RichC | March 26, 2009
If you’ve been surfing the web for any length of time you’ve seen the artist ‘cartoon’ looking avatars. One company called Cartoonme.com makes it easy to convert a current photo into an avatar. I tested the web based service the other day and received my €3.50 EUR ($4.89 US) cartoon-ish looking avatar back by email […]
RichC | March 25, 2009
I was talking to a friend about Miami University old WMUB’s “HelpDesk” radio program which has moved to the podcast only format now that the radio station is no longer broadcasting its own content (ended in February 2009). He asked me how to listen to the program now that it is no longer on the […]
RichC | March 24, 2009
I’d be all set if I only knew a bit more about algae based fuels — like biodiesel make from algae! (mentioned many times before) Here in southwest Ohio I’ve seen more than one pond or small lake showing signs of spring; it the algae bloom season. The heavy algae growth come a bit before […]
RichC | March 23, 2009
This is one driver that I don’t want to see parallel park! Speaking of “park” … that’s what the letter *P* is for …
RichC | March 22, 2009
Very few things irritate me more when traveling down the interstate and looking for fuel only to find out that the interstate sign doesn’t match the price at the pump. It use to be that when this happened that it was only a couple cents, but now in the day of 10 – 20 cent […]
RichC | March 21, 2009
As mentioned before, the Terrafugia Transition car-based airplane is being developed on the east coast this year and the above is a bit of video from the first runway based test flight on March 5th. Retired USAF test pilot Col. Phil Meteer comments that the test was “remarkable for being unremarkable.” Performance Cruise: 100 kts […]
RichC | March 20, 2009
It has finally arrive, the Twitter business model. The co-founder and CEO Evan Williams announced that the Twitter Premium accounts would be the way the company would begin to generate income. He explained that since corporation and celebrities are “flocking to Twitter for their social media needs” that this gives them an opportunity to have […]
RichC | March 19, 2009
I filled my NCAA March Madness Bracket online (ESPN) and to my son’s horror I didn’t pick The University of Akron Zips to win, even though I’m funding that program through his tuition. I have to admit that it is a positive time for Akron in that the university is a very attractive place to […]
RichC | March 18, 2009
There is no way to get my ‘herding dog to do this, but I’m going to make her watch it anyway! 😉 Still, the online video is too cool to not post while I stop for lunch today!
RichC | March 17, 2009
I’ve been enjoying using Twitter after a brief learning curve trying to figuring out how to get my head around the concept of following 140 character text messages (TweetDeck is my favorite client on a computer). Surprisingly it can be somewhat addictive even for someone who is a not hyper-stimulated video gaming kind of guy. […]
RichC | March 16, 2009
I’m keeping my eye to the web as I’d like to know when “for sure” we’ll see the Palm Pre hit the Sprint inventory. If someone knows the exact date, they are not saying … but the BoyGenius website (very accurate stuff BTW) is correct, the “leaked” map still has it slated for the 2nd […]
RichC | March 16, 2009
The space shuttle Discovery rocketed into space at 7:43 p.m. EDT on Sunday with the crew of STS-119 and the cheers from the team on the ground. The comments made by the NASA was that it was a smooth launch and that the team operated near perfectly. The early evening launch was the the 100th […]
RichC | March 15, 2009
While checking in with Spacevidcast.com‘s coverage of Shuttle Discovery’s planned launch on UStream.com, it is interesting listening to NASA’s “fit team’s” walk around 3 hours prior to launch and what they actually do. One unusual thing during today’s walk around was a fruit bat clinging to the shuttle assembly; the NASA consultant commented commented that […]
RichC | March 15, 2009
Laughing at my idiocy. I dislike shaking spray paint cans so taped to end of recipricating saw blade & squeezed the trigger. Hey it works! # Wrapping up the day although my whiteboard still as a list of unfinished tasks. Going to weld & paint a broken gate tonight. # New laptop battery is no […]
RichC | March 15, 2009
Laughing at my idiocy. I dislike shaking spray paint cans so taped to end of recipricating saw blade & squeezed the trigger. Hey it works! # Wrapping up the day although my whiteboard still as a list of unfinished tasks. Going to weld & paint a broken gate tonight. # New laptop battery is no […]
RichC | March 14, 2009
Although there were a few things missing in this episode of the PBS Motorweek, I did enjoy seeing and hearing biodiesel still being promoted. I particularly enjoy their highlighting the ‘Appleseed’ processor! (how do you like that @girlmark)
RichC | March 13, 2009
Although I don’t spend every moment watching the stock market as an indicator of our economic woes, I do feel the pain when it comes to paying for college and saving for retirement. So I can’t help but take a breath while noticing the averages rise a bit over the last few days. That said, […]
RichC | March 13, 2009
After spending the last couple years running Microsoft’s Vista OS on my traveling notebook computer and recently installing the new Windows 7 Beta, I can’t imagine ever being forced to go back to such a pitiful operating system as Vista. Perhaps it was Microsoft’s strategy that users suffer so no matter what came out next […]
RichC | March 12, 2009
This past week, folks on Twitter celebrated the birthday of popular actor, martial arts/fitness star and conservative political supporter Chuck Norris as he turned a very young 69 — Happy Birthday. (Chuck Norris search) In keeping with one of the curious trends started some years ago, fans began sharing the short “tough guy” jokes, or […]
RichC | March 11, 2009
Keel Brightman, the son of a friend of mine (Donna Lange’s) is participating in an adventure of a lifetime this spring in the Pacific Northwest. He is part of a small group who has started in British Columbia, Canada this March and is hoping to paddle the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. The team […]
RichC | March 10, 2009
Palm Pre gets a unique appearance on NBC’s Late Nite with Jimmy Fallon as Joshua Topolsky from Engadget brought one along in his pocket — he must rate pretty high in the tech world to have had that priveledge! The Pre has made only a handful of appearances since the introduction, so is sort of […]
RichC | March 9, 2009
Small and informal (as usual) EAA284.org gathering on Sunday afternoon and continued to discuss a couple rib stitching and wing/fuselage covering options. Stewart Systems less toxic EkoBond were looked at (PDF Manual) and we entertained thoughts on possibly creating a How-To video for making stitching needles from welding rods. Although I’m building an aluminum aircraft, […]
RichC | March 8, 2009
Although her life was full and death was peaceful, it is difficult for me to say an earthly goodbye to my wonderful Aunt Lois. She was my closest aunt (my mother’s only sister) and growing up we were always together with her and her family. My brother and I were practically best friends with her […]
RichC | March 6, 2009
Since I haven’t been traveling this week, I’ve had a few minutes to do a full database backup and reinstall on a new server. One of the primary reason I’ve been anxious to do was because of some significant slowing in access. Thankfully the upgrade was painless and looks to have corrected my primary speed […]
RichC | March 6, 2009
TopGear.com American is working on their “triple 7” — $7000, 70mpg, 0-60mpg in under 7 seconds. They have purchase a VW Rabbit diesel in New York and are transplanting a TDI engine in Regina, Saskatchewan and have labeled the project the “Sipster.” The current video shows the engine transplant (below) although the project was announcmed […]
RichC | March 5, 2009
Powerenz.com makes a very portable set of solar panels that looks to provide a great way to charge or power low wattage electrical devices while away from conventional power sources. The flexible panels can be easily toted in a bag or backpack and will provide up to 180 watts of power. They can also be […]
RichC | March 4, 2009
YourFonts.com makes it easy to create a personalized font based on your own handwriting. I created one in about 15 minutes, including the scanning and uploading — very cool. After printing out the PDF template , I used a fine tip ‘Sharpie‘ to scribble in the letters and numbers as the very easy instructions describe. […]
RichC | March 3, 2009
I’ll keep this post short since my mood is the same; the markets tried to find a reason to bounce after loosing 299 point on the DJIA yesterday, but traders and investors would have none of it. The averages did cross yesterday’s ‘ugly’ close a couple time throughout trading on Tuesday, but in the end […]
RichC | March 2, 2009
WSJ Online Here’s a bright thought: if, scratch that, when … the economy rebounds, it most likely will rise quickly from the shocking lows we are currently seeing. The dark side is that this selloff doesn’t seem to be finding a bottom and there aren’t many confident traders ready buy stocks again. Today’s news from […]
RichC | March 2, 2009
In my circle of diesel loving friends I have rarely heard that people have difficulty in deciding between the well equipped 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI or 2009 Toyota Prius, but that isn’t always the case for those listening to all the media hype praising hybrid cars. In case you are one of the few looking […]
RichC | March 1, 2009
I had a Skype conversation with Cali Lewis (aka: Geekbeat.TV) and her business experts on Saturday for a pilot for a new podcast called WealthNation, I think? She invited me to ask a couple business questions pertaining to liability protection utilizing a corporation or LLC and a follow up on product patent protection. Unfortunately I’m […]
RichC | February 28, 2009
For those who enjoy surfing I’m embedding a couple enjoyable clips from the Volcum House Show on O’ahu, Hawaii. The first clip has some great surfing footage and tour of a three story home overlooking the big winter waves to the west of Hale’iwa (Sunset Beach & Waimia Bay) and to the east of Kaena […]
RichC | February 27, 2009
On Friday afternoon President Obama spoke to the troops at Camp Lejeune North Carolina and laid out his plans for the promised troop withdrawal and timetable from Iraq. (WSJ) His plan is to scale back the current 142,000 troop force which is now in Iraq by the latter half of 2010. The date specific for […]
RichC | February 27, 2009
It is looking more and more like President Obama is more in tune with a 19 month troop withdrawal plan favored by the Pentagon which keeps a significant ‘support’ presence in Iraq. I listened to my Representative John Boehner this morning (also enjoyed his speech at CPAC) and it sounds like the President’s position is […]
RichC | February 26, 2009
Just like the cow methane gas studies, an article in the Wall Street Journal had the same attention grabbing ability for me: Silencing the Lambs: Scientists Target Sheep Belching to Cut Methane. Nevertheless, researchers and policy makers at the United Nations believe that the livestock industries are a major contributor to climate change and that […]
RichC | February 25, 2009
RichC | February 24, 2009
If you enjoy ‘grass roots’ aviation, you’ll enjoy the StoriesThatFly site based in the Northeastern part Ohio … or read a little bit about it here.
RichC | February 23, 2009
For those that appreciate engineering and diesel automotive history, today was the day in 1893 that Rudolf Diesel was granted a German patent for his diesel engine design. Rather than burning gasoline in a cylinder with spark ignition, the diesel engine uses ‘fuel oil’ (or vegetable oil — peanut oil in Rudolf Diesel’s case) using […]
RichC | February 22, 2009
We streamed the movie “The Interpreter” to our HD Tivo this weekend and besides being an excellent movie, I enjoyed a relatively unrelated scene where Silvia Broome, played by Nicole Kidman, reads from notebooks written in by her list making brother. One of the listed items (again unrelated) were interesting words … one of which […]
RichC | February 20, 2009
I called a friend of mine to check on his wife who was scheduled for surgery this week and after hearing that she was in recovery, our conversation shifted to the new 2009 BMW 335d that was sitting in front of the Akron area Dave Walter dealership. Although I know how the soft-sell enticement game […]
RichC | February 19, 2009
Traders saw most stocks fall on Thursday, putting the Dow Jones Industrial Average back on a bear-market closing low track. The financial sector continued to decline and there was little desire by investors to buy equities with the gloomy economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 89.68 points, or 1.2%, to close at 7465.95 […]
RichC | February 19, 2009
Posting a Palm Treo 700p photo from the road … heading south from Cleveland on I-71 Thursday afternoon. Enough is enough with winter and snow; I’m ready for spring. Here’s a morning photos after the “lake effect” snows blanketed NE Ohio.
RichC | February 19, 2009
Thought I would test a simple “web widgets” building site at Widgetbox.com that helps users create simple scripts for blogs, websites or social networking sites. So far so good although I’m not sure I need anymore content sardined onto my computer desktop, homepage or blog? Here are a couple, one widget which helps to find […]
RichC | February 18, 2009
My wife has hinted that she was “ok” with me planning a backpacking trip with my buddy this year, so I started sifting through my gear (we regularly went we were younger) in anticipation of planning a trip to the mountains. One exceptionally great piece of gear that makes a long day of hiking more […]
RichC | February 17, 2009
A friend of mine passed this along and I though a few here might enjoy the inspirational story and watching the video. Jessica Cox, born without arms, recently earned her sport pilot license at Ray Blair Airport in San Manuel, Arizona. She flies this Ercoupe plane the way she does most other things in her […]
RichC | February 16, 2009
Looks like I’ll need to do a bit more clean up sometime this week as the wind has knocked down one of our dying pine trees. I can’t say that I don’t expect to loose a few more, but its always depressing to loose a little more property line privacy.
RichC | February 15, 2009
I’ve been know to heat up some leftovers under the hood before and enjoyed reading the occasional article detailing the process … and talking to the odd-ball few who enjoy motorhead cuisine. In perusing a ‘magazine’ topic at an excellent time-killing site, Alltop.com, I stumbled on a How Stuff Works article on cooking/reheating food under […]
RichC | February 14, 2009
For those of us already familiar with the new clean diesel breeds, it will come as no surprise that long running PBS automotive program Motorweek selected the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI as the Drivers’ Choice Award winner. They previously reported positively on the VW TDI although on in February announced it along with all their […]
RichC | February 13, 2009
I’ve been using Fuelly.com to track the fills and gas mileage on my less than economical Honda Pilot. The web interface is a super easy way to track and add information each fill up or the even more convenient mobile interface can make adding the odometer reading (or number of miles), gallons and price a […]
RichC | February 12, 2009
I’ve enjoyed the Cincinnati Auto Expo in the past although am unsure if I’ll find the time to head down this year. The Duke Energy Center (Cinergy) will have the filled floorplan set up as unusual and I’ve even heard that the Volkswagen booth is going to be much larger than in previous years (according […]
RichC | February 11, 2009
While reading Kara Swisher‘s AllThingsDigital’s “Boomtown,” I came across a quote she posted in the side bar of her blog pulled from Brian Solis … … 120 is the new 140. Retweeting is one of the most valuable currencies in the Twitter economy. Leave room in your tweets to make it easier for someone to […]
RichC | February 10, 2009
It is interesting to ponder what make for a viral video? Here’s a YouTube clip where a dad records his “still woozy” son after a trip to the dentist. Hard to believe this clip is closing in on 7 million views since was posted 10 days ago!
RichC | February 9, 2009
President Barack Obama pushed for public support to get behind an economic stimulus plan Monday evening in his first press conference. His push for an $800 billion-plus package used “fear” to push for passage of a bill that has seen little public detail; speculation has been debated as to what is pork and what is […]
RichC | February 9, 2009
There aren’t all that many following the sailing and blogging of Reid Stowe on 1000days.net (perhaps as many as 1000 or so according to his blog stats), but I am one who regularly track his progress and am noting just how long he has been at sea. Reid has been sailing on his old schooner […]
RichC | February 7, 2009
I grew up in a commercial fishing and cottage community on Lake Erie just east from the Crane Creek State Park (label on the map below) and fondly remember ice fishing every winter. As a family we enjoyed recreation on the frozen lake from playing hockey to fishing, ice boating and snowmobiling. It was a […]
RichC | February 6, 2009
People often ask me what make a diesel car attractive enough that one would be willing to not only pay the couple thousand premium on the sticker, but find fewer marketing promotions at dealerships? I’ll usually point to the solid resale and better fuel economy, which is usually a topic of conversation at our GTGs. […]
RichC | February 6, 2009
A couple nice looking BMW diesels recently available in the U.S. look to be edible for tax incentives this year. They have been added to the IRS list of cars using technology helping promote more fuel efficient vehicles. The new 335d sedan and X5 xDrive35d SUV fit the IRS Lean Burn Technology Motor Vehicle Tax […]