My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on April 30, 2011

I get so frustrated when I hear smart and successful men like John Malone speak and yet very few seem to be listening, particularly those who are in positions to implement change. His comments the other day during a business interview makes complete sense to me; he even offers up a few practical ideas. If you are reasonably intelligent and understand the fundamentals of economics, please take 23 minutes to listen to the audio edited down version of a CNBC business interview Mr. Malone did last week (see previous post). 

CNBC: May 29, 2011 – Interview with John Malone

Why is it so difficult to get bright and decent Americans to see the big picture and realize how critical it is to get our elected representatives and president to cut the nonsensical spending, the insane borrowing and the devaluing our the US dollar?

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Category: Audio, Business, Financial, Politics | No Comments »
Tags: cnbc, interview, john malone

Posted By RichC on April 29, 2011

NASCAR fan, Rachel Gilbert, drove around the New Hampshire Motor Speedway at age 100! If all senior citizens could only have her spirit and health. (also I’m posting to test a different webm HTML5 plugin after my first attempt failed — video below)

Category: Misc, Space, Video | 3 Comments »
Tags: embed, nascar, video, webm

Posted By RichC on April 29, 2011

The most anticipated wedding of the year took place this morning between Prince William and ‘now’ Catherine (Kate Middleton) in London. The royal event started for me, when my wife’s alarm went off at 4 AM EST, which is when she turned on the television to watch the ceremony. I suspect I was not the only husband quietly suffering the pomp and circumstance that women in particular seem to enjoy. I did my part, laying in bed with one eye opened, and “agreed” when Brenda commented that Catherine’s wedding dress looked a lot like her dress – as well as struggling with the the follow up question, “you do remember it, right?” Of course!

Category: Entertainment, News | 2 Comments »
Tags: england, royal, uk, wedding

Posted By RichC on April 29, 2011

Call me a negative Nellie, but one has to wonder if we are really seeing much of an economic recovery? With prices rising, inflation looming (if not already here) and the buying power of the dollar severely weakened over the past year, how will Americans perceive those elected and appointed to guide the United States out of the recession? So far by my calculations … not so good.

Besides the reduced real life purchasing power that most of are noticing, if we are fortunate enough to be earning an income, our savings (loss of value if saved in US dollars), retirement accounts and investments may not be recovering as much as we all think. Take a look at this past years stock market recovering (DOW top chart) … look pretty good, right? But … realized that it nearly mirrors the dollars devaluation (NYBOT Dollar index bottom chart).

In real ‘buying power,’ a dollar ain’t what it use to be, whether you’re buying mutual fund or individual company shares, pork bellies, precious metals or a gallon of gasoline. How long before it takes a wheelbarrow full of greenbacks to buy your groceries?

EDIT 4/29/2011:Adding a very worthwhile CNBC interview with John Malone and his extremely insightful comments regarding our current economic situation.

Category: Financial, Politics, Video | No Comments »
Tags: dollar, finances, investing, recession, savings, stocks

Posted By RichC on April 28, 2011

I heard something similar to my posted title the other day on CNBC, and after hearing that the Federal Reserve will continue to keep interest rates low a bit longer, I’m seeing those concerned about inflation moving even further toward taking off-the-grid survivalist measures. Gold “up” – Silver “up” – Food Commodities “up” – Gun checks “up” … even Walmart is quietly getting back in the guns and ammo business.

Chairman Ben Bernanke reinforced the unanimous opinion of the Federal Reserve Board to keep Fed interest rates unchanged and the dollar suffered further declines, sending precious metals buyers back to gold and silver. The most-actively traded June gold contract hit an intraday record of $1,527.70 and the silver contract for April delivery jumped 90.6 cents to settle at $45.964 a troy ounce … slightly down from its high a few days ago but still modern-day historically high. The central bank did signal the end of its $600 billion bond-buying program reiterated they expect short-term rates to stay at a record low for an extended period.

Stocks continued for the most part their bullish run, partially helped by companies stronger earning and the “perception that the U.S. is recovering from the recession.” Personally, I’m feeling the pinch of higher costs and expect that most middle class (and particularly lower income) Americans are suffering as the cost of living continues to rise. Oil prices and unemployment certainly lead the list, but food commodities and buying all things shipped are going to put a pinch on discretionary income. I’ve cut back on my driving and hotel stays in order to save my company money and expect that repeats of this will get reflected in the economy … in my opinion. Let’s hope the expanding markets for U.S. products and the weak dollar will help create jobs and a great business environment for companies that export overseas – this is my hope silver lining to a worrisome economy.

As for pick-up trucks, well I’m not sure where they really fit in as we watch gasoline rise above $4 or $5 /gallon. Maybe they’re just required tools for those living and moving off the “dollar based” economic grid?

Category: Financial, Politics | 1 Comment »
Tags: economy, fed, Financial, News, Politics

Posted By RichC on April 27, 2011

Most of us understand computer tracking cookies and many users (and web browsers) to make easier for users to keep some of their information private. Obviously advertisers and content providers see your online information valuable (just as do physical store offering credit and ID cards for discounts, etc).

The latest stories in the news have been privacy in the mobile phone arena; it seems phones share your phone ID through apps and location services – not generally asking your permission. Some can be controlled and others it seems has not been as widely known (latest iPhone location-gathering and storing your history). Perhaps one of the more insidious mobile phone information sharing comes from ‘apps’ being download (often free) and used (played) on smartphones. The WSJ recently looked at both the Android and iPhone OS and found information is regularly shared. (video below), so don’t be surprise that your phone is sending info on how, where and how often you are using your mobile device during your day.

Category: Cellphone, Computer, Technology, Video | No Comments »
Tags: android, apple, apps, cookies, google, iphone, trackers, wsj

Posted By RichC on April 26, 2011

Now that my Sprint Palm Pre phone number is my Google Voice number, GV is handling both the audio and text transcription of my voicemail messages. After recording and transcription, an email is sent to my phone as well as picked up by my email client (or on gmail) – also there’s a copy archived on the Google Voice site until deleted (but are any Google based messages ever deleted?) A month ago the Sprint/Google announcement sounded like it might be a good idea, but I’m starting to wonder if having messages beyond the control of a personal answering device or contracted cellphone company is a good idea?

Nevertheless, after getting my earlybird announcement email (below), I tossed my old Google Voice number deciding instead to use my Sprint cellphone number (truth be told, I have several GV numbers). Besides the well known issues of questionable transcription, the service is fast and so far free. Although I’m currently permitting all phone numbers to ring my phone, I’m looking forward to eventually screening some numbers, re-directing other straight to voicemail and maybe even eliminating nuisance calls … perhaps I should test that with my wife? (did I say that? For the record, she is never a nuisance!)

Hello,

You have been invited to start enjoying the benefits of the Sprint integration before anyone else! We are interested in your feedback as we roll this out to the entire user base and have listed a link to a form where you can send feedback and/or questions.

There are two ways to enable the integrated service:

1. Option 1: Keep your Sprint number (all the benefits of porting without the need to). In this case, your Sprint number becomes your Google Voice number so that when people call your Sprint mobile number, it rings all the phones you want.

How to enable this: click on the "change/port" link next to your GV # in the settings page, choose the option to use your existing number, enter your Sprint number and select the Sprint option.

2. Option 2: Replace your Sprint number with your Google Voice number (all the benefits of the app without the need for one). In this case, all calls made from your Sprint phone will display your Google Voice # natively (same for SMS).

How to enable this: click on the "enable Google Voice on your Sprint phone" link next to your Sprint forwarding phone. If the link does not show, click on edit and use the link to verify whether your phone is eligible.

In both cases, Google Voice replaces Sprint voicemail (pressing one on your phone links you to your Google Voicemail) and international calls made from the Sprint phone will be connected by Google Voice. Integrating your account with Sprint means you will still get the benefits of Any Mobile Any Time if that is included in your service plan.

Important Notes:

• The integrated service only works with a valid Sprint mobile number.
• For this early release, Sprint support channels will not be available for support, including Sprint Retail Stores, Sprint Customer Care, Sprint Telesales, Sprint Direct Sales Reps, etc.
• If you need support, or have feedback, please fill out this form [link removed]
• If you use the Google Voice app on Android, you will need to log out and log back in to make sure the app stops using call interception.

Thanks,

Vincent Paquet, on behalf of the Google Voice team

© 2011 Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043

You are receiving this email announcement because you requested to be notified when the Sprint integration was available.

Category: Cellphone, Technology | 7 Comments »
Tags: Cellphone, google voice, gv, palm, sprint, voicemail

Posted By RichC on April 25, 2011

Category: Automotive, BMW, Diesel | 1 Comment »
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Posted By RichC on April 25, 2011

Category: Automotive, Volkswagen | No Comments »
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Posted By RichC on April 24, 2011

Although I’m not a dancer and lack a voice worthy of praising God (but still believing my mouthing of words is appreciated Above), I do enjoy listening and watching those who do have rhythm and voices.

I do love the video going viral which was posted a few days ago from thousands of participates of Second Baptist Church in Houston Texas. Rise Up, Dance Your Shoes Off 2011 and celebrate our risen Lord and Savior this Easter.

Dance Your Shoes Off

More than 2,000 people from Second Baptist Church, Houston, Texas, gathered at Discovery Green in the heart of Houston to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. The purpose of Dance Your Shoes Off! was to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ in a powerful and celebratory way. Most importantly, each participant left a new pair of shoes on the field for those in need. These shoes will be given to local mission agencies, including Star of Hope, individuals all across the world through our mission partners and mission trips.

Category: Faith, Video | No Comments »
Tags: dance, easter, houston, sbc, texas, viral