My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on July 3, 2008

Oil is up again nearing $146/ barrel due to declining U.S. inventories and escalating concerns over the possibilty over conflict with Iran. The Saudi’s oil minister made comments that they would not be boosting production also added to the rise in price. With continued weakness in the U.S. dollar and concern that the European Central Bank might raise interest rates later today (Thursday) also is contributing to the trading up of oil. In Europe, light, sweet crude for August delivery rose $2.28 to a record $145.85 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Posted By RichC on July 2, 2008

Click for larger or largest image

I just noticed that my friend Donna Lange (see previous posts) was pictured on the cover of Ocean Navigator Magazine last month. The photo was taken as she was heading into Bristol, Rhode Island after completing a solo circumnavigation aboard her small 28 foot sailboat ‘Inspired Insanity’ in the spring of 2007. Way to go Donna!

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Posted By RichC on July 1, 2008

Click for large image of engine

Every once in a while, an engineering idea comes along that offers an idea which improves on current ideas, one such idea is being worked on by an Australian company called Revetec. They have created an improved internal combustion engine that is smaller, lighter and cheaper to manufacture than traditional engines. It also has lower emissions and offers nearly twice the fuel efficiency as a traditional gasoline engine of the same horsepower.

Currently Revetec is “road testing” their engine and have found that their engine offers low end torque much like a diesel engine. Utilizing this lower end torque helps to improve both the efficiency and the emissions particularly if it were to be fitting into devices and vehicles which take advantage of low end torque. Keep and eye on the news coming from “down under.”

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Posted By RichC on June 30, 2008

Too lazy to post from in the house tonight as the cool quiet evening out on the backporch is far more desirable. I did get a second primer coat of paint o new repair, but that was about the extent of the evening. It has been an exceeding nice couple of days temperature wise for the end of June in Cincinnati.

EDIT: Didn’t post from cellphone?

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Tags: back porch, project, relaxing

Posted By RichC on June 28, 2008

PRESS RELEASE – Sagunto, Spain, 27 June 2008, 13.24 GMT:

Earthrace, the world’s fastest eco-boat, has smashed the world speed record for a powerboat to circumnavigate the globe, knocking almost 14 days off the previous record.

The boat crossed the finish line in Sagunto at 13.42 GMT on Friday 27 June having traveled around 24,000 nautical miles fuelled by biodiesel to demonstrate and draw global attention to the potential for alternative fuel sources.

“This fantastic team of people and our astonishing boat have broken the record by a massive margin, said Pete Bethune, New Zealand skipper and owner of Earthrace, “I finally feel that all the sacrifices made, especially by my wife and daughters, have been worth it. I don’t even know how to begin to thank all the individuals and companies that have supported us along the way, some of them since the very beginning over five years ago. Without them, none of this would have been possible”.

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Posted By RichC on June 27, 2008

As oil rises the stock markets fall creating double the pain for those who are invested in the stock market as investors, college planning or retiring. Those hoping real estate is safer, think again as housing continues to get pinched in most U.S. cities. All in all the economy is suffering and with it, almost every American. Top on the “who’s to blame” list ‘was’ the excessive credit being loaned (and borrowed) a few years ago, but now it has to be the price of energy. With oil now trading above $142/barrel, stock market suffering additional declines (link) and regular unleaded gasoline prices at the pump currently averaging $4.06/gallon nationwide — and heading higher with $142/barrel oil, U.S. citizens are feeling the pinch.

I’m not an economist, but as more and more discretionary dollars are needed for energy, fewer and fewer are left to keep America at full employment. Most of us can eliminate the cup of Starbucks, reduce our spending for entertainment and cut travel to a minimum (previous post), but eventually we’ll no longer be just be eliminated the ‘luxuries’ and just cutting fat … we’ll be cutting in bone.

I had planned on pre-purchasing travel tickets for October, but I’m noticing slowing in my current business (even more than a normal summer slowdown). I’ve had more clients than usual asking what we can do to reduce their current budget amounts for regular projects. In the printing and publishing world that means lessor grade papers, leaner graphic artist hours and reduced mailings. It isn’t something I enjoy seeing since it will seriously impact my company’s and my personal income. One can only hope that the slowdown is minimal and short lived. As usual, we look to government for a fix — as if they hold a super magic bullet???

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Posted By RichC on June 26, 2008

Do Astronauts play with dolls? If Buzz Lightyear is a “doll” … then the answer would be “yes.”
🙂

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Posted By RichC on June 25, 2008

Let’s say you live along the Mexican border and know that fuel is subsidized to your south (diesel is half the price), so you’re tempted to fill up a spare tank in Mexico and drive back to the U.S. Illegal? Yes and no, depending if the tank is “connected” to your fuel line … according to this article. Hmm … might be worth having a larger fuel tank?

Texas man fined for bringing Mexican diesel to U.S.
By LYNN BREZOSKY, June 25, 2008, 11:59AM
In a sign of the times for a federal agency that routinely announces million-dollar cocaine and marijuana busts, Customs and Border Protection has announced that a man was fined $400 because of an extra tank of fuel.

The fine was levied Sunday against a 22-year-old Edinburg man who crossed the border with an extra tank of diesel in the bed of his pickup.

Because of Mexican government subsidies, diesel fuel currently sells at about half the U.S. price across the border. Customs agents have noticed a sharp rise in the number of people trying to bring full containers back to this country.

While it’s not illegal to import fuel, anything that’s not hooked up to the vehicle’s fuel line must be declared and brought in through commercial lanes. In Hidalgo County, that would mean the Pharr International Bridge.

CBP spokesman Felix Garza said the man’s extra tank was not connected to the pickup truck’s fuel lines and, therefore, was determined to be “commercial,” which made the driver subject to the fine.

Garza said this was one of the first instances of someone being fined for fuel. But he said people were always asked what they were bringing in, and it was assumed they would know they are required to declare an extra, unattached tank of gasoline or diesel.

“Diesel fuel is a foreign commodity,” he said. “Anything you buy or acquire or obtain as a gift is a foreign commodity and must be declared.”

Thanks for the link Drew.

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Posted By RichC on June 24, 2008

A friend passed along a USAToday article with Google’s Matt Cutts. He didn’t unveil any shocking secrets from the search giant, but offered up some pretty common sense advice:

If you haven’t “optimized” your site, here’s how:

1. Spotlight your search term on the page.
“Think about what people are going to type in to try and find you,” Cutts says. He tells of meeting a chiropractor from San Diego who complained that his site couldn’t be found easily using Google search. The words “San Diego chiropractor” were listed nowhere on his site. “You have to make sure the keywords are on the page,” Cutts says. If you’re a San Diego doctor, Des Moines architect or Portland ad agency, best to let people know so immediately, at the top of your page.

2. Fill in your “tags.”
When creating websites, Internet coding language includes two key tags: title and description. Even if you don’t know code, which is used to create pages, software programs such as Adobe’s Dreamweaver have tools that let you fill them in in plain English (rather than “3. Get other sites to “link” back to you.
Google says it looks at more than 100 pieces of data to determine a site’s ranking. But links are where it’s at, once your search terms are clearly visible on your site and the title and description tags correctly marked.

In a nutshell: Google ranks sites based on popularity. If authoritative sites link to you, you must be good, and therefore you get to the top of the list. If you can’t get top sites such as USATODAY.com or The New York Times to link to you, try your friends. And what if they don’t have a site? They probably do. Read on.

4. Create a blog and post often.
Cutts says blogging is a great way to add links and start a conversation with customers and friends. It will cost you only time: Google’s Blogger, WordPress and others offer free blogging tools. With a blog, you can link back to your site and offer links to others. It’s also a great way to start building content, Cutts says.

5. Register for free tools.
Google’s google.com/webmaster offers freebies to help get your site found. You can upload a text-based site map, which shows Google the pages of your site (create it at www.xml-sitemaps.com). Once that’s done, you’ll be registered with Google, where you can learn vital statistics — including who is linking to your site and how often Google “crawls” your site for updates.

Google’s Local Business center (google.com/local/add) is the place for business owners to submit a site so it shows up in local searches, with a map attached. Savvy consumers who use Google for searches know that the first 10 non-advertising results often are from Google Maps, so if you have a business and haven’t submitted it, you’re losing out on potential customers.

Don’t overdo it
When weaving keywords into a main page, Cutts says, some zealous Web publishers will use the term over and over again. That’s called “keyword stuffing.” It’s a big Google no-no that can have your site removed from the index.

“After you’ve said it two or three times, Google has a pretty good idea — ‘OK, this page has something to do with this keyword,’ ” he says. “Just think about the two or three phrases you want to be known for and weave that in naturally.”

For blogger newbies, Cutts knows that writing (for example, posting new material) doesn’t always come easy. He suggests finding ideas by visiting social news sites such as Digg and StumbleUpon, to see what people are saying about your particular topic.

Aside from that, Cutts says, new material falls into the common-sense category: It’s all about your business. “If I’m a plumber in Iowa, I may want to write about some of the strange things that happen to me on the job, or the five most common ways to fix a toilet,” he says. “That kind of content can get really popular, and it’s a great way to get links.” Folks will post your piece on one of the social media sites. And with links comes higher Google rankings.

Finally, Cutts says, there is one big misconception about getting Google visibility that he wants to clear up: In order to be found at the top of Google’s rankings, you do not also have to advertise.

“One thing doesn’t have to do with the other,” he says.

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Tags: analytics

Posted By RichC on June 23, 2008

Its not like the subject headline is a big surprise to anybody that drives? Duh … but $4 and near $5 fuel prices do get one thinking about where our citizens are getting the extra money to buy fuel? According to AAA, the national average price for gasoline is $4.07 and diesel at $4.77. (a painfully wide 17% or 70 cent premium for diesel fuel)
I suspect most Americans have opted to reduce their driving a bit, although when hearing the low percent numbers I’ve been surprised it is not more. Others suggest that we are doing what our federal government does … borrow. Yet at a time of tighter credit the already stretched consumer might have already borrowed to or near their limits. Credit cards can only take so much when the gas pump regularly goes over $50 a fill up. Eventually the consumer will have to reduce spending in other areas … especial non-essentials. First to feel this are companies like Starbucks who sell a premium priced morning cup of joe. Its an easy place for many to save a few buck a day as most home kitchens and offices have coffee machines. Strapped consumers can cut these kinds of luxuries.

Another area we Americans are cutting back on is how we spend our entertainment dollars. Vacations are sometimes eliminated, reduced or just delayed and those dollars used for fuel. Kelley Blue Book did a survey which indicated that we have stopped purchasing DVD and CDs (28% stopped buying) and opted to rent. Some sports fans have decided the luxury of going to the ballpark is a place to cut back and others have reduced their eating out (6 in 10 people “say” they are eating out less), although its difficult to tell while visiting Florida last week.
😉
ABC polled consumers recently and 77% believe the economy is getting worse and that gas prices are causing the problem. The majority now believe we need to do more to explore and drill for oil in our own country … I believe that this will be the deciding factor come November elections.

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