RichC | April 30, 2008
The Federal reserve is expected to make a 1/4 point move lower today … many believe this will be the last and that this indication will be mentions. Anything but an expected move will certainly make markets swing wildly so it could be time to hold on. Inflation is a growing problem as we try […]
RichC | April 30, 2008
What’s better than a home library of original EAA (Experimental Aviation Association) newsletters and magazines for checking out past articles and tidbits for homebuilders? All the past issues available online with a browse and search feature. Wow! Now that’s a great way to put technology to use and a really nice bonus for EAA members […]
RichC | April 29, 2008
Earthrace, the biodiesel powered circumnavigating spacecraft speedboat is off and running ahead of world record time as they beginning their second attempt around the world. The unique boat left Spain and is crossing the Atlantic Ocean traveling on “beautiful and flat” seas at 24 knots. This is pretty good time for a fully fueled boat […]
RichC | April 28, 2008
My back is sore and my muscles ach as this past weekend was spent working in the yard … well really in just part of the yard. I’ve been reworking the landscaping as the ‘new porch’ is slowly coming together — this past weekend was the small pond and opening up the pool. (too many […]
RichC | April 27, 2008
I’ve been focused on multiple home repair and improvement projects this spring and am always looking for a quick way to make a repair and keep the mess to a minimum. I generally use the “empty box” under the repair technique when cutting or drilling drywall, but Dean Johnson from PBS’s Hometime suggested a sheet […]
RichC | April 25, 2008
A shocking day for those who love the oceans and beaches along the U.S. coasts as the first fatal shark attack in 3 years happened in an area rarely seeing sharks. Dave Martin, a 66 year old tri-athlete training veterinarian from San Diego, was swimming with a group of 9 at 7:30 AM about 150 […]
RichC | April 25, 2008
Who is to blame … Costco, Sam’sClub/Walmart, the media or just crazy Americans thinking they’ll be left ‘rice-less.’ (as if rice is a daily necessity for most American?) While their may be a worldwide concern that the primary source of nutrition for many is in short supply, that is not true in the United States. […]
RichC | April 24, 2008
First … Volkswagen Group of America announced that they would be shortening their bumper to bumper warranty to 3 years or 36,000 miles for all 2009 models. 🙁 Second … they will be offering free maintenance for VW models for three years or 36,000 miles. 🙂 Third … the much ballyhooed and timely Golf TDI […]
RichC | April 23, 2008
Groan … with a bunch more miles to drive yet this week, gasoline made the usual Tuesday move up again. This time it went about 25 cents at most retail stations in Ohio — on average about $3.59/gallon for unleaded regular gasoline after the move. No doubt price increases have something to do with U.S. […]
RichC | April 22, 2008
Its interesting to see what Google comes up with for their logo designs … today’s is for Earth Day, but it looks more like an ad for the History Channel’s “Life after People” documentary. How the First Earth Day Came About By Senator Gaylord Nelson, Founder of Earth Day What was the purpose of Earth […]
RichC | April 21, 2008
The USAF officially retires the F-117 Nighthawk on April 22, 2008 with the final 4 planes making their last flights. The stealth fighter began its service in 1981 as a first of its kind aircraft that could eliminate several targets on one mission. It night flying stealthiness proved its worth in operation “Just Cause” in […]
RichC | April 20, 2008
Adobe has introduced their new online photo editing and sharing tool called Adobe Photoshop Express. Its is not even close to the full version of Photoshop, but it is not a bad first attempt at a online photo site with pretty good editing control. I’ve used Preloadr for Flickr photos a few times and appreciate […]
RichC | April 18, 2008
Although you won’t find me supporting Senator John Edwards, he made a comedy appearance last night on the Colbert Report — very funny. Besides John Edwards (in his segment “Ed Words”), Senator Hillary Clinton made an in person visits along with Barrack Obama by video screen.
RichC | April 18, 2008
Google Inc. (GOOG) surprised many last night as they release better than expected earning. In pre-market trading, GOOG is up over 18% … that’s $84/ share to over $530. This kind of over night move just added $2.07 Billion dollars of wealth to co-founder Larry Page and $2.03 Billion to Sergey Brin‘s portfolio.
RichC | April 17, 2008
Its been a while since watching yachting on television, but I enjoyed ESPN2’s coverage of the Acura Miami Grand Prix. If you like sailboat racing, set your TIVO and ‘vote’ for more! See additional footage at Jobson Sailing.
RichC | April 16, 2008
As someone who holds entirely too many share of Intel (INTC), I’ve been dreading the anticipated news of a bad quarter from Intel. They at least should offset the weak quarter with a positive outlook. Wednesday pre-open electronic trading has INTC at 22.45 Up 1.54 (7.36%) as of 7:52AM ET. Intel Corp. posted a 12% […]
RichC | April 15, 2008
The Rocket Racing League plans to exhibit their rocket powered racing planes for the first time at EAA Airventure this summer on August 1st and 2nd in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Granger Whitelaw, a co-founder and the CEO of Rocket Racing League, indicated that they still need to firm up sponsorships and media deals before expanding the […]
RichC | April 14, 2008
According to a story in the Wall Street Journal, Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. may unveil their long-delayed merger announcement on Tuesday. As airlines struggle with high fuel prices and a softening economy, they are all looking for ways to control costs and salvage markets. If the merger goes through, it would […]
RichC | April 14, 2008
A couple months ago I posted “Would you like a lemon with your water?” and have personally decided that it is something I can do without. Since my daughter, who is in medical school, was home this past week on spring break, the “Lemon story” came up when we were out to eat.We had a […]
RichC | April 13, 2008
I’ve posted a few times before about different renewable oil crops used produce biofuels and have concluded that the most promising is algae grown to product biodiesel. (here’s an excellent PDF document) The desert cement pond approach has been my thinking all along, although several innovative companies are working on even better ideas. The efficiency […]
RichC | April 13, 2008
IndUS Aviation has flown a two-stroke diesel Thorpedo DP concept airplane from Dallas to Lakeland, Florida for Sun ‘n Fun. This new diesel powered light sport aircraft (LSA) has a unique a three-cylinder, liquid cooled, turbocharged diesel engine installed in an inverted mount. The Thorpedo DP will be the first diesel LSA and is said […]
RichC | April 12, 2008
I noticed that the free wifi spot that I occasionally frequent over lunch is restricting connect times to 30 minutes. It is understandable, but will probably for me to change my lunch stop (personally speaking 60 minutes would have been more appropriate). Interestingly a friend of mine who regularly connects at Panera Bread has come […]
RichC | April 11, 2008
I’m on a text messaging roll … three posts in a row … but this one is a good one — très cool. Amazon.com launched a new service this week which allows looking up pricing from their site from your text messaging enabled cell phone — TextBuyIt. Picture this … you head into you local […]
RichC | April 11, 2008
In keeping with the text messaging theme, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) by 2010 is preparing a nationwide text messaging alert system that will be used for three primary purposes. First it would be a message from the President of the United States to warn of a terrorist attack or natural disaster. The second would […]
RichC | April 10, 2008
Even though sending unsolicited commercial text messages on cell phones is illegal, SMS spam is increasingly finding its way to your cell phone. I have been ignoring the occasional beep during the day and just delete them as is so common with computer based email. Unfortunately the problem is growing just as they did on […]
RichC | April 9, 2008
Besides photo sharing, Flickr now offers ‘pro’ users (paying) the ability to upload short video clips limited to 90 seconds. While this limit is hardly competitive to other video sites, it does offer a place to offload those short cellphone video clips. In a quick test, I uploaded a one minute clip of my son’s […]
RichC | April 9, 2008
Like clockwork, the gas station in our my area (Cincinnati, OH) moved the gas price up in concert again. The $3.13 per gallon that “I should have filled up with” on Monday was back up to $3.35 by Tuesday afternoon. It will probably go even higher according to the U.S. Government Energy Department. Estimates suggest […]
RichC | April 8, 2008
In a test to see if the Palm Treo photo to blog still works, I’ll post the last addition to the new porch … a redwood surround fit for the hot tub. So far it looks nice but we will need to come up with a finish for redwood. Any expert suggestions? EDIT: Didn’t post […]
RichC | April 7, 2008
I was sad to hear of the passing of Charlton Heston (84) this past weekend, but the last few years of his life did bring to light (as it did with President Reagan) the struggle nearly 5 million Americans face — Alzheimer’s Disease. Heston, due to his notoriety, drew attention to the disease (2002 article) […]
RichC | April 6, 2008
Posting a day late, but I told my son I would get photos of his Sunday afternoon Rugby match posted over lunch today. What a beautiful weekend in Cincinnati … and a great facility at Moeller High School! (I was told it was only the second game on their new turf) Besides the ‘rug burns,’ […]
RichC | April 5, 2008
Over the next few years, there will be an increase in ‘light’ hybrid vehicles similar to the Saturn Vue Green Line Hybrid, especially from General Motors (see Chevrolet Fuel Solutions). From what is in the press, GM in particular intends on meeting new economy standards with smaller engines and a small electric motor and battery. […]
RichC | April 4, 2008
There is an interesting article in MSNBC’s online Environment section where Boeing’s experimental aircraft researchers have flown a manned hydrogen fuel cell powered airplane. According to the article, Boeing Chief Technology Officer John Tracy told reporters that the fuel cell breakthrough is “full of promises for a greener future. Boeing recognizes that pollution represents a […]
RichC | April 3, 2008
Those of us using Palm Treos (and Centros) are curious as to what’s next in the Treo lineup … and Andrew from the Treonauts blog posted an interesting illustration. He speculates that there is a significant Apple influence at Palm and points to the latest hires from that innovative company. I’m not sure what this […]
RichC | April 2, 2008
The radical looking biodiesel powered circumnavigating boat has delayed their start in going for a record run around the world by two week (see last years blog entries). The re-start was to take place at the end of last month, but according to Captain Pete Bethune the biodiesel supply planned for their stop in Portugal […]
RichC | April 2, 2008
As the online social networking trend continues to grow, there seems to be a site for every interest. If you enjoy trading and investing UpDown.com has a smooth running site that might even pay you for your participation. First, if your portfolio beats the S&P 500, you’ll earn monthy monetary rewards. Second, if you are […]
RichC | April 1, 2008
Google Docs , the online Microsoft Office or Open Office substitute, is systematically rolling out the offline component for documents. The popular Internet based ‘free’ collaborating software and document storage solution has now answering the problem of what to do when traveling away from an Internet connection … use Google Docs Offline. To use Google […]