Tootfinder

A profile of Applied Intuition, which makes self-driving simulation software and reported $800M in 2025 revenue and 80% gross margins, as it expands beyond cars (Iain Martin/Forbes)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/iainmartin/20…

These Billionaires Plan To Bring Self-Driving Tech To Everything That Moves
Applied Intuition’s cofounders are building software that can drive everything from planes to tanks to automobiles. But to expand beyond its $800 million business selling tech for cars, they will have to take on Tesla, Google, Nvidia and a host of other startups jostling for pole position in the autonomy race.

At 5:49 p.m., air traffic controllers told pilots over the Caribbean that a SpaceX Starship rocket had exploded.
All planes were ordered to avoid an area where the Federal Aviation Administration estimated debris would fall
launches exploded at unexpected points on their flight paths,
Last year, three of Starship’s five launches exploded at unexpected points on their flight paths,
twice raining flaming debris over congested commercial airways and disrupting flights. …

“We’re Too Close to the Debris”
The FAA predicted Elon Musk’s Starship would cause “minor or minimal” disruption. Then the rockets exploded twice in three months over busy airspace. Flight data reveals how many planes scrambled to protect passengers and avoid burning debris.

Fleet of UPS planes grounded after deadly crash expected to miss peak delivery season
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fleet-ups-planes-grounded-deadly-crash-expected-miss-peak-delivery-sea-rcna246296
With 9% of it's planes out if service UPS has a major problem to solve in the busiest time of the year...

The Department of Homeland Security has signed a nearly
$140m contract to purchase six Boeing 737 planes
-- for deportation operations.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/10/us-signs-boeing-trump-deportation-d…

Judge calls for Justice Dept. whistleblower to testify in migrant planes case (Steve Thompson/Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/12/08/boasberg-ruling-whistleblower-testify/
http://www.memeorandum.com/251208/p131#a251208p131

¿Es viable prohibir las redes sociales a los menores de 16 años? Planes y límites de la propuesta del Gobierno (Español)
https://www.eldebate.com/sociedad/20260204/viable-prohibir-redes-sociales-menor…

American Airlines partners with AT&T to add free, high-speed satellite-based Wi-Fi across its entire fleet, with a target spring 2026 completion date (Andrew J. Hawkins/The Verge)
https://www.theverge.com/news/855838/american-airlines-free-att-wifi-speed…

American Airlines is adding free AT&T Wi-Fi to all its planes
American Airlines announced it was installing free Wi-Fi provided by AT&T on all of its planes. The entire fleet will be operational by spring 2026.

RE: #posiwid #luddism

I just found out that in old planes, flight computers were programmed with audio cassette tapes 😯 which now makes me want to look up how data recording on MCs worked on the C64 (before my time).
I remember that in the 90s, I tried to run "play.exe word.doc" to get my SoundBlaster card to write to my cassette tape. Which of course didn't work.
I bet there is a FOSS project that backups and restores to audio cassettes.
Well, I guess now I know how I'll spend my…

I've been working on a toy project that analyzes local ADS-B traffic (next to YUL), and alerts when planes are taking off and landing.
It's surprising to me how much the number of commercial planes at YUL changes throughout the day. There are clearly morning/evening/night rushes.
Looks like there's only one (or two) commercial plane(s) at YUL right now, but in 3 hours, there will be dozens of take-off/landing events in that hour.

ACARS drama
Ground to Air Message:
WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO REACH YOU REGARDING YOUR PLANES EXTENDED WARRANTY
Area: Washington DC, USA
Type: Airbus A320neo
A: #⁠a68bc80691f
F: #⁠fc25519c061

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/us/politics/trump-capture-maduro-venezuela.html
“Inside Venezuela, the effort began with a cyberoperation that cut power to large swaths of Caracas, shrouding the city in darkness to allow the planes, drones and…

Inside ‘Operation Absolute Resolve,’ the U.S. Effort to Capture Maduro
The tactically precise operation successfully extracted Mr. Maduro with no loss of American life, a result heralded by President Trump amid larger questions about the legality and rationale for the U.S. actions in Venezuela.

Trump is weighing replacing FBI Director Kash Patel, according to sources
https://www.ms.now/news/trump-kash-patel-replacing-fbi-director-planes-girlfriend

Trump Says US to Decertify, Levy Tariff on Canadian Planes (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-29/trump-says-us-to-decertify-levy-tariff-on-planes-from-canada
http://www.memeorandum.com/260129/p139#a260129p139

I found a stash of mechanics and handicraft magazines from 1936-1949 - just 4 magazines. Heck some are scary 🙂

Judge James E. Boasberg said he wants to hear from former Justice Dept. attorney Erez Reuveni
in an inquiry over whether Trump administration officials should be referred for prosecution
for disobeying a court order that temporarily barred two airplanes carrying Venezuelan detainees from proceeding to El Salvador.

In a confrontation between the Trump administration and the federal judiciary,
revived after a months-long delay for appeals,
Chief U.S. District Jud…

Judge calls for Justice Dept. whistleblower to testify in migrant planes case
Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of the District of Columbia has scheduled the former Justice Department attorney to appear in court on Dec. 15.

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #VarietyMix
Kassi Valazza:
🎵 Watching Planes Go By
#KassiValazza
https://kassivalazza.bandcamp.com/track/watching-planes-go-by
https://open.spotify.com/track/4dIEq5YDYj7rQbNRzaqJKe

Ukraine intelligence "Spiderweb": Planes burned in hangars, generals killed in their cars. Details!: https://benborges.xyz/2025/12/27/170045.html

Airbus issues an order to revert 6,000 A320-series planes to old software, after an incident revealed that intense solar radiation corrupted flight control data (Nadeem Badshah/The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/

A ‘Significant Number’ of Airbus Planes Require Critical Software Fix Before They Can Fly
Some planes could be temporarily grounded after the airplane maker said solar radiation may corrupt data critical to flight controls
https://www.wsj.com/business/airlines/airb

In the 1950s, the Air Force realized that planes were crashing because cockpits didn’t actually fit the pilots’ bodies. Wrong size = danger!! They commissioned a researcher to develop a new, more correct set of standard dimensions for the seat, yoke, etc.
That researcher, Gilbert S. Daniels, came up with 10 body measurements that matter to cockpit size. He gathered measurements of several thousand pilots. And the number of people who were at the average for all ten measurements? Zero. Not a single one.
“Average” proved to be a statistical construct, not a thing that actually exists as a person.
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/on-average/
3/

When you’re tracking your friends planes as well as your own

Genuine & authentic... again, the best Thanksgiving movie EVER.
▶️ The Comedy & Drama in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" | Acting Breakdown
https://youtube.com/watch?v=VfAfflY8plc&si=eprSIlNWYZsEbiVU

Dawn on the tarmac, PHX

Proof that you don't need to fly planes into buildings to destroy a country

Could be worse; you could be spending your weekend flashing a fleet of planes.

In my journey as a climate activist, I've grappled with the contradictions of my lifestyle. I consume meat, I fly on planes, yet I advocate for sustainable practices.
For a while, I felt like a hypocrite. But, I've realized that the climate movement doesn't need to be a space of perfection, but a space for ordinary humans with their contradictions.
Can we be climate activists while still having contradictions in our lives?

On Friday, Judge Boasberg ordered the administration to submit declarations by December 5
from all officials involved in the decision not to return the flights to the U.S.
He said he will then decide whether to seek testimony from witnesses.
The declarations should detail the officials’ roles in the decision, the judge said in the brief order.
Justice Department attorneys had urged him to abandon the probe,
but Boasberg said he must determine whether Homeland S…

Trump officials face contempt probe over migrant flights
A federal judge in Washington has relaunched his contempt probe of the Trump administration for failing to turn around two planes carrying Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador in March. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Friday ordered the administration to submit written statements by December 5 from all officials involved in the decision not to return the planes to the U.S. Boasberg wants to determine whether the Republican administration flouted his order to turn the flights around. The sta…

U.S. Is Adding to Its Military Buildup in the Caribbean (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/us/politics/military-cargo-planes-caribbean-venezuela.html
http://www.memeorandum.com/251223/p108#a251223p108

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #DriveTime
WD4D:
🎵 Digable Planes
#WD4D

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on #BBC6Music's #HuwStephens
M.I.A.:
🎵 Paper Planes
#MIA
https://keylomusic.bandcamp.com/track/m-i-a-paper-planes-keylo-remix
https://open.spotify.com/track/1ixbwbeBi5ufN4noUKmW5a
Please 🔁 BOOST to share what you like
- your followers don't see if you ⭐ favourite a post

How SpaceX Rockets Put Passenger Planes at Risk — ProPublica
https://www.propublica.org/article/spacex-faa-launch-airlines-safety-explosions-florida-caribbean

How SpaceX Rockets Put Passenger Planes at Risk — ProPublica
https://www.propublica.org/article/spacex-faa-launch-airlines-safety-explosions-florida-caribbean
'When SpaceX CEO Elon Musk chose a remote Texas outpost on the Gulf Coast to develop his company’s ambitious Starship, he put the 400-foot rocket on a collision course with the commercial airline industry.'

"Del comes home."
Best Thanksgiving movie ever.
▶️ Every Reactor Was Touched by This Heartwarming Thanksgiving Finale ❤️ | "Planes, Trains & Automobiles"
https://youtube.com/watch?v=bL_OnH5mPvY&si=aJC0IDHFSvA9OtVc

Flight attendants were told they would fly rock bands, sports teams and sun-seekers.
Then "Global Crossing Airlines" started expanding into federal #deportation #flights.
Flight attendants received training in how to evacuate passengers but said they weren’t told how to usher out detainees whos…

Inside ICE Air: Flight Attendants on Deportation Planes Say Disaster Is “Only a Matter of Time”
Current and former flight attendants for GlobalX, the private charter airline at the center of Trump’s immigration crackdown, expressed concern about their inability to treat passengers humanely and to keep them safe.

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #DriveTime
WD40:
🎵 Digable Planes
#WD40

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on #BBC6Music's #HuwStephens
M.I.A.:
🎵 Paper Planes
#MIA
https://keylomusic.bandcamp.com/track/m-i-a-paper-planes-keylo-remix
https://open.spotify.com/track/1ixbwbeBi5ufN4noUKmW5a

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on #BBC6Music's #IndieForeverDiscoWithBethDitto
M.I.A.:
🎵 Paper Planes
#MIA
https://keylomusic.bandcamp.com/track/m-i-a-paper-planes-keylo-remix
https://open.spotify.com/track/1ixbwbeBi5ufN4noUKmW5a