Carpundit

Cars.Wikia

A what?  About what?

A wiki about cars.  WTF?  Like I want to read what Ed, the account sales manager, has to say about the Toyota Avalon he drives or the Infiniti G35 he wishes he drove.

(They wanted snarky, and there it is.)  Good luck, guys.  In all seriousness, if they can aggregate the enthusiam and knowledge you find on independent boards like Rennlist, or the Roadfly forums, with the database and details you find on Intellichoice and True Delta, they could have something.  Can they make a one-stop shop?  Let's watch.

Yes, I registered.

Don't Be Evil

But I guess it's OK to cooperate with Evil.

Google Millionaires - Get Your House Built for Your iPod

In certain parts of California, you can get your new house built to your iPod - they put an iPod dock in the kitchen.  I don't know anything about California, but -though there's no price on that page- I'm sure you can't touch that house under two million.

There's a New Gearbox at Slate

I enjoy the Slate feature, Gearbox, by Mickey Kaus, not because I think Kaus is a great car writer but because I like to see what interesting people think about cars.  That said, I am continually frustrated by the infrequency of the feature and its seeming mismanagement by Slate.  The last Gearbox, in June, about the Mazda 3, came with an enticing link:

Your permanent get-the-latest-"Gearbox" link is here.

So I added it to my Typelist at right.  But if you click over there now, all you'll get is that piece from June, even though there's a new Gearbox up on the Subaru Tribeca.  I'm going to read it now.  I wonder if contains the word "vagina."  Probably that's just Farago.

UPDATE: Kaus likes the grille, but not the rest of it.  And they've still got that bogus permanent link, that now seems to lead only to the Tribeca piece.  Slate, get your stuff together please.

Those Buggy iPod Shuffles

I still haven't had the chance to get my own malfunctioning iPod Shuffle back again to Apple for repair, so my wife's buggy iPod Shuffle is the backup, and I think I've diagnosed the problem: the damn thing won't hold a charge.  I've tried charging it for 2 hours, for 4 hours, and overnight.  No matter how I charge it, the battery is good for about 45 minutes of music.  Defective battery?  Old battery (one of the first iPod Shuffles)?  Or something else?  Read on.

MPH Online Relaunch

Experienced car blogger Dave Thomas, now the Online Editor of MPH Magazine, wrote to let me know their new site is up and running; go see it.  From the press release:

Today, mph Magazine officially re-launched mph Online (www.mph-online.com). The completely redesigned website has been months in the making and features a slew of original content, all of it in the car magazine’s notoriously irreverent tone.

Danica Patrick Online

I praised Danica Patrick here, defended her here, and said I'd join the fan club if I were that type of guy, which I'm not, but I did find her site and figure I could throw up a link without being too much of a loser: danicaracing.com.

Sleeping MBTA Inspectors, Missed Opportunities, and an Online Purchase

On my way in this morning, I saw another photo opportunity I wanted to capture, post, and blog.  An MBTA Inspector at Government Center, who is paid to supervise the shuttle bus schedules and boarding there, was sound asleep in his car at 8 am, parked at a meter by the buses.  Of course, I didn't have a camera.  So I ran into CVS and bought a $6 film disposable camera (remember those?).  Long story short, my snoring Inspector was awakened just as I snapped the close-up -I'll blog it once I get the film developed- so my lack of camera cost a good photo.  It was particularly annoying to me because, tired of missing such opportunities in the past, this weekend I bit the bullet and ordered a pocket-size digital camera.

Google - What Did They Do With Their Math Guys?

I like and use many of Google's offerings, including web search, image search, Google maps, and Gmail; and I'm pretty sure they've got a bunch of smart people working there, but this isn't evidence, from my Gmail screen:

"You are currently using 25 MB (3%) of your 1000 MB."

(Yes, I realize it's rounded.  Still.)

Advertising Works

I just registered a new domain for my wife and I chose GoDaddy.com to do it - solely because of their excellent Superbowl ad (find it here).  I'd never heard of them before that.

I wonder if my $39.00 covers their ad costs?