RichC | October 31, 2011
Since HP’s new CEO, Meg Whitman, reversed course on spinning off their PC division (link), many who use and appreciate Touchpads and Pre smartphones have been hoping the same thing might happen for the webOS division. Some believe (or believed) that there was new hope for webOS devices like the Touchpad and Palm Pre smartphones […]
RichC | October 31, 2011
A reader knowing that I’ve posted pictures of kayakers and whales in the past forwarded me a link with a couple humpback whales off of California that looked to be uncomfortably close to this guy (click image for larger). Someday “we humans” are going to get a little too close … I personally will not […]
RichC | October 30, 2011
Every once in awhile a writer captures with clarity what I’m politically thinking — I wish I could communicate this clearly. Peggy Noonan. She is a very talented speech writer and opinion columnist and wrote a superb column for Saturday’s WSJ worth sharing and saving to my archive. The content referenced current politicians, but is […]
RichC | October 29, 2011
As I continue to diagnose and tinker with my MGB and the Weber 32/36 DGV carburetor and manifold kit that replace the Zenith carb, I’m still having problems figuring out why it will not idle off of choke. So as long as I have the choke on, the car will idle hot or cold at […]
RichC | October 29, 2011
Since hunting season here in Ohio is in full swing, I thought this photo shared on G+ was funny enough to share. You’ve heard of “Planet of the Apes” … well this hunter’s dream nightmare would be “Planet of the Moose.” (see plural note below) MOOSE The word “moose” came to us from Algonquian Indians. […]
RichC | October 29, 2011
Getty Images The Cardinals celebrated after defeating the Texas Rangers. In a game that felt more like a coronation than a competition, the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Texas Rangers 6-2 to win the World Series four games to three. It was the 11th championship for the Cardinals. For the Rangers, who have never won […]
RichC | October 28, 2011
The next big technovation for the big Internet players is no doubt going to be “winning” in the TV space — here’s a short vidoe demonstrating where Google TV is going with their product (below). Posted via email from RichC’s posterous
RichC | October 28, 2011
Although I missed the first two World Series games, I’ve enjoyed the last several games and game 6 was no exception. The St. Louis Cardinals started strong, then faltered … then came back to stay alive and win. In the end the back and forth ties eventually saw the strong St. Louis bats win out […]
RichC | October 27, 2011
It looks as if HP’s new CEO Meg Whitman has decided the PC business was too much to lose even if margins aren’t what their other business division deliver. Perhaps in a slow growth period where interest rates remain low a 6% margin is better than sitting on 1-2% cash or shrinking the company? HP […]
RichC | October 27, 2011
Earlier this year as 2010 rolled into 2011 many American though it might be safe to look at their IRA and 401K statements after the long recession … but as deficit and debt talks heated up and U.S. debt was downgraded due to continued Washington DC borrowing and spending this past summer … most of […]
RichC | October 26, 2011
Had an interesting conversation with one of my clients who handed me his new Sprint based iPhone 4s today … and he doesn’t like it. That’s a rarity for those who love all things Apple. To be fair, his gripe has more to do with the Sprint 3G service problems being reported than the iPhone […]
RichC | October 25, 2011
Compression on all four cylinders is good after machining the head (photo with Kodak Zx5) I’m still trying to figure out why I’m having a problem with the MGB idle and setting the carburetor. After finally calling Bob at Brit-tek, I thought I would send a video (below) which helps to describe my Weber carb […]
RichC | October 25, 2011
Sunrise and sunset photos have always been favorites of mine … this one taken by astronaut Ron Garan from space and posted on G+ is no exception. His photos of meteors plunging through the earth’s atmosphere were made even more interesting with the addition of sound … although kind of eery (video below).
RichC | October 24, 2011
The loss of subscribers was not a surprise to those angry with the boneheaded decisions from Netflix management (2) … but I think even those who “modified” their plans are surprised at the shear numbers who left in the 3rd quarter – 810,000 subscribers! Ouch … a painful loss after hours Monday for those stock […]
RichC | October 24, 2011
This past weekend felt like I was spinning my wheels and wasting time. A little cleaning around the house, watching some football and rugby (below), some brief tinkering with the carburetor on the MGB (which is still not right) and finally assembled Brenda’s “inversion machine” – don’t ask. The latter took most of Sunday afternoon […]
RichC | October 23, 2011
The new CPI numbers (Consumer Price Index) released by the government verify what most balancing family budgets already know … inflation is taking a bigger bite out of incomes. Most private sector workers feel fortunate just to be employed and have seen their take-home pay and benefits stagnate or retreat. Everyone I know has had […]
RichC | October 22, 2011
Since I go back a few years in photography (pre-digital by a few years) and did my share of dodging, burning and sandwiching with film and paper in the darkroom, I’m well aware of what photographers did to enhance photos … but here was one I must not have remembered. The Life Magazine photo during […]
RichC | October 21, 2011
A Redondo Beach California diver/kayaker posted some YouTube footage from his GoPro camera earlier in the week … and although I’m hesitant to see people get too close to an animal’s habitat, these close up images are pretty impressive.
RichC | October 20, 2011
After 42 years of dictatorial power, the Libyan people look to be finally free from they dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Claims, photos and shaky video on Thursday show a dead Gadhafi as he an his fighters made a final hometown stand according to rebel leaders in the battle weary north African country. Although the end was […]
RichC | October 19, 2011
Never a dull moment in my Ohio travels as today I’m on the lookout for wild “exotic” animals. Well, probably not where I’m driving at the moment, but it is an interesting national story just the same. Police hunting escaped exotic animals in Ohio ZANESVILLE, Ohio – The owner of a wild animal preserve released […]
RichC | October 19, 2011
I spent the 8 to 10PM hours Tuesday night watching yet another GOP debate, this one hosted on CNN. This time the top tier of the Republican field came out fired up and directed jabs at each other. I suspect viewers who prefer to see Obama as the target were somewhat uncomfortable with the body […]
RichC | October 18, 2011
Washington had its best year ever in fiscal 2011. Maybe it’s a sign of the tumultuous times, but the federal government recently wrapped up its biggest spending year, and its second biggest annual budget deficit, and almost nobody noticed. Is it rude to mention this? The Congressional Budget Office recently finished tallying the revenue and […]
RichC | October 18, 2011
Perhaps it is my age … or just not paying attention to the changing terms associated with portability when talking computers, but as I contemplate upgrading my daily computer I realized the terms have changed yet again. My first “portable” computer went by the trade name Compaq … but it was basically a transportable. At […]
RichC | October 17, 2011
By now most in America have at least acknowledged that there are legitimate protests movements in several cities including NYC; some protesting are anarchists and anti-American types looking to hijack any radical movement, but many are legitimately angry with the state of our nation, the partisanship that favors and bails out the Wall Street banks […]
RichC | October 16, 2011
The weekend was a good one weather-wise for yard chores and closing up the pool. Beside meeting our son Taylor for lunch on Saturday, Brenda and I took advantage of the nice warm autumn weather and enjoyed both Saturday and Sunday outside. I also was able to retrieve the heads from the MGB that Jack […]
RichC | October 14, 2011
If you enjoy taking and working with photos, you might appreciate the advancements coming to software to help with optically blurry photos. The demonstration is not particularly easy to see (video below), but the reaction of the crowd was enough to thinking a plug in for Adobe Photoshop might be in our future. Check out […]
RichC | October 14, 2011
Great piece by Herb Greenberg on the negative impact of ETFs. From the “markets-are-broken” department: Whenever we talk about the impact of exchange traded funds (ETFs) on the market, the one missing link is quantitative evidence that ETFs (especially the levered ones) are rapidly becoming the monster they weren’t created to be. Read at Proof: […]
RichC | October 14, 2011
Unfortunately the new WordPress install from a couple weeks ago is not running as smoothly as I had hoped. I’ve been tweaking the caching setup and still finding the database is shutting down regularly. I’m in the process of streamlining some of the canned content and advertising items, although am reluctant to reduce my use […]
RichC | October 13, 2011
I’m watching Google shares after the close (GOOG 558.99 ) jump $40.00 a share reporting earnings of $8.74 a share, up from from $7.64 per share a year ago. Revenue also increased to $7.51 billion from $5.48 billion last year. According to reports, “analysts had expected Google to post earnings of $8.74 per share and […]
RichC | October 13, 2011
If you were a Sprint users and were tempted to upgrader to a new Apple iPhone4s, but demanded a physical keyboard, would adding on a bluetooth slider be worth it? It would sure makes the slick iPhone a less attractive device to slip into a pocket, but if it worked well might be a nice […]
RichC | October 12, 2011
Surprise! This is something to keep in mind when it comes to replacing the “starter battery” in a hybrid car … not the one to power the electric motors, but the smaller one to start the gasoline engine. As I recall, most gasoline and diesel only car starter batteries are significantly less than $530. This […]
RichC | October 12, 2011
Love it or hate it, this week marks Fox News 15th year of growing into the “most trusted name in news” or at least the most popular name in cable news. They began competing where news was for the most part controlled by left leaning news organizations (and news anchors) and shook things up […]
RichC | October 11, 2011
Interested in a 1983 Ford Mustang Convertible? My mother-in-law has finally and reluctantly decided to sell her car knowing that a second car isn’t needed anymore. She has unfortunately put too many maintenance dollars into keeping this car in good shape, but it has spent most of the past decade parked in the garage. All […]
RichC | October 11, 2011
According to the Detroit News and reporter Scott Burgess, there were a few areas still in need of improvement before 2013 Chevrolet’s diesel Cruze will satisfy most American drivers. He points positively to the estimated 50 mpg and 800 range, but in a recent 587 mile trip around Europe, he was only able to return […]
RichC | October 10, 2011
It was a rough night for passengers on a big ship. The Norweign Cruise Line’s Freedom of the Seas was never in danger according to the company, but a passenger aboard Freedom told Cruiseradio.net a different side of the story: “It was crazy. The ship was on it’s side, everything broke all over ship, medical […]
RichC | October 10, 2011
Brian “Sully” Sullivan, one of my favorite reporters and business news anchors who is now on CNBC, wrote and interesting post that addressed unemployment, growing the economy and the correct way to increasing tax revenues — “all without spending a dime of taxpayer money.” The point of the article is that of the 14 million […]
RichC | October 9, 2011
As the autumn weather takes hold in my part of Ohio, we’re seeing a few more hot air balloons drifting by in the evening. This past weekend we had one a bit lower than usual which in turn set the dogs off in the neighborhood … especially when the gas burner roared. I happened to […]
RichC | October 9, 2011
As the U.S. economy tries muddle along, few new jobs are consistently being added to put Americans back to work. With confidence in the U.S. fiscal situation and our own personal finances low, it’s no surprise to see even new efficient “diesel” passenger vehicle sale struggle. According to the latest numbers, diesel passenger sales through […]
RichC | October 8, 2011
This is a miscellaneous post to test the WordPress Super Cache plugin on the new server install. I’ve been having a few update problems with posts and am tweaking the advance setting that will rebuild the cache after each post. Hopefully all domains DNS records will now update with the current post, rather than just […]
RichC | October 8, 2011
My wife and I have been discussing our house. As the kids move out and frequent gathering of friends coming over dissipates… or will hopefully be in the next couple years … we wonder just how necessary it is to stay in our bigger house. We both have things we appreciate about the home we […]
RichC | October 7, 2011
Southwestern Ohio movie goers are anxious for the opening of George Cloney’s “The Ides of March” since the Cincinnati and the small college town of Oxford Ohio are notable in the film. The political drama starring Ryan Gosling used Miami University’s Hall Auditorium and the Farmer School of Business in the film, particularly in the […]
RichC | October 6, 2011
I’ve been thinking about the passing of Steve Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) and realized that there wasn’t enough time to include all I wanted over a lunch hour. First, his innovative vision, business savvy and keen sense of “what customers wanted” have earned him a place in my list of […]
RichC | October 6, 2011
I haven’t watched the movie “A Little Help,” but did noticed that Chris O’Donnell was driving a mid-seventies MGB with a similar color to ours – you know that, “yellow vomit” color. (or since I’m talking MGB, perhaps it is “colour”) I’m not sure just because the MG makes an appearance that I’ll be renting […]
RichC | October 5, 2011
CUPERTINO, Calif., Oct 05, 2011 We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today. Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve. His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts […]
RichC | October 5, 2011
I wasn’t alone in paying attention to Tuesday’s much publicized Apple event which showcased a new an updated iPhone. Perhaps the enthusiastic hype isn’t Apple’s fault as “we” have reason to anxiously wait, considering the the cool new stuff that comes out of Cupertino California. Unfortunately the “updated” hardware and new software integration wasn’t as […]
RichC | October 5, 2011
Not so promising long term update comments … but worth reading if you are looking at new VW TDIs. My first impressions of the new Jetta’s cabin aren’t very positive. While I had mentally prepared for a cheapened interior, I continue to find additional minor cost-cutting annoyances. First on the list is the frequently used […]
RichC | October 4, 2011
Thanks Jeff … although not sure I appreciated the “this reminds me of you” comment!
RichC | October 4, 2011
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RichC | October 4, 2011
Roz Savage is 1 mile from qualifying as crossing the Indian Ocean. Impressive feat considering this makes the Atlantic, the Pacific and now Indian Oceans. (more in the mornings news I’m sure) Posted via email from RichC’s posterous
RichC | October 3, 2011
Ben, Emily, Chris and Jerry Skinner – October 2, 2011 (click for larger) We enjoyed my nephew Ben and Emily’s cool (45 degrees) but sunny Sunday morning wedding at the Darby House near Columbus, Ohio this past weekend. They were the "picture-perfect” couple and exchanged personal vows on the terrace overlooking the beautiful setting. My brother-in-law […]
RichC | October 2, 2011
Friday night and Saturday morning gave me a few more hours to disassemble the MBG engine once again, although this time I also removed the head. As noted previously, the #2 intake valve was sticking in an open position taking compression to zero. Under further inspection, I can see that it doesn’t seat correctly … […]
RichC | October 1, 2011
I saw a CNBC interview with Warren Buffett the other day and didn’t realized just how twisted the “tax the rich” ideas had become. I’m not saying that I agree with either Warren Buffett or President Obama’s new tax proposals, BUT I was surprised to have them being reported as nearly one in the same […]
RichC | October 1, 2011
So far I have been satisfied with our relatively low cost purchase of a Roku 2XD as a way to stream Internet content to our plasma TV. The Roku is must quicker to navigate than our TivoHD and offers a simple interface and one HDMI wire set up. Amazon online movie rentals worked great and […]