Dec 9, 2009

It all started 25 years ago, when Kris Marshall of Iowa decked the halls hood of his truck with a strand of Christmas lights. Fast forward to today and he's still carrying on the tradition of the "Christmas Truck," but now his truck is 3,000 lights strong.

According to Jalopnik:

It's amazingly nontechnical, it's literally just lights taped to a truck. According to Marshall "It's not very scientific, it's a hideous site in the daylight, there's black tape and wires in the daytime." But at night it's amazing. Marshall has used eight trucks and added dozens of strand since, though it's always a 2WD Chevy/GMC with a regular cab and eight-foot truck bed "the way a truck ought to look."

Apparently it's all illegal, actually, though Marshall says local police officers don't seem to mind. Girlfriends, however, are another issue: "If you're picking up your girlfriend in the Christmas truck and she's not expecting the Christmas Truck that can be a dealbreaker."

Jalopnik, via Neatorama

Dec 9, 2009

"How Much Information?" is the question researchers at the University of California, San Diego have been asking themselves in a series of studies of the same name. They've found that in 2008, American consumers used a so-massive-it-sounds-made-up 3.6 zettabytes of data, making for an average of 34 gigabytes per consumer.

If that sounds ridiculously high, it helps to understand how the study defines data. In short: everything. Absolutely all the data you consume — from video games, TV shows and even the printed word — is broken down into bites bytes.

From Ars Technica:

The report involved collecting a large number of estimates of various forms of media consumption: hours spent gaming, number of newspapers sold, etc. These were combined with estimates of the amount of information content of each of these, such as the number of words in a typical newspaper, and (when necessary), converting that into bytes. As such, there are undoubtedly significant error bars on most of these estimates, although they're not provided with the numbers in the report. Still, some of the differences are pronounced enough that it's fair to say that even large errors wouldn't change many of the overall conclusions.

The study found that we spend 12 hours of each day immersed in media, with television and radio (the latter probably only mentioned as it's a "traditional form of media") accounting for half of that time, followed by video games and computer use at a quarter, and printed media coming in at 0.6 hours. There's a lot of overlap, too, meaning that some of us consume more than one kind of media at once.

I guess that makes sense, considering I'm writing this blog, scanning my reader with 40+ sites open, listening to the latest Giant Bomb podcast and queuing an episode of Castle up on Hulu for when I take a break for dinner in a few.

Via Ars Technica

9/12/09 Poor Barney has had to be put to sleep, due to a seizure. He wasn't in our care very long, but was dearly loved by his foster family. Sleep tight Barney.

Tammy is a very gentle and easy going crossbreed girl who loves company and enjoys a quiet potter in the garden. Sadly she has oral cancer so her Oldies Club foster family will keep her as comfortable as possible for whatever time she has left. Perhaps you'd like to sponsor her?

Dec 9, 2009

According to an article over at Reuters, the coming onslaught of new small car models from major manufacturers over the course of the next year may cause an oversupply in that market segment and force automakers into a situation of offering large incentives for them at reduced profits.

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Dec 9, 2009

Top of the list of gifts we'll have to wait until next year to buy is the Apple Tablet, and today there's another round of rumors swirling around the much-anticipated apparition. Now we have a couple of know-it-all analysts saying we'll be seeing a 10.1-inch tablet in March or April, 2010, and it'll cost $1000.

These prescient soothsayers add that the tablet's multitouch screen will not be an OLED panel as rumored previously, but it will be an LCD display that could be up to 12 inches in diameter — either way, the screens will reportedly have "stunning graphics." This could mean they'll be able to play 1080p video, like the Joo Joo Tablet can. Hoo boy.

How do these guys know all this? They're saying they have contacts in the supply chain, posting that secret manufacturers are gearing up to roll out up to 10 million of the tablets in 2010.

Jeez, this is highly desirable device. For us, it could replace most of the functions we use the iPhone for, such as reading, playing with apps and generally connecting via Wi-Fi (what, it's a phone?). Yeah, we'll be first in line to snap up such a sweet slab. If it exists.

Via Cult of Mac

Dec 9, 2009

We can't blame this guy for wanting to get his lawnmowing overwith as quickly as possible. But 100mph? He could lay waste to a football field in 2 minutes, 42 seconds. You're looking at the work of Project Runningblade, a British group that modified this Countax lawnmower that will attempt to mow down the world record.

Strangely enough, to break a world record for lawnmower speed, you don't actually have to be cutting any grass at those dizzying speeds. The Guinness Book of World Records only requires that the speedy lawnmower must have mown some grass on the same day it goes for the record speed, and be built of lawnmower components by a recognized lawnmower manufacturer.

Project Runningblade must beat the current world record of 80.792 mph, set at the Bonneville Salt Flats. There's grass at the Bonneville Salt Flats? Who knew?

Via Gizmag

Dec 9, 2009

In October 2007, the City of San Jose, the 10th largest city in the US, launched a Green Vision program. The program set out a plan to carry out 10 green goals, one of which is to have 100 percent of the city’s public vehicles running on alternative fuels. Ultimately, the city has set its sights on becoming the greenest city in the nation.

Many have taken notice of their efforts and city officials have been invited to participate in the Sustainable Transportation Conference in Sweden this week. United States representatives Hans Larsen, who is the Acting Director for the San Jose Department of Transportation, will be sharing the city’s perspectives on Personal Rapid Transit (PRT). Larsen will be joined by delegates from New York and Los Angeles where ultimately 200 stakeholders are expected to participate.

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