Rogue waves kills 2 and injures 14 on a cruise ship in Med

Posted By on March 3, 2010

A large rogue wave, actually three “abnormal” waves, hit a Greek cruise ship with 1350 passengers and 580 crew in the Mediterranean north of Barcelona, Spain windgustingto95ktinmed09071killing two passengers and injuring fourteen. The Louis Cruise Line ship, Louis Majesty, has 14 decks and is over two football fields long. It hit the three 26 foot waves bow first resulting in caving in five windows in public lounges on the forward part of the ship. The two passengers, Italian and German males were killed and the others were treated aboard the ship for “light injuries” and hospitalized as a precaution. That quote aside, a 62 year old woman had fractures in both legs.

The incident brings back memories of our European vacation this past summer where we experience heavy weather and strong winds aboard the NCL Jade (cellphone photo of the navigation instruments right – notice wind speed gusting at 94.7 kt).

Also, because a photo is worth a thousand words, an incident in January last year in the Bay of Biscay caused ships to return to Dover England after hammering into 50 foot waves … photos below.

ship50footwave1

ship50footwave2ship50footwave3

Tivo soon to offer an optional QWERTY remote

Posted By on March 3, 2010

As a ‘three’ Tivo box family (two at the house and my daughter has one), I was anxious to hear that there will soon be a new ‘must have’ gadget to use with our Tivo DVRs. The company announced, along with their new Series 4 devices, a new optional remote which comes with a QWERTY keyboard.

Engadget:
There’s also a new optional Bluetooth slider QWERTY remote, which will ship later this year for an undisclosed price — we played with a hush-hush prototype at CES and we can say that it’ll be a must-buy for Premiere owners. We’re actually a little miffed that it’s not packed in the box as the standard remote — all that searching almost demands it.

Posted via email from richc’s posterous

Testing video off the TV with the Palm Pre

Posted By on March 2, 2010

Palm Pre Video capture testCuriosity had me pondering just how well the Palm Pre could capture video directly off of an HD Plasma television broadcast? Not too bad it turns out, considering up until webOS 1.4 update was implemented this past weekend that the diminutive smartphone couldn’t even shoot video.

When the update was first installed on my phone, I tried the YouTube update, then posted from email to Posterous directly and now will try embedding a clip as a flash video to the blog below … and maybe I’ll give Facebook option a try, even though I don’t use it much. The non-streaming .mov clip is download by clicking the above photo.


No Video

MyTether again working after Palm webOS 1.4 update

Posted By on March 1, 2010

After a brief lost of tethering my notebook computer with my Sprint Palm Pre after the webOS 1.4 update this past weekend, all is good again … although speed seems to be slower than last year?

MyTether Sprint Speed

I uninstalled MyTether 2.1 as instructed on the MyTether.net donor forum and after a reboot,  put the phone in DEV Mode and reinstalled MyTether again. It’s running just fine as I post this on Monday afternoon.

World War II aircraft, their aviators and our heroes

Posted By on March 1, 2010

While watching an aviation video online highlighting the P51 Mustang (30 min video below) and thinking about the ever dwindling number of WW II heroes from the greatest generation, I gave a bit more thought about an upcoming trip with my son. We’ll be spending a week with a World War II aviator from that era, my father-in-law … and Taylor’s grandfather.

As an Air Force lieutenant, Frederick A. Howard flew nearly 40 missions as navigator in a Martin B-26 Marauder over Europe.Martin B-26 Marauder His stories have always been of interest to me and knowing that time is running short, want to trigger as many memories as possible for him to share with Taylor. Several years ago we were amazed the the emotion that was triggered in seeing a B-26 at the National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, so to we planned a trip with him to the restoration area of MAPS Museum in Akron, Ohio. It was a chance for him to see (touch and climb though) one of the very few Martin B-26 Marauders, during a restoration. We then gave him a book that reviewed the history of  this fast medium sized bomber during WW II and asked him to make notes in the margin detailing his memory of the missions — something he seemed to thoroughly enjoy.

Besides reviewing the book, I’m planning to archive the pages of  B-26.com with Pagenest on my thumbdrive (questionable Internet) in order to share in with him via computer during our visit … and perhaps someday “soon” take him to the B-26 Marauder archives.

Watching this video has reminded me that time is short and the opportunities are disappearing for a grandfather to talk with his grandson about what he was doing at age 20. Simply amazing ‘young’ men.

Windows 7 upgrade was almost as painful as USA hockey loss

Posted By on February 28, 2010

canadaolympichockey

I spent the afternoon and most of the evening struggling with upgrading to Windows 7, in between watching the USA lose 3-2 to Canada in OT in Olympic hockey. It wasn’t easy to switch from Windows 7 RC to Profession on a couple of computers, which by the way have been running flawlessly on both the Beta and Release Candidate operating systems.

I thought I had the entire upgrade figure out, but the “bitlocker” partition I installed caused me to overlook some the the automated C drive defaults after an email client update a few months ago. Thankfully I only lost 2 weeks of email due to my automated NAS drive back up. I’m glad to be running legal, although I still have a bunch of odds and ends software to re-install.

An 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile and tsunami warning

Posted By on February 27, 2010

earthquakechile100227

After tuning into the news early on Saturday following the massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake which struck the coast of Chile, I checked back in this afternoon after 4PM as Hawaii waited to feel the effects from the earthquake after a tsunami warning. The large earthquake has taken the lives of over 800 people (edit: 3/4) and expectations are that the low number of deaths is due to a  country and population that was well prepared.

This earthquake, one of the biggest ever measured, struck just after 3:30 in the morning, toppling buildings, collapsing roads, and cutting off power and telecommunications services throughout much of the southern half of Chile. The epicenter was pinpointed offshore, 70 miles northeast of Concepción, Chile’s second-biggest city. Aftershocks are expected to continue for several weeks and tsunami warning extend across the Pacific Ocean.

I spent the afternoon like many people watching live television and web streams from Hawaii. UStream.tv had pretty good coverage, but not much in the way of surf or rising water. About the only noticeable sign was a reef that had significantly more exposed area than a normal low tide. Let’s hope that the lack of significant flooding or damage doesn’t discourage people from preparing the next go around.

Test 1 min video from Palm Pre

Posted By on February 27, 2010

Download now or watch on posterous

CIMG0362.mp4 (7005 KB)

Posting to Posterous from Palm Pre by email updated to webOS 1.4. (raw clip)

Posted via email from richc’s posterous

Palm webOS update went smoothly today

Posted By on February 27, 2010

Downloading the Palm webOS 1.4 release for my Pre this morning. on TwitpicThe Palm webOS 1.4 update finally arrived and we’re still in February. It has been an anticipated update that includes new video and camcorder like features. While waiting for the substantial download and nearly 30 minute upgrade process, I ended up fiddling with a new piping or cording foot that arrived for my wife’s sewing machine. The Palm Pre came to life about the time I was installing the foot on her Singer and figured I’d test both the recording ability and how well it uploaded it to YouTube (embedded below).  So far so good.

Volkswagen to push “Think Blue” to the automotive forefront

Posted By on February 27, 2010

Starting February 27th, Volkswagen will be implementing a "Think Blue" marketing campaign stressing the company’s focus on "sustainable mobility" which to CinciTDI and TDIClub members highlights the fuel efficiency of VW TDI diesel vehicles and the environmental awareness of new "clean diesel" TDIs and biodiesel fuel options. Volkswagen is building on the "BlueMotion" label and bringing back the successful 1960’s "Think Small" slogan which with the diminutive VW Beetle put Volkswagen on the map here in North America.

PRESS RELEASE

"Think Blue.": a signal for the environment
Environmental protection is the top priority for Volkswagen

New campaign for efficient driving and environmental awareness
Wolfsburg, 26 February 2010 – Protecting the environment is simple and everyone can help in their everyday lives. This is the message of the new image and marketing campaign called "Think Blue." which the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand is launching on February 27, 2010. Building on one of the best-known environmental labels in the automobile industry, "BlueMotion", Volkswagen is sending out a new signal for sustainable mobility.

This corporate mindset is underscored by the use of blue as the predominant color in the campaign. The color is already established on the market in the Volkswagen brand logo and through the "BlueMotion" environmental label. Volkswagen is now systematically continuing this tradition in combination with innovative elements.

"Our goal is to establish ‘Think Blue.’ as an expression of our corporate mindset and a firm feature of the Volkswagen brand’s ecologically sustainable activities," Luca de Meo, Head of Marketing at the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, explained. "We have deliberately chosen an international slogan because environmental protection knows no national boundaries. The campaign is in line with the Volkswagen brand values: innovative, valuable and responsible," de Meo added.

The new advertising campaign builds a bridge from the past to the future. It takes up the thread of the "Think small" campaign that accompanied the triumphant international success of the Beetle as the people’s car in the 1960s. "The ‘Think small’ slogan symbolizes the Volkswagen brand’s achievement in democratizing mobility the world over. The challenge of the future lies in achieving efficient and sustainable mobility for everyone. Volkswagen intends to lead the way. This is expressed by the campaign: ‘Think Small’ has become ‘Think Blue.’" de Meo stated.

The "Think Blue." campaign debuts on February 27, 2010 with print ads. These will be followed by TV spots, brochures, web specials and an e-game for iPhone and iPod Touch. All the measures focus on potential savings, sustainability and environmental awareness.

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
My Desultory Blog