Future Me Realizes His Dreams

When I was a teenager I dreamt of having my own radio station that would broadcast only music I liked. I could preset the playlist and then head out with nothing more than my credit card sized FM tuner. I would be set, for hours.

Years later the future arrived, conveniently brought to us by Apple. The iPod and then my iPhone let me carry days worth of music, video, podcasts, and audiobooks without any commercials. The playlist is completely tailored to me, that is, except for the times I want something that isn't on my iPhone, isn't on my computer at home, and only exists somewhere in the ether.*

This is when I love the iTunes Store for the iPhone, or at least one little part of it. On the iPhone, the iTunes Store accesses the same expansive library of songs as its desktop counterpart. Preview and purchase songs right on the iPhone. And now, with the latest software, you can browse and download podcasts as well.



There's a hidden feature here. Whereas music is limited to 30-second clips for copyright purposes, podcasts are all free; there is no limit on the preview length. So rather than waiting for a podcast to download (after tapping the FREE button), I just tap the title of the podcast and the entire program streams, even at Edge network speeds.

Now, my iPhone can hold a lot of podcasts. But it's nothing compared to the infinite expanse of the internet, which I can now stream, for free, anywhere I go. And if I get bored, I just go hunting among the other million podcasts.

*Yes, I know about Pandora, and I use it on occasion. However, Pandora doesn't let me skip around or play those 3 songs I like over and over.

Southern Sky

We've had two fantastic days of rain here in The Georgia. With clouds overhead, the temperature hasn't dropped. So when the rain stopped the air stayed a breezy 62-degrees. I walked out the back door of my office and snapped this picture of the clouds running from the fading light.



Outstanding colors; Mother Nature's palette wins again.

On the Dam

At mile 48102, I crossed the top of a dam by a still lake. Large enough to spend hours on, small enough to be private, and remote enough to have a road so narrow that you take turns crossing with cars headed the other direction.







Motor.

Woodsy

At 48101 miles the S finds itself lurking behind trees and carving twisty mountain roads laced with, er, potholes. Loads and loads of potholes. The scenery was great but I don't think I made it out of second gear.



The rain was more of a mist that has been hanging around for a couple of days. I love the temperature -- in the low-50s -- and with the sky overcast, the road looks damp and sharp. Although most prefer sunny and clear, a drizzly day calms my soul more than any other weather. It's as if I get a head start while everyone else hibernates, and indeed the road was only mine today.

Thanksgiving cycling

At mile 48044, the MCS found itself a couple dozen miles north of the city. The day started cold but warmed quickly, perfect for a couple hours of pedaling. It may not be exotic, but it is definitely more exciting than work.

Working Late

My MCS just passed 48,000 miles on the odometer. I've decided to count down to 50K with flair by documenting the different spots my MINI sits. My goal is to make it interesting while keeping in mind that as my daily driver most of the miles will be spent between home and office.



At 48005 miles, the MINI finds itself working late. Desolate in the parking lot, it blends in with the red brick and leaves. And it dreams of the long weekend ahead.

Non-Detroit Geese

These geese flew over my house this morning, flapping and honking like they were going out of business.



From all the honking I'm led to believe they were cars. However, I could tell they weren't from Detroit because they weren't using their corporate private jets to travel.

Many people much more educated on the subject than I am have weighed in on the auto companies bailout. There is a lot to discuss on tax incentives, steel costs, labor contracts, nationalism, efficiency standards, and out-of-touch distribution models. The bottom line is that the free market should run its course.

The free market only cares about one thing: Sell me a product that I want at a price I can afford. I'm not talking about features of quality, power, or sturdiness. It's not about my generation versus my father's or my children's. It's about the fact that Detroit churned out massive amounts of vehicles during this decade and still lost market share. If we carry the domestics through this recession, they'll simply fail on the other side.

I have no desire to see tens of thousands or even millions lose their jobs. I have no desire to see competition diminished. I do think splitting the 3 companies into 5 or 10 or 15 that are independently profitable is the way to go. The great thing is that although bureaucrats are completely incapable of doing much at all, the free market is really good at determining what is sustainable. So split them up, parcel them out, and create smaller companies that focus on cars that are affordable during a recession.

2008 MINI on loan

The thermostat went out on my '06 Cooper S this week. The local service department, much to my delight, gave me another Cooper to drive (as opposed to some Enterprise Rent-A-Cruiser). So for one day I drove a new 2008 Cooper.



Part of my morning routine is driving the kids to school. More than two years after my Chili Red Cooper S came to live with us, my oldest is still stoked about any chance to ride in it, including this particular morning. Standing at the door he asked, "Can we take Red?"

"No." I reply. "Green?*" he asks.

"No." I reply. He looks stumped.

My daughter pushes past both of us, sees the Sparkling Silver Cooper (a color also known as beige), gasps in delight, and immediately exclaims, "Can we call it 'Emily?'"



The name isn't the only thing that delights my daughter during the 5-minute ride. She loves the way the two colored spotlights in the headliner change between red, purple, and blue. In general this turns out to be the most impressive new feature from the 2007 redesign.

From my perspective, I felt as though MINI was trying to turn me into an 18-year-old girl. All the buttons and gauges got really big. The speedometer—already a distinct feature because of its size—has swollen way too much. The computer showing temperature, speed, and gas consumption has more than doubled in size. The buttons felt softer, rounder, and brighter because of the light gray plastic. Toggle switches that used to all hang out together are now spread throughout the cabin. Like domestic autos, the buttons now have names on them. These changes, I'm sure, are welcome by an increasingly female clientele, but I feel a lot of the unadorned enthusiast roots have been cut.



In an effort to make everything digital, MINI has swapped the usefulness of two gauges: instantaneous fuel economy and remaining fuel. The instantaneous fuel economy is a digital-to-a-tenth display of what your gas mileage is right now. And now! And now! It updates two or three times a second like a flashing light that serves to annoy more than inform.

The fuel gauge is set up like most are: a gas pump icon surrounded by a circle of tick marks. In the '08 MINI the tick marks are little candy corn-shaped lights that animate when the car starts. But they're not terribly informative. When I picked up the car, all the lights were lit—indicating a full tank. I drove 44.5 miles at 34.5 mpg (the mileage computer is indeed accurate) then topped off the tank by adding 4.5 gallons. So the tank was at 2/3 but showing only one candy corn low. I expect this of my analog gauge, but I don't understand the point of creating a digital gauge that isn't accurate.



To sum up, the car is fantastic. It's a MINI. It handles like a go-kart, has a decently matched engine (although the S makes the power curve enjoyable), and is really comfortable. The amenities are nice, the paddle shifting works, and Sport Mode really is sporty. Everything that carried over from the original 2002 design is great. It could just do with a little less cute.

*Green refers to my wife's Honda Pilot. Although it was supposed to be black, the salesperson pulled a last minute bait-and-switch on my wife, who took the bait. Even though the color is a dark, dark green, I've made it clear that it isn't black. This is a reminder for next time.

What to do if even clearance sales can't move 'em?

Oh yeah, it's that bad, like drinking corn syrup.

A MINI Vote

And then there were Two

I came up to the light by my office the other day and stopped behind, er, me! The plate is different, but everything else matches Red to a "T."



Looking at the split of my red hood on the bottom of the pic and the back of what my S must look like on the top reminds me of when our black-and-white TV used to scroll vertically until it warmed up.

'night MINI

MINI EV update

Several spy pics are posted over at The Car and Driver showing the electric MINI puttering around Germany. The pictures show a gray Cooper with no rear tailpipe and a poorly Photoshopped decal indicating C&D's claim on the images. Personally, the car looks much better in blue and without the door decals.

A Swing and a Miss

A key benefit BMW's products receive in the design process is close monitoring by a single source, design chief Chris Bangle, to be specific. This ensures that, for the most part, bimmers look great or at minimum, look consistent with the current styling. The newly announced X1, pictured below at the Paris Auto Show, is a hit in the design department. So why does this bug me?

In short BMW has created a compromise that costs too much. (To be fair, BMW has indicated it does not currently plan to sell the X1 in the U.S. so complaining about price isn't entirely applicable.) I went through this with the 1-series. Good looking? Yes. Great handling and speed? Yes. Comfortable? Um, it's a little tight, but livable for single-person use. $38,000*? Without being able to carry passengers and groceries? They lost me. I feel the X1 falls into the same category: great to look at but unworkable as a primary car, particularly at a price reserved for a token sports convertible.



BMWs have always been pricey, a requisite characteristic of luxury is exclusivity. However I find that they are on a string of offerings with less handling, space, or longevity all sporting unjustifiable price tags: 650i Coupe, 135i, 535i Wagon, X6, and now the X1. The point isn't that BMW can't make smaller or more utility-oriented cars; it is that I disagree with pricing them so closely to their better balanced siblings.


*The 128i costs just over 30, but just a touch higher comes the all-around winning 328i. And buying a 1-series without the twin turbo is just silly. The rest of the price comes from the destination charge and sport package.

The Routan Boom

I'm looking forward to seeing a marketing experiment played out in full force in the near future. Assuming the economy doesn't destroy sales prospects for anything with four wheels, Volkswagen has apparently granted their marketing guru full board voting rights. I imagine the conversation went something like this:

Guru: Listen, I know you want to make the return into the U.S. minivan market with greatness, but don't.

Collective board: We're listening.

Guru: Instead of producing something great that people want, let's produce something miserable and then brand it better than anything else in the world.

Collective board: Can we get Brooke Shields?

Guru: Um, sure.

And thus the Chrysler Town & Country was rebadged as the difficult-to-pronounce VW Routan, a minivan easily forgettable in both name and appearance. The Guru's plan was put into play with one of the best tongue-in-cheek ads that I've seen in a long time.

Look closely at the picture below and you'll see a minivan behind Brooke. Then watch the video on VW's site.



For additional reading, see Kyality's exceptional take.

Change of seasons

As the temperature cools in the South, the trees start to, uh, stay green apparently.



A nod to all my western friends who've had sage brush and exposed rock keeping them company over the last 5 months. I've been enjoying the very green scenery.

Gratuitous MINI pic

Not my driveway, but still scenic.

More Scenery

Statistics

I've arrived back in the proper time zone after a two-week whirlwind. Here are some numbers, including evidence shown on the Nuvi. Note that the drive was not continuous. I spent the majority of the time in Utah and then had detours through Kansas City, Indianapolis, and Louisville.

15 days
16 states
5540 miles
0 tickets
[Undisclosed] Diet Cokes



The Max Speed on the Nuvi has been reset to protect the innocent driver who obeyed all posted speed limits the entire time. This is an amazing, beautiful country.

Scenery

Oklahoma!

I set about driving from point A to point B on Saturday. What did you see this weekend?

Note that this isn't 490 miles to the destination, it's just to the next turn.



Texas rest stops are big. Of course, they are! What else would they be?



The last 200 miles to Phoenix were on local highways and small roads. This is entering the desert.



And just after I emerged from the forest. I somehow escaped the full brunt of the storm visible in the back.



Keep in mind this is one day, one thousand miles.

Saris Bones 2

6 Oct 2009 Update: I've posted a few more notes on my experience here.

---

I began a quest this morning to find a bike rack for my impending country lap. Europeans take note: in the next 3 weeks, I'll cover over 6000 miles without repeating terrain, while going through less than one-third the states. This is why we yanks gripe when gas prices rise, this place is huge. Hamburg to Seville is roughly a fourth of what I'll drive, and with no checkpoints.

This post is largely intended to help the fellow motorers who, like me, would give up their left, uh, toe before parting with their MINI. However, we do wonder which accessories fit our diminutive rides and how well they do it. In my search today, I couldn't find a picture of the rack I wanted on the car I have. Worse, the manufacturer's site was a little inclusive, casting enough doubt that it wasn't worth losing the cost of shipping if the thing didn't fit. Heaven knows that there just isn't a perfect match for carrying a bike on a MINI.

After a reasonably impatient search, and an obligatory swing by the local bike shop where I picked up a couple of insulated water bottles (more on those later), I settled on either a low-end Bell trunk rack or the Saris Bones 2. It took more than 2 seconds, but less than 5, to decide I wanted the Saris, if I could get a deal on one. Although the bike shop had only Yakima racks to show me in person, I called back to see if they could order a Saris. Lo and behold, I overheard the friendly mech say, "Justin? Tell him he can have my old one." (Price not disclosed.) Take note people, this is why you schmooze, talk, and otherwise design t-shirts for free for your local bike shop.

Here is the Saris Bones 2-bike rack.





The top arm doesn't actually touch the spoiler. It does rest on the lip; I'm not sure how that works over 2000 miles, but I'll be trying a few adjustments.







The following words are gratuitously included so that fellow motorers can have what I didn't: pictures of an '06 Cooper S with a Saris Bones 2 on the back. Saris, Bones 2-bike, Mini Cooper S, Mini Cooper with Saris Bones, Bones on Mini, Bones 2-bike, 2006 MINI bike rack, rack options for Cooper S, Mini trunk rack, Saris Bones 2-bike rack on 2006 Mini Cooper S.

A street half empty

I was looking at some random pictures of old Boston. I love scenes like this one.



I commented that all the streets and buildings are in use, "people still live there." My sister replied, "Yes, but they're not happy."

Two if by Sea

I spent the weekend in Boston at a Down syndrome conference. Interesting stuff. Although I've been to Boston a few times while living in New York, it has been 7 years since I walked around downtown and the historic areas. It was really great this time and not nearly as cold as when I did it last.

This is for my western friends, seeing as though most easterners probably study this stuff for years: We walked through the Paul Revere House and struck a (good) nerve with one of the stationary guides. Seeing that we were the last group and she had no requirement to repeat her lines over and over, she grabbed maps from behind the door then proceeded to lecture on more intricacies of Paul Revere's ride than I had ever read. I was stuck in my spot and soaked it in.

Here's an interesting tidbit: Revere and Dawes would not have shouted, "The British are coming!" because they considered themselves to be British citizens. They also didn't know for certain where the British were headed; the troops were already in Boston (after the tea incident), and the main suspicion was that Samuel Adams and John Hancock needed to be warned of any troop movements. Revere himself would have put the lanterns in the Old North Church, knowing that they were visible across the water gap, knowledge he gained while working in the church as a boy. Ultimately, Revere was made famous by Longfellow's poem just prior to the Civil War, written as propaganda. He intentionally omitted mention of Dawes and the others in order to emphasize the notion that one, single individual can be historically significant.




25 minutes later and we looked back at the Old North Church.

MINI EV

From Automotive News Europe, via Wired, another in an lengthening line of things BMW-makes-but-won't-sell-to-me comes the electric Cooper. I don't know that I'll ever give up the power and torque of the S, but man, would I appreciate at least the opportunity to turn my nose up.



The gist is that MINI needs to meet a California requirement to produce a certain number of zero-emission vehicles in its fleet by the year 2014. But my cynical side says here's hoping the JCW Clubman stays available for those of us below the Mason-Dixon line.

Can I get fries for free if I tell someone?

A volley of pundits started with an article in Time written by Anita Hamilton wherein she laments the forthcoming App Store* won't have free apps. She notes that many other distributors give their software away for free; they instead sell ad space and transfer the cost from you to the advertiser. Her reasoning behind the lack of free from Apple: "quite simply, because people are still willing to pay for them." The Macalope responds here. And the Gruber puts in his two cents, too.

I'm not so convinced that Ms. Hamilton is whining. Although it's possible that I didn't read the article closely enough, I still didn't get an overwhelming sense that all is wrong with the world because of Apple. Instead, I read that most people make software so bad that they have to give it away. Many Apple developers, on the other hand, make something so good that people want it. And they pay for it.

Quite frankly, this rule of quality is something that will never be dominated by the masses. It is certainly not easy to create something that has great value, but if it does, customers will pay. I've found the same to be true lately of business purchases and sales. When we create something that actually works for the customer in a really good way, beyond their expectation, they want to know or buy more.




* The App Store is a store for buying programs that run on your iPhone. Well, actually, buying programs that run on my iPhone. If you had an iPhone, you'd already know this, so I have to assume you don't have one yet.

Nostalgic Hammer

While perusing old episodes of Hammer & Coop, I was admiring the 180-degree, backwards spin in Episode 1 (about a minute-and-a-half in). It's rather MINI.



Even better, it's authentic. Here's the power slide into the street shot by an amateur several stories up.



Now that is MINI.

Artistic MINI

The trees are green, and it's 70-degrees outside.



Peace, everyone.

Sight for sore eyes

Every so often, admittedly more often lately, I work a little later at the office. The silver lining is the view from the front door of the office. I'm thankful that I enjoy the drive home. Every day.

Take 2 and call me in the morning

Two days after the tires went on the MINI and I'm feeling the love. Joining the itemized list of paid services at the tire shop was a 4-wheel alignment. What a difference $60 + tax makes. Things weren't uncomfortable before, but now the ride is smooth like my Cannondale. The response for acceleration (especially while the wheels are turned), braking, and handling are incredibly improved. The primary benefit is increased agility to avoid potholes, to which I'm now overly sensitive. This is mostly due to the heretofore mentioned cost of remedying a good rim smack.

The credit for the new grip goes to what amounts to a compromise, but one I'm willing to live with. As much as I'd love to ring some undersized Pilots on the alloy corners, the beloved 330i went through so many Z-rated tires that I've been scarred for some time. Heap on the price of gas and speed has given way to 6th gear efficiency.

When all was said and done, I went with some Continental Run-Flats from Tire Rack. Prior customers have rated them well and they were among the better deals for matching tire sizes on my stock 16s. And why the run-flats? I have to admit this was a matter of security. I've got 37500 miles on a car less than two years old; I drive across country more than my fair share. I decided that if I didn't have to pay a huge premium, and I could hold onto the sport grip, it sure would be nice not to be stranded in the middle of the country with no spare.

A new grip on reality

I put 4 new tires on the Cooper S this morning.



I love the grip of new tread. It's like getting a whole new car, mostly because you get there via balding tires that no longer grip at all. I had lost the ability to make right turns at ridiculous speeds or to punch the throttle around a tightening curve and feel the tread bite. Now I have that all back.

Saturday morning

Cycling on a lonely country road at 7am, this is what I see.



It may be hot down here, but it sure is beautiful.

Country road

Along the way to a family gathering, I had the opportunity to drive solo in the Cooper S. Gas prices being high these days, I was poking along the highway when I spotted a scenic detour. The nice thing about exploring these days is that northern Georgia is nothing but scenic and the GPS means I can't really get lost.

After 10 minutes or so, I found this rolling stretch and captured it for posterity.

Prenatal Down Syndrome Books

I've been up to my chin with some recent projects and it's time I share. One month ago we launched books for expecting parents who receive a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis. The comprehensive model includes books for the parents, guides for the medical professionals, presentations for the local Down syndrome representatives, and a training platform to teach said representatives to be professional, credible, and personable.



The full Parent book design is here.



The full Medical brochure design is here.

The printing is outstanding. We used fantastic paper, an aqueous coating, and a perfect bind that really adds polish. The response from the public has been outstanding. We released a press release a couple of days ago, and we've had a spike in orders for the Presenter Kit, including orders from overseas. In fact the first order for books came a mere 30 minutes after we sent our first email announcing them. I'm confident this is the best pieces of its kind produced for expecting parents.

My apologies to all those I've neglected over the last several weeks as we ramped up. Now, back to admiring cars and weather.

Nostalgic MINI

I recovered an old iPhoto library with some unveiling pics of the S. This is just for smiles.

Color combination

On the way to check proofs for some books I'm having printed in Atlanta, I motored down the 75 alongside two other MINIs. One was a white '07 Cooper and the other was an '06 S, like mine, with black body and black roof. MINI boasts 10,000,000 combinations in their configurator and it's no secret that picking the color is a prime identifier of how unique and sentimental owning a MINI can be. When I picked my red-with-white-roof S a couple years ago, the only other combination I considered was an all black MINI like the one I saw this morning. Boy did I make the right decision.

Of the sport cars I've had (the SAV doesn't count) in the last decade, they've all been jet black, until the MINI. My Cooper S is the first car I've owned where I dig the image and feel of the car as much as the drive itself. It's not so much about flying under the radar as that the MINI makes people friendly, happy, and sporty. Although I'm typically biased against sport cars that are not black, it's okay to have a Red Cooper S. Or a Yellow one. Or one called Hot Chocolate. The MINI has a rare ability to allow the driver to express themselves through color, options, and styling without being an overt aftermarket nut or just plain vain. So, express away.

I've thought about what I would change on a new MINI, at some point down the road. This is particularly applicable for the Clubman, which requires two tones because of the colored C pillar. I'm currently digging the black and red option.



The point is that there are very few cars that I feel can pull off the color red. (Hint, almost all come from Italy.) The MINI is an even rarer specimen in that it not only looks good, but looks better with a combination of two hues.

Notes: the pictured speedster is a Hardtop JCW. Note that it's not a JCW package; the JCW is now a trim level, just like "S."