Sukhoi Su-35 thrust vectoring at the 2013 Paris Air Show

Seems like I am putting up a lot of stuff from Russia lately. Maybe because Putin suppresses the media you don't have to scrape all the icing off to get to the cake. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I came across this photo the other day. I thought the nozzles looked a little special.

Valentina Tereshkova

Roberta X mentions a story about Valentina Tereshkova, but I didn't like the pictures, so I thought I would put one up.

Hey, hey, NSA!

Via Earth Bound Misfit

Beech 18 Turboprop Conversion

If this airplane looks a little odd it is because it is a little odd. Original designed and built during the WWII era and equipped with radial engines, it was converted to turboprops some 40 years ago. Presumably the nose job was done at the same time. Don't think I've ever seen a turboprop taildragger before. Interesting that they converted from piston engines to turboprops, especially since these days some people are trying to go the other way. I suspect maintenance costs are a big factor. With bigger, more expensive engines, manufacturers can spend the extra time and money figuring out how to extend the amount of time between overhauls. Radial engines were the powerhouses of their era, but they were a maintenance nightmare. Not a problem if you were made out of money, like the U.S. Government, but a real problem for any kind of commercial enterprise. Inspired by a link from Dustbury.

News Flash! NSA in League with Target!

We're doomed.

The Boss Hoss Without Me

I'm not quite sure about this. I mean, I like the sound. This particular song has some crude bits, but  it is at least embeddable (is that even a real word?), unlike most of The Boss Hoss tunes on YouTube.      What we have here is a German band, singing covers of American popular music, in English, but with a Country-Western flavor. And horns. Given the number of live concert videos posted on YouTube, they must be some kind of phenomena in Germany. It's just weird, man.

Motorola, er, Freescale 68HC11 Microcontroller Timer Diagram

Once upon a time I spent some time comparing Intel & Motorola microcontrollers. The little ones were fairly simple, but the bigger ones got pretty complicated. The 68HC11 has a whole slew of options involving timers, so I made up this drawing to try and illustrate the relationships between all the various parts that were connected to the timer. I originally drew it by hand and colored it with highlighters. I got this image by scanning an old black & white Xerox that I found sitting in a notebook on my bookshelf. Back in the early 1980's we didn't have color copiers.