Big sneakers for big feet

I finally found a pair of sneakers that fit right. Starter sneakers in size 12W ("W" is "Wide"). I have very happy feet now because my old sneakers are worn out.

You know what they say about guys with big feet.

Big shoes.

Camaro Concept Car

All I can say is that I'm glad the car is still in conceptual stages, meaning hopefully the car won't look completely like this. More on that in a moment.

I remember seeing several test mule Mustangs in Motor Trend before Ford released a full production version, both on paper and in real form. I think they got that one mostly right. The Mustang is a great looking and great performing car and yeah, if I had the money I'd probably buy one.

I also remember seeing the Dodge Viper in clay model stages (also from Motor Trend). That car is the only one I've ever seen where there was very little difference from clay to real production form - which in itself is shocking to begin with because that almost never happens.. but the car was an awesome ride even from the baby stages so there was no need to stray too far from the original concept.

As far as this Camaro goes, I dunno. The front air inlet I don't like. The side air vents I do like. The raised cowl on the hood I like. Side windows look way too small, causing the wheels to look way too huge. Rear tail lights for some reason look "angry" (but maybe that's the point..?) Combine that with the large rectangle for the rear license plate with the bow tie logo for a nose and it looks like an angry robot going EX-TER-MI-NATE - and that's not a good thing.

I can see an attempt at '69 Camaro styling here, but I'm praying that they re-work it a bit. Tail lights should be rectangular with rounded edges reminiscent of the '69, the exhaust tips need to be pointing down not out or blackened out, a different styled wheel needs to be used, the bowtie on the back needs to be moved to the bottom right (80's style), and the car needs an accent of some kind, either by thin chrome on the side or something like that. It also needs to say "Camaro" on the back somewhere. And those side mirrors have gotta go for something a tad larger. The Camaro logo on the side of the car needs to be moved down about five inches.

Am I being picky? Yes, I am. :-) I really don't care about the performance specs, the appearance of the car is the first thing people see. It's kind of like the same thing with the modern Dodge Charger. Great engines, great car, but ugly. Hopefully the Camaro won't suffer the same fate.

Back when 16 colors and DOS was king of the online world

This, dear readers, is how I prove without a shadow of a doubt that I'm computer geek (grin).

About once I year I get the yearning for running a BBS again. No, not an internet forum, I'm talking about a text-based Bulletin Board System.

Some background information on BBS'ing: My first online experience was with DOS. DOS v6.0 (before 6.22!) to be exact. The way people got online back then was by phone line only and you connected to local systems that people ran out of their homes.

Out of their homes? Yes. BBS SysOp's (that's System Operator - and I was one at one point) would run a single-node (meaning only one connection at a time) BBS using nothing but DOS and the BBS software of their choice. Multitasking? HA! Like it existed back then. Well, it in fact did, but that's a whole other story.

A true BBS is nothing but text on screen with 16-color ANSI codes. No mouse. Nothing to click. Keyboard only. BBS users were usually local and people you knew mainly due to the reason no one wanted to rack up the phone bill with long distance calls to out-of-area systems. Message boards were predominantly local per system. Very up-to-do BBS Sysop's actually used FidoNET which was an international messaging system that still exists to this day.

The modern version of BBS's provide connectivity by means of telnet. Telnet is a protocol, like HTTP or FTP and usually operates on port 23. HTTP is normally port 80 and FTP is normally port 21.

What I need to run one of these bad boys is an ISP who would allow me to run a telnet server. And man, I wish I could.. but I can't right now because it would violate the "Fair Use Policy" of my ISP. Blah.

Some would ask "Why bother? What's the point?" Well, it's for the same reason anyone does anything that's considered "not necessary":

Because they can.

More Garmin POI goodness

This entry is a follow-up to this one.

I should have noted in my last article about this (see above) that if desired, you can drive around with your i3/c340/2720 Garmin GPS Unit to mark waypoints, export to MapSource as a GPX, convert to CSV, then use POI Loader to send the CSV to your GPS as a POI Database.

Here's how that's done:

1) Drive around and mark the places where you want your POI's to be. This is easy enough. Every time you come to a spot where you want a POI to be, just set a "Favorite" (waypoint). Do this as many times as desired.

2) Export the waypoints to MapSource when you get back home.

3) Export the MapSource waypoints as a GPX file.

4. Use GPXtoPOI to convert the GPX to a CSV (the only type of database that POI Loader uses).

5. Use POI Loader to import the database to your Garmin mobile GPS unit, such as the i3, c340 or 2720.

In the event you have more POI's to add later but don't want to lose your old ones, the easiest way to do this is to have multiple CSV files and have POI Loader load them all at once.

Say you have an existing CSV file. Leave it where it is. Just make your new updated CSV file, put it in the SAME directory where your old CSV file is, and run POI Loader. The POI Loader software will take ALL CSV's in the directory and load them into your GPS unit. Not to worry, these files are very small and won't take away all the storage space... not unless you have several thousand POI's. ;-)

Why I think GPS should be a standard feature in every single car made

Earlier today:

I'm fueling up at the gas station. A lady pulls up behind me to put gas in her car. I finish pumping my gas, go inside to pay, then come back out. I get in my vehicle, start it and am about to head out. The lady behind me sees that I'm ready to pull forward and leave but then backs up herself and heads out (guess she couldn't wait the extra thirty seconds).

I'm on my way home and I know my route. The GPS has allowed me to try several different ways home and I pick the one I always go by. I turn down a side street and who do I see? The same lady turning around because she's lost - and she's a local.

It simply amazes me to no end how many people don't know where they're going in their own home town. I am hoping that the auto manufacturers will wise up and start putting GPS as a standard - or at least an optional - feature in all cars, including the smaller ones. I can honestly say (if I haven't said it enough) that GPS is the best damn vehicle accessory I've ever purchased, hands down. I use it so much that if given the choice between radio or GPS, I'd take GPS without hesitation, tunes be damned.

Right now you can get GPS on most middle to high end cars and trucks, but it's still not available on most smaller affordable cars. If you go back through my blog entries here, you'll see I'm a huge fan of GPS. It is undoubtedly the best thing to happen to driving in a very long time. I recommend to anyone to get a GPS. You can now buy one for just over 300 bucks.

Some would say "Pff.. I'll just read a map." Everyone says that until they actually use GPS and then they never go back. Repeat: They never go back. Reading a map compared to GPS is analogous to using tin cans tied with a string compared to a phone. The difference is like night and day.