Geocities is now Geo-Ghost Town

I had to make some changes to my website recently, the main part of it is that geocities closed down recently and a lot of my template's objects were stored on there...oh well...The page needed a new look after being the same thing for the past...2 or 3 years?

Anyways, Toyota came out with a supercar, and it's called the Lexus LFA.

I can't figure out why they named it that...they just did. And what's even more perplexing is its price tag: $300,000. It's had some good reviews from the car magazines, one said that it's a good high performance vehicle, but lacks the ride quality that's typical of a Lexus...oh dear...Lexus has had a reputation for making cars that are aimed at a particular segment which is very similar to that of Cadillac...I'm not going to name the segment but let's just say that they made cars more emphasized on comfort than sporty. More on conservative than progressive. More on stained wood accents than a carbon fiber dash...ok ok I'll get to it, they made cars for old people. Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear equated driving a Lexus to sitting in a tub of warm wallpaper paste. And I wouldn't doubt it. To pander to comfort most car suspensions lose the "sporty-stiffness" and thereby throwing handling out the window. A lot of the luxury and high-end car manufacturers like Aston Martin, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Mercedes, and a few others work around this problem by installing an suspension that has different stages to it. That way if the person driving the car wants to have a comfortable ride, they can choose that setting and it'll soften the suspension so it'll take in all bumps and rattles that come its way. If they want to open up the taps and really put their foot down, they can set the suspension to a sports setting that stiffens the suspension (and in some cases, lowers the car) so that the car doesn't buck and roll so much during "enthusiasic driving".

Apparently Lexus hasn't quite perfected that part of the car yet, but everything else seems good from what critics have been saying. Another issue that has come up is the price-tag...$300,000 is a lot for a car...especially one from Lexus. At that price the buyer has many options to go for, like say for example a Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, one of the Porches' 911s, and so on. At this point Lexus has a serious reputation disadvantage. So what about exclusivity? Yes, whoever has this car isn't going to be joining the bandwagon of 911 or Ferrari F430 owners out there and will have a car that's different. But it's the same story with the old Acura/Honda NSX. Not that many people owned the NSX, but it never really stood out as a supercar, even though it had the mid-engine layout as most supercars did, and the six-figure price tag.

The NSX's major problem was its lack of horsepower and V6 engine...supercars don't usually come with 270 hp and a V6...they usually come with a V12 that pumps out a ridiculous figure of horsepower. With the LFA, they've avoided the NSX folly by putting in a V10 that puts out over 500 HP...this may be one of the few cars Toyota makes where "economical" was never used in its planning. Anyways Japan has yet to make a break-through supercar. They can make sports cars, but an alluring supercar like the Pagani Zonda, Bugatti Veyron, or the new Ferrari F458 Italia...that's something yet to be seen.

Introducing the Suyota:

It's been a while since Toyota stopped making the Supra (a bit over 10 years I think), and over the past decade there were rumors of them bringing back the Supra 3000GT. They had sketches and design concepts made to show to the press with a few specs as well. It was going to be something that was to compete with the Corvette and NSX, and foreseeably the Nissan GTR. It was fabled to have a v8 RWD layout and had styling that was inspired by the Tiger Shark (gills and all). But with the way oil prices and the automotive industry went, Toyota held back on the idea and pursued the hybrid-car market. The death of the MR2 and the Celica soon followed, although Toyota did release the Scion Tc...it's not exactly the most ideal successor to the Celica GTS. (Considering the GTS was putting out around 180 hp while the Tc only has around 161 hp...and the styling of the Tc is still a bit gumby compared with the Celicas)

So for a while the automotive press and Toyota loyalists were wondering if Japan's biggest automaker, and pretty much the world's biggest automaker, was ever going to re-enter the performance car market...hence the Toyota FT-86.

I don't think this vehicle would've come about if it wasn't for Toyota buying a stake in Subaru's father company, Fuji Heavy Industries. The acquisition last year started the partner project between Toyota and Subaru to build a sports car, something that both car manufacturers didn't have in their lineup. (The WRX and STi are good cars, but they don't seem to be sports cars in the sense that the 370Z, Porsche Cayman, or Lexus ISF are sports cars that are more for the track and less rally-inspired)

Toyota seems to enjoy partnering up on projects, in the past they've done a few cars with GM, like the Geo Metro (Corolla) and the Pontiac Vibe (an uglier version of the Toyota Matrix). And Subaru would probably prefer a more cooperative overlord than their previous scavenging one (GM). Prior to the Toyota buy-in, GM was holding those stakes in FHI, and all they did with Subaru was pretty much take whatever AWD tech they wanted and applied it to their vehicles. In fact, I suspect that for a while GM was taking the Subaru Legacy and Impreza and slapped on a Saab badge and jacked up the price by about $10,000. Saab has since started implementing their own style and ideas on their vehicles, but they're still running the scavenged AWD system.

So far what's known about the Toyota FT-86 is that it's going to have the 2.0 liter Subaru boxer engine and it will be RWD. The Subaru version will have the AWD system on it, and very likely both cars may also come turbo-charged. (Subaru has a habit of turbocharging almost every one of their cars.) A turbocharged boxer engine on a RWD layout will be interesting, since it's never been done by Subaru (from what I can remember). The boxer engine is nice since its peak torque and hp comes in on lower revs compared to Toyota and Honda inline-4 engines, where the peak power is stuck up in higher revs that aren't usually reached during everyday driving. Added to that is the lower center of gravity that the low mounting of the boxer engine provides. With the RWD configuration, the car is also lighter than its AWD counterpart, which gives a boost to its performance figures.

One thing I like about the car is that Toyota seemed to have styled it. For some reason Subaru is rubbish when it comes to styling their cars, case in point: the first WRX that Subaru brought state-side back in 2000...it was UUUUGLY and looked like a clown with it's round headlights. I still don't understand why Subaru thought it was a good idea to detract from the aggressive styling of their 2.5 RS...you would think they would've evolved the styling from that vehicle, but nooooo, they wanted to make an ugly car!

But looking at the pics of the FT-86, it's easy to see that Toyota took styling cues from some of their competition. The overall look of the car is similar to the Nissan 370Z, especially with the lines on the hood. The way the roof folds over the cabin is similar to the Nissan GTR (which the 370z also borrowed). The front bumper and intake looks similar to that of the Honda S2000. And the lines that go down the side of the vehicle are similar to those on the current BMW M3. But although the Toyota does have similar styling from some of those vehicles, it is a better looking car than the two Nissans and the Honda.

I'm hoping Toyota doesn't go along with the whole futuristic digital interior look. One thing I didn't like about the new Civics was the layout of the dash and its whole futuristic digital look with the morbidly-obese steering wheel. A nice traditional analog dial look would be good, with the steering wheel kept clutter-free. Subaru has so far been able to keep their dashboards looking good and simple, so hopefully that'll transfer over into this car.

The car is set to go on the market sometime in 2011, so it's going to be a while before anyone can do performance tests on this car, but so far it looks promising. And interestingly Toyota want's to keep the price figures low on this car to attract younger buyers...I wonder if it's going to cannibalize on some Scion Tc sales when it comes out?

What's my major?

I've been at college for at least 5 years at this point, and supposedly my major is information systems...but recently I was doing a comparative inventory on the amount of stuff I know versus the amount of interest/passion I have when I talk about it.

So far I still know more about cars and have more interest in them than I would about information systems stuff...which is interesting, considering the only learning I have about cars comes from my past subscription to Road & Track magazine, Top Gear, and whatever else I search online. While on the other hand I've spent the past 2 years going through programming, networking, and systems design courses...and yet I know a decent amount of stuff...I'd still rather talk about the new Nissan GTR's dual clutch transmission than creating business objects in Java. Both subjects are very technical and very boring to listen to for most people, but I'd be more enamored by hearing how the dual clutch can anticipate for your next shift and make that shift quick enough so the car doesn't lose its momentum; than hearing about how object oriented programming allows for anything in the physical world to be emulated in java.

Deep down, I wish I could be an automotive designer/engineer. But with the way jobs are going, computers are the big thing. And I do still have a bit on interest in computers, but I have a feeling it may become one of those things that I'm always going to look back on wondering "what if...". Much like a person who decided to "settle" on what they can get dating-wise and will always look back and wonder what things would be like if they didn't let "the one" get away.

matchmaker, matchmaker, don't make me a match

Most people hate blind dates...so it seems odd that someone would bother trying to set people up. (Even the term "set up" sounds bad.)

Even more odd are the matchmakers who aren't in a relationship or has never been in a stable relationship...what makes them the "professional" at dating matters? One thing that's been a bit annoying is somehow the church leaders at my ward has turned such a person into the de facto dating advisor. Having "it"(trying to stay gender-neutral) give talks and lessons about dating, when in fact the person has gone through relationships like a puppy goes through shoes...leaving everything all mangled and odd.

I understand that you might have good intentions and what not, but fix you're own problem before you try to fix other's. And on top of that stop trying to look out for one person and not the other, there's supposed to be a mutual benefit coming out of the whole thing. (If you're looking for something for your friend to do on a weekend, why don't you babysit them instead of trying to drag some poor fool into it.)

Also, you matchmakers need to come up with better reasons for suggesting a match other than "the two of you look good together", or "you both like stuff", or "you're American and they need a green card".

The last leg of the race...

Let it end...swiftly, quickly, and with some form of dignity.

I
was hesitant
I didn't belong
It's been a while
I still don't
time to
go

...activity...

With Facebook (and twitter) being so widespread, I doubt that blogs are as popular as they once were a year or two ago. News and tech blogs are still big, and part of the reason is because news companies are citing information from them...which I don't think is the best way to go about things. ("Open Source" news doesn't seem all that reputable, especially considering "Open Source" software is usually checked by many people, while with "Open Source News" tends to be reported ASAP by cable news without checking the info...all because all of them want to "be the first at breaking news".

To whoever reads this, I don't know if I'm going to keep posting in the future, I really don't think blogs are a good way of sharing updates of oneself to friends and family, considering how it's pretty much open to the public. And there's really no way of keeping it open for just friends, without blocking out other friends who aren't yet on the "white-list".

I think I'm going to change what I write about. Less about myself and more about things that I have an interest in. Unfortunately, it might make whatever I write about sound boring, but since I don't think anyone is reading this stuff in the first place, I should be alright.

HDD Fail

I got a new laptop last fall to replace my previous laptop, which its screen died on me, and now my new laptop just died on me last night as I was using it...great...so I'm starting to get tired of having computers just die on me like this. And I use the term "computers" because I've crashed Macs several times in the past and it's just as sucky as any windows machine. Not to mention I've known people on both sides of the fence who've had hardware problems as well...maybe I should unwire my life and go back to the good 'ole days of the early 90s...where computers and tech weren't such a big part of life and the US economy was coming out of a recession, and US car companies were on the edge of going bankrupt and started their whole "Buy American" campaign...oh wait...SUCK...

Strangest Sights in Google Street Views

I was bodyboarding (still working on my surfing technique) the internet and came across this article on pcworld, its got some interesting sights from Google Streetview. What I thought is weird about streetview is that it covers almost every road in Australia, but yet doesn't have everything in the Seattle area...weird huh?


Strangest Sights in Google Street Views

Posted using ShareThis

One more year

One more "year" and I'm finally done with school and all that stuff...hopefully...then again i might have to do a grad program...stinks how inflation works, it's not just a monetary thing, it branches out to other things like employment, standard of living, etc. Hmm...maybe graduating isn't that great of a prospect as I originally thought...stink...

Foreign "Junk"

Apparently the Brits are very bold about their opinions when it comes to vehicles. It seems as if they're willing to drive only European, Japanese, and some American cars. But when it comes to cars made in other parts of Asia...well, it's hard to give those other brands (kia, daewoo, hyundai, proton, etc...) the benefit of the doubt. Especially since some of these cars had their engines die while being test driven. But to the credit of some of these asian car-makers, the critics did give an example of two well made korean car, albeit the prices for either are about the same as a VW or a Japanese car...which then defeats the purpose of buying one of these asian-made cars (low price).


Top Gear Foreign Crap

...Relief...

Finally made it through one of the tougher academic years I've been through...I'm somewhat relieved but at the same time apprehensive knowing that there's a lot more ahead. I'll just take it one step at a time.

A dancing walrus

To keep this page maintained, I guess I'll have to post stuff up a bit more frequently. Well, enjoy:

"Rat-a-chewy"....gross...

This isn't particularly a new thing, but considering that people are eating rats because it's now considered a "delicacy", that's somewhat new....and gross. :P blech!

Don't double-dip that chip!

Turns out what was said in the Seinfeld episode was near-accurate...it's like putting your whole mouth in the dip:

Here's the article
Here's a link to Google News

No more XP?!!!!!

Well the end is near for this OS. Considering the sucker is around 7 years old, it's been one of Microsoft's longer lasting OS. (Whether or not it happened that way intentionally is up to anyone's guess.) I remember when XP came out there was a slight bit of questioning by some people I knew in the CS major who wanted to know why they would want to switch from Windows 2000. Well, I don't really know, except that XP SP2 is a pretty good OS and it is based off of Win2000. So the changes aren't that different...in a very low-level of detail.

Anyways Microsoft plans to drop support for XP in April of 2009, which is a considerable amount of time to allow almost everyone to reluctantly migrate over to Vista. I was hoping to make the move last year, but found out my "[crap]way" laptop isn't designed to handle more than 512 MB of RAM...so that means I can't run vista smoothly...believe me, I've tried running vista on this P.O.S. and it's horribly slow. So now I'm faced with a stinky situation. I don't expect to buy a new computer soon since I'm still in college and I don't exactly have the funds to get a new notebook or desktop, and XP is going to expire in a little under a year and a half......great.....I like XP, it's light on resources and is a pretty stable system. (I've been able to crash the OSX system more times than XP...I'm talking about the system, not programs)

Looking at all these current computers with their 2 gigs of RAM, 512 MB graphic cards, and Core 2 processors, it's nice to know that XP would probably run extremely quickly on that type of hardware. I use an average of 500 MB of memory when using my notebook on a daily basis, so having an extra 1.5 gigs to spare would be very nice. But on Vista, the system itself hogs around 700 MB, which leaves me around 1.2 gigs left to run my programs, opposed to the 1.5 gigs that I would have left over on XP AFTER running all my programs.

So all-in-all my problem with Vista is the same argument as most other people...it's a resource hog, and I wish I could still keep using XP on nicer hardware.