Very few things irritate me more when traveling down the interstate and looking for fuel only to find out that the interstate sign doesn’t match the price at the pump. It use to be that when this happened that it was only a couple cents, but now in the day of 10 – 20 cent swings in pump price adjustments, it can mean a several dollars difference when filling the tank.
This happened to me the other day when pulling off Interstate 71 at Jeffersonville Ohio between Cincinnati and Columbus at the Flying J(email addresses). I pulled off noting the price on the ‘electronic billboard’ showing $1.89 for unleaded gasoline (right in photo), but when I pulled up to the station both the pump and sign (left in photo) were at $1.97. I’ve heard that it is illegal to change the price at the pump before changing signs, but never really bothered to look it up. How common is this practice?
As mentioned before, the Terrafugia Transition car-based airplane is being developed on the east coast this year and the above is a bit of video from the first runway based test flight on March 5th. Retired USAF test pilot Col. Phil Meteer comments that the test was “remarkable for being unremarkable.”
Convenience Front wheel drive on the ground
Automotive-style entry and exit
Automated electromechanical folding wing
No trailer or hangar needed
Cargo area holds skis, fishing poles or golf clubs
Safety
Drive in case of inclement weather
Proven 100 hp Rotax 912S engine
Full vehicle parachute available
Modern glass avionics
Automotive crash safety features
Dimensions
Folded:
6’ 9” tall
80” wide
18’ 9” long
Airplane:
6’ 3” tall
19’ 2” long
Wingspan:
27’ 6”
Cockpit:
51” at the shoulder
The first delivery is expected in 2010. Below is the full video of the first runway flight.
It has finally arrive, the Twitter business model. The co-founder and CEO Evan Williams announced that the Twitter Premium accounts would be the way the company would begin to generate income. He explained that since corporation and celebrities are “flocking to Twitter for their social media needs” that this gives them an opportunity to have a premium status. Mr. Williams stressed that free accounts will still be available to all users, and that only those wanting more services would pay. Premium accounts will come in four tiers: Sparrow, Dove, Owl and Eagle.
The details of the accounts are as follows:
Sparrow ($5/month) – Users get 145 character limit, 5 extra random followers.
Dove ($15/month) – Users get 160 character limit, 25 extra random followers, 1 random celebrity follower, auto-spell check, “Fail Whale” T-shirt.
Owl ($50/month) – Users get 250 character limit, 100 extra random followers, 2 random celebrity followers, 30 minutes on recommended list, auto-spell check, “Fail Whale” hoodie.
Eagle ($250/month) – Users get 500 character limit, 1000 extra random followers, 3 celebrity followers of their choice, 5 hours on recommended list each month, Twitter Concierge for Tweeting while user is asleep or busy (and more), auto-spell check, “Fail Whale” tuxedo, custom “Fail Whale” page when service is down.
I found this quote from a blogger about Twitter interesting: “Analysts peg Twitters value near the GDP of Canada.”
I filled my NCAA March Madness Bracket online (ESPN) and to my son’s horror I didn’t pick The University of Akron Zips to win, even though I’m funding that program through his tuition. I have to admit that it is a positive time for Akron in that the university is a very attractive place to be going to college. From the excellent academic programs to the huge campus improvements which include a new football stadium (previous post) and now a MAC champion basketball team. I wish them luck, but am concerned that their smaller size may be a problem against Gonzaga tonight. For the record … Go Zips!
I’ve been enjoying using Twitter after a brief learning curve trying to figuring out how to get my head around the concept of following 140 character text messages (TweetDeck is my favorite client on a computer). Surprisingly it can be somewhat addictive even for someone who is a not hyper-stimulated video gaming kind of guy. That said, I’m starting to notice the burnout phase kicking in for early adopters and am wondering just how long this phenomenon will last. A couple issues besides the 140 character message limits that begins to wear on one is the abuse of the hashtag (# followed by tag) when users include several of them and the spam tweets that start to sift into the stream of monitored chatter.
An interesting ABC interview is taking place over lunch with George Stephanopoulos, @GStephanopoulos, interviewing Senator John McCain, @SenJohnMcCain, exclusively on Twitter. It will be interesting to see how the question and answer session goes and if this trend will continue? Here are the first few exchanges I’ve grouped on TweetDeck.
Here’s a fun poll focused on Cincinnati-style Chili I’m running on Twitter … and the results have been rather surprising so far. Take a look at the results after you vote.
I’m keeping my eye to the web as I’d like to know when “for sure” we’ll see the Palm Pre hit the Sprint inventory. If someone knows the exact date, they are not saying … but the BoyGenius website(very accurate stuff BTW) is correct, the “leaked” map still has it slated for the 2nd quarter of 2009. (Pre =P100)
The space shuttle Discovery rocketed into space at 7:43 p.m. EDT on Sunday with the crew of STS-119 and the cheers from the team on the ground. The comments made by the NASA was that it was a smooth launch and that the team operated near perfectly. The early evening launch was the the 100th successful launch for the solid rocket booster system since the Columbia tragedy.
Commander Lee Archambault leads Discovery’s crew of seven, along with Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata on mission STS-119 to the International Space Station.
The STS-119 crew members are flying the S6 truss segment and installing the final set of power-generating solar arrays to the International Space Station. The S6 truss will complete the backbone of the station and provide one-fourth of the total power needed to support a crew of six.
While checking in with Spacevidcast.com‘s coverage of Shuttle Discovery’s planned launch on UStream.com, it is interesting listening to NASA’s “fit team’s” walk around 3 hours prior to launch and what they actually do. One unusual thing during today’s walk around was a fruit bat clinging to the shuttle assembly; the NASA consultant commented commented that it will not impact the STS-119 launch, but the launch wouldn’t be all that good for the bat. The conversation between ‘amateur space junkies’ in the chat interesting as well as the interface conversation with the hosts. It’s a fun way to enjoy the pre-launch activity. Check it out – SpaceVidcast.com.
Mission STS-119 will deliver to the station the final set of solar arrays needed to complete the station’s complement of electricity-generating solar panels, and through them support the station’s expanded crew of six in 2009.
Air Force Col. Lee Archambault will lead the crew of STS-119, and Navy Cmdr. Tony Antonelli will serve as the pilot. The mission specialists for the flight will be NASA astronauts Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata.
Wakata will remain on the station, replacing Expedition 18 Flight Engineer Sandra Magnus, who returns to Earth with the STS-119 crew. He will serve as a flight engineer for Expeditions 18 and 19, and he will return to Earth on shuttle mission STS-127.
STS-119 is the 28th shuttle mission to the International Space Station. Discovery also will carry the S6 truss segment to the orbital outpost.
It has finally arrive, the Twitter business model. The co-founder and CEO Evan Williams announced that the Twitter Premium accounts would be the way the company would begin to generate income. He explained that since corporation and celebrities are “flocking to Twitter for their 
I filled my NCAA March Madness Bracket online (
I’ve been enjoying using Twitter after a brief learning curve trying to figuring out how to get my head around the concept of following 140 character text messages (
The space shuttle Discovery rocketed into space at 7:43 p.m. EDT on Sunday with the crew of STS-119 and the cheers from the team on the ground. The comments made by the NASA was that it was a smooth launch and that the team operated near perfectly. The early evening launch was the the 100th successful launch for the solid rocket booster system since the Columbia tragedy.