Will the April 2009 date hold for the Palm Pre release?

| January 31, 2009

There was nicely formatted datasheet (below) on the new Palm Pre  published at PDADB.net and it was interested to see the April 2009 release date, even though it is stated as “expected.” From what I have read, neither Palm or Sprint have said very much about what date the new smartphone will be available. Some […]

A couple months for bigger Ford Hybrid tax credits

| January 30, 2009

There are a few changes are coming for the hybrid car buying few … and I mean car buying few … unless Washington DC pulls a few last minute strings. Tax credits are being reduced by about half, so …  if you are thinking about buying a new hybrid car this year, it might be […]

Speed improvement to Firefox — give it a try

| January 29, 2009

If you are a Firefox user and enjoyed the speed improvements “once upon a time” that was evident, you might be experiencing a “fattening up” and slowing down of this excellent browser. In fact for me, I’ve found myself popping open Chrome for a quicker web look or even to check email or Google Docs. […]

Most of Ohio hit with winter snow and ice

| January 28, 2009

A winter storm has moved through the Ohio Valley Tuesday January 27th and left several inches of snow followed by ice and sleeting rain. By evening there was a substantial glaze on top of the snow making for a bright and reflective photo (click for larger). While out driving during the afternoon the roadways were […]

Follow up on Scanr.com’s changes and Jotnot.com

| January 27, 2009

I’m following up my post about Scanr.com yesterday, both because I received an email from their customer service (posted it as a comment to yesterday’s post) and because I received a Twitter message suggesting that I check out Jotnot.com. I appreciated the email explaining that Scanr made changes on January 7th to their services and […]

Scanr.com charges too high for non-power users

| January 26, 2009

Although I didn’t receive a notice (could have been sifted by gmail as spam) from Scanr.com about any changes to their ‘free’ services, the Pro accounts $4.99/mo ($30 annual) is a bit steep for the occasional user. I have recommend their services in the past as a way to send an emergency fax or post […]

Like an old man, I’m checking the weather

| January 25, 2009

I’m starting to think about taking my son back to college late this afternoon/evening and figured I might be a good idea to check the Ohio weather (1 PM image out the front window above). Thoughts like this rarely occurred to me in years past, but the older I get the more attention I pay […]

Happy Birthday and the U.S. Figure Skating Nationals

| January 25, 2009

I enjoyed spending the day with my dad and celebrated his 80th birthday along with my brother and his family.  The milestone was merely a number for my dad since he is doing great and has no complaints. We took him out to dinner and probably enjoyed a little too much cake and ice cream […]

Amazing video from Rex the Dog

| January 24, 2009

This post is serving double duty: First a friend mentioned that my RSS feed looked a little different to him, and second, this video from Rex the Dog was just plain impressive. VIDEO REMOVED

Had a busy day of driving. I need a diesel.

| January 24, 2009

Here are a few photos (Treo photos posted to Twitpic) while adding another 700 miles to my Honda Pilot. I would have preferred driving an efficient and long lasting diesel, but feel fortunate to be able to fill with unleaded regular for $1.78/gallon today.

Flying Car: Terrafugia’s Transition Roadable Aircraft

| January 23, 2009

The Transition is another one of those flying car “dream” ideas (or as Terrafugia calls it, “a roadable aircraft”) which seems to be really moving closer in bringing driving and flying together.  According to a the company’s website, this concept car/plane was founded in 2006 by a group of MIT students. They have work diligently […]

Walt Mossberg gives his first impression of Windows 7 Beta

| January 22, 2009

The Wall Street Journal‘s Personal Technology columnist Walt Mossberg has given his preliminary review of Microsoft’s recently released beta Windows 7.  According to Mossberg, the most important improvement from the much maligned Vista OS is speed. In his initial tests, “even the beta version of Windows 7 was dramatically faster than Vista at such tasks […]

Motorweek reviews the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI

| January 21, 2009

The long running weekly PBS automotive program Motorweek reviewed the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI on last weekend’s show. As expected, they gave it a pretty decent review mentioning that it is now 50 state legal and clarified the emission control features that differentiates it from the “AdBlue” diesels. [flv:MW_2009VWJettaTDI090117.flv 480 355]

The inauguration of President Barack Obama

| January 20, 2009

On January 20, 2009,  Americans saw the power of peaceful change as President George Walker Bush stepped aside and heard the crowds cheered as President Barack Hussein Obama took office. Throngs of well-wishers filled Washington DC preceding today’s inauguration and many others gathered around televisions to watch this historic moment. It is a great testament […]

The Presidents’ popularity Past and Present

| January 20, 2009

The Wallstreet Journal took  a look at  the job approval rating of our Presidents. The graph illustrates public opinion of Presidents from Truman through George W. Bush. Th popularity of each President rises and falls as they were faced different crisis situations. Only President Truman and George W. Bush have  seen both support as high […]

Why Palm now has a better chance of success

| January 19, 2009

Here’s another excellent Palm Pre interview, this time a little more of “Why they will succeed” from a business oriented perspective. (also $425 million from Elevation Partners doesn’t hurt either)

Tampa Two a Steeler/Cardinal Superbowl XLIII is set

| January 19, 2009

“Tampa Two,”  as  Superbowl XLIII is being slated will be between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals. The Steelers put down the Baltimore Ravens this weekend 23 -14 while the long time “dysfunctional” Arizona Cardinals  will make there first appearance  by a 32 -25 win against the Philidelphia Eagles.

Hello my name is Rich, I’m a 24-a-holic

| January 18, 2009

“Hello my name is Rich, I’m a 24-a-holic” and I am addicted to the Fox Television Series 24, yet I haven’t watch the current season yet.  The intense neverending show has kept both my wife and I at the edge of our seats … or bed … depending where we watched it from. Blockbuster much […]

Coast Guard video of US Air Flight 1549 landing and rescue

| January 17, 2009

A new USCGImagery video shows how impressive the landing (about 2 minutes into the clip), exit and immediate rescue was from the US Airways Flight 1549. The plane impacted the Hudson River at about 3:31 PM and within a few second passengers were out on the wings and emergency slides. As the camera zooms in […]

PCMike demostrates Parking Assist from Ford

| January 17, 2009

MSNBC’s Mike Wendland reported on the new parking assist technology Ford will be offering in select 2010 models.  As seen in premium … and not so premium …  models before, it is pretty cool technology. YOUTUBE Video removed

Cold winter weather and the shortage of road salt

| January 16, 2009

With the cold weather we’ve been having we’ll definitely be complaining about home heating bills and  the salt shortage when we get to February and March.  It definitely has turn cold across most of the nation. I did a double take when I checked the temperature today. I probably shouldn’t include this photo when it […]

Win a New 2009 VW Jetta TDI Clean Diesel

| January 16, 2009

During a business call this week, a fellow who listens to streaming  radio and knows my interest in Volkswagen TDIs, mention that a station he listens to was holding a sweepstakes offering a  New 2009 VW Jetta TDI Clean Diesel as their grand prize. The station is  KCPW in Santa Monica, California and features “an […]

Miraculous: US Airways flight lands on Hudson River

| January 15, 2009

Well this may not classify as a “miracle,” but its about as close as I can imagine. While driving home tonight I “listened” to television coverage of the incredible landing of US Airways Flight 1549 shortly after takeoff. The twin engine Airbus A320 jet had just left LaGuardia Airport enroute to Chalotte NC when it […]

Direct Injection is the future for gasoline engines

| January 15, 2009

So which automotive technology is in our near future? According to an article in Wednesday’s Marketplace section of the WSJ, “Analysts say sales of vehicles with such engines — which deliver greater fuel economy and power than today’s similarly sized gas engines — will far exceed those of hybrids and electrics for years to come.” […]

White knuckle drive to NE Ohio today and Baja Fresh

| January 14, 2009

My company’s original office in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio – Photo Jan. 14, 2009 I’m well season in driving to from one corner of Ohio to the other, but today was one of the more uptight trips I’ve  made. In fact, I even checked into the Radisson at 4PM since I no longer wanted to stomp […]

President Bush holds final press conference

| January 13, 2009

1/13/2009 – Wall Street Journal President George W. Bush held his  final press conference on Monday and was extremely candid while reflecting on his mistakes, yet reminded Americans just how challenging the job of President of the United States is. I wanted to archive the last press conference for posterity sake and  in part because […]

Volkswagen Concept BlueSport Diesel Roadster

| January 12, 2009

Autoblog reports on the concept roadster that Volkswagen calls the BlueSport at the Detroit Auto Show this year. Volkswagen’s Concept BlueSport should go a long way towards making the term “diesel performance” a household name. While it might seem to be an oxymoron to some, seeing it at the Detroit Auto Show, we can tell […]

Edmunds Inside Line 2009 VW Jetta TDI report

| January 11, 2009

Edmunds prepare an excellent video review of a 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI a couple months ago and thought I would post it here.

Are you ready for some football?

| January 10, 2009

To be truthful … “no” I’m not really focused on the NFL playoffs this year. I’m not 100% sure that I can pin my lack of enthusiasm on the dismal season of Ohio NFL teams (Bengals and Browns) or the personal distractions in my life, but I haven’t really enjoyed watching professional football this year. […]

Biodiesel powered solar microbus

| January 9, 2009

Here’s a biodiesel hybrid vehicle for those who would like to reminisce; one can be had for $129,000 or if you can fore go the solar setup, go ahead and order one for pocketchange: $69,000 USD. It is a unique vehicle and isn’t just a “woody” — check out Verdier.ca.

A virtual look at the new Palm Pre

| January 8, 2009

It was a nice day to be a Palm user when on Thursday afternoon the company announced their long awaited smartphone with a new operating system (followed on Twitter). The sleek new phone with a sliding QWERTY physical keyboard “looked” to be precisely what many Palm advocates have been waiting for — I’m looking forward […]

Palm to unveil new OS and handset at CES today

| January 8, 2009

If you are a Palm device user who appreciates Palm products, Thursday January 8th 2009 might be the day that determines the company’s future.  At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) advocates expect the announcement of Palm’s long awaited new Nova operating system and new smartphone. The rumored new device is expected to compete with the […]

President Bush creates three Pacific Ocean National Monuments

| January 7, 2009

For those of us concerned with protecting the worlds’ oceans, President George W. Bush signing documents with Benigno R. Fitial, governor of the U.S. Commonwealth Northern Mariana Islands establishing the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009 is a positive step.  The  signing creates three new “national monuments” in the Pacific Ocean […]

Car and Driver praises the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid

| January 7, 2009

The 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid “won the hearts of the Car and Driver folks,” according to AutoblogGreen. The best of class midsize car bettered even Toyota in the top fuel economy and still performed well when talking performance. The Ford Fusion hybrid goes on sale this spring and is being marketed as  “America’s most fuel […]

Sneaky live feed of the Keynote at Macworld Expo

| January 6, 2009

Trying to “half” listen to the Macworld Expo through Chirs Pirillo’s live ustream.tv feed. Noticed MacRumorLive.com was hacked. 🙂

Fiesta Bowl: Texas Longhorns 24 – Ohio State Buckeyes 21

| January 6, 2009

It was an enjoyable night of football as we watch the Ohio State Buckeyes tangle with the Texas Longhorns in the Fiesta Bowl. The game was more exciting that most expected as the OSU defense held Colt McCoy and the Longhorn offense to 3 points in the first half and after falling behind early in […]

Cheering on Ohio State with a Big Buckeye Fan

| January 5, 2009

I saw a photo of these Buckeye fans on TwitPic (thanks for the link @1datarecovery) and had to repost in my blog as we “Buckeyes” look forward to the Fiesta Bowl tonight. Since the Jesus statue is a few miles up the road from our house at Solid Rock Church in Monroe  Ohio, its always […]

Eye-Fi 4GB SD card for Canon EOS XSi works great

| January 4, 2009

One of the interesting Christmas gifts this year was a new SD memory card to use in my Canon EOS Rebel XSi — a 4GB Anniversary edition Eye-Fi card. What makes this SD card unique is that it has built in WiFi. The card operates just like a 4GB memory card but utilized the camera’s […]

CinciTDI guys working on a couple new How To clips

| January 3, 2009

A few of us from the CinciTDI group enjoyed Saturday afternoon working on our Volkswagen TDI diesel cars and filming a new Fuel Injection Pump How To video. Bruce Bowling was once again in front of the camera and demonstrated the procedure to replace leaking gaskets and in making injection quantity (IQ) adjustments — both […]

New Year thoughts for those who sacrifice

| January 2, 2009

I’ve been looking for something that is a bit more meaningful than the ‘woe is me’ mood I’ve been in as 2008 ended. This morning while reading the Opinion page of the Wall Street Journal, a letter by Karl Rove hit me. If a Navy Seal who has been shot 8 times and has half […]

Happy New Year 2009

| January 1, 2009

As we approach midnight on December 31st and my family watches the party in New York City’s Time Square, I want to wish a Happy New Year to all. For some, January 1, 2009 is no more than a change of a calendar… for others, the New Year symbolizes the beginning of a better tomorrow. […]

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