VilePython
@vilepython.bsky.social
Engineer. Pilot. Policy wonk. I do infosec type stuff for airplanes.
People will find a path to what they want to do. If we offer a reasonable one, that takes the route we want, people will follow it. If we do not offer a path, people will seek their own, through danger - or worse, take a path offered up by attackers.
I'm gonna tell you about a guy named Peter. He called for support often and it wasn't stupid stuff. But it was complex.
He drove a BMW. He was divorced. He was of course a sales person. Probably the most successful sales person in California and maybe the country.
He serviced the government.
He drove a BMW. He was divorced. He was of course a sales person. Probably the most successful sales person in California and maybe the country.
He serviced the government.
You meet the users where they are to stop them doing the stupidest shit imaginable.
You have no idea how much this paid off. The number of infected media players people downloaded in the age before Windows Media Player had more than three codecs is unimaginable
Who knows if I saved the firm
You have no idea how much this paid off. The number of infected media players people downloaded in the age before Windows Media Player had more than three codecs is unimaginable
Who knows if I saved the firm
November 26, 2025 at 3:43 AM
People will find a path to what they want to do. If we offer a reasonable one, that takes the route we want, people will follow it. If we do not offer a path, people will seek their own, through danger - or worse, take a path offered up by attackers.
Reposted by VilePython
narrator: 50 years ago...
me: [nods] in 1945
narrator: in 1975...
me: what
me: [nods] in 1945
narrator: in 1975...
me: what
November 25, 2025 at 2:11 AM
narrator: 50 years ago...
me: [nods] in 1945
narrator: in 1975...
me: what
me: [nods] in 1945
narrator: in 1975...
me: what
Reposted by VilePython
Twitter accounts are based in Russia. BlueSky accounts are based in homes with, frankly, too many books, plants, obsolete cables, and pieces of rustic pottery, that could do with a bit of a tidying up, to be honest.
November 23, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Twitter accounts are based in Russia. BlueSky accounts are based in homes with, frankly, too many books, plants, obsolete cables, and pieces of rustic pottery, that could do with a bit of a tidying up, to be honest.
The amazing story of the California Clipper gets better and better. An unexpected overlap with aviation today is the impending loss of 100 low lead avgas and the risks that could come with any unsuitable replacement fuel.
Also out today: part 4 of 5 of @garius.bsky.social's remarkable history of the California Clipper, the feat of commercial aviation that brought a Pan Am flying boat the wrong way around the world from Auckland to LaGuardia.
This time: it's Christmas in Sri Lanka.
theupfront.media/christmas-in...
This time: it's Christmas in Sri Lanka.
theupfront.media/christmas-in...
Christmas in Sri Lanka: The remarkable journey of the California Clipper, Part 4
The crew of the California Clipper are forced to spend Christmas in Sri Lanka. While there, their thoughts turn naturally to home.
theupfront.media
November 21, 2025 at 6:47 PM
The amazing story of the California Clipper gets better and better. An unexpected overlap with aviation today is the impending loss of 100 low lead avgas and the risks that could come with any unsuitable replacement fuel.
If you see this post your getaway vehicle
November 21, 2025 at 3:56 AM
If you see this post your getaway vehicle
It's unfortunate to see the end of this storied design. Per the GAMA numbers, production fell off after the 2008 financial crisis and slowed to a trickle once covid hit. New piston single buyers clearly want something different, even if the Bo is an amazing plane to fly.
A sad day for those of us who were close to the Beech line for many years. Solid machines all.
avbrief.com/textron-ends...
avbrief.com/textron-ends...
Textron Ends Bonanza, Baron Production - AvBrief.com
Bonanza turns 80 in December
avbrief.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:10 AM
It's unfortunate to see the end of this storied design. Per the GAMA numbers, production fell off after the 2008 financial crisis and slowed to a trickle once covid hit. New piston single buyers clearly want something different, even if the Bo is an amazing plane to fly.
Thread.
So this ad revenue metric is indicative of such a fascinating and weird set of business decisions by Google to inexplicably kill of SEO-- and I honestly don't get how they think this is going to pay off for them in the long run.
🧵
1/
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1/
Stereogum says Google's switch to AI Overviews reduced its ad revenue by *70 percent* www.theverge.com/entertainmen...
November 19, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Thread.
One essential aspect of increasing the number of air traffic controllers is training bandwidth. Alternatives to the FAA ATC Academy, especially those at community colleges, seem highly beneficial. Many other FAA certificates, including pilots and mechanics, have multiple pathways available. 1/x
As Shutdown Slows Air Traffic Training, These Schools Are Stepping In
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:02 AM
One essential aspect of increasing the number of air traffic controllers is training bandwidth. Alternatives to the FAA ATC Academy, especially those at community colleges, seem highly beneficial. Many other FAA certificates, including pilots and mechanics, have multiple pathways available. 1/x
The Rule of Goats applies to this vote, but Clay Higgins is a generally awful person no matter what
Clay Higgins was the only member of the House to vote against releasing the Epstein files.
His record also includes allegedly putting a gun to the head of one of his ex-wives, voting for a neo-Nazi, and assaulting an unarmed Black man while working as a cop.
@nlanard.bsky.social's post from Sept:
His record also includes allegedly putting a gun to the head of one of his ex-wives, voting for a neo-Nazi, and assaulting an unarmed Black man while working as a cop.
@nlanard.bsky.social's post from Sept:
Rep. Clay Higgins’ racist tweet is only the tip of the iceberg
His record includes allegedly putting a gun to the head of one his three ex-wives, voting for a neo-Nazi, and assaulting an unarmed Black man.
www.motherjones.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:07 AM
The Rule of Goats applies to this vote, but Clay Higgins is a generally awful person no matter what
One affair with a longshot presidential candidate twice your age is happenstance. Two such affairs is coincidence. Three such affairs would be enemy action.
to have an affair with one longshot presidential candidate twice your age that you’re profiling may be regarded as a misfortune; to have two looks like carelessness
November 18, 2025 at 2:19 AM
One affair with a longshot presidential candidate twice your age is happenstance. Two such affairs is coincidence. Three such affairs would be enemy action.
Reposted by VilePython
In 1941, Pan Am's California Clipper had to do something no commercial flight had done before: circumnavigate the world.
In Part 3 of our series looking at her journey, the crew must work out, mid-air, how to fly her on regular gasoline. Something her Wright Cyclone engines were never designed for.
In Part 3 of our series looking at her journey, the crew must work out, mid-air, how to fly her on regular gasoline. Something her Wright Cyclone engines were never designed for.
Into the unknown: The remarkable journey of the California Clipper, Part 3
Unable to source military-grade aviation fuel, our crew are forced to cross the Indian Ocean using regular gasoline. Something no Boeing 314 has ever flown on before.
theupfront.media
November 14, 2025 at 11:16 AM
In 1941, Pan Am's California Clipper had to do something no commercial flight had done before: circumnavigate the world.
In Part 3 of our series looking at her journey, the crew must work out, mid-air, how to fly her on regular gasoline. Something her Wright Cyclone engines were never designed for.
In Part 3 of our series looking at her journey, the crew must work out, mid-air, how to fly her on regular gasoline. Something her Wright Cyclone engines were never designed for.
Washington, DC this afternoon, with the sun very low on the horizon. I decided not to walk by the White House.
November 14, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Washington, DC this afternoon, with the sun very low on the horizon. I decided not to walk by the White House.
Roger Marshall is, and remains, the worst.
Tell me you don’t understand risk pools without telling me you don’t understand risk pools
November 10, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Roger Marshall is, and remains, the worst.
The story continues. Aviation today is an exercise in risk management, and the risks the Pan Am crew had to face to get home were unreal. Amazingly written.
Part 2 of our history of the remarkable flight of the California Clipper in WW2 is now available.
To get back to the US after Pearl Harbor, Ford and his crew are asked by Pan Am to do something no commercial aircrew or passenger plane has done before:
Circumnavigate the world. #history #aviation
To get back to the US after Pearl Harbor, Ford and his crew are asked by Pan Am to do something no commercial aircrew or passenger plane has done before:
Circumnavigate the world. #history #aviation
Flying blind: The remarkable journey of the California Clipper, Part 2
What Pan Am were asking of Ford, his crew and his aircraft was to do something that no commercial flying boat had ever done before: complete a circumnavigation of the world.
theupfront.media
November 8, 2025 at 1:33 PM
The story continues. Aviation today is an exercise in risk management, and the risks the Pan Am crew had to face to get home were unreal. Amazingly written.
Reposted by VilePython
Flying Squirrel Loves It Every Time
November 5, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Flying Squirrel Loves It Every Time
The FIFA Sack With A Dollar Sign On It Award for Lifetime Achievement in Graft and Corruption
November 5, 2025 at 11:37 PM
The FIFA Sack With A Dollar Sign On It Award for Lifetime Achievement in Graft and Corruption
Reposted by VilePython
Historical context - In 1979 an AA DC-10 (MD-11 predecessor) crashed on takeoff from ORD. Its left engine separated (due to a maintenance issue) on takeoff causing an asymmetric stall when the slats retracted. (Locks mandated in 1982) TAC report from 2019: theaircurrent.com/historical-c...
Searching for 40-year old lessons for Boeing in the grounding of the DC-10
An eerily similar crash in Chicago 40-years ago holds lessons for Boeing and the 737 Max that reverberate through history.
theaircurrent.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Historical context - In 1979 an AA DC-10 (MD-11 predecessor) crashed on takeoff from ORD. Its left engine separated (due to a maintenance issue) on takeoff causing an asymmetric stall when the slats retracted. (Locks mandated in 1982) TAC report from 2019: theaircurrent.com/historical-c...
Reposted by VilePython
1. We wait for the NTSB.
2. The primary coverage right now is about injuries on the ground.
3. They will find every possible piece of the wreck. It will tell a story. The investigators, almost all gov’t employees, are some of the best in the world at this.
4. The engines are a critical focus.
2. The primary coverage right now is about injuries on the ground.
3. They will find every possible piece of the wreck. It will tell a story. The investigators, almost all gov’t employees, are some of the best in the world at this.
4. The engines are a critical focus.
November 4, 2025 at 11:58 PM
1. We wait for the NTSB.
2. The primary coverage right now is about injuries on the ground.
3. They will find every possible piece of the wreck. It will tell a story. The investigators, almost all gov’t employees, are some of the best in the world at this.
4. The engines are a critical focus.
2. The primary coverage right now is about injuries on the ground.
3. They will find every possible piece of the wreck. It will tell a story. The investigators, almost all gov’t employees, are some of the best in the world at this.
4. The engines are a critical focus.
Reposted by VilePython
Did not expect one of the best paragraphs I’d read about baseball would come from an Irish newspaper
www.irishexaminer.com/sport-column...
www.irishexaminer.com/sport-column...
November 2, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Did not expect one of the best paragraphs I’d read about baseball would come from an Irish newspaper
www.irishexaminer.com/sport-column...
www.irishexaminer.com/sport-column...
This is an absolutely amazing story.
In December 1941, Pan Am flight 18602 was trapped the wrong side of the Pacific by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
To get home, her civilian crew would need to do the near-impossible: circumnavigate the world in commercial seaplane.
In our new series, we tell tell their remarkable story.
To get home, her civilian crew would need to do the near-impossible: circumnavigate the world in commercial seaplane.
In our new series, we tell tell their remarkable story.
The Long Way Round: The remarkable journey of the California Clipper, Part 1
In 1941, the Japanese attacked Hawaii, leaving Pan Am flight 18602 trapped the wrong side of Pearl Harbour, To get home, its civilian crew would have to do something incredible: circumnavigate the wor...
theupfront.media
October 31, 2025 at 11:13 PM
This is an absolutely amazing story.
Reposted by VilePython
A friend thinks we should build a database of Pope Just Got A Sports Jersey facial expressions to calibrate his responses to non-Sports Jerseys events
Being Pope means just receiving baseball jerseys all day long of teams he hates
October 30, 2025 at 11:57 PM
A friend thinks we should build a database of Pope Just Got A Sports Jersey facial expressions to calibrate his responses to non-Sports Jerseys events
Today, I voted in my local elections. There are some really noxious candidates on the ballot, and it felt good to vote against them. There are some really forward-thinking candidates on the ballot, too, and it felt great to vote for them.
October 28, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Today, I voted in my local elections. There are some really noxious candidates on the ballot, and it felt good to vote against them. There are some really forward-thinking candidates on the ballot, too, and it felt great to vote for them.
LSU has not heard the Legend of Frank Solich. If they had, they would know that firing a coach for not quite winning enough can result in decades of irrelevance.
Brian Kelly out at LSU: Top candidates, transfers, recruits
In another coaching carousel shocker, Kelly is out. While LSU is a top-tier job, the next coach has to manage the conference and its politics.
www.espn.com
October 27, 2025 at 1:01 AM
LSU has not heard the Legend of Frank Solich. If they had, they would know that firing a coach for not quite winning enough can result in decades of irrelevance.
I'm searching for the world's tiniest and ugliest violin to play
“We were the targets.” WIRED spoke to seven Tesla Cybertruck owners about their most controversial purchase and why they're proud to drive it.
Spit On, Sworn At, and Undeterred: What It’s Like to Own a Cybertruck
“We were the targets.” WIRED spoke to seven Tesla Cybertruck owners about their most controversial purchase and why they're proud to drive it.
wrd.cm
October 16, 2025 at 10:36 PM
I'm searching for the world's tiniest and ugliest violin to play
It'll be an excellent Magic Smoke Generator
October 14, 2025 at 11:19 PM
It'll be an excellent Magic Smoke Generator