Events

It was too windy today to get above 30 m, so I just snapped this still before taking the Mini on a "walk" down the block. But I also didn't want to waste a perfectly clear day, so I snapped this before bringing the drone back down to eye level: When you learn how to fly real planes, you learn slow flight first, because it teaches you how to control the plane precisely. And before I do something to permanently damage the Mini, I thought learning how to control it made a lot of sense. Alas, the forecast...

Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale Tweeted yesterday that 200,000—no, 300,000!—people have bought tickets to the campaign rally scheduled for Juneteenth—no, June 20th!—at the 19,000-seat arena in Tulsa where it will take place. It was not clear where all these people would sit. Or park. Or spontaneously manifest in the reality-based world. Meanwhile, the number of Covid-19 cases has started to climb again, and for reasons passing understanding, in the states that opened up the most quickly....

It's day 88 of my exile from the office, but I recently found out I may get to go in for a day soon. Will this happen before the 24th (day 100)? Who's got the over/under on that? Meanwhile, outside my bubble: A new book alleges that Melania Trump remained in New York during the first few months of her husband's presidency as a tactic in renegotiating her prenuptial agreement. Michael Tomsky asks, "Why does Trump lie?" Cellphone data shows that people in some parts of the country are gathering at...

This morning I took my tiny drone out for a longer flight than the short tests I've done so far, in part because at 8am the winds didn't threaten to blow the thing into the lake. I've also started mapping a source of radio interference near my house that had disrupted previous attempts to get up to real altitude. So this morning, I went to a more open spot away from my house and took the drone up to 70 meters vertical and 200 meters horizontal from its takeoff point: After this flight, I "walked" the...

I love historian J.R. Schmidt's "Then and Now" series on his Chicago History Today blog. Mostly he posts photos he took as a kid (late 1940s through early 1960s) and contrasts them with contemporary photos. Then, recently, I came across this photo from a location just a couple of blocks from me that photographer Bob Rehak took during an arson epidemic on 22 April 1976: Here's the same location today: Rehak's other photos from the era are incredible. Uptown was in a different universe 45 years ago.

Day 3 of flight testing didn't go as well as I'd hoped. The winds picked up a bit, so my little guy refused to ascend past 28 meters and at one point lost contact with my remote. I have a feeling that radio interference will make urban flying more challenging. I did get a good look at the lake, though: The weather forecast looks breezy today and tomorrow, calming a bit Saturday. And if it's calmer around 8pm tonight, I'll try to get some dusk shots of the city. Honestly, the weather interfering with...

Someone threw a widdle tantwum this morning: President Donald Trump's campaign is demanding CNN retract and apologize for a recent poll that showed him well behind presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. The demand, coming in the form of a cease and desist letter to CNN President Jeff Zucker that contained numerous incorrect and misleading claims, was immediately rejected by the network. The CNN poll conducted by SSRS and released on Monday shows Trump trailing the former vice president...

I mentioned yesterday I got a new toy. Finally, after years of thinking about it (and also watching prices come down), I bought a small drone. The Mavic Mini weighs 249 grams (which has legal significance), flies for half an hour, and takes decent video. For my first test flights, I put the propeller guards on and did some slow flying around my house. Parker could not have cared less. Encounter number one: Encounter number two: So I not only have the best dog on the planet, but I may also have the...

Note #1: After 108 days—a record, I think—I finally got a haircut. Note #2: After thinking about it for years, literally years, I got a new toy. It's a lot of fun. And it combines two of my favorite topics: aviation and photography. Watch this space later this week.

First, some good news: New Zealand has not had a new Covid-19 case in 14 days, making it officially coronavirus-free. Given it's an archipelago of 3 million people more than 2,000 km from its nearest neighbor, they may have had some natural defenses against reinfection. In other news: The New York Times surveyed 511 epidemiologists about when they believed it would be safe to engage in certain activities. "Defunding the police" does not mean what you think it means. A study has found that lockdowns...