2007 Volkswagen EOS: Convertible of the year

Posted By on June 19, 2007

Eos Convertible
My wife has admired the Volkswagen EOS ‘retractable hardtop’ convertible ever since it appeared in 2006. She is attracted to it first because it is a convertible, second because its not a soft-top convertible and third because it drives like a sporty VW (we did test drive an EOS with the DSG and turbo 2.0L, but found the manual 6 speed better for the low torque 4 cylinder gasser). The front wheel drive (with the right tires) should help the slippery road handling over other rear drive hardtop convertibles, and the huge sunroof is perfect for letting the late fall, winter and spring sun in — unique to Volkswagen. As for summer … who doesn’t love a small top down sports car capable of 30 mpg’s on the highway selling for under $30,000? Still we’re not quite sold … we’re hoping the one debuting in the UK eventually makes it to North America. A 140 HP TDI EOS clean diesel in my opinion should top 40 mpg and be a unique car. Wow … a TDI Volkswagen with a retractable top — now that would be a TDI lover’s dream car!

There is one downside to a retractable hardtop … trunk space. If you’ve got to have room for 4 and still have trunk space… the EOS is not for you. BUT compared to two seat convertibles or the ones which pretend to have seating for four, the EOS gives you a reasonable back seat to toss in the occasional bag of groceries or overnight luggage. Besides, the EOS isn’t suppose to take the place of the family minivan or SUV.

I concur with the Motorweek gang … its the best of convertible of 2007.

Fuel pump price increase at 1:30PM today

Posted By on June 18, 2007

Unleaded Gas fillup June 18, 2007Since I’m in town, I decided to pinch pennies and fill up the Honda Pilot before the 1:30 PM price increase; I was notified on my cellphone by the Meijer Gas Price Text Alert service. (also used four $1 off coupons accumulated by grocery shopping at Meijers) I’m finding the ‘warnings’ a help and a frustration depending on if I need gasoline or am in town. Nevertheless, knowing when fuel prices are going to jump does make one smile, especially filling just before the price goes up 30 cents per gallon!

Today I topped off with 3/4 of a tank of unleaded regular for $2.82 and filled up my 5 gallon lawn mower ‘jerry jug.’ If the price increases are what they have been … it will have justified the lunchtime fill up. Now if I can only get them to bring B-20 biodiesel to their Ohio locations!

My dog brought me a Father’s Day gift

Posted By on June 17, 2007

Critter1First let me wish all the dads a Happy Father’s Day. Let’s just hope that all dads get the special gift I did from their pets. My pooch, Tootsie, decided to bring me another unique specie. She has brought home and rolled in most of the normal dead animals: rabbits, dead cats, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, about every kind of bird and even a fox a couple months ago. Today’s “gift” looks more like a feret or a weasel of some type. Any guesses? (click for larger images)

Critter2

Listing of ‘authorized’ VW Club gatherings

Posted By on June 16, 2007

1977 Rabbit dieselVolkswagen’s Driver Magazine published a listing of ‘authorized’ VW Club gatherings for the summer of 2007 for those interested in all things VW. More information on becoming an ‘authorized’ VW Club can be found on the VW website. (CinciTDI and the TDIClub are not ‘authorized club.’ The 2007 TDIFest will be in Montreal, Canada … August 31-Sept. 2)

Listing of VW Gatherings

Larger and more readable image.

Kodak filter to improve low-light photography

Posted By on June 15, 2007

Taylor's Bonfire
As a amateur photographer and someone who enjoys improving technology, a new development coming from Eastman Kodak could provide a huge leap forward for low light photography (article link). Imagine being able to take clear and sharp photos without having to resort to flash units? Although I’d love to have it on my ‘big lens’ digital SLR, they would make even more sense on a cell phone or PDA camera. One of these Kodak filters would have been great for these photos I took last night. They were around a bonfire my son and his Young Life group had in our backyard … I should have at least brought out my tripod!

Filter pledges crisp photos in low light
Digital technology boasts 2-to-4-times improvement in light sensitivity

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A year from now, capturing a crisp, clear image of a candlelit birthday party could be a piece of cake — even with a camera phone.

Eastman Kodak Co. said Thursday it has developed a color-filter technology that at least doubles the sensitivity to light of the image sensor in every digital camera, enabling shutterbugs to take better pictures in poor light.

“Low light can mean trying to get a good image indoors of your kid blowing out the birthday candles. It can mean you want to take a photograph on a street corner in Paris at midnight,” said Chris McNiffe, general manager of the photography company’s image sensor business. “We’re talking about a 2-to-4-times improvement in (light) sensitivity.”

Continue article at MSNBC

A good budget VW TDI for someone?

Posted By on June 14, 2007

VW TDI for sale
I took a quick couple cellphone photos of a damaged 2000 Volkswagen TDI 5 speed at Mason Auto Sales. (used car lot) It doesn’t look all that bad, has 145,000 miles and might make someone a good college car. Great for biodiesel and its hard to beat 45+ mpg! (full post over at CinciTDI’s classified section)

Mt. Gilead Sunoco Renewable Station update

Posted By on June 13, 2007

Renewable Fuels Price
Quick post to update renewable fuels pricing as high nationwide fuel prices inch back down from their highs. I paid $2.84/gallon for B-20 biodiesel; petroleum diesel at the truckstop across Interstate 71 was at $2.68. Unleaded regular was selling under $3.00/gallon at most stations from Cincinnati to Cleveland, Ohio this week.

DHS interested in your future cell phone

Posted By on June 13, 2007

Cell phone detectorImagine every cell phone in the United States with built in environmental threat detectors (radiation, chemical, etc) combined with GPS and the ability to send this data to the US Department of Homeland Security. According to the two companies (Gentag, Inc. and eV PRODUCTS) working on this technology, cell phone-detector system could save millions of lives by identifying major threats very quickly, even before they occur. Surprisingly, deployment of sensors is already taking place in many areas besides PDA and cell phones, and the plan to include individual cell phones will close the loop.

Dr. John Peeters, founder of Gentag, claims that his companies “patented technology provides the components to address the US Department of Homeland Security’s recently announced vision of creating a low- cost, nationwide, wireless, sensor-network blanket based on cell phones.”

Rick Smith at eV PRODUCTS states that “Our line of miniature, mobile sensors is enabling the mass deployment of ubiquitous, smart, radiation-sensor systems in devices like cell phones.”

Gentag, Inc. is a technology-development company focusing on innovative, low-cost, wireless sensor technologies. The company owns unique intellectual property relating to cell-phone sensor combinations and wireless sensor networks, including patent 7,109,859.

eV PRODUCTS, a division of II-VI Incorporated (NASDAQ: IIVI) , is a premier manufacturer and supplier of solid-state radiation sensor technologies used in security, industrial, and medical applications. eV PRODUCTS maintains the largest Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) crystal growth facility in the world dedicated exclusively to enable next generation ionizing radiation sensing markets.

SlingMedia’s Palm Slingplayer Beta2 is available

Posted By on June 12, 2007

Palm Slingplayer Beta 2Although the Palm OS Slingplayer on my Treo 700p has been near flawless, SlingMedia has dutifully fixed a couple things and offered users a new 30 day free trial called SlingPlayer Mobile for Palm OS BETA2. (available as of last night) I installed it directly to my PDA over the Sprint network on the Treo’s included Internet browser (Blazer); it took about 15 seconds to download and another 45 seconds to install and start. This is a great product for the Treo and impressive beta to boot. I’ve posted previously on this product.

2008 New Fuel Economy Guidelines

Posted By on June 11, 2007

EPA New Fuel Economy Label
In 2008 all new vehicle sold in the U.S. will get updated, but familiar, labels on their windows. The method finalized in December of 2006 updates testing procedures and is long overdue. For those comparing 2007 and 2008 models the changes will cause a bit of confusion since for many vehicles the window numbers will be lower reflecting more accurate estimates. The EPA offers information on this change and a site listing all vehicles will be available at FuelEconomy.gov. The television news magazine Motorweek has a short segment on this change. (see video below)

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
My Desultory Blog