Photo of Chinese junks taken near Tai Po with a Pentax SF1 during summer 1990. Originally on a slide and then digitalized.
This photo was taken during a one month trip around Hong-Kong in 1990. The average quality of the picture is due to multiple processings necessary to show it on the web. Few other chosen photos about that trip have been posted in the “Photo galleries” section, under “Asia”.
The period when those junks were taken was exactly one year after the Tiananmen Square massacre. The South China Morning Post wrote that 100,000 people walked near Victoria Park to commemorate the tragedy. It was possible to see the crowd from the window of our Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-200 while flying over Hong-Kong for the final approach towards the Kaï Tak airport.
An evening in the Petit-Champlain, Old Quebec 2014
Those two pictures have been added recently in the “photo galleries” section above. I take this opportunity to wish everyone Happy Holidays and hope that 2015 will be the year when some political leaders will finally “see the light” and start working seriously at reducing the carbon foot print of their country.
Hi, here are two recent additions to this website:
first, in the “Improve your pictures” section, under “a month of muffins”, I added 30 pictures of muffins (5 blocks of 6 pictures). Those photos represent, in fact, thirty dozens of muffins that were baked by my daughter and given to the “Maison Gilles Kègle” (The Gilles Kègle House). Gilles Kègle is a street nurse who has been working seven days a week, for decades, in order to help people in need. When you will visit this section of the website, you will see the thirty kinds of muffins, as well as all the informations regarding the photo sessions to capture the work of my daughter. I have included a video on the work of Gilles Kègle and a link to his Foundation.
The other recent addition can be found in the “Photo galleries” section, under “Guatemala in pictures”. You will find 19 photos taken by my daughter during her trip in this beautiful country, around Easter 2014. Have a good visit!
Easter period in Antigua, Guatemala 2014
Flower carpet being designed by professionals during Easter period in Antigua, Guatemala 2014
View from our hotel room in Schwanden, Switzerland 2013
Here are some of the pictures recently added to the Europe photo gallery. Schwanden, in Switzerland, was a superb discovery as the hotel was in the countryside but at a very reasonable distance from a big city like Bernes. This is an HDR picture, as the contrasts were just too important between the shadows under the balcony and the natural light of the sky. The Schwanden picture represents in fact five shots each taken with a different exposure. Photomatix is the software used to mix together all the pictures. Have a good visit in the photo galleries!
Looking at the title, we imagine that this book is either cynical or humorous. Anticipating the reader’s reaction, the author quickly announces where he stands: “These pages are actually the result of a constructive effort to detect, understand and perhaps neutralize one of the most powerful dark forces that impede welfare and happiness of mankind.”
Written by Carlo M. Cipolla and originally published in English in 1976, this little book became an international bestseller when published in 1988 in Italian, his native language, and integrated into a bigger publication called Allegro ma non troppo.
The book contains five basic laws of human stupidity. Each is outlined and explained. In order to take the analysis one step further, the author explains the method he uses to qualify a person’s actions. It is obvious that all may not agree with the author. The same thing happens with subjects like religion or politic. These are sensitive issues.
Distribution of stupidity
I will mention only the first law that sets the tone of the book :[My translation]: “Everyone inevitably always underestimates the number of stupid persons existing in the world.“
All men are not equal: some are stupid and others are not. Culture, race, social class, education, wealth or where you live has nothing to do with the case. Nature randomly decides. Stupidity is shared equally between men and women and uniformly distributed in a constant proportion.
The four major categories
The author divides humanity into four broad categories: idiots, intelligent people, bandits and stupid people. He considers that the most dangerous category is the one that relates to stupidity. These persons show a consistency to inflict losses to others while making no gain themselves through their own actions. In fact, most of the time, they suffer losses.
Impact on society
The degree of danger of the stupid person is function of the genetic combination (the dose of stupidity received at birth!) and the power he holds in society: [My tranlation]:” Stupid people cause losses to others without personal gain consideration. Society as a whole is impoverished.” There is more damage inflicted to society if the stupid actions are the result of a high ranking individual.
In a desire to protect the reader against associating with a stupid person, the author writes: [My translation]: ” You always hope to manipulate stupid people, and it is often achieved, to a certain extent. But because of the erratic side of their behavior, we cannot predict all the actions and reactions of stupid people and we find ourselves very quickly pulverized by the unpredictable decisions of the stupid associate.“
Composition of the population of a country on a downward slope
The final microanalysis attempt to present the composition of individuals in a country that is on a downward slope. The author believes that the percentage of stupid persons is always equal to the proportion found in countries that are on the rise. The difference is instead found in the increasing number of people being found in 1) the category of bandits with a stupid trend (those who get a minor gain while inflicting major losses to others) and 2) a similar increase in the number of idiots in this country (those who cause losses to themselves by constantly generating gains for others).
One positive effect to read and understand this book
This book is likely to reconcile yourself with the past by allowing you to put a final qualifier on the actions of one or more individuals who may have caused you problems while making no serious gain and, eventually, who suffered significant setbacks due to their inappropriate actions and behaviour toward you.
Bonus
Four blank grids are provided at the end of the book to allow the reader to put a qualifier on the actions of persons of his choice.
Here is a quick update regarding some additions of the last few weeks. Of course I continue to publish “the real stories as pilot and FSS” (so far 7 have been published out of 80). The most improved section is the photo gallery of the Canadian provinces (at least 30 pictures have been added). In the virtual flights section, I’ve added a flight with a glider (in the standard flights) and a flight with an helicopter landing on a cruise ship (challenging flights section). Coming soon, a little review on a surprising book: “The basic laws of human stupidity”. Here are three of the recently added pictures. Have a good visit!
Empress Hotel at dusk, Victoria Harbor, Canada 2014
Photoshop edition of a house, Fisherman’s Wharf, Victoria, Canada 2014
Photo of a part of Banff downtown, Alberta, Canada 2014
here is a picture and an edited screen capture recently added on the site (among about ten new pictures). During the next few days, two articles will be published on 1) Bletchley Park and 2) the trip (with pictures) of a VFR flight from St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, to Edmonton, Alberta, trip that was done in 1981 with an old Cessna 170B.
Have a good visit,
François
Old Quebec scene during a summer night.
Sikorsky MH-53 airborne from Queenstown, New Zealand.
The nice problem with the flight simulator is that there are lots of interesting planes and sceneries available from around the world. Virtual pilots benefit from a huge variety of products. In general, flights made either at dusk or dawn benefit from a special light. For the actual flight with the Sikorsky, I went for a cool light so that the military helicopter would not look too inviting.
Many pictures and articles have been added during the past few weeks. The last addition to this site can be found in the “flight simulation” section, under “standard virtual flights”. It’s a flight using FSX from Redding (California) toward Sekiu (Washington State). To make it easier for those of you who would like to try it, I’ve added the approach and stall speeds. The Phenom 100 is surprisingly easy to fly because it is a light jet with a low approach speed. It constitutes an excellent small jet for the pilot who wishes to transfer from piston engine aircraft toward jets. The virtual Phenom 100 is made by Carenado and the scenery by Orbx.
François
Phenom 100 turning toward Clallam Bay, inbound for the Sekiu airport
There has been few additions in the past weeks, especially in the photography section, underProvince of Quebec. A book about the Bugaled Breiz affair has been presented. There has also been, in the flight simulation section, under FSX, a C130 experimenting a double engine failure while enroute from Smithers to Prince George, Canada. The real life stories continue and soon I will be able to start posting the stories that happened up north, in Inukjuak and Iqaluit.
There has been many additions since the last update, as much on the flight simulation section than on the photography side of the site. Profiting from an end of September beautiful autumnal day, I visited Baie-St-Paul and the Maritime Museum of Charlevoix to take few pictures. Here are some shots that have been added recently in the Photography section, under Province of Quebec. Have a good visit!
François
Autumn colors near Baie St-Paul
Maritime Museum of Charlevoix, 2014.
HDR picture of an autumnal scene taken at St-Joseph-de-la-Rive, 2014.
