Lately I’ve started using an iPOD for listening to music at work and in my car. I was shocked to learn that my device that was previously used with a MAC cannot be managed by a PC without reformatting! I thought we were beyond that and I was definitely expecting Apple to hide the file format mess from the iPOD users – I’m very disappointed, Apple! My Sony walkman never demanded to use only tapes recorded on a Sony tape deck or otherwise reformat them …
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Choice of employer by niceness of office
Recently I was marveling at a new office building that was erected at a prime location at Austin. Driving by I was wondering how cool it would be to work in such a pretty office at such a perfect location. (For the locals, I’m talking about the building on top of the mountain at 360 X BeeCaves that looks like a battle ship. When I googled the location, I discovered that a small tech start up has made this building its home. That lead me to dreams of working there – just for the view. I know that’s retarded, because when you work and especially for a start-up you can’t really see where you are. But on the other hand we spend so much time of our lives at the office that the location does matter. We choose the location of our houses carefully, too, don’t we? But for now I just enjoy my current view from the fourth floor break room, where I can oversee Austin town lake. A view I wouldn’t be able to afford, if I had to pay for it…
The power of Turbo
Yesterday when I was driving home from work I floored the gas pedal of my BMW coming out of a 25mph turn. I was surprised by the sluggish acceleration of the heavy 7 series, which is usually quite agile, thanks to it’s large V8. But yesterday, the car just didn’t feel like it was agile. Then it dawned on me: outside it was 38C and the A/C was working overtime. Both effects took significant power away – enough so I could feel it. That reminded me that I definitely want my next car to be turbo or supercharged.
Cash for clunker
The US is contemplating a program that would be similar to Germany’s “Abwrackpraemie”. the intend is to get old fuel inefficient cars off the road and replace them by new cars. In the proposed legislation you would qualify for $3500 from the government, if your new vehicle gets a 4 mpg better gas mileage, or $4500 if it improves by more than 10 mpg.
Given that my 1993 Explorer with 150k miles on it is on its last stretch, I’ve been looking for possible candidates. The Explorer gets 18 mpg in combined driving, so I need a car that gets at least 22mpg.
First I thought to buy a minivan, but neither the Honda Oddyssee nor the Toyota Siena get the required fuel efficiency of 22mpg, so that idea is out.
Due to the heat in TX that produces a noticable performance loss, especially with the A/C running at all times, I’ve been wanting a turbo charged or super charged engine. Unfortunately either system makes the engine less fuel efficient despite the fun you add. That threw out the Subaru WRX and the Mazda Speed3 (245hp!).
Currently I’m looking at the Volkswagen GTI with its 2.0T (200hp) (turbo), the Mazda MX-5 2.0, 167hp (naturally aspirated), and the Mini Cooper S (167hp, turbo).
The GTI with a DSG gearbox is very refined, but the DSG definitely takes some getting used to. After having read raging reviews, I had high expectations. I have to say I was disappointed. There’s still noticeable lag, when you switch gears, less so than a traditional step tronic though. When launching from a full stop, it takes quite some time until the engine develops enough torque to catapult the heavy Golf forward. Dropping one gear isn’t enough to unleash the full power, but dropping two gears at a time causes even bigger lag. The ride of the Golf is very refined, you’re almost removed from the engine noise and the road, but all this comes at the cost of fun. Under steer is still very pronounced as expected with this car. I liked the fit and finish of the car inside and out, the engine was OK (didn’t feel like a 200hp beast) but the transmission disappointed.
Then I drove the MX-5. The non turbo charged 2.0 liter engine is a good match for the lighter car. While not as strong as the GTI, and not as refined (vibration noticable at the stick shift), it is a good engine for this rear wheel drive car. The ride is low and stiff and the car communicates the road conditions well. The short throw of the shifter makes for a fun handling ride. The car feels like a previous generation technology car – everything is moving and shaking and when you drive you like it. You’re right in the middle of the action. The exhaust sounds good and if the weather is nice you can even drop the top. What you can’t do is loading another two kids in the back-seats – they’re not there. Overall I had a lot of fun with this very affordable roadster.
Next to drive is the Mini Cooper S. I’ll update this post when it happens.
Andy Grove on patents
Andy Grove gave an interesting speech beginning of May, where he criticized the current state of patent usage http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10232355-64.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0.
He compared the patents to mortgage backed securities, derivatives that have moved far away from the actual underlying product. They became a product by themselves but have become less and less useful in their original intent to make the inventor rich and to let the society benefit.
Interesting read.
Enivronmentalism and the Internet Economy
The other day I’ve noticed an almost perverted development here in the US. We pay state sales taxes(vergleichbar mit der Mehrwertsteuer, aber ans Land, nicht an den Bund), but for Internet orders from out of state businesses, this tax is currently waived. In Texas the sales tax is 8.25% and the saved tax many times off sets the cost for shipping and handling. Last year I found the best prices for some computer components I needed at an online retailer. So I ordered the parts, only to find out at check-out time, that the retailer was actually located in Texas and therefore had to charge the required sales tax for the online order.
When shopping around for a camcorder this week, the same retailer had by far the best price on my selected model – even with the sales tax added. But this time I got a pleasant surprise at check-out: the goods were shipped without sales tax, since they were now coming from a warehouse in Chicago, operated by a subsidy of the retailer. So they’ve figured out a way to avoid the sales tax, by shipping the product half across the continent instead. Shipping was free, too. Makes you wonder what’s wrong with this. The parts are rolling on a truck across the country, instead of being shipped from a 150mile away ware house, last year. The result of the tax rules are not environmentally friendly, but I’m sure operating this way, the retailer is generating more business this way. This feels wrong.
Wonderful Power of Nature
This morning I saw the grass growing – seriously. On my drive to work I pass a stretch of grass that gets mowed regularly. It must have been a couple of days since the crew mowed the patch the last time. When I passed by this morning it just struck me how fast the stems for the blooms have grown out of the grass, now standing one foot tall. Each of these little plants found the conditions just right to grow the blooms with all the energy they had inside of them. One foot tall! Compared to the plant’s size that’s humongous, even when you consider the roots. But it happens every year. Makes me wonder if the plant stores all the molecules to grow the stem inside of the plant, or if it sucks in all the material just in time, when it grows it. Don’t worry, I haven’t gone mad, but this is truly amazing if you think about it. My body doesn’t grow *anything* that size in a couple of days. Not even close!
Volunteer Work at Middle School
Today, I participated in an engineering week event, that was sponsored by Intel. It’s intended to expose teenagers to engineering. This gave me an excuse to visit a middle school and see it from inside. Having gotten all my education abroad, I actually have never been inside of a US school. I only “knew” it from TV. It’s quite different from our schools in Germany – lockers everywhere!
The class format allows the students to design a puff-mobile (a vehicle propelled by your breath) from a set of simple parts that are provided: sheet of paper, three straws, four ring sized cough drops (Life SaverTM), two paper clips and some tape.
The kids split up in teams of four to design and build their own vehicle. After 30min they compete against each other. They have to explain their design and then race it against the other team.
The ingenuity of the kids surprised me. Not one vehicle looked like the other. And the results of the race were even more unpredictable. We managed to get the crowd going and in the end the 25 students were standing around the race track table cheering each other on. We managed to talk about some engineering concepts as well and left the class after one and a half hours.
This was definitely fun and I will repeat this next year!
US glider license
This week I got my standalone US glider license in the mail. Over the last month I went through the troubles of taking the written, fly with an instructor and finally take my check-ride with an FAA examiner. All went well and $400 later I’m holding my US certificate in my hands. This allows me to let my German licenses expire and still fly my glider. It was an educational experience and I have to say I’ve learned a couple of things on the way. After having flown now for 23 years, you don’t get to train rope breaks and slip to spot landings too often any more. I even learned a thing or two about the US airspace regulations. The whole ordeal was a fun experience.
Hmmm, a good steak
Despite my restrictive diet, I enjoy a juicy steak on rare occasions. Yesterday was such a day. We stayed at home and cooked. I made two juicy high quality beef fillet steaks and cooked mine rare, MrsM.’s medium. Along with garlic mashed potatoes and red cabbage and onion rings it made for a perfect dinner. Hmmmm – yummy!