Time of the season

Good grief! The Zombies are back.

'Ostalgia' overcomes all

Awful Trabant to make a comeback.

New Windows for old

On the laptop front I have been wrestling with Windows 98SE like déjà vu all over again. After cleaning and rebuilding the registry the Dell machine is now running smoothly - boots far quicker than my Windows XP machine. I'm holding off on Vista bloatware. A whole new sub-laptop segment is opening up with machines like the Asus Eee - my nephew has just bought one and is delighted with his new low-cost internet toaster. It has built-in Skype with camera, internet, open office etc all for $400. HP are piling in with a $500 machine.
Yesterday I went to Future Shop to buy a floppy disk [or disc] - I needed a new one to make a boot disk. The guy at the store wasn't sure whether they had any and then said you're lucky that we have them in stock. At the checkout they asked what I wanted them for - of course I had to buy a pack of ten. It is the NA way!

Imperial comeback

Natural Resources Canada has published a Fuel Consumption Guide which includes miles per imperial gallon. An NRC spokesman at the Canadian Autoshow said they were included because many Canadians have no clue what the metric measurements mean. At last the light is dawning. Here is a sample for economy cars:

Vehicle, City/Highway m.p.g.

Toyota Prius, 71/67
Honda Civic Hybrid, 60/66
Smart fortwo, 48/59
Toyota Yaris, 40/51
Honda Fit, 40/50
Ford Focus, 33/50
Nissan Versa, 38/47

It is that time of year

Fifty-five Le Mans entries for Le Circuit de la Sarthe. Entry list here.

All that is old is new again

New loco will steam soon.

Another one bites the dust

The postcard it seems is going the way of the typewriter.

Old computers never die

Must check out this museum in Brantford, Ontario, the town where Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.

Cheap Charlie rides again

Greetings from an arctic Canada. I've just set up a wireless network in the apartment and am testing on my ancient Dell laptop, launched in 1999, and still going strong. I only got my hands on it recently. Re-installed two keytops on keyboard - develish job supposed to be impossible. Machine wouldn't boot so tested hardware with Damn Small Linux - cleared out startup files and managed to start Windows - installed wireless card $28 - updated Windows 98 SE via Windiz using free Wi-Fi at the library. I tried IE, Firefox and Opera to access the net but only Firefox 2.0.0.12 will work on my wireless net. So now I have a road warrior for next to nothing which hopefully will provide email and blog access on summer trip out west, also photo vault. Exploit low-cost technology!
BTW these machines were $3000 and up when launched. Now they are seen as despicable old hat. Give it another fifteen years or so and folk will be waxing nostalgic like with the Commodore 64. I'm prepared to wait.

Small town Friday night

By popular request a longer blog post about my adventures. To Orangeville for a wedding 18:00 Friday night. We get a lift in a Chevy Cavalier. We are running late in the traffic towards Dufferin County which has been buried in the recent snow. We creep into the back of the Catholic Church wondering whether the couple are actually married yet. We decamp to Il Corso, an Italian restaurant, where a jolly party gets underway. Turns out the priest is an anglophile and points out the Brits present - he is distantly related to Malcolm Muggeridge. The boss tells of working long hours seven days a week while I blag a red wine at the bar.
Back to the motel late where they are wondering if we are ever going to show. I've just gone fast asleep when there is a loud banging on the door - police. What in the hell's name can they want? "What can we do to assist you" say I. Turns out there has been a break-in at an adjacent strip mall and footprints lead to one of the four rooms on our block. We hear a shouting match starting next door. Finally get to sleep when 06:00 and the alarm goes off - who needs "the wind beneath my wings" at this time of day. Up early and the motel fails the drop test - no hot water for a shower. It is snowing so we take a taxi to the 'bus station' - a convenience store where English is seldom spoken. We buy our Greyhound tickets and trudge across the street to the A&W, 'The Dub', for breakfast. The 'hound shows up right on time and drops us at Islington subway station in 65 minutes. We are home in short order after our trip to the country.

At long last

Robin Miller brings the story of the possible re-uniting of Indy Cars and Champ Cars - a move long overdue.

Capital Clipper

When in London take the Thames Clipper.

Your own personal helicopter

Check out Robinson Helicopters here.

Streetcar undesirables

How GM et al killed off the streetcar in North America.