Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Lexus LF-A Nürburgring Edition

Apparently the yet to be released $400,000 Lexus Supercar with nearly 560 horsepower is not quick enough for the tastes of some.  Lexus is apparently planning to release the LF-A Nürburgring Edition which packs an additional 10 horsepower and a stiffer suspension among other slight improvements.  No word yet on the cost of these tweaks, but once you are toying around in the $400,000 range an additional $100,000 is probably fairly inconsequential to prospective buyers.

The utterly bonkers track-spec of Lexus' forthcoming $400,000 monster

[Source: egmcartech.com]

ü

[Via http://6speedblog.wordpress.com]

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Lexus LFA lease pricing leaked

A potential LFA buyer lessee has leaked the lease pricing for the car to the guys over at Autoblog, and as expected, it’s going to cost quite a lot, to say the least.

Now, the lease option might’ve made you excited. After all, you couldn’t afford to buy, but the lease option should be much cheaper. Well think again. Leasing the LFA will cost you $12,398.44 a month for 24 months. That adds up to $297,562.56 worth of lease payments over 24 months. Yeah, not really cheap if we’re honest. At the end of the lease, lessees can pay $93,750 to purchase the car.

However, even if you have the money, there are still more obstacles to get around. First off, Lexus has to choose you to lease an LFA. You can’t just walk in to your local dealership and ask for one. All chosen people will be notified between March and June 2010. If you’re chosen, you have ten business days to head to your local Lexus dealership and deposit $10,000. Then you have to pass a credit check. If you pass it, you have put down another deposit of $50,000. Immediately before delivery, the customer has to pass another credit check. Oh, and keep in mind that because of the limited production of 500 units, not all people will be able to purchase one. You’ll have to get a move on if you want one.

Once you’ve passed all that, the biggest cost of the whole process steps in. Remember that $12,398.44 per month figure earlier? Yeah, you have to pay for all 24 months up front (Excluding the $60,000 paid in deposits) thanks to Lexus’ 1Pay Lease Program. So that’s $237,562.56. Lexus claims that this one time payment will be cheaper than if you were to make payments every month, and they’re probably right. Nonetheless, it just makes it even more out of reach for the general public, although I suspect that’s the purpose. After all, they stated a while back that they only want the classiest of people driving their LFAs.

We’re not done yet however. There’s also a $700 acquisition fee, tax, license, title and registration fees, insurance coverage and a 15,000 mile per year mileage limit. If you exceed that limit, you’re charged $0.20 per extra mile. Also, the vehicle will be inspected for excessive wear, and if anything is found, the lessee has to pay to get it repaired.

Despite being a lease though, lessees can customize their car with a choice of colours, configurations, interior materials and optional extras. To add insult to injury though, many of these customizations will cost you extra money. For example, leather stitching in a choice of nine custom colours costs $1,000, polished wheels costs $2,500, and if you want it painted in matte black, which I personally would, prepare to cough up a whopping $20,000.

Long story short: The Lexus LFA is ridiculously expensive. You can read more details on the lease, as well as the option extras, below.

Pricing Announcement

Lexus LFA Pricing Announcement

Lexus is pleased to announce the launch of the LFA, Lexus’ first ever supercar that delivers world-class design, performance, and cutting edge technology.

A Race Car that is Street Legal A radical departure from standard Lexus development, a band of engineers approached the LFA from a non-traditional angle, pushing their technological, material, and engineering boundaries every step of the way. The result, a tour de force powered by a 4.8L V10 engine that generates 552 hp and a remarkable 9,000rpm redline. Reaching 60 mph in 3.6 seconds with a top speed over 200 mph = Super High Performance! This race-inspired power plant is mated to a uniquely developed six-speed Automated Sequential Gearbox (ASG) with paddle shifters for ultimate driver control.

Weight-saving measures were implemented in every area in the development process. The LFA features advanced Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) construction for its chassis and much of its bodywork to deliver a light, extremely strong, and impact-resistant structure. It also has carbon ceramic brake discs, and a host of other technological marvels.
Production and Pricing Start of production will begin December 2010. Consumers will be able to choose from three configurations at the Base MSRP price of $375,000.

⇒ Configuration 1
Leather or Alcantara seats and trim in three standard colors
⇒ Configuration 2
Configuration 1 plus Navigation & Mark Levinson
⇒ Configuration 3
Configuration 2 plus Lexus Enform™ with Safety Connect™, which provides Destination Assist, eDestination, Automatic Collision Notification, Stolen Vehicle Location and Enhanced Roadside Assistance; Lexus Insider™; Voice Command; XM® Satellite Radio, XM NavTraffic®, XM NavWeather™ and XM® Sports & Stocks (includes 2 years of XM & Telematics subscription fees).

Consumers will have a tremendous amount of customization opportunity with each LFA thanks to: Exterior
10 Standard Exterior colors that may be chosen at no additional cost
20 Special Exterior colors (Note: These require additional lead-time for the order/production cycle)
3 Wheel finishes*

1.⇒ 6 Brake Caliper colors*
Interior
3 Standard Interior colors in Leather or Alcantara
9 leather colors and 7 Alcantara colors*
An interior divided into multiple zones, each customizable by several colors, down to the stitching itself

*Please note: Some customization selections have additional costs. Please see Appendix for detailed information
Customer Notification

Customers will be notified within a March – June 2010 timeframe of their opportunity to order a Lexus LFA. Due to the limited production of the Lexus LFA of 500 cars globally, and customer response which has exceeded the number of available cars, it is possible that not all customers who expressed interest will have an opportunity to order a Lexus LFA.

Once customers are notified of their opportunity to order a car, they will have 10 business days to place a $10,000 deposit with, and submit a credit screening form to, their dealer. A customer must obtain credit approval in order to remain eligible to order an LFA. If the customer’s credit has not been approved, the customer will not have the opportunity to order an LFA.

Once credit is approved, the customer will deposit an additional $50,000 with their selected dealer at the time they place the order for their car. A second credit approval immediately prior to the scheduled delivery date must also be obtained in order for the customer to take delivery of the LFA.

If you have any questions about the notification and/or ordering process, please contact [REDACTED].
LFA Lease Program is through Lexus dealer and Lexus Financial Services

All LFAs will be available only through a 1Pay 24 month lease via your Lexus dealer and Lexus Financial Services (LFS). You will have the option to purchase the Lexus LFA at lease maturity.

1Pay Lease Program for 24 months The LFA 1Pay Lease program is structured for you to prepay all monthly payments in a single payment at lease signing. In general, this single total lease payment is less than the amount you would pay over the life of a conventional lease.

How will the 1PAY lease work?

¾ Special reduced lease rate will apply.
¾ 24 monthly payments are calculated and collected in one lump sum (1PAY) at lease
inception. ¾ Any deposits made on the LFA will be applied to the 1PAY amount due
What will payments look like on a 1PAY lease?

Example:
MSRP:
$375,000
Term:
24 months
Monthly Payment x 24 = 1Pay Amount:
$12,398.44 x 24 = $297,562.56
Residual Value:
$93,750

Notes:

Rates used to calculate payments are for example purposes only and are subject to change and will vary depending on final price of the vehicle and credit qualification.

Lease payments do not include acquisition fee, sales tax, license, or title & registration fees.

A $700 acquisition fee is due at lease signing. A security deposit is not required.

The lease example above assumes a mileage limit of 15,000 miles/year.

LFS Lease FAQs

What is the credit application process?
The credit application process is a two-step process:
Step 1 – Complete a credit application which will be reviewed by your Lexus dealer and LFS at the
time the first deposit of $10,000 is placed with the dealer.
Step 2 – Upon vehicle arrival at the dealership, a second review of your credit prior to delivery of
the LFA.

Is there an acquisition fee due?
Yes, the standard acquisition fee of $700 will be due at lease inception.

Are there any additional fees due at lease signing?
Yes, all sales and/or use tax, license, title and registration fees are collected at lease inception.

How about Insurance coverage?
Customer is responsible to provide insurance coverage information to the dealer at lease
inception and maintain coverage throughout the lease term.

Can customers purchase the vehicle?
Per the terms of the lease agreement, at the end of 24 months (lease maturity), the customers may
purchase their vehicle for the purchase option amount listed on the agreement.

What happens if the customer wants to turn in their vehicle prior to the lease maturity date?
Per the terms of the lease agreement, the vehicle cannot be returned prior to the lease maturity
date.

Is the lease transferable?
No, during the term of the lease, customers will not be able to transfer the lease or vehicle to third
parties. However, in the event of a deceased consumer lessee, the consumer’s estate will have the
option to transfer the lease to a qualified transferee.

Can I lease the vehicle in my business name?
Yes, you can elect to lease the vehicle in your business name.

If the customer does not purchase the vehicle at lease maturity, are they responsible for any
excess mileage, or wear & use charges?
Yes. Per the terms of the lease agreement, any mileage that exceeds the amount listed on the
lease agreement will be assessed a charge of 0.20 cents per mile for each mile that exceeds the
contract limit. In addition, the vehicle will be inspected for excessive wear & use and any resulting
charges are the customer’s responsibility.

APPENDIX

Customers can choose between 3 configurations: All at $375,000 Base MSRP INTERIOR COLORS APPENDIX cont’d
Configuration 1
Leather or Alcantara Seats & Trim in three standard co lors
Configuration 2
Configuration 1 plus Navigatio n & Mark Levinson
Configuration 3
Configuration 2 pl us Lexus Enform with Safety Connect, which p rovi des Destination Assist, eDestination, Automatic Col lision Notification, Stolen Vehicle Location, and Enhanced Roadside Assistance; Lexus Insid er; Voice Command ; X M Satell ite Radio, XM NavTraffic, XM NavWeather, and XM Sp orts & Stocks (includes 2 years of Telematics subscription fees)

Exterior Colors

- 10 Basic Colors
No Cost
- 12 So lid Colors*
$3,000
- 7 Metallic Colors*
$3,0 00
- 1 Matte Color
$20 ,000
- Custo m Co lors
TBD
Wheels

- Painted
No Cost
- IS F Finish (Dark G raphite)
No Cost
- Polished
$2,500
Brake Caliper Colors

- Black, Red
No Cost
- Yello w, Blue, Silver, Gold
$1,000
Interior Colors

- Red, Black, Camel Yellow
No Cost
- Stitching (9 special colors)
$1,000
- Steering Grip (9 special colors)
$1,500
- Seat Front (9 special colors)
$2,50 0
- Seat Back ( 9 special colors)
$2,50 0
- I/P & Door (9 special colors)
$2,500
- Carpet (black, cream , red, camel yellow, blue)
No Cost
- Floor Mats (black, cream, red, camel yellow, blue)
No Cost
- Headliner (black, red, camel yell ow)
No Cost
- Metallic Ornamentatio n (satin silver or blackish brown)
No Cost
Seats & Trim

Alcantara Seats
No Cost
Alcantara Trim
No Cost
Headlamp Washer
$100
Winglets
$200

* Special Selection Colors will only b e available for LFA s produced from December 2011.

Source: Autoblog

[Via http://theblogofcars.wordpress.com]

Toyota Luncurkan Vios Facelift di Thailand

BANGKOK, 21 Maret 2010 - Pertarungan di segmen kelas sedan terasa begitu ketat. Setelah Honda City meluncurkan New Honda City versi facelift, kini giliran Toyota dengan Vios yang bersalin rupa. Awal Maret lalu, Toyota Thailand telah meluncurkan sedan 1.500 cc yang telah direvisi itu ke pasar.

“Kami melakukan perubahan pada sedan laris itu, baik pada tampilan luar maupun dalam,” ujar sumber Toyota Thailand seperti dikutip theauto.

Sementara itu, situs autoincar.com memperlihatkan sedan andalan Toyota itu kini menggunakan grill anyar berbentuk v-shape dengan sentuhan chrome dan lampu belakang multi-reflector. Sedangkan di bagian kaki-kaki, velg ukuran 15 inci dipadu dengan ban 185/60 R15.

“Ubahan lainnya terlihat pada lampu spion yang kini memiliki lampu sign,” sebut sumber Toyota

Pada bagian kabin, aura kemewahan terpancar dari kulit kelas wahid yang membalut tuas transmisi dan lingkar kemudi. Bahkan, kini Toyota kontrol audio diletakkan di lingkar kemudi sehingga memudahkan pengemudi untuk memilih dan memindahkan saluran hiburan yang diinginkan.

Sementara untuk menambah kenyamanan dan kemudahan sepanjang perjalanan, Toyota menambahkan piranti Multi-Information Display (MID) yang menyajikan beragam informasi. Walhasil, tampilan Vios anyar itu tak hanya memancarkan kemewahan tetapi juga selangkah lebih maju dalam teknologi penunjang kenyamanan.

Tetapi untuk dapur pacu, Toyota Vios facelift itu masih menggunakan mesin lama. spesifikasi lama. Mesin 1NZ-FE DOHC 16 Valve VVT-i 1.500 cc itu mampu menyemburkan 109 daya kuda pada 6.000 rpm dan torsi 141 Newton meter pada 4.200 rpm.

Lantas kapan Toyota Indonesia meluncurkannya di tanah air? “Tidak lama lagi. Pokoknya tahun ini, apalagi Vios merupakan salah satu sedan laris Toyota . Sehingga kami juga harus memberikan penyegaran untuk memberikan yang terbaik bagi pelanggan,” papar sumber di Toyota Astra Motor.

Sebelumnya, disebut-sebut Vios facelift itu bakal diboyong ke arena Indonesia International Motor Show 2010 pada Juli mendatang. Di situlah Vios ini sekaligus diluncurkan.

Sumber foto

[Via http://rajufebrian.wordpress.com]

Saturday, March 20, 2010

The Mother of All Misplaced(?) Ads

The SNL skit below parodies the Toyota break failure situation, showing a couple whose breaks give out as their Pirus careens about. The joke: it’s a Ford commercial.

When I viewed this parody advertisement for the first time, the pre-roll (actual) advertisement was for Toyota—explaining how their people were dealing with the recent design problem.

I like to think there is a marketing manager/media buyer from Toyota somewhere pulling her hair out about this.

Of course, Toyota could have asked for this placement as well, just to let you know it is all a joke.  In that case, that marketing manager/media buyer is pretty suave.

Also, I think the parody advertisement would have been better if it somehow rehashed Ford’s history of designing defective cars – e.g., the Ford Pinto.

[Via http://marketingstrategynerd.wordpress.com]

Bradley House, Inland Steel, Wrigley Field

The big news this week was an effort to preserve Frank Lloyd Wright’s Bradley House in Kankakee, one of the epochal early Wright Prairie Houses. Blair Kamin did a bangup job of covering the issue in the Tribune here. A local Wright in Kankakee group is trying to raise money to buy the house and make it a house museum and education center. The bottom line is the $1.9 million price and the more immediate concern of an additional $100,000 for the down payment beyond the $70,000 already raised. I can recall when the house was law offices and Kamin’s article notes that the owners for the last 5 years, the Halls, have been ideal, keeping it together and restoring it. With 100 art-glass windows, the house could be worth almost as much in pieces as it is put together. The real challenge is not simply the purchase price, but the ongoing operations, since house museums rarely generate more than a quarter of operating costs from admissions. The Bradley House either needs an angel to subsidize the purchase and an endowment, or it needs more angels like the Halls who will care for it as the treasure it is.


My other news clippings this week included a plan to restore the iconic 1957 Inland Steel Building using the Cook County Class L landmark tax incentive, which basically halves a commercial building’s tax liability for a decade. What’s the catch? It has to be a locally designated landmark and you have to spend half the value of the building on the rehab. The announcement came just days after the death of Bruce Graham, the Skidmore, Owings and Merrill architect who designed the building, or rather, completed the design that Walter Netsch had started, making the building a rare collaboration between the two SOM protagonists.

Inland Steel has a fascinating landmarks history. On a flower planter near the Monroe entrance you can find a 1960 plaque from the first, toothless 1957 Chicago Architectural Landmarks law, an add-on to the famous zoning ordinance that doubled the city’s density. Inland Steel was included in “Chicago’s Famous Buildings” and considered a Chicago Landmark WHEN IT WAS BRAND NEW! It epitomized the structural bravado that seemed the salient characteristic of Chicago School architecture, carrying its steel frame on the OUTSIDE and creating completely open floor plans serviced by a separate, windowless tower than contained all of the functional necessities. It is such an icon modern starchitect Frank Gehry is a partner in the building and has designed a new desk for the lobby.

Finally, Wrigley Field announced it wanted to put up a giant illuminated Toyota billboard above the left-field bleachers. What can I say – Toyota and the Cubs: what a co-branding opportunity!

Two teams you can trust – until September comes!

Don’t put the brakes on the Cubs season!

As if Toyota wasn’t enough of a target for regulators and Congress, now it is going to be a target for MLB sluggers?

All joking aside, Wrigley Field is a landmark and the signage would presumably have to be approved by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks. It is a big sign, and it is structural. There are plenty of other signs in and around Wrigley Field, so the question is not whether a sign would be allowed but what kind of sign and how big.

Also, Wrigley has had a fair amount of changes approved by the Commission, including an addition in the bleachers that reached out over the public sidewalk at Waveland and Sheffield Avenues and the new club building that appeared last year on Addison.

Time will tell.

[Via http://vincemichael.wordpress.com]

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Sorry I'm late...the dog ate my excuse

Did you see this?

Careerbuilder put out a list of the most outrageous excuses for being late to work.

Here’s the list:

I got mugged and was tied to the steering wheel of my car.

(And my car’s a Prius)

My deodorant was frozen to the window sill.

(I didn’t know taxi drivers used deodorant)

My car door fell off.

(It’s a 1 AD Yugo)

It was too windy.

(And that was just from all my hot air)

I dreamt I was already at work.

(Then I dreamt I was fired)

I had to go to the hospital because I drank antifreeze.

(And now the damn car won’t work because I put coffee in it)

I had an early morning gig as a clown.

(I know…what bozo would come up with that excuse?)

A roach crawled in my ear.

(Now I’m starting a business as a roach motel)

I saw an elderly lady at a bus stop and decided to pick her up.

(She was great in bed)

My dog swallowed my cell phone.

(But now the reception’s much better)

*****

Willblogforlols is written for entertainment purposes only. This post was intended to be funnier, but the dog ate my humor.

Andrew Wisot is a freelance writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and an US Weekly Fashion Cop who’s “between jobs.” Andrew will blog for LOLs until he’s employed again or 50,000 miles, whichever one comes first.

Email: andrew@willblogforlols.com

[Via http://willblogforlols.com]

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Going FAST in my Toyota

Are you TRAINED or untrained?

Recently the media has had a field day with the malfunctioning accelerator mechanism installed in some Toyota vehicles, and I was going to return the favor by bashing the media, but I decided to do a bit of research first. I was online, looking for an image of an emergency flasher button to insert in my post, and stumbled upon something a bit more interesting.

The italicized text is an excerpt from “Don’t Panic in the Drivers Seat”

“. . . we were sailing the Buick down the freeway when I got pinched behind a slow big rig. When the lane opened up I floored the accelerator and the engine went directly into warp drive. When I cleared the truck and let up on the gas nothing changed, we were still accelerating rapidly and the pedal was stuck on the floor.
It took me less than a second to realize this was a bad thing. I quickly pulled back into the right lane — no doubt to the consternation of the truck driver — flipped the transmission into neutral and slammed on the brakes as I crossed onto the small shoulder, with the engine over revving badly. I brought the big frigate to a stop and turned off the ignition.
This all transpired in just a few seconds, so quickly in fact that the people talking in the back seat didn’t know what had transpired. When I pulled off the road, one of them asked, “Do we have a flat?” Go here to read the whole post:

Stepping on the brakes IS NOT the answer to the stuck accelerator pedal problem. Disable the beast by shutting off the power source – TURN OFF the engine! And like the person in the quote above DON’T PANIC! Easy to say I know.

And this bit of advice is for CNN, highway patrol officers and the rest of the media as well: stop sensationalizing tragedy and dispense some useful information for a change. .

Here you go:

As soon as you think something is not right with your vehicle’s accelerator, put the transmission in neutral (that’s the “N” on the transmission display panel), then TURN OFF the ignition and turn on the emergency flashers (that’s the button with the red triangle on it). Yeh, I know the car will be hard to steer and the brakes will feel like they’re not working, but at least you won’t die or be seriously injured.

TUBBIES

Avoid unnecessary distractions . . .

[Via http://bookindian.wordpress.com]

Toyota Goes on the Defensive

Toyota attacked the credibility of a California man who reported that his 2008 Toyota Prius took off last week and stopped only with help from a 911 dispatcher and a California Highway Patrol officer.

The motorist, James Sikes, said his car raced to 94 m.p.h. on a freeway near San Diego last week.

Click here for the full story.

[Via http://kluv.radio.com]

Plus I did way more a few months ago.

Guys, I’m so bad at keeping up with my schedule. Well…I now have gloves and found my workout gear, so hopefully there’ll be no more excuses. Tomorrow is marching 5 miles and a run of 1 mile, but timed, so I’ll be running hard.

Can I just let you know that I McDonald’s has some good frappés? yeah. The caramel one was really good. I had one while I was waiting for my mom’s car to get an oil change. I also spotted some new vehicles that caught my eye, but I have to continue to tell myself that I need to save. I want to be financially independent, so a car is not in the works any time soon…I don’t think anyway. Besides, I have too high of taste in vehicles to afford anything right now. The average sits around 30K for the ones I lust after…Used Tahoes, MB’s, Jags, LR’s…new VW CC, Toyota Prius, Highlander, used Sequoia. Can I also just say one thing?

I think everyone needs to take a chill on Toyota. It has already been roasted so many times. People are just looking for another person to blame when things go wrong. And on top of it, when you are the world’s largest automaker, when there is even just one recall, it’s bound to be massive. At least Toyota had the decency to fix the problem FREE OF COST. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you Toyota family. I happen to like Toyotas and will stick by that brand through thick and thin. Just because you’ve stumbled doesn’t mean you’ve fallen face-first to the pavement and not had the balls to get back up. But that’s just my perspective. I look at it this way: If God [for purposes of analogy ONLY] left people the first time they stumbled, we’d all be going to hell. You’ve been shown mercy; be merciful in return.

In other news…

I went to the recruiting station today…did an IST. 10:20 run, 70 crunches, and 12 pullups. FAIL. My recruiter says good job, I say 70% is a C minus. Plus I did way more [84, 14] a few months ago. He said to rest assured knowing that there will be some recruits that can only do 13:29, 45, and 3 in the events. Why settle for good when you know there’s better? We’ll see what I can do on Thursday night. That’s the pool function night here…hopefully a few days of crunch-mania is all it’ll take to get me back to the 80’s, and hopefully into the 90’s.

My IST goal:

9:00 mile-and-a-half

100 crunches

20 pullups.

Okay, I’m out for tonight.

If excellence was easy, more people would do it.

-Michelle Jensen

Semper Fi.

[Via http://diontheneon.wordpress.com]

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Buying the Stock Based on the Product--not its Price: Toyota

I know someone who bought Toyota (TM) a couple of weeks ago.

I remember telling this person that I was looking to possibly buy TM–IF they dropped to the low 60’s, if not fully drop into the 50’s.  During the past 1-1/2 years or so, they’ve been struggling with higher recall levels than usual.  However, their PR has been taking HUGE hits since this whole accelerator sticking (made by supplier CTX), causing a lot of accidents.

Traditionally, Toyota has been known to be a well-managed company.  When I’ve talked with anyone who has worked at both Toyota and General Motors (GM), they’ve always touted Toyota’s full team involvement when solving problems.  This contrasted starkly with GM’s methods (and their management style, I believe, was a big reason they had their downfall).

At the time, this made me think that Toyota’s good management would make the stock a good long-term stock.  It might still be a good long term one, but I’ve seen several reasons to be concerned since.

They haven’t seemed to take full responsibility.  I haven’t heard anything addressing whether the major failures are caused by

1. Product Quality: If it is the product quality, does anyone know what happened?  Did CTX (the accelerator supplier) have print specifications and fail to meet them?  If so, do they know which ones failed?  Do they know how these products were made incorrectly in the first place?  Are they sure they know what adjustments they need to make to avoid repeating the same mistake?  What inspection checkpoints are in place?  Have there been any new ones implemented?

2. Product Design: If it is the product design, does anyone know what part of the design needs to be changed?  Are we sure?  How long does it take to test this change?  (Usually, the auto industry requires ridiculous levels of testing, taking a long time, even when the part does NOT have any safety characteristics.)  Has there been enough time to test any changes to the design?  Are there any other cars that have accelerators based upon this design?

You see, they’ve simply said that they will recall these accelerators and replace them.  That, to me, sounds like management speak.  I haven’t heard or read any assurances they even know what to change, other than people’s recent perceptions of them.

Does that sound like management that will take responsibility for its actions?

Assuming this mismanagement is an aberration–not a peek of more things to come–this problem probably is not solved.  There will be more bad news.

Therefore, the stock price has more room to move upward than downward.

Instead, I recommended Ford (F).  I’ve been a big fan of its CEO Alan Mulally for a while.  He puts out himself as a good leader.  In fact, I don’t hear this anywhere else, but it seems like he does a lot of the things that the Japanese car companies did to reach the top.

He’s cutting where he needs.  Besides heads (which is always unfortunate, but…) he is truly commonizing carlines across the world.  Not only should this improve product consistency, it also should also improve the designs, as the entire world is (or should be) working together.  It reduce costs, as parts can be bought at higher volume levels (Although, things do not always work this way since suppliers often tend to be located near their customer’s receiving plants.).

Plus, with the American public rallying behind Ford, there is more room to move upward than downward.  (Mind you, they have serious debt issues to address, but with Mulally at the helm, I’m betting that they find a way to solve these, too.)

I took a long time to address the main point.

I believe that my friend bought Toyota (TM) instead of Ford (F), because this person likes Toyota cars better than Ford cars.

Point: Just because the company is good and the products are, too, it does not mean that the stock is a good buy at the current market price.

Since then, Toyota has stayed about the same.  In fact, I think it might have risen a little.  (My friend bought shares around $73.  Today, it is about $77.)

Ford was around $11.50.  Today, it is over $13.

That’s too short a time period to be sure of anything, but I think it’s worth noting.

Apples are good for you–nobody can deny this–but this does not make them a good buy at $50/apple.

Know your products.  Know your company.  Know your prices.

[Via http://investoradvocate.wordpress.com]

March Madness: it’s contagious.

Remember how I told you Mommy went a little “mad” and started giving stuff away for free this month? At first I thought one too many boring snow days around here got to her, but now I understand why she does it. So far we have a fan referral contest going on the Facebook page (get the details by “fanning” our page and visiting the discussion tab there, it’s been extended to 3/31) and we played some games and did real time T-shirt giveaways on the page as well. It has been a lot of fun meeting our blog readers and Facebook fans and now more people know about us and what we do, so I get it now. If you are reading this and don’t know what we do, please let me remind you. Mom’s company (this good. that bad.)  gives people 3 ways to can help homeless companion animals. You can fundraise with our pet adoption T-shirts and products, buy them and we’ll donate proceeds to animal rescue, or tell us your rescue stories so we can share them on this blog to keep awareness high and ultimately increase pet adoption.  

Mom has some other prizes and now that we know our “crowd” a little better she will be announcing an even more  interesting creative contest soon. The thing is, a lot of people want to pitch in. They care about homeless animals and want to build awareness about pet adoption. Mom’s T-shirts and ideas are a good way to do that so they want to be part of it. As a result, we  have some new prizes that have been donated and the contest is gonna get a little bigger and a lot better than just a T-shirt. I am here to tell you that this madness and generosity is totally contagious. We hope you will catch the fever too  and maybe please please do us one little teensy tinsy favor in the meantime…  

See the full 3D design & vote at http://bit.ly/a8o4ZH

 

One of our Facebook Fans even came up with a really unique way to get animals some respect and attention. She designed a race car for a national contest using our “adoption good. homeless bad.” logo and images of her own rescues. If she wins the contest, our logo and message will be on a real race car in a real race in front of thousands of people on the track and on TV. Our fan will get to go to the race to see it and Mom and I will get the word out there and hope that the slogan really catches on—we sell these shirts to make money for rescues after all. Maybe everyone will want to buy one after that! The only way for this to happen with your votes. The car that gets the most votes in the contest will win, and you are allowed to vote once a day. So, PLEASE: Vote for the “GOODBAD” pet adoption race car design in the Toyota Racing Sponsafier contest. Use this link to vote every day if you can, and spread the word (and the link http://bit.ly/a8o4ZH)  and ask your friends, fans, readers, Twitter followers, whoever you know, to vote too. We have 14 days to win this thing! Let’s get the word out and get this car and this message out there on the track!

[Via http://shadytales.wordpress.com]

Saturday, March 13, 2010

What Toyota's Surge in Sales Tells Us About Ourselves and Our Relationships

There was a story in the newspaper today about how Toyota’s sales are currently better than they had anticipated because of a major ad blitz and tremendous incentives that are being offered to potential buyers.

Several customers were quoted in the story, stating that the deals were “tantalizing,” and that they believed Toyota would now be selling them the “best cars available.”

It is amazing to me that these people are willing to look the other way, in terms of their safety and their lives, simply because they are getting promises and a good deal.

This is profoundly shortsighted and foolish. What good is it if you don’t have to pay any interest for three years, but you’re gong to be dead in six months because the accelerator pedal still sticks?

To think, because the company is now promising that their cars are safe, that their cars actually will be safe, is absurd. There are many questions still unanswered as to whether or not they were aware that their cars were dangerous and sold them anyway.

Even if we presume that Toyota did not know their cars were dangerous when they told us we could rely on their product, why should we presume now that when they tell us there is nothing to worry about, that they aren’t fooling themselves once again and, therefore, us as well?

This scenario is not confined to the sale of cars. We are confronted on a daily basis by a variety of companies, media pundits, religious leaders, and political leaders trying to sell us their product. We are constantly being seduced by their vows of sincerity and their promises of what they will do for us.

Our short memory is particularly obvious in the political arena where we continue to vote for people in both parties who have proven to be ethically-challenged and that their self-interests, not our interests, are their prime directive.

And, of course, in our personal relationships we see the same mechanism at work.

After being disloyal and repeatedly lying to us, our partner will tell us that now they can be believed, now they can be trusted, and now we can be assured that the events that occurred in the past will never happen again.

Desperate not to be unloaded because of prior bad behavior, they will engage in a media blitz, so to speak, making promises to us about how great their new product is, how reliable their new product is, and that we should feel good about staying with the program.

Equally true, our partner, after past transgressions, will shower us with a variety of expensive gifts as an incentive to stay in the relationship.

Should we be seduced by glorious promises that our partner has truly changed, that the accelerator pedal has really been fixed this time, and that the relationship will not drive into a ditch? Should we be seduced by expensive incentives designed to have us overlook the downsides?

Our decision to stay in a relationship, secondary to transgressions and abuses by our partner, should depend not upon promises, presents, incentives, sales pitches, etc., but rather should depend upon our objective analysis of the situation, our looking at the facts, our knowing what we know, and our unwillingness to do the same thing we’ve done in the past and expect different results.

[Via http://walterjacobsonmd.wordpress.com]

トヨタ車急加速の原因はブレーキとアクセル踏み間違い

急加速の原因はブレーキとアクセル踏み間違い NYタイムズ紙で大学教授指摘
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/economy/business/100312/biz1003121947035-n1.htm

トヨタ自動車の大量リコール(回収・無償修理)問題に関連し、11日付の米紙ニューヨーク・タイムズが、トヨタ車の急加速の原因を「ブレーキとアクセルの踏み間違いだ」とする心理学者、リチャード・シュミットカリフォルニア大学ロサンゼルス校名誉教授の寄稿を掲載した。

1980年代にドイツ車「アウディ5000」の急加速が多発して大量リコールとなった際、調査に携わった同教授は、今回の急加速の背景について「ブレーキを踏むつもりでアクセルを踏む運転者によって頻繁に起きることにある」と説明。原因に疑われる電子系統の欠陥ではなく、「人的要素」を指摘した。

回転数急上昇の映像編集 トヨタ車問題で米ABC、誤り認める
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/economy/business/100313/biz1003130902003-n1.htm

米ABCテレビは12日までに、電子制御システムの異常でトヨタ自動車の車に急加速が発生する実験を放送したニュースで、映像を不適切に編集した「誤り」があったことを認めた。米メディアが伝えた。

ABCは2月22日、電子制御システムの欠陥がトヨタ車のエンジン回転の急上昇を招く恐れがあるとする、南イリノイ大の准教授による実験の様子を放映。急加速するトヨタ車の映像と同時にエンジン回転数の急上昇を示すタコメーターの映像を盛り込んだ。

しかしタコメーターの映像は実際には停止状態のトヨタ車のもので、急加速するトヨタ車とは無関係だった。

ABCは「映像編集に関して誤った判断をした」と表明した。トヨタはABCの映像が「誤解を招く」と指摘していた。

[Via http://mamorenihon.wordpress.com]

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Toyota Tundra frame rust recall expanding to all 50 U.S. states

Toyota’s recall for model year 2000-2003 Tundras due to rust issues has expanded from the U.S. “Salt Belt” to all 50 states.

The previous recall only concerned the “Salt Belt”, as it was thought the rust could only be caused in the cold conditions of those states. However, it looks like Toyota’s changed its mind and will now be recalling the trucks all across the United States. They haven’t specified how many trucks are affected.

If you own a 2000-2003 Tundra, give your local dealer a call and see if you can arrange for a fix. I’d recommend not driving the car until the fix is complete, as the issue can result in rear brake failure. However, Toyota’s recommendation last time was to simply remove the rear spare tire until the fix is done, so you can always listen to them instead and do that.

Source: The Associated Press via Google News via Autoblog

[Via http://theblogofcars.wordpress.com]

Slim Wins, Power Tool, Braking Toyota

You Can Never Be Too Slim Or Too Rich

Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim is the richest man in the world.  Forbes Magazine’s new list of billionaires puts Slim at $53.5 Billion .. just ahead of Bill Gates at $53 Billion and Warren Buffett with $47 Billion.   My computer doesn’t have that many zeroes!

But get this:  the number of billionaires in the world grew from 793 last year to 1,011 this year!   The total net worth of Forbes’ 164 B-boys (and girls) .. rose by 50% to $3.6 Trillion!! 

I begrudge no one the right to be rich or to enjoy that wealth without complaint.  But I do think some perspective is needed, especially since we’re still trying to come out of the Great Recession.

According to the Census Bureau, median U.S. household income fell 3.6% from 2007 to 2008, dropping to $50, 303.  Nearly 40 million Americans now live in poverty.  And 46.3 million Americans have no health insurance.

Tool Time

What does give me a little pause, is a story like this.  Nolan Archibald, the CEO of  Black & Decker,  could win a pay package of $89 Million if investors approve the sale of BD to rival Stanley Works.   What a tool!  And what will the workers get?  Oh, yeah .. screwed.

Oops .. Another (Brake) Shoe Is Falling

And I don’t know what Akio Toyoda gets paid but these days it’s probably not enough.  This morning, Toyota (the company) agreed to hand over to U.S. investigators, documents from 2006  in which Toyota workers themselves complained to management, that safety was being sacrificed in the name of profits.  

That can’t be good news. 

And you hate to see that kind of information dribble out like this.  Really, Mr. Toyoda  .. get it all out there now, take your lumps and move on.   You will be doing yourself and your investors a really big favor.

[Via http://chukstah.wordpress.com]

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Michigan Court Orders Toyota Execs to Testify

A Michigan court has ordered Toyota’s two top-ranking American executives to appear for deposition on March 11-12, 2010, in a Troy, Michigan wrongful death case.

The case concerns a 2005 Toyota Camry that surged from 25 to 80 mph on a residential street in Flint, Michigan, killing the vehicle’s driver.  Attorneys for the victim’s family reqested the depositions of Yoshi Inaba, the chairman of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., and Jim Lentz, the unit’s president and chief operating officer.  Toyota’s attorneys resisted making the executives available, arguing that lower level employees could provide the relevant information.  Judge Archie Hayman of the Genesee County Circuit Court disagreed, ordering Messrs. Inaba and Lentz to appear on Thursday and Friday.   

Both Inaba and Lentz testified before congressional committees in recent weeks.  They will likely be cross-examined regarding the substance of their congressional testimony.  It will be interesting to see whether either executive pleads the Fifth Amendment to avoid answering questions about Toyota’s defective parts and recalls, as more and more commentators speculate that criminal charges against Toyota executives could be forthcoming.

[Via http://friedbonder.wordpress.com]

Safety first

  tire information Check the DOT number

Okay, I worry quite a bit mostly about things I can’t do anything about but generally I am not an alarmist.  However, given the news on auto safety lately, it is important to be informed.  Here is something I can do something about.  I was shocked to find out that there are  new tires being sold that do not meet safety standards because of the age of the tires.  This 20/20 report on ABC News was sent to me and I hope you check out your tires now.  I would post more – maybe about the runaway car - but I am going to check my own tires. 

Aged Tires: A Driving Hazard? – ABC News.

[Via http://capabilitymom.wordpress.com]

jdm garage australia

JDM Garage is a small company located in Brisbane Australia. They mainly supply high quality new and used parts for performance Japanese cars.

So enough advertising, I wanted to show you 2 cars the’ve built. Both purple, both stunning, both on Nissan engines.

Brett’s AE86 sits on Longchamps XR4’s, they were custom made to attain a width of 9.5″ !!! Under the hood the SR20det is fed by a HKS turbine. The engine is equipped with Sard 850cc injectors, HKS 256/264 cams, Tomei gears and rocker stoppers, Greddy intercooler,… All that stuff is managed my an Apexi Power FC.

 

  

 The second JDM Garage car is a R34 GTS 2 door. It rolls on nicely polished and flush sitting Work Equips.

Engine wise it rocks an RB25det with a Greddy T67 turbine, PWR intercooler, … Some other goodies are a Cusco roll cage, custom leather Bride’s, Nismo diff and JIC suspension.

[Via http://monkeymagic86.wordpress.com]

toyota MR2 SW11 super charger sale

toyota MR2 SW11 super charger sale

1986, 130,000km around MT 1.6G

Kuroyanagi Shouten Ltd Japan.
#510 Castle May, 3-1422 Ueda-Higashi
Tenpaku, Nagoya  Japan 468-0006
ks.nra30133@gmail.com
fax +81 52 803 1870
tel +81 90-1417-1403
http://111kuroyanagi1.wordpress.com/
http://nagoyajapan1.wordpress.com/
http://japancarexport.at.infoseek.co.jp/index.html
http://ukcanada.hp.infoseek.co.jp/GTR.html
http://kuroyanagikazuo.hp.infoseek.co.jp/index.html

[Via http://nagoyajapan1.wordpress.com]

Sunday, March 7, 2010

AP IMPACT: Toyota secretive on 'black box' data

By CURT ANDERSON and DANNY ROBBINS, Associated Press Writers Curt Anderson And Danny Robbins, Associated Press Writers – Thu Mar 4, 6:30 pm ET

SOUTHLAKE, Texas – Toyota has for years blocked access to data stored in devices similar to airline “black boxes” that could explain crashes blamed on sudden unintended acceleration, according to an Associated Press review of lawsuits nationwide and interviews with auto crash experts.

The AP investigation found that Toyota has been inconsistent — and sometimes even contradictory — in revealing exactly what the devices record and don’t record, including critical data about whether the brake or accelerator pedals were depressed at the time of a crash.

By contrast, most other automakers routinely allow much more open access to information from their event data recorders, commonly known as EDRs.

AP also found that Toyota:

• Has frequently refused to provide key information sought by crash victims and survivors.

• Uses proprietary software in its EDRs. Until this week, there was only a single laptop in the U.S. containing the software needed to read the data following a crash.

• In some lawsuits, when pressed to provide recorder information Toyota either settled or provided printouts with the key columns blank.

Toyota’s “black box” information is emerging as a critical legal issue amid the recall of 8 million vehicles by the world’s largest automaker. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said this week that 52 people have died in crashes linked to accelerator problems, triggering an avalanche of lawsuits.

When Toyota was asked by the AP to explain what exactly its recorders do collect, a company statement said Thursday that the devices record data from five seconds before until two seconds after an air bag is deployed in a crash.

The statement said information is captured about vehicle speed, the accelerator’s angle, gear shift position, whether the seat belt was used and the angle of the driver’s seat.

There was no initial mention of brakes — a key point in the sudden acceleration problem. When AP went back to Toyota to ask specifically about brake information, Toyota responded that its EDRs do, in fact, record “data on the brake’s position and the antilock brake system.”

But that does not square with information obtained by attorneys in a deadly crash last year in Southlake, Texas, and in a 2004 accident in Indiana that killed an elderly woman.

In the Texas crash, where four people died when their 2008 Avalon ripped through a fence, hit a tree and flipped into an icy pond, an EDR readout obtained by police listed as “off” any information on acceleration or braking.

In the 2004 crash in Evansville, Ind., that killed 77-year-old Juanita Grossman, attorneys for her family say a Toyota technician traveled from the company’s U.S. headquarters in Torrance, Calif., to examine her 2003 Camry.

Before she died, the 5-foot-2, 125-pound woman told relatives she was practically standing with both feet on the brake pedal but could not stop the car from slamming into a building. Records confirm that emergency personnel found Grossman with both feet on the brake pedal.

A Toyota representative told the family’s attorneys there was “no sensor that would have preserved information regarding the accelerator and brake positions at the time of impact,” according to a summary of the case provided by Safety Research & Strategies Inc., a Rehoboth, Mass.-based company that does vehicle safety research for attorneys, engineers, government and others.

One attorney in the Texas case contends in court documents that Toyota may have deliberately stopped allowing its EDRs to collect critical information so the Japanese automaker would not be forced to reveal it in court cases.

“This goes directly to defendants’ notice of the problem and willingness to cover up the problem,” said E. Todd Tracy, who had been suing automakers for 20 years.

Randy Roberts, an attorney for the driver in that case, said he was surprised at how little information the Avalon’s EDR contained.

“When I found out the Toyota black box was so uninformative, I was shocked,” Roberts said.

Toyota refused comment Thursday on Tracy’s allegations because it is an ongoing legal matter, but said the company does share EDR information with government regulators.

“Because the EDR system is an experimental device and is neither intended, nor reliable, for accident reconstruction, Toyota’s policy is to download data only at the direction of law enforcement, NHTSA or a court order,” the Toyota statement said.

Last week, Toyota acknowledged it has only a single laptop available in the U.S. to download its data recorder information because it is still a prototype, despite being in use since 2001 in Toyota vehicles. Three other laptops capable of reading the devices were delivered this week to NHTSA for training on their use, Toyota said, and 150 more will be brought to the U.S. for commercial use by the end of April.

By contrast, acceptance and distribution of data recorder technology by other automakers is commonplace.

General Motors, for example, has licensed the auto parts maker Bosch to produce a device capable of downloading EDR data directly to a laptop computer, either from the scene of an accident or later. The device is available to law enforcement agencies or any other third party, spokesman Alan Adler said.

Spokesmen from Ford and Chrysler said their recorder data is just as accessible. “We put what you would call ‘open systems’ in our vehicles, which are readable by law enforcement or anyone who has a need to read that data,” Chrysler spokesman Mike Palese said.

Nissan also makes its EDR data readily available to third parties using a device called Consult, spokesman Colin Price said. The program allows access to a host of vehicle data, from diagnosing the cause of a check-engine light to downloading EDR data after a crash, he said.

However, Honda does not allow open access to its EDR data. Spokesman Ed Miller said the data is only readable by Honda and is made available only by court order.

In many cases, attorneys and crash experts say EDR data could help explain what happened in the moments before a crash by detailing the positions of the gas and brake pedals as well as the engine’s RPM.

“Had Toyota gotten on the stick and made this stuff available early on, I think they’d be in a better position than they are now,” said W.R. “Rusty” Haight, owner of a San Diego-based collision investigation company.

In congressional hearings on the recalls last week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Toyota’s EDR data cannot be read by a commercially available tool used readily by other automakers. “Toyota has a proprietary EDR, which is the system that only they can read,” LaHood said.

The AP review of lawsuits around the country found many in which Toyota was accused of refusing to reveal EDR and other data, and not just in sudden acceleration cases.

In Kentucky, to cite one example, a recent lawsuit filed by Dari Martin over a wreck involving a 2007 Prius sought information from Toyota to bolster his claim that the car’s seatbelt was defective. Toyota refused, contending there was no reliable way to validate the EDR data and that an engineer would have to travel from New Jersey or California at a cost of some $5,000 to retrieve it.

“There is simply no justifiable reason for Toyota not to disclose this information,” Martin’s lawyers said in a court filing.

Lawsuits in California and Colorado have accused Toyota of systemically withholding key documents and information in a wide variety of accident cases, but no judge or jury has found against the car company on those allegations.

Some crash experts say Toyota shouldn’t bear too much criticism for failing to capture large amounts or specific kinds of data, because EDR systems were initially built for air bag deployment and not necessarily to reconstruct wrecks. They also vary widely from vehicle model to model, said Haight, the San Diego collision expert.

“That doesn’t mean I’m hiding something or preventing you from getting something,” Haight said. “It simply means that, in the development of a car, other considerations took priority — nothing more.”

_____

Anderson reported from Miami. AP Business Writer Dan Strumpf in New York, AP writer Greg Bluestein in Atlanta and AP Researcher Barbara Sambriski in New York contributed to this report.

[Via http://lanle.wordpress.com]

Celly Supra Love

I’ve been really diggin’ Celica Supras lately.  The sharp angular lines, the flares and the possibility of big power in a little package.  I really have to set up a photoshoot with Julian’s Celica…




Check out the bad ass packaging for the Trust suspension!  If I could find that set up, I’d buy a Celica Supra just to build it around it!

[Via http://kyushakai.wordpress.com]

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Toyota Recall

I seem to remember when Toyota first announced their recall.

Immediately, the first thought that came to my mind was “must be the electric throttle. A sensor or something sending out false readings”. It makes perfect sense. Electronic sensors fail like this all the time. Throttle position sensors, etc.

So then when they said “sticky pedal” it made no sense. So the pedals are magically pushing themselves down and getting stuck?

Reports from drivers were “sudden acceleration”, not “I was accelerating, and when I took my foot off the gas, the car kept going”.

It made no sense.

So they continued to insist, knowing very well the real problem could put them out of business, despite continued customers trying to explain it to them.

They implemented their half-assed “repair” and low-and-behold, the problem still exists!

Well Toyota, you obviously have bigger problems here. You need to stop denying it, and get to the root of the problem.

Maybe if you dealt with this 10 years ago when you found out, you wouldn’t have 10 years worth of cars to fix now. Does it still feel like a good money saving tactic now?

Here’s the real problem….Electronic throttles are DUMB.

They are literally pointless. They offer no advantages, and only serve to make things unnecessarily complicated, and expensive.

Real cars have a throttle cable. When you push on the gas, it pulls a throttle cable, which then opens a butterfly plate on the throttle body letting air in.

YOU are in control of it. The car can’t do anything about it. No computer in your car can override it (with the exception of cars with cruise control).

You keep that throttle plate clean, and it will never even stick on you either.

So instead of  step on pedal -> physically open throttle plate -> air enters, you go faster

Toyota has step on pedal (more like step on button designed to feel like a pedal) -> some kind of sensor senses how much pressure you are applying, and provides that information to the computer -> computer signals some kind of motor/solenoid to open throttle plate to detected amount.

How does that make any sense?

There was absolutely nothing wrong with traditional systems. In fact most cars still use it. It’s simpler, safer, cheaper, and works just the same.

“ask someone you know who drives one” I always laugh now when I hear that ad.

[Via http://lockingpliers.wordpress.com]

Thursday, March 4, 2010

2010 - The World May Actually Be Coming To An End

I can’t get over JUST how catastrophic everything has become over the past year — I’m not even talking solely about natural disasters or premature celebrity deaths. I am talking about EVERYTHING going on. My mother had a calendar in my house growing up that listed 2010 the year that the world came to an end. While I don’t necessarily think it will end COMPLETELY, I am seeing major… major…. downfalls to say the least. Let’s recap shall we?

1) TRUST IN AUTO MANUFACTURERS –GM this morning recalled over 1 million cars…. General MOTORS ladies and gentleman. This isn’t Toyota were talking about now. That’s another 15+ million cars being recalled as we speak. We trust auto manufacturers to put our safety first right? We trust them with our lives as well as those we love and care about. It is extremely unnerving to hear quotes daily in the Wall Street Journal that car companies clearly put profit over safety — should we all start rebelling and using bicycles to get to designated locations? Not realistic but I’d prefer to do that at this point over giving any of these car companies hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit.


2) NATURAL DISASTERS– Haiti then Chile — what next? Haiti will never recover fully from the damages caused to their country, nor will Chile apparently. Natural disasters of these size are catastrophic, devastating, and life changing for FIRST WORLD countries — the devastation caused to THIRD world countries is unfathomable.

3) SCANDALS INVOLVING NATIONAL ICONS (POLITICAL AND SPORTS) — There once was a day when our sports figures and our political icons stood for something — Obama in my opinion still embodies all that a husband and father should be and for that, I admire him. Other iconic figures such as John Edwards and Tiger Woods have proven to us that we really can’t put people on pedestals anymore… In addition, various celebrity sports figures such as Marion Jones and Andre Aggassi came out with scandals of their own which made all of America look at them differently afterwards.

4) SEVERE RECESSION– I mean… do I need to even reiterate just how bad the job market is now? It used to be — that when you spend 50k at an esteemed college/university there was a LARGE unspoken understanding you’d be able to find at LEAST an entry level position with a company and work your way up. Interns were strictly those in college looking to gain a little experience and get their hands dirty — most were paid internships. NOW? If you graduate from an esteemed college after having thrown yourself in severe debt, you would be LUCKY to land an unpaid/ or stipend internship a few days a week. Most of the internships are now taken over by those 30 or older who were fired from their previous job and trying to ease their way in any which way back into the work force.



[Via http://taylorshocks.wordpress.com]

Aloha Kings Pt. 3

More pictures I’ve found from the show that I like.

The Kyusha Kai crew sittin’ pretty.

There’s an Infinity M30 somewhere behind the smoke.  This is under explicit instructions to not do any burn outs or drifting at the show.

The other end of the crew.  Ralph’s Cressida lookin’ as amazing as ever!

This one’s for Freddy.  A lot of the cars in the lot were just as amazing, if not more amazing than those in the show.  Shame about the SportMaxes though.  The car itself is super fresh.

Another parking lot picture.  The late, great, NSX rockin’ some Project Mu brakes and what looks like polished Advan F7’s.  Hopefully, we’re gonna set up a shoot with this car soon.

The amazing Levin that always makes it’s way to the different meets and shows that I attend.

[Via http://kyushakai.wordpress.com]

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Best Paint

Shit yeh

[Via http://gx61.wordpress.com]

Toyota PC

Ovaj stari vic je toliko dobar (i trenutno aktuelan) ;) , da bar deo moram ovde da citiram:

Bill Gates je svojevremeno, na COMDEX sajmu, uporedio računarsku industriju sa auto industrijom i izjavio: “Da je GM držao korak sa tehnologijom, kao što je to učinila računarska industrija, svi bi vozili automobile od dvadeset pet dolara, koji prelaze 1.600 kilometara sa manje od 4 litra goriva”. U odgovoru na njegov komentar, GM je objavio saopštenje za javnost navodeći: “Da je GM razvijao svoju tehnologiju kao što je svoju razvijao Microsoft, svi bi vozili automobile sledećih karakteristika:

•  Morali bi da pritisnete “Start” dugme da bi isključili motor.

•  Vaš automobil bi dva puta dnevno bez ikakvog razloga doživeo havariju.

•  Povremeno bi vaš automobil jednostavno stao na sred puta, bez ikakvog razloga. Vi bi morali da ga odgurate do bankine, zatvorite sve prozore, ugasite motor, upalite motor i otvorite sve prozore pre nego što bi mogli da nastavite put. I vi bi to smatrali potpuno normalnim…

PC vs. Mac•  Povremeno bi neka jednostavna aktivnost, kao što je npr. skretanje u levo, dovela do toga da se vaš automobil ugasi i odbije da se ponovo upali, u kom slučaju bi morali ponovo da instalirate motor.

•  Samo jedna osoba u jednom trenutku bi mogla da koristi automobil, ukoliko ne kupite “Car95″ ili “CarNT” (vic je ipak s kraja prošlog veka ;) ). Ali onda bi morali da dokupite sedišta.

•  Macintosh bi napravio automobil koji pokreće Sunce, pouzdan, pet puta brži i dva puta lakši za vožnju, ali bi mogao da se vozi na samo 5% puteva.

•  Lampice za upozorenje na nivo ulja, temperaturu vode i rad alternatora, bile bi zamenjene jednom lampicom za “opšte upozorenje”.

•  Povremeno, bez ikakvog razloga, vaš automobil bi se zaključao i odbijao da vas pusti unutra, sve dok istovremeno ne povučete ručicu na vratima, okrenete ključ u bravi i uhvatite se za antenu.

•  Vazdušni jastuk bi vas upitao: “Are you sure?” pre nego što bi se aktivirao.”…

•  itd. :D

Zašto mi je baš sad ovaj vic pao na pamet? Pa, zbog Toyote i svega onog što joj se dešava već izvesno vreme. Kompanija koja je svoj brend gradila na pouzdanosti i kvalitetu, doživljava crne dane i to baš zbog problema sa softverom! Kao da se gornji vic ušunjao u Toyotine proizvodne hale… :?

Softver je već uveliko postao sastavni deo automobila. U modelima najviše klase implementirani su softveri sa skoro 100 miliona linija koda koji kontrolišu neke od najvitalnijih funkcija automobila (Air-bag, ABS, kočioni sistem, kontrola motora, ubrzanja, upravljački sistem itd.). Čak i u automobilima najniže klase (po svetskim merilima) implementirani su softveri dugački više desetina miliona kodnih linija…

Postoje mišljenja da vozači ne bi trebalo da budu zabrinuti zbog problema sa automobilskim softverom, jer se on uvek može nadograditi i „zakrpiti“, baš kao i svaki PC softver. Međutim, ljudi ne koriste automobil na isti način kao računar. Oni ne žele da imaju vozilo koje zahteva „krpljenje“ softvera na mesečnom nivou, da bi se odstranile sve (detektovane) softverske greške. Ljudi vole da se u automobilu osećaju sigurno i da ga imaju pod svojom kontrolom. A upravo to vlasnici Toyotinih automobila trenutno nemaju…

Interesantno je razmišljanje Toyotinog menadžmenta u takvom trenutku krize – problem treba definisati kao mehanički, ne softverski. Zašto? Zato što se pogrešno skrojena podna prostirka ili papučica gasa koja se zaglavljuje mogu lako zameniti. I korisnici to vide kao manji problem (ne manje opasan, ali manje kompleksan). Ako je problem u elektronici automobila, on postaje vrlo komplikovan za otklanjanje, kako iz vozila, tako i iz svesti korisnika…

Jer, niko ne želi da ga u odsudnom trenutku vazdušni jastuk upita “Are you sure?“, zar ne? ;)

[Via http://pedyamilicevic.wordpress.com]