AAS

I think I saw a camo'd Smart Four-Two.

Not really... I've been using PC's since about 1993, and switching to a Mac about a couple years ago was a piece of cake. It only takes a few hours to get used to the OS.

So... you've owned GM vehicles all your life, which means lots of those did NOT have OnStar. And, just because your most current one does have it, and it can't be upgraded, you will never buy another GM vehicle? Since OnStar is so important to you, what vehicle (that must offer OnStar) will you buy next, that isn't a GM vehicle? Cuz... it wouldn't exactly make sense to ditch GM for not being able to upgrade your OnStar, and then buy a new car that doesn't even offer it.

I use a Dell Dimension 4600 at work, and it is flawless. I bought a lower-end desktop for home, and the hard drive siezed after 10 months. Customer service was annoying, because I'd tell them that, for example, I completed steps 1 through 4 in diagnosing the problem and it failed all the tests. So they would e-mail back and say... it failed step 1, so try step 2. After finally getting through to them, they sent a hard drive to somebody that was supposed to come and replace it, but they never did. So, I nagged again and they sent one directly to me. Anyway... I'm now hooked on Apples, ever since I got a PowerBook G4 to work with. I'm sticking with them from now on.

That sums up my thoughts. I drove an S6 a couple years ago, 2.4T I think, and the lag just kills the car. It was the first time I really drove around Mexico City, and it was definitely the wrong car to be in. I needed to make quick decisions to cut accross traffic, merge, etc... and the car just didn't do what I needed. It's like you have to think 5 seconds ahead, and accelerate accordingly. Anyway... I voted Altima, but I really like the GP too. Especially if you can get your hands on a GTP!

:lol: :pokeowned: (I usually don't used the "owned" smily, but it's just so appropriate for this situation)

Ehhhh... ummm... really? Some carbon fiber in an aftermarket wing would look cool. But I think a carbon fiber trunk-lid (it isn't just a sticker, right ) would be a bit much. It would probably look good, but I've actually grown out of the whole automotive aftermarket stuff.

I can't wait!!! I have a Jabra plug-in headset for my phone, and my girlfriend complains that it sounds like $h!... and that's not even when I'm in the car!

I'd rather have humidity then dry air! For as much water that I drank, I still felt dehydrated and crappy.

I second that. Typing requires you look at the phone, and makes you lose focus on the road and surroundings.

Same here. I'll have 10-20 minute conversations during my drives between LA and SD. On rare occasions I'll make short calls on the streets, but only if I'm driving a car with an automatic transmission.

So... if we're in Spring, why the hell is is 82 degrees out!!! I love hot weather, but not when I have to play a soccer game (at least it's not a full 90 minutes) in the middle of the day!

The most consistent result I am finding is this: The efficiency of electric motors increases with higher loads (as a percentage of the total allowable load). I am EXTRAPOLATING from this, to say the following: Loads on the motor(s) driving a vehicle are highest when accelerating from a stop (or low speeds), and not as high once the vehicle has momentum (edit: added text) and is coasting. Hence, efficiency is better at low speeds as opposed to higher ones (edit: added text) when the vehicle is at a constant speed or operating under "low" acceleration. Here's a figure that might be helpful [ Garcia, A.G.P., et al., Energy-efficiency standards for electric motors in Brazilian industry. Energy Policy (2007), doi:10.1016/ j.enpol.2006.11.024]: edit: added pic

Yeah... that's what I found here, but I wanted to find some more general results before posting anything definitive. I wish I had my undergrad engineering books with me... I could have sworn I had one with info about motor efficiency vs. rpm's.

No luck finding what I'm looking for...

True (edit: maybe not true), but what about efficiency? I think there is a drawback of operating them, vs. an engine, at high RPM's.

I can't find anything that says so, but I don't think your comment holds for ALL RPM's. I'm pretty sure motors are good for low~mid range RPM's, and engines are god for mid-high RPM's. Which is why the Prius starts with a motor, then switches to the engine at higher speeds.

Did the C&G website account for it? My board setting have the wrong time.

I saw one! Maybe even this one! It was exiting the freeway, somewhere in the OC.

Driving through this place was such a "trip!" We were coming from the South(?) up through the mountains, on whatever highway goes through Blackhawk. We drove through all kinds of cool little mountain towns etc. Then you get to a really narrow pass between some peaks... awesome driving... and my buddies and I are thinking "wow... what kind of cool town are we going to drive through now!" So, it was a huge shock to see that Blackhawk is like a mini Las Vegas/Reno, in the middle of a frickin mountain! It blew our minds! I did... I've spent a month there the past two Summers, working through UCSD for the lab. I've seen lots of NM (Los Alamos, White Rock, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, White Sands Missle Range, Las Vegas, Taos, Red River ...), and it's a really cool state. Totally different "style" compared to Colorado. It's amazing how you cross the border and go from all the Southwest style and theme, to the "mountain" living theme. FYI, my favorite BBQ place, "The Cowgirl," is in Santa Fe.

'01-'02... I don't have it

I was in that general area last summer... I don't remember how far it is from Denver (it's closer to Boulder), but the Rocky Mountain National Park is cool. Though the trail we took to get up might be closed, so you'd have to take the main road trail (?). Grand Lake, a town south(?) of the park is really cool too. Also... there are some small towns south-west of Boulder. We drove throught them, but they looked cool. (Leadville etc., there's a highway that goes through them that eventually gets you to the Vail area) Unfortunately, I didn't get to spend any time in Denver, since it was only a 3-day roadtrip and we had to get back to Los Alamos, NM!

Good call... the volume could just be muted.

Oh yeah... I don't know how to check if a sound card has fried. And, depending on whether it is integrated (part of the motherboard) or stand-alone, it could be a pain-in-the-ass or piece-of-cake respectively.

Umm... uh... PC or Mac? Assuming it's a PC, you could go to the control panel > sounds, speech, and audio devices > sounds and audio devices > hardware (tab), and see if things (speakers, sound card) are listed as installed. You can also try going to the control panel > printers and other hardware > add hardware, go through the promts, and whatever isn't installed should have a question mark in front of it. Hopefully somebody with more computer skills can help you out. The only reason I know this is because I had to reinstall everything (drivers, software etc.) after my hard drive failed.