Archive for the ‘Life’ category

World Premiere: New Touareg Takes the SUV into the Future

March 1st, 2010

Touareg debuts with hybrid drive and high-tech range of engines
Volkswagen SUV is 208 kilograms lighter and 20 percent more fuel efficient

World Premiere: New Touareg Takes the SUV into the Future   touareg header 001 e1267487890610
WOLFSBURG/MUNICH — Volkswagen is unveiling the completely redeveloped Touareg as a world premiere. It is the most technically innovative “VW” since the brand has been in existence. This Touareg is reinterpreting the fascinating multipurpose SUV idea in a contemporary way – thanks to a range of engines that are nearly 20 percent more fuel efficient and a large variety of new assistance and safety systems. The Touareg will also be the first and only off-roader in Europe by a German car maker to be available in a hybrid version too. It sets standards among fully off-road capable SUVs with petrol engines that have a fuel consumption value of just 8.2 litres fuel per 100 kilometres. The Touareg Hybrid can be driven up to 50 km/h in purely electric mode – emissions-free. Among the diesel engines, the Touareg V6 TDI with 7.4 litre combined fuel consumption now posts the best value in the segment of genuine SUVs. Both versions, the Touareg Hybrid and V6 TDI, are the most fuel efficient petrol and diesel SUVs ever built in Europe in this large vehicle class. » Read more: World Premiere: New Touareg Takes the SUV into the Future

Photos from Tampa

February 20th, 2010

I spent about 10 to 12 Days in the Tampa-area around Valentines Day. I took a bunch of photos while I was there, here are some photos for your enjoyment.

Ciao!

TECO Manattes

Random Car Show – Tampa 2010

Yuengling Tour 2010

Monster Jam 2010

Flogging Molly Concert – Ybor, 2010

Toyota Recalls Millions of Cars, Trucks

January 29th, 2010

Earlier this month, Tokyo-based Toyota Motor Co. issued a massive recall regarding the accelerator pedal on nearly half of their model line up in the United States. According to Toyota’s Press Release, the company would recall approximately 2.3 million vehicles to correct sticking accelerator pedals on specific models.

Toyota Camry

Toyota Issues Recall on Camry, Others

Toyota has also halted sales of selected models from the line up, including the popular Camry. Also recalled are Certain 2009-2010 RAV4s, Corollas, and Matrix. Toyota has not released any recalls or defects in their luxury division, Lexus, or the popular compact, Scion division.

» Read more: Toyota Recalls Millions of Cars, Trucks

Apple’s iPad Tablet Computer

January 28th, 2010

Apple’s Attempt at a Tablet Computer

"Last time there was this much excitement about a tablet, it had some commandments written on it.” ~ The Wall Street Journal

Last time there was this much excitement about a tablet, it had some commandments written on it.
— The Wall Street Journal


Today, Apple’s CEO and co-founder, Steve Jobs, took stage to announce a new their latest product, something to ‘fill the gap’ between the smartphone and laptop market, a niche market filler. Apple named this “mobile Internet tablet device” the iPad… they should have named the “iFail”.

The Apple-based tablet is quite an interesting device by itself, but the name is just – wrong. “iTablet”, “Apple Tablet”, or “MacBook Touch”, or whatever, would’ve been a better choice for the device. The iPad name, however, really doesn’t strike or appeal to me. There’s no “wow” factor with the name that makes it a cool, or an attractive name. » Read more: Apple’s iPad Tablet Computer

Rollin’ on New(er) Rims

March 10th, 2009

This past January, my good friend, Chris, drove out from San Diego (yes, drove out…).

He did this for two reasons: 1) He wanted to do a cross-country trip, and 2) He was bringing me a set of 17-inch VW OEM Santa Monica alloy wheels he got at a steal of a price!

He originally bought them off Craigslist (or eBay, don’t remember) for his 2001 Subaru Outback, then realized they wouldn’t fit his car, so he called me up and asked me if they would fit my Golf. He sent me a couple of pictures and I told him that they would, so he decided to drive out to Atlanta from San Diego to bring them to me and spend some time with his family here.

Well, I finally had the funds to wrap the rims in rubber. Chris and I talked about tires for a while when he was here, and after he got back to San Diego, and I finally settled on a set of General Tire Exclaim UHPs.

I got them mounted and installed the today, so I figured I’d post a couple of pictures.

On to the next… project! :laugh:

Rollin’ on New(er) Rims   IMG 0504 300x225Rollin’ on New(er) Rims   IMG 0503 300x225

Dressing Up The Golf (Part 1)

March 10th, 2009

Over the past few months, I’ve been thinking about the interior of my 2000 Golf and how I want to bring it up-to-date, and dress it up, like how Volkswagen did with the Mk4 20th Anniversary GTIs, R32s, and Jetta GLIs. These three models shipped with updated trim around the car to set it off, and bring the sporty style full circle.

The updated trim consists of subtlety placed brushed aluminum bits through out the car: radio cage, pop-out cup holders, door pulls, door handles, and front ashtray. So, I started looking around the Internet for deals on some of the parts as I plan to piece together the trim for my 4-door Golf.

A few days ago, I found a guy on VWVortex that had the radio cage I was looking for, the only draw back was that he didn’t have the trim piece for the pop-out cup holders. So on the contrary, he was selling it for a reasonable price. I contacted him and got my PayPal account lined up, and ordered them. » Read more: Dressing Up The Golf (Part 1)

Newest Addition to the Golf

November 8th, 2008

The other day, I was surfing around the VWVortex website and I noticed some people on the fourms had front mounted European license plates on their Volkswagen’s and Audi’s.

In fact, I’ve seen afew German cars around town with their own custom plates So I decided that since I want to go towards an “All Euro” theme with moding the body, that I should order one online. I found GermanPlates.com, a German-based company in the custom plate business and shipped to Canada and the USA, I placed an order for a plate that almost mirrored my Georgia-issued tag. » Read more: Newest Addition to the Golf

Browser Wars: Google Strikes Back

October 14th, 2008

Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari. Over the past few years, these browsers have become common names for web browsers on both Mac and Windows systems, with Apple’s Safari arriving to the Windows platform in June 2007.

Both Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Mozilla’s Firefox have been big players in the recent browser wars. While Internet Explorer has been losing ground to Firefox over the past few years, the browser wars have appeared once again; this time it’s a battle between FireFox and the other guys: Apple Safari, Opera, and now, Google Chrome. Google Chrome Logo

Google Chrome hit the web browsing market on September 2, 2008 for Windows XP and Vista, and was welcomed as an alternative to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7 browser. The open-sourced WebKit HTML-engine and a Google-built JavaScript engine, dubbed “V8 JavaScript”, help power the Chrome browser. » Read more: Browser Wars: Google Strikes Back