With a $25 coupon about to expire, I decided to buy a new pair of grippy Sperry SeaRacer Sneakers. These boat shoes were not exactly what I expected as they were much lighter in weight and lighter in construction than any “sneaker” I’ve ever had. In fact, they were almost wimpy. But … after wearing […]
While helping my son bone up for an interview for a planning job west of the Mississippi … and well north too, he began reading a bit of information on the county so he can at least talk intelligently with the interviewer. He researched the area, included cities and towns, geography, political make up, culture […]
I’ve been accused of knowing a little about a lot of things, but not very much about anything. This becoming exceedingly clear when it comes to understanding automotive air conditioning systems and I’ve been getting quite frustrated. The first hurdle is getting over the “leave that to the pros” and “it is illegal to […]
Far be it from me to offer up medical advice … as I’m not a doctor nor do I play one on the Internet, but I have found a few solutions that seem to help Osteoarthritis (OA) and the associated stiffness and pain coming from my knee. A little bit of history: Ten years ago, […]
Jacksonville, Florida beachgoers (although it is a bit cold for swimming) have had a large visitor named Mary Lee the last few days. I seems a 16-1/2 foot 3500 pound great white shark has been wandering very close to shore. Ocearch, a shark research group, has tagged and is tracking “Mary Lee” on a website […]
After receiving plenty of election oriented phone calls this year, it is time to purge all my phone numbers from the public roles … something I thought I had been doing for years — obviously not! An area overlooked my some is the increasingly popular way to share address and phone number data with contacts […]
Said tongue in cheek, just to be clear … Without big government, individuals and their businesses couldn’t build anything, according to President Obama. I suspect if he had his way we’d even have more government funded federal programs and bureaucratic agencies to oversee innovative and productivity. (Wake up America … take a look at how […]
There are a few "experiments" happening at the state level in our nation which if talked about might open a few eyes to the benefits of less government as well as more freedom for individuals as the model for our country. Florida Governor Rick Scott (and Governor Perry from Texas by phone) did a pretty […]
Yes, according to a news release from Colombia, Maryland’s New Energy Technologies, Inc. Unfortunately I still think we are faced with the “it is a drop in the bucket” producer of electricity in comparison to what we Americans use … not to mention the cost of windows. Still, it is interesting to explore the advancements […]
I’m not sure how the NOAA models forecast the hurricane season but Adminstrator Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D. predicts a “less active season compared to recent years. I was assuming that will the warmer spring and mild winter that thre U.S. would be seeing more named storms? Go figure? For the entire six-month season, which begins […]
Interesting article with perhaps a slightly bias option … but in an article today Bosch projects that by 2015 one in ten new cars sold in the U.S. will be powered by a diesel engine. … data from CNW Research says that with greater awareness of new clean diesels, and a lower cost premium for […]
http://www.getpocket.com ReadItLater.com is/was one of the better services for saving web pages for later reading or archive research. I’ve used a couple different services over the year on the computer, but have found the new ReadItLater better than most — and the free services is excellent. It is now called Pocket (getpocket.com) and has an […]
In the late 60s and 70s, polyester clothing was popular (think leisure suits) and plastics were making their way in to products that were traditionally made of natural materials. Back then, we would joke about ranchers herding up the wild “Naugas” to fill the demand for naugahyde (the pleather of the day). But the fake […]
Against my inner voice telling me not to bother, I wrote to my congressmen yesterday regarding the Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA). There are areas that I agree with and understand, but also way too many areas that will impact what most of us appreciate about the Internet. As written, […]
I knew reflecting on the tenth year anniversary of 9/11 was going to be difficult to capture in a single blog post — I have been mulling what to archive. Watching the names scroll by on FoxNews coverage on 9/11/2011 The obvious would be to reflect on those Americans who were killed and are the […]
A friend of mine and I discussed buying tickets for a couple of upcoming trips which included flights and rental cars this past week and neither one of us were convinced we picked up the cheapest tickets or were able to find decent rates for renting a car in July. We bounced our shopping sites […]
With the upcoming royal wedding in England, I began thinking a little more about our genealogy again. A couple years ago, I used the limited free access to Ancestry.com to do a little history on my family tree. While doing it, I had a chance to connect with a few other distant family members by […]
The next big Google thing? Not wanting to fall too far behind leading social sharing sites (primarily Facebook), Google is rolling out it’s new socially connected experiment they are calling “+1.” The new “+1” button is an opt-in service and will permit socially connected users to give their stamp of approval to a search results, […]
If the new 2012 Volkswagen Passat isn’t up to your family hauling duty, then perhaps a new “van” will be up to the task. VW Big Profits, Microbus A Go The Volkswagen Group is thriving in the post-recession global market and announced the largest profit and revenue in the company’s history, while a European publication […]
I particularly liked the new advertising coming to my email from HP above … nice! (I’m also including the specs and a couple hands-on first-look videos from Engadget below) Hands-on video from Engadget: [flv:engadget_2478.flv 490 280] Touch-to-shere demo: [flv:engadget_2481.flv 490 280] Press Release: HP TouchPad Brings webOS to the Big Screen First webOS tablet works […]
The gurus at WordPress.org have tweaked their programming code and issued an Important Security Update. Take note if you are self-hosted WordPress user and update your install as soon as possible. Version 3.0.4 of WordPress, available immediately through the update page in your dashboard or for download here, is a very important update to apply […]
Although I’ve used a few different online dictionaries over the years, I’ve concluded that using a program called WordWeb is better than all the cookies, flash cookies and beacons. According to a WSJ article this summer, sites like Dictionary.com were pretty intrusive. More than half of the sites examined by the Journal installed 23 or […]
Although including politically oriented subject matter on my blog is divisive, it is still something that “we” talk about in our daily grind so I’ll still continue to include a few pointed posts. I’d like to think that with November 2nd is behind us we’ll see a year or so of productive governing in Washington […]
Let’s not forget those who continue to serve in Afghanistan … be they our troops or those from coalition countries. As I watched this video posted in , it is a reminder just how dangerous a job they do for us. Thank you. A BRITISH soldier sprawls in the dust with his face bloodied after […]
Including a Posterous.com update from my car groups local website. I’ve been wanting to try linking in this way to see how well Posterous reposts. The popular automotive website Autoblog has put the 2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Street Edition in their long-term garage and will be posting on their findings over the coming months. […]
An article in AutoblogGreen highlighted some positive research on developing a greener diesel fuel.or really an additive that improves petroleum diesel fuel. According to the article, Michael Boot, a doctoral student and researcher from Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (TU/e) in the Netherlands, calls this new fuel Cyclox. It’s actually a blend of petroleum diesel and 10% […]
The topics posted here are far from the recommended ‘single subject focused’ blogs written to purposely attract readers, yet despite this lack of professional focus, the site still gets read. My Desultory Blog manages to generate close to 10,000 unique IP accesses each month and 10 GB of data transferred. One of the most surprising […]
I’m a couple days late in commenting on the newly released Facebook application for the Palm webOS smartphones, but wanted to mention that it has been significantly improved. If you are a Facebook user, or even a newbie, the enhancements available for the Pre and Pixi make the popular social networking site almost worth using. […]
After reading an article by Kathleen Hughes in this weekend’s WSJ, I just couldn’t help myself in reminiscing about where I grew up … they were wonderful memories for me – I couldn’t have asked for a better childhood. Nevertheless, noting the comment about digitally visiting home, I “re-experienced” memories from my childhood taking the […]
With my daughter at home for a couple weeks while doing an M3 year “exploratory” at Children’s Hospital here in Cincinnati, I had the chance to use her new Barnes and Noble Nook to read a book. After the newness wore off and the expense of paying for digital ebooks and publications took hold, I’ve […]
The Dow Jones Industrials moved down over 270 points on Thursday as the economy stumbles yet again despite the promises of recovery from those spending taxpayer dollars in Washington. The move from equities by investors and traders is likely due to a rise in U.S. unemployment claims (up 8000 last week or 480,000 new claims) […]
On Saturday, Clayton, Ohio hunter Brian Stephens will know “officially” if the buck he shot with a muzzleloader on November 30th 2009 is one for the record books. (photo above is Brian, the buck and a coyote) Without question the “green” scored 232 5/8 non-typical whitetail deer taken in Highland County Ohio is one big […]
Wayne Meretsky shares the “Loss of Moonduster“ We arrived in Savusavu, Fiji, on Monday, November 23, after a fairly uneventful 3-day passage from Tonga. Our goal was to spend a month cruising the western Yasawa Islands before leaving from Lautoka around Christmas to arrive in New Zealand early in the New Year. After a week […]
Who doesn’t enjoy a Palm Pre cellphone sunset photo? I’ll start with something simple that sooths my aching head … a beautiful winter sunset in Cincinnati Ohio (photo above) … and conclude with a very short comment regarding our Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter (EAA284) meeting on Sunday – one that had a subject over my […]
There were quite a few improvements made in the Palm webOS 1.3.1 update, but not all are going to be helpful on my Palm Pre smartphone. One benefit is that Yahoo users will see synergy improvements, including the calendar. Another feature being waited for is improved SMS messaging … particularly forwarding and copying of messaging. […]
Great tip from Paul Thurrott of winsupersite.com about shopping with Microsoft’s new bing.com websearch tool. Besides being a Google challenging search tool, it can also save/make you some money. You’ll need to sign up for ‘cashback’ using a Windows ID email (ie. live.com), but by using the impressive search website and associated vendors (huge list), […]
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, […]
According to a WSJ article in Monday’s paper, the Chinese company BYD is demonstrating their new F3DM which runs off batteries today. This “EV” can be charged from a regular electrical outlet and will be marketed to cab operators and other potential fleet customers. They plan to have their all-electric vehicle in showrooms in China […]
I’ve posted a few times on the social networking/micro-blogging tool called Twitter. This inspired a reader to send me his favorite Firefox add-on and an excellent Twitter related website that is worth sharing. First is the Pingfire (Ping.fm) Firefox add-on which isn’t working on my VistaOS notebook (surprise, surprise) and the other, a search tool […]
Although I’ve installed IE7, Firefox and Safari browsers on my Vista OS Notebook, I was curious to see just how Google Chrome would compare. It surely is a simple install and quickly handled a variety of initial websurfing tasks. I enjoyed the out of the box minialist look and feel and loved getting back some […]
Although I don’t watch reality TV programming including “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” or even read our local papers’ opinion letters, my daughter thought enough of the letter to the editor below to mention it to me. I’m unsure if it was the political content or the fact that her roommate is from Poland, but it […]
Palm better get their act together with a new high end Treo because Research In Motion introduced their new Blackberry Bold today. They seem to be catching up with Apple’s iPhone although some say Apple is prepping for the gen-2 iPhone … still they suffer from not having a dedicated tactual keyboard. There might still […]
Now that Apple’s excellent Safari 3.1 Browser for the PC is out of beta, I figured it was time to give it a try … and its fast — faster than IE and Firefox in my quick look at surfing through sites. Apple’s promotional graphics seem to show the same thing too. (below) I’m not […]
I’m probably not the one to listen to when it comes to dealing with “spam,” that’s obvious if you glance at my ‘junk’ email address box (left) … yet here are a couple that might be helpful in keeping a primary email inbox clean. Caveat: My advice is not heavily researched, nor has it eliminated […]
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 […]
A friend of mine who knows I have a daughter in college and a son on the way, sent me an email with an interesting “Dead Grandmother/Exam Syndrome and the Potential Downfall Of American Society” study by Mike Adams. The original was from some years ago, but is probably still accurate and an enjoyable read. […]
LiveFuels Inc. is an alliance of scientists expecting to make algae ‘biocrude’ a viable biodiesel oil source by 2010. They believe if the Manhattan Project took only 3 years that their project can be done in 4 years. The alliance is being lead by Sandia National Laboratories, a U.S. Department of Energy Nation Laboratory and […]
I suspect that most active DIGG users know that the popular social bookmarking site which has popularized rating stories by Internet surfers continues to expand. For those that don’t, here’s a great intro from Kevin Rose (founder) that previews a few of the new expanded list of features. Lots of new changes coming to Digg! […]
I’ve been participating in a discussion in our CinciTDI Yahoo group over the concern that food crops a being used for fuels … particularly as it relates to biodiesel. With the demand for soybeans (and corn for ethanol) rising, these two staple food and feed crops are returning higher prices per bushel. This is good […]
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 […]
Picked up a great tech tip this past week from the CommandN.TV’s video blog: the Jing Project, which is currently free. (I suspect it will eventually be ‘pay for’ since it is from TechSmith) Basically its an advanced screen capture tool which offers the simple ability to share what is on your screen with others […]
Those of you who have been following Earthrace and looking for updates like me, might have wondered what’s happening? (no updates for several day until today) I’ve noted that they suffered problems with an engine and would be coming in for repairs, but never suspected the news would be so grim. Unfortunately on March 18 […]
As the momentum builds toward the Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon 2007, teams from twenty universities are ‘gearing’ up (poor engineering humor) towards the goal of designing, building, and operating a highly energy-efficient, completely solar-powered house. The judging will take place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., October 3 – 22, 2007 and be […]
Last month I included a blog post on an autobiographical book by Daniel Tammet; he is a unique 27 year old Autistic Savant living in England. (Born on a Blue Day) He seems to have a normal functioning personality and understands the curiosity people have with his unique talents. Most who here him have an […]
Two posts for the price of one today … this one is for movie and automotive lovers. The story came from Digg.com and has been ‘dugg’ almost 4000 times. I wonder how many redirects? Anyway, if you remember the “Back to the Future” movie (who doesn’t) and Doc Brown’s DeLorean ‘time machine’ adaptation, try searching […]
I was hesitant about a site designed to cross reference known stolen ids with personal private information after a friend sent me a StolenIDsearch link, but thankfully he include a Dark Reading article that eased my concern. After reading it, I felt a little less skeptical and as you probably guessed just could help myself. […]
Joost Beta software and web application: Admittedly I don’t know enough about the technology being used in this Beta-only trial or if Joost is going to fly or not, but I know enough to say I’m interested in trying it. Two big names behind this project (originally called The Venice Projectâ„¢) are Niklas Zennstrom and […]
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, […]
Rummors have been floated recently that internet powerhouse Google is looking to buy online video company YouTube. (see Businessweek) Like MySpace, the #3 destination on the Internet, YouTube has exploded onto the Internet scene as one of the top ten sites (see US Top Ten) on the web and most likely the largest bandwidth user. […]
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 […]
Today’s blog post is a little off the wall, but considering my father retired from the elevator business after 45 ‘up and down’ years … (groan … one) I thought he would appreciate me taking this topic to the ‘next level.’ (groan … two) If you can still bear to keep reading, the idea of […]
I’ve waited a week to post my concerns about the sport of rugby which is growing quickly in the United States. (far more popular in other countries) My son is a sophomore and this is his first year on the team which is comprised of students from a couple different local high schools. Rugby is […]
I’m reluctant to post a message before hearing from Citgo Petroleum Corporation on an email making its way around the internet that generates strong emotions from most I’ve shown it too. (see posted email at the end of this post) The company (Citgo) is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of […]
The EPA is planning new fuel economy tests that will affect 2008 model year vehicles. Rating on the window stickers of hybrids like the successful Toyota Prius will most likely take the biggest hit. Hybrids will look far worse than they are currently being advertised … according to some automotive experts, up to 30% worse. […]
BitTorrent and the MPAA have come to an agreement that may prevent future legal action against the file sharing network. Unfortunately it will make searching even more of a challenge but will cut the illegal use of the popular and growing peer to peer file sharing service. MPAA’s problem with bittorrent is that many users […]
A123 is a “geek-name” that comes from a mathematical formula describing the interaction between nano-scale materials. It was then used to name a company based out of Watertown, MA founded by an MIT professor. A123 Systems has developed new lithium-ion battery that is more powerful and has a lighter weight than existing batteries; perhaps only […]
With all of the devistation and sad news coming from the Gulf Coast after Katrina made landfall this morning, I needed something to make me smile. I’m going to include a humorous post from the TDIClub that only fellow members will appreciate. Thanks Ron Tamondong for the cute 2003 thread “How many tdiclub members does […]
A friend of mine pointed me to a great site from a journalist pertaining to all things automotive. Frank Giovinazzi is the publisher of Car Buyer’s Notebook and a companion Podcast site. He is easy to listen to in his short daily podcasts and works hard to write intriguing articles. His podcasts on biodiesel caught […]
I’ve experienced my share of idenity theft and ‘thought’ I was savy to what information I was going to share again. Unfortunately when doing practically anything online, there is very little privacy. Most people believe that the first step is to only do business with established and reputable companies, but are surprised at what is […]