y.m.m.v

Cars4U

CanadianDriver.com has partnered with cars4U.com ltd to bring some neat free services to potential car buyers:

1) Request A Quote : Free car quotes
2) Second Chance Credit

Read more about it

Toyota Yaris - aka Echo Hatchback

I like this car. From the shape to the price. It comes into Canadian dealerships in late August this year.

See what the editors of UK’s Auto Express thought of the Yaris

Offering a generous specification and a simplified range at good prices, the Yaris remains one of the most desirable superminis currently available, despite increased competition from newer rivals.

Uncanny

Jaguar had a 210MPH+ concept supercar unveiled in Barcelona: XF10

Is it me or there is an uncanny resemblance between it and prototype Subaru ?

_{(big pictures below)}

Smart Forfour

The first pictures of the Smart Forfour car are making the rounds. Smart is division of Mercedes, therefore Daimler-Chrysler. Along with the Smart Roadster, the Forfour is rumored to start selling in the US sometime soon.

ClubClips.com

It is rare that I hear about a good website, rarer still when I work with someone involved in one. ClubClips.com is being done in Montreal, but the quality of the idea and the product is IMO world-class.

2min of free time

Busy, busy, busy… But I had two min to look at ArsTechnica’s new shirts and slogan:

“You can log out any time you like, but you can never leave.”

Summer after 7 Months of Winter

Temperatures are rising again in Montreal, yet there is large accumulations of snow in Calgary. Welcome to Canadian spring.

The Weather Channel sumerizes that “winter” was seven months long…

Isn’t that a little excessive ?

United States of Whatever

Apple.com has a good article on Liam Lynch, the guy behind “My United States of Whatever” tune.

Daily Briefing

I stumbled upon this article at GovExec.com by Googling for the terms “NCIX” (a computer shop in B.C.) and “partner”.
Not what I was looking for, but fascinating. NCIX, is US government spook-speak for “national counterintelligence executive”.

Dixie Chicks Come Clean

The Entertainment Weekly cover says a lot. Oh, it’s been FARKed.

Need a New PC ?

I’m shopping around for some parts right now and excellent bargains have showed up on my radar. All these items are from Canadian outfits from B.C. with bargain prices and good support. The advantage of better choices and prices, with no provincial taxes for those outside B.C.; offset by the shipping costs and potential “RMA” related issues.

The basics of a new PC are often debated, but the motherboard is where every other component, be it sound, video and more, connect together. An excellent bargain today is from NCIX.com, the Soltek 75FRN2-L, aka “Golden Flame” @ $130 Cdn. This unit is the least-expensive, but using latest revision, of the nVidia NForce2 chipset, a distant/modern relative of the X-Box. (sample review”)

If the motherboard is the “central nervous system” of a PC, then the CPU is the brain. The best bargain is from Vibe Computers, the AMD XP1700+, aka “Throroughbred-B” @ $93 Cdn. What makes this processor so incredible is the price and family. The “T-bred B” is a relative of the latest “Barton” series, shares many advantages in design and process, except with smaller internal cache (256K vs. 512K) and a slower system bus (133 vs. 166). But, it is a 1.5 volt part that can be “overclocked” to lofty heights and in my case, “underclocked” to reduced temperatures at the expense of speed. (sample review)
The Vibe deal is for the OEM unit, so you must add your own heatsink, say the Vantec Aeroflow (use the NCIX.com price match rules and the $42 Cdn price from BigfootComputers). (sample review)

To complete the PC, you would add DDR memory (important info in compatability), a computer case with a good power-supply (say the featherweight Antec Lanboy or the heavyweight but quieter “piano black” Antec Sonata), a video card (inherited from your previous PC or something new for games) and your old hard disk, floppy et al.

Most of this kit is coming and then spring-cleaning will follow, parts I no longer need will be sold.

Martian Technology

I like silent computers. I like them a lot because I live in a spacious one room loft and noise travels. In my efforts over the last 3 years, I have tinkered many devices to handle my needs (coffeehaus.com, MP3 jukebox, centralised file server, etc…) and yet somehow manage 24/7 whisper quiet operation. Early last year I achieved a breakthrough using the VIA C3 based Mini-ITX motherboard and a small case with an external, fan-less power-supply.
Now you can buy a better implemented version of the same kit from Martian Thechnology.

Cardboard Computer Case

You should not be surprised that some Japanese maker released a cardboard PC case. Since it is for the Mini-ITX generation of gear, it isn’t even a bad idea. I wonder when reviews will make the rounds …

Economies of Scale

^{from Dan Minick’s © GlobalAuto.org}

Four years after the fanfare and the empire of DaimlerChrysler still does not have one platform that is used to build more than one million vehicles per year. In fact, DaimlerChrysler is the only one out of the big five (GM, Ford, Toyota, VW, DC) to fail to realize the efficiencies of volume from a single platform.

For example: DaimlerChrysler’s SUV lineup. If one includes Mitsubishi as a part-timer in this rocky threesome, there are no less than ten unique platform SUV’s. Not even Toyota can match the diversity in number of SUV platforms, and Toyota is SUV rich, counting all the variants around the world. Let’s give DC some credit here though; the Durango does share componentry with the Dakota, while the Mitsubishi Outlander is loosely based on the Lancer. Montero Sport is based on a pickup version, which puts out a few sales in Southeast Asia, Australia and Europe. Okay, so we’ve pared the list down by a few, but still at seven stand-alone platforms, the bulk of these are in the mid-sized market. The Durango is the largest one on the list, yet still is billed as a mid-size. Most of these are tripping over each other in the mid-size market, and due for replacement within the next few years. Add to the mix, the forthcoming Galant-based Endeavor, the crossover Chrysler Pacifica, and the Mercedes GST, the semi-off roader Magnum, and the list has grown by four more mid-sized SUVs or soft roaders.

The competition: Looking at the numbers, (click here for an excel spreadsheet) DC cannot get the same benefit from volume production, which Ford, GM, and Toyota are reaping. Rumor has it that the next Land Rover Discovery will share a platform with the Explorer, while the Land Rover Freelander will join up with the Escape and Tribute twins, giving Ford more benefit of volume from the same basic architecture. The Ford - Land Rover honeymoon is just barely over. By comparison, DC is an old married couple. GM has added long wheelbase versions of the GMT-360 (GMT-370), Trailblazer EXT, Envoy XL, Isuzu Ascender, and a short wheelbase Buick Rainer.

Isn’t a fair question for Herr Schrempp, “Where are the synergies?” While there is an argument that brand equity must be maintained and no clones for the sake of a buck (or is that a euro?), how essential are unique floor pan stampings, unique axles, and frame rails to brand identity in the eyes of the almighty consumer? Does the Mitsubishi Montero need to be a stand-alone platform? Is there any reason why it couldn’t be based on the Grand Cherokee? Or the Mercedes G-class? The 2-door is about the same size as a Wrangler, while the 4-door slots in right under the Durango. All of those are body on frame. Surely, some commonization could be planned while still maintaining the distinct brand image.

It seems that the other guys are getting more bang for their buck on basic platform architecture. DC, the opportunity is yours.

Dan Minick
© Dan Minick

Syrian-Iraq "secret" oil pipeline

Oh brother … wtf ? Looks like Syria has been sleeping with Iraq for a while now.

Hmm, how much military gear would you buy with 3.5B U$ ? Methinks Syria should watch its borders … this is an excellent excuse to kick their teeth in.

the name : Plymouth

“How Plymouth car brand got it’s name.”

Greasel ?

“Want fries with that ?” So, the Greasel conversion allows you to switch to “post-use” vegetable oil after the engine has become hot enough. This mechanism would also be ideal for winter use of B100 bio-diesel in my opinion.

Of course, none of these folks live in the land of +40/-40 C. That’s Montreal to you.

From the Slashdot topic of the same name:

Not enough crops (Score:5, Informative)
by theedge318 on Tuesday April 22, @09:01PM (#5786146)

BioDiesel is a great idea, but there is a very good reason why it hasn’t taken off. BioDisiel promoters are right about it being great for the environment, but no one is willing to develop it for production (even the very interested VW).

Reason, if BioDiesel were to challenge regular gasoline/petrol, it would require a lot of vegetables. While it is true that the U.S. is actually over-producing crops, and thus having to pay farmers not to grow crops. There still isn’t enough plants to produce BioDiesel for everyone, even if all of those fields were fully cultivated.

Facts Canada produces 50 mil. tons of relevant crops, and it would only need 10 mil. tons to power a country of BioDiesel cars. However the rest of the world does not have the same grain surplus as Canada, most other countries are at a deficit, and purchase Canada’s surplus. The US. production although higher, has smaller surplus levels, and greater demand for combustible products.

McNugget-powered Volkswagen Rabbi (Score:5, Interesting)
by BigBlockMopar on Tuesday April 22, @08:14PM (#5785925)
(http://www.glowingplate.com/)

People have been making “Biodesiel” for years now. This is nothing new. A little lye and some vegetable oil is all it takes.

That’s not even necessary.

I worked at a McDonalds in high school (about 1991), and one of the maintenance guys had an old (even then!) mid-1970s VW Rabbi (someone chiselled off the T for the fun of it) which was running on used shortening.

Actually, the guy was bright and knew a lot about cars, though he had no formal education. He built a system into an old gas can which rested on a “hot plate” heated by engine coolant. McDonalds filters their oil every day, and on those days on the schedule when it was being replaced, he’d just run it through the McDonalds filtration pump and into the gas cans.

The shortening would thicken, but when he was driving, he’d wait until the engine was warm and the oil was liquid, then throw the valve over to run it off the shortening. The fuel line was a copper tube taped against the lengths of copper plumbing pipe carring the hot coolant to the “hot plate” in the cargo area of the hatchback. Running out of fuel was no big deal - when the engine started to sputter, he’d flip the valve back to diesel off his regular tank, then at the next stop, he’d swap the gas can sitting on the hot plate. The pickup tube was hacked into the cap of a gas can, so the car sucked the oil right out of the gas can.

Riding in that car with him from Ottawa to Toronto (for a Ramones concert) in the dead of winter, I found only two small problems. One, the interior of the car was damned hot because of the hot plate. Two… the car - and I mean the whole car, from interior to exhaust - smelled like Chicken McNuggets. Sometimes, Filet-O-Fish.

On the other hand, the fuel was free, it was filtered with McDonalds specially-designed oil-filtation equipment and never seemed to cause him a problem with fuel filters, and my 340-4bbl Duster was getting about 8 miles per gallon… so I envied the utility but declined his offer to trade for my Duster.

What is interesting is that it is still cheaper to buy real desiel than vegetable oil. Where biodesiel has an advantage is in recycling used vegetable oil that is no longer food quality but is with a little work good enough to burn in your car/airplane. Unfortunatly there is not enough of this to make a real dent in the American desiel usage.

This is true. Actually, the cost advantage isn’t so great, when you figure that your time is worth something. Rather than scouting out restaurant dumpsters (which are pretty unpleasant places), you could be doing something more fun like getting fellatio or posting to Slashdot.

In his case, though, it was win-win since he was already gonna smell like McNuggets at the end of the day.

On the other hand, virgin vegetable oil could be a highly viable fuel. But the problem is that the very same people who jump up and down and scream about how nasty petroleum is, also jump up and down and scream about how nasty genetically modified corn and soy (which is the only way to make this economically viable) is. The best line I’ve ever heard came from a Greenpeace activist driving a sick little moped (blue clouds of poorly-tuned two-stroke, measurably more noxious than the exhaust from any well-tuned land-yacht SUV that he also complained about) screaming about how we can’t feed cars while people are starving in Somalia. (If Somalis don’t want to starve, they should have less children. Sorry, but it’s not my problem.)

Momo Force

Many years ago I bought myself a Logitech Wingman Formula steering wheel, the Yellow, because it cost much less. I could hardly justify the double the price Red edition with “force feedback”. But I always dreamed of one. Time passed.

About a year ago, walking in the isles of Costco, I noticed they had the latest Logitech Momo Force wheels at $200 Cdn. Unbelievable! This wheel has stitched black leather, looking just like the real Momo parts. The pedals are actually articulated. I chocked at the price, no matter how good it was… I had other things to buy. Time passed. I finally had the money, and you guessed it, Costco had no more of these snazzy wheels. I was crushed, but did look elsewhere. The sadness of missing a good deal turned into concern, when I read that the wheel was discontinued. Online shops, mostly US, had some, but many were re-built. I was saddened some more when I read out this wonders of this wheel on PC, PS2, Mac and maybe more. I missed the boat. Time passed.

I was unemployed and thus some of the downtime was spent playing games… driving games with my old Wingman Formula Yellow, Dreamcast games with a joystick, and so on. I like driving games, especially Rally related ones. Time passed.

I was on my way to meet a buddy for dinner last week, walking a path from work that took me across a PC shop I frequented in the past. They were renovating and someone placed two, count-em again, two Momo Force wheels on display. Price : $209 Cdn. I made a mental note.

During Easter weekend I tallied-up my upcoming expenses, cringing at the sums for new All-Season tyres and much needed car repairs.

I was at work today, had Friday off. At lunch, in the drizzle without an umbrella, I walked to the shop for another look see. I need sometimes to rehash my plans visually, to really know if something is important to me. There was one left. Just one. I was heading back to work, my mind on the task of confirming my memories of this wheels’ capabilities and then buying it after work hours if it still matched my criteria. I Googled, it matched. The afternoon passed.

I head out, rain just a little sprinkle. I enter the shop, no wheel left. Take in air, exhale. I ask the clerk, a voice laced with total disbelief : “That last Momo Force gone ? I was here at lunch…”

He scratches his head, checks the computer and informs me that one should be stock. We proceed to investigate.

Turns out someone had bought the wheel, took it home and returned a half-hour later, thoroughly chastised by his significant other. The box was marked by some rain. Apprehensively we opened it and checked for contents. All there.

“Do I want it ?”

I thought “Take a hike Murphy and take your Laws with you…” and bought the wheel. I have been waiting for a good force feedback wheel for five years… now I can rally safely at home.

Sometimes you get a second chance at a wish, even if it is just an item of little consequence. I’m now happy.

Music to your Ears ?

An upcoming Apple Event on the 28th is supposed to be “music to your ears”.
Speculate!

Condolences

My sincere condolences to brothers Michael and Ralf Schumaker on the passing of their mother.

Happy Easter!

Underworld Trailer

Somebody has been playing too many White Wolf products … out comes a movie titled Underworld and the only surprise is how good Kate Beckinsale looks in leather with guns … ahhh, ok maybe it isn’t such a surprise to you.

Scary how the writing credits go to a ‘B’ actor, a stunt coordinator and the director, who was a “props” man.

Big budget “B” ?

Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni

Well, this one is for Dr.Vanderzob: Super squid surfaces in Antarctic

Honda "Mouse Trap" Add

This add has people talking worldwide, linked to multitude of web-logs for various reasons (voice over, filming technique, the story behind it, etc…) Props to Bruno for sending me the two most important pieces: the add video, final take 606 and the behind the scenes story.

Enjoy!

BTW, the Euro-Accord makes it’s presence in the US and Canada as an over-priced Acura TSX http://www.canadiandriver.com/testdrives/04tsx.htm

Prius 2.0

Hey, good news for Hybrid-locomotion-lovers! The 2nd Generation Prius both looks better, seems more practical and even gets better milage. CanadianDriver

Another excellent set of pictures from CarDesignNews.com

The N.Y. AutoShow is on … so expect more news!

Saab 9-2, nee Subaru Impreza

^{props to Automotice News Europe}

“The first 9-2 will be a lightly modified version of the five-door Impreza wagon powered by Subaru’s familiar flat-four engines. It is an interim solution to Saab’s need for a third range of vehicles below the 9-3.”

“Designers and engineers from both companies already are working on a joint-venture model to replace the Impreza in three years. That second-generation 9-2, inevitably including a diesel-engine option, will be sold in Europe.”

The rest of the article.

More from a Wards article that mentions my favorite topic: horizontally opposed diesel engine!

“The boxer engines (Subaru’s horizontally-opposed fours and sixes) are stumbling blocks,” says Lutz. “Nobody has yet done a boxer diesel. There isn’t one in our portfolio.”

However, engineering sources says Saab and Subaru are seriously looking to develop a diesel boxer for the so-called Saab 9-1 and the next-generation Impreza.

A Saab-Subaru SUV for the U.S. and a 9-1 for Europe are far more than just rumors. Perhaps GM will follow something akin to the Renault SA revival of Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. ? with one attractive and desirable new car after another. Otherwise, Saab could be consigned to history.

—-
So, is at a 9-1, 9-2 or what ?

Doomed to Upgrade

John Carmack is synonymous with great “First Person Shooter” games and technical tour de force in terms of realtime graphics. His next game, Doom III, is set to take the basics up notch. You will most likely need to upgrade your PC just to play it.
And you will.

QCast Tuner

Ars Technica has a review of the QCast Tuner from BroadQ :

“The basic idea behind QCast is simple: the software allows you to use a networked PS2 to reach out from the living room entertainment center to a PC on the LAN and browse and play that PC’s collection of media files (MP3, DivX, AVI, MP2, Ogg Vorbis, etc.). So, using a PS2 controller and QCast’s interface, you can stream media files from a PC to the PS2 and play them on your home entertainment system.”

Quote #2:
“The bad news first: MPEG-2 at any important resolutions completely choked the machine. Whether it was DVD quality (720×480 @ 4 to 8Mbps) or SVCD quality (480×480 and 1 to 2Mbps), the QCast Tuner just could not play back the streams smoothly. BroadQ claims that they are working on this, and that future, more optimized versions of the decoder will fix this deficiency. As someone who has written extensively on the PS2’s Emotion Engine, I’m fairly certain that this is not a hardware problem. The PS2 should be fully capable of playing back MPEG-2 streams with properly optimized software.”

Listening to: Jack Johnson, Brushfire Fairytales

Brushfire Fairytales

Huh ?

petergun is a Broccoli-Eating Skeleton Monkey with a Battle Rating of 6.4.
Unleash your own Food-Eating Battle Monkey.

Independent War Coverage ?

Back In Iraq 2.0 is the weblog of a journalist, sponsored by web-reading-folks like you and I. Is this the future of journalism ? I kinda hope so.

$3.3B of change

“General Mayhem” sold it’s Hughes division for $3.3B in cash, stock to News Corp. S&P reduced stock to BBB status. So, the Hummer sales won’t help that much…

Good "CarNews" ?

There is one car company doing well during this tumultuous time, war and all. The Humvee image is very strong right now (cringe), sales of badged paraphernalia and the H2 going strong.

Puffy the Barbarian King

OpenBSD is known for a tradition, since version 3.0, of including a song on each release. Here it is for version 3.3, the upcoming “Barbarian King” theme release.

Previous ones were:

Mr. Pond OpenBSD 3.2

Puffy the “Script Kitty” Slayer OpenBSD 3.1

Puffy Daddy OpenBSD 3.0

Subie Saab ?

More rumors concerning the “upcoming” co-development of Fuji-Heavy Industries, makers of Subaru and 20% owned by General Motors, and Saab, a wholly owned subsidiary of GM.

A 4S or “Subaru-Saab Small Sports-car” for 2005 just about right time for me then … diesel 4wd ? One can hope…

Safari 1.0 Beta 2

Woohoo for Mac owners! Safari 1.0 Beta 2 , aka v.73, is out and about … legally.

Enjoy the Tabs!

Espresso Machine

Ogre wonders if there is an Espresso Machine at work ?

Bien’ Yeah … do you think I would work there otherwise ?

Voted

Silly ballot: it included
- Marxist-Leninist
- Christian Democrat
- Green Party
- Independant
- and the usual suspects …

So I voted …

New Job, New Desk, New ...

I’m sitting at my new desk (Ikea), reading my new screen (Apple Studio) and typing on this G4 running OS 9.1. I‘m surrounded by the equipment I’m setting up, Gentoo Linux one PC, Windows on another. My eyes have a view of Mont Royal’s cross …

Tomorrow I install OS X on this puppy and it will be much like home. Then comes the hard part.

D.H. Rumsfeld Poetry

My opinions are always muddled when it comes to Rumsfeld … whenever I think he can be nothing short of Machiavelli, he is portrayed a little different and quirky. Such as his poetry, which may tell us more of the man.

Though interesting, is he trustworthy ? I put my trust in Powell …

Employed

Yep, as of 15:10 I’m employed again!

10.2.5 Jaguar

An new point release for Apple’s Jaguar, pronounced “Jag-wire” by those in the know :), is out : 10.2.5

Next-stop for Mac users is 10.3, aka Panther.

For Dr. Wank

Apple’s Bluetooth push is seriously fun! Proximity sensors! In the past folks said they wanted their houses wired for music … now it will be wireless for music. Move into another room and the music will follow, using the ever present cell phone as beacon. Yeah ….

Apple & Universal

Strange world we live in. Apple Computer Corp, not Apple Corp of Beatles fame, may buy the music arm of struggling Vivendi, aka Universal Music

Funky. Not my way of spending 5 billion dollars … but hey, maybe Steve has a better idea what can be done.

Saab Story

^{By Dan Minick as seen on http://www.globalauto.org/}

A Saab Story. General Motors has great expectations for Saab. Increased sales and, GM hopes, finally a brand in GM’s stable that will go head to head with the infamous blue and white propeller. GM CEO Rick Wagoner envisions closer ties between Subaru and Saab. Saab could end up receiving a version of the WRX wagon, or utilizing capacity at the Subaru plant in Indiana. On the European front, Saab plans to fold its sales and marketing together with Opel’s.

GM’s hope is that it has obtained a true premium brand its customers will buy, keeping the upwardly mobile buyers in the GM stable. In Europe, Opel (and Vauxhall) have never quite been serious contenders in the upper medium segment. The Omega, and the Senator that preceded it, just didn’t have the cachet that a BMW, Audi, or Mercedes seemed to possess. By bringing Saab into the Opel stable, current GM owners can move up a step while staying in the family.

GM-NAO, has for years maintained numerous brands that seemed to have no apparent differences between them, yet continued to lose market share to imports with a pedigree. Try as it might, GM tried cheesy, tacky euro versions of mediocre midsize American sedans to lure buyers into the GM family. When that failed to stem the flow towards Europe, GM attempted to transform Oldsmobile into a ‘euro-friendly’ brand. Sales slid, as Oldsmobile didn’t really seem to know to whom it was catering anymore.

GM gives Oldsmobile marching orders and puts its efforts into the 4S import strategy: Suzuki, Saturn, Subaru, and Saab.

Sobs can be heard all the way to Trollhattan, as Saab enthusiasts mourn the loss of their brand. Loss? Won’t increased sales be a boon for the eccentric Swedes? More dealership points? Better service? The answer to that question is to ask ‘what made a Saab, a Saab?’ Quirkiness. Non-conformity. The simple idea of being alone, an individual. As GM grows Saab, it won’t come with the growth of existing Saab buyers. No, it will become an upscale Subaru, or Saturn. An aspirational import brand to allow buyers to move up while staying in the GM family. GM will rebuild Saab as a full-fledged GM division, parts sharing and all. The 9-3 shares a platform with the Vectra and the forth-coming 2004 Malibu. Cadillac CTS and SRX are now using Saab’s patented air vent design. If you own the company, then you own the patents. So, Saab will take its place in the GM pecking order as just another one of those GM brands.

Is that a bad thing? Maybe not. Is it still a Saab? Probably not. In fact, maybe it should really be called an Oldsmobile.

Dan Minick

Quote

Anyone who is capable of getting themselves into a position of power should on no account be allowed to do the job.
- Douglas Adams

Shutokoh Battle Online

My favorite Sega game is “Tokyo Xtreme 2”, a street-tuned car racing game published by Crave that works much like one-on-one arcade fighting games. The twist is that you can earn credits and spend them toward more car upgrades or new vehicles. On the Dreamcast it is addictive.

The developers of the game, Genki, are preparing a MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) version on the PC named Shutokoh Battle Online. The Japanese site carries Beta information … but I cannot read it. Sigh. Crazy thing is you can watch the online players driving about using Realplayer’s Real1, akin to a virtual traffic camera.

The same game mechanics (maybe even engine) are used in the arcades with the Initial D manga&anime based arcade setup, which reaches the home market as “Kaido Battle” (Mountain Battle). The system is also the core of “Wangan Nights” (literally “Tokyo Airport Highway Night Racing”, a nice long well-paved straight road), manga-cum-arcade-game.

The second incarnation on the PS2, Shutoko Battle 01, will be available soon. The pictures seem to indicate an incremental improvement and hopefully a better tuned game with less slow-down. Pictures are worth a 1000 words. ^{(BTW, I don’t understand why the spelling of Shutokoh varies either)}

It seems a simple game can be turned into a franchise… and the addiction is bottled quite well. I’m sticking to my Dreamcast for now … as the existing release on the PS2 has many warts.

Aliens Comeback

By STEVE TILLEY — Edmonton Sun

[snipped & my emphasis below]

While he won’t yet reveal what his next movie will be about, fans of Cameron’s 1994 Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle True Lies can stop holding their breath: it’s not going to be True Lies 2.

“I would encourage Arnold and Fox if they want to pursue that, but I’m not interested in it. Really, for some of the same reasons I (passed on) Terminator 3. I’ve kind of been there, done that.”

Not to mention the idea of a kooky husband and wife spy duo fighting terrorists doesn’t quite have the same appeal in a post-9-11 world.

“I think if I’m going to make a film about an anti-terrorism unit, it’s going to be serious. It’s going to deal with the issues. I probably wouldn’t do that right now.”

The Alien franchise is a different story, though. Cameron, who directed 1986’s Aliens, says he’s eager to resuscitate the series with a new movie, one that he hopes will draw fans back after the dreary Alien 3 (directed by Fight Club’s David Fincher) and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s disappointing Alien: Resurrection. But he’ll only do it if Twentieth Century Fox abandons its plans to torpedo the franchise with a cash-grabbing Alien vs. Predator flick.

“I said, ‘Look, that’s Wolfman meets Frankenstein.’ It’s like when you’re cleaning out the closet, and you find these poor old relic films down at the bottom and you put two of them together.

“So whenever you’re ready to pronounce (the Alien franchise) dead, you go and make that film. I’m sure they’re not going to like that comment, but that’s the way I feel about it. Let’s not pronounce it dead yet.”

topSwap 20

Given the popularity of KaZaA, eDonkey, BitTorrent, it comes as no surprise that a topSwap20 list exists for the popularity. Soon the RIAA may just cease to be relevant … oh wait … too late.

Kickin' the Apple Crate

Pay-per-song service ? Rumor or fact ? Will you buy in ?

OpenBSD & DARPA

I’m an Open Source advocate, mostly due to security capabilities, and OpenBSD is a big part of my repertoire. It comes as a pleasant surprise to learn that DARPA, through the University of Pennsylvania, has pushed 2.3 Million dollars toward further improvements.

Quote from the ever charming Theo de Raadt, OpenBSD leader, on Microsoft programmers: “They’re like plumbers high on glue.”

coffeehaus.com has been on OpenBSD since 2.5, but I really have been dragging my feet to upgrade the primary server up from 2.9 to the latest 3.X series.

0% Virus

The title caught my attention “0% Virus”. Seems General Motors, after 9/11, began a marketing theme called “Keep America Rolling” and offered 0% financing. Now, with the car market in the US lower in throughput then anticipated, this tactic is being revived and the European car manufacturers are feeling the heat.

I wish Canadians would get the same “Virus” … we got SARS … why only the bad things ?

Farewell

Leslie Cheung, actor, singer commited suicide in Hong Kong on April 1st. His acting breakthrough was playing Chow Yun-Fat’s younger brother in 1986’s “A Better Tomorrow”.

Other movies to his credit are “Rouge,” “A Better Tomorrow II,” “A Chinese Ghost Story,” “Once a Thief,” “The Bride with White Hair,” “Temptress Moon,” “Chinese Feast” and “Farewell My Concubine”.

Global Anthem

From the album “Amused To Death”, Roger Waters

Perfect Sense, part II

Can’t you see
It all makes perfect sense
Expressed in dollars and cents
Pounds shillings and pence

Can’t you see
It all makes perfect sense
Little black soul departs in perfect focus
Prime time fodder for the News at Nine
Darling is the child warm in the bed tonight

     Hi everybody I’m Marv Albert
     And welcome to our telecast
     Coming to you live from Memorial Stadium
     It’s a beautiful day
     And today we expect a sensational matchup
     But first our global anthem

Can’t you see
It all makes perfect sense
Expressed in dollars and cents
Pounds shillings and pence
Can’t you see
It all makes perfect sense

     And here come the players
     As I speak to you now the captain
     Has his cross hairs zeroed in on the oil rig
     It looks to me like he’s going to attack
     By the way did you know that a submarine
     Captain earns 200,000 dollars a year
     Oh that’s less tax Marv yeah less tax
     Uh thank you Emery you’re welcome
     Now back to the game he fires one yes
     There goes two both fish are running
     The rig is going into a prevent defense
     Will they make it I don’t think so

Can’t you see
It all makes perfect sense
Expressed in dollars and cents
Pounds shillings and pence
Can’t you see
It all makes perfect sense

Is a diesel revival coming ?

Tony Whitney, co-host of “Driver’s Seat” on Global wrote an article titled Is a diesel revival coming ? for Canadian Driver.

The irony is that I had learned recently how good the PT Cruiser with 2.2 liter CRD (Common Rail Diesel) engine is rated in Europe. That would be great solution in North-Am for small families.