Cafe Jack - Yahoo!

Boeing: Boeing Introduces New Interior for 747-8 Intercontinental: "SEATTLE, Jan. 18, 2007 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today unveiled a life-size sales display of the interior for the new 747-8 Intercontinental. The two-story display showcases the dramatic interior architecture of the 747-8.

The 747-8 applies interior features from the 787 Dreamliner that includes a new curved, upswept architecture giving passengers a greater feeling of space and comfort, while adding more room for personal belongings. The interior architecture is accentuated by new lighting technology that creates a perception of airy brightness and provides smooth lighting transitions to offer a more restful environment.

In addition, the 747-8 integrates features from the 777, including windows that equal those on the 777 (15.3 inches/38.8 centimeters tall and 10.76 inches/27.3 centimeters wide), and are larger than those on the 747-400.

'The 747 family's unique interior and structural design have provided passengers with memorable flying experiences for decades,' said Dan Mooney, vice president, 747/747-8 Program. 'By incorporating 787-style interior features, the new 747-8 Intercontinental will provide a significantly enhanced passenger experience. Passengers will know they are on a brand new airplane the moment they step on board the 747-8, and will experience a whole new way to fly.'"

The Boeing 747-8 family which includes the 747-8 Intercontinental and 747-8 Freighter, are the new high-capacity 747s that offer airlines the lowest operating costs and best economics of any large passenger or freighter airplane.

This latest family of the 747 jetliners meets airline requirements for a passenger airplane that serves the 400- to 500-seat market between the 555-seat Airbus A380 and the 365-seat Boeing 777-300 Extended Range airplanes, and a freighter that continues the leadership of the 747 Freighter family in the world cargo market.

Boeing launched the airplane on November 14, 2005, with firm orders for 18 747-8 Freighters; 10 from Cargolux of Luxembourg and eight from Nippon Cargo Airlines -- NCA -- of Japan. The combined list price value of the orders is approximately $5 billion.

Boeing had been studying the market feasibility of a new 747 for some time, working with operators to establish their requirements for an incrementally larger 747 to continue the profitability of current 747 fleets. By working together with customers and applying the innovative new technologies of the 787 Dreamliner, Boeing was able to create the 747-8 family. In fact, the designation 747-8 was chosen to show the technology connection between the 787 and the new 747.

Cargolux will add the first 747-8 Freighter to its all-Boeing fleet of 747 freighters in third-quarter 2009, followed by NCA in fourth-quarter 2009. Lufthansa is the first airline to place an order for the passenger version of the fuel-efficient airplane, which is scheduled for delivery beginning in 2010.

Both the passenger and freighter versions of the 747-8 will allow operators to maximize their profitability. Seat-mile costs for the 747-8 Intercontinental are 10 percent lower than the 747-400, with nearly equivalent trip costs. The 747-8 Intercontinental is more than 10 percent lighter per seat than the A380, and consumes 10 percent less fuel per passenger. That translates into a trip-cost reduction of 19 percent and a seat-mile cost reduction of more than 3 percent compared to the A380.

The 747-8 is the only large airplane that fits today's airport infrastructure, giving airlines the flexibility to fly to more destinations. The 747-8 will build on the current 747's capability to fly into most airports worldwide, using the same pilot type ratings, services and most ground support equipment. With a range of 14,815 km (8,000 nmi), the 747-8 Intercontinental can connect nearly any major city pair in the world."

Source: Boeing: Commercial Airplanes - 747 - News Releases

Posted by jackcrossen at 12:19 AM | Permalink

Posted by jackcrossen at 11:01 PM | Permalink

Virtual Spatula City Interface(TM) contains some things that I think are funny.

This is an "old" site (more than 10 years old) that was originally created by Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne, who writes of the site,

"Back in my day, we didn't have any fancy XML or cascading style sheets! We had Netscape 1.1 with the big throbbing N and we LIKED IT! ... anyway, this is a nice museum piece of early '90s college student driven internet humor pages. Unchanged since its release and a neat nostalgia trip."

My first encounter with Spatula City was The Really Big Button That Doesn't Do Anything in the era before broadband, blogs, YouTube, The Onion etc.

I think the button idea was interesting because the comments people came up with were sometimes clever, or funny and invited interaction.

The button makes the not overly subtle point that it might be as worthwhile to spend your time pushing a button that doesn't do anything on the web as it is to do anything else on the web. I like to think that was more true in the early 90's than today with Google, tags, web 2.0, and a lot more content that is easy to locate.

You have a certain silly sense of humor and a willingness to just fool around, "wasting time", to appreciate the site.

You might find something that will make you laugh or at least crack a smile. If nothing else it may be, as Stefan says, "a neat nostalgia trip" to see what was considered cool not all that long ago.

Posted by jackcrossen at 05:31 AM | Permalink

I ran across this poem by Mary Oliver at inward/outward this morning.

Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who make the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and the crotchety -

best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light -
good morning, good morning, good morning.

Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.

Source: Why I Wake Early

Posted by jackcrossen at 04:49 AM | Permalink

This quote from Parker J. Palmer's book "The Active Life: A Spirituality of Work, Creativity, and Caring" comes from another book "Goodlife: Mastering the Art of Everyday Living" from the editors of Utne Reader .

It's in a piece called "Fifteen Ways to Live a Spiritual Life Every Day"

Number 8 - Visiting a friend.

"Twice in my life I have experienced deep depression. Both times various friends trid to rescue me with well-intended encouragement and advice....In the midst of my depression I had a friend who took a different tack. Every afternoon at around four o' clock he came to me, sat me in a chair, removed my shoes, and massaged my feet. He hardly said a word, but he was there, he was with me. He was a lifeline for me, a link to the human community and thus to my own humanity. He had no need to "fix" me. He knew the meaning of compassion."

Posted by jackcrossen at 05:45 AM | Permalink