My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on February 23, 2014

Ocean and marine life preservation is a noble cause and something I’ve supported and have been part of since the 1970’s, but I’m not fond of sending misleading messages.

The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s ecommerce “shop” website is using an attention getting image (artwork) portraying a diver swimming face to face with a Great White Shark … an encounter few would advise. There are better ways to promote research, tracking and awareness than including this kind of image considering what thrill seekers might take away from such an image (we already have enough “unprovoked” shark attacks).

Category: Education, Environment | 5 Comments »
Tags: conservation, Education, Environment, ocean, sharks

Posted By RichC on February 22, 2014

A friend of mine sent me a great Wired article  this week that twisted together sailing, aviation and robotic technology … very interesting? There are driverless cars and military drones, but Richard Jenkins has plugged a brain into a high-tech sailboat called Honey Badger, kind of a big high-tech Snoopy Sloop … see my 2012 post.

Richard Jenkins started his career drafting boats in New England and detoured creating land-based sailing crafts with one called the Greenbird which broke land-windpowered records by “sailing” 126mph. The story continues seeing Jenkins connecting with Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin in a “kite design project” and returning to boat design using the unique “wing with with a tail” design used on Greenbird. Jenkins designed a 19 foot Saildrone with an onboard computer controlling the sail and navigation. The sailboat has already completed a trip from California to Hawaii and now has more ambitious voyages planned.

Jenkins realized that the wing he’d evolved for the Greenbird would be perfect on an oceangoing drone. Its tail simplified the process of sailing so much that even a robot could handle it. The bot would need only three moving parts: the elevator-like tab on the tail, the rudder, and the free-rotating wing itself. What’s more, only two of those parts—the tail tab and the rudder—would need power. A few off-the-shelf solar panels would provide more than enough. Jenkins knew from long experience that the fewer parts there were, the fewer parts there were to break.

LINK

Category: Sailing, Technology, Video | No Comments »
Tags: drone, saiboat, saildrone, sailing, wired

Posted By RichC on February 21, 2014

Have you ever clicked the “send” button after typing a Gmail and realized you forgot to include something or made a mistake? Maybe addressed the email wrong … or written something that you regret saying?

Well Google Labs has a simple, but limited way, to “unSend” that email IF you enable the Undo Send Lab and use Gmail from the browser. It can give you up to 30 seconds* to “Undo” the send (depending on your settings*). Give it a try.

1. Click the gear icon gear in the top right.
2. Select Settings.
3. Click the Labs tab.
4. Find the "Undo Send" lab and select the Enable radio button.
5. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

Select the amount of time you have to undo sending a message by clicking the gear icon, and finding the "Undo Send:" section in the General tab of your Settings.

Category: Computer, Technology | 1 Comment »
Tags: email, gmail, google, labs, techfriday, undo, unsend

Posted By RichC on February 20, 2014

Those who are regular readers of My Desultory Blog realize that besides posting commentary on newsy items, be it tech, cars, aviation, politics or whatever, that I also include personal entries and photos relating to my family. This blog, now 4000 posts, is a continuation of a journal that I started in 1977 as a way to improve (fell short) and become more comfortable putting words to paper. Those entries (now these “posts”) were and are a place to record the things that cross my mind at a particular moment in time. The early paper based journals had “fancy” covers (I’m chuckling as I look at the photo above) that illustrated my lifetime passion for sailing and desire to live a somewhat unconventional lifestyle, at least that was the plan before I met Brenda. About as close as I came to exploring the world by sailboat was living on our first boat Brenich, pre-kids in the 1980s.

Now that things are digital, it is much easier to include photos and video than when journaling to paper, but occasionally I sandwiched a few snapshots (often black and white) between the pages … or clipped articles from the newspaper. Take a look at this clipping from an early Jimmy Buffett/J.D. Souther Miami University Concert Board page with the “outrageously priced” tickets: $6.50 and $7.50!

I personally found that one of the more interesting additions to my early journals were the “road trips” taken with my college friends. Besides noting observations that are somewhat embarrassing, I recorded all the costs we shared to take our many inexpensive trips. From my freshman year in college on I traveled to different parts of Florida over Christmas break. The first year it was with my old high school buddy Charlie (Kamikaze) in his VW Beetle and we were really cheap – total trip food, gas, sailboat rental to the Keys and back cost us a whopping $68 a piece (fuel fills were like $4.00!) In subsequent years, trips weren’t much more expensive, although our thirstier cars were far less frugal, minus the college graduation trip with Jerry in my 1977 Honda Civic (photo left – it was small and had 12″ wheels!)

I traveled with a combination of friends and roommates … I’m thinking about Dallas, Don, Doug, Russell, Mark concluding with Kevin, Jerry and Jeff during my final days of being single … my bachelor party (below). What great times … I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

Category: Blogs, Personal, Photos, Social Media | 1 Comment »
Tags: blog, friends, frog, jeffp, jerry moody, journal, kevin, memories, Travel, trips

Posted By RichC on February 19, 2014

I’m always keeping my ear to the ground when it comes to where my son is living and working … Williston, ND. The last couple of day a few national publications mentioned an Apartment Guide study which highlighted the cost to rent in that small boomtown. Even The Verge, a site that I think of when it comes to technology information, mentioned the study …

A North Dakota town is the most expensive place to rent an apartment

Williston, North Dakota, is the United States’ most expensive place to rent a home. A study, conducted by Apartment Guide, shows that "entry-level apartments" — classified by the study as an apartment with one bedroom, one bathroom, and around 700 square feet of space — in the town had an average monthly charge of $2,394 as of December 31st 2013. That price was $500 more than the second-most expensive area in the United States to rent, the San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Santa Clara region in California.

LINK

Category: Misc, News, Personal | No Comments »
Tags: jobs, north dakota, rent, taylor, williston

Posted By RichC on February 18, 2014

A 180+ton Boeing 767-200 needs well engineered landing gear, not to mention every other part that needs to hold up to the flexing and torsion mechanics on display. Watch a recent landing at England’s Birmingham Airport (BHX) where the windy and gusty crosswind conditions made for a challenging and probably questionable decision to land on runway 15.

Category: Aviation, Video | No Comments »
Tags: airplane, airport, boeing

Posted By RichC on February 18, 2014

I read a new disclosure agreement update from Capital One issued to some of their credit card customers which puts people on notice that their collections services could be a little more “in your face?” (Let’s just hope it isn’t Alec Baldwin style!)

Ding-dong, Cap One calling.
Credit card issuer Capital One isn’t shy about getting into customers’ faces. The company recently sent a contract update to cardholders that makes clear it can drop by any time it pleases.
The update specifies that “we may contact you in any manner we choose” and that such contacts can include calls, emails, texts, faxes or a “personal visit.”
MORE

Category: Misc | No Comments »
Tags:

Posted By RichC on February 17, 2014

Last week I posted a quick coffee review on CCSpecialty Coffee’s 100% Hawaiian Kona Fancy coffee and promised that an update on the Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee would follow. Over the weekend we had an opportunity to try the new beans over dessert after my wife’s homemade spaghetti. Three of us taste tested and enjoyed the delicious and smooth coffee that I thought was better than the Kona … usually my favorite coffee. Brenda and her mom enjoyed it as well … although having coffee is not  normal for Brenda. So if you are in the market to try a new coffee, give the coffee at CCSpeicaltyCoffee.com a try.

Category: Advice, Shopping, Social Media | 1 Comment »
Tags: coffee, jamaica, kona, review

Posted By RichC on February 16, 2014

One of the longer term projects that I continue to ponder and seek opinions on is how to handle the Zodiac while keeping one of Encore’s expensive options, the Cape Horn Self-Steering gear. It has been a quandary for a while now and I’ve gone back and forth.

A recent ad in Cruising World classified section has me once again thinking that a davit system and gear might still be do-able. My thoughts are that during blue water passages when the Cape Horn gear would be most useful, that the davits would be folded or not being used with an inflatable or dinghy hanging off the stern, therefore freeing the gear to steer the boat as intended. For the other 95% of the time, the gear could be stowed and davits used to keep the inflatable accessible and secure.

Category: Archive, Sailing | No Comments »
Tags: cape horn, dinghy, encore, inflatable, sailing, self-steering, zodiac

Posted By RichC on February 15, 2014

OK … enough already! Winter continues to blast most of us in the east and has been particularly brutal for those in the SE generally immune to heavyt ice and snow. Here in Cincinnati we’ve had our share of cold weather and a lot more snow than usual … and it has even been giving my old John Deere a workout (it’s hard to believe there are years when I’ve felt it was a waste to even put the snowblower on the tractor?)

On a much warmer note, I had a very nice dinner on Friday night with “two” Valentines … Mom Howard and Brenda!

Category: Holiday, Personal, Photos, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: brenda, momh, snow, tootsie, valentine's day, weather, winter