Carver

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Carver

Oh, wow — I so want one of these!

Steer it like a car and the Carver will bank like a motorcycle. The fully automatic hydraulic-mechanical DVC system makes this exciting kind of driving possible, lending itself very well to a sporty driving style. Enjoy the steering and feel how responsive DVC balances the vehicle body for you, banking to the exact natural angle. Its low weight and aerodynamic design allows the modern 4 cylinder 65 bhp engine to take CARVER in 8.2 seconds to 100 km/hour and to a top speed of 180 km/hour.

This little vehicle looks perfect for me — small, great for in-city driving, lots of fun to drive around in, and very eye-catching. Unfortunately, it looks like it’s only available in Europe. Bleah. I can dream, though, can’t I?

(via Blue Stone)

Out at the Vogue

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Just got back from the Vogue. I don’t often go on Friday nights, as I’m generally a bit tired at the end of the work week, and I know more of the music on Saturdays, but getting out of the house just seemed to be the thing to do tonight. Besides, the DJ told me to. :)

Had a good evening, though. Mostly just kicking back and peoplewatching, with a little bit of bouncing around every so often. Even met a pretty blonde named Kim when she sat down next to me and we started chatting — no smooth lines from me tonight, but at least I didn’t trip all over my sentences, which happens all too frequently when I’m meeting people. Turns out she’s been going to the Vogue off and on for years, and we ended up talking mostly about music and swapping band names back and forth (and I need to remember to check out Morphine and local band Faith and Decay [if I’m remembering that correctly, I can’t find anything on Google for them], on her recommendation).

Anyway, not really much other than that. Just a decent night out bouncing around for a bit. ‘Bout time for bed for me, I think….

Surprise deportations

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More happy government news (is there any other kind?), this time courtesy of TalkLeft. It appears that immigrants in the process of becoming citizens are being sent letters asking them to report to the INS for paperwork reasons. When they go down to the office, expecting to fill out forms, process some paperwork, or pick up their green card, they are instead suddenly handcuffed, detained, and deported.

JUAN JIMENEZ, who came to the US when he was 13, visited Federal Plaza several times to complete the paperwork, get the fingerprints, and pass the test required for U.S. citizenship. But earlier this month — days after his 19th birthday — agents shackled him. The next day at sunrise, he called home from JFK to say, “They’re sending me to the Dominican Republic.”

Weeks before, HOWARD FACEY, married to a U.S. citizen and the father of 4 American-born children, received a government notice to come to Federal Plaza. When he reported for what he thought was a visit to pick up his greencard, he was detained and swiftly deported to Jamaica.

These aren’t terrorists trying to sneak around. They’re not even illegal immigrants trying to duck the INS in order to stay in the country. These are people who are doing their best to navigate the webs of red tape in order to live and work here in the US, and as they try to follow the rules, they are suddenly whisked away.

Let’s hope that there’s more to what’s going on than what’s being reported so far (or that it’s a mistake or even a hoax), but I have to admit, stories like this don’t really surprise me much anymore. Unnerve, upset, and scare me, yes — but surprise me? Nope.

(via Tina and Atrios)

French 'Engrish'

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One of the ladies here at work just came back from a week in Paris, and she brought back an inflatable Eiffel Tower for us. The greatest part, of course, is the instruction sheet — apparently, ‘Engrish‘ is multilingual…

WARNING
HELLO, I AM YOUR NEW INFLATABLE FRIEND
FROM ALEXIS LAHELLEC.
IF YOU WANT ME TO STAY WITH YOU FOREVER,
PLEAST TREAT ME RIGHT.
DON’T POKE ME WITH SHARP THINGS,
AND ALTHOUGH I KNOW YOU LOVE ME
DON’T OVER BLOW ME.
DON’T EVEN THINK OF PUTTING ME ON OR NEAR HOT STAFF,
AND I DO NOT LIKE STRONG MACHO ELECTRIC PUMP EITHER.

Gay couple kept out of US

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From the New York Times: Married Gay Canadian Couple Barred From U.S.

A married gay couple on their way from Canada to a human rights conference in Georgia were not allowed to enter the United States today because the two men insisted on filling out a single Customs clearance form declaring themselves a family.

Mr. Bourassa said he and his partner, Joe Varnell, first approached the United States immigration desk at Pearson Airport in Toronto and an officer stamped their forms. But when they went to a Customs agent for final clearance, the agent would not accept a joint declaration.

“He said same-sex marriage is not recognized by the United States of America and we would have to enter the country as single individuals,” Mr. Bourassa said. A supervisor agreed when Mr. Bourassa objected.

(via Tina)

Weblog Ethics

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Rebecca Blood has an excerpt from her book The Weblog Handbook posted dealing with weblog ethics that’s well worth looking at. I do my best to abide by these rules — to me, most of them are pure common sense — but it’s not a bad idea to occasionally refresh the concept in your mind.

  1. Publish as fact only that which you believe to be true.
  2. If material exists online, link to it when you reference it.
  3. Publicly correct any misinformation.
  4. Write each entry as if it could not be changed; add to, but do not rewrite or delete, any entry.
  5. Disclose any conflict of interest.
  6. Note questionable and biased sources.

Canon EOS Digital Rebel

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Canon EOS Digital Rebel

Now that my new computer is on the way (two weeks to go, at most…), I’ve started fixating on a new item for my techno-lust: the Canon EOS Digital Rebel.

I’ve had an interest in photography for many years now. I remember playing with my dad’s old SLR camera when I was younger — unfortunately, it didn’t work anymore, but I had fun fiddling around with it. I took one quarter of photography in high school. Not so much that I really remember much of anything, but enough to cement it as a definite interest. However, it’s been a fairly low-level interest for many years.

Just before I left Anchorage I picked up a nice little Kodak digital camera (the DX3500) which has served me well over the past few years. I’ve even managed to come up with a few shots that I really like from time to time (my favorite so far being one of Post Alley here in Seattle). The more I play with it, though, the more I wish I had a more full-featured camera, and the Canon EOS looks to be a really good value.

It’s essentially a full-featured SLR digital camera. 6.1 Megapixel resolution (roughly three times the resolution of my current camera), through-the-lens viewfinder, the ability to accept all of Canon’s EF series lenses and Speedlite flashes, and all sorts of other goodies. It even got rated ‘Highly Recommended’ by DPReview.

The downside, of course, is that I won’t be able to afford it anytime soon. While the \$999 price is extremely good for everything you get with the camera, it’s definitely out of my price range anytime in the near future (especially if I ever want to get myself out of debt). Ah, well — such is the way of life, right? At the very least, it’s a goal for the future.

Of course, if anyone out there is feeling generous at all, you’re welcome to help me out here! ;)

PayPal donations are accepted, if you go shopping at Amazon through this link I’ll get a miniscule percentage of whatever you spend, and, of course, Christmas is only a few short months away. Okay, sure, I’m shameless. But as I’m not expecting anyone to actually chip in, I can’t exactly be disappointed, now can I?

Driving sounds better all the time

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In the midst of MeFi’s JetBlue discussion comes some more fun privacy information. This time, it’s about .

: http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,59652,00.html “Videocams Record Airline Flights”

Southeast Airlines said it plans to install digital video cameras throughout the cabins of its planes to record the faces and activities of its passengers at all times, as a precaution against terrorism and other safety threats. In addition, the charter airline, based in Largo, Florida, will store the digitized video for up to 10 years. And it may use face recognition software to match faces to names and personal records, the airline said.

(via thomcatspike)