I didn't mean to, but it just sort of happened. I was curious to see if he actually had an email account. I guess he does. I put in the username and just guessed a couple times on what the password could be. I got it right on the second try. :) Anyway, I took a screenshot of the front page to prove it as well as opening a recent chat he had. Gmail is cool that way because it keeps track of everything. I went through and read everything and I've gotta say I've got a whole new perspective of the man... But hey, as long as he still delivers every year then I'm happy. I know I can't afford my kids' growing wish lists, so he can be as weird as he wants in his email as long as Christmas morning still happens for the kids, right? :) Click the image to get a larger view.
I hacked Santa's Email!!
on Saturday, December 6, 2008Finally (almost) Finished! ...sorta.
on Friday, December 5, 2008Two years ago I got a call from an artist named Erik Strelich. He found my ad on Craigslist.com and wanted me to build him a website. I sent him a couple concepts that I thought would look good, but it took months to find the right look for his style. Finally after a couple hundred hours of coding, designing, drawing, and planning it is all finished. There are over two hundred images that were edited and modified for the gallery. Erik was one talented artist, that's for sure. I'll never forget what he told me on our first conversation. He said, "I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but there are only two people who carve glass at the caliber that I do. One is me and the other is my mentor." Although he certainly has no match in the world of glass carving, he also had an amazing eye for art. His paintings and drawings are absolutely amazing. I've been to his house and have seen some of these pieces in person. The pictures don't do them justice.
I've still got a few tweaks to make as of today, but I'm pleased to say that the site that I see right now is basically what the site will look like totally finished. :) I'm very pleased with it and it is a great example of what I can do I think. My only regret is that it took two years to complete. You see, Erik died a little over a year ago of a heart condition that he suffered with his whole life. Just as we had settled on a final design, he was taken from everybody. His widow Angie has worked with me to complete the website. I only hope that it represents accurately what Erik would have wanted.
Do you check your kid's homework before they turn it in? Well, you should. When a teacher gave her students an assignment to draw a picture of what their mommy or daddy did for a living, my guess is that she learned a little more than she planned on. This is what one student turned in. What do you think their mommy does at her work?
She works for Home Despot. This is a picture of her selling snow shovels. The teacher thought their mommy was a pole dancer. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHHAA!!!!
You wanna know who sucks?!
on Sunday, November 30, 2008I'll tell you who sucks. People who walk through parking lots like they can't be touched suck. They suck even more when they get all indignant and yell at you when they get caught walking in your blind spot and feel the heat from your exhaust on their legs. I say GOOD! Maybe they should get hit once in awhile so they aren't walking around in their little haze thinking that they are immortal. I hate those little packs of teens that like to walk through the parking lot in a wall too. They just must be walking shoulder to shoulder, don't they? What is the point of that? Seriously, someone should just drive by and door them one of these days so they get the picture. Or maybe less illegal, someone should go school to school teaching students how NOT to be assholes as they grow up. Where is the "don't be an asshole 101" class being taught anyway? I want to sign some people up.
Here is another thing that sucks. When you... You know what, forget it. These people that suck don't deserve to know that they irritate me so much. I will say this. A lifetime of behavior by me has been justified by a few short years of action by these people. And yet they wonder why I am the way I am...
Let's see... who else sucks? Oh, I have one. FEEDBACK SUCKS! I'm so sick of that word! I think I've mentioned that recently. People at my work use 'feedback' as an excuse to look important. What they are saying to you may have absolutely no ground in reality, but since they are the ones calling the meeting, it becomes something you have to change. So anything that someone notices and brings to your attention is something that needs to be changed in my office, should any of you decide to come work there. And if you try defending yourself or explaining why their perception is wrong, then you just get called 'argumentative' and they get to have a whole new perception of you.
You know what I'd really like? My office is doing layoffs in January again and it is very possible that it is going to hit my department. It is somewhat possible that I would be impacted, but less likely me than others. I am one of three permenant trainers in my department and there are two interns that would be cut before me. There are even more coaches that would be cut, so I'm fairly safe as far as that goes. However, if I do get laid off I would be paid eight weeks of severance and keep my benefits for eight weeks. That is plenty of time to find another job. In that time I would also be able to finish working on my website that so desperately needs to get finished. I've got big plans for that thing and I just lack the time to finish it up. I'm taking next term off from school just in case I get laid off and won't be able to submit for tuition reimbursement at the end. I think I'll keep my same study schedule and finish the website anyway. It just needs to be done...
Ok, so that was my rant for the day. On a brighter note I have to say my family (meaning MY family) does not suck. My son just turned five yesterday and he was so much fun. My daugther is two and a half and is the absolutely most beautiful girl in the world. I have the pleasure of having the cutest little seven month old boy too. All of my kids should have been child models, but I'm too selfish to let anyone else enjoy them but me. And to top it all off I have the most perfect and beautiful wife that could ever exist. Sure we have our issues just like any couple has, but in the end we are still going to be together forever. I can't think of anyone I would rather spend forever with than these three kids and that perfect woman. Sometimes we are far luckier than we deserve to be...
So during a season where we are supposed to be thankful for stuff, let me just say that I'm thankful for people that suck because they make my little family look that much better. I'm also thankful for natural selection that takes care of most of the things that suck in this life. I'm thankful for a job that sucks because if I lost it I would probably do anything to have another crappy job. I'm thankful for a clean house that may be borderline OCD organized, but at least it isn't a pigsty. I'm thankful for great friends, and even though I only have a couple of them, they are loyal and very generous. I'm thankful for the health that I have and for the opportunities my talents have brought me. And most of all I'm thankful for the spirits who have been given to me as children and a wife. Take everything from me, but let me keep them. People who only have their iPods and Audis to keep them alive make me sad. I get to wake up and work to provide for the best people in the world every single day. Screw iPods... I've got something that even Mac can't duplicate. :)
Sweet Christmas Gifts
on Friday, November 28, 2008I have the lovely problem of having to birthday shop for my wife at the same time that I'm Christmas shopping for her. It is the joy of her birthday being a week before Christmas. I'll figure something out... In the meantime I have found a few things that would make great gifts for the geek in your life that I thought I'd share just in case anyone else is having problems finding that unique gift for someone on your list. 
1. Cell Phone Alert Charm
When I'm at work I usually just put my cell phone on the desk and hope I see it blinking when it goes off. With this device you can set it somewhere in your field of vision and will be notified when your cell phone starts ringing. It is pretty clever actually. There are other devices out there like this that may be cheaper, so it is worth checking out. I saw a few that were under $10 while looking around. It is the concept that will be appreciated.
2. Noise Isolating HeadsetEverybody drives and talks on the phone these days. The problem is that not all of the bluetooth devices out there are very good at blocking out the sounds of your car or other distractions. This is a sweet little headset that actually blocks out all other noise around you in that ear making for the best sound possible. It isn't bluetooth, but I know a lot of people who just don't care about that. They only want a headset that they can actually hear out of and if it has a wire then sobeit. I can't hardly hear anything out of one of my ears, so this is a great device for people like me and I'm sure others will appreciate it just as much.
3. Stereo Noise Canceling Cell Phone Headset
Tootsie Rolls!!!
on Monday, November 24, 2008If you love them as much as I do, then here is a recipe a coworker sent to me. I can't wait to make these!!
Tootsie Rolls
3 T butter or margerine
2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
---OR---
4 T butter or margerine
8 T cocoa
Melt the first two ingredients, then add to the following:
1/2 c light Karo syrup
1 t vanilla
3/4 c powdered milk, sifted until not grainy
3 c powdered sugar
Knead together, working in small amounts, until well mixed. Roll into rolls (snakes) then cut as needed.
*For a sour burst of flavor substitute 1 package Kook-Aid for the chocolate.
I like to store the kneaded candy in an airtight container, and roll out as needed. Wrap in wax paper squares if desired.
People continue to get screwed...
on Sunday, November 16, 2008This just in... A lady has finally stopped sending money to scammers from Nigeria after losing over $400,000! It started with the oh so familiar scam email saying that a long lost relative wanted her to have his fortune. They just needed her to send some money to free up the funds and the transfer would begin. Two years later when the Department of Justice came across a $144,000 Western Union transfer they told her to stop sending them money or they would charge her with a crime. Being stupid isn't a crime, but I'm sure she was funding terrorism or something.
It just shocks me how freaking stupid some people can be!! Read all about it here if you are interested. This just goes back to what I said before about being a sucker and believing everything you read. If someone really has money to send to you then they probably aren't going to be emailing you. Something that important will go through the US Mail.
Where is Anthony?
on Wednesday, November 12, 2008Oh, I'm still around. I spent last week down in Las Vegas at the SEMA show. I'd go into more details, but there is that Las Vegas code regarding what happens there and where it stays... At any rate, I have returned to a ridiculous work schedule filled with training and receiving feedback from people who really shouldn't be giving feedback, as well as midterms in two criminal law classes and also dealing with all the wonderful changes in the economy. Just when you think it can't get any worse...
Upcoming posts (as a reminder to myself) include how credit scores are calculated, why people who live in glass houses should get dressed with the lights off, and other meaningless rants that will just feel better to get off my chest. In fact, let me just start by saying that if you are offended because I use the word "crap" in a conversation then you can kiss my ass. I don't care what offends you or what you don't think is professional. NOBODY tells me how to talk while ignoring the fact that their own language is dotted with similar unprofessional words. I got that feedback today that I was supposed to correct my class if one of them uses any negative language. I just wanted to tell him to stick it. Sometimes 'crap' is the right word for the situation. Would he rather I said 'shit'? No matter what word I chose it was going to mean the same thing, so I don't know why he is getting hung up on semantics. I could say 'garbage' but that is negative too, so I don't think I could win with him. Personally I think that maybe I should give him feedback to lighten the hell up. Nobody even hears it when I say the word 'crap' just like they wouldn't hear it if I said something else. They WOULD hear me correcting them when the correction isn't necessary, however. My dad taught me not to crap where I eat, so I don't think it is a good idea to walk around telling people how much better I am than they are just because I know how to pick better words in my conversations. Screw that noise...
There. I feel better now that I have that off my chest. See how useful blogs that nobody reads can be? Now I'm off to write a mid-term, brief two cases, and participate in an online course. I should be home in time to miss putting my kids to bed and getting hugs from them. CRAP! (and I mean that. I like the hugs.)
I am totally confused...
on Wednesday, October 22, 2008
I swear I did not make that up. That is an actual label off a package of toasted pine nuts. I'm so confused...
Bored bored bored... That's what I am. I've got some projects that I'm working on at work that require others to input before I can move forward. So it is a 'hurry up and wait' sort of week for me. Actually, it has sort of been that kind of month for me. Not a whole lot going on... Anyway, I've spent some time hanging out on the web (obviously) Here are some neat sites I've found.
Graffiti Creator
This is a site that allows you to create graffiti style graphics. Just type in your word and away you go. Kinda neat.
Hidden Objects Online
I love Big Fish hidden objects games. Here is one that you can play online without having to buy anything or download anything. What could be better?!
Kinda fun board game
Ok, this one is really weird, but pretty fun. Play against the computer and then find someone else to play against. Some of the puzzles are really fun to sort through. I didn't make the top 100 or anything, but my first game ended with an IQ of 120. :) I can be happy with that. It was fun!
Fun puzzle game
This is one that is sort of interesting. You have to find your way out of this room to start with. There are clues around that you have to find and then figure out what they are for. I'll give you a hint... http://takagism.fasco-cs.com/yellow_chamber.html That is the URL that is found on the note. Other hints can be found by reading the comments on this page. That page also has a smaller version of the game, but I like the big one.
Will Hell ever freeze?
on Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or Endothermic (takes up heat)?
Most of the students wrote Proofs of their beliefs applying Boyle's Law, (gas cools off when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following :
"First, we want to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we want to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell and the rate they are leaving. I think that we can safely accept that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.This student received the only A.
As for how many souls are entering Hell, let us look at the different religions that live in the world today. Some of these religions express that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can anticipate the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.
Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law expresses that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the equal, the volume of Hell has to expand as souls are added.
This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls insert Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will growth until all Hell breaks loose.
2. Of course, if Hell is expanding at a rate quicker than the growth of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it?
If we assume the postulate given to me by Teresa Banyan during my Freshman year, "...that it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you.", and take into account the fact that I still have not succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then, #2 cannot be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and will not freeze."
Awesome ideas for lamps!
on Monday, October 20, 2008Aren't lamps boring? I remember looking for some lamps for our house a few years ago and not finding anything that we wanted. Some of the designs are interesting enough, but far from practical. While others are practical, but they don't fit in anywhere. I found some lamps that are truely unique in their design and even in their function. I'm not saying that these necessarily fit in everywhere either, but at least they aren't boring. Click the image below to see the list.
One of my favorite lamp designs is the Alien Abduction Lamp. I'm not sure where I would put a lamp like this, but I can see it being used somewhere. That is probably one of the cooler ideas for a lamp that I've ever seen. Isn't that cool? What a concept! Click here to read all about where the idea came from and how it has gone from an idea to a reality.
can see making one of these lamps, actually. It wouldn't be too terribly difficult. All you would really have to do is get a stiff tube and make it look like a cord. Wind it up at the bottom like in that picture and attach it securely to a lamp. There are so many light weight lamps like that out there that I can see this one being a fun project to put together. I think I'll give it a shot. :) It would be a great gift for someone.I love Flash games. You can play them online and they are free. Not to mention that they are great time killers when you are either bored at work or bored of everything else about the internet in general. This is a list of 150 of the best Flash based games on the web. You know you want to play a game. Go ahead... Click the link. Nobody can tell you how to spend your time online. ;)
Living severed hand
on Friday, October 17, 2008
Click Here for full instructions on how to make this masterpiece!!
I used to use Powerpoint all the time. As a trainer who had to do my own developing I would spend hours and hours playing with it. Two tools that are really good for people who use Powerpoint a lot are 280 Slides and iSpring.
280 Slides is like having access to Powerpoint anywhere you have an internet connection. It is missing a few tools that Powerpoint has, but you won't miss them. It is a great way of sharing presentations with others. You can either develop the presentation right there online, or you can upload your presentation and share it from there. Awesome tool.
iSpring converts your PowerPoint presentation to an interactive Flash video with the click of a button. Not only is iSpring a great way to make your PowerPoint presentation more portable (not everyone has PowerPoint, after all), but as Digital Inspiration points out, an exported movie even preserves all of your slide transitions, animations, and hyperlinks. iSpring is freeware, Windows only, works with PowerPoint 2000 through 2007. Alternately, you can upload any presentation directly to the SlideBoom web site (which appears to convert and host Flash movies made with iSpring) if you don't want to host the presentation yourself.
You have to love technology!!!
Well now you can! There are acutally several systems that allow you to do it, but I have found a really good one that is free and reliable. It is called TubeMaster and I think you will like it.
Frome LifeHacker.com:
Windows only: Free streaming media capture tool TubeMaster is a great all-in-one solution for grabbing and converting audio and video from nearly any web site that can stream it to you. The no-install app launches as its own application with a built-in, tabbed browser—simply launch it, head to Last.fm, YouTube, a site with proprietary Flash video, or nearly any other streaming media, and hit "Start Media Capture." The files you grab are lined up in a queue for you to decide how to convert and save, and TubeMaster's built-in media search tool covers nearly 100 video and audio-sharing sites. There are browser plug-ins and apps that do some of the same things, but none quite as comprehensively as TubeMaster Plus. TubeMaster Plus is a free download for Windows systems only; upgrading to a paid version unlocks downloads from adult sites.
What a fun tool!
Remember the post about that fantastic Tesla electric car awhile back? I think it was like one of my first posts. Anyway, I find it interesting that they are back in the news again. It would appear that six figure electric sports cars just aren't selling like they hoped they would in this economy. Go figure... Tesla has had to do some pretty major reorganization because of it.
Tesla is creating a pretty interesting and more practical application for their high tech cars. It is sort of Dodge Magnum-esque, but if it will put down the power and speed of an internal combustion engine, then I'm sure it will sell. Right now all we know is that it is said to go 225 miles on a single charge and will cost upwards of $60,000.
One of the holdups in getting this car on the road is the fact that Tesla is waiting on a federal loan guarantee for their plant in San Diego. In fact, one of the reasons they have been mentioned again recently is because they just closed their Detroit location and told all their employees to move to San Jose if they want to continue working for Tesla. We're hearing that approximately 90% of the office was simply let go, and the remaining employees have to make their way to the San Jose headquarters with no moving costs covered, no increase in salary and no help getting rid of their old homes. Fortunately, the real estate market in Detroit is red-hot, and the cost of living is about the same in San Jose.... right?
The relevant section from the Tesla pink slip blog-post-of-death below:
"There will also be some headcount reduction due to consolidation of operations. In anticipation of moving vehicle engineering to our new HQ in San Jose, we are ramping down and will close our Rochester Hills office near Detroit. Good communication, tightly knit engineering and a common company culture are of paramount importance as Tesla grows."
That's right folks, "good communication" is key.
And do you want to know the real reason for the lcoation in California? Click here if you really want to read the whole press release, but the bottom line is that the Governator is giving a significant tax credit to anybody investing in zero emission vehicle technology in California. So since Tesla is creating entirely electric cars, this makes plenty of sense for them. Sure they would love to have their entire organization in one place, but that isn't the real reason they pulled out of Detroit. They left Detroit so they could get the tax credit for the work they were doing out there by doing it in California. Yes, that was a great way to stimulate the economy in California, but what about all of the jobs that are going to be lost in other places because those states aren't giving the tax credit. Wouldn't it make sense for all states to offer the same thing? Why wouldn't Michigan offer a tax credits for auto manufactuers investing in ZEVs? Crazy...
Dear God, I want this car.
on Thursday, October 16, 2008This is the most amazing thing I've seen in awhile. Who needs a $1.5 Million dollar car when you can get this kind of performance at the smooth deal of $620K? I don't know that I'd like to fill the 30+ gallon gas tank every 7 minutes, but I think if I could afford this car then I wouldn't whine about fuel costs so much. What a car...
Come to my concert!!
on Wednesday, October 15, 2008I will be performing live today at the largest arena in town! Bring your family and print this free ticket for each of them. See you there!
Again, another reason why nothing you see online should be taken at face value. ;) Visit this site to make your own tickets and funny stuff!
Factory option turn signals DRIVE ME NUTS!!!
on Thursday, October 9, 2008I don't know why the automotive industry didn't install turn signals on every vehicle they make. Whenever I get a vehicle inspected by the state they always check to see if my blinkers work, so how are they getting away with this??
I'm only assuming that they are factory options, of course. I mean, they must be since so many drivers aren't using them. You would have to be inconsiderate on a gallactic level to drive around without using them when they are right there next to your hand. Are people afraid that they will drop their cell phone if they signal while turning or something? Do we need to find a better place for the lever so it is easier for people?
I was driving with a friend in Dallas once and she was trying to merge onto the freeway. The traffic wouldn't let her in and she was going a little crazy with frustration. I told her that it might help if she used her signal so that people would know her intentions and she looked at me, quite seriously mind you, and said "We don't use our signals in Dallas." Wha?? So as a society it is ok and accepted that people are just going to cut in front of you or veer out of traffic without warning? Ok..... Now I know why traffic is so crazy in Dallas. Now I know why they have exit ramps on the left side of the freeway that just loop up and around only to dump you back on the same road but now in the right lane. You can't cut across 8 lanes of traffic without using your signals and since nobody uses them there they have to find other ways to get across the traffic.
Here is what I would like to do. I'd like to create bumper stickers that lower your insurance if you have one on your car. The bumper sticker would say something like "Use your freaking turn signals you jerk!" Nobody wearing a bumper sticker like that would survive two minutes if they weren't using their signals. You can't call out a behavior as being unacceptable and then proceed to follow the crowd in breaking the law. Better yet, here is one you can buy and use right now. All I'm asking is that people start using their signals. Is that too much?
The Science of Flavor
on Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Burger King’s burger taste different than a Wendy’s burger? Sometimes it is in the ingredients, but seriously… how much different can you really make a burger. The ingredients are pretty much the same for all of them. Bread, meat, tomato, cheese, pickles, lettuce, and ketchup. Sure you can add bacon or mustard or some secret sauce and make it taste different, but if you took a burger from Wendy’s with the same junk on it as a burger from Burger King’s then my bet is that you would be able to easily tell which was which. So what are the differences?The first thing I notice is the size of the ingredients. Wendy’s typically uses thicker buns and
often times thicker meat. They put more sauce on it and the lettuce is usually whole pieces instead of shredded. Those are significant differences to taste buds that thrive on quantity. See, the reason one tastes different from the other is because of the proportion of the ingredients and not necessarily the ingredients themselves. Proportion is where the science of flavor really lives.I worked for this great little burger place growing up called the Soda Shoppe. I worked there after school for a little over a year. I started right before school got out my Junior year and I worked there till a couple weeks after I graduated and got the hell out of Dodge. Anyway, while I was there I was able to work every station in the place. I really liked working the front counter though. That was the station that got to make the shakes. Sometimes if it was really busy we would have someone up front taking orders and another person doing the drinks and working the drive through window. Either way, on slow days (which was expected any day where the weather wasn’t good or on Sundays) we would experiment with the food. Sometimes we would try to create a new sandwich and other times we would play with the shakes. I still remember the Camel Puke shake that we created… I’m sure it tasted just like the real thing.
On one particularly slow Sunday I started thinking about what life would be like if you had to drink all of your food through a straw. Would you have to swear off cheeseburgers, or was there a way to still eat them. There was only one way to find out. ;) I made one and threw it in the shake machine. I tasted it before I put it in there and it was delicious. When it came out it wasn’t. I don’t need to disgust you with the details, but my assumption that it would taste the same since all the ingredients are still the same was totally wrong. That was when I discovered that it wasn’t about the ingredients. It was about the proportion of those ingredients. When you equalize everything and get the same proportion in every bite it just doesn’t taste the same. The reason a cheeseburger tastes like it does is because of the amount of bread to meat to cheese to everything else. The reason a Burger King burger is different from a Wendy’s burger is because they are using different proportions. That thicker bun makes a difference. That lettuce changes things. The size and amount of the tomato and ketchup and pickles and everything makes a huge difference.
I remember that my dad told me once that the burgers I made didn’t taste the same as the ones that other people made at the Soda Shoppe. I couldn’t figure out why. I mean, I’m using the same ingredients and the same buns and everything. I thought about that and discovered that it was because I was putting things on a little differently. I would spiral the ketchup and mustard in from the outside instead of just zig zaging it across the meat. I put three pickles in a clover formation on the meat instead of just stacking them up on top of the lettuce. The reason that mine tasted different was because when you bit into it you got a different proportion of the ingredients. Odd how that works…
I’ll tell you a place that has proportion figured out and that is Blue Bell Creamery. If you haven’t
had Blue Bell ice cream then you haven’t lived. The stuff is beyond compare. My favorite flavor is Banana Split. I’ve tasted other ‘banana split’ flavor brands, but they don’t have it right. They are using banana flavored ice cream for one. Blech! Whoever heard of a banana split using banana flavored ice cream??? Sacrilege! The beauty of a banana split is the proportion of banana to ice cream to chocolate to whatever else. It isn’t something you can just blend up in a bucket. Similar to my cheeseburger experiment, if you blended up the ingredients of a banana split it would taste nothing like one. Blue Bell has captured the science of the flavor in a banana split and made it so when you spoon it out you actually get the right proportions. It is absolutely amazing! I’m probably only a fan because it has that unique flavor that you usually have to assemble yourself instead of buying in a bucket, but either way it is probably the best flavor ice cream I’ve ever had. MMMMMM!!! Never believe anything you see...
on Monday, October 6, 2008Case in point... It is fall and I love taking pictures of my kids in the leaves from the big tree in our front yard. This tree turns from green to yellow in about a two week time frame and all of the leaves are gone within three weeks from the time the first one fell. This creates some really pretty colors on my lawn and great photo opportunities. I've taken my kids' pictures in these leaves each fall since they were born. We moved here shortly before Erik turned 1 and I haven't missed a fall yet. The pictures I get in these leaves are some of my favorite pictures I've ever taken of my kids.
Well, this year I had loaned my camera to my in-laws who had an event they were attending. So I had to borrow one from a neighbor on short notice and went right to work taking pictures. There is a particular time of day that I take all the pictures in and this causes them all to have similar qualities. Call it an OCD thing, but I have to have the pictures look the same in the backgrounds so they will work best in the collage I have planned someday in the future when I have a dozen or so of these pictures taken. I just think it will be cool to have a photographic record of them in the leaves. If we stay in this house forever (which I honestly wouldn't mind) then perhaps someday they will be able to bring their kids to take pictures in the leaves too. If I could have one wish then it would be that. Here are a few examples from years past.
The first attempt with all three kids didn't go very well. I couldn't get them to look at me and Parker certianly didn't like the leaves.
...and add another little body in it. :) I kept the face enhancements on Parker and just cut the rest of the body out and slapped it on this picture. Not too shabby. I still need to finish the coloring on the lower part of Parker's face, but honestly... If you didn't know he wasn't supposed to be in that picture, could you tell that this was a photoshop job?
So there is your reason not to trust anything that you see in photography. I won't say that it is exactly easy to do that kind of thing, but it certianly isn't hard. If you have the right tools and you know what you are doing then it is really quite simple. We'll have to have a discussion on the difference between 'easy' and 'simple' sometime in the future, but for now I just wanted to give you those examples and show off my cute little leaf bugs. :)
It's about freaking time!!!
on Wednesday, October 1, 2008I knew it was going to take a massive court order to get the credit reporting agencies to do their jobs. Finally there might be progress. A recent judgment against the three major credit bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian) requires them to delete all forgiven debts showing on the credit report. This includes accounts that were included in bankruptcy. One of the major problems I faced while working as a paralegal for one of the largest credit repair organizations in the country was in getting these types of accounts deleted. They were included in a bankruptcy and were easy to verify. The bureaus often didn't even bother investigating them since it seems pretty obvious to them that the information is accurate.
BREAKING NEWS!! They have until October 1st to comply with Judge David O. Carter's order to "revamp their systems," writes Jane J. Kim on the Wall Street Journal's finance blog. Now if you're in debt trouble, you can look forward (?) to having either unpaid debts on your credit report, or a bankruptcy filing, but hopefully no longer both at the same time. How is that for progress? All I can say is that it is about freaking time!!
Here is another great scam, speaking of fraud. I remember something similar happening several years back where people would put up fake ATMs in public locations. People would put their cards in and enter their PIN. The ATM would tell them it was out of order and to try somewhere else. Later on the fraudsters would come back to collect the ATM and load all the read account numbers from the magnetic strips onto dummy cards that are easily purchased. Now they have a working debit card and your PIN and can empty your account at will. Pretty clever, eh? Well that is too high tech for some fraudsters. Here is what I read on another blogger's site.
Next time you use a bank machine, check closely to make sure it’s the real thing. Cops in San Francisco report that thieves are now installing fake overlays on banking ATMs. The fakes swallow your card, record your PIN, and report that they’re out of service; the thieves show up later to remove the fake overlay and harvest the cards and collected PINs.
As crimes go, I gotta had it to these scam artists: That takes work. It’s also quite successful, according to a story in last week’s San Francisco Examiner:
"Daly City nurse Elaine Flaherty’s ATM card was swallowed at a Washington Mutual bank in the West Portal district March 13, and within hours thieves had milked $4,000 from the card, using it from San Mateo to Los Angeles."
After poking around online a bit, I discovered a fascinating summary written up by Diebold — the leading manufacturer of ATMs — of the latest card-scamming techniques (PDF link). Some of the tricks are pretty low-fi. In some cases, the scam artists put a simple jamming device on the ATM’s card-slot that gets the card stuck inside. Then they put a fake sticker on the ATM saying that “if your card doesn’t work, try typing your PIN again”, which gives the shoulder-surfing thieves a chance to watch and remember it again. When you give up and walk away, they retrieve your card and withdraw all your cash. But some of the cons are more high-tech. In some cases, the criminals also put a fake 12-button keypad over the ATM’s real keypad; their fake records your PIN. And that artificial overlay for the entire machine, pictured above, is the ne plus ultra of this flimflammery.
It occurs to me that one of the reasons the fake overlays work is that real ATMs these days are often so shoddily designed that they already look fake. Sure, the ATMs embedded into the side of banks are usually pretty gleaming and high-tech. But the bank machines you find in crummy corner bodegas, composed of cheap aluminum and early-80s-vintage all-green video displays? Those things look like badly-assembled droids from the first Star Wars. No wonder it’s so easy to dupe banking customers. Using materials I’ve got lying around my kitchen, I could probably create a reasonable facsimile of the ATMs in most Manhattan bagel shops.
Again, my advice to you is to watch your back and be careful out there. It is a world of opportunists who don't have the morality that you might expect them to.
The idea of fraud has been on my mind today. Possibly that has to do with certian work related projects and discussions I'm involved with, but more likely because I have a criminal mind and just can't stop seeing the angles.
A co-worker burned herself in the cafeteria today. The soup was incredibly hot and she suffered a second degree burn because of it. She isn't going to do anything beyond her visit to the office nurse, but someone with a devious mind would see this as an opportunity to take it a step further. Maybe I decide to go down there and burn myself too. That would be the second incident of their soup causing damage. One person can be ignored, but as soon as someone can say "Others are being burned too!" the situation changes. It is a chance to benefit off something that should just be endured as part of life.
Not always do we have to endure injustice though. I'm sure you have heard about the lady that was burned by spilling MacDonald's coffee on herself in her car. I have read the court documents from the case and it is much more than what most people think. A lot of people who bring that up think that it was just some bratty lady that got mad because she spilled something on her dress. Oh no, my friend. That lady was seriously damaged by this incident. The facts of the case, which caused a jury of six men and six women to find McDonald's coffee was unreasonably dangerous and had caused enough human misery and suffering that no one should be made to suffer exposure to such excessively hot coffee again, will shock and amaze you:
McFact No. 1: For years, McDonald's had known they had a problem with the way they make their coffee - that their coffee was served much hotter (at least 20 degrees more so) than at other restaurants.
McFact No. 2: McDonald's knew its coffee sometimes caused serious injuries - more than 700 incidents of scalding coffee burns in the past decade have been settled by the Corporation - and yet they never so much as consulted a burn expert regarding the issue.
McFact No. 3: The woman involved in this infamous case suffered very serious injuries - third degree burns on her groin, thighs and buttocks that required skin grafts and a seven-day hospital stay.
McFact No. 4: The woman, an 81-year old former department store clerk who had never before filed suit against anyone, said she wouldn't have brought the lawsuit against McDonald's had the Corporation not dismissed her request for compensation for medical bills.
McFact No. 5: A McDonald's quality assurance manager testified in the case that the Corporation was aware of the risk of serving dangerously hot coffee and had no plans to either turn down the heat or to post warning about the possibility of severe burns, even though most customers wouldn't think it was possible.
McFact No. 6: After careful deliberation, the jury found McDonald's was liable because the facts were overwhelmingly against the company. When it came to the punitive damages, the jury found that McDonald's had engaged in willful, reckless, malicious, or wanton conduct, and rendered a punitive damage award of 2.7 million dollars. (The equivalent of just two days of coffee sales, McDonalds Corporation generates revenues in excess of 1.3 million dollars daily from the sale of its coffee, selling 1 billion cups each year.)
McFact No. 7: On appeal, a judge lowered the award to $480,000, a fact not widely publicized in the media.
McFact No. 8: A report in Liability Week, September 29, 1997, indicated that Kathleen Gilliam, 73, suffered first degree burns when a cup of coffee spilled onto her lap. Reports also indicate that McDonald's consistently keeps its coffee at 185 degrees, still approximately 20 degrees hotter than at other restaurants. Third degree burns occur at this temperature in just two to seven seconds, requiring skin grafting, debridement and whirlpool treatments that cost tens of thousands of dollars and result in permanent disfigurement, extreme pain and disability to the victims for many months, and in some cases, years.
So not every lawsuit is the attempt of some morally corrupt individual trying to take advantage of someone. However, with that being said there is a lot of danger out there to watch out for. Here is some information from a lawfirm in Houston, Texas regarding insurance fraud and how people perpetrate it. This is something that can impact every single one of us, so listen up.
Causing Accidents - Methods Used
“Swoop and squat” a/k/a “Squat and stoop”
Variation 1: Two cars act in concert to cause an accident, usually involving a truck. The first car slams on its brakes abruptly while driving in front of the truck while the other car is traveling beside the truck, forcing the truck into a collision.
Variation 2: Two cars act in concert to cause an accident, usually involving a truck on a freeway or multi-lane road. While the first car travels in front of the truck, the second car cuts off the first car causing the first car to slam on its brakes to avoid the second car. As a result, the truck rear-ends the first car and is also a witness to the phantom car that caused the first car to stop abruptly.
Variation 3: One car quickly cuts in front of an insured driver and brakes, causing a rear-end collision. In March of 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported that this type of fraud may again be on the rise in the Miami and Los Angeles areas.
Start and Stop – From a stop, a vehicle directly in front starts to move forward and then stops abruptly for no reason causing a rear-end collision.
T-Bone – While an insured driver is crossing an intersection, a driver traveling on the cross street accelerates to make contact with the company vehicle. The assumption is that a company vehicle is insured by the corporation and has much deeper pockets than a typical driver on the road.
Waving in/on a/k/a Drive down– While the insured vehicle is attempting to merge/turn/etc. another car waives the insured on, then intentionally causes an accident and claims no indication was given to the insured vehicle to proceed.
Non-existent accidents – An individual takes down all of the pertinent information of a vehicle traveling on a road at particular time and then reports to the company owning the vehicle that this vehicle forced him off of the road. The individual produces a vehicle with damage and makes a claim.
A particular individual using this scheme was indicted on 24 felony charges and 76 misdemeanors for claims totaling over $70,000
Side Swipes – at a multiple lane turn area, a vehicle purposely side swipes an insured driver that has turned wide. While the liability may be legitimate if a driver has traveled outside of the proper lane of travel, the damages should be carefully scrutinized. In any instance where it appears that a criminal may have purposely failed to avoid or caused an accident.
Paranoid yet? You're looking around you while you are driving and thinking everybody is out to get you now, aren't you. Well that is because THEY ARE!! We are surrounded by fraudsters just trying to get into our pockets and into our insurance companies. With the economy turning down the way it is, people are just going to get more desperate for money. Schemes like those mentioned are the acts of desperate and morally deprived people. Don't think that just because your brain doesn't work this way that nobody else's does. My brain works this way, but I was blessed with a value system that doesn't allow me to act on it. I can see the angles, but I never act on them. I just point them out. Watch your backs, everybody.
Have you seen this email yet? Check this out and see what you think...
I’m against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG. Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a ‘We Deserve It Dividend’.
To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+. Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up.. So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion that equals $425,000.00.
My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a ‘We Deserve It Dividend’. Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%. Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.
But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A husband and wife has $595,000.00.
What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?
• Pay off your mortgage – housing crisis solved.
• Repay college loans – what a great boost to new grads
• Put away money for college – it’ll be there
• Save in a bank – create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
• Buy a new car – create jobs
• Invest in the market – capital drives growth
• Pay for your parent’s medical insurance – health care improves
• Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean – or else
Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.
If we’re going to re-distribute wealth let’s really do it….instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( ‘vote buy’ ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.
If we’re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let’s bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!
As for AIG –
• liquidate it.
• Sell off its parts.
• Let American General go back to being American General.
• Sell off the real estate.
• Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.
Here’s my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn’t.
Sure it’s a crazy idea that can ‘never work.’ But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party! How do you spell Economic Boom?
I trust my fellow adult Americans know how to use the $85 billion We deserve the ‘We Deserve It Dividend’ more than the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC.
And remember, The Family plan only really costs $59.5 billion because $25.5 billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.
Ahhh…I feel so much better getting that off my chest.
Ok, fabulous plan. Now, have you done any research on this information? I'm no math genius, but I have to say that when someone told me about this I had to scratch my head. 450,000 is nearly half of a million. There are only a thousand millions in a billion (two thousand half millions) and only 800 billions in 800 billion (1,600,000 half millions). So unless we are planning on only sharing this wealth with the taxpayers in Utah (total population about 2.5 million, so I'm sure maybe 1.6 million taxpayers) then this isn't going to stretch very far. I didn't know why the math didn't work off the top of my head, but it just didn't seem right to me. Then I read the email and it really didn't seem right.
$85 (updated) billion million divided among 20 million Americans would only result in a payout of $425 (before taxes), according to this analysis by the urban legend site Snopes.com.
They also point out that even giving every American a share of the (updated) $700 million billion proposed (and rejected) bailout would only come out to about $3,500 per person. Not enough to pay off many mortgages, I'm afraid.
Get familiar with Snopes.com. Feel free to verify any emails that you get before forwarding them on. Do a search in Google or something. You'd be surprised how fast these kinds of things get debunked. Every year I get the same email about the moon being closer to the earth at that time than ever in history and every year I email out everybody the Snopes link that explains where they are wrong. I'm not saying that people who forward emails are morons, but I will say that you shouldn't believe everything you read. It makes you a target for scams.
Have you ever gotten an email asking for your bank information so that the deposed king of Nigeria can move funds out of the country? In exchange for your assistance he will leave several hundred million dollars in your account after the transaction is complete. Pretty obvious scam, huh? Obvious and yet hundreds of people fall for them every single year. In 1997 the Secret Service confirmed losses to this scam at over $100 million dollars. This is the national pasttime of an entire country of fraudsters. Not everybody in Nigeria is a scammer, but not everybody in America is a baseball fan either, but what do we call our national pasttime?
A search on Google will give you many sites with information about Nigerian Scams. Here are just a few:
For a good presentation with examples and links:http://www.snopes2.com/inboxer/scams/nigeria.htm
This link gives a chilling story about one hapless victim who was kidnapped:http://www.techtv.com/cybercrime/shownotes/story/0,23008,3396765,00.html
The official 419 Coalition Site ("419": after the relevant section of the Criminal Code of Nigeria).
This site gives Five Rules to Remember and instructions on what to do:http://home.rica.net/alphae/419coal/
This site has a discussion forum and a link to post the scam email you received, as well as many other links to even more information:http://www.quatloos.com/scams/nigerian.htm
Even the United States Postal Service has a site dedicated to these scams:http://www.usps.com/websites/depart/inspect/pressrel.htm
For an email gallery with a list of the different names, and circumstances used:http://www.potifos.com/fraud
Another good site:http://www.greaterthings.com/News/NigerianScam/
Of course, The Secret Service has it's own informative site dealing with this problem. If you have been victimized, they provide an address where you can send written documentation or, if you wish, an email, at the bottom of the page. If you have not lost any money, you can fax a copy of the letter you received at the number given:http://www.secretservice.gov/alert419.shtml
The majority of people who receive this type of correspondence don't fall for the scam. But there are still enough gullible people out there who do. Recently, in the Charlotte Metro area of North Carolina (where I live) 36 people fell for this scheme. That is just in this small area of this state. Now, try to think in terms of the rest of the billions of people in the world and the fact that these scammers also use snail mail...well, I guess you get the idea.
This type of scam gives new meaning to the phrase "A fool and his money are soon parted." However, the more people are informed beforehand, the less likely these people will profit.
There is a delightful organization of people who find these scammers and then string them along for the ride. http://www.419eater.com/ You gotta love people like that! They post faithfully their experiences in leading these scammers down the road of pain and torture. Well, not really, but they certianly make them sorry for ever getting involved in this industry.
These scams don't only take place in Nigeria though. They happen all over the world and just get called 419 scams. The scam has become as generic for Nigerians as Kleenex has become for tissues and Band-Aids have become for bandages. However, here is an example of a scammer in London who really got what he deserved. Read this story (and pardon any bad language) and tell me it isn't the greatest thing you've ever read! Some scammers really get what they deserve.
This post was inspried by an email I got this morning from an eBay member saying they were waiting for my payment for a Yamaha keyboard. The link to the item was a fake login site that just harvests your username and password for some nefarious purpose. I may have been born at night, but it wasn't last night, so I sent it to eBay and reported it as phishing. Phishing is when someone is just trying to get information from you so they can get access to your accounts. People do this to eBay all the time.
Craigslist also has their fair share of scammers. People will post an item for an outstanding deal and then say that the item is out of state and blah blah blah you'll need to put the money in escrow and they will ship the item to you. Be very fearful of that escrow word when dealing with anybody online. My rule of thumb is if they won't take cash in person or credit card/PayPal then they are a scammer. You just have to keep your eyes open and not believe everything you read. Like I said before, the sucking sound of sponges are just targets for scammers. Don't be a sucker.
Oh the humanity!!!
on Tuesday, September 30, 2008Click here if that video doesn't work.
Seriously now... How the hell do people live like that?? That kitchen.... I nearly passed out!! My real issue is that the guy shooting the video seemed to be pretty mobile. He had at least two arms and two legs since he was walking around and holding the camera. What was wrong with him that keeps him from being able to clean up? Is it seriously easier to complain about the lawn mower being left out instead of putting it away? Of course, the way he was wheezing by the time he got upstairs to his space I would guess that he is two Big Macs away from a heart attack anyway.
He said at one point that he doesn't understand how she can live this way. How can SHE live this way? Dude, doesn't he live in the same house? The answer to his question is in his own little head. How does HE live in that house?? It is revolting.
Here is the crazy part. Did you see the bottles of hand sanitizer in the video? She is probably a germaphobe on top of being insane. I'm just wondering if anything else in that house gets washed other than her hands? The bed is so piled up full of crap that I'm sure those sheets never get washed. How could they? That would create an avalanche of epic proportions!! But hey... at least her hands are purified from 99.99% of common germs. Of course it is environments like that which breed 99.99% of the most uncommon germs, so they probably drink hand sanitizer like orange juice to make them stronger.
Here is the really sad part. People will live like that and then do cartwheels when they get their house upgraded from "disaster area" to "habitable mess." Case in point...
Yes, that's right. I say jail the owners and send in professionals to clean sweep the sucker and then send them the bill just like they did to that guy. The really sad thing here is that people actually raise kids in that kind of environment. Can you believe that???
So my point on this rant is that you don't have to live in a perfectly clean house, but for heaven's sake at least be able to vacuum your floor once a week. Pile it up on the tables and chairs for all I care, but get it off the stinking floor. Think about your kids for crying out loud. Do you really want them going to school smelling like the garbage that rots in your house? You realize that you get used to the smell after awhile and don't even notice it, right? Well let me tell you that not everybody is as desensitized to the odor as you are. I have people at work that I know live in a pig pen because I can smell them a mile away. You can't live in a trash heap like that and not have other people know about it. I don't care where you live or what culture you come from.. It is never acceptable to live like that. NEVER.
In the name of all that is holy!!!
on Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Generations...
on Tuesday, September 23, 2008- The Silent generation, people born before 1946.
- The Baby Boomers, people born between 1946 and 1959.
- Generation X , people born between 1 960 and 1979.
- Generation Y, people born between 1980 and 1995.
Why do we call the last one generation Y? I did not know, but a caricaturist explains it eloquently below...
Gee, you really do learn something new everyday!
Read this article Hand Sanitizers: Good or Bad? 
What is up with hand sanitizers? Do people seriously think it is a good idea to kill the germs before your body gets a chance to take a shot at them?
Here is what I think... We are going to just get sicker and sicker as long as we keep using this stuff. If you kill every germ that comes in contact with you, then you won't be able to fight them off anymore. It is like becoming addicted to nose spray or lip balm. If you continually use a product that replaces what your body will naturally do if you let it, then your body will stop trying. If you use lip balm every time your lips seem a little dry, then your lips will stop producing the moisture needed to keep that from happening. Why should it waste energy creating moisture when you are handling it with the lip balm? Hand lotion is the same story. Your hands are dry because you are addicted to lotion and your body isn't producing the necessary oils to do the job right.
My kids are incredibly healthy. They rarely have sick days. They also rarely use hand sanitizer. If we go to a petting zoo then they for sure use it, but soap and water keeps their hands clean. If they get a germ from dropping their sucker on a swept floor and putting it back in their mouth, then so beit. Their body has an immune system for a reason and the germ will be dealt with. Think about how you were raised. Did your parent's boil your pacifier everytime you dropped it? Did you sanitize your hands like you were about to perform brain surgery every time you shook
hands with someone?
My message to the world is to STOP FREAKING OUT!!! They are just germs. Unless you have a disease that has seriously compromised your immune system, then you shouldn't have much to worry about. Your body will take care of it UNLESS you have taught your body that it doesn't need to attack germs. If you teach your body that germs will be handled by hand sanitizer and not your immune system, then you can just expect to get sick and be sicker for longer. The sickest people every year are the ones who use hand sanitizer like it is going out of style. Sooner or later you get hit with a germ that you don't catch with your precious sanitizer and because your body has no memory on how to defend itself, you are going to fall and fall hard.
Purell gives 99 places that germs are likely to hide. They then go on to advertise that their product kills 99.99% of the MOST COMMON GERMS. Well, what do you think happens when you get one of the uncommon germs that Purell can't kill? Do you think that just maybe the defenses that you develop for naturally fighting off 99.99% of the common ones just MIGHT help in fighting off the uncommon ones? What is going to happen when you don't have any of those defenses. I'll tell you what. That germ is going to kick the living shit out of you. It is like eliminating all of the little guns in your army and deciding that all you need are the big guns. But then you find out that the little guns are what clear the path for you to get the big guns into range. Without the ability to fight off the 99.99% of the most common germs, the uncommon germs are just going to dominate you.
My advice is this: Wash your stupid hands with soap and water and leave the hand sanitizer in the hospital and at the petting zoo. You need the germ fighting skills to ward off serious illness. You know how the flu shot is actually just a shot of the flu virus? They do that so your body will learn how to fight the virus so it doesn't make you sick when you get a full strength dose of it later on. If you haven't taught your body how to fight 99.99% of the most common germs out there, then what makes you think that it is going to learn how to fight a bug like the flu? Put the hand sanitizer down and back away. For cying out loud...
Our Growing Earth
on Sunday, September 21, 2008You seriously have to watch this video.
I am just shocked and amazed simply because I never considered this a possibility. The gist of the video is that the continents didn't separate from each other by some strange drifting of the tectonic plates. In fact, they only moved at all because the Earth itself has been expanding.
The concept of Pangea is relatively new. In the 1920s
there was a German scientist who theorized that the continents could have formed one giant landmass at one time in the past. This would explain all sorts of things. Things like why certain dinosaur fossils have been found in continents nowhere near each other, yet not found anywhere else in the world. If they lived on a seam, so to speak, and that seam separated, then that would account for such things.What I never understood about this theory is why all of the land would be in one place and then just decide to separate. On a sphere like our planet is, wouldn't the land masses just eventually join up again? According to Pangea experts, in 250 million years or so we will have one great big continent again.
My thing is that I don't like complicated explanations. I like things to make sense, but without all the stretching that sometimes seems to be done when explaining something that should be simple. Pangea seems complicated. Expanding Earth is simple. There have been well thought out reports that have been written about this theory for many years longer than the Pangea theories. In fact, Nikola Tesla (inventor of the radio as well as many other things. You might recognize the name from the post before this one) said it best in 1935 in the New York Herald Tribune.
I'm not looking forward to any planets exploding, but it just make sense. Everything is getting bigger. We have evidence that the Universe is expanding based on distance between objects growing farther apart. Planetary orbits are getting larger. Space is expanding. Everything grows. Believe it or don't believe it, but now you know what I believe.
Woah... Check out the Tesla!
on Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Choosing the best car from among the scores of new models introduced each year is invariably dicey because there are always people who say you got it wrong. But that doesn't stop the motopress from doing it at about this time each year, and for the first time, we'll join them.We didn't see any big trends that took the auto industry in a new direction this year, but a renewed focus on diesel engines and smaller cars, particularly in Europe and Japan, suggests the industry finally realizes it must produce cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles. If this was the year the auto industry woke up to that fact, 2008 will be the year it gets out of bed and does something about it.
The industry is on the cusp of great change. Sales are falling in America and Europe. Rising fuel prices have consumers favoring thriftier cars. American and European policymakers are poised to significantly tighten fuel economy and emissions standards. It's not at all clear how this will shake out, and the major automakers are scrambling to find their way.
And so it is that a survey of the cars various magazines and juries named the best of the year reflects the transition we're seeing in the industry, and explains how cars as different as the Audi R8 super car and Fiat 500 micro car both can be considered the best of the year.
Before we name our pick for the best car of the year, we'll take a quick look at what others are saying.
Motor Trend gave the nod to the Cadillac CTS, calling it the "star of a new GM revival." The editors of Playboy - not exactly known as a bellwether of auto trends, but we'll mention it anyway - also liked the Caddy but gave top honors to the Audi R8. Britain's Evo, a magazine that stresses performance above all else, said the Porsche 911 GT3 RS is number one. (We agree the '3 is a sweet car, but we think the 911 GT2, a 600-horsepower bare-knuckle brawler that is not for the weak or the stupid, remains the best 911 ever.) Car and Driver offered up a laundry list of cars as its "10 Best". With cars ranging from the Honda Fit to the Porsche Cayman and Boxster, it's got something for everyone.
These are all fine cars, particularly the R8 - which isn't as good as you've heard, it's better. They're exhilarating. They're technologically advanced. And they represent some of the best work their respective manufacturers have done in years.
But they don't lead the auto industry into the future. We're not suggesting automakers stop building insanely fast cars like the 911 GT3 RS or luxurious performance sedans like the CTS. But they need to begin expending at least as much effort producing cars at the other end of the spectrum - cars an increasing number of consumers want. Subcompacts are the fastest growing market segment in the United States, and, with hybrids, clean diesels and electrics, the only ones sure to meet the tougher fuel economy and emissions regulations the automakers know are coming.
That's why its refreshing to see the "car of the year" choices by juries of auto industry journalists, insiders and engineers. They were unanimous in selecting small, clean and efficient cars. A panel of 58 jurors from 22 countries named the Fiat 500 the European car of the year. Sixty jurors in Japan selected the Honda Fit. The Automotive Researchers and Journalists Conference of Japan chose the Mazda Demio, also called the Mazda2. It's too bad only the Fit is available in North America.
And so in keeping with that theme, we offer our choices for the car of the year.
The runner up: the Fiat 500. Perhaps no car better sums up the smaller, cheaper, more efficient ethos than this update of the iconic Cinquecento. It's fun, it's reasonably quick (it's a safe bet it won't be long before Abarth makes it quicker) and no car, including the Mini, so perfectly pays homage to the past while looking to the future. Car Magazine named it car of the year - over the Rolls Royce Phantom DHC, Audi R8 and BMW M3, among others - and said it is a car "every right-thinking enthusiast ought to be encouraging at this time." We couldn't agree more.
The 500 isn't available in America; if it were, it almost certainly would be our car of the year. We're big supporters of alternative fuels and hybrid drivetrains, but we also realize the gasoline-fueled internal combustion engine will be around for a long time to come. We'd like to see more of them in cars like the 500.
And Autopia's 2007 Car of the Year is...
The Tesla Roadster. Yes, it's got a price tag approaching six figures. Yes, the first run is sold out. And yes, the it's been in the pipeline for more than two years, so strictly speaking it isn't really "new." But this was the year the Tesla finally hit the road - the company is letting journalists test drive it this month - so we're including it.The Tesla is our pick for two reasons. First, it's easily the coolest alternative fuel vehicle ever made, one that proves electric cars can be every bit as breathtaking as the finest fossil-fuel guzzling super cars. Granted, the TZero and Venturi Fetish are in the same vein, but they haven't had the impact - or the hype - of the Tesla.
But more importantly, the Tesla best represents the direction the auto industry must go. Too many automakers have churned out the same old cars year after year, growing fat and lazy on the profit margins offered by SUVs and pickup trucks. That won't work anymore, and they know it. It's time for new thinking and new ideas. It's time for innovation. The Tesla has those things in spades, and there's a reason Silicon Valley is emerging as a leader in electric vehicle technology.
And so because of what it is and because of what it represents, the Tesla Roadster is the Autopia car of the year. Tell us what you think...
