RichC | May 29, 2008
My son graduates high school on Saturday so we are busy prepping for open house and family. The raccoon is gone, one “dead” smelly baby has been dug out of the insulation in the garage and another was treed last night by Tootsie (probably will try and reenter the house again? All in all I […]
RichC | May 28, 2008
Earthrace, an attempt to round the world in record time on biodiesel fuel, is halfway across the Pacific Ocean and is now 700 or so miles west of Majuro in the Marshall Islands. They arrived on one engine and departed 4 hours later back on two. After leaving San Diego the crew and ‘unique’ boat […]
RichC | May 27, 2008
Another year … and another family has figured out how to get into our house — an animal family that is. We’ve had birds in the attic and raccoons once before, but this guy has been a bit more challenging to trap. I’ve moved my live trap in different places around the roof line (where […]
RichC | May 26, 2008
Although I’m not rewriting my Memorial Day post (frustrated that it has been lost after I posted Sunday night — grrr), I will include the 11 minute clip from CBS telling the history of Arlington Memorial Cemetery. On Monday, President Bush paid tribute to America’s service personnel who died in service to their country at […]
RichC | May 24, 2008
The son of the legendary Evil Knievel, age 46 successfully jumped 200 feet on his Honda motorcycle, but didn’t break his own record of 228 feet. If he had jumped 199 feet, he might have landed dangerously on the safety deck and bounced off the bike according to reporters at the event. About 40,000 spectators […]
RichC | May 23, 2008
Human innovation never ceases to amaze me …
RichC | May 23, 2008
This past weekend my son and I went to freshman orientation at the University of Akron in preparation for his fall semester. The The full day started at 7:45 and ended at 4:30, but the time was well spent in that he’s registered for fall classes and nearly ready to start … and high school […]
RichC | May 22, 2008
The price of oil hit a record high above $135 a barrel this Thursday morning which is more than twice what it cost a year ago. According to press reports, latest surge was driven by data showing that supplies of crude in the US had fallen by 5.4 million barrels. “US light, sweet crude for […]
RichC | May 21, 2008
The U.S. Department of Energy‘s FuelEconomy website has updated numbers posted for the ‘soon to be released’ (summer 2008) Volkswagen Jetta and Sportswagen TDI clean diesels. The new fuel use numbers show miles per gallon economy for the six-speed manual version at 30 city, 41 highway and at 34 combined. The DSG automatic transmission are […]
RichC | May 21, 2008
Its not working all that well for me just yet, but I like the simplicity of the “mashing” with Twitter and FuelFrog. Three guys who call themselves SecondPixel, David Rasch, Brandon Milford and Alan Cox founded the company to create, yet powerful web applications. Fuelfrog is one which helps track and graph fuel usage with […]
RichC | May 20, 2008
In a Turin, Italy press conference, Volkswagen’s powertrain research director, Wolfgang Steiger, stated that “roughly 30% of VW’s total U.S. sales will likely be derived from its diesel models by 2018.” Compared to its prior 15% percent of vehicles and near monopoly on affordable diesel cars, that percentage will nearly double their sales in ten […]
RichC | May 19, 2008
This past weekend was full of May oriented ‘goings-on.’ From attending a couple important graduation open houses to working at getting our yard in order for my son’s high school graduation open house, to the culmination of the best rugby season we’ve had. It was a perfect time to have been a senior as Taylor‘s […]
RichC | May 18, 2008
Update on Earthrace since they made short stops in Panama, Mexico and San Diego for fuel. They have been running well with the experienced crew who are remaining alert and handling several smallish issues well. The second round the world record attempt is well ahead of schedule. The biggest problem since crossing the Atlantic has […]
RichC | May 17, 2008
The fuel price discussions continue as I made small talk with clients throughout the week; Friday was no exception. Petroleum traded at an all time high to almost $127 per barrel in the morning on strong demand and there is very little evidence that we’ll see an additional supply come online this summer … or […]
RichC | May 16, 2008
As someone who started with a Palm Pilot many years ago and who has been wondering what will replace my business oriented Palm Treo, I am disappointed at seeing the new Palm Treo 800w (at least displayed side by side with the new Blackberry Bold). I can’t imagine many new smartphone shoppers will select this […]
RichC | May 16, 2008
According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, U.S. refineries are trying to maximize output of the “more-profitable” diesel fuel even as the summer driving season kicks off. The article mentions that the “global hunger for diesel, coupled with tight refining capacity” offers better profits than gasoline. Last week diesel prices were up […]
RichC | May 14, 2008
One of the advantages of being on the road for business during the week is that I get a chance to see my daughter. Today was no exception … and the highlight was that it was her Birthday! She has been studying for a Neurology test tomorrow and brought along a stack of index cards […]
RichC | May 13, 2008
How far will you go?
RichC | May 13, 2008
Search technology is improving daily and its a good thing considering the amount of information expanding on the web. A company called Powerset has recently launched their their first product which improves Wikipedia searching. Current search uses keywords to return results, but this isn’t always the easiest way to narrow and find answers. What Powerset […]
RichC | May 12, 2008
Palm better get their act together with a new high end Treo because Research In Motion introduced their new Blackberry Bold today. They seem to be catching up with Apple’s iPhone although some say Apple is prepping for the gen-2 iPhone … still they suffer from not having a dedicated tactual keyboard. There might still […]
RichC | May 12, 2008
Water cooler conversations around the country have been discussing fuel prices and what they (and our nation) can do to get a handle on the rapid change in fuel costs. Experts suggest that the reason for the run up have been four fold: a) increased worldwide demand, b) flat production of new crude and refined […]
RichC | May 12, 2008
In a recent PBS Motorweek program, a selection of clean and efficient vehicles were compared to each other. They certainly were not equal for usability or price, but the comparison offered potential buyers insight on how the different ‘green’ technologies and most common fueling options compared to each other. The smaller Honda Civics were ideal […]
RichC | May 11, 2008
This might seem odd, but a new Royal Star Magnolia (Stellata Magnolia) is a gift that made my wife happy on Mother’s Day — photo and post from Palm Treo. (EDIT: tweaked post Sunday afternoon) Happy Mother’s Day Brenda … and to all mothers reading this. (in fact I think I’ll give ‘my’ mother a […]
RichC | May 10, 2008
Here’s an interesting search engine designed for images from TinEye.com. The unique search actually searches by “pixel” and not words or keyword and will find similar photos and graphical files located on other website on the Internet. Although the site is currently no where close to archiving the billions of images on webpages, it does […]
RichC | May 9, 2008
We’ve been waiting for our Economic Stimulus Check to arrive and “plunk” in was electronically transferred into our checking account May 9, 2008. So the next step is to be patriotic and “simulate” the American economy. My wife and I have discussed this and are in agreement that we will replace our kitchen dishwasher … […]
RichC | May 7, 2008
The Earthrace crew is almost to the Panama as of the evening of May 7th (MAP) after a bad fuel stop in Puerto Rico. The ship carrying the biodiesel fuel for Earthrace had mechanical problems and was able to make it to port. The talented groundcrew scrambled to find a new source of biodiesel on […]
RichC | May 6, 2008
Although I suspect Senator McCain might be persuaded to pick a more established Republican running mate, I’ve been monitoring the ‘chatter’ and am starting to think positively about Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. With Jindal, McCain would bring a generation of new blood into the campaign and be able to win over the Ronald Reagan voters […]
RichC | May 6, 2008
Wow … almost 60 kids tonight! It was a nice night for the Young Life gang as they were finally able to have part of their evening meeting outside. The college age leaders do a good job of corralling such a high energy group. The most enjoyable part for me is hearing them all sing […]
RichC | May 5, 2008
Earthrace has crossed the Atlantic (May 5) and has had a great run (see previous posts). They are 800+ nautical miles ahead of record time although they spent several days bashing through seas (literally through the waves). Yesterday the seas moderated and were following which made for more comfortable travel. Perhaps the latest pains have […]
RichC | May 5, 2008
Back in 2006 I had a chance to test drive an all-electric “high performance” 3 wheel vehicle manufactured by Myers Motors in Tallmadge Ohio. I drove it on the public roads without a special endorsement, but the Cleveland Plain Dealer has reported that the Ohio DMV currently has a problem licensing them for Ohio road […]
RichC | May 4, 2008
Its been a busy weekend as my son Taylor‘s Lakota East High School prom was Saturday night at the Cincinnati Convention Center, followed by early morning after prom back at the high school. (I’m tired and I didn’t even chaperon!) During an early morning conversation with the gang, who departed from our house by a […]
RichC | May 3, 2008
Microsoft released a letter from Chief Executive Steve Ballmer on Saturday that he sent to Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang saying that Microsoft was willing to raise its offer to $33 a share for Yahoo, but Yahoo demanded at least $4 per share more; $37/share. (the Monday share price for Yahoo will be interesting) “Despite our […]
RichC | May 2, 2008
I’ve been waiting to watch the movie Charlie Wilson’s War based on the true story of Congressman Charlie Wilson and his campaign to help defeat the USSR in Afghanistan, and although it was an excellent history lesson, the movie offered little to keep ones focus. (my wife fell asleep) That said, its offers a satirical […]
RichC | May 1, 2008
I’ll first say that I’m not voting for Senator Clinton IF she is the Democratic candidate, but I found her answers and straight talk with Bill O’Reilly very refreshing. Her ability to handle a tough interview and candid answers are something to respect. Surprisingly, I found myself thinking, “Hmm, I can see her as our […]