RichC | December 31, 2006
It has been a busy holiday week which included Christmas, New Year’s Eve, football and my niece’s wedding. I also wanted to ‘archive‘ at least one photo from from the wedding. (and what a wedding it was!) Here’s wishing both Madison and Nathan congratulations as they begin married life together. Oh … and thank you […]
RichC | December 27, 2006
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
RichC | December 26, 2006
Christmas has been hectic as usual around our house. We’ve been entertaining and enjoying the festivities including time with our extended families. (which isn’t going to end until after the New Year!) This year was special for my son as you might have noticed above; Santa brought him a ‘car’ … I’m not sure how […]
RichC | December 24, 2006
Short … and I mean short … ‘no sound clip’ of the new Volkswagen Tiguan mention in an early post. It was displayed at the LA Auto show last week. (the clip was actually a test clip in hopes of better YouTube quality — the encoding didn’t improve it. You can download higher quality test […]
RichC | December 22, 2006
Toting my Palm Treo 700p with its handy cellphone camera feature, I decided to stop over and see Greg Allen at the Southwest Landmark fuel terminal in Lebanon, Ohio. (click photos for larger) I have been bugging Greg about putting the biodiesel in his public pumps for a while … ever since he became my […]
RichC | December 21, 2006
Is Yves Rolly a modern day Icarus or perhaps Batman? Maybe not, but when I heard about this “winged man” and his jet powered strap-on wing, all I could think about were the dreams of man flying like birds. Yves Rolly has figured it out and built a set of powered folding wings to strap […]
RichC | December 20, 2006
I took a quick cellphone photo (Palm Treo 700p) showing the 12/20/2006 updated pricing at the biodiesel and E85 Ethanol Mt. Gilead Sunoco. The prices seem to be pretty stable, at least for biodiesel. The central Ohio station is located very convenient to exit 151 ramps on Interstate 71 between Mansfield and Columbus Ohio. Its […]
RichC | December 20, 2006
I finally pulled some 3 month old VW TDI “How-To” footage off the camera and encoded it last night before going to bed. I haven’t had a chance to put fresh eyes on it or even watch it through, so before I post it to the CinciTDI video section, perhaps a couple Volkswagen TDI oriented […]
RichC | December 19, 2006
Its about time for my 2003 Volkswagen Jetta TDI to receive her new timing belt. As I close in on 100,000 miles the recommended services is to replace not only the timing belt, but the serpentine belt, the idler rollers and the water pump. Thankfully the later models come from the factory with a long […]
RichC | December 18, 2006
Sloooow down … it hasn’t been announce just yet (1PM EST), but the rumors are swirling that today, Monday December 18th, Apple Computer might just announce a long anticipated combo phone and media player. I’m not sure what it will look like, but was surprised to see that Cisco/Linksys has a VOiP phone call the […]
RichC | December 18, 2006
As another day passes and a new day of searching begins, the nation waits for news from rescue efforts on Mt. Hood. Yesterday (Sunday), was the first clear day of searching since the wicked storms battered the Pacific Northwest, and one of the 3 missing climbers was found, unfortunately not alive, in a snow cave. […]
RichC | December 17, 2006
A “new beginning” … the translation sounds better than the Mel Gibson movie titled “Apocalypto.” My wife and I intended on going to see this movie last night, but unfortunately didn’t make it. (I had planned on a review here) 🙁 So in lieu of my review I’ll post part of a long interview that […]
RichC | December 16, 2006
In our local CinciTDI Volkswagen car club, this past week we had a discussion on ‘tire pressure monitoring.’ I’m not sure all of the answers were correct, but found it interesting that Pat Goss of Motorweek had a segment about it in this weeks program. Although I didn’t find the comments as complete as the […]
RichC | December 15, 2006
Attached below is a segment of a letter that a Steve Sinclair, a Palm senior product manager, wrote to TreoCentral in regard to a needed (and seemingly long awaited) update for the Treo 700p. I’ll link to a PDF copy of the full letter, but cut to the chase by posting the important stuff like: […]
RichC | December 15, 2006
I see a theme coming — maybe a ‘tech tip Friday? After posting the comment on how to save YouTube files yesterday, I received enough emails to suggest that at least a few readers liked what they read. One of the emails asked answer another question and I told him I would address it today. […]
RichC | December 14, 2006
I was asked if there was a way that someone could save videos from the popular video serving site YouTube and the answer is yes. About 6 months ago as I used a screen capture utilities like TechSmith’s Camtasia Studio (version 4 is the current release), but … recently I found that there are much […]
RichC | December 13, 2006
Someone sent me a video link of a nice looking yellow New Beetle ‘losing it’ around a curve. Thanks to the safety engineered into every Volkswagen, the driver was able to walk away with only embarrassment. Nevertheless, the cosmetic damage to the car looks to have dented, scraped or scratched about every surface.
RichC | December 13, 2006
Maybe I’m showing my age in referencing “feet” with the slang term “dogs.” (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004.) Where did that term come from anyway? Recently I’ve noticed that my favorite shoes (Rockports) are showing signs of wear. As I contemplate replacing them, I wanted to […]
RichC | December 12, 2006
With Ohio State ranked #1 and playing for the National Championships this year … and the Cincinnati Bengals handily beating the Oakland Raiders … football is on my mind. So, when I ran across this clip of a high school football game in Texas, I decided to post it below. The impressive running back is […]
RichC | December 12, 2006
According to Edmunds Insideline, the recent joint venture between Toyota and Isuzu could produce a diesel hybrid. Toyota, who recently announced that they would buy a 5.9 percent stake in Isuzu, believes that creating a diesel alternative to their gasoline hybrid has merit. Steven Curtis, the media and investor relations national manager for Toyota, sees […]
RichC | December 11, 2006
Last year Ralph Wirth (see previous post), of Wirth Advertising & Marketing, used his talent and equipment to dress up his Volkswagen Golf TDI before tailgating down at “the jungle.” With the excitement and enthusiasm here in Southwestern Ohio for the Cincinnati Bengals, the updated his graphics in support for the team is no doubt […]
RichC | December 10, 2006
Planned for a full write up on the 2007 Volkswagen Rabbit while linking to the Motorweek review, but to my disappointment the local VW dealer didn’t have any for me to look at. They did have a 2007 GTI … so I enjoyed the little rocket trip around the town. 🙂 I think I’ll have […]
RichC | December 9, 2006
Success! The space shuttle Discovery launched beautifully into the night sky after a Thursday night delay. This was the first launch prior at night since the Columbia disaster. There was wind earlier in the day that potentially could have delayed the launch for a second time, but the go signal was given and the seven […]
RichC | December 8, 2006
What does a biodiesel entrepreneur and Starbucks have in common? A retort on a newly printed Starbuck’s cup from Imperium Renewable’s (Seattle Biodiesel) CEO Martin Tobias. The optimistic statement mentions soybeans and biodiesel as something he sees helping to cure our “petroleum addiction.” Let me know if you see the cup when you pick up […]
RichC | December 8, 2006
I wanted to write about the launch of the Shuttle Discovery and STS-116, but weather has delayed the planned Thursday night (12/7/2006) launch until Saturday. The launch was declared scrubbed at 21:36. For the aging Discovery, this is the 33rd mission and 117th space shuttle flight. The STS-116 mission is scheduled for 12-days and the […]
RichC | December 7, 2006
Like many baby boomers, I am proud to have a World War II veteran in my family. Today we remember the reason the United States went to war back in 1941, not that there weren’t reasons to defend Europe earlier. On December 7th we were “brutally attacked” by the Empire of Japan in Pearl Harbor […]
RichC | December 7, 2006
Wow … not that long ago we were excited when efficiently advancement in solar cell technology hit 20 percent, now a Department of Energy funded research company has doubled that. According to the Alexander Karsar at the DOE, Boeing-Spectrolab achieved a world-record conversion efficiency of 40.7 percent, establishing a new milestone in sunlight-to-electricity performance. According […]
RichC | December 6, 2006
Not to be outdone by Mercedes, Volkswagen, Audi and Honda when it comes to 2008 ‘clean’ diesels here in US, BMW AG also plans to sell diesel cars in 2008 too, according to the Automotive News. Currently 63% of all the vehicles BMW sells in Europe are diesels so they are no stranger to the […]
RichC | December 5, 2006
It was an interesting day for Dr. Robert Gates nominated to replace Donald Rumsfeld as Defense Secretary, as he carefully handled questions from committee senators during today’s confirmation hearings. I found his candor surprising considering he was appointed by President Bush. His comments did seem middle of the road since when asked if “we were […]
RichC | December 4, 2006
Big news for VW diesel lovers … according to an article in Autoweek, Volkswagen plans to sell the new Tiguan small SUV with a 2.0-liter turbocharged diesel engine the US. The estimate is towards the end of next year and is said to be slated for all 50 states. With this small diesel SUV, Volkswagen […]
RichC | December 3, 2006
Aren’t all gasolines sold at American filling stations all the same? According to Dr. Fuel Good from Shell Oil Company — No. Contrary to what 70% of American motorist think, not all gasolines are equal when it comes to protecting the internal parts of your car’s gasoline engine. Pat Goss from Motorweek and his guest […]
RichC | December 2, 2006
My wife is busy pretending she is Mrs. Christmas and thinks I’m one of the elves — slave labor in decorating for Christmas and getting a tree if you ask me? I spotted this creative way to haul home a tree in a BMW! (and no its not me, but I found it worth a […]
RichC | December 1, 2006
Now that the Thanksgiving turkey has found its way to the waist line and Christmas cookies no doubt right are around the corner, its time for many Americans contemplate their propensity to over-eat … and probably make that worthless New Years weight-loss resolution too? Most know that regular exercise and better eating habits are the […]