More on Microjets

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Sara Kehaulani Goo on Microjets or Very Light Jets (VLJ’s) and the emerging air taxi system ($6/mile):

The fledgling industry is “going to be looked upon like the Wright brothers in 1903,” said Ken Hespe, a spokesman for the National Consortium for Aviation Mobility, a nonprofit group that has been studying and developing new uses for the nation’s tiniest airports and for small jets with NASA, which estimates a market for 8,300 microjets by 2010. “It’s going to be a revolution in the transportation industry,” Hespe said.
Analysts say microjets will appeal to a cross-section of customers including corporations, which might add planes to their fleets, and wealthy travelers who are looking for a less-expensive alternative to owning a jet. Since 2001, companies such as NetJets have grown by providing access to planes around the world for members who pay for fractional ownership of aircraft. Aviation experts say air taxis with all-microjet fleets could serve as an even more affordable version of the fractional ownership aircraft model.

VC Don Valentine Looks Ahead

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Alorie Gilbert interviews “legendary” venture capitalist Don Valentine (Founder of Silicon Valley’s Sequoia Capital):

I really think it’s sort of embarrassing for South Korea to have an intrinsically greater disposition in broadband than California……..
I got to Silicon Valley in 1959. Nothing is revolutionary; it’s evolutionary. Look the sequence of Intel microprocessors. It’s all predictable. The nature of silicon and software and storage go hand in hand. In the case of software, you just have to be more clever about the nature of the application. So all these things kind of tick along, feeding off each other

Aluminum Christmas Trees

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Bradford McKee reminds me of a cultural icon from the 1960’s (I remember these): the aluminum Christmas Tree:

Mr. Shimon and Ms. Lindemann, while teaching photography together at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., have assembled a short history of the aluminum Christmas tree and its Manitowoc roots in a new book, “Season’s Gleamings: The Art of the Aluminum Christmas Tree” (Melcher Media), out this month. The book contains their photos of their trees ? twinkling limbs presented with deadpan cheer against mostly brightly colored backgrounds.

Elephants in the Living Room

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Kuro5hin’s Coryoth writes an op-ed piece on the possibility of a severe economic correction:

The first elephant is debt. There are 3 kinds of debt that are of concern: Household debt, the budget deficit, and the current account or trade deficit. Of those three, it is only the budget deficit that gets any real attention, and even then it is often brushed aside……
The second elephant is the US Dollar. At the time of writing, the US Dollar is running at about 0.77 Euros to the Dollar. One could claim that this is simply due to a strong Euro, but in reality most world currencies, including the Japanese yen and the Great British pound are trading strongly against the US Dollar……
The third elephant is the rise of India and China. Both the Indian and Chinese economies are growing very rapidly. These are the two most populous nations on earth, so they should not be taken lightly.

2004 Honda Civic DX Sedan: $11,800 all in

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One of my coworkers shopped hard and purchased a new 2004 Civic DX Sedan for $11,800, including tax & title. I had no idea one could still purchase a car like this:

  • 5 Speed
  • No Air Conditioning
  • Manual Windows
  • No Power Locks

He bought the car from Wilde Honda.
A car like this is a smart buy as it gets great mileage and has few things to break. Most manufacturers are loading cars with software and electronics that will be rather expensive to fix….

Overture Hall, Madison Symphony, James Trotter are all “Up to Date…”

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James Oestreich on last weekend’s Symphony & organ performance:

The organ sounded splendid in Mr. Trotter’s performance of the Jongen work, though this is not quite so blatant a showpiece as, say, Saint-Sa?ns’s “Organ” Symphony (which the orchestra played in an earlier, prededication concert). The tonal qualities are rich and varied, and the sonic heft seems well suited to the space.
But it is crucial for a concert organ, as opposed to a church instrument, Mr. Trotter noted in conversation, to be able to blend with a symphony orchestra as well as stand up to it. And the blend here was uncanny, sometimes tricking the ear into confusing reed pipes with woodwind instruments.
But as good as all this news was, the crowning touch for an old Madison hand who arrived hopeful but not optimistic was the condition and quality of the Madison Symphony. At a time of orchestral retrenchment nationwide, this part-time group seems to be flourishing, with an annual surplus of $50,000 to $100,000 on its $2.8 million budget, and an endowment climbing toward $15 million. It added a third concert for 7 of its 9 subscription programs this season, and subscriptions and attendance are strong and rising steeply (partly, no doubt, because of the new hall).

It was indeed, an enjoyable evening. I agree with the writer that Madison is fortunate to have such a wonderful symphony.