It's Electric!

If you've never seen Who Killed the Electric Car, then I recommend you check it out.

I grew up in a factory town surrounded by musclecar loving rednecks. While most of my friends were busy reading the latest copy of Hot Rod, I was hanging Ferrari and Lamborghini posters on my walls. However, even the car lover in me has to admit that the days of the Internal Combustion Engine are numbered.

The electric car is the future, the only question is where does the juice come from?

• Traditional lead-acid batteries have been used in EVs for decades with mixed results. They are reliable and work well but the trade-off of having to carry around all that weight just destroys effeciency.

• NiMH battery technology has made huge strides in recent years but is significantly more expensive than lead and still weighs a ton, no pun intended.

• Batteries based on Lithium technology have revolutionized the performance of portable electronics. The performance is great, especially relative to weight, but there are serious safety and enviroment concerns to deal with.

• Fuel cells, hydrogen or otherwise, have a long way to go. This would allow you to carry the power generation with you though, extending the range to that of comparable gasoline cars.

Even with inefficient batteries a "plug-in" electric vehicle with a 60-100 mile range would meet the daily commuting requirements of most Americans. I only need something with 40 miles of range to get me to and from work. Why does no one sell something like that?

Well if you've watched Who Killed the Electric Car, you know that GM sold a car called the EV1 that would have met those needs. The EV1 went on sale 10 years ago, think about that. It's sad that GM didn't have the guts to keep selling that car because it would have put them in an amazing position today. I actually got to ride in an EV1 once and I must say it was pretty cool. My home town is home to large Delphi facility that did some of the electronics work for the EV1. They had an EV1 at their annual "Plant Day" and I got a ride around the parking lot. That thing was surprisingly fast. So GM killed the EV1 and essentially gave up any potential lead they had in the area of electric powered cars. All they needed was to throw a small gasoline or diesel motor on board and GM would have invented the Series Hybrid 10 years ahead of the game. It would have made the Toyota Prius look like a fuel thirsty dinosaur.

So fast forward 10 years from the EV1 and GM is giving it another go with the Volt. The funny thing is that the Volt is getting huge amounts of publicity and public interest. Did GM screw up that bad with the marketing of the EV1 or does $3.00 a gallon gas have something to do with the interest? If GM hadn't been so hell bent on destroying anything to do with the EV1 they could have just started remanufacturing EV1s with new Volt bodies and electronics.

Please GM, get this one right.

Long live Napster

Time to spin a yarn about MP3s.

I remember the first MP3 I ever downloaded, it was my JFK moment. I also remember the day that I discovered Napster, that was the day that finding music online reached its zenith. Napster and my DSL connection partnered to expand my knowledge and love of music for two glorious years. Following the demise of Napster there was a handful of also-rans that tried to fill the void; gnutella, kazaa, morpheus, limewire and winMX to name a few. Nothing has ever come along to match blessed simplicity and amazing breadth like Napster.

I may have finally found what may be the next best thing, SeeqPod. Think of SeeqPod as an MP3 specific search engine that indexes millions of web pages looking for MP3s. It's really only intended for you to be able to find and play music via its very nice web interface. SeeqPod does not have native capability to let you download an save songs to your computer or device. Of course if you were to search for a program called JaSeek you may find that it adds more features to the standard SeekPod interface.

Remember, Music Piracy is illegal. However, buying CDs only helps to support retail chains and to delude the dreaded RIAA into thinking that they are still a viable entity in the music world.

If you want to support musicians, pay to see them live and in person.

Be more official

Came across this while looking for some more anti-RIAA propaganda. Make your lunatic ravings look more official.

The Official Seal Generator

RIAA, suck my balls.

This is what happens when a lobby group has too much money. Thanks congress, way to look out for your constituency.

Give me your clothes, your boots and your loan.

Monitors!

So, I'm still suffering with a 19" 4:3 LCD monitor at home. At work I've got a Samsung 22" widescreen and I love it. Going home to that 19" sucks and I've had enough. The problem is trying to decide between a cheap 28" and a nice 24".

Here are the contestants:

The Gateway FHD2400

The Hanns-G HG281D

No doubt the Gateway is the better monitor in nearly every way but wow is that Hanns-G is HUGE! I mean a 28" monitor for $560, thats a no-brainer right?

Decisions, decisions.

XBOX 360 Redux

Engadget's Review of the Fall 360 Update

What? Microsoft throws us a bone? Now I can't wait to get home and try out the DIVX support!

Product Plug

I've been looking at new cars, again. Anyone that knows me is that this is a biannual event and I really should work for a used car dealership. Anyway, I'm in love with the new BMW 335 Coupe. My knees get weak and my eyes cross when I get within 20 feet one. Last weekend I was at the dealership stroking one when I noticed the unusualness of its windscreen wipers. I know what you're thinking, what the hell could possibly be interesting about wipers? Take a look at this web page, Bosch ICON. See? They're all weird and flat, they can't possibly work.

Of course being German and associated with BMW they are also the most expensive wiper blades around. Your average PAIR of Anco wiper blades cost as much as ONE of the ICON blades, about $20. I stood staring at the display at my local Rice Boys. Forty dollars for wiper blades, is this what my life as come to, wiper envy? So after at least five seconds on consideration I snatched up the appropriate sizes and ran to the checkout. It was raining buckets so it was to be a baptism by fire.

Let me just say, these are worth every single penny of the $40 price tag. They are absolutely silent, they make no noise at all no matter how fast they are running. I have NEVER had a pair of wipers that make no noise at all while operating. No squeaking sounds, no slapping sounds and no dragging. Also, they leave no streaks or gaps anywhere along their entire length. They maintain 100% contact through their entire arc no matter what speed. I was on the highway in driving rain going about 85mph and they were absolutely glued to the windscreen. If these things work this well when it starts snowing then I'm going to marry them.

I give them 5/5 stars.

A case of the Mondays....

This pisses me off, link.

I've been an XM subscriber for a long time and I dont see how ANYONE (apart from stock holders) will benefit from this merger. Both customer bases are going to suffer from this deal. You're either going to loose content or a favorite "DJ", even though that's not really relevant on Sat Radio. If this merger gets green-lighted by the government then I'm really going to move to Canada this time.

What possible justification could their be? Does the DOJ actually think that Sat radio and FM are competitors? I listen to FM only when I'm forced to for local programming. I gladly pay my monthly fee so that I don't have to hear a wacky waving arm inflatable tube man ad every five minutes. Wouldn't FM have to play music to be considered a competitor?