This is what an underwater scream looks like …
Posted By RichC on October 25, 2010
Since I ran out of time for blogging today, here’s a great photo from a photo contest by the Herald Sun in Australia with the subject being “Reefs.”
Looking back: 5 years since Hurricane Wilma
Posted By RichC on October 24, 2010
Five years? Has it been that long?
Every once in a while I check in with my blog’s Way Back Machine (links to the right) and noticed that “Years ago on this day” 5 years ago hurricane Wilma crossed the southern part of Florida.
Hurricane Wilma on October 24, 2005
Fuelly.com MPG numbers on my daughter’s VW Jetta TDI
Posted By RichC on October 24, 2010
My daughter recently started tracking her 2001 Volkswagen Jetta TDI fuel economy numbers on Fuelly.com and we have both been impress at the significant improvement since replacing her tires. Although she doesn’t have a lifetime of postings for her car, the regular private calculations haven’t been near the 50 mpg mark. She (we) couldn’t be happier with the improvements.
As I’ve shared with friends before, I’d highly recommend considering a small diesel TDI when considering a first car for teenagers, college students or in her case, a medical student trying to stretch her travel dollars. One caveat for those less adept to doing minor maintenance items is to beware that good quality and fair priced independent repair shops for diesel cars are sometimes challenging to find – check with a local TDI group like CinciTDI.com or the larger TDIClub.com. (that reminds me, time to come home for an oil change … and visit with your parents)
Test encode 2 – Canon 5d mark II
Posted By RichC on October 23, 2010
My friend Jeff and I use a shared folder on Dropbox to send files to each other and this morning he send me a short ‘portrait’ oriented video clip while on his trip to North Carolina. I chuckled when opening the file because by default it is in a “landscape” format (sideways), then wondered how I would encode it vertically?
I’ll give it a try below …
“Burst of air” replacing control surfaces on UAVs
Posted By RichC on October 23, 2010
DiscoveryNews had an article in MSNBC highlighting an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) call the DEMON which has fewer moving parts and uses “bursts of air” rather than traditional hinged control surfaces in order to control the aircraft. According to engineers and those working on the project, fewer moving parts will make it easier to maintain and could make it more stealthy … besides the BAE Systems images is pretty attractive too.
‘Flapless’ aircraft steered by air bursts
Plane has fewer moving parts, making it less likely to break and easier to maintain
Look Ma, no flaps! Pieces of the wing and tail that move back and forth to help control aircraft, flaps have been used to control flight since the Wright brothers — until now.
Engineers have completed a flapless flight by using bursts of air to control an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) they call DEMON.The research will lead to UAVs that are safer, more maneuverable and more stealthy.
“To make an aircraft fly and maneuver safely without the use of conventional control surfaces is an achievement,” said John Fielding, DEMON’s chief engineer and a professor at Cranfield University in the United
Kingdom.The eight-foot DEMON weights 200 pounds and has a maximum speed of 172 miles per hour. Seen from above, the aircraft has a distinctive diamond shape with an elongated nose, a concept known as a blended wing-body configuration.
Most aircraft manipulate their motion and direction with control surfaces found on the tailing edge of the wings and tail. When raised or lowered, air hits those flaps and the aircraft changes direction.
Instead of the traditional flaps along the tailing edge of the wings, the DEMON uses bursts of air to turn one way or another.
A flapless aircraft has fewer moving parts, making it less likely to break and easier to maintain. It could also be more stealthy, since a moving flap could show up on radar.
DEMON’s first flight took place on Sept. 17 at Walney Island in Cumbria. Engineers from BAE Systems as well as Cranfield University, Imperial College, and several other U.K. universities all worked together to complete the flight.Flapless actuators have been in development for years, said Mark Costello, a professor at Georgia Tech. The biggest benefit of these synthetic jet actuators is that they have no moving parts.
“Moving parts make it harder to maintain and repair (an aircraft),” said Costello. “A solid state device like a synthetic jet actuator means fewer things that can break.”
The DEMON won’t go into commercial production, said BAE in a statement, but the technology used in the UAV will be transferred to other aircraft.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39672627/ns/technology_and_science-science/#
Positive things to come for the 2011 VW Jetta TDI
Posted By RichC on October 22, 2010
I enjoyed the review from north of our border and liked what this Canadian Driver reporter had to say after driving the both the gasoline powered 2011 Volkswagen Jetta and then the TDI diesel: “Things come alive in the Jetta TDI. This engine has much more power than the Jetta 2.0L, and the throttle is more immediately responsive. ”
READ the review
READ the review
A week of driving and my opinion on sunglasses
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.
Pima Air and Space Museum and the ‘boneyard’ in Tucson AZ
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!
Taylor sort of has lunch with the Dalai Lama
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.
Polling locations, private property, free speech and lawsuits
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
Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee
- lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
- digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.