My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on August 10, 2006

Keith Olbermann, in his nightly news program on MSNBC called “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” has taken to delivering a Nazi “Sieg Heil” salute this past year while placing a cardboard cutout mask of FoxNews counterpart Bill O’Reilly. The Anti-Defamation League has voiced opposition to Keith Olbermann using the Nazi reference and has written a letter to MSNBC that the ‘insensitivity’ be eliminated from the program. With the recent anti-Semitic comments from actor/director Mel Gibson and sensitivity on edge in Israel, perhaps Olbermann might tone down his publicity stunts?

Anti-Defamation League Letter sent to MSNBC – link

Olbermann competes with the #1 cable news show, “The O’Reilly Factor,” hosted by Bill O’Reilly who receives Mr. Olbermann’s constant jabbing. Both programs offer controversial views upsetting to one political view or another. In the Olbermann shows case, there are a significant number of verbals lashing pointed directly at Bill O’Reilly and his personal character, etc. In recent months this ‘feud’ (which has generally been one sided) has taken an even uglier turn. The Fox Corporation’s public relations department struck back in an article in the New York Times.

Spokesperson Irena Briganti commented:
“Because of his personal demons, Keith has imploded everywhere he’s worked. From lashing out at co-workers to personally attacking Bill O’Reilly and all things Fox, it’s obvious Keith is a train wreck waiting to happen. And like all train wrecks, people might tune in out of morbid curiosity, but they eventually tune out, as evidenced by Keith’s recent ratings decline. In the meantime, we hope he enjoys his paranoid view from the bottom of the ratings ladder and wish him well on his inevitable trip to oblivion.”

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Posted By RichC on August 9, 2006

In preparation for my upcoming vacation, I dusted off my Canon Rebel XT Digital camera both to charge the battery and make sure everything was working and stored in my camera bag. As I looked for a subject (aka: victim) to be in my test photo, I took a macro photo of a ‘bee’ being attacked that appeared on my window sill — or at least I think being attacked?.
It looks cool, except not being an Entomologist … I’m not sure what’s going on here? For a larger and much more detailed photo click the thumbnail or click here. Can any science gurus shine some light on this?

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Posted By RichC on August 8, 2006

I’m posting a press release directly from New Zealand’s Maurice O’Reilly and his engineering team today as they reported yet another Volkswagen 1.9 liter TDI record. This time it is a 1, 6, 12, 18 and 24 hour record which covered a record 2,642km/1642miles. (They also set a ‘speed record‘ for a 1.9 liter diesel which was posted a couple days ago)

North Cape > Bluff > back to Christchurch – in 24 hours !

This is an example of the distance achieved by 4 motorsport enthusiasts driving a diesel Volkswagen Jetta. Between 9am on Monday and 9am on Tuesday the VW Jetta TDi circulated Manfeild Race Circuit stopping only for fuel and driver changes, in atrocious wet and slippery conditions to establish a five New Zealand distance records.

The Gull Petroleum Volkswagen has provisionally set new records for the 1, 6, 12, 18 and 24 hours with a total distance of 2,642km. This eclipsed the previous record by 160km in spite of spending an hour at the trackside replacing a damaged driveshaft. Car owner Maurice O’Reilly together with Wayne Moore, Paul Goatley and the German VW engineer who built the car, Eberhard Rattunde, each drove 2 x 3 hour shifts in very demanding conditions to prove that diesel is a serious performance fuel. During the record setting drive the affordable family sized 4 door VW Jetta TDi used only 420 litres of Gull diesel. This compares with a 4WD Turbo Porsche that drove 2,942km in the same time on the same track (without the hour stop) using over 1200 litres of petrol.

The record setting team was confident that modern diesel technology cars could demonstrate something that the Europeans have known for many years – modern diesel powered vehicles are clean, quiet, reliable, economical … and fast.

Public interest and media attention has been astonishing. The endurance records follow a week after the same VW Jetta set a NZ Diesel Speed record of 232kph. Car owner Maurice O’Reilly said that everyone is very conscious of current high fuel prices and, given the expectation of further future price increases, are very interested in discovering how good diesel is in comparison to the traditional petrol fuel. Unlike hybrid vehicles and new alternate fuels, diesel is readily available, cheaper, economical and the simple engine technology is well known. Increased use of diesel can immediately extend the world’s fuel reserves and offer savings to motorists without significant lifestyle and infrastructure changes.

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Posted By RichC on August 8, 2006

Although I’m not a Joe Lieberman supporter (Democratic Senator from Connecticut), I was disappointed to hear Ned Lamont winning the primary in Connecticut tonight. There were some interesting ‘tech’ stories surround this bitter primary, one is that ‘someone’ has taken down the ‘Joe2006.com‘ website. November should be as interesting as today when Joe Lieberman promises to run as an Independent Democrat.

The other prominent primary is Senator Cynthia McKinney (struggle with Capital Police earlier this year) from Georgia … she has also lost her primary to Hank Johnson, a former county commissioner in her suburban Atlanta district.

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Posted By RichC on August 8, 2006

Sometimes it just too easy to kill a hour or two reading off the wall Popular Mechanics style projects online. I occasionally read a fairly new online publication called Makezine. I couple of projects stand out for their innovation and their craftmanship. The first one is a “lighter than air” electrically powered (eventually) airship call the Sky Yatch. Its basically a steerable hot air balloon with a trike and electric fans for mobility. It will be interesting to see how well it operates.

Second is an aviation grandpa’s (or dad in this case) specialty project: A 1/3-scale fiberglass replica of the A-4 Skyhawk and painted to look like the jets that the Blue Angels precision flight demonstration team flew in the 1970’s. Its it impressive from the photos see below, or even more impressive from Mr. Everett’s site.

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Posted By RichC on August 8, 2006

This is just a photo from a previous post that I’m attempting to polish for an upcoming vacation … ignore the post if you’ve seen the photo before.

Note: Clicking on the smaller photo will bring up a larger photo if I have the post correctly updated.

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Posted By RichC on August 7, 2006

Breaking news on the crude oil front … just what US oil doesn’t need:

Crude Oil Rises After BP Shuts Alaskan Field, Largest in U.S.
Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) — Crude oil rose after BP Plc shut Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay field, the largest in the U.S., because of corrosion in a pipeline. An inspection completed in July found a leak in a pipeline, London-based BP said in a statement today. The shutdown will take “days” to complete, a company spokesman said. The BP- operated Prudhoe Bay field produces 400,000 barrels a day, about 8 percent of U.S. production.

Read entire story at Bloomberg.com.

Update on Monday afternoon:
Crude prices rose more than $2 Monday after this news. Crude-oil futures for September delivery closed up $2.22 at $76.98 a barrel on Nymex. Intraday, the contract hit a high of $77.30 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline advanced 2 cents to $2.25 a gallon, and heating oil rose 5 cents to $2.14 a gallon.

For the positive spin … Domestic inventories of crudeis up 4% over last year adn the U.S. Energy Department said it would provide crude from the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve if a refinery requested. In the past, the government has used oil from the SPR, which holds 700 million barrels, to cover refinery outages. Saudi Arabia also offered to provide crude to cover the shortfall, but much of their oil is heavy in sulfur and expensive to refine. Most Alaskan crude is sent to refineries on the West Coast for processing into products like gasoline and jet fuel.

Category: Misc | 2 Comments »
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Posted By RichC on August 6, 2006

Ford is running a series of “bold moves” promotional video clips marketing it changing ways. Episode 7 points to alternative fuels. (particularly ethanol) The video clip uses a new all ‘alternatives’ fuel station run by Bill Smith in Southern Pines, North Carolina to show that it might be possible to rotate away from ‘all’ petroleum in todays’ vehicles. It a ‘cute’ first day of sales where the brand new station and it excited employees sell all their fuel. Another funny segment is where Mr. Smith talks to the camera telling us that he is going to llower the prices a few cents and “to watch the station across the way” … sure enough, the worker comes out and matches the price to Mr. Smith’s amusement. (The station also sells Biodiesel!)
🙂
Videos below … Episode 7 is the one on Bill Smith’s alternative fuel station.

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Posted By RichC on August 6, 2006

Here’s a post which is probably of interest only to gadget lovers. The mobile phone sites have been posting photos of a rumored new slimmer Treo for months. This one, currently referred to as the “Nitro,” looks to have a few more serious watchers checking it out. It has been suggested that Cingular will be the carrier that will release it in the US and that it is different from current model in size, SD sideloading slot and no protruding antenna.

Here are a few rumors in regard to the specs:
* A 1200mAh battery; the Treo 650/700 has a 1800mAh
* 64MB User Available Memory
* Runs PalmOS version 5.49016
* Camera is 0.3MP (like Treo 650) NOT 1.3MP (like Treo 700p/w)
* Stylus is rubber on the upper part (instead of all metal)
* SIM card is loaded on the side instead of top
* ACCESS (PalmOS) trademark is everywhere in the software

Here’s a post from Andrew over at Treonauts that has a few photos posted and comments of his own. (by the way, I highly recommend his reviews and store)

On a different note of the same flavor, Inventec, which produces the 700p for Palm, is claiming they’ll be unable to start “volume production” of the device until September due to software problems. No indications from any reseller that they are unable meet demand, but if you have been thinking about a new Palm Treo … this might be something to consider.

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Posted By RichC on August 5, 2006

A friend of mine sent me an update article from Wired Magazine about the JCB Dieselmax streamliner that will attempt a run for the diesel land speed record. (I had forgotten about it) The record is currently 236mph but driver Andy Green will be shooting for 300+mph. On August 1st before leaving the UK they ran a final test up over 200 mph in preparation for the salt flats. One of the interesting points in the Wired article was noting the rpm differences: “Formula One alcohol powered race car 20,000 and the JCD twin 4 cylinder engined Dieselmax car a slow 3800.” (Hmmm, I know ‘jet turbines’ are oil burners too … but sense we must be talking piston power only?)

If you haven’t clicked the link above and read the final page, I found these specifications interesting:

TWIN ENGINES:
Two 750-hp diesels are mounted horizontally to reduce drag – one in front of the driver, the other behind.
COOLING:
Aero-dynamics rule out a radiator, so water is sprayed into the intake manifolds from a 53-gallon tank of ice pellets located in the vehicle’s nose.
BODY:
Nose design and fender skirts create negative pressure under the car and channel drag-inducing salt spray away from the chassis and tires.
TURBOCHARGERS:
Four turbo pumps, two for each engine, feed the power plants’ voracious thirst for air – 5 cubic tons per hour – more than double that of a Le Mans race car.
TRANSMISSIONS:
Each engine has a six-speed gearbox, shifted electronically using steering wheel-mounted paddle switches.
COCKPIT:
A carbon-fiber cocoon independent of the car and encased in a steel-tube cage protects the driver in case of crash and fire.
TAIL FIN:
Provides straight-line stability at high speeds.

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