A little comedy a day, keeps the docter away.
This is still one of my all time favorites, you can find more at GoComics – Calvin & Hobbes.
AutoAfrica 2006 November 22, 2006
Even though car prices keep on rising, and people keep on arguing that we pay too much, we still love that brand-spanking new shiny model that we had our eyes on ever since it’s preconception on some designer’s drawing board.
And who can we blame for that; every year the manufacturers wow us with more gadgets, smarter technology, sleeker lines and better performance for the “same” price, upping the desirability even more.
This year AutoAfrica was no different. Aston Martin, Ferrari, Maserati and all the rest were there to showcase the latest and the greatest on offer. For mere mortals like myself, getting this close to some of these cars doesn’t happen very often, and being able to get inside, play with the buttons and get demonstations on the latest gadgets, is a real treat. I quite liked the BMW heads-up display, could possible be the best toy for the boy racer! In terms of sound, the Audi A8 was sound-proof from the outside, but pretty loud inside…
Audi had by far the best all round stand, showcasing most of their performance models including the RS4 cabriolet and the recently launced R8 supercar with huge carbon fiber panels on the side.
The running joke for my friends and I was to ask the attendants at the stands how many bodies can fit the boot, and whether the car’s 0-100 acceleration and handling would be badly affected by the weight at the back. We also wanted to know how comfortable the back seats would be in case we decide to sell the house to get the car… This actually turned into a few interesting discoveries regarding these features.
Hyundai Azera surprised with comfort at the back as well as boot space and all round quality and features; we reckoned that for the price you would not find a better family sedan.
BMW had the Z4 coupe, very good-looking little competitor to the Porsche Cayman. In my books though, it would be hard to beat the supercar brand. They also had the M6 cabriolet with heads-up display and a descent boot for a convertible. This is a big car and I think would make for a great speed cruiser.
VW had all the usual people carriers, including the Polo Gti that I found rather disappointing. The interior did not do it for me, especially the horrible cloth trim pattern of black and red. I guess you do not buy this car for interior. VW also showcased the new Eos cabriolet and for some reason I got the feeling that the manufacturers were trying to see who can come up with the most complicated folding roof construction.
You could see the same thing with Volvo’s C70 cabriolet, in my opinion a work of art. Art in motion. Not so sure how long that would last though, you could see the benefits when you look at the bootspace with the roof folded down. The entire new range look stunning, and although not much different from before, the attention to detail made for a perfect evolution of the shape. I was especially impressed with the interior where material quality met build quality, complimented by an air of solidness that I haven’t felt in any car before. The design and colour scheme matched the outside looks and inside quality for absolute perfection. In my opinion the star of the show, it makes me wonder why Volvos don’t sell very well. I cannot confirm this, but I’ve heard that maintenance and parts are heavy on the wallet. That might also explain the second-hand value of these cars. Sad.
Apart from the cars we saw some motoX action and had a go on the Seqway “Human Transporter”. I’m not so sure how much ‘human transporting’ it’ll do at R40k each, but very cool technology nevertheless.
Can’t wait for the next AutoAfrica!
Moving November 12, 2006
After a couple of hours of reading and playing around with WordPress, I’ve finally moved over most of my posts and set up as much as I can.
I think a little more refining would be necessary, but that would come with time.
I’ll post a little more about what I’ve found to be different between WordPress and Blogger in the days to come.
I need to get to bed now, have to drive back to Johannesburg early tomorrow!
Excel Puzzle (Novice) November 8, 2006
I’m not much of an Excel expert, but today I had to find a formula for doing something like the following:
We have three colums.
Column A has a list of values, column B has another list of values (of the same type).
In column C we want to list all the values from column B that also exists in column A.
Write an Excel formula to do that!
Software By Rob November 3, 2006
For a developer in the corporate world, things might not always be sunshine and cocktails with pretty little umbrellas. Developers tend to be a different breed of species all together. Pointy-haired bosses aside, managing a bunch of code junkies can be even worse, most probably because of the differences between the kind of personality management has, and that of the developers.
A technical manager, or someone with technical experience and background can be a wonderful gift to any development team, since they can be the bridge that crosses the divide between the technical and business side of any project.
I found this blog, www.softwarebyrob.com, where the author touches on many of the issues related to exactly this issue. I’ve started with ‘Nine Things Developers Want More Than Money’ and I soon moved on to the comments and some of the other articles.
It’s a great read, enjoy…
