Posted By RichC on October 22, 2010
Posted By RichC on October 22, 2010
After spending most of the week traveling from dawn to dusk each day, I’ve been either too tired or just busy to add a few things that have been on my mind … one of which was my opinions on the firing of Juan Williams by NPR. As a FoxNews viewer and lifetime NPR listener I was incensed enough to write and post to NPR regarding their stupidity … maybe I’ll post my frustrations later.
Speaking of traveling this time of year, the color changing rolling hills and beautiful skies of the midwest have made my trips pleasurable. 
Spending hours on the roads have also made me a self-proclaimed expert on sunglasses. I’ve had more than a few different kinds of sunglasses for driving, flying and sailing over the years and have whittled my preferences down to three different types.
For driving in bright sunlight, I prefer non-prescription grey glass lens aviator style sunglasses – although I can’t comment on prescription versions. The wire-framed large lens glasses are comfortable for hours on end and offer a long-lasting scratch resistance ‘darker’ type lens that both reduces eyestrain and cuts glare (my current pair are not polarized, but I wouldn’t mind having a polarized pair).
When the skies are overcast or roads are ‘kicking up’ a mist on the windshield I prefer the amber ‘color enhancing’ lens. I have both a glass amber non-prescription version and recently purchase a reasonably priced pair of progressive ‘cheater’ lens sunglasses which is helpful when glancing down to read a note, map or to dial a phone number (left — note distorting of bottom of image on photo).
The final type of sunglasses I like is for outdoor sporting use. I preferred a low cost wrap-around style of sunglasses that helps block sunlight from beaming in from the sides. Either a safety style glasses or a full frame sports type seems to work well and are inexpensive, but it isn’t always easy to find a cheap pair that is distortion free.
Posted By RichC on October 20, 2010
I got sidetracked yesterday while talking on the phone to a fellow aviation enthusiast as he shared with me his impressions of the Pima Air and Space Museum. He knew that the National Museum of the Air Force was in my backyard and remembering me talk about the Martin B-26 Marauder on display that had choked up my father-in-law a few years ago (the B-26 kept him safe for 40+ missions in WWII). He mentioned that there was an exhibit at Pima and wondered if I ever traveled out that way (I have not been there).
He also thought the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) “The Boneyard” for storage of aircraft area close to Pima was impressive and suggested I check it out on Google Earth … I did and thought it was worth including a few photos – click for larger below.
EDIT 10/22/2010: Thanks for emailing the photo (below) Gary!
Remember – Each one of these babies had a multi-million dollar price tag!
Posted By RichC on October 19, 2010
While eating lunch at Miami University’s student union, my son sent me a fuzzy cellphone photo without any text. I sent back a “huh” comment and wondered why he sent me the photo of a bald guys head … suspecting he jokingly thought the lack of hair reminded him of his father?
He then mention that the “His Holiness” — the Dalai Lama — was eating his lunch one table over … “huh” again from me, more surprised this time. Although I figured that the Dalai Lama “ate lunch,” I didn’t realize that he did it so publicly? Of course it also might be the prep staff from Tibet?
By the way, the Dalai Lama of Tibet visited and is speaking at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio this week.
Posted By RichC on October 19, 2010
I’ve often wondered what is and isn’t permitted at local polling locations since many are private properties except for opening their doors on election day. In our suburban township we use schools, churches and building such as union halls, the later generating a lawsuit from a local community group of the Cincinnati Tea Party. 
Some locations have interests or views which take a political tack and often differ from those voting in the facility. For example, while voting in local Baptist church building, I’ve wondered if being in a church influences ones thoughts on social issues … or if in a local school building, does the condition or local cause a voter to be more or less sympathetic toward requests for more funding? One thing I’ve have noticed is that that there are plenty of campaign signs as one drives in and parks, and there are often people who have set up tables. For the most park, they are accepted as free speech and as a welcomed part of our democracy … BUT what if only certain points of view are accepted on the property near a polling place?
One local polling location saw a lawsuit filed last week by the Liberty Township Tea Party. The suit was against Butler County Board of Elections and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW Local 648) because the property owners (union) restricted access to the area 100 feet from polling location “because it was private property.”
According to the Pulse-Journal, Katherine Dirr set up her table back in May 2010, a she has done in previous elections, and was the correct 100 feet from the voting location in order to hand out pamphlets and seek petition signatures. She was asked to leave, presumably due to political positions that differed from those represented by the property owners, and shown an email from the Butler Board of Elections director Betty McGary that the property representative had permission to ask Katherine Dirr to leave or to call the Sheriff’s Office if she didn’t comply. She left at that time and now has the Tea Party backing in filing a lawsuit in order to be able to set up her tables in November.
What is interesting, is that not all campaigning on the property is denied, just that which differs from poll locations property owners (IBEW Local 648)… photo of ‘acceptable’ signage below (Strickland/Brown are Democrats for those not in Ohio). To be fair to the Board of Elections, their attorney states that “the board had nothing to do with the decision to expel Dirr from the property. The board controls only the polling place and the area 100 feet around it. Our position is it’s their property. They can do what they want.” Maybe the Board of Education should look for a polling location a bit more open to all points of view?
This is one of a number of photos being used as evidence in a lawsuit filed by the Liberty Twp. Tea Party against the Butler County Board of Elections and Local 648 of the International Electrical Workers. – Pulse-Journal
Posted By RichC on October 18, 2010
My friend Jeff is a very fortunate amateur photographer since he is one of the few who own a fantastic Canon 5d Mark II. Although I only 
had a few minutes to play with it over lunch the other day, I enjoyed tinkering with the buttons and menus (there’s a big learning curve). He has already shot the candid photos for a friends wedding, some night shots of Minneapolis MN and was out to a local lake this weekend looking for autumn color. Although ‘stills’ are the primary goal for most photographers opting for a high end DSLR, this camera does an outstanding job with video too. It is one of the few digital single lens reflex cameras that can take video (more coming) and has even been used in Hollywood to film a TV series – the final 2009 season episode of “House” was filmed with the Canon d50 Mark II. So … I was curious just how well I could take a 1920 x 1080 video clip and encode it as a flash video so it will stream on my blog. He obliged and sent me a 30 second clip from this weekend at Cowan Lake. Thanks Jeff.
Posted By RichC on October 17, 2010
Farm “art” in Trenton Ohio
Brenda and I spent the weekend around home doing fall chores, watching a little football and driving over to Oxford, Ohio to visit Taylor at Miami. Our “to-do” list included shuffling a few of our pieces of art in order to make room for a couple new prints that have finally been delivered from our Bermuda trip this past summer. I cut and trimmed up the lawn (with leaves) on Saturday and spent Sunday afternoon painting the cupola on top of the garage (I didn’t fall). Besides tuning into a few NFL games (Bengals had a ‘bye’ week) and currently watching the NLCS Phillies and Giants game, we drove over to see our son for lunch. (Steak and Shake manager teased Taylor and brought him a “Coke” in a tiny cup – photo below. It gave us all a good laugh and smile)
Posted By RichC on October 16, 2010
Not that I’ve been all that regular at posting a “tech tip” on Fridays, but I did try out a new video recording program this week. It is called At-Large Recorder 2 (Windows only) by Applian Technologies and is a DVR of sorts for the Slingbox … which is a piece of hardware that broadcast a TV signal from a home/office to connected devices either on the local area network or via the Internet while away.
I don’t use my Classic Slingbox all that much, but it has been nice to be able to tune into a breaking new story or event while traveling. The At-Large Recorder adds capture ability to the hardware by saving a stream as a .asf file … not all that useful for most devices without running them through a converter program (it would be night to have that included in version 3). 
The interface enables one to set the date, time and length of recording along with a few minor quality tweaks. Multiple instances of the application can be opened in order to schedule different programs … one at a time though. Once recorded, pushing the ‘play’ button bring up the recorded programs and offers a playback utilizing Windows Media Player (or manually you can use VLC or another appropriate media player). Quality seems to be the weakest link in using this for anything where quality is desired, but then again, the old Slingbox may not offer the HD quality of newer versions? I’m not sure I’d recommend spending $69.95 for it … the trial version will record 5 minutes. I’ll include a short video clip captured below:
Posted By RichC on October 15, 2010
Last year about this time I reposted a series of photos highlighting what a fantastic engineering project was underway in the United States. A bridge to bypass the Hoover Dam looks to be one of the civil engineering marvels of this decade. The 1900 foot span crosses the Colorado River and connects Arizona and Nevada about 890 feet above the water. The 8 year project estimated at $240 million dollars will cut travel time between the cities of Phoenix and Las Vegas, but more importantly move car and truck traffic from driving across the Hoover Dam (thought to be a potential target of terror).
According to the Associated Press, “The bridge, which officially opens next week, is named for former Nevada Gov. Mike O’Callaghan and Pat Tillman, the former NFL player who quit the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army Rangers and died in Afghanistan under friendly fire. Family members of O’Callaghan and Tillman are expected at the bridge’s dedication.”
Posted By RichC on October 14, 2010
When it comes to using artistic gifts and talents for others, Kaziah Hancock is, as Bill O’Reilly would say, a patriot. She is an artist from Utah who tireless donates her artistic endeavors to those who have given their life for their country. According to this video, she lives humbly on a goat farm and paints portraits of soldiers … with passion and emotion … and sends them to the parents around the country.