RichC | May 31, 2005
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS – Posted Date: 5/31/05 Volkswagen AG may introduce a hybrid-powered Jetta in the United States in two years according to a VW spokesman. They confirmed that VW is considering a so-called mild hybrid vehicle similar to the Honda Civic Hybrid. VW did not forecast sales volumes or discuss the costs. The company said […]
RichC | May 26, 2005
I’ve been a proponent of the Steve Forbes style “flat tax” since it was introduced durning his run for the presidency. Although I’m not comfortable with an over the board Flat Tax, I would like to see serious reform. On a CNBC ‘unscientific’ poll of people watching Squawkbox or reading their website, other were of […]
RichC | May 25, 2005
Above ground portable B20 pumps and tanks – BioWillie [clickable link] In the US, the mom and pop gas station is steadily being replaced by conglomerate ‘fast food’ stations, grocery/superstore fuel pumps or oil company owned convenient gas stations. Often times the old private stations are franchised or leased, and the renewals are no longer […]
RichC | May 24, 2005
The information below is from Deb Shinder, MCSE, MVP (Security). She is a technology consultant that we have used to secure our servers and email. I found her information worthy of inclusion on my blog and hope it will help others. Does spam threaten your network’s security? Certainly if dozens of salespeople came to your […]
RichC | May 24, 2005
In keeping with “Desultory” … I’m posting something out of the blue. This weekend I had a couple guys over working on my daughters VW Jetta TDI. We had the intake manifold off and realized after installing that one of the ‘non-essential’ bolt holes was oversize or stripped. (just holds the plastic noise cover in […]
RichC | May 23, 2005
Statistically, we all expect the price of diesel fuel to drop and the price of gasoline to rise in the summer. It is usually stated that the summer driving season puts a demand on gas, whereas the winter heating season puts the demand on heating oil. This is probably to simplistic of an answer, but […]
RichC | May 20, 2005
I’ve been thinking about getting back to work on my Sonex project and have been ‘re-intrigued’ with the thought of diesel power. I came across a company, Advanced Propulsion Technologies, that is building extremely lightweight, high powered diesels, especially the 325HP engine. This one clutched to a second is being proposed and tested on light […]
RichC | May 19, 2005
The answer for most elected to serve us is that “you don’t want to know.” Polls are a way of life in the political beltway of Washington DC and our Amreican media. Its also one way in which we get feedback on how our elected officials are performing. I’m not so sure the results of […]
RichC | May 17, 2005
The new Popemobile??? I hope this is not what VW is counting on. Is there any question as to how Volkswagen has been managed in recent years? Their strategy to up scale their image and move from the “people’s car†mentality has surely made even the most loyal shareholders doubt. One writer sums up that […]
RichC | May 16, 2005
Today was an headline grabbing day for biodiesel advocates as President Bush made a visit to a Virgina Biodiesel Refinery. The public visit was in part a promotion of his stalled energy bill and an incentive to continue our national move toward less dependance on foriegn petroleum. President Bush exclaims, “Our dependence on foreign oil […]
RichC | May 16, 2005
A Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) technology demonstration is scheduled for June 5 – 7, 2005 and will showcase some of the operating capabilities developed to make small aircraft and airports more accessible to more people. This is the information technology that is needed to open the door to personal air transportation along with the […]
RichC | May 15, 2005
RichC | May 13, 2005
I enjoy reading and posting in several forums that usually pertain to an area of mutual interest. Over time it is easy to make friends (and occasional nemeses … hmm is that a word?) that move off topic for discussion of divisive issues such as religion and politics. One such issue is on how we […]
RichC | May 10, 2005
Next month I’ll have a chance to personally check out the AMV Aircraft. (well not ‘be’ checked out. 🙂 ) Actually it has been seen as the personal aircraft of the future by some and just another prototype design by others. No matter … I like it. What is unique is that this small two […]
RichC | May 9, 2005
Most of us in the US ‘love’ cheap energy … unfortunately what we like isn’t always good for us. I’ve enjoyed regular forum debates with Mike Briggs, from UNH, on many issues. A recent issue has me rethinking my positions on a ‘new tax.’ Yes … a TAX … shame on me. Mike presented his […]
RichC | May 5, 2005
The current book that I’m finishing up is an ‘eye-opening’ look into the writings of prominent neoconservative thinkers. I am finding this political science collection of essays to be extrodinarily helpful in understanding American neoconservative political influence of the Bush administration. As a more traditional conservative, much of the thought is quite radical. The revitalization […]
RichC | May 5, 2005
I’ve often talked about sharing what I’ve learned through mistakes and success in a book. I’ve got a pile of notes that I’ve continued to add to over the years in this regard and thought I would segment them into a collection of thoughts or essays with the hopes of creating the book project I’ve […]
RichC | May 4, 2005
I’m always looking to build a better mousetrap … like replacing our petroleum diesel fuel with biodiesel. With oil prices over $50/barrel, biodiesel is in the news almost everyday. Obviously some big dollars from American soybean growers have boosted the farm lobbies and politicians are finding out that supporting renewable homegrow alternatives to foriegn oil […]
RichC | May 3, 2005
I thought I would start the Misc section today and start with the ‘click’ of the day post. 🙂 Today’s interesting link is a semi-reference site that usually provides more humor than information: “What is” lookup. It is interesting what pops up by plugging in different words. Example: Since I’ve been following the Ivory Billed […]
RichC | May 1, 2005
I spent Saturday, April 30 at with a bunch of TDI owners at Jon Hamilton’s tuning session, driver for team rallyvw.com. The event was scheduled as a fundraiser for the race team around chip tunning by Jeff (Rocketchip) and injector nozzles from Charlie (KermaTDI). It was a busy day as there were 9 sets of […]