Book Of Norm

Today, Saab filed for bankruptcy in Sweden. Some blame GM for blocking Saab's purchase by two random Chinese car companies. I don't. I blame GM for running Saab into the ground over the decade and a half they owned the company, taking a unique brand with a strong following and completely failing to understand anything about the brand, what made it great, why people bought them, or where the company could be taken. Sadly, just as GM was finally turning the company around (the 9-5 is a great car, the 9-4X a very good crossover), the recession hit, and GM was forced to rationalize brands. I don't blame them for selling Saab at that point. Spyker begged them to sell rather than close Saab, and it turned out Spyker simply did not have the resources to run Saab, let alone rebuild it. Then, when Spyker looked to sell the company to China, they would essentially be selling GM technology to companies which will just take it to compete with GM. There is no reason GM should have...

N Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies - http://pulse.me/s/48Oig Though we think he is just a wacko wearing tall shoes, the people of North Korea looked up to KJI as their demi God leader, partly because they were forced to, partly because they had no access to anything which challenged that reality. Now, that leader is dead, and while the divine right succession worked in 1994, it is not totally clear that this time around, passing power down to his third oldest son, that the people will so willingly transfer their love, affection, and fear. I certainly hope they don't, but given just how little access the people of North Korea have to reality or any form of power, I am not sure this opportunity will be acted upon.

The world ain't just what it used to be.

Autoblog just reviewed the  2013 Subaru BRZ  and the result is... this is one of the best handling cars on the market, bar none. Subie used the Porsche Cayman for comparison (and perhaps a little reverse engineering also), and it seems like they have built a mini cayman. But the issue is this: the car only has 200hp and 150lbs of torque. Now, it only weighs 2,700lbs... but still, that's not a lot of power. And here is really the question: can a car with amazing handling but down on power make a dent on the market? My answer is no. Exhibit one: The Mazda RX-8. Every reviewer loved it when it came out about 8 years ago. It was one of the best handling cars on the market, but like the BRZ was down on power, especially torque. Torque tends to matter more in day to day driving and passing situations (unless you are revving the engine like mad - which most people don't). The RX-8 has never sold well, and is now getting old, with Mazda making no plans to build a replace...

One of the great things about technology, and space exploration in particular is that it gives us the potential of finding a new home. Now i am not one top believe that we are going to make this one inhospitable any time soon... but there is that whole eggs in one basket thing. For the first time we have found a planet which we would probably be able to call home (without all that fancy terraforming). The only downside? It ain't close. But so what, who's up for some multi- generational spaceflight? Kepler confirms first planet found in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star! - http://pulse.me/s/3LJQw

I think this map is incredibly interesting, not just for what is there, but for what isn't: the vast swaths of the earth which are essentially uninhabited.

This is why you use carfax... \ By Jeremy KorzeniewskiRSS feed Posted Dec 7th 2011 6:00PM Most funky odors are pretty easily traced back to their origins... the french fries that spilled out of the bag and have found permanent residence under the driver's seat, or the forgotten grocery bag in the trunk from last week. Other, more serious smells, require the assistance of a biohazard company. Such is the case with a 2006 Ford Expedition purchased by a Michigan woman named Margarita Salais, who purchased the vehicle from Suburban Ford of Sterling Heights. It seems that the dealership acquired the SUV in December of 2010, a cold month in Michigan. Salais purchased the car in March, near the end of the much-too-long winter season. The cold temperatures apparently masked the smell of rotting flesh. Salais took the car back to the dealership and was told the smell must be coming from a dead animal. Unhappy with that report, Salais called her insurance company, which contracted...

The Army's Latest Innnovation: A Sandwich That Stays Fresh for Two Years. This thing is pretty damn cool. Basically they have figured out how to keep water and oxygen away from the sandwich, and so without crazy preservatives they are able to make a sandwich which stays fresh for two years - http://pulse.me/s/3PgnO

VW has just released the new Beetle... and it looks a lot better, and is a lot better than the old one. It's basically the 911's chubby little brother The thing is... it's not very hard to be better than the outgoing Beetle. That car was first put on sale in 1997, which meant it was competing with cars like this: The Paseo.. So under... whelming So, what is the new one like? More or less, pretty good. Check out a good review here .  But here is the issue. The car costs upwards of $25,000. If you include the DSG gearbox, the sunroof, and a premium package, you are going to be spending about $28,500 - which means over $30,000 once all the taxes and fees are included.  That's a lot of money for a somewhat sporty car with a 2.0-liter gasoline engine with 200 horsepower and 207 pound-feet of torque. Actually, that's not just a lot of money, that is a huge pile of money. The Beetle turbo should be competing with factory turner Mazda 3's, hot Ford ...

My brother wrote and has published his first book, a classic beginning to a fantasy epic, and I think it would make a good present for Christmas. http://www.amazon.com/Tarranau-Book-Four-Part-Land/dp/0982989407/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323288692&sr=8-1-spell Take a look, read some reviews, and check out the website  http://www.thefourpartland.com/

This is pretty incredible. They found a picture of this guy from over 100 years ago... and he was already 70 years old. He was born before the Civil War, before railways took over, before modern machining. And he has lived to see a man on the moon, the rise of modern computers, and the mobile tech-enabled world of today. More specifically, he has eaten a lot of grass. World's oldest living animal discovered after he is pictured in 1900 photograph As a photograph it looks fairly unremarkable - a tortoise nibbles at the grass in front of a Boer War prisoner and guard.   By Richard Savill and Richard Alleyne Last Updated: 11:16PM GMT 03 Dec 2008 Previous 1 of 2 Images Next This rare picture of a Boer war prisoner snapped on the remote island of St Helena, has shed light on one of the  planets  oldest living inhabitants Photo:  BNPS.CO.UK Jonathan, the tortoise, still alive todayPhoto:  BNPS.CO.UK But the pi...

Bridgestone is showing off their latest, non-pneumatic tire. As you can see, it is a pretty fancy looking thing, which uses advanced polymers to replicate the flexible but tough traditional rubber tire. Right now, each tire can only support 150kg, which means these are destined for Hover-round duty, not your daily sleigh ride. Interestingly Bridgestone is saying they are working on ways to stop objects from becoming lodged inside... I am not sure why a simple cover won't work.. but there it is. Probably a long way down the road before you are rolling on these puppies, but still, interesting to see.

What the hell is with the new standard in user interfaces being this shitty array of random squares and images? Xbox just released a major new update and... it sucks. It makes the whole interface instead of a logical and clearly laid out ribbon and card view, some kind of bullshit graphic design wet dream. The one we just lost was a major improvement over the original, and crappy sort of "blinds which randomly pop in from the side" interface... but goddamn if I don't hate this new square craps approach Old (good) interface New, shittacular, interface Oh yeah... and see that up there? That is A FUCKING ADVERTISEMENT on the system you shelled out $250, and pay $50/yr just to play online games.  And they are not the only ones. The new google marketplace? What the hell is that? It's terrible. I have no idea where I am and the whole thing sucks to read. I suppose it is good for some completely ADD moron hipster who loves random advertising images in all kind...

Two Behemoth Black Holes, the Largest Ever Discovered, Could Swallow Billions of Suns - http://pulse.me/s/3LU21

Scienists to Clone Woolly Mammoth - http://pulse.me/s/3LVmc

I think Toyota likes all the attention it is getting from the ft86. It likes the attention so much it says it might build two more sports cars (which would bring the number of exciting cars Toyota has built this decade to... three). They claim they might build a supra successor and a small sporty coupe. Now whether this is for real or just Toyota pr guys just getting real excited about being popular at the car shows for once remains to be seen. Study: Toyota considering Supra successor and sub-86 sports car - http://pulse.me/s/3Kq3l

Russia is finally tired of the rampant corruption of Putin's United party. In parliamentary elections (though really, Russia is not a parliamentary system and is closest to the US form of govt) Putin's party will manage only fifty percent of the vote and that is with rampant corruption, ballot stuffing, hacking of election monitors, and of course, bribery. Putin will still win next year's election of course. And the real opposition parties are not even allowed to run, so the other fifty percent of the duma will probably just rubber stamp everything which action figurine Putin wants done anyway. Hopefully, at some point, Russia wakes up and is able to elect a modern and at least slightly moral leader. The country right now is a total backwater, with third world healthcare, massive levels of crime, incredibly short average lifespans, and a growing inability to attract foreign investment because of how the United party screws over any foreign company it feels like. I think...

How the hell did this guy end up in the lead? I mean all really care about is who is the most electable in the general election, because another four years of Obama and I should probably switch from getting my MBA to a public policy degree so I could find a job. And clearly, this guy is not electable in 2012. I mean... it's the Newt. Yeah, '94 was a good move, but who in the middle actually likes this guy? It's just to bad to me that Giuliani never got his act together, or that Chris Christie didn't pull an Obama and decide to run. Anyway, good article: The Economist | The Republican nomination: The day of the Newt http://www.economist.com/node/21541030?frsc=dg%7Cb via @theeconomist

The Economist | Technology and society: More than just digital quilting http://www.economist.com/node/21540392?frsc=dg%7Cb via @theeconomist

And by well deserved, I mean we are all probably better off with him not attempting to run the country. But seriously, Obama and his family will spend 17 days renting a $3,500/night mansion in Hawaii. Anyone who still thinks Obama is anything other than a typical liberal, progressive, college professor, elitist hypocrite... yeah.. get your head checked. Destroying a country builds up a sweat.

Wet logs will burn if the fire is hot enough.

Just want to say thanks all for reading and following along with this sometimes rambling, sometimes interesting (I hope), sometimes absent, and sometimes relevant forum of my thoughts and ideas. Just hit 25k views for the year =)

Interesting. In the absence of true competitors and with humans afraid of wolves but okay with coyotes... turns out that what is flourishing is a coyote wolf hybrid, able to take down larger prey, but still able to scavenge (and avoid pissing off humans) the way coyotes are. Coyote-Wolf Hybrids Have Spread Across U.S. East Predators bred with Great Lakes wolves, then moved south, DNA shows. A coyote is seen in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park in June. Photograph by Elijah Goodwin, Whimbrel Nature Photography Christine Dell'Amore National Geographic News Published November 7, 2011 Hybrid offspring of  coyotes  and  wolves  have spread south along the eastern seaboard, a new DNA study confirms. Scientists already knew that some coyotes, which have been gradually expanding their range eastward, mated with wolves in the  Great Lakes (map) region. The pairings created viable hybrid offspring—identified by thei...

I actually know someone who works here... and while I believe they are good at what they do, the culture of this company seems centered around plundering government funds. Now, are they as bad as the big ol boys like Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon and General Dynamics... but this is pretty bad. REPORT: ENGINEERING FIRM ‘CH2M HILL’ CUT THOUSANDS OF JOBS AFTER RECEIVING $2 BILLION IN STIMULUS Posted on November 30, 2011 at 6:32pm by  Christopher Santarelli Print » Email » Comments  (117) For all those who said that the Solyndra revelation would just be the first of many, pat yourself on the back. A  new investigative report  released by  Accuracy in Media  Wednesday, reveals that  CH2M HILL , a Colorado-based consulting, engineering and construction firm, received nearly $2 Billion in stimulus funding despite a history of kickbacks, poor conduct and contaminating their own workers. While they are not in danger of suffer...

Interesting article from the Atlantic on whether the Eurozone can really be saved. Reasons to Worry About the Prospects for a European Bailout NOV 30 2011, 1:02 PM ET   320 I've been asked to explain my reservations about the idea that "we know what will work" in Europe.  Why wouldn't a eurobond/ECB intervention work?  After all, it worked here? I should emphasize that I am by no means sure that it wouldn't work--I just sort of  wonder .  And that these reservations are not shared by a whole bunch of people much smarter than I am. With those caveats, here are the differences I see between a possible Eurobailout, and the indisputably successful actions of Treasury and the Fed in 2008*. 1.   Their bank debt is a much bigger than ours was .  Here's the list I blogged last year of bank assets as a percentage of GDP: Luxembourg 2,461% Ireland 872% Switzerland 723% Denmark 477% Iceland 458% Netherlands 432% United Kingdom 389% Be...

I want this. Actually, I want this as a permanent ski cabin, not as a high-alpine base camp, but any way you look at it, this thing is freaking cool. Design Spotlight: LEAP High Living ShareThis By Ben Bowers  on November 30, 2011 The living ecological alpine pod, or LEAP, wears its heart right on its name tag and provides all of the benefits of traditional mountain shelters — think trekking basecamps, not lavish homes — but with a significantly smaller environmental footprint. Much of the LEAP’s “green” gains are derived from construction technologies for building planes and ships. Each LEAP is comprised of up to five modular living units, plus a biological toilet. The entrance unit’s thermally isolated inner door, storage/drying rack, and rescue equipment hangar is optimized for the risks of high-alpine conditions. In terms of creature comforts, the refined living interior is fully customizable and includes a pantry, interior lighting, an electric induction c...