My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on February 26, 2007

As the momentum builds toward the Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon 2007, teams from twenty universities are ‘gearing’ up (poor engineering humor) towards the goal of designing, building, and operating a highly energy-efficient, completely solar-powered house. The judging will take place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., October 3 – 22, 2007 and be open to the public, October 12 – 20, 2007.

This year’s contest will be the third since 2002 and be judged on ten criteria: Architecture — 200 points, Engineering — 150 points, Market Viability — 150 points, Communications — 100 points, Comfort Zone — 100 points, Appliances — 100 points, Hot Water — 100 points, Lighting — 100 points, Energy Balance — 100 points, Getting Around — 100 points. Besides the 20 individual university sites reporting on team projects, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy will have media information available as well. (see announcement)

The Solar Decathlon challenges tomorrow’s engineers, architects, researchers the opportunity to rethink our nation’s energy use, and extends them the opportunity to show just how comfortably we could be “living under the sun.” The the small solar homes that are being developed are powerful, comfortable, and stylish, wasting neither space nor energy. Eventually more and more homes will take advantage of heat and light from the sun as well as more efficiency in cooling. The sponsors of the 2007 Solar Decathlon offer participants hands on use of the newest products and technologies that will bring our nation improvements in homes as well as the use of natural resources and impact on our environment.

My bias support goes out to the team from Santa Clara University where I have an ‘inside’ line on how things are progressing. This week they are ‘ground breaking’ — the design phase has been committed to drawings and construction now begins. I wish them well and will attempt to learn from their efforts. (keep me posted N.)

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Posted By RichC on February 25, 2007

The beauty of having a ‘non-topical’ blog is that posting something off-topic is ‘okay’ … so here ya go: Brenda’s Butchered Buffalo Wings.
😉
While our family was enjoying a meal out at a local Chili’s restaurant, my wife proceeded to nibble her buffalo wings naked. Its just wrong! When I pointed it out that she ruined them all, she offered the ‘balance’ of them too me. I politely declined.

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Tags: brenda, buffalo, chilis, wings

Posted By RichC on February 23, 2007

Firefox2 is my favorite browser to date, and suspect many of you feel the same way. One big plus are the many “add-on” extensions available by third-party developers. One of my favorite is an small RSS client call Sage, but an add-on that I find more essential is IE Tab by Paul Roub.

IE Tab (1.3.2 is the current build) “lets you load pages in IE with a single right-click, or mark certain sites to *always* load in IE.” What makes this so useful is that one no longer has to open Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser when Firefox runs in to incompatible pages. (it is also great for web designers wanted to test their pages across different browsers)

After installation, it is easy to use the customizable features of Firefox to adjust your ‘toolbar’ and add the “IE Tab” icon, which is ‘right-clickable.’ (Go to ‘View’ –> Toolbars –> Customize. Then drag or reorganize the icon-tools you want displayed) There are a few other great features such as being able to preset particular sites to alway open with an IE Tab rather than in Firefox. There are a few sites that I use for work that are only accessible with Internet Explorer, and this make it easy. You’ll note the example site I’ve used is Microsoft’s update page … again, only accessible with Internet explorer. Let me know if this tip was enough to get you to try Firefox?
🙂

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Posted By RichC on February 22, 2007

Although Corning Incorporated provides display technologies and telecommunications glass substrates for liquid crystal displays and fiber optics, they are also a 30 year player in ceramic emission products too. If diesel use grows in the US as some believe, Corning stands to gain the lion share of the new pollution control filter market. Currently their stock is trading around $22 a share, midrange in its 52 week chart. (not necessarily a positive omen considering the market has been on a solid run???) I doubt that GLW is going to be a ‘flash in the pan’ overnight stock double, but it might be a comfortable stock to sock away in your retirement portfolio … if you are confident in the future of diesel? Check out the CNBC clip below pointing out this possible long term investment opportunity.

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Posted By RichC on February 22, 2007

NASCAR has had its share of pluses and minuses over the years, and although the 2007 season started with one of those minuses (fuel tampering), it finished on a high note with a pedal to the metal scramble for the finish line of the Daytona 500. It could not have been much better.

Sadly as big money has become the ‘business’ of sports and entertainment, sportsmanship and the good role model component is non-existent. Perhaps I’ve become jaded when it comes to the stars Americas’ children (and adults) look up to, but from my perspective many of them are immature, overpaid, egotistical and self-absorbed. It doesn’t matter which major sport we talk about, there IS a definite shortage of ‘good guys.’ From filthy mouthed slug fests on the basketball court, to the steroid enhanced home run kings in baseball — it is challenging to find athletes a parent would want their children to emulate. (Eight Cincinnati Bengals arrested last year. Need I say more?)

Thankfully NASCAR has found their share of the good ones, and from the sounds of it, those calling the shots are looking to keep it that way. One ‘good one’ is this years winner, Kevin Harvick, who blasted his way around the sentimental favorite Mark Martin in the last turn. The photo finish was a nail-biter as Martin finished only 2-one-hundredths of a second behind Harvick. Yet that wasn’t all, as the final laps of “The Great American Race” highlighted super speedway racing at it most competitive. I doubt there was not a fan leaving that would have wanted a refund?
Racing fans had to have appreciated the ‘no holes barred shoot-out’ finish, as it included wrecks and all. Hollywood couldn’t have scripted the it better, including the Clint Bowyer sliding over the finish line on his roof! Yet what I appreciated most, were the excellent role models sitting behind those wheels … and eventually in front of the cameras. NASCAR members, for the most part, do their best to put their best public face forward to the media; they set respectable examples for our children and teens. Its a noticeable difference from the many celebrated professional athletes and entertainers paraded in front of America’s next generation. More Kevin Harvicks please.

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Posted By RichC on February 21, 2007

The fog didn’t really disappear until about noon today during my careful drive up I-71 — no comments Tim. Thankfully by the time I was to exit 151, between Columbus and Cleveland Ohio, the sun was almost out and fog about gone. I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the fog while driving since I had my Palm Treo 700p in it new iGrip holder. (see last weeks post)

At exit 151, Mt. Gilead, is my favorite convenient renewable fuel Sunoco station. They have done a great job of keeping prices competitive so it makes stopping there all the more palatable. While I did see a Pilot station selling diesel at $2.43 down the road, filling with B-20 for only 10 cents more is really not that bad. I know many of my biodiesel oriented friends would love to be able to fill with with B-2, B-5 or B-20 price even close to $2.50 a gallon. The sun is out as I grab a sandwich and salad … looks like a great February day in Ohio considering the nasty weather of the past week.

Category: Automotive, Biodiesel, Volkswagen | No Comments »
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Posted By RichC on February 20, 2007

Daniel Fisher in the February 26th issue of Forbes wrote an ‘investor beware’ article titled “Kissycat and the Magic Diesel.” (Marketplace.org MP3 audio interview with Dan Fisher here.) The article points out a new capital generation favorite of penny stock pushers … “Renewable Energy Companies.” Everyone loves this new alternative energy market, from President Bush to most members of the US congress, and anyone trying to get rich off the latest hot trend. These stock seller are going full tilt to capitalize on grabbing as many investor dollars as possible while they sling buzz terms like “renewable, biofuel, alternatives, etc.”

One of the companies Daniel Fisher highlights is U.S. Sustainable Energy Corporation which has been business marketing their ‘secret process for turning soybeans into liquid gold at a rate (five gallons per bushel) that experts say defies the laws of chemistry and physics.” The USSE plant in Natchez, Mississippi is ‘suppose to’ begin producing 1.5 million gallons a day of biodiesel-like fuel from soybeans — that’s twice the current biodiesel output the entire United States produces! Investor beware … this wouldn’t be the first ‘too good to be true’ fluff designed to strip dollars from naive investors; read more in Daniel Fisher’s article. (if you are not a member, remember that bugmenot.com is your friend in offering logins and passwords)

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Posted By RichC on February 20, 2007

Motorweek showcased the new 2007 BMW 335i on its program in this weeks broadcast. Their first impression was the usual for the BMW 3 series … they liked it … me too. From the improved economy (staff recorded 30 mpg on a road trip — premium fuel) in a car that can comfortably cruise twisties or highways, to a car that can wiggle through the cones the way a German car is suppose too.

New for 2007, along with design tweaks, is the boost of both horsepower and torque using two variable vane turbos in the 3.0 liter in-line 6 cylinder. The new power launches the non-M series BMW to 60 MPH in 5.3 seconds! Transmissions for the 335i are a manual or paddle shifter automatics. (one tenth slower 0-60) One unique feature to the coupe is the “seat belt feeder arm” — quirky but will probably be appreciated by the aging ‘baby boomer’ buyers? As usual though, the sedan is going to set you back at least $40K while the sharp looking coupe a bit more. There are times I’m tempted to give up on waiting for BMW diesel to show up in the US, and if I do … the 335i will be one of the first cars I test drive.

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Posted By RichC on February 19, 2007

According to the holiday (Presidents Day) business news , Sirius and XM satellite radio companies are set to announce their merger today. Industry experts have been anticipating this announcement for some time now and according to an article in the NYPost, the “two sides were locked in negotiations over the weekend trying to hammer out a final agreement with an eye toward going public with the merger today in Washington, D.C., where XM is based.”

Anti-trust problem loom as gaining approval could take 15 months, and there is always the possibility of other fine point last minute problems derailing the merger. Combining Sirius and XM would result in a single satellite radio operator with more than 12 million total subscribers. The deal would benefit XM subscribers in bringing them exclusive Sirius content, such as Howard Stern and Nascar, while the Sirius folk would gain XM’s Oprah Winfrey, Bob Dylan and Major League Baseball. The article suggest that more importantly the “deal would also save the two companies nearly $7 billion annually.”

Shares of both companies are low considering that the market has been up substantially over the past year. Shareholders from both companies could use some cost savings cheer would appreciate not having to compete head to head over content and in subscription pricing. Unfortunately for subscribers, a merger offers no competition to keep subscription prices in line and might end up costing more than they initially expected to pay?

EDIT 02/19/2007: Its official — The two U.S. satellite radio providers announced a merger of equals on President’s Day. Under the terms of the agreement, XM shareholders will receive 4.6 shares of Sirius stock for each share of XM they own. XM and SIRIUS shareholders will each own approximately 50% of the combined company.

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Posted By RichC on February 19, 2007

Hmm … haven’t we seen this before? A movie perhaps — “Armageddon?” According to a group of scientists that met this past weekend in San Francisco, an asteroid (Apophis) will pass uncomfortably close to the earth in 2029. Then only 7 years later will be even closer with the potential for impact. The probability of impact is low, but even passing close to the asteroid could pose risk. Astronaut Dr. Dan Berry commented that “Even if the probability is low of an asteroid hitting earth if it has the potential to have a significant impact then it has to be looked at. It is an absolutely responsible thing to do. In fact, it would irresponsible not to do so.” Some scientists recommend launching a large satellite to rendezvous with an asteroid and believe that the mass of the satellite alone could produce a gravitational pull to change the asteroid’s course. Others believe crashing a craft into the asteroid in hopes that deflecting well in advance could deflect it enough to avoid impact. (see National Geographic article)

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Tags: apophis, asteroid, national geographic, space