All posts by Peter Mangiafico

Aviation

The space race is now a space crawl…

July 20, 2009 was the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. I’ve always been fascinated with the Apollo missions, mostly because they were so extraordinary. It’s pretty amazing to think that in one generation, we could go from learning how to fly, to traveling to the moon, 250,000 miles away, and then returning. While we’ve made progress in so many other areas in the last 40 years (computers and communication technology come to mind), space flight and aviation progress has paled by comparison.

I learned how to fly in a Cessna made a couple years after I was born. Gerald Ford was President then and Ronald Reagan was not yet the savior of the Republican party. A brand new Cessna made today is remarkably similar, except for much upgraded avionics. The avionics, computers and GPS make navigation and weather avoidance much easier than in the 1970s, but the engine and airframe is basically the same.

The aviation industry has faced some tough times in the last decade. September 11 caused a major slump in the commercial airline industry and the pilot population has been on a decline. General aviation is struggling to keep the pilot population from dwindling too much, as it battles increased regulation, mostly unfounded fears of terrorism (for perspective, a fully loaded Cessna weighs less than my car) and gas prices. The auto industry, not exactly a hotbed of innovation, is at least starting to produce hybrids and other innovative vehicles as it starts the long move away from the internal combustion engine. Aviation has a long way to go, especially general aviation planes like Cessnas, which still burn leaded fuel and are kept deliberately simple for safety reasons (no cooling system means the cooling system can’t fail!)  There has to be many opportunities for innovation in this area, especially with new regulations bound to take effect at some point in the future.

I’m not sure what will spur innovation in the aviation and space industry, but I believe it has the potential to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists. The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington DC isn’t packed for nothing – the general public and kids have a natural love affair with aviation and space flight. Let’s just hope NASA continues to live on as a source of inspiration, as is so evident it was in the all footage from 40 years ago.

Incidentally, if you’d like to try your hand at landing on the moon, check out the Eagle Lander 3D application (Windows only). As you listen to the calm voices of the Apollo 11 astronauts, it’ll make you appreciate what Neil and Buzz did 40 years ago that much more.

Aviation

Why I like to fly planes

Flying is expensive, flying is noisy, and it can be dangerous if you aren’t careful.  Flying small planes often isn’t terribly practical either (most times, you’ll fly for cheaper paying an airline to do it for you).  But the best reason to fly can be summed up in a few photos, scenes you’ll never otherwise see from the ground or from the cramped window of a jetliner cruising at 500 MPH at 36,000 feet.  It’s also one of the few places where you are in complete control and any other distraction is minor in comparison with what you are doing at that moment.  In a world of multi-tasking, emails, cell phones, and an infinite number of distractions, having an activity which focuses all of your energy in an environment in which you are in complete control, and with superb scenery all around, is wonderful.  And despite the roaring of the engine, it’s actually quite peaceful.  That’s why I fly.

All of the photos below were taken on Cape Cod.
Tidal flats in Barnstable Harbor, Cape Cod, MA
Tidal Flats in Barnstable Harbor

Race Point Lighthouse, Provincetown, MA
Race Point Lighthouse off of Provincetown (the very tip of the Cape!)

Woods Hole, MA
Woods Hole

Flying over the islands off the coast of Woods Hole, MA
Naushon Islands (off of Woods Hole)

Final approach to Runway 24 at Hyannis, MA
Final approach, fasten your seat belts!

Technology

Time to try a new task management application

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About a year ago I started using an iPhone 3G and had to find replacement applications for a Sony Clie NX-70 Palm based device I had been using for 5 years (yes, it was and still is really that good).  The Datebk5 app I had been using was pretty nice and the iPhone was missing a heap of capabilities in comparison, most noticeably in task management.  So after learning about the Getting Things Done (GTD) system from David Allen’s book a year earlier, I bought OmniFocus for the Mac and then the iPhone.  In a nutshell, GTD advocates you list “projects” you are working on (e.g. “submit ACME proposal”, “clean garage”), “contexts” in which you can do things (e.g. “on the phone”, “email”, “writing”, “running errands”), tag all your tasks with these two attributes and place them in an order in which they need to be done (e.g. “write proposal” followed by “buy envelopes” followed by “mail proposal”).  This allows you to focus only on the next action required instead of on the inifite amount of items most of us have in front of us at any given time.  By staying focused and making small progress daily and not becoming overwhelmed by the big picture, you have a greater chance of “getting things done”.  The idea of “contexts” is that you when you decide it time to make phone calls, you look at your “on the phone” context list, and start doing things on it, regardless of project.  Its a relatively simple system, but I’m not sure it works for everyone.  I tend to not really think in contexts, and thus task management systems based around GTD (like OmniFocus) start to get in your way.

So after using OmniFocus for a year and generally not really enjoying the experience, I’ve recently starting using the web-based ToodleDo app, along with its corresponding iPhone app.    ToodleDo lets you use many of the methods of the GTD system (it has contexts, and folders, and status, etc.) but is flexible enough that you can only use what you want.  I have to say, I’m enjoying it much more (and its much less expensive too, as in free for the web app and only $4 for the iPhone app, compared with nearly $100 for both OmniFocus products if you get them at full price).  I think the feature of ToodleDo I like the best is the “hotlist”, which is a compilation of items you have deemed important via priorities, due-dates, flags, and so on.  It cuts across projects and contexts and is just a nice list.  For those of us that don’t think in pure “project” or “context” terms like GTD advocates, this simple feature alone is really useful.   And the bonus is, all your tasks are on the web, so you can find them from any computer.  Hooray for competition.