We might have that "American Concorde" after all!

Boeing hypersonic concept

Back in March I posted about an "American Concorde" plane that never really took off (no pun intended). Then yesterday at Instapundit, there was news of another proposed hypersonic passenger jet. Looks like we might get another airliner that could jet past the speed of sound.

Let's let Popular Mechanics explain:

Boeing has revealed its first-ever concept for a hypersonic passenger plane that could cross an ocean in two hours for military or commercial customers. Debuted at an aerospace conference in Atlanta today, the design shows that the aerospace giant is ready to compete for this high-flying piece of the aviation future.

“There is an inherent value in speed,” says Kevin Bowcutt, Senior Technical Fellow of hypersonics in Boeing Research & Technology.

...

 Although the airplane Boeing showed off today is just a concept and will certainly change before its possible flight in 20 or 30 years, Bowcutt can showcase the engineering decision-making that goes into such a vehicle.

You don’t need (or want) to go Mach 5 during takeoff. Boeing’s designers envision using a commercial turbofan engine capable of a wide range of speeds that can be bypassed when it’s time for the airplane to really zoom. Besides, a traditional engine’s fan blades would disintegrate at such velocities. While traveling at hypersonic speeds, you don’t need fan blades to compress air anyway because the speed of the craft does that for you. 

That’s why most modern hypersonic jet designs rely on a ramjet, which uses the plane's forward motion to compress air, to reach truly awesome speeds. “The turboramjet would be designed to valve the air so it bypasses the (turbofan) engine and dumps into a combined afterburner ramjet,” Bowcutt says. “That same afterburner would function as a ramjet.” The ramjet would propel the vehicle to Mach 5, fast enough to get from New York to Tokyo in about 2 hours. 

Such speed influences the design in radical ways that can be seen in the render. For one thing, as airplanes go faster, the ratio of lift–to-drag (the thing that makes airplanes fly) drops.

I'm very much looking forward to flying on a hypersonic airliner in the near future. Though I hope it wouldn't take 20-30 years, I don't think I want to wait that long for my first overseas vacation! 

Have blog will travel?

I published another version of this post over at My Mind's Eye on Thursday. So today's post will be slightly different. It was video I shot going through Arizona on the way to California.

[VIDEO] Unlike the other video which shows the landscape outside of the train through the windows of the observation lounge, this video is of the inside of the consist that most Amtrak passengers will have access to. Seems to be a fitting video to give you an idea of what you can expect aboard a train. I shot this on the way to the west coast in 2016 aboard the Southwest Chief.

I start off in a coach car on the lower level where I take a shot of the rolling landscape. I head up stairs where you see the coach accommodations before heading towards the observation lounge. The observation lounge is where many passengers sit around to look at the landscape or often socialize with other passengers. What I didn't document was the cafe downstairs where passengers can purchase snacks and beverages from the lounge attendant.

Beyond the observation lounge is the dining car where passengers take their meals. If you have coach accommodations your meals are extra, when I travel by coach I wouldn't be as willing to eat in the dining car. They won't cost an arm and a leg but often they're not cheap. However, you will at least have breakfast, lunch and dinner and often require a reservation. As you may see in another video shared here on this blog, the seating is often communal meaning you will be meeting your fellow passengers as you take your mean. Well that is assuming you're not seating with a young person who is more interested in their mobile phones as happened at one point during my trip....

Anyway if you travel by coach you will have to pay for your meals, however, if you have a sleeper car accommodation meals are complimentary. The accommodation fee for a sleeper is what pays for your meals although think of a dining car as a restaurant. You may not have to pay out of pocket for your meals, however, you still should tip your server just to let them know you like the service. I would like to explain at length making your train reservations at a later time.

Beyond the dining car are the sleepers here I go through two of them until I had downstairs to look out both sides of the train at the rolling landscape. On this trip I was in a roomette with my mother and it was definitely cramped space. It was adequate though I would've liked my own roomette just didn't work out for this trip. The cramped space meant I'd have to take the upper bunk while my mother slept on the lower bunk. At least there were another place on the car for other carry-ons that it wouldn't be feasible to put in the roomette. I would like to explain the sleeper accommodation also at a later time.

This three minute video in a nutshell is documentation of riding a long-distance Amtrak train.

Evolution of internet platforms

I've been part of the internet for many years. When I first logged on most of the homes that were online connected through a dial-up connection on a telephone landline. The designs of most websites were pretty basic as opposed to now (to understand what I'm saying look up Greyhound.com and go back as far as you can over at archive.org). What a vastly different place it is today.

You don't really hear about webpages anymore. Basically a website is a collection of webpages though virtually every website has a webpage. Even this blog could be seen as a series of webpages and it gets updated semi-frequently which constantly expands like a book.

I always imagined having a website even though ISP's once commonly offered free webspace to customers it's something that has become obsolete these days. As stated before there are so many free tools these days that allow anyone an online platform. In the late 1990s through early 2000s you had to create that platform. There was no social media, and the service I currently use Blogger didn't exist until at least 1998.

When I first created a website it was through Geocities - which had been owned by Yahoo!. Of course I never realized that if you want people to visit you had to have a draw to it. I bought a photo scanner to post some pics and used the rudimentary photo editing software. I also shared some of my favorite Star Trek pics that I found online at the time. And this was during the time I was at Morehouse College. Of course it wasn't until 2005 that I started blogging which makes updating a website far easier.

And yet the internet evolved some more with Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, or Instagram. Now most people access the internet on their smartphones. I myself now own an iPhone which is a multifaceted tool that allows me to make phone calls, text, email, shoot photos, shoot video, etc. And with an iPhone and these other smartphones you can also update social media, and upload photos & video on the go!

Now it causes me to wonder where I could've taken this internet thing if I had discovered Blogger in the late 90s to early 2000s. The tech available at the time that I just simply had no idea about beyond what I had already learned about back in the day. Though thankfully it doesn't take long to find out about what's available these days online. Not only that there is an app on a mobile device also!

Amtrak Empire Builder

[VIDEO] As I hit the sack tonight, I wanted to share this vid with you. I've never taken Amtrak's Empire Builder. This would take you through Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana with one section to Seattle, Washington and another to Portland, Oregon.

This video of over 30 minutes shows a British man named Paul leaving Portland, OR going through big sky country arriving in Chicago's Union Station. It's an interesting look at a trip I can only imagine although it's time for me to travel again perhaps go somewhere I have never been. Seattle or Portland are places I've never been.

It must be very nice to create a YouTube channel which through either advertising or donations that could provide an income so that you could literally travel all over the world as Paul has. His channel is very interesting but the incidental music provides a very nice soundtrack to his travels. This is probably stock music but I could never imagine taking an Amtrak train and having hip-hop instrumentals as the sounds of the passing country, suburban, and urban landscapes.

Let's not forget, for the most part he shows us the meals he takes aboard the train in the dining car. He certainly travel in style with a sleeper car berth which also would enable those passengers to a complimentary meal in the diner. Then he also shows us that his sleeper car has a shower for those passengers.

The people's champ

I guess we could say we are certainly living in populist times. Donald Trump was a very unlikely presidential candidate somewhat representing a form of populism and then we have Bernie Sanders who represented a different form of populism. One form of populism proven more popular or potent than the other since one populist movement elected a man to the White House and the other well he couldn't even win his party's nomination.

Regardless, sometimes I have thought what if I combined two of my favorite past times or subjects professional wrestling and politics. What if I as a candidate sported a wrestling championship belt emblazoned with text "people's champ". Perhaps I as a candidate utilizing social media video could cut campaign speeches in the style of wrestling promos. Though I know I can't be violent in my speech, it would be important to cut through the cutter and present something different. Something the public wouldn't expect, worst case scenario is that this would be too different and I wouldn't be successful anyway

The people's champ could be a euphemism of populism, a people's movement. Say in Chicago, Illinois people are sick and tired of being taxes and having very little in return. Bad schools, awful public safety (as I wrote on my other blog downtown Chicago is even seeing an uptick in violent crimes), the costs of goods continuing to rise, etc. I'm sure people are having enough of this and perhaps there needs to be a people's champion in Chicago, Cook County or Illinois. Unfortunately in this year's primaries this candidate hasn't emerged, and sadly the Republicans aren't even woke.

I have very dubious graphic design/sketching skills but this people's champ belt would be done in the design of the big gold belt made famous by "The Nature Boy" Rick Flair during his time in WCW. Then I can imagine in script lettering "people's champ" on the front of the belt. Of course a championship belt isn't complete without an American or democracy or popular themed side plates. It should be designed well to really catch the eye of the public. Depending on the importance of this public figure any videos seen of this candidate - the so called people's champ - and the belt will hopefully be seen in a museum.

Big Gold Belt

I'm surprised that the President hasn't done such a thing as he has the money to do it. Perhaps he isn't as huge of a wrestling fan as I thought, especially since he literally fought Vince McMahon and was involved in shaving the WWE's owner's head. I could possibly relish Trump lifting that belt over his head during a campaign rally.

Well a wrestling fan can dream about the imagery of "sports entertainment" used in a political campaign. And I realize in publishing this post my idea could be snatched away from me. Oh well, and unfortunately I don't know when a future candidate will emerge who will truly become "the people's champ". Will be the political world's version of The Rock or Diamond Dallas Page who have been referred to during their wrestling careers as "the people's champ".

Perhaps I should realize this could be an idea that could backfire. Perhaps depending upon where you may attempt to run for office voters could be jaded to this idea. Then one may wonder how one could afford to create their own championship belt. There will be some questions, however, there is and will always be a way for those questions to not matter. Besides imagine a people's champ movement in populist politics.

Children's TV nostalgia

[VIDEO] Watching this brings back some interesting memories. In the late 1980s our home was connected to cable TV for the first time. It was my first exposure to Nickelodeon - a network advertised for children. However this wasn't exactly my first exposure to the children's game show Double Dare. It aired in syndication around the nation back then in addition to airing on cable.

Before I became fascinated with pro-wrestling or Star Trek it was game shows. In the late 80s it was hard to change the dial during the daytime without running into a game show. Especially without cable if you only got the channels 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 32, 50, or 66 (before they became a Spanish network) in Chicago.


Think about it. There was The Price is Right, Classic Concentration, Card Sharks, Blockbusters, Jeopardy and surely some others that had been then in production. There wasn't a game show out there for the younger audience especially children. Double Dare certainly fit the Nickelodeon network back then with the emphasis on slop or messes or even green slime.

I remember when in about 1988, a family version of Double Dare aired on the emerging FOX TV network. It didn't last beyond that summer, but it was interesting to see a version of a children's game during the prime time hours on a broadcast network on Saturday. It was much different than the game show I became used to.

Of course as happens over time, things evolve. Double Dare ceased production in the early 1990s. I grew up a bit after that and lost interest in Nickelodeon as a regular viewing option. It also didn't help that periodically the cable subscription would be cancelled for reasons that likely include costs. If I recall having options beyond the regular broadcast networks weren't as readily available as they are now. Our local cable company eventually evolved into Comcast and these days there are more competition as far as TV services.

As much as I want to get into the technology of cable or even cable boxes between then and now, I'll save that for another time. This post is about nostalgia for one of my old favorites from my youth. And as an aside Nickelodeon tried to bring back Double Dare for a new millennium and sadly it didn't take. I wouldn't even watch it when it was in production in 2000, however, who knows if the executives at Nickelodeon might consider bringing back this game show one more time.

BTW, for a few months last year on Sunday nights Buzzr aired episodes of a 1970s game show also called Double Dare. It counts a young Alex Trebek as host for it's one year in production. It wasn't as sloppy and messy as the Nickelodeon show, however, to my adult sensibilities it was an interesting game of wits and risk. It also was the first game show with that name although it proved not to be an issue when the Double Dare I'm most familiar with aired in the 1980s.

Business Insider: 50 things to stop wasting your money on

I have to do my own research on this but I hear that with Trump's tax reform you can no longer claim a credit on student loans. I suppose this will be seen with this year's taxes.

Otherwise there are at least 49 other things to stop wasting your money on!