Halfway through election day, with record turnout across the U.S., it looks as if everything is moving Barack Obama’s way. From the Democrats early work in “get out the vote” efforts in registering first time voters, to mistakes made by the Bush administration in handling foreign policy, to the 6 years that the Republican controlled […]
I wonder just how many lawsuits we’ll see popping up around the nation in the coming month? ACORN sued on behalf of Warren County voters “The right to cast a vote that is not diluted by fraudulent votes is a fundamental individual right,” Buckeye Institute President David Hansen said. “ACORN appears to be recklessly disregarding […]
The comments and opinions posted on My Desultory Blog belong to Rich Corbett and are to be taken subjectively. I have spent most of my career working in the printing and publishing industry, both in the traditional “ink on paper” world and electronic Internet based environment — Linkedin profile. After college (Undergrad: Ohio Northern University, […]
I wanted to archive a couple keyboard shortcuts pertaining to trademarks and copyright symbols when keyboarding at the computer. Not many people outside the printing and publishing world know about keystroke combinations that can be used for special symbols. (Note: If you are using a reduced keyboard –ie. a notebook computer without a separate numeric […]
The dealer demo TDIs have been slow to arrive to Cincinnati area dealerships, but today did get a chance to head over to Fairfield VW and test drive the new 2009 Jetta ‘clean diesel.’ Its basically the same body (A5) that has been part of the VW Jetta line up for a couple of years […]
www.goodcleandieselfun.com The new Volkswagen TDI diesels are beginning to show up around the U.S. and orders are being taken at dealerships now for the 2009 models. I’ll also mention that a good place to talk diesel would be the 2008 TDIFest in Mason, Ohio over Labor Day weekend (Registration info and Conference Hotel info). The […]
A friend passed along a USAToday article with Google’s Matt Cutts. He didn’t unveil any shocking secrets from the search giant, but offered up some pretty common sense advice: If you haven’t “optimized” your site, here’s how: 1. Spotlight your search term on the page. “Think about what people are going to type in to […]
I was asking a question about raccoons in my prior post and figure it might be the perfect opportunity to talk about an interesting cellphone/text messaging service — ChaCha. The FREE service requires that you register your email address and cellphone number with ChaCha and uses “human” researchers, called “guides,” to text back an answer […]
This past weekend my son and I went to freshman orientation at the University of Akron in preparation for his fall semester. The The full day started at 7:45 and ended at 4:30, but the time was well spent in that he’s registered for fall classes and nearly ready to start … and high school […]
Back in 2006 I had a chance to test drive an all-electric “high performance” 3 wheel vehicle manufactured by Myers Motors in Tallmadge Ohio. I drove it on the public roads without a special endorsement, but the Cleveland Plain Dealer has reported that the Ohio DMV currently has a problem licensing them for Ohio road […]
SpaceShipOne (see post for photos) provided the X-Prize momentum that will give the adventurous, and wealthy, traveler an opportunity to fly into space … at least that’s Sir Richard Branson’s plan. The final design launch vehicle, White Knight Two was announced yesterday in New York and will be built by Scaled Composites in California under […]
It has a been a challenging weekend as I’ve just heard that a good friend John McCarter, his wife, and two friends lost their lives in an airplane accident probably on their way to lunch near Lake Erie. (something he would regularly do) In talking with John over the past few weeks, he was excited […]
Have you changed your brake fluid lately? On most if not all TDIs, VW recommends that you change your brake fluid every 2 year regardless of mileage. So with that in mind, how about getting together on Saturday, September 22, 2007 with your fellow TDI owners and helping each other with a brake bleeding? (9AM […]
Today in Cincinnati (5/22) the price of gasoline is starting to “faze” folks. The spike in gas prices is the talk at nearly every stop I’ve made today. By afternoon, most stations boosted prices 30 cents for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline. It was averaging about $3.18 and is now easily $3.49. (some stations […]
It is nice to be able to take pride in one’s alma mater and with the Ohio Northern University robotics team winning the “2007 Robot of the Year” award, its just enough to be a little boastful. Believe it or not, way back when … when I was a polar bear trudging across the ‘tundra […]
For those of you keeping up with circumnavigating sailor Donna Lange (plots/log daily on right sidebar), she has had stronger than expected winds … along with larger seas. Her little 28 foot boat continues to pound it way along, logging well over 100 nautical miles each day. (116 nm yesterday) This speed puts her several […]
Several years ago while living and working in a suburb of Akron, I made the acquaintance of Dr. Warner Mendenhall, Jr. (but he’s the senior for this post) … I did some work on his mayoral campaign. Besides being a kindred spirit in our ability to discuss sailing, he was a good customer and became […]
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, […]
Americans for all our lauded democracy, have notoriously been a lazy bunch when it comes to getting to the polls to vote. This year there is perhaps more anger and splits in how successfully the bunch in Washington (and locally) are running our country, but I wonder just how angry most Americans are? According to […]
Labor Day also marks another annual event — TDIFest. Most likely if you know what a TDIFest is this post will not be worth reading … you were either their or have been following the 2006 event online. For those of you still following, the TDIFest is the annual gathering of Volkswagen Turbo Direct Injected […]
Traveling through Columbus, Ohio yesterday I missed the hubbub on Interstate I-70, but even caught up in it would have been as clueless as the police. On after a chase, resisting arrest and physical cuffing did police realize they had the former star Ohio State tailback Maurice Clarett in their custody. As an article in […]
While attending a graduation party this weekend the initial subject of “the weather sure is nice,” gave way to “the cheesecake is good” and to the high price of gasoline. While attempting to skirt the issue I did not say that perhaps we own too many SUVs or that “Americans are gas hogs,” — no […]
An interesting segment on the PBS program Motorweek compared the driving style of two very different drivers. One driver was Henry Kopacz, one of the program’s staff test drivers who has a heavier foot and simulated an aggressive driving technique. The other was the director of the US Department of Energy’s Clean Cities program, Dennis […]
Great reason to drive a great car: For the 9th year, BMW and the Susan G. Kormen Breast Cancer Foundation have teamed up to support breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment. All you have to do to help is test drive one of the special BMW’s on Oct 4th. Just choose your favorite BMW […]
Wolfsburg, 12 September 2005 posted in the AutoSpectator Volkswagen will present a series of new models including sixteen world and motor show premieres at the 61st International Motor Show in Frankfurt (IAA). The highlights include the debut of the new Eos cabriolet/coupé, the Golf R32, the Golf GT TDI and the Golf GT and Touran […]
I’m probably not the only one, but I’m addicted to tech ‘gadgets,’ no … let me correct that … any ‘gadget.’ I have this insane weakness for interesting new toys. They are most definitely ‘wants,’ but not necessarily ‘needs;’ a lecture my kids hear far too often. Is it a ‘need’ or a ‘want?’ The […]
I’m always looking to build a better mousetrap … like replacing our petroleum diesel fuel with biodiesel. With oil prices over $50/barrel, biodiesel is in the news almost everyday. Obviously some big dollars from American soybean growers have boosted the farm lobbies and politicians are finding out that supporting renewable homegrow alternatives to foriegn oil […]