Yearly Archives: 2012

Chocolate+Peanut Butter=Esprit+SHO V6?

This entry was posted in Uncategorized on by (updated 4207 days ago)
A couple of my favorite cars are the old Lotus Esprit and the first generation +Ford Motor Company Taurus SHO. Now someone has brought the two together by replacing the turbocharged 2.2-liter four cylinder and the fragile and problematic Renault gearbox with the lovely Yamaha-designed 3.0-liter 24-valve V6.

By today's standards, the SHO's 220 hp output is nothing to excited about but in 1989 it was a wonder.  Unfortunately, like the Esprit, the SHO had a fragile gearbox as well, this one sourced from Mazda. This Esprit has mated the V6 with a Porsche gearbox so it should be a lot more durable. 

This could be a seriously fun for someone that likes to live on the edge. 

Lotus : Esprit SHO in Lotus | eBay Motors
Lotus : Esprit SHO in Lotus | eBay Motors

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I've never ordered a Pizza from Papa John's and I won't start now. 5

This entry was posted in Uncategorized on by (updated 4207 days ago)
I've never ordered a Pizza from Papa John's and I won't start now.

Reshared post from +Dan Gillmor

Why there is zero chance that my next pizza order will be with Papa Johns; CEO cutting workers to avoid health care.

Papa John’s CEO: Obamacare likely to raise costs, result in employee’s hours being cut
?That?s what you do, is you pass on costs,’ John Schnatter told Edison State College students on Wednesday. ‘Unfortunately, I don?t think people know what they?re going to pay for this.?

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Hypocritical National Organization for Marriage tries to co-opt muslim bigotry to… 1

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Hypocritical National Organization for Marriage tries to co-opt muslim bigotry to stop same-sex marriage

I suspect many of the more extremist Christian members of National Organization for Marriage would just as soon see all Muslims eradicated as cooperate with them. However, that isn't stopping NOM from trying to co-opt the corresponding bigotry of many of the more reactionary folks in the Islamic world to try to hurt companies that support same-sex marriage in the US including Starbucks. 

Frankly I'd like to see a list of companies that provide support to NOM so I can avoid doing business with them. 

AUDIO: NOM pledges to make Starbucks “pay” for support of marriage equality
National Organization for Marriage is pledging to continue its efforts to ensure that companies that back same-sex marriage pay a “price” in Middle Eastern countries that are hostile to gay rights.

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Let's give Justin Zatkoff the attention he clearly craves

This entry was posted in Ann Arbor culture on by (updated 4207 days ago)
Since Justin Zatkoff was so anxious to get attention when he falsely claimed to have been the victim of a hate crime at the hands of liberal thugs several years back, let's not let the web forget about it. He used the DMCA to get my friend +Mark Maynard's blog taken down the other day in an attempt to cover up his past, so if you are a Reddit user, go upvote the story there.  

Embedded Link

How MarkMaynard.com was taken down in a web-washing attempt by false “hate crime” victim Justin Zatkoff : AnnArbor
**This text has been taken from markmaynard.com under fair usage: [http://markmaynard.com/2012/11/my-site-was-taken-down-in-web-washing-attempt-by-fal…

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I wish I still worked in Ann Arbor so I could participate in V2X test program 1

This entry was posted in Ann Arbor cars technology and tagged V2X on by (updated 4207 days ago)
I wish I still worked in Ann Arbor so I could participate in V2X test program

I took +Julie Abuelsamid's car over to UMTRI yesterday to get some equipment installed so that it could be a part of this safety pilot program.  They installed a GPS receiver, data logger and transmitter that will send speed and location data receivers installed around Ann Arbor over the next year. It's part of a test of vehicle to infrastructure communications which has the potential to reduce congestion and improve safety and efficiency in coming years. 

#V2X  

Bicycles, motorcycles to join thousands of talking cars operating in northeast Ann Arbor
Researchers are looking for more volunteers for a real-word deployment of roughly 2,800 connected vehicles in Ann Arbor.

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Obnoxious drunk conservative abuses copyright and invokes the Streisand effect 1

This entry was posted in copyright politics and tagged copyrightabuse dmca on by (updated 4207 days ago)
Obnoxious drunk conservative abuses copyright and invokes the Streisand effect

From the let sleeping dogs lie department comes the story of Michigan College Republican leader Justin Zatkoff who was beaten up by a "friend" at a party several years ago for being such an obnoxious drunk.  In the process of taking advantage of the takedown provisions of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, he has again reminded the world that he exists and that he once accused "liberal thugs" of being responsible for his beating. 

Instead of letting the world forget the incident ever happened, he decided to try to scrub the internet of evidence of his bad behavior and in the process he got my friend +Mark Maynard's blog taken down. Given my aversion to the DMCA and copyright abuse in general, I'd like to remind everyone that no matter what your political persuasion, don't be an asshole!

#copyrightabuse   #dmca  

My site was taken down in web-washing attempt by false “hate crime” victim Justin Zatkoff
I apologize for the interruption in service yesterday, but my site was taken down without my consent, at the request of a man by the name of

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The end of the global patent war on Android?

This entry was posted in patents technology on by (updated 4207 days ago)
The surprise announcement yesterday of a patent cross-licensing deal between Apple and HTC hopefully signals the end of the former's global patent war against Android vendors. However, I'd rather see it end by having all of these patents invalidated by either the courts or the USPTO instead of money changing hands after confidential legal agreements. 

It's possible that Apple is starting to see some cracks forming in its patent firewall and is now opting to license rather than risk further challenges. If that's the case, they may well offer Samsung and other vendors more reasonable terms in order to take the courts out of the picture.

If Apple and Samsung finally settle between now and their next court date in December, that will be a strong indicator that this is what's happening. On the other hand it's also possible +Nilay Patel is right and the much smaller HTC is feeling the pressure and Apple wants to refocus on Samsung and Google. http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/10/3629516/why-apple-and-htc-settled-their-patent-litigation

We'll probably have a clearer picture in the next 6 weeks.  

Does HTC Deal Signal End to Apple’s Thermonuclear War Against Android?
Until its surprise announcement Saturday night, Apple had shown more interest in crushing Android phone makers than striking business deals with them. So what’s changed?


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Online companies like Google are probably the future of polling

This entry was posted in technology on by (updated 4207 days ago)
Google has been driven by big data since day one and they have been continuously analyzing their results and tweaking algorithms to optimize their results.

Reshared post from +Google Consumer Surveys

Google Consumer Surveys ranked the second most accurate poll (most accurate online poll) during the presidential race according to Nate Silver.

We're really proud of the platform we put together and continue to be excited about the opportunity to help businesses of all sizes make accurate, data driven decisions.

Which Polls Fared Best (and Worst) in the 2012 Presidential Race
A number of polling firms that conduct their surveys online had strong results. Some telephone polls also did well. But others, especially those that called only landlines or took other methodological…

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Our devices are learning about our habits and adapting 3

This entry was posted in cars technology on by (updated 4207 days ago)
Back before the +Chevrolet Volt went on sale, the engineers talked about using your destination information to adapt the way the energy in the battery was used. For example based on your distance from home, it could run the engine for a while before it normally would to save the remaining battery power for the final stretch. If you were 5 miles from home and only had 2 miles of capacity it might run the engine for 3 miles and use the battery as you go through your neighborhood. Alternatively it could also run the battery into the buffer zone if your close to home where you will plug in. The goal is to get as many miles on the battery as possible, since charging costs less per mile than gas. At this point, none of that has been implemented yet on the Volt.

+Ford Motor Company has however implemented EV+ on it's new generation hybrid systems in the C-Max and Fusion. Information about your location and driving habits is aggregated using SYNC GPS, to look for patterns. As the system learns when you are approaching regular destinations, the battery gets used more aggressively to save fuel. This works on the regular hybrids, but it really comes into its own on the plug-in hybrid C-Max Energi and Fusion Energi where it will try to use up the battery power as you approach locations where you regularly plug in. Both C-Max versions and the Fusion hybrid are available now and the Fusion Energi PHEV goes on sale early in the new year.

Between this and systems like Google Now on Android phones, the cloud will soon no more about us than we do. 

Reshared post from +Green Car Reports

Would't it be nice if your electric car just knew when you were close to home?

2013 Ford C-Max Energi: New EV+ Feature ‘Learns’ Regular Routes
Every driver of a plug-in hybrid electric car eventually wants to drive more on electricity and less on gasoline. So it’s frustrating when the battery charge indicator shows a reasonable level of char…

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