"It was winter. He was 59."

A beautiful and moving piece.

American cars: not so bad.

I'm still not convinced to consider a third Ford. It's going to take more than this to assure me that a Ford purchase on my part isn't the definition of insanity.

Diesels

Check out this article. The picture, I must say, leaves something to be desired. However, the guy knows his stuff and gives an interesting interview regarding the future of diesels. I'd buy one at the right price from the right company; sadly that correlates with nothing in the market now (VW's reliability woes are a deal breaker, and Mercedes-Benz is a bit over my head).

NAIAS

Here is my obligatory NAIAS post, with a few of my snapshots. I could ramble on about how cool the Camaro was (see below) or how I liked the Kabura (see below again), but mostly I'd like to point out a couple cars I saw that didn't make the most news elsewhere (either they weren't as popular or not as new). First up is the Honda FCX concept:

I think this car is gorgeous, with just the right techno flair mated to smooth sweeping curves. This reminds me a lot of the new Civic, and I hope Honda takes their Accord this direction.

Also, I ended up loving the Porsche Cayman. I know it's "just" a hard top Boxster, but man does it have beautiful lines. Something about the fixed roof adds some grace. Here's a picture of the important part:


Finally, I'll wrap up with my favorite pictures from the show, labeled appropriately. Enjoy.

Chevrolet Camaro:


Mazda Kabura:



Saturn Sky:

Namesnik

A nice reflection on a great life. At least part of the world noticed.

This I did not know

Of all the places, The AutoProphet has some interesting details about who owns Caribou Coffee and how they run their business. Apparently, they require Caribou to operate under Shari'ah law. As you might guess, I'm not a big fan; however, they seem to implement Shari'ah in ways that do little damage. For instance, the company's financial dealings are their own to decide, and I'm not sure I care to have pork in my coffee anyway (though they may lose my business to Bruegger's for their bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on an Asiago cheese bagel; man is that good). However, there are aspects of Shari'ah law with which I vehemently disagree, and though they don't announce it, perhaps these are followed or to be implemented given the chance. That, mainly, is why I may not spend my money there. If a Muslim found out that my business practices offended him (due to his religion or, really, for any other reason), I would not be surprised if he didn't want to fund the enterprise. Therefore, Starbucks it is.

Kaus and design

Mickey Kaus may know a lot, but clearly his automotive styling tastes run counter to the majority of humans. Many people think the Challenger, or even the Mustang, is a better looking car. But with the Camaro concept winning awards like this, no one seems to be calling it "horrid". I for one prefer the Camaro concept's look to that of the Challenger and Mustang. It has a modern treatment of the classic Camaro lines baked in, and I see that as preferable to a basic Xerox of the original shape, e.g. the Challenger. I think the Camaro makes the other two look old and dated, but of course they are supposed to look old and dated. However, I'm not old, so why would I want an old looking car? I could always buy an original (or, at least, a copy) in any event; you might retort that safety, emissions and interior design have come a long way in the last forty years. You would be right, and that's why people don't buy the old cars and why there's a market for these retro machines. But I figure, if you're going to update the safety, emissions, reliability, ergonomics and interior design, why would you want to mate that with forty year old styling? Thus, the Camaro concept is victorious.

May he rest in peace

My favorite swimmer of all time, and a man I have always held in the highest regard, passed away recently. Eric Namesnik swam at the University of Michigan for a number of years, won two Olympic silver medals and took second place in what I would call the most exhilarating race ever. He inspired me in my short swimming career; the story always went that he was the straight arrow hard worker, while Tom Dolan had the natural talent. Despite all the hard work, it seemed to end up that Dolan always came out on top. I identified with that, and it helped me keep striving even when things didn't go my way, both in and out of the water. More than just a phenomenal swimmer, it turns out Eric was a stand up guy as well, coaching in the years after his retirement and loving his wife and two kids. I pray that his family can hold together through this, that his wife can grieve and yet be comforted, and that his children would indeed have a strong father figure in their lives. The world should mourn when good men like this are taken from us. It doesn't of course, but it should.

Coup d'état?

This wasn't my first choice, but, I'll admit, this may prove a better move in the long run. At least GM is in the game.

Graduate Student Waves

I found out recently, since my current line of work keeps me far from quantum mechanics, that I do indeed have a wave associated with me. (The de Broglie matter wave, apparently. If I'm misguided in some technical way about this, feel free to correct me. Also feel free to use your obviously considerable intellect to better mankind rather than correcting a mere engineer like me.) This is in stark contrast to the position I took in a offhand discussion with a friend a few weeks back. My point was: "Look! Do you see any waves? Exactly." Now I realize they are just too small to see, even with some really cool scientific instruments. Thus, I'm not entirely sure how to experimentally confirm all this, but since we do seem to have extraneous graduate students lying around, we could atleast attempt the two slit trick with them. With a little funding I'm sure I could find few willing souls.

Intuition and Zygotes

Check out this post by Ross over at The Daily Dish. I find this an interesting discussion of the pro-life point of view, with points I haven't heard elsewhere. My view is likely similar to Ross's "pro-life position", so this (and similar) discourse encourages me that a realistic and rational "pro-life" change can be made to American law. What that change would specifically be, I don't know. There are so many issues surrounding abortion (cultural, political, logical and practical) that no simple solution exists. Maybe I'll be inspired and think of a good one someday, but regardless of who is the impetus, I hope to see that change soon.