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 […]

Glued to the news of a “tragedy on Mt. Hood”

| December 18, 2006

As another day passes and a new day of searching begins, the nation waits for news from rescue efforts on Mt. Hood. Yesterday (Sunday), was the first clear day of searching since the wicked storms battered the Pacific Northwest, and one of the 3 missing climbers was found, unfortunately not alive, in a snow cave. […]

Discussion follow up: Tire Pressure Monitoring

| December 16, 2006

In our local CinciTDI Volkswagen car club, this past week we had a discussion on ‘tire pressure monitoring.’ I’m not sure all of the answers were correct, but found it interesting that Pat Goss of Motorweek had a segment about it in this weeks program. Although I didn’t find the comments as complete as the […]

Saving YouTube video clips to your computer

| December 14, 2006

I was asked if there was a way that someone could save videos from the popular video serving site YouTube and the answer is yes. About 6 months ago as I used a screen capture utilities like TechSmith’s Camtasia Studio (version 4 is the current release), but … recently I found that there are much […]

The ol’ Scared Pepper Experiment

| November 29, 2006

My son came home and demonstrated the “scared pepper” — surface tension of water experiment today. I’m not sure I fully understand the ‘science’ behind the dish washing soap and water, but from an offset printing background we depend on surface tension and even enhance it with isopropyl alcohol or a substitute to dampen aluminum […]

Lock Bumping: How secure is your home?

| November 28, 2006

One advantage of a “desultory” blog is that there are very few topics too far out to blog on. Last night I caught a ‘news teaser’ from local Cincinnati television station WXIX talking about “Lock Bumping” and have included the short segment at the bottom of this post. (or check it out on YouTube) Hmm, […]

Senator John Kerry … strike two …

| November 1, 2006

Oh … its getting hot in the political kitchen as John Kerry fires up the Republicans with comments made on October 30th as we near the November elections. Senator Kerry used a few words yesterday that either were not carefully selected, or he just poorly communicated his point — strike one. Nevertheless, his damage control […]

Be careful when Orca watching by kayak

| September 18, 2006

Considering I’m behind in getting up today’s post and haven’t posted a video clip recently … today’s post will be a clip served up over at Google Videos (at bottom). Besides including of one of my favorite sea mammals, the Orca or Killer Whale (I worked with Shamu at Sea World many years ago), the […]

Fireworks – Riverfest Cincinnati 2006

| September 3, 2006

If you’ve ever been around Cincinnati, Ohio on Labor Day weekend you most likely have seen (or at least heard of) the annual fireworks display. This year was the 30th year and the display was better than ever. It was 45 minutes of mind-boggling color, smoke and noise. In Cincinnati, you know what fireworks are […]

Honda Element Commercial: “I Pinch …”

| August 27, 2006

Every once in a while I enjoy posting something that tickles my funny bone. The Crab vs. Element clip is definitely a cute 30 second commercial. Honda would be smart to bring the creative Element and Friends TV “Crab” TV commercial to a few select markets … if not nationwide. I think it would be […]

Vacation book choice: Talking Right

| July 31, 2006

I’m looking for a light reading book for my upcoming vacation. Geoffrey Nunberg’s book, Talking Right, might just be the ticket. It looks humorous enough to keep the reading light, but topical enough to hold my interest. I’m open for opinions and will offer a few tidbits if they are worthy after our family vacation. […]

Addicted to Oil

| July 22, 2006

Dylan Ratigan of CNBC hosted a special last week that I recorded

HHO Gas from Water Power Promo Video

| June 23, 2006

In May I posted a story on “Water Power for you car” and received a few comments and couple of emails wanting more information. I attempted to dig for a bit more and sent an email to the developer. I was sent a promotional video clip that is included below. Basically the equipment was designed […]

VW A4 Headlight Replacement

| June 14, 2006

I know several readers of this blog are also Volkswagen TDI owners that come from a variety of diesel and biodiesel groups. The local club, CinciTDI, that I participate continues to create “How To” video clips that help with TDI related maintenance and modifications. I’m sitting on couple new “how to’s” and need to get […]

The Jeep Liberty CRD is Dead

| June 7, 2006

I just drove the Jeep Liberty diesel (again) last week and was planning to make some comments on the vehicle … unfortunately a blog post in AutoBlogGreen mentioned that the Detroit News indicated Daimler Chrysler would be killing the CRD. According to the articles, the new tougher federal emissions standards coming next year make it […]

The 1903 Wright Brother’s Engine

| June 4, 2006

Terry Hessler of Hessler Machine Tool gave an interesting lecture and then demonstrated his detail study and reproduction of an early Wright Brothers aircraft engine. His endeavor was covered on a History Channel TV special and DVD detailing the Wright Brother’s technology and first flight. We learned not only that Charles Taylor, the builder of […]

Twister Movie Commercial: DirecTV again

| May 20, 2006

I don’t own a DirecTV system, nor am I a shareholder … but I do appreciate their new advertising campaign. I posted a comment about a DirecTV commericial (Ferris Bueller) a couple of days ago, but just spotted another pretty funny one tonight while watching a news program. Maybe its not quite as good as […]

Palm Treo 700p first look

| May 18, 2006

Mobility Today video taped a first look at the Treo 700p as they somehow got there hands on a new PDA smartphone. If you are at all interesting in a Treo device and what it can do, check out the the video clip that David Ciccone put together. It is mirrored at several locations so […]

Pentagon 9/11 Video Released

| May 16, 2006

Under the Freedom of Information Act, the complete video taken by two video security cameras was release on May 16. The images show a hijacked airliner slamming into the Pentagon that were used in an ongoing investigation involving Zacarias Moussaoui. The government refused to release the video until after the trial. The still images from […]

Teacher/Student relationships

| May 12, 2006

It’s amazing to me that with all the recent news coverage that any teacher thinking about having relationships or inproperly interacting with students could still allow it to happen, let alone encourage it. Teachers certainly know better and shockingly are not showing judgement worthy of their position of trust. It hit pretty close to home […]

Desultory Items: Brain Port and Rugby

| April 25, 2006

Two totally different topics … “Brain Port” as described at MSNBC and a personal video. (humor me) First, a concept and device that was introduced 30 years ago by Dr. Paul Bach-y-Rita at the University of Wisconsin; it is know as “Brain Port.” Originally it was a video camera that routed images through electrodes to […]

VW Jetta Safe Happens Ad: Effective?

| April 24, 2006

I spotted a Volkswagen Jetta advertisement that reminds me of the Volvo ads … stressing safety.An accident can happen at anytime and that selecting a car that is light and fuel efficient might not always be the wisest choice. Realizing just how much I spend on insurance “just in case” … perhaps a few dollars […]

Windows on a Mac: The Movie

| April 19, 2006

Someone asked me a bunch of questions about running Windows XP Pro on a Intel based Mac, so instead of just answering them, I’ll include a video clip. Several of the questions were about boot speed and comparisons, while others were general install comments. The video clip should cover the speed issue and differences in […]

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