Like a Girl

Do not want.

Artsy-Fartsy

"Black, and a Slightly Darker Shade of Black"

Oil on canvas, 1972.

K: is this not the most amazing thing you've ever seen?
K: I think it represents the human condition
J: true though that may be, the title (ModernArt.png) is inaccurate
K: no it isn't
K: because it is an homage to modern art
J: oh I see, the title is part of the artwork, not merely a descriptor of it
J: that's pretty clever

[Context]

People Who Use Hashtags Outside of Twitter Annoy Me

After much resistance, I recently started using Twitter.

#Fail

A Reflection On Life

A few days ago, I drove from Orange County to Monterey, and back. In a day. For fun. Alone.

Most of my friends probably think I'm a bit (a lot?) weird, but as someone that enjoys the open road, I think it's quite normal to want to go on a drive just for the sake of doing so. I mean, motorcyclists do this kind of stuff all the time, so why not car drivers?

So I went up US-101, got lost in downtown Santa Barbara, took a wrong turn to Solvang, then drove up CA-1 through Big Sur and eventually to Carmel. It was a Monday and traffic was awful through Los Angeles, but after that it was absolutely brilliant. The past few times I drove through the twisty coastal route between San Luis Obispo and Carmel were on weekends, and I got stuck behind massive traffic, but not so this time. They say this road is a National Scenic Byway and an All-American Road, which means it is a destination in itself. Going here, then, is like visiting Disneyland or the Louvre. Except better.

To be honest I prefer the coast north of the Golden Gate even more, but the Big Sur coast is still a spectacular road. So when I arrived in Carmel around 6:00pm, even though it was dark and cold and I was 380 miles from home, I felt pretty good about myself. The return leg was 5.5 miles of nonstop driving down dark, mostly straight and boring roads, but that doesn't matter because in the end, I was somehow satisfied with myself for having done this. So to the naysayers that told me this is a stupid idea and that I'm wasting my time and money on something completely pointless: sod off.

Somehow I've deviated from my usual tone, but I've come to realize that I hope this can be an analogy for my life as a whole. If, having gotten lost, taken a wrong turn, and endured long boring stretches, I can feel as satisfied in the end as I did on this brief road trip, I think that is a damn good life.

Cheers.

Herp

Derp.

Avto Bazar

I've been browsing the Ukrainian equivalent of Auto Trader. Here's what I found.

Some naming gems:

OMG SO COOL

ROCSTA. GANGSTA.

SQNY POLYSTATION

Why someone would pay such money for scrap metal is beyond me.

And finally, I would like to apologize to the Kia Soul, Nissan Juke, and Dodge Nitro. While they are all offensively ugly, this Ssangyong Actyon takes the cake. Who knew they could possibly come up with something worse than the Rodius?

Don't Thread On Me

People of Craigslist!
Tires don't have threads!
Stop saying "90% thread" because if that's really the case, you shouldn't be selling them.

Buzzwords

A list of "50 Buzzwords You Shouldn't Use"

So I shouldn't be experienced, motivated, highly skilled, trustworthy, or flexible? Those don't seem like entirely unreasonable words to use. On the other hand, who uses "best-in-class" (#42)? Automobile manufacturers?

And a detail-oriented person wouldn't say "detailed-oriented" (#2), you fool.

Now, doesn't this look familiar?

"We are looking to hire a detail-oriented (#2) team player (#1) that is experienced (#4) and has a proven track record of success (#3). The ideal candidate will possess excellent communication (#5), leadership(#6), and organization skills (#9)..."

I hate how job seekers are expected to send in cover letters and, even worse, thank-you notes. If I were in a position to hire, I would immediately pass on anyone that tried to suck up by sending a thank-you note.

Ask Aardvark

A collection of silly questions people have asked me through Aardvark.

----------

(From Troy J./M/Houston,TX)
Whats the best digital camera on the market and whats the cheapest website can I buy it from?

If I recommend a Hasselblad H4D-60, are you going to go buy one? Personally I'm not prepared to drop $42,000 on a camera no matter how good it is. I get so many of these questions it's ridiculous, although they usually specify a price (which is almost always "under $200").

----------

(From Bert C./M/Raleigh,NC)
using Nikon d3 24 - 70 mm lens, shots of fall leaves are not crisp and clear. Bright day, ISO 400, shutter speed fast at f16. Why are leaves not crisp and clear

User error.

----------

(From Jorge O./29/M/LasVegas,NV -- sent via iPhone)
I have a chevy camaro I have gotten it to 145mph. Has eny body got to top speed?? 160mph.

Sigh...

----------

(From Marcelo A./27/M/SF,CA -- sent via iPhone)
Is there a way to sell a car with $5000 worth of tickets in a different state and avoid paying the tickets? Car is currently in California.

No one said the question had to conform to ethics, I guess.

----------

(From Sina S./24/M/Tehran,Iran -- sent via iPhone)
I'm going on sport air filter on kia rio model 2003, plz help me what's model to be better in engine have nice sound and with high efficiecy engine

Ah yes, the Kia Rio. Well-regarded for its sporty performance, that. Changing the air filter will certainly make the engine sound much better.

----------

(From Katie F./F/Newfoundland,PA -- sent via iPhone)
What size suitcase should I bring to school?

To live there? Or to attend class?

----------

(From Alec D./20/M/Austin,TX -- sent via iPhone)
What about using bondo body filler to fix cars makes people so opinionated and emotional?

"Damn you Bondo! Why can't you fill this dent smoothly!? I... I thought I could TRUST you for once *sob* *sniff*"

----------

 iPhone users...

Facebook Email?

So it's rumored that Facebook is going to be introducing an e-mail system on Monday. It will be interesting to see if they offer any compelling reason to use their service over Google's (especially since I have an Android phone, on which the Facebook application is terrible, to say the least).

You Shall Not Pass

On certain uphill stretches of Interstate 15 (and, in fact, many other highways), a third lane is added to the far right to prevent slow trucks from obstructing all other traffic. Most truckers use this, but every now and then an ambitious truck driver will try to overtake another truck by using the middle lane.

While I find this practice incredibly annoying, as it takes about three years to complete, I can live with it because the far left lane is still open.

However, a wall of trucks across three lanes is not acceptable. This happened on a long uphill segment on the way back from Las Vegas. Not only did it cause a massive traffic jam, it almost resulted in many collisions as drivers had to slam the brakes to slow from about 85mph to 35mph.

This needs to be punishable by death.

Similarities

Neiman Marcus Christmas Book

Dinosaur Comics

Database Fail

Foursquare was down for like 11 hours yesterday, and now it's down again. Time to ditch MongoDB and switch to a proper database. Or at least, one for which I can use this handy reference guide.

Food For Thought

Scientific American: Why Broadband Service in the US Is So Awful

Spambot

I can't read these. I think I may be a bot.

Illegal Immigrants

I came across a bumper sticker on a car today that said, "The first illegal immigrants arrived in 1492." The more I think about this, the less it makes sense.

In fact the only perspective that kind of makes sense is if the driver is a Native American, and wants everyone else to leave.

However, I'm fairly certain that isn't the intended message.

Is the driver saying we should be more accepting to illegal immigrants because Columbus came here "illegally," and let all of them in by the masses? We all know how that turned out for the Native Americans...

Actually, Columbus was not an illegal immigrant, as there was no prevailing law that said he could not enter.

And somehow I don't think the driver is a white person advocating that everyone goes back to Europe.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN

On Choco Tacos

I've never seen anyone take such exception to the concept of the Choco Taco (or, in fact, any ice cream bar, really). Someone here has some major issues.

I mean, I understand that the only resemblance a Choco Taco has to an actual taco, but isn't that the point? It never billed itself as an "authentic Mexican dessert" or anything like that. When I see a chocolate bunny at Easter time, I don't expect it to be filled with rabbit meat.

The writer goes on to make analogies for the components in a Choco Taco, relating them to ingredients one might find in an actual taco. Again, missing the point. If I wanted an actual taco, I would have bought an actual taco and not an ice cream bar.

I bet the writer is the kind of guy that complains that places like Chipotle "aren't really Mexican." Technically true, but that doesn't make the food any less tasty, unless one has it so ingrained in his closed mind that "not authentic = not tasty" that the prejudice trumps any sensations experienced by the taste buds.

Librarian's Dream

Sometimes, you see a really cool and artsy piece of furniture and think, "wow, that looks awesome." You might even decide to purchase it. And then you get home and set it up, only to find that it really doesn't go well with all the other ordinary-looking stuff in your house.

Today, I've found a list of "35 Really Unusual and Desirable Bookshelf Designs." Some thoughts:

6. WisdomTree

Why is there a girl up there? How did she get there?

7. Cardboard Bookshelf

Are the girl and the chair, with their red accents that match the bookshelf, included?

19. Yellow

I advise against cramming books on a shelf in this manner.

20. Bookshelf

The design my be creative but the name leaves something to be desired. And are those stairs behind it?

21. Ideas for the office

This appears to be a standard bookshelf.

22. Toto

Practicality concerns.

28. A bookshelf designed by Ron Arad

Getting a book from Texas is going to be a pain. Putting it back is going to be worse.

29. Wall of Books

Ceci n'est pas un book-shelf.

Adding Excitement

Apparently, for Orange County golfers, water hazards are not interesting enough.

So we have fire hazards now.

I think I'd watch golf on TV more often if it featured explosions.

Prices May Not Vary

I don't think the price of a "$2 Meal Deal" should be allowed to vary.

Imbecile

Imagine if Obama had said, two months into his term, "Oh, I never realized I was commander-in-chief of the military." Further imagine that he had said, "I thought the Secretary of Defense is actively serving in the military." Well, this just happened in Japan. How does such an ignorant buffoon become prime minister?

Notifying the Enemy

When there is an opening in the lane next to me and I signal toward it, this is not an invitation to close the gap as quickly as possible. I am not saying, "look, here's another gap for you to fill by tailgating the car in front of you!" If you keep pulling up to block me from changing lanes, I'm going to have to start switching without indicating.

I'm looking at you, BMW E46 and E90 drivers.

Unspeakable

.

WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN.

Beep

Most of these are fair points but you know you woke up on the wrong side of the bed when you complain that the elevator beeps too much.

Unfitting

I'm a big fan of the new Jaguar XJ and I think the XJ75 Platinum Concept looks pretty good (would be better in black), but I'm not so sure about this press photo. Purple suede? Really? That is not very Jag at all...

That, and a plastic power outlet cap is not exactly the most aesthetically pleasing object in the car to photograph. Why did they have to take a photograph showcasing it?

Adds Ads

I hate when developers release an update to an existing app where the only thing that has changed is the inclusion of ads. Seriously, I understand that you need to make it worthwhile to develop applications, but surely you could integrate ads when you actually have a useful new feature to include?

Fortunately, AdFree and root access take care of most of this nonsense.

Prepare for Landing

Bizarre, but well done.

Disappointing

"Disappointing" is a key word in the movie Inception. It's been a few weeks since the movie came out but I won't reveal how it is important; it just is.

Anyway, according to my Facebook feed, this was touted as "mind-blowing," "best movie ever" and so on. So, for the first time in three years, I sat down at a movie theater expecting great things.

I spent the first half of the movie wondering where I'd seen the actress that plays DiCaprio's character's deceased wife. Eventually it came to me. She is Lilly from the French Taxi movie series.

After two and a half hours (more like three hours, because the previews were a good thirty minutes), I left the theater, convinced of an idea: the movie can be summed up in one word. It is "disappointing."

Clearly, the Facebook posts had failed to implant the idea that this was an excellent movie. Or perhaps it is because my expectations were unreasonably high, having read what the internet had said. Because, you know, the internet is always right.

I mean, the movie was not bad at all, and some of the effects were very cool. However, the plot line left more to be desired, and the story was all too predictable. I wanted the movie to have serious plot twists and be so weird that I'd have a difficult time getting my mind around it. As it turns out, the story was very straightforward. This, I suppose, can be a good thing, because sometimes I finish a movie not understanding how the beginning and end were somehow connected in the middle. So in the sense that the script was easy to follow, the movie gets high marks.

I wanted a movie where the last scene changes my preception of the entire movie. I was waiting for an "ohhh, I see what you did there" moment, but sadly, it was not to be.

And why why WHY one would name a French character "Mal" is beyond me.

O RLY?

Today, we present an article on "money habits that are illegal."

5. Copying U.S. Currency
Wait, people make a habit of this?

"But it is, in fact, illegal to print your own money and try to spend it to buy goods or services."

*Facepalm*

This means the HTC EVO 4G loses an important selling point.

Stolen

Why couldn't they have featured a picture of a car that is actually on the "most stolen" list to match the caption under the thumbnail?

What I Learned

I went to Minnesota last month. This was my first time actually spending time in the Midwest.

Here are some of the things I learned:

-Most people in Minneapolis are very nice, even if you are wearing a Red Wings hat. Except for the bus driver on the way back from the zoo. She was not very nice to anyone.

-Everyone smokes in Minneapolis.

-People do not pick up after their dogs in Minneapolis.

-Revolving doors are the craze in Minneapolis. They are literally on every building.

-Northeast Minnesota may as well be a part of Scandinavia. There are towns called such names as Finland and Makinen, and a large number of viking-themed trinket shops.

-However, I am not sure I'd want to live in a place called Embarrass, MN. Especially if it can get to -64°F.

-Giraffes are surprisingly inexpensive to buy, according to a friend working at a zoo in St. Paul.

-The two pubs I went to were both British themed: Brit's and The Local. Draught Guinness on tap is still my favorite, but Fuller's ESB was not bad at all. Runner up: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Should have tried the cider too, though.

-BP branded stations exist. In California, BP operates under the ARCO brand.

-Gasoline prices are the same across different brands. In California, a Mobil on a street corner opposite an ARCO may be as much as 20 cents more expensive per gallon. Go down the street and the difference may be 30 cents.

-There are more than 1,000 Jimmy John's stores in the U.S. Only one is located in California, and it is in Fresno, four hours away. They do not deliver in the blink of an eye as the commercials suggest. Sad, because I like it much better than Subway.
I wrote to them, and they replied, "Our current growth strategy is to build out the markets we are currently in before moving to new markets."

-Denny's, on the other hand, is rare. Only 13 stores exist in Minnesota, while California has 415. Upon looking up the Wikipedia article, I learned that Denny's was headquartered in Irvine until 1991. It is now based in South Carolina.

-Tornadoes = mythical and elusive, like Nessie.

Lovely Spam, Wonderful Spam

What's the point of spamming a group when the only people in the group are other spammers?

Fans

It's one thing to say, "Go Lakers! 2010 NBA Champions!" And it's another thing to say, "Suck it, Boston!"

Especially considering 80% of the people posting such things on the internet are bandwagon Lakers fans that don't actually watch basketball.

Natural Disasters

Southern California experienced a moderate earthquake last night, registering a magnitude of 5.7. Once the rattling subsided, a flood then followed.

It's not like a dam collapsed or a levee broke from the shaking. No, the flood showed up on my Facebook news feed as everyone reported an earthquake.

Twitter fared worse. I don't use Twitter, but apparently the flood washed away some of their servers or something, and the site went down. That, or the flood washed the fail whale ashore.

Southwest Sojourn

There comes a time on many blogs where nothing is posted for an extended period of time. In many cases, the author comes round some time later and says, "Wow, I haven't posted anything in a while, but I'm back! I'm going to start posting regularly again." And then that's the last post on the blog, ever.

Well, I'm not going to be "that guy." At least, that's the intent.
We start today with a recap of a recent road trip. We traveled through six states and 2,500+ miles over the course of four and two-half days.
The highlight of the trip was White Sands National Monument in New Mexico, which was one of the most amazing places I've ever visited. This is the world's largest gypsum dune field, and camping out on the dunes was a great idea.
Mostly.
My two friends decided it would be an even better idea to just pull out sleeping bags and sleep on top of the dunes, rather than in the tent, which was pitched in the area between two dunes.
I was not too fond of this idea. While the moon was rising to the east, there was a spectacular lightning display over the mountains to the west, and the south also looked rather gloomy.
Nonetheless, we sat out on top of the dunes attempting to photograph lightning.
And then the wind picked up. A lot. The tent at the base of the dunes almost blew away. Our equipment was bombarded with sand. We scurried down the dune to secure the tent, which was quite the ordeal. We re-pegged it and pulled off the rain cover, because although it looked like it could start raining any moment, the wind was threatening to blow the cover off anyway.
This was enough to convince my friends to not sleep on top of the dunes.
The next day, we drove to Colorado. As it was getting dark, we stopped to take pictures on a mountain pass at an elevation of 11,000 feet, where the outside temperature was near freezing. Given we were out in the desert in temperatures close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit just several hours prior, we were not prepared for this.
So how exactly does one follow up a visit to one of the most incredible places he's seen? While in Colorado, we visited Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, which is the 11th least visited National Park in the U.S.
Actually, this wasn't until after we tried a spot of rock climbing. Well, rappelling, to be more precise. We climbed up the back route because that didn't require any aid.
The rock face was perhaps a hundred feet or so. From the base it looks like much less, and from above it looks like much more. You know, the usual. As someone who has never done this before, somewhat scary. However, this was not nearly as harrowing as the time in Arizona when used a rope (and no harness) to get in and out of a slot canyon which was about 20 feet deep. That time, I feared for my life. This time I had a harness. Actually, at that point in my life I wouldn't have minded if I'd died, but I certainly would have minded if I were to be badly injured. Given a choice at that point I would have chosen certain and instant death, but I digress.
The Black Canyon of the Gunnison is so named because the canyon is so narrow and deep that sunlight rarely shines through, causing it to appear dark. This makes it an incredibly difficult subject to photograph, as cameras cannot handle such a wide dynamic range. The solution I took was to bracket almost every exposure and merge them into HDR images, but none of them really turned out very well anyway.
In fact I got better pictures on the drive back, through Utah.
 
I thought I could write something interesting. I failed.

Classifieds

I went on the internet today and found some cars for sale.

I would say this is a bit steep for something with 280,000 miles on the clock.

Next, we have this aptly named Toyota Pickup:

I would say it certainly does more picking up than a "pickup truck" does. It's rather astonishing that it has done 8,564 miles.

And a 1988 BMW 735i in excellent condition, albeit with a bit of an identity crisis:

And finally, a Datsun 280ZX. 25-30mpg is a dubious claim.

Γάριο

I thought they mainly sell Chinese knock-offs, but apparently this one is a Greek knock-off.

Perceived Wealth

For those of us that don't have the money to spend on a new Mercedes S-Class, U.S. News and World Report has an article on "affordable cars that make you look rich."

Now, I would love to have an expensive car. However, the reason for that is not because I want to look rich to people that don't know anything about cars. I want a nice car because it offers something that a cheaper car does not, whether it be speed, comfort, space, or other features. Or perhaps because it looks good, not necessarily because it looks expensive. There are plenty of cheap cars that look good and conversely, plenty of expensive cars that look terrible.

First off is the Kia Soul. Can I just make it quite clear that no one that drives a Kia will be perceived as having an expensive car? There is a driving school in the business park where I work, and one of the cars they use for student drivers is a Kia Soul. Even the people that can't tell a Honda Accord from an Audi A8 will not be fooled. Absolutely no one will think, "wow, that man drives a Kia Soul, he must be very rich."

We've established that the car does not look expensive. Does it at least look good, then?

Well, the article says "it looks different." That is a nice way of saying, "never in my life have I seen something quite as hideous." I used to think the Dodge Nitro was the ugliest car on the market. And then the Kia Soul came around, shattering all preconceived notions of what is socially acceptable. I'm actually offended by its looks. Who was the genius that thought bags under the eyes would be a good idea? A donkey, for instance, is more elegant. I cringe every time I see this car on the road. Then I try to drive as far away from it as possible, because clearly it is being driven by a blind person.

Next, the article mentions the Suzuki Kizashi, a car that no one has ever seen or heard before. That's because while Suzuki makes some of the best motorcycles in the world (supposedly; I have no experience or interest in this field), the same cannot be said about their cars. It's one of the seven wonders of the modern world: how can a company that produces such insanely quick motorcyles as the GSX-1300R Hayabusa create such dreary cars on a consistent basis?

But who knows, maybe this new one is exciting. That's not to say anything about whether it makes you look rich or not. Which, it doesn't. Even if it didn't have a Suzuki badge on it, the design is rather dull and I'm fairly confident I could pick it out as the cheap one.

The Mazda MX-5 has always been a fun little car. I guess it could possibly make you look rich to the people that can't tell the difference between it and a Porsche Boxster.

The Chrysler 300 is a difficult one. It mimics the styling of a Bentley (albeit rather badly) and at $40,000, it's not exactly at the bottom end of the scale. It's a large car with shiny chrome bits, so I guess a clueless person could be fooled into thinking it's something more expensive. Take a step inside, however, to dispel any such ideas. The materials and design look cheaper than that of a Toyota Corolla. It's also fairly dated and it looks that way too; the car has been around since 2005 and it's based on the Mercedes-Benz W210 E-Class, which was first introduced in 1996.

And finally, the Ford Flex. Not a bad looking car, I admit. According to the article, it's cheaper than something like a Cadillac Escalade but doesn't look so, which is a fair point. It's also smaller, but nonetheless, I think the same argument that applies to the Mazda MX-5 can be applied here.

I guess the problem is, I don't look at a car and think "that must be expensive" because in general, I know if a car is expensive or not. So really, I have no business critiquing this article in the first place.

Deal of the Day

So it's either this, or two M3s... Tough call, but I wouldn't have a BMW anyway.

Reality

Today we have an article that lists the worst built cars in America.

Now, this kind of goes against what was outlined in a previous article (from a different source).

In fact it doesn't even tell the whole story, because if you go to the full article on Forbes, you find that there are two more vehicles (GMC Canyon, Jeep Wrangler) that weren't mentioned in the summarized version.

So the other article about how American cars are high in quality these days, where did that rumor originate?

The Northern Half

North Korea's official website reports that the "Kim Jong-Il style" is becoming a worldwide fashion trend.

Apparently, people of the world are impressed that the great leader would wear such a "modest and unextravagant" outfit. And a person in the French fashion industry is quoted as saying Kim Jong-Il's outfit is becoming rapidly popular around the world.

Now, I was unable to find this report in the "English" section of the website, so I went over to the Korean page, with the help of Google Translate.

I was still unable to find the article on fashion. However, here are some excerpts from other news articles:

"Sexual coal industries of coal production plan of the Working Class to 107% were performed."

"Since last year, under the leadership of his erection and Samilpo comprehensive food specialties such as factories and machines have been built anywhere in the developed vigorously doeyeo seongunsidae 'Samilpo' Expression food processing industry revolution, a new light the fire of the revolution took place castration cold."

On a somewhat unrelated issue, North Korea has accused the U.S. of being the world's worst human rights abuser.

Also available for download on the website: North Korean music including "classic masterpieces" and "revolutionary songs" which, at 31 cents each is about the same as the average North Korean's monthly income. You can even get them as ringtones for your mobile phone, but this costs a whopping 52 cents. A luxury item, then. It can be said with certainty that no one in North Korea will be buying them, as no one in North Korea has a mobile.

Fraud

One of the campaign promises the Democratic Party of Japan made during last year's elections was that they would remove all tolls from the highways in Japan. Never mind that revenue will decrease; stupid people will vote for you if you flash some money in front of them.

Six months later. Are the highways free of toll? Nope, not a chance. In fact, today, it was announced that the toll would essentially be RAISED starting in June.

Now, I didn't agree with getting rid of tolls in the first place but is this even allowed? In principle this is worse than when George H.W. Bush said, "Read my lips: no new taxes" during the 1988 campaign, prior to raising taxes. If he had said, "Read my lips: no taxes," then I guess that would be worse but how is it permissible to do something completely opposite to your campaign platform? If not legally, at least ethically?

Parliament needs to be dissolved. The DPJ is just too inept and I seriously worry the country is going to fall apart.

Lost In Translation

Solar Charger manual

Product Description:
This product is an energy-saving, Environmentally friendly solar energy emergency charger, through the solar panels will convert light energy into electrical energy and stored in the built-in lithium battery inside, and then through the control circuit will be built-in lithium battery power output to phone/MP3/MP4 products such as emergency charge.
Solar charger can also be the first to use electricity (AC100V-240V), through the power adapter with a built-in lithium battery to charge rechargeable batteries before use, suitable for travel, tourism, environment, field work and other standby power.

Specification:
I. Solar panels size : 5.5V/80mA (polysilicon)
2. Municipal Power Input: AC100V - 240V
3. Output Voltage: 5.5V
4. Maximum output current: 500mA
5. Built-in lithium battery: l350mAH
6.0verall dimensions : 93 * 43 * 11mm

Solar charger Charge:
Charging the need to purchase the product the first time, electric discharge end, use AC110V-240V power adapter to the built-in rechargeable lithium battery 13 hours straight. (The beginning of the use of the need for more than two full charge/discharge, to improve
the built-in battery efficiency).

Solar Charger Charge has the following two ways:
1. Using electricity (AC100V - 240V), through the adapter to a solar charger built-in lithium battery, the adapter's green light long-liang, 10 hours or so can be filled, the adapter, said the green light off in buy lithium battery is fully charged
Electricity to the solar charger charge for more than 8 hours, you can provide 1-1.5 hours of phone standby power
2. Solar charger will automatically be placed under direct sunlight to the built-in rechargeable lithium battery, solar charge indicator green light indicates a long charge in 15-18 hours of direct sunlight can be filled due to the strength of the sun varies, green light off that built-in lithium battery is fully charged.
Abundant in sunlight 16 hours for about 10-20 minutes of an emergency call power (depending on the various brands of mobile phone specifications vary)

Solar chargers for charging other products:
Built-in lithium battery is full after charging the output cable coupled with the corresponding conversion head, solar charger with digital products such as mobile phone or MP3. MP4 connected can recharge.

Product accessories and packaging:
Solar charger 1, a power adapter, USB charging cable 1, the charge output line 1, convert the first 5 ( Motorola*1, Samsung/BlackBerry (Storm) * 1, Nokia/BlackBerry (Curve) * 2, Sony Ericsson *1, depending on the sales of slightly different area), a manual, color box packaging.

Remarks:
Products built-in automatic power-off function, in built-in battery power automatically after the exhaustion of power, simply remove the power cord can be restored automatically charging.

[End Manual]

I'd just like to point out that when I plugged in the AC adapter to charge up the built-in lithium battery, a plastic piece inside the plug snapped and the prong wouldn't actually go into the outlet. I had to mend it by taking it apart, drilling some holes in it, and tying down the prong piece so it's not loose. I still don't know if this damn thing even works.

Double Standards

The media is a terrifying thing. On one hand, you have them bashing the hell out of Toyota. On the other hand, when GM comes under investigation by the NHTSA for faulty brake lines, almost no one reports it. This, despite the fact that the issue affects over six million vehicles sold between 1999 and 2003.

But one can't hide something like this for very long. So when it is reported, it is severely downplayed.

To the unsuspecting reader, the above article shows that GM is mindful of its consumers and taking preventive action by fitting improved brake systems to its cars. The bit about the investigation on 6.2 million cars built in the past is treated like an addendum of little importance.

Media influence has the power to set an enormous company reeling, to get a president elected, and to replace the ruling party. The Chinese Communist Party is well aware of this, and that is why Google is leaving China.

Think twice before taking something for its face value.

Farce

In the news today: Toyota is being fined $16.375 million.

It seems to me that Toyota is being punished for false accusations and user incompetence, as if the bad publicity was not enough. Besides, according to the hysteric lady's testifimonial in Congress, it's not like the NHTSA did anything when it learned about the problem. Anyone think they should pay a fine?

It's also the case that Toyota's rates of sudden acceleration incidents are not any higher than the competition. In fact, there are many companies that are far worse, according to NHTSA data.

Furthermore, forgive me if I'm wrong, but I can find no mention anywhere of Ford or Firestone paying a significant fine when the Explorer was found to roll over. Prior to that, when it was found that Ford cars would spontaneously catch fire, they paid a fine and recalled millions of vehicles. In fact, Ford was expanding the recall as recent as last year. The hefty amount Ford paid as a penalty in 1999? $425,000.

Now, Toyota is being fined for allegedly not taking action for four months after learning of the problem. In the Ford fire incident, it took Ford three years to issue a recall AND they "failed to provide complete and accurate information in four investigations."

Do I even need to continue?

The Almighty Saab

The amount of load on those rear wheels looks hilariously unsafe. It's also quite amusing that the 9-3 is towing another Saab, which appears to be a 900.

On Frugality

Every now and then, someone will come around and tell us how Warren Buffet is very rich but also very frugal. The article tells us how being rich doesn't necessarily mean one has to live a flashy and extravagant lifestyle, indulging in luxuries such as yachts and enormous mansions. They say these people are in touch with the average people of the world, and because of this, they are modest and wonderful.

I disagree.

Now, many wealthy people are generous philanthropists. The underlying reason for this could be because they feel it is their social obligation to give back to the less fortunate, or because they are simply aware that the government will take a large amount away each year and at death. This is all jolly and lovely. If I had billions, I'd probably give some of it away too.

However, priding oneself on driving the same beat-up car for the last twenty years and taking economy-class flights to business meetings across the globe? I'm not so sure that does any good to society.

As much as these people have a social obligation to distribute their wealth by donating to charity, they also have an obligation to distribute their wealth by spending it.

Ingvar Kamprad could, for instance, buy a new car instead of driving a 240GL. He could have bought a new Saab and it still would have been unextravagant, and it would have helped his fellow Swedes. Better yet, he could have bought the entire Saab company. Sure, perhaps it wouldn't be a sensible investment, but if he treated it as an act of charity, there would be no problem at all.

So anyway, start spending. It's good for the economy.

Unrestrained Spending

This idiot is a salesman's dream customer.

What he's done here is
-Go for the upgrade model
-Bought all the accessories available (and there are many because the company that makes the iPad is a fruit and necessary features aren't built in)
-Bought the extended warranty

The result is a bill that is twice the cost of the base equipment, and no one had to tell him to buy any of this; he just did it on his own. So much for the economy being poor. When I was a salesman I used to have to work hard to entice people into buying the add-ons. About once a year someone like this would come in and pick up everything, and I would be very suspicious that he would hand me a fraudulent credit card or something.

Not Even Close

No it isn't.

Chez Moi

You know, adding a venue like "So and So's house" on Foursquare is probably not a good idea. Neither is adding a venue called "My house" and then making your real name visible on your account.

The Sea of Japan is NOT a Garbage Disposal

Between mid-December 2009 and the end of March 2010, there have been at least 22,194 polyethylene tanks washed ashore on Japan's western coast facing the Sea of Japan. This is 5,235 more than recorded a year ago. Some of these tanks have been found to contain harmful substances such as hydrogen peroxide and nitrous acid.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been looking into the matter for years but without much progress. I suspect this won't be resolved unless the source country actually takes serious action to prevent it from happening. It has already been over ten years since tens of thousands of these started arriving on Japan's shores. The total is well over a million

We know who is responsible. Of the 22,194 tanks collected in the past three and a half months, at least 10,915 had Korean writing on them. So before arguing that the Sea of Japan should be called "East Sea" (it shouldn't) and forcefully taking over Takeshima (Korea has refused to appear at the International Court of Justice since 1954 to settle this, because they know they will lose), STOP POLLUTING.

Advocating Ambivalence

This article suggests that you buy an American car.

Or does it?

In fact it's quite a pointless article and it doesn't actually advocate anything or answer any questions. Essentially, it says, "American cars are not so bad these days, but everything else out there is good too."

1. You can get a great deal
The article mentions attractive finance rates, and then pretty much says, "...and you can get that from any other manufacturer too." Not surprising, given the state of the economy.

2. Quality is high
Apparently American cars don't break down every other day anymore. And then the article says "...but neither does anything else." Quality isn't just reliability though. I went to the LA Auto Show late last year and sat in some Chevrolets, just for kicks. Some of the things I encountered were nasty interiors with cheap, shiny, flimsy plastic, uncomfortable seats, and unergonomic item placement. Besides, none of this says anything about performance. American cars still are, on the whole, wafty and unable to go around corners.

3. You can still go green
They say something about hybrids, which are not actually green at all. And then they say the American hybrids are not particularly good in terms of efficiency, but that a hybrid is a hybrid, and that everyone else makes "green" cars too. This morning I saw a new-ish Dodge Ram (no more than five years old) spewing black smoke and leaving a three-mile trail in its wake. I see this all the time from the Big Three, but never from Japanese pickup trucks.

4. They're class leaders
Well, yes, but only if you buy the particular models that happen to be "class leaders." They say, "The top five affordable midsize SUVs are American, and when it comes to compact and large SUVs, two of the top three models in both classes are from domestic manufacturers." I mean, what exactly constitutes an "affordable mid-size SUV"? None of this means anything if they don't mention which models are good, what they're up against, and why they're good. The article then says Americans make good trucks too. All of this is fairly reasonable, as big trucks and SUVs are traditionally American, so to speak. This is why all of their passenger cars also handle like them, and many even sound like them.

5. You'll help American workers
By that argument, as an American taxpayer, I ought to buy a GM product because I am part owner. Anyway, you could buy a Toyota and still help American workers, as most of the models sold here are made here. Which makes it all the more puzzling that Congress wants to bash them so much. Senator Mike Johnanns of Nebraska, for instance, believes the U.S. should ban the import of cars made in Japan. What he doesn't understand is that the cars that supposedly have issues were made in the U.S. At any rate, the article then mentions that you can help American workers by buying just about any car, and that American cars may very well be made elsewhere, such as Canada.

In conclusion, the article says to buy what you like. WHAT IS YOUR POINT THEN.

On App Updates

Phone applications will receive low ratings because if is a problem with the functionality. This is perfectly normal. If the developer doesn't issue updates in a timely manner to fix this, the app will continue to receive poor reviews.

However, I'm beginning to notice a trend of increased complaints for apps that are updated too much.

I mean, I sort of get the rationale behind this. It's annoying to download an update every other day, and the developer could perhaps lump a few fixes together in one update. However, I don't feel criticism is really warranted here. Too many microscopic updates is better than an abandoned app with no updates ever.

There is, however, one issue that needs to be raised with some of the developers. Namely, I want to know what exactly has changed. I don't mind updating every day if it means improved functionality. However, I don't want to update if the only thing that was added to the latest version is ads.

Seriously, I don't mind ads on free apps as long as they aren't obtrusive. Developers have to have some sort of incentive for creating apps, and I don't expect them to work for free. People who complain about ads being present in a free app should have their salaries taken away.

However, if you're releasing an update for the sole purpose of throwing in ads, then we need to talk. Either way, it's a good software development practice to detail the changes from version to version.

On Android and Facebook

After three months of false starts, teasing, last-minute cancellations that appear to have malice and forethought behind them, my Motorola Droid has finally been upgraded to Android 2.1.

The sad thing is, it still wasn't an "official" OTA update. Essentially, what I had to do was download the zip file containing the upgrade from Google's server, load it on a MicroSD card, and then boot from the card.

Verizon has never actually disclosed why it took them so long to make this available, but I suspect it is mostly their fault and not Google or Motorola's, as OTA updates were reported some time back in other parts of the world such as Hong Kong.

I couldn't find a way to increase the number of home screens in the new update. However, there's an app for that. It's called HelixLauncher. Now, my Droid does have more than three home screens. What's more, double-tapping the screen shows thumbnails of all of them, so I can skip across. This is just another beautiful aspect of the future, of the free world. That other fruity company would never allow things like this to happen unless you jailbreak.

Of course, there are some issues with Android that could be improved. As far as I am aware, there is still no way of taking a screenshot without rooting the system. And the Facebook app is embarrassingly terrible. It is lacking most of the features present on the iPhone version, such as inbox and chat, notifications never update (and I'm not exaggerating here, they never do unless you refresh manually. The only things that it fetches are friend requests, pokes, and messages), and things often simply don't work.

For instance, if someone posts on a group wall and it shows up in your feed, there is an option to comment/like it. However, this doesn't actually work. It just returns an error. Also, if there are more than two comments and you hit "view all," this also does not work.

Let's say someone posts some pictures, and you want to take a look. You tap on it, and it opens the Browser externally to redirect you to the Facebook Mobile website. We're talking m.facebook.com, not even touch.facebook.com. It's pathetic. However, if you go to the profile of the person that posted the photo, and click the "Photos" tab, the pictures can be viewed within the Facebook app. Whoever coded this should be shot.

In fact the Facebook app tries to redirect you to the Mobile website for just about anything. Want to see the comment someone posted on your wall post? Redirect. Want to see the comment someone posted on your photo? Redirect. Want to see the comment someone posted on a group wall post? Redirect. The last one is especially problematic because m.facebook.com doesn't even support groups. So it just comes back as "content not found."

At least the posted comment is displayed in the notifications page of the app, e.g. "X posted on your wall: 'ABCDEFG.'" However, if you want to respond to this, it will redirect you to the Mobile website. If it was a group post, you'll have to go to the Mobile site, and then direct yourself to the full desktop Facebook website, then navigate to the post.

I have a feeling that what Facebook is doing here is abusing the multi-tasking abilities of the Android system. The app that they have put out is a joke, and with today being April 1, perhaps they can come up with a useful, functional one, even if it's only for a day. At any rate, it's a joke that they didn't pull on the iPhone because they had to work around its limitations. What they've done on Android is say, "oh, well if it can run multiple apps at the same time, why don't we just make the Facebook app a collection of links to the Mobile website, which we already made three years ago? Then we wouldn't have to actually do any work designing an app for Android."

History Will Be Made

There was a post on parodies of ads made by the NHL, so I decided to jump in and have a go myself.

The result:


I mean, I bought Adobe Premiere so I might as well put it to use, right?

Yelp Me

I'm not so sure about that categorization...

Anyway, Yelp has reunited me with a restaurant that I used to frequent. It used to be a medium-sized establishment on a street corner and it closed probably about five years ago. I re-discovered it today, tucked in the corner of a food court inside a tiny shopping plaza about twelve miles away from the original location.

Your Tax Dollars At Work

The same government that is responsible for this nonsense is going to be responsible for overseeing healthcare. Oh dear.

A National Monument That No One Knows

It's been a long time since I went on a road trip. Which is why I decided to go to the Carrizo Plain National Monument the other day. Sure, it's only a four-hour drive to get there and it was a one-day deal so it hardly counts as a road trip, but nonetheless.

The drive through the Grapevine to the San Joaquin Valley is not a particularly exciting one. However, the season happens to be just right for wildflowers, and we were greeted by a carpet of them as we got to the other side of the mountains.

Eventually we left the interstate for State Highway 58. This passes through the town of Buttonwillow, which has a racetrack but otherwise looks like a small pueblo in rural Mexico.

The highway then passes through some lovely green hills, although I suspect they are brown and boring for most of the year. On the north coast of California, for instance, the hills are green year-round because it rains. Here, they're probably green between January and April.

As the road climbs into the hills, it just gets better and better. Excellent scenery combined with fun, tight corners mixed with fast sweepers.

Past the summit, the scenery opens up to reveal huge blankets of flowers on the hills. It's amazing to see that there is more yellow than green here. It's probably like this for two weeks to a month, tops.

Descend from the hills and arrive at the edge of the Carrizo Plain, the largest single native grassland remaining in California. Perhaps people from Kansas would think nothing of this. However, I am not from Kansas.
Here, the road is mostly straight and driving slightly too fast over some of the steeper crests results in, well, fun.

Soda Lake Road is the main road that bisects the park. It is paved part of the way, but then turns into gravel. However, it is one of the smoothest gravel roads I've ever driven on; there are few ruts and the gravel is mostly firm. This means it is very easy to navigate, even at speeds close to tarmac. This may or may not have resulted in me going sideways on a bit of a chicane.

Throughout the park, there are huge expanses of wildflowers but I'm not sure about the point of visiting during any other time of the year. Sadly, there were no animals to be seen. There were very few people to be seen as well, which was quite pleasant given the roads.

Past the park, the road climbs into subalpine forests and then out to US-101 in Ventura. The remainder of the trip is not much to talk about.

The American Way

It seems that lately, I've been running short on things to write about. In this case, it pretty much means I'm out of things worth complaining about, which I guess is a good thing.

We have news today of a case of "unintended acceleration" in a Toyota Prius in New York that was proven to be caused by driver error. Toyota ought to start suing people that don't know how to drive; this is getting out of hand. While they're at it, they should probably sue certain members of Congress as well. We're talking billions of dollars lost here.

On the other hand, Toyota shareholders in America are suing the company for being negligent and deceptive, resulting in lower stock prices. I wasn't aware that a shareholder could sue the company for, say, poor business management. Isn't that just a risk associated with stock trading? I mean, if this is allowed, why can't someone sue Apple for releasing a product that doesn't live up to the hype?

What the shareholders don't realize is that if they sue a company whose stock they own, such an action itself is likely to further bring down the stock price. Shareholders not involved in the lawsuit ought to sue the shareholders that are involved, for causing a drop in share prices.

The Official

Anyone that has ever watched a sporting event has probably complained about officiating. As spectators, we often point out the wrong calls and the non-calls and yell obscenities at the television. We then wonder if the referee has been bribed or if he is truly an incompetent buffoon.

But what if you are an athlete? Those that are actually participating in the sport undoubtedly as just as, if not much more, frustrated when a referee screws something up in the opponent's favor. However, athletes are not at liberty to yell obscenities at the referees, because they will be ignored or, at worst, tossed.

If you think about it, though, it's a pointless exercise anyway, because typically, a referee will never overturn a call even if he realizes that he is wrong. This usually only happens when the other officials don't agree with a call that has been made.

Sometimes, though, the "other officials" can be wrong. Like when the Detroit Red Wings "lost" in a shootout to the Dallas Stars earlier this year.

When an athlete publicly lashes out at an official, this usually is followed by some sort of disciplinary action against the player and none against the official, even if the call in question was utterly egregious to anyone's eye. Other times, it is swept under the rug as if it never happened.

An official's actions are sometimes the difference maker in the outcome, and sometimes they aren't. Sometimes it's difficult to quantify whether it would have made a difference. But in all of these cases, they are wrong nonetheless. Still, they seldom face disciplinary action.

But what about the cases where the official's judgement is the outcome? I'm talking about sports that rely solely on judges to determine the result.

Figure skating, for instance, is in the midst of controversy yet again. In both the men's and women's events, it was shown that safe and easy are rated higher than ambitious highlights.

Evgeni Plushenko has been labeled as a sore loser by the American media who are perhaps subconsciously feeling guilty. Korean media have claimed Mao Asada's scores were too high, which is rather odd given the rest of the world seems to think Kim's score was conspicuously high. Is it really necessary to put down the runner-up?

What are Plushenko's options anyway? The alternative to expressing discontent is to stay quiet, in which case problems would never be unearthed. As is the case with anything, if no one points out the problems then they will never be fixed. Most venues encourage people to speak up about potential issues that can be improved. In sports, such an attempt is lambasted.

Of course, complaining only is not enough. One must also come up with a way to fix the problems. However, this is not a task for Plushenko alone to undertake. If whatever governing body that oversees figure skating is not going to acknowledge that there might be a problem, then there is no hope for the sport. In fact, it can hardly be considered a sport, according to some.

Ironically, the fact that the head of the IOC had to come out and say that there was "nothing wrong" with the way in which both figure skating events were judged shows that there was indeed a problem. The truth is, while there may not have technically been a problem in accordance with the current rules, the problems lie within the rules themselves. If there had been no fundamental problem, no one would have complained and no such statement would have to be made.

Spoilers

In an article about the giant slalom, the following:

jeff 16 minutes ago
Thanks Yahoo for putting this on the main page, and being a spoiler. Since most of us don't get to watch the olympics until the evening, I guess you think it's best if you take all the mystery out of delayed Olympic broadcasts and just telling us who won, without giving Yahoo users the option of deciding if they want to click on an Olympics news link.
Stupid Yahoo.
 
Is that really Yahoo's fault? I'd venture to say that it is NBC's ineptitude that is the root cause of all this. After all, with the Olympics being held in Vancouver, it's not like there is a significant time difference for the people living in the United States. It could have broadcast the event on the NBC main channel, but instead, they decided a repeat of The Martha Stewart Show would be more interesting.

Mrs. Smith

Rhonda Smith of Tennessee testified that her Lexus accelerated to 100mph and continued to do so even when she
-hit the brake pedal with both feet
-pulled the handbrake
-shifted to neutral
-shifted to reverse

Right. Let's assess this.

Stepping on the brake pedal with both feet:
I drive a Toyota. The brake pedal is not wide enough that both feet will actually fit on the pedal. If one is not careful it's actually more likely that the right foot will come in contact with the accelerator pedal, but let's just say it was an action in desperation.

Pulling the handbrake:
Pulling the handbrake while accelerating close to 100mph is a fairly reliable way of stopping the car. No, wait. What I meant to say was, pulling the handbrake while accelerating close to 100mph is a fairly reliable way of locking the rear wheels and spinning wildly out of control, resulting in a terrifying experience. It's a front-wheel drive car, too.

Shifting to neutral:
Mrs. Smith apparently has an incredible car that accelerates even when the engine isn't in gear. If this is the case then Toyota will need to reassess the problem, because it's obviously a transmission defect, not an engine one. Which is odd, because no one has mentioned that possibility.

Shifting to reverse:
Shifting to reverse while moving forward at close to 100mph will surely destroy the transmission. Instead, Mrs. Smith claims the car continued to accelerate. Again, this suggests a transmission problem.

From the above evidence, we can conclude that there are four possibilities:
-User error. Mrs. Smith is deeply confused about the events that transpired.
-Mrs. Smith is lying.
-Toyota has created a car that does things that are physically impossible.
-Act of God. The (foot) brakes, handbrake, transmission, and accelerator simultaneously malfunctioned, and then mysteriously fixed itself moments later.

It was also mentioned that while doing all of this at 100mph, she was able to phone for help.

The Wall Street Journal has revealed that the car was later sold and has performed flawlessly for the past 27,000 miles. This raises more questions:
-The ethics of the Smiths. Did they fully disclose what they claim to have happened? Complete with tears like in Congress?
-The mentality of the buyers. If full disclosure had taken place, the buyers are either crazy or rational. They don't care that the car supposedly almost killed someone, or they have deduced from the evidence that Mrs. Smith is the crazy one and they're getting a good deal on a Lexus.

"She said 'neither Toyota nor NHTSA' took her seriously when she reported the incident."
I don't blame them.

Excuses, Just In Case

I feel particularly sorry for Elena Glebova of Estonia, the figure skater whom Korean are blaming for "interefering" with Kim Yu-Na's practice.
In fact, Korean media have listed three roadblocks to a possible gold medal for Kim:
-Interference from other competitors
-Unfair judges
-Poor ice conditions

Please stop complaining and blaming others for your own shortcomings. And don't think everyone else skates on a different ice surface.

While we're on the subject, perhaps you should try a triple axel rather than going for points for something so vague and subjective as "musical interpretation"? Figure skating is a sport, right?

Toyota's Future

How would Congress like it if Toyota said, "okay, in order to ensure our products are of the highest quality, we're going to close our factories in the U.S. and move them all back to Japan"? After all, the U.S.-sourced parts and assembly seem to be the cause of their problems. I'm sure the UAW lobby would love it, but does anyone else benefit?
Do they not understand that bashing Toyota is not going to cause Ford, GM, or Chrysler's products to be any better in quality?

I don't want to pay taxes if it's going to fund General Motors. Shouldn't there be a civil suit against them? Hasn't the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Wall Street in general led to worldwide financial crisis causing families to fall apart, and lives to be destroyed? Instead the government just throw lots of money at them. Maybe they should give Toyota lots of money and the problem will go away.

Still Insane

Remember this post?

Pentax has decided they need even more.

Preventing Climate Change

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today, signaling six weeks of winter to come. This is great news.

If he had not seen its shadow today, spring would have come early. This would not bode well with environmentalists.

In fact, in an effort to prevent global warming, each year the groundhog should be lit with a bright spotlight so that it always sees a shadow. It's the environmentally responsible thing to do.

This Is Why Proper Grammar Is Important

A comment on a Yahoo! article:

6. Posted by Bob Mon Jan 25, 2010 12:49 pm EST
your the dumbass, learn how to spell.

Ohhhhh ouch. I mean, even if I ignore the comma that should be a semicolon, that is such a painful FAIL.

Do Your Research First

Someone has written an article about car names to prove that (s)he doesn't know anything about cars at all.

Specifically, the part below:

"Tacking a few numbers onto a car's name not only helps it sound cool, it can tell savvy shoppers exactly what the car is packing. The Infiniti QX56 gets the "56" from its 5.6-liter engine and the Infiniti G37 has a 3.7-liter engine. However, the pattern doesn't always hold. While the BMW 3-Series has 3.0-liter engines across the line, so does the BMW 1-Series. And while we'd love to see what a giant engine could do in the BMW 7-Series, that model only has a 4.4-liter V8, not 7.0 liters."

 The part about BMWs reveals sheer lack of research. BMW has traditionally given model designations by indicating the engine displacement by the second and third digits in the name. Recently, this has broken down a bit as the 328i, 330i, and 335i all have 3-liter engines, as the author states. However, that is not to say anything of the 316i (1.6L), 318i (2.0L), and 320i (2.0L). Same story for every BMW model line, from the 1-Series to the (discontinued) 8-Series.

One must be very careful when speaking of car matters, because the people that are interested will notice errors. And the people that are interested are the only people that will bother listening in the first place. Go to any car show to find someone that thinks he knows what he is talking about, but doesn't.

"Trademarks and focus groups: they don’t provide a whole lot of driving excitement, but they've probably kept lots of horrible car names from ever hitting the road."

They couldn't keep such names as "Kia Cee'd" or, well, anything else in the previous article about the worst car names ever.

Free Pass

An article about the most common passwords...

People actually use passwords like that? I mean, "12345" was clearly a point of ridicule when it was revealed to be the password to Druidia's atmosphere in Spaceballs (as well as President Skroob's suitcase), and more than twenty years later people haven't progressed. Maybe they all need to be hacked and their identities stolen to learn a lesson.

Sitting at number 7 is "rockyou" which seems a tad odd.

Maybe the rest of us are overreacting when it comes to identity theft. Maybe it's just idiots like these that are seriously at risk.

A Step in the Right Direction

The Wendy's that was playing classy music the other day was playing a different genre of music today.

Last time it was Sunday brunch at a posh hotel terrace. Today, it was '50s diner music.

Which is closer, I suppose.

We Can't Be Friends

Today I saw a car with some words printed on it.

"People like you are the reason people like me need meditation."

Wow there, getting a bit extreme with the hate, eh? Don't be blaming me for your mental instability. Save us all the trouble and go live alone in a cabin in the woods, why don't you.

Besides, I don't need to meditate to not go ballistic against the people with whom I do not get along. Apparently I am a much more accomplished human.

"Save the planet
Kill yourself"

Okay, now that's getting a bit violent. I think Johnny needs to go meditate. Actually, why are you even here? Why haven't you uh, gone and killed yourself out of concern for the planet? You certainly aren't helping your cause by driving around in your beat-up car. If you're not willing to kill yourself, perhaps you could take the bus instead? Or ride a bicycle? Walk?

Either this person is a closed-minded liberal fundamentalist or just extremely ironic.

Congestion

Someone has come up with an article about the 75 worst commutes in America.

I'm sorry, but reading that is a bigger waste of time than actually sitting in traffic.

Besides, America doesn't have the truly ridiculous seasonal traffic jams that Japan has. The record for the longest traffic jam in Japan is 154km.

Fragile

News of the Tata Nano coming to the U.S.

Pretty much the only impressive thing about the car is its low price. Or is it?

"If the $8,000 price tag holds true, it would cost far less than the $9,970 Hyundai Accent, currently the car with the lowest base sticker price in the U.S., according to the Edmunds.com automotive Web site."

This thing is supposed to sell in India for $2,500, where everyone will finally be able to afford a car to drive to work and increase emissions. The article mentions that the price must be raised to fit safety and environmental improvements to meet regulations in the U.S.

Now, hold on a second. Just how inadequately does a car have to be built for the price to rise more than threefold just by trying to meet regulations? People of India be warned: your skies will be covered in smog and you will die a horrific death when boiling acid comes raining down. That is, if you don't die first from being involved in a car crash in an unsafe car.

The flip side of this discussion is also true. The Hyundai Accident Accent is undeniably a shoddy car, but how can a Nano possibly be only $1,970 less? The Nano looks small enough that I can push it over on its side, and if I kick it, it will probably fall apart. A $2,500 car with $5,500 worth of safety and emissions equipment is, at the end of the day, still a $2,500 car.

"Airbags would have to be added, the roof strengthened and the front bumper lengthened to meet U.S. requirements to limit damage in a 5-mph crash."

Is that... A typo? A 5-mph crash would typically result in some paint chips or a slightly dented bumper, nothing more. Are they saying that without these reinforcements, the Nano would not be able to appropriately withstand a 5-mph crash?

"The Spartan interior, with flat bucket seats, three knobs, a horizontal switch and a steering wheel, also would have to be changed to comply with U.S. safety standards that limit movement of passengers not wearing seat belts."

If that is literally all that is inside the car, I'm baffled as to what the "horizontal switch" does. Is it relevant that it is horizontal? The three knobs are probably the shifter, indicator, and wipers. Since I assume it doesn't have air conditioning at this price point, I have no idea. Does it have a defroster, or do you have to drive with fogged windows on some nights?

And of course, as mentioned on Top Gear:

Your eBay item has been shipped (Right on the next day you paid).

Dear buyer,
Thanks so much for purchasing with us.
We have shipped the following item to you,right on the NEXT WORKING DAY you paid.
You should be receiving it in 7~15 WORKING days when shipping to UK,US,AU,and 7~21 WORKING days to EU,15~30 WORKING days to other countries as we state in the list.

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Well, you say that, but the fact is, that is a blatant lie. I paid for the item immediately after clicking "Buy It Now" and waited NINE DAYS before this e-mail arrived in my inbox. In fact, I bought another item from a different seller the day after this e-mail arrived, and I received the item today. As for the first item? Not here yet. Granted, it was a $2 case for my phone, but no positive reviews to be left here... I probably wouldn't have cared if it weren't for the e-mail with emphasis on "NEXT WORKING DAY."

The listing also said the case would be two pieces: one for the top half and another for the bottom. It isn't. It's just one piece for the bottom. For $2 it's not worth starting up a fuss.

The item that I ordered ten days after the case was a screen protector. I received it today and inside the packaging, there were two protectors. I thought, "oh, how nice of them" and proceeded to apply the protector.

I then found out why the package included two.

The screen protector is EXACTLY the same size as the area that can possibly be protected. This sounds like a good thing.

It isn't.

What this means in practice is that surgical precision is required in the placement of the screen protector. The edge of the screen on a Motorola Droid has plastic that is raised just slightly and if the protector edge sits on this, it doesn't adhere to the screen.

After much cajoling, the only things I got to adhere to were some dust particles on the sticky side of the screen protector. This caused bubbles to form, and the first protector was tossed.

Fortunately I was able to apply the second one almost properly, but this is by far the most difficult screen protector I have ever used.