RichC | June 29, 2007
People must be out of their minds lining up at the AT&T/Cingular stores to be the first to spend $700 for the an Apple iPhone? What mania … it sounds sort of “cabbage patch” crazy to me? 😀 Since I’m attracted to technology gadgets, I understand the want of the latest and greatest, but I’m […]
RichC | June 27, 2007
I’m getting ahead of myself by mentioning a book that I haven’t finished reading yet, but “Lone Survivor” is perhaps the best read of the year. The incredible true account of the author Marcus Luttrell helps one appreciate what incredible men serve in the United States special forces — particularly those included in Operation Redwing. […]
RichC | June 26, 2007
No big deal … but this weekend’s graduation trip took me to western New York in my little diesel Volkswagen and my TDI turned the odometer over to the sixth digit … 100,000 miles. As far as modern cars go, the 2003 Volkswagen Jetta TDI has treated me very well. It has operated pretty much […]
RichC | June 25, 2007
We had an enjoyable trip to western New York (my wife’s home) to attend my niece’s graduation from Maple Grove High School in Bemus Point. The weather and drive was beautiful and the time with our family too short. The small rural high school graduation (79 students) did offer an interesting commencement speaker for such […]
RichC | June 24, 2007
I’m attaching a test from a “cellphone camera to Scanr.com FREE conversion service.” The services receives an email attachment (ie. document, whiteboard image, etc) from your cellphone and converts it to a scanned image or PDF document. It might be nice for spies wanted to use their cellphone to bring home classified documents — or […]
RichC | June 23, 2007
I’m not overly addicted to Internet based radio that plays music (although I’ve mentioned Pandora here), I’m concerned that regulation requiring webcasters pay much higher royalties based on the number of listeners they have might make it through congress. I’m a bit fuzzy on the details, but suspect that most U.S. based Internet radio companies […]
RichC | June 22, 2007
Perhaps it is because I’m in northeastern Ohio this week … but one can’t avoid hearing and talking about missing pregnant mother Jessie Davis. As the news about this missing person has spread nationally (USAToday), the search locally continues with thousands of volunteers another day in the Stark County area. From electronic billboards along the […]
RichC | June 21, 2007
I often tune into the CNBC financial programs, particularly the opening and closing bell hours to monitor the daily happenings in the financial markets. Occasionally the host allows and encourages a guest the freedom to mention stocks … a policy that I find questionable especially when its a smaller company during trading hours. (I hope […]
RichC | June 20, 2007
Popular Mechanics previewed the Volkswagen TDI ‘clean diesel’ which should begin appearing in 2008. VW has been without a diesel this year and will not have one as they begin to introduce 2008 models this fall. Thankfully for those laying in wait, the Jetta sedan and Jetta Sportwagen TDI should be worth the wait.
RichC | June 20, 2007
Its hard to tell what the future will hold, but from the sound of things (CNBC intro below), there are is a significant number in America not preparing properly for retirement. No … I’m not talking about only the unemployed and ‘working poor’ … I’m talking about people living paycheck to paycheck picking up their […]
RichC | June 19, 2007
Mark July 6 on your schedule to TIVO, DVR or in person TV watching … the ‘Jericho Nuts‘ have put the CBS program back on the air! This is good news since besides the lousy cable news shows, Jericho is/was one of only two TV show my wife and I watched or Tivo-ed. (the other […]
RichC | June 19, 2007
My wife has admired the Volkswagen EOS ‘retractable hardtop’ convertible ever since it appeared in 2006. She is attracted to it first because it is a convertible, second because its not a soft-top convertible and third because it drives like a sporty VW (we did test drive an EOS with the DSG and turbo 2.0L, […]
RichC | June 18, 2007
Since I’m in town, I decided to pinch pennies and fill up the Honda Pilot before the 1:30 PM price increase; I was notified on my cellphone by the Meijer Gas Price Text Alert service. (also used four $1 off coupons accumulated by grocery shopping at Meijers) I’m finding the ‘warnings’ a help and a […]
RichC | June 17, 2007
First let me wish all the dads a Happy Father’s Day. Let’s just hope that all dads get the special gift I did from their pets. My pooch, Tootsie, decided to bring me another unique specie. She has brought home and rolled in most of the normal dead animals: rabbits, dead cats, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, […]
RichC | June 16, 2007
Volkswagen’s Driver Magazine published a listing of ‘authorized’ VW Club gatherings for the summer of 2007 for those interested in all things VW. More information on becoming an ‘authorized’ VW Club can be found on the VW website. (CinciTDI and the TDIClub are not ‘authorized club.’ The 2007 TDIFest will be in Montreal, Canada … […]
RichC | June 15, 2007
As a amateur photographer and someone who enjoys improving technology, a new development coming from Eastman Kodak could provide a huge leap forward for low light photography (article link). Imagine being able to take clear and sharp photos without having to resort to flash units? Although I’d love to have it on my ‘big lens’ […]
RichC | June 14, 2007
I took a quick couple cellphone photos of a damaged 2000 Volkswagen TDI 5 speed at Mason Auto Sales. (used car lot) It doesn’t look all that bad, has 145,000 miles and might make someone a good college car. Great for biodiesel and its hard to beat 45+ mpg! (full post over at CinciTDI’s classified […]
RichC | June 13, 2007
Quick post to update renewable fuels pricing as high nationwide fuel prices inch back down from their highs. I paid $2.84/gallon for B-20 biodiesel; petroleum diesel at the truckstop across Interstate 71 was at $2.68. Unleaded regular was selling under $3.00/gallon at most stations from Cincinnati to Cleveland, Ohio this week.
RichC | June 13, 2007
Imagine every cell phone in the United States with built in environmental threat detectors (radiation, chemical, etc) combined with GPS and the ability to send this data to the US Department of Homeland Security. According to the two companies (Gentag, Inc. and eV PRODUCTS) working on this technology, cell phone-detector system could save millions of […]
RichC | June 12, 2007
Although the Palm OS Slingplayer on my Treo 700p has been near flawless, SlingMedia has dutifully fixed a couple things and offered users a new 30 day free trial called SlingPlayer Mobile for Palm OS BETA2. (available as of last night) I installed it directly to my PDA over the Sprint network on the Treo’s […]
RichC | June 11, 2007
In 2008 all new vehicle sold in the U.S. will get updated, but familiar, labels on their windows. The method finalized in December of 2006 updates testing procedures and is long overdue. For those comparing 2007 and 2008 models the changes will cause a bit of confusion since for many vehicles the window numbers will […]
RichC | June 10, 2007
Well that actual word to finish this lyric is “beautiful,” but I either ran out of room or didn’t want to offend anyone. Nevertheless it was too nice to be pecking at the computer and instead I spent the weekend outside. I did a little (in the ‘full meaning of the word’) work in the […]
RichC | June 9, 2007
For those of you dealing with email spam, you know what a challenge it is to keep it under control. Thankfully there are many excellent ‘add ons’ to email clients or web based email services to help keep this under control. (ie. Google’s web-based GMAIL does a pretty good job) If you have a blog, […]
RichC | June 8, 2007
Launch time for NASA’s Space Shuttle ‘Atlantis’ STS-117 is scheduled for 7:38 p.m. EDT tonight (Friday). I’m taking a few minutes while closing out my day to listen to NASA live on the web and am amazed at what one can learn by listening to the conversations and commentary. At 4:20 this afternoon the astronauts […]
RichC | June 7, 2007
First … “Happy Birthday Nora” … a regular reader of my daily ramblings … and wonderful friend to my daughter. (perhaps I’m a day late, but wrote it late on June 7th.) Second, the Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2007 that Nora is participating in as part of her engineering project at Santa Clara University […]
RichC | June 6, 2007
It’s been an interesting 36 hours after a year of waiting for the Palm Treo 700p Version 1.10-SPNT maintenance release. The MR was announced by Palm earlier this year and followed on the heals of the 700p’s successor, the Treo 755p … but due to installation issues has been temporarily suspended. Thankfully update went fine […]
RichC | June 5, 2007
I enjoy the “JibJab” animated humor, and have since the political video clips a few years ago. I’ve been critical of current ‘news’ programming (although still watch them) detailing the every move of celebrities … dead and alive … I thought this one was apropos. Enjoy. Animation Videos at JibJab | Hilarious Stuff at JibJab […]
RichC | June 4, 2007
As Terry Pluto for the Akron Beacon puts it, “The NBA has a new king!” LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers is the new face of the NBA, according to Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers. The Cavaliers beat the Detroit Pistons in game six on Saturday night to head into the NBA Finals to […]
RichC | June 3, 2007
Storms moved through our area on Sunday afternoon bringing more than an inch of rain and knocking out power. The lightning was significant around our house and according to the local news sent firefighters to three location in Butler county. After a couple close calls we heard the firetrucks behind our property and realized that […]
RichC | June 2, 2007
I’ve suffered from Ménière’s Disease for nearly a decade now, and after a shunt surgically implanted in my middle ear to reduce pressure (NASA astronaut Alan Shepard had this surgery before his moon landing), I have been free from the diziness and vertigo induced nausea. Unfortunately I suffered hearing loss in my right ear and […]
RichC | June 1, 2007
In Google’s continuing growth, they are acquiring the photo sharing company call Panoramio. The acquisition makes perfect sense as it is a content rich way to enhance Google Earth and Google Maps. Panoramio members contribute photos which help highlight locations while using maps or the virtual globe and is an impressive way for Google to […]