Dodge Challenger Tested by Dodge's NASCAR Boys

I'm jealous. This looks fun. I really like both the Challenger and the Charger body disguising the Mule. Enjoy.

Guessing Today About Technology of Tomorrow

Nokia was the first cell phone to be easy to use and in a small enough form to feel like it was pretty futuristic. Now Nokia along with Cambridge Nanoscience Centre posted a video that makes Nano Technology look really cool when used with phone/PDA/Tricorder functionality. Did the phone scan the apple and see the fly had made it too dirty to eat? Watch. Personally, I now hate Nokia's menu system. It's so much work to navigate through. But maybe with a phone based from the same technology as the new KITT, they'll have a better software system. Maybe the phone will talk to you like KITT. Maybe it will think ahead and make decisions for use. Maybe Skynet will attack us soon. Anyway, cool idea, I think.

Wilt Preferred His VW Rabbit to His Rolls

BTW, this is not an endorsement for Wilt's lifestyle, only a reminder that VW is awesome.

Japanese = German

For a long time now, German cars have been part of the best driving cars made. BMW and Porsche are both awesome cars to drive. Japanese cars have long been produced for fuel efficiency and long hassle free life. Autocar, from the UK, tested the new Nissan GT-R against BMW's M3 and Porsche 911 GT3. Here are the videos. Part 1 Part 2 I love how this guy reminds us that Nissan used to be Datsun. Also, I love the shots of the cars in full drift around the corners. He scored Nissan as equal to Porsche but far above BMW. From everything I saw, I'd go with the Nissan. It will give the most consistent times and handling. The car practically drives itself. I know that sounds off for me, but I'm getting old and lazy. I do like to enjoy driving, and my VW is (in my mind) a scaled down Porsche; but for consistent performance, the Nissan is the way to go. Check out more info and pictures at Autoblog too.

Chargers Coming to CHiPs

Licnoln PD was the first local law enforcement agency to have the Dodge Charger. Auburn followed. And now the CHP.

I remember hearing a story from a friend of mine, who is a sergeant for the CHP, about the Dodge Charger; it was about a year ago. It had to do with Dodge not paying for a crash test the CHP required. Well, either Dodge finally paid up or the CHP found another way to get the needed test results.

88 unmarked (at this point) Dodge Chargers have been spotted at the CHP's Fleet Operations Facility in Sacramento. This picture is from a story posted at Winding Road, a favorite car blog of mine.

Personally, I love the Chargers. And I think vehicles that meet or beat the Crown Victoria usefulness should be looked at for law enforcement. The Vic is so noticeable as a COP car.

iPhone App for Me

This is pretty cool, although not really useful or usable. The idea is a great one. If they tied it to a sequencer or used this with Garage Band, it would be a great app. If they announce that this is an Apple Inc. approved application for the iPhone, it is made to work with a sequencer, and it works with Garage Band, I will buy an iPhone and an iMac or MacBook. Do you hear me Steve? Do you?

Why Big Government is Bad

That is a huge title for this simple little post. But let me explain. New legislation requiring vehicles to reach a fleet average of 35 mpg by 2020 has automakers talking about drastic changes to the vehicles they build. Things like V8 engines are being replaced with smaller, less powerful 4's and 6's. The Hybrid engines are "all the rage" right now and are being built and put in everything form sedans to the work trucks. If you've ever driven a Hybird, you know that a work truck may not work hard enough with one.

But where am I really going? I don't so much care about the big work trucks and their powerful V8s. I like cars that remind us of the heritage of auto-making. The retro cars have been huge successes. The VW Beetle, the Dodge Charger and Callenger, and the hype surrounding the 2009 Camero are a few redesigns getting high praise. The problem comes when a dream is not realized because the government puts restrictions on auto-makers they are not ready to meet.

Before I continue, I will admit I'm torn in this issue. If you will recall, I posted a video from the 1982 Datsun Nissan truck boasting or 31/43 city/hwy mpg. And now Nissan's newest trucks, with 15 years of advances, can't come close to that.

An announcement made today by GM, to GMC, Pontiac, Buick dealers sounds like the Trans-Am, based off the 2009 Camero platform, may not come to fruition. GM is basing this decision on the fact that the 2020 legislation would require GM to build more high mpg vehicles for the Pontiac brand, if they placed a muscle car like the Trans-Am in the line-up.

OH MY GOODNESS. Do you know what this means. The new Knight Rider will have to be a Mustang or something. What's that? It is a Mustang? Well, what about The Bandit? What will Burt Reynolds drive to escape the Smokeys? Well, it could have been this car.


But no.

I know, the technology should be there for the automakers to produce a clean, high mpg, powerful vehicle with so many advances over the last, let's see, just picking a number out of the air...... oh I know....15 years. The problem is largely due to all the corruption in the government, auto-makers, oil companies, and auto unions. Plus, most citizens are not informed well enough to vote for the right people to represent our wants, needs, and dreams (me included).

Who am I? I'm trying to be all political and stuff.(valley girl voice)

So I'll return to some sort of normalcy for my blog. I really think the Trans-Am would make a killing if it looked like the rendered drawing above. I think the new Knight Rider would have been a perfect opportunity to JUMP on and build this great machine. Ford bought the spot for the Shelby GT500KR Mustang. It's a sweet retro car too. It's just not KITT.

Far Cry - The Movie

I played the computer version of Far Cry and loved it. I thought it was one of the best games, both in graphics and game play, I've ever played. Now there is a movie coming out to ruin the franchise. The trailer, which I purposefully didn't link, looks as bad as the Street Fighter and Mortal Combat movies. If Van Damme was in it, it would only be better. Screen shots of the game can be found on my previous blogs about gaming here and here. Here is the official trailer for the game. This is better than the movie trailer. If you do want to torture yourself, you can find a link the the movie trailer at Crunch Gear. Yeah, they think it stinks too.

Indiana Jones 4 Trailer

It's coming on May 22, 2008. I can't wait.

Shatner "Singing" to Lucas

I found this video through a completely unrelated article on Crunch Gear regarding YouTube's Google like logo change for Valentine's Day (BTW, have you ever heard someone call in Valentime's Day?) So for a site like mine, where both Star Wars and Star Trek are loved and enjoyed, this video had to be posted. Please enjoy Captain Kirk singing to Mr. Star Wars himself.

Ford F-650 Conversion

This article was posted on 2/8/08 by Straightline, a blog by Edmunds.com. I debated posting it because I didn't want my readers to think I was some rich punk that thought he could use this gas guzzling monster. First, I'm not rich. In fact, email me and I'll give you an address you can use to send me "donations". Second, even if I could afford such a beast, I wouldn't want to start parking a half mile away from every store, restaurant, or any other establishment I frequent, just to find a parking spot this thing would fit.

I do think it would be a really fun "trip across the USA with a bunch of friends" vehicle; that is, if Ford is picking up the fuel cost. Anyway, have a look. It is cool.

Chicago Auto Show: Alton Truck Company F-650 XUV

via Straightline by Bob Holland <rsholland@aol.com> on 2/8/08

Ford F-650s have long been a favorite for doing monster pickups, as body parts from the smaller F-250/350 Super Duties match up nicely. Now, thanks to the Alton Truck Company, we have a 6-door XUV (eXtreme Utility Vehicle) based on this chassis using Excursion and F-350 dually parts.

Why the F-650, and not the larger still F-750? The F-650 is the largest Ford truck you can drive with a regular driver's license. The F-750, which has a GVW over 26K, requires a commercial driver's license.

...Oh, the MSRP? $122,163 and north—maybe far north, depending on how many options you check off.

Drifting Can Be Dangerous

I have some training in drifting and controlling a car in a high speed slide. Part of the CA P.O.S.T. training is spent teaching future officers how to drive their cruisers at high rates of speed with control. This next video, BEFORE YOU WATCH IT, does show a man being struck by a drifter who lost control of his car. BE AWARE!! What? How did he not come out of that bloodied? The small amount of info just says the man was then taken to the hospital by the driver of the drifting car. DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME.

Motor Units Know How to Ride

I know nothing about riding motorcycles. I have heard a lot about the training and testing that law enforcement motorcycle officers go through to become a motor unit. This video shows the control and skills of one officer on his NOT so small Harley.

Using Your "Grape"

So this is a quick video from a fellow officer from the jail. He used a towel on the bricks so he wouldn't "split (his) grape" on the blocks. This is the start of more video posts from him. If you are interested in Karate lessons in the Foresthill area, he's got a school. Stay tuned for more videos from a CO who really uses his head.

AA-12 Automatic Shotgun

I haven't had many entries related to guns, so I've posted this story and video (thanks to Ted) to cover another topic area of this blog. Although this shotgun, the AA-12, was designed for the military, I can see this being useful for law enforcement as well. SWAT teams and close quarters searches are a couple of areas where law enforcement could benefit from such a powerful weapon. For more information, watch the video and check out the original story here.

More Mahalo Daily - Videos: 2008 Election Edition

After posting the Reag-O-Meter entry, I watched a few more videos from Mahalo Daily. These are so great. Republican Debate in 60 Seconds Democrat Debate in 60 Seconds And The Love Fest: Obama/Clinton Edition The last 30 seconds of this video had me laughing out loud.

Reag-O-Meter!

From a podcast I like to watch comes: "The Reag-O-Meter." Mahalo Daily is a podcast with some creative videos. Here is one I thought was funny.

iPhone to 16GB

Only a year ago, the original iPhone sold starting at $499.00 for the 4GB model. Now there is a 16GB model for that price. With a years worth of bugs worked out, the phone has really grown into an even better phone than it originally was. Of course, originally it was only the world's most amazing phone so, it's really moved up from there. Hmmm. Yeah so, there are rumors out about the second generation iPhone coming sometime this year, but I'm not holding my breath. Because the current version is a software run phone, really anything could be done. That is except GPS and 3G. There are some missing items left that I wrote about in some passed entries here and here. Anyway, yes it's still an amazing phone. And now you can get one with 4x the room of the original for the same price.

UPDATE: The iPod Touch was also updated to offer up to 32GB of room.

My Dad Had One of These

UPDATED: Can you believe only $5,995.00? Now the Nissan base model truck starts at $16,250.00. That's a $10,255.00 increase in 25 years. I believe that's right in there with normal inflation. If I did my math right roughly 4% a year. Now, on the mpg...31 city/43 hwy in 1982. Now only 19/23. How did we lose so much in 25 years? Shouldn't there be a huge gain? Where's the technology?

Deer in the Headlights...

11 Miles to go with a huge lead and...