Just a little “blue screen of death” Halloween humor

| October 31, 2008

Yes … I run Vista on my notebook, and after a couple years I still think I should have opted to stay with XP or to have switched a Macbook Pro. Those in the same boat have probably recognized the above “blue screen of death” — although to be fair, its pretty much a thing […]

Sunny skies and a leftover October snow

| October 31, 2008

While traveling in the northern part of Ohio this week I snapped a photo of some leftover October snow. It seems a bit early to be seeing the white stuff in my part of the world, but significantly better than having to drive through it. Actually the weather was crisp and clear … clear enough […]

UPS moves ahead with diesel-hydraulic technology

| October 30, 2008

Although its going to be a while before this technology takes off, I suspect that the hydraulic hybrid will be one of the best options for heavier vehicles. The advantage of using a mechanical means of boosting a smaller engine when starting and accelerating offers significant advantages over battery and electric motors and could be […]

October: A month for financial mayhelm, 2008 is no exception

| October 29, 2008

As with a number of U.S. financial disasters, October is recognized on Wall Street  as a trying month. This year is no exception although the signals were pretty clear well before October. While taking a look the financial markets this Wednesday afternoon, the Federal Reserves did the expected in cutting the short-term interest rate by […]

Kent Displays: New thin ePaper and eGo technology

| October 29, 2008

There’s interesting news in the liquid crystal display (LCD) technology world coming out of Kent, Ohio (the city where LCD was founded). Cleveland station WKYC TV reported on a couple new products by a Kent Displays, a companly that is developing a new thinner “ePaper” and a LCD “skin” called “eGo.” The “eGo” technology can […]

A free copy of CrossOver for your Mac

| October 28, 2008

If you love using a Mac (or Linux machine), but need that occasional windows program, today is your lucky day. Head over to the ‘minimized’ CodeWeavers site and download a copy of CrossOver the open source software that lets you run a Windows program without the need to purchase a Microsoft Windows OS license. It […]

Volkswagen exceeds Exxon in market value

| October 28, 2008

According to Bloomberg.com,  Volkswagen AG became the world’s biggest company by market value after Porsche SE announced plans to raise its stake in the German carmaker on Tuesday morning on an unusually short selling sitiuation. Volkswagen share price was up 55 percent  on this information in Frankfurt trading. The Germany-based Volkswagen has risen more than […]

Gasoline prices continue to drop

| October 26, 2008

Although I didn’t fill up today, gasoline prices remain surprisingly low giving strapped consumers at least a little breathing room from the high fuel prices just a few weeks earlier. Let’s hope some of the added cash back in consumers wallets helps to stimulate the economy.

Save $50 on a Kindle at Amazon

| October 25, 2008

I’m not a big fan of Oprah Winfrey, especially after  her endorsement of Barak Obama ;-), but I wouldn’t mind having a Kindle in order to pack a few books along with me when traveling.  Amazon.com is offering $50 off of the Kindle’s $359 price tag by simply entering the code OPRAHWINFREY at checkout through […]

Another trying day for investors

| October 24, 2008

Wall Street continues to frighten investors, although today could have been even worse considering the 10% drop in Japan’s markets on Friday and the continued fear that we are heading into a worldwide depression. No longer are we tossing the word “recession” around, but now I’m regularly hearing “depression.” Perhaps this is a sign that […]

Is the “media” tougher on Biden or Palin?

| October 24, 2008

Several of my “left leaning” friends continue to tell me that there is no such thing as “media bias” when it comes to politics. I seem to run into a brick wall when attempting to point it out that the vast majority of the mainstream media tends to report against conservative positions and toward those […]

Gasoline-Diesel price difference well over $1.00/gal

| October 22, 2008

Although my wallet has appreciated the significantly lower gasoline prices, the price difference between diesel and gas is being noticed. After my last few fill-ups of my “gasoline” Honda Pilot, I have been breathing a sigh of relieve since they have been $2.35, $2.37 and $2.39, at least in the Cincinnati Ohio area. (although I […]

Interesting surf fishing techniques

| October 21, 2008

Australians always seem to do things a bit different, especially when it comes to surf fishing — here’s a video showing them paddling the bait out to Great White Sharks on a surf board in Boat Harbour. Although I enjoy swimming and don’t usually hesitate to paddle around on a surf board, I’m not sure […]

Clean diesels and the AdBlue headache

| October 20, 2008

Although I’m a big fan of the new ‘clean diesels’ being produced by several companies, I’ve never like the idea that in order to meet emission standards that ‘some’ diesels require an AdBlue urea system. Basically the $4/gallon liquid is stored in a small tank and is slowly injected into the exhaust stream where it […]

Just a nice weekend to be outside

| October 19, 2008

It’s been a very nice sunny weekend here in Southwestern Ohio and the cool temperatures is making it nice to work outside. I’ve been cutting up a few trees while my wife ‘shamefully’ burning is adding to the global warming trend. 🙄 The enjoyable muscle aches and pains remind me of the years starting out […]

Gov. Sarah Palin in West Chester Ohio

| October 17, 2008

Although the polls and news are not positive for McCain/Palin in many parts of the country, in the area north of Cincinnati Ohio, they are a very popular pair. So when Gov. Sarah Palin stopped in West Chester Ohio across from the local Lakota West High School, she had a great crowd — about 15,000. […]

Another CNN face moves to Fox News

| October 17, 2008

Shocking … but then I suspect Glenn is a better fit at Fox than at CNN? 😆 Info from MediaBistro blog: It’s official. Glenn Beck is bringing his TV program to Fox News Channel in the Spring of 2009. The program currently airs at 7pmET and 9pmET on Headline News and will occupy the 5pmET […]

Daniel Tammet runs the numbers on McCain

| October 16, 2008

For those of you familiar with the book “Born on a Blue Day” by Daniel Tammet, you’ll enjoy his blog post on John McCain’s age. As a ‘numbers guy,’ he takes a look at both actuarial tables of a 72 year old man in the U.S., the McCain family history and lifespan of past U.S. […]

Wall Street sellers send stocks tumbling again

| October 15, 2008

Long term investors and all who are saving for college or retirement through stocks or mutual funds are suffering yet again as the financial markets continue to slide. After a huge move up Monday, the trading on Wall Street headed down again, this time on gloomy economic warning from the U.S. Federal Reserve. After a […]

Meghan McCain talks with Neil Cavuto

| October 15, 2008

I monitor the RSS feed for Meghan McCain’s blog (McCainBlogette.com) and have been looking forward to reviewing her new children’s book about her father since it was published a few weeks ago. Although I haven’t picked the book up yet, I have read a few reviews on it. Below I’ll include an interview Meghan had […]

ACORN being sued in neighboring county

| October 14, 2008

I wonder just how many lawsuits we’ll see popping up around the nation in the coming month? ACORN sued on behalf of Warren County voters “The right to cast a vote that is not diluted by fraudulent votes is a fundamental individual right,” Buckeye Institute President David Hansen said. “ACORN appears to be recklessly disregarding […]

Markets shift gears and DJIA rebounds 936

| October 13, 2008

The traders on Wall Street had a busy day today as they put a few dollars back to work after the huge selling last week. The record day was the biggest single day more for the stock market in history, or at least since the Great Depression. The Dow Jones Industrials (3 day chart above) […]

Kids have been home for the weekend

| October 12, 2008

It’s nice to have the kids home from college this weekend for my son to be able to return to his high school for the homecoming game and dance with is girlfriend (a high school senior). They had a great time at the dance and Lakota East even won their Friday night game. (it has […]

Political mud slinging is getting more intense

| October 11, 2008

As the political campaigns near November, we’re starting to see more from each campaign attempting to discredit the other. Political action committees and independents from Hollywood to news organization are getting in the act to take swipes at either McCain, Palin, Obama or Biden. It is particularly noticeable with the Gov. Palin “troopergate” investigations (smears) […]

Last weekend’s visit to Letchworth State Park, NY

| October 10, 2008

After reflecting on the doom and gloom of our economy and state of most investors, I thought I would go back a few days to a nice autumn weekend in western New York. We enjoyed pleasant weather and time with my mother and father-in-law at Letchworth State Park. If you’re looking for a great weekend […]

DJIA down 678.91 — third largest point drop

| October 9, 2008

Dow 8,579.19 -678.91 (-7.33%) | Nasdaq 1,645.12 -95.21 (-5.47%) | S&P 500 909.92 -75.02 (-7.62%) No buyers on Wall Street — the collapse continues to drive stock prices lower and cut even deeper into ordinary Joe and Jane’s retirement and college savings. Not only has today’s drop put the DJIA to extremely low levels, it […]

U.S. Nation Debt Clock running out of digits

| October 9, 2008

The National Debt Clock in New York City has run out of numbers and as a temporary fix has replaced the “dollar sign” with a digit to move past the $9 trillion and to $10 trillion. The sign was put up years ago by a real estate developer when the U.S. national debt was approaching […]

Global coordination by central banks around the world

| October 8, 2008

In an attempt to get money/credit flowing around the world, six central banks in coordination moved to cut interest rates on Wednesday. The goal is to offset a global economic slowdown that has been rippling through the financial and business world. This half-point rate cut included the central banks in the U.K., Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, […]

Shingles have arrived

| October 7, 2008

I headed home to check on the arrival of the shingles for the south side of my roof in order to repair the damage left by Hurricane Ike … yes I’m in Ohio. 😀

Obama/Biden continue gains on struggling economy

| October 7, 2008

As the economy struggles, Obama and Biden gain as the McCain/Palin campaign take the bruising. There seems to be a backlash against the GOP for the mess we are in? Perhaps its the Wall Street “fatcat” image or just the fact that a Republican has been in the Whitehouse for 8 years. Nevertheless, most polls […]

Financial Markets reflect economic fears in America

| October 6, 2008

The financial crisis is rippling around the world and that fear is being reflected on Wall Street as the DJIA dropped a full 800 points during trading on Monday, although recovered somewhat to close off only 370 points at 9955.50. Almost all stocks took a beating again today shrinking all who invest for college or […]

Testing the new WordPress blog

| October 6, 2008

Hopefully all the old posts and comments have been updated to this new 2.6.2 install of WordPress. It was not an easy task, but finally this update should correct many long standing problems associated with the old installation. Categories and tagging have been changed considerably and will require a significant database rebuild; this is something […]

New electronic reader says move over Kindle!

| October 1, 2008

Plastic Logic‘s touchscreen document and book reader

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
My Desultory Blog