Advice from shipwright and rigger Jerr Dunlap

| November 30, 2009

I’m archiving — and sharing — a good sailing advice blog and video series by shipwright and rigger Jerr Dunlap (@myboatworks) out in Marina del Rey, California — thanks Jerr. He has several great video “how-to” clips …  here are two on how to fit a Norseman Fitting.

Politics and testing new flash plugin for WordPress

| November 16, 2009

Currently upgrading and testing a new embed for flash video, although it might not work with current 2.8.6 version of WordPress. Nevertheless, it offers a few extra features that most have become accustom to such as a poster frame and full screen video. I’ll be tweaking the flash encoder on the Mac in order to […]

Hydroptere shatters old sailing speed records

| November 14, 2009

The high performance wind powered Hydroptere (blogged about back in 2007) has shattered sailing records the world over by averaging 51 knots over 500m (.5 kilometers)  in 28 knots of breeze. It’s hard to imagine traveling that fast on the open water, let alone one a boat without an engine.

Concerns with relying on GPS for terrain display

| November 10, 2009

An EAA284 friend of mine sent me a YouTube link of a “near death CFIT” (Controlled Flight Into Terrain) and watching it reminds many of how we’ve become too dependent on low cost electronics. Many recreational pilots have become too GPS focused and a video clip of a close call reminds us not to use […]

Why car companies are offering auto parallel parking features

| October 28, 2009

Enjoyable to watch the patience of drivers … how long do you suspect this woman took to park her car? It’s no wonder automakers are building cars with automatic parallel parking features. From comment on previous post — thanks Marielle.

Model making – a Pan Am World Airways 747 cabin

| October 27, 2009

Some of us  have built some interesting things in our garages … but Anthony Toth in Redondo Beach California tops most of us — he’s built a vintage Pan Am World Airways 747 cabin from the 1970s and 80s. His cabin replica comes complete with Pan Am logo swizzle sticks, napkins and salted almonds sealed […]

Having fun riding the waves even without standing

| October 21, 2009

Since my balance and stability are no longer functional enough even for a longboard, my only wave riding is going to come from the bodyboard or sponge. Here’s an encouraging — and well done — video demonstrating spongeboard surfing can still be quite the adrenaline rush! 😀

Tech Friday: Vidly.com & “Mmm, mmm, mmm” indoctrination

| September 25, 2009

Since I’m becoming more and more anti-YouTube (partially my own doing), I’ve been tinkering with a couple other online video sharing sites. Vidly.com (or the shortened Vid.ly) is easy to use and has both a simple Twitter interface for phones, and an easy uploader tool while using the computer. Editing and organizing (tags, notes, etc) […]

World War II POW and B-17 Pilot Howard Claflin

| September 3, 2009

While talking with a long time client and friend Bruce Claflin about  the business climate, our conversation turned from that sour subject to our  families.  We both have close ties to living World War II USAF veterans and  have sons heading in a similar direction — AF ROTC. His son being older and finishing up […]

The comments of David William Hedrick need to be heard

| August 23, 2009

As the August recess for our congressional representatives draws to a close, the concerns of many Americans have been clearly and forcefully expressed in townhall meeting across the country. One such American expressed the growing opinion of many citizens regarding the change in government happening in our country.  David William Hedrick, a USMC veteran, expressed […]

Woodstock – trying to remember 40 years ago

| August 14, 2009

The word — the place — the music — the festival called Woodstock still evokes passion either ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ and the music, politics and lifestyle branded the generation who came of age in the 1960s.  The 40th anniversary of the three day concert in Bethel, New York takes place this weekend marking the event […]

Catching up on Geekbrief.tv on the Palm Pre

| June 14, 2009

Spending a busy weekend away from the computer, but found time to catch up on some tech updates on my Palm Pre. Really I’d prefer watching video on a big screen, but I was impress at how well I was able to watch a couple YouTube videos and episodes of Cali Lewis on Geekbrief.tv. Very […]

Just another recreational activity for college students

| May 28, 2009

How many hours does it take to record a 3 minute and 42 second YouTube video of college guys shooting ping pong balls into cups? Probably hours that could have been better used focused on higher education … but they now have a popular YouTube video to put on their resume … and who knows […]

A little history behind Twitter from a Kara & Walt D7 interview

| May 27, 2009

Day two of the All Things D D7 conference had Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher interviewing Evan Williams and Biz Stone of  Twitter. The short on stage sit down offered one of the better reviews both the history and future thinking behind this fast growing social networking company (watch your audio volume in embedded video […]

The Agenda with Steve Paiken on the social media tool Twitter

| May 17, 2009

So you want to understand Twitter? Here’s an excellent interview. VIDEO REMOVED An Internet friend of mine was on a panel of new media experts earlier this month with The Agenda with Steve Paiken. Mathew Ingram from The Globe & Mail,  Jay Rosen from NYU journalism professor, David Cohn Spot.us founder, and The Twitter Book […]

An anticipatory “pre” release Palm Pre video

| May 15, 2009

Note to self — don’t get excited just yet as the Palm Pre is NOT in the Sprint inventory. But seeing it being unboxed doesn’t help the anticipation factor.

Online video performers Rhett & Link here in SW Ohio

| May 14, 2009

I was disappointed last week to have missed seeing Rhett and Link in Fairfield Ohio while out of town on Thursday, but since then I’ve noticed them on several network news shows talking about a controversial  Red House Furniture video (my previous post).  I didn’t find the video all that offensive or really all that […]

Rumor: the Palm Pre may be released by Sprint on June 7th

| May 8, 2009

The MyPre website posted comments about a possible June 7th release of the Palm Pre. They pointed to an alleged leaked internal meeting agenda that will be taking place from June 3rd through June 5th. Historically June 7th has been a Sprint  launch day for new products. Also, according to the buzz in Palm Pre […]

Fun with Rhett & Link and iPhone app Leaf Trombone

| May 6, 2009

Short on time tonight, so here a YouTube comedy video from Rhett & Link that promotes an iPhone app called Leaf Trombone World Stage. They are best known for their internet videos and are self-proclaimed “Internetainers”. In addition to their web presence, Rhett & Link are also musicians and filmmakers, and have worked in network […]

Hot topic: H1N1 Flu and our health concerns

| May 1, 2009

Watching and archiving the hot topic and some better information as it relates to H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu is a misleading “pork” hindering name). Hopefully this pandemic will only lightly impact our population due to good planning and early information (see Google map in previous post) I do see over the top hype coming from […]

One year in 40 seconds video by Eirik Solheim

| April 24, 2009

While checking on our neighborhood gazebo project live webcam, I ran across a neat time lapse video by by Eirik Solheim — One year in 40 seconds. He has another one that covers a year in 2 minutes in his backyard in Norway, which I enjoyed as well. His 2009 should be of even higher […]

Type-A personality, EcoDriving and Road Rage

| April 18, 2009

I’m not a Type-A personality, nor do I frustrate easily, but that said, I do spend a significant amount of time on the road and appreciate being able to liberally use the throttle to get where I need to go … which in a diesel vehicle can still be pretty efficient. Thankfully, I haven’t noticed […]

Gazebo project slow due to rain

| April 14, 2009

EFE Gazebo Project on Monday April 13, 2009 We had a cold front roll through on Monday so there hasn’t been any progress on our neighborhood Gazebo. Of course the only reason I’m mentioning it is because I’ve set up my video camera and am running a ustream.tv streaming feed of the construction. Rainy and […]

Live ustream.tv gazebo project and streaming video

| April 10, 2009

The good news that yesterday the gazebo project moved ahead  as the pilings were sunk and cemented before the rain came. The bad news is that it is a damp day today, but ‘lo and behold‘  the construction crew is working this morning … according to the ustream.tv channel I’m broadcasting. Setting up a webcam […]

2009 Hennessey ZR1 Corvette standing mile video clip

| April 3, 2009

Even a frugal diesel guy like me can’t resist enjoying watching 705 HP of American steel (and fiberglass) do 185mph in standing mile “warm up run.”  That’s  flying.

NetFlix: The $2 a month debate

| April 2, 2009

I’ve been satisfied with Netflix since switching from Blockbuster Online for ‘mail delivered’ DVD and BluRay DVD movies. My wife and I generally watch one movie each week and have been comfortable with the service and choices available with the ‘one at a time’ subscription. Since we have a BluRay player, I opted for the […]

Parking skills featured on a couple FailBlog.org video clips

| 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 …

Terrafugia Transition runway test flight video

| 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 […]

A sheep herding online video worth sharing

| 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!

Topgear America’s project Sipster is coming along

| 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 […]

Portable, flexible but costly solar panel set-up

| 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 […]

The VW Jetta TDI or the popular Toyota Prius

| 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 […]

Is Sheep Belching contributing to the climate warming problem?

| 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 […]

Viral Video: web video clips that just take off …

| 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!

Morphing Presidents — impressive video

| February 2, 2009

A friend of mine forwarded some talented computer morphing work on flixxy.com. The video below starts with George Washington and morphs through to the 44th  President of the United States.

Easy pwnyoutube.com video downloader

| February 1, 2009

Here’s an interesting three letter  “pwn” technique that provides for a very easy way to download a YouTube clip that you might want to save.  The trick is to use the pwnyoutube.com site in a shortcut way by navigating to a YouTube video then putting the letters “pwn” in front of the “youtube” part of […]

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

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 […]

Brian Regan “Ironing Board” reenactment

| December 18, 2008

A few months ago my daughter and I enjoyed listening to comedian Brian Regan together. Since then, I’ve mentioned his reasonable clean comedy act (at least everything I have heard) to several friends who continue to point me to the audio and video segments that tickle their funny bone. I noticed a slew of Brian […]

Baby animals come in some pretty cute packages

| December 8, 2008

Those who find baby animals cute (and a miraculous creation) might enjoy these photos to music video. (Really it is just a second test of Twitterfeed to be sure it is working.)

TDIFest OH8 Road Rally Video

| September 1, 2008

I’m back dating a couple of blog entries so I can include a few photos and video from this past weekend — TDIFest OH8. Here’s a great video by TDIClub member “TeDeEye1” of the “timed drive” Road Rally: TDIFest OH8 Road Rally from Fred on Vimeo.

New Kubota ZD326s diesel ‘zero-turn’ mower

| July 26, 2008

After 23 years of mowing with our sturdy John Deere diesel tractor mower, we have finally succumb to the “keep up with the Jones” pressure of a new zero-turn style mower. The neighbor ladies referred to my wife as “the turtle” while mowing with the old slowpoke John Deere, even though it has continued to […]

Cellphone warnings again — with Video!

| July 25, 2008

Just when I thought I might not have time to post something on Friday, in comes an email from a friend with a video link too interesting to pass on (embedded below). The timely video clip ties to a new concern in the news this week over the dangers of cellphones. One such article was […]

Hometime touch up drywall tip

| April 27, 2008

I’ve been focused on multiple home repair and improvement projects this spring and am always looking for a quick way to make a repair and keep the mess to a minimum. I generally use the “empty box” under the repair technique when cutting or drilling drywall, but Dean Johnson from PBS’s Hometime suggested a sheet […]

Barack Obama Speech forwarded by Gene

| March 20, 2008

I was chastised by one of my friends who supports Senator Barack Obama who suggested that I relied only on news sound bites. He asked if I would “archive” the entire 37 minute speech delivered in Philadelphia on March 18, 2008? He forwarded to me so I’ll include it even though I suspect it is […]

The buzzards are back, but not on the radio

| March 16, 2008

Having lived in the Cleveland Ohio area for 13 years, and about 5 or so miles from Hinckley Ohio, I know what the “Turkey Vulture” means to this area … especially on March 15th. Each year the annual return of the buzzards to Buzzard Roost (State Rd. & West Drive – see map) in the […]

A Volkswagen TDI Van and the A-Team

| July 2, 2007

A bit of immaturity to start off the month of July and the lazy couple of days preceding the 4th of July Wednesday holiday. (Its really a week I should have scheduled a vacation, but then again about half of America will probably be doing that?) Remember the television series the A-Team? Here’s a little […]

Memorial Day 2007 and a Birthday Bash Video

| May 27, 2007

In remembrance of those who gave their lives for our country, I paused for a moment to retire our tattered flag and hoisted a new one. As a nation and a people we have so much … I thank God for our nation and for those who gave their lives to found, secure and protect […]

Happy ‘biodiesel’ Earth Day :-)

| April 22, 2007

Happy Earth Day … I guess that’s what you’re suppose to say? (click for larger macro photo of Tullip) It has been a beautiful couple of days in Cincinnati and I’ve been lax in posting and instead I’m getting the swimming pool opened, tuning up lawn equipment (fixing actually) and finishing a first compete grass […]

Final day at Delray Beach and then home :-(

| April 15, 2007

Closing out the week with a family photo and post after a safe flight home; it was a great week of ‘just’ family. I’ve been heavy on the personal memories this week, but I did want to archive a family photo the good time we had. For three us it was just the sunshine, relaxation, […]

Are GM vehicles known for fuel economy?

| April 4, 2007

A segment on the FoxNews program The O’Reilly Factor caught my eye last night in discussing American automobiles. Mark Laneve, Vice President of Sales for General Motors, was interviewed and promoted the fuel efficiency of GM’s vehicles. He presented the case that GM has been gaining ground and has passed their rivals in building cars […]

Donna Lange crosses the equator

| March 10, 2007

Donna Lange, circumnavigating solo sailor, has hit two milestones this week. First she crossed her outbound track, which legitimately means she has rounded the world in her 28 foot sailboat, and second, in today’s news … she crossed the equator again … going north this time. She posts to her log daily and the updates […]

Surfing the Banzai Pipeline … kinda

| March 4, 2007

Haven’t posted a video clip for a few days and thought I would post this one for Taylor — he would rather be one of these rats. (Does PETA regulate rats?)

Beta Testing of Sling for Palm OS devices

| February 28, 2007

I’ve been signed up, but not been offered a beta of the Slingplayer Palm OS software to install on my Palm Treo 700p … would like to give it a try though. For those of you unfamiliar with the Slingbox/SlingPlayer, its a hardware device that plugs into your computer network and broadcast your television signal […]

FutureCar episode on Discovery Channel

| February 27, 2007

According to the Treehugger website, the Discovery Channel will air a FutureCar episode on Wednesday, February 28th … it might be worth recording. One of the cars worth considering is the Opel Eco Speedster. Its a concept car, but shows just was a sleek high performance diesel is capable of doing. The powerplant is a […]

Biodiesel Man: Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs

| February 12, 2007

Discovery Channel will be rebroadcasting the Bio-diesel Man episode on the program “Dirty Jobs” with Mike Rowe. Tune in on either February 13th at 9PM, February 14th at 1AM or February 17 at 1PM. Part One and Two: Removed from YouTube 🙁

Jimmy Buffett: sails thru 60

| January 14, 2007

As an original “before the salt” Jimmy Buffett fan, I’m embarrassed to have missed his 60th birthday — I was there in the 1970s and have the original vinyl albums to prove it … along with books and concert memories — right Jeff? (am I getting that old?). Anyway, happy belated birthday Bubba. 😀 Time […]

Protected: Personal Video Sharing

| December 27, 2006

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

“Holy Daedalus, Batman!”

| December 21, 2006

Is Yves Rolly a modern day Icarus or perhaps Batman? Maybe not, but when I heard about this “winged man” and his jet powered strap-on wing, all I could think about were the dreams of man flying like birds. Yves Rolly has figured it out and built a set of powered folding wings to strap […]

VW TDI “How-To” Cabin Filter preview

| December 20, 2006

I finally pulled some 3 month old VW TDI “How-To” footage off the camera and encoded it last night before going to bed. I haven’t had a chance to put fresh eyes on it or even watch it through, so before I post it to the CinciTDI video section, perhaps a couple Volkswagen TDI oriented […]

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