Testing: Posting a PDF via Posterous – a Pirate story
Posted By RichC on April 15, 2010
Posterous – out of business.
Ford, Volkswagen and Audi are ready for the recession to end
Posted By RichC on April 15, 2010
I was reading a column in SmartMoney magazine by James Stewart after he attended the 
New York Auto Show about the return of profits to the automotive industry, at least some of them. It may be in part due to a cycle of replacing their aging cars and in part due to a renewed focus by well managed companies in building vehicles that consumers will want.
Stewart highlighted the “demand to go green” direction as the recession ends (we all hope) and was positive about Ford with their new Fiesta world car (as well as the 300HP 31mpg Mustang for 2011). His most positive comments were saved for Volkswagen and Audi with the ‘clean diesel’ line of efficient TDI vehicles.
One other company also stood out for its array of fuel-efficient new models. Volkswagen now offers its clean-diesel technology in the U.S. models of the 2010 Golf TDI hatchback and the more-luxurious Audi A3 TDI. (Volkswagen owns Audi, which last week reported March sales jumped 22%.)
Green Car Journal named the diesel Audi A3 this year’s Green Car of the Year, succeeding last year’s winner, the diesel Jetta. Both the Golf and the Audi boast fuel ratings of 42 highway/30 city. A Volkswagen spokesman at the show emphasized that clean-diesel technology offers high fuel standards in both city and highway driving, whereas the hybrid technology’s advantages are largely confined to urban driving. Still, given the popularity of hybrids in the U.S. market, Volkswagen plans to introduce hybrid models within the next few years.
At the show I spoke to Ron Stucker, a potential buyer from Staten Island, N.Y., who was eyeing the A3 along with some friends. Like many Americans, he was initially wary of diesels, but his wife bought a Jetta TDI model. Now, they like it so much he was shopping for another one, at least until he spotted the Audi A3 TDI. “I’d definitely consider the more-luxurious model,” he said. So would I when my current lease expires.
With the low TDI inventory at VW and Audi dealerships they are either selling extremely well even in this recession or the automakers continue to ship fewer vehicles to North America than they should … or at least that is my opinion.
Speaking of Volkswagen TDIs … Autoblog posted a good rundown on the return of the Golf TDI. Nice!
Customer (friend) announcing retirement and a training webinar
Posted By RichC on April 14, 2010
It was a melancholy day in that a friend who has been a loyal customer for over 20 years announced his retirement. Of course 
I’m happy for him in that he’s leaving work with his sanity and will have more time to enjoy life at his own pace. I asked him what his intentions were: he commented that he’d like to find some part time work, be it consulting or maybe working in his wife’s landscaping company. We both agreed that since he is only 60 that he is too young to just do nothing. (I didn’t ask, but sensed he may have been enticed to retire early for budgetary reasons)
Besides spending most of the day on the road, I also had detoured for 90 minutes at a McDonald’s in order to access their free WiFi connection – glad they didn’t kick me out. I was hoping that it would be reliable and fast enough for a training “webinar” I was tuned into – thankfully it was. I’m glad to have free hotspots available in about every Ohio city I travel… I only wish they were a bit faster. Unfortunately with Wandering WiFi managing more and more locations, the restriction on bandwidth intensive tasks are not always easy … like at the Radisson I stay at! Ouch … dialup 65 Kbps down speeds tonight.
So disappointing … so it’s back to using my Sprint Palm Pre and MyTether. 😉
Reid Stowe on his ‘Mars Ocean Odyssey’ Day 1088
Posted By RichC on April 13, 2010
As I continue following Reid Stowe (previous) and his sailing “Mars Ocean Odyssey,” I wanted to post a short video of him and Soanya shortly after setting sail 3 years ago (below). They began their “odyssey” as a couple in April of 2007, but Reid has continued on alone after Soanya left the schooner as she struggled with seasickness … and no doubt the difficulty of life at sea. Shortly after she also delivered a a baby boy— hmm???
To update Reid’s sailing, he is well past the ‘1000 days at sea’ goal, and is at day 1088 on his way back to New York. His plan is to continue sailing north in the Atlantic and to sail up the Hudson River with a flotilla of boats around the third week of June 2010. The voyage is interesting since the majority has been alone for Reid. It has not been without struggle … both physically and mentally … but amazingly the schooner is still sound and his spirit good. The computers that he used to post messages to the blog gave out last year but his food supplies are plenty (prepared for two). There are still a few short messages posted to the website, but as expected, he seems a bit ‘out there’ … and probably always was: “I WEAR MY VIOLET TRANSPARENT HEALING CAPE OUT IN THE SUN. IT TURNS ME VIOLET & HEALS & INVIGORATES ME!” — Reid Stowe 4/11/2010
Live Eagle Cam on uStream.tv
Posted By RichC on April 13, 2010
Pretty cool uStream.tv video that gives a live look into a bald eagles nest …
Does the Microsoft Kin resemble the Palm Pre
Posted By RichC on April 13, 2010
Although they are late to the party, Microsoft is targeting the younger demographic with a social networking smartphone made by Sharp called the Kin 1 and Kin 2. The one with the slightly larger screen sure looks like the Palm Pre to me?
Microsoft Corp. introduced a family of cellphones tailored to young consumers, seeking to improve its fortunes in the mobile business through a device designed around social-networking features.
The two phones, dubbed Kin One and Kin Two, were designed by Microsoft with touch-sensing screens and slide-out physical keyboards. They will be offered in the U.S. beginning in May by Verizon Wireless, the carrier owned by Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC. Vodafone will sell the devices in the fall in the U.K., Germany, Italy and Spain.
Fresh squeezed OJ – the best way to start a tax preparation day
Posted By RichC on April 12, 2010
As a morning routine, I’m a coffee and anti-oxidant grape juice drinking kind of guy, but since we had a few extra oranges left over I’ve been fresh squeezing them for a morning citrus treat.
Mmm … sunshine and fresh squeezed OJ … breakfast doesn’t get much better than this!
Speaking of ‘the day’ – April 15th – I’m finishing up what is a lousy time of the year for me and most Americans who pay income taxes … about half the people living in this country – how is that fair? Nevertheless, those hard at work in Washington DC are finding new ways to ‘serve us.’ They are busy spending what we don’t have and making new laws we don’t need. So as a reminder to be sure and file your 
taxes by April 15th so they don’t have to borrow and print so much money [sarcasm].
Gulp … my risk level is too high if the IRS will be asking for more bureaucratic bloat to enforce the latest new health care legislation.
Subaru still considering diesel boxer engine for U.S. if fuel price drops
Posted By RichC on April 11, 2010
Although the cost to bring a diesel Subaru to the US is high (new model, service training and parts inventory, etc) but knowing how Volkswagen diesel buyers love their little diesels, the fit for Subaru and their loyal following seems perfect. Who driving a Subaru doesn’t want 40 mpg in a solidly build 4 wheel drive utilitarian vehicle?
http://green.autoblog.com/2010/04/11/subaru-still-considering-diesel-boxer-en…
Its hard to believe that we first reported that Subaru could bring its much-anticipated diesel engine here to the U.S. over three years ago. Between then and now, the company has remained indecisive due to high diesel fuel prices and stringent emissions requirements here. Needless to say, the diesel boxer is still nowhere to be found stateside, but this might change soon.
The company’s first horizontally-opposed boxer diesels have rolled out in Europe, and Subaru’s executive vice president Tom Doll said the diesel engine is a hot seller over there, so much so that Subaru total sales are increasing. Doll tempered our excitement by saying Subaru is not confident that the U.S. is ready for the oil burner just yet and that bringing the powerplant here will require a lot of things to fall into place perfectly. Doll told Ward’s Auto what will need to happen:
The emissions requirements in the U.S. are significant. And given the price of diesel fuel, where it is right now, it really does not pay to bring the vehicle into the U.S. We’re trying to see what happens. As the market sorts itself out, we’ll get ready, and then look at bringing the car (here).Our chance of getting this powerplant seems slim but new CAFE regulations requiring upwards of 35 miles per gallon by 2016 could convince Subaru that the time to offer Americans a diesel is now.
Which takeover would be better for Palm and webOS users?
Posted By RichC on April 11, 2010
After the stock bouncing on Friday, Palm Inc shareholders and smartphone users continue to speculate just was will happen to their financially troubled company. Rumors continue to be battered around (article below) as having interest in Palm – the latest being HTC Corp.
On a personal note, I am beginning to embrace my Palm Pre after a less than enthusiast year (giving up some appreciated features of the PalmOS). I’ve found the improvements with the current webOS 1.4.1 release to be excellent and the new 800 mhz patch making the phone super responsive … as well as an overall appreciation for “Synergy” and the ability to multitask using “cards.”
Palm shares rise as takeover rumors persist
Shares of Palm were up 11.6 percent in early afternoon trading on Nasdaq, following a report in Taiwan’s Economic Daily News that HTC Corp that the world’s No. 5 smartphone maker has "opened discussions about an intent to acquire" Palm.
A U.S. spokeswoman for HTC, Linda Mills, said the company does not comment on rumors, but added: "To the best of my knowledge this is just a rumor."
A spokesman for Palm, which makes the Pre and Pixi phones and develops WebOS phone software, declined to comment.
HTC ranks behind bigger smartphone rivals Nokia, Blackberry maker Research in Motion, iPhone maker Apple Inc and Motorola Inc in the global smartphone rankings, according to research firm IDC.
HTC’s phones are based on software developed by Microsoft Corp and Google Inc’s Android software. A Palm deal would give HTC its own operating system software as well as Palm’s established U.S. brand.
Still, a deal would likely come with a price tag of more than $1 billion for a company with a small market share in the shadow of Apple’s iPhone and the Blackberry’s ubiquity among corporate and government users.
Palm’s stock soared earlier this week as investors covered short positions on renewed speculation that the smartphone maker might be an acquisition target.
The talk on Wednesday was focused on Lenovo Group Ltd as a potential bidder for Palm.
Palm has for years been mentioned as a target for larger companies hoping to enter the mobile market or expand their presence.
Analysts have termed unlikely a Palm buyout by technology hardware makers like Dell Inc, citing the cost of buying Palm and integrating its technology.
But recent concerns about Palm’s viability, and have stirred up more talk. In the past 6 months, its stock has tumbled nearly 70 percent, slashing it market capitalization to about $780 million from $2.4 billion.
The 68th reunion of the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders
Posted By RichC on April 10, 2010
For Additonal Information check the Greater Dayton EAA’s (GDEAA) Aviation Events page.