Monthly Archives: April 2013


A visit to Dresden in October 2009 1

In album

When I went to Germany in October 2009 for the media launch of the 6th generation +Volkswagen USA Golf, we had a chance to stroll around central Dresden for a while after our tour of the Glass Factory. 

Just two months before the European part of World War II came to a close in 1945, Allied air forces firebombed the city of Dresden killing as many as 25,000 people. Among the many buildings destroyed was the 18th century Dresden Frauenkirche. The rubble of the Lutheran church remained in place for the next 49 years as an anti-war memorial. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresden_Frauenkirche#Reconstruction

In 1994, following the reunification of Germany, the huge pile of stones was finally cleared so that the church could be rebuilt. Thousands of the fire-blackened original stones can be seen in the reconstructed shell in contrast to the newer blocks. Elsewhere in central Dresden many other buildings still bear the scorch marks of those fiery days in February 1945. 

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The Jurassic Park T-Rex was a full-size animatronic model!

When Jurassic Park first hit the cinema screens 20 years ago, Pixar was still two years away from releasing Toy Story and Fellowship of the Ring was eight years away. The state of the art for computer generated imaging wasn't yet up to the task of creating the high-resolution digital models needed for such a movie. 

Stan Winston Studios created a full scale animatronic model of the T-Rex using a steel armature actuated by hydraulic systems to achieve the speed and range of motion required for the film.

Watch ‘Jurassic Park’ engineers build the movie’s giant mechanical T. rex
Jurassic Park may have helped revolutionize modern CG animation in movie-making, but out of the 14 minutes of dinosaurs in the movie, only four were completely generated by computers. Practical…

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Volkswagen's remarkable glass factory in Dresden, Germany 2

In album

Back in October 2009, I went to Germany for the media launch drive of the MK VI +Volkswagen USA Golf. As part of the program of driving from Wolfsburg to Berlin, we had a stopover in Dresden where we visited VW's showcase "Glass Factory." This plant is where VW builds its flagship Phaeton luxury sedan.

The Phaeton was a commercial flop when it was briefly sold in the US market in the early part of the last decade, but it has done better in other markets, particularly China.

The plant gets its name from the panes of glass that comprise the bulk of  its exterior and interior walls flooding the assembly line with plenty of natural light. In areas where artificial lighting supplements the sun's rays, the lights are pointed up and reflected off the ceiling for nice diffuse illumination.

The moving line itself and areas adjacent to it are all hardwood. Phaeton customers can visit the factory before the car is built and see samples of all the leather, wood, fabric and paints and select their own custom combinations. Next to the entrance is a smaller version of the parking tower for newly built cars awaiting customer delivery similar to the versions at the headquarters in Wolfsburg. 

The appearance of the facility is so unlike other factories that it regularly plays host to local cultural events including concerts in the lobby area. 

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There are bad ideas, then there is docking dirigibles at the Empire State Buildi… 5

There are bad ideas, then there is docking dirigibles at the Empire State Building!

Can you imagine walking down a gang-plank 1,200 feet above the streets of Manhattan in a wind?

Docking on the Empire State Building
Despite plans for a mooring station, only one airship ever docked at the Empire State Building.

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Mustang Alley at the Woodward Dream Cruise is back again for 2013

Reshared post from +Ford Racing

Mustang Alley at the Woodward Dream Cruise is back again for 2013. Information on how to register is here. 

Mustang Alley 2013
Date, 3/28/2013. Title, Welcome Back. News, Attention all Mustang Alley fans – WE’RE BACK!!!!! Mark your calendars, wax your cars. The 15th annual Mustang Alley will be Saturday August 17th! Last year…

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Why are Republicans that claim to want to minimize government also so intent on intruding… 3

Why are Republicans that claim to want to minimize government also so intent on intruding into American's private lives?

Virginia Gov. Candidate Cuccinelli Defending Law That Forbids Oral Sex
Forget gay marriage. Cuccinelli is still stuck on gay sex.

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Nelson Ireson takes an even more in-depth look at the fallacy of +Tesla Motors new…

Nelson Ireson takes an even more in-depth look at the fallacy of +Tesla Motors new Model S cost claims

Nelson factors in other elements such as the mandatory $600 per year service plan to come up with a much more realistic cost.

Tesla Model S For $500 Per Month? No. Just No.
Elon Musk is putting his money where his mouth is, but it’s actually not much money at all, despite the big mouth. Announced today, a new financing plan makes it possible for buyers to get their hands…

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Chesterton's Definition of Progressives and Conservatives

Reshared post from +Tim O’Reilly

Chesterton's Definition of Progressives and Conservatives

"The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected."

– from Illustrated London News, 1924-04-19, per Wikipedia

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Really +Tesla Motors? The FTC really needs to go after this claim 1

Really +Tesla Motors? The FTC really needs to go after this claim

The Tesla Model S is a fine car and it has much to recommend it. However, +Elon Musk should not be resorting to these kinds of shenanigans to sell cars. To claim that the time you spend filling your car with gas is worth $100/month is a bad joke. What about the time you have to spend looking for a charge station if you're getting low on electrons. 

Then there is the $227 you subtract if you are using the car for business. If you are using any other car for business, you could make the same claim so this one is a wash and if it's just a personal car, you can forget it anyway. 

You're going to pay $1,100/month to finance a  Model S and that's that. 

New Tesla sales plan offers the Model S for $500 a month, but only after some extremely creative math
Tesla has seen strong sales of its Model S electric car, but Elon Musk is now hoping to bring in more buyers — and to do so, he’s rolling out a new sales plan that promises to give potential…

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