many weeks and I’m glad that we did. Wet, hungry diners were turned away one after another almost all evening. Dinner was small plates — sturgeon caviar, tinned sardines served with sourdough, toasted pork served over apple brown butter and a small selection of cheese and honey. It was all very impressive. A young couple seated next to us was excited to learn we were from Austin and we had a great time comparing travel notes and recommendations.
After dinner we set off in the rain to the LL Bean flagship store in Freeport (open 24 hours) and then continued on to our hotel in Boothbay Harbor. I visited here many times as a child, and not much has changed. The drive was dark and wet, and I look forward to walking through town tomorrow morning. Even though we were here just last year, I can never spend enough time here.
Nostalgic Instruction
I used to record my flights with a GoPro camera so that I could go back and debrief myself without having to rely on in-flight notes. I always enjoyed watching the videos after each flight, taking in sights and sounds I had missed while aviating and navigating. The videos allowed me to be a passive passenger on my own flights.
The pandemic put a squeeze on my flying. Now that I’m preparing preparing for a Biennial Flight Review, my old flying videos are proving helpful once again as my old self is serving as a teacher to my current self.
Chef
I enjoyed Jon Favreau’s 2014 film about a chef who abandons his job at a prestigious Los Angeles restaurant to rediscover his love of cooking by opening a food truck in Miami. It’s a “get back to basics” story that was well-executed but flew fairly low under the radar. Austinites will appreciate several scenes shot around the city. Brisket makes an appearance courtesy of Aaron Franklin.
Michael Castellon 