PadMapper, the best Alternative to Westside Rentals

The birth of Westside Rentals

In 1996, Mark Verge saw an opportunity and pounced on it. He put all the disparate Los Angeles landlord postings into one database and charged users to search it. In the day, it made sense, LA Times, LA Weekly, Pennysaver, and more were all needed to start your rental search.

Today, Craigslist is the clearinghouse that more and more tech savvy landlords are turning to for apartment listings. Unfortunately, Craigslist has its flaws.

Many in LA can't seem to figure out that Hollywood is in Central LA, not the Westside/Southbay. Mis-categorized items make your search much more difficult.

Padmapper "Making Apartment Hunting Suck Less"
The solution I relied on during my latest rental search is PadMapper. They overlay Craigslist postings on an easy to use Google Map. You can filter for keywords and even look at the postings / photos without going to Craigslist.

There are a few Local LA sites that you may want to try, but PadMapper is definitely the way to go:

General LA

TheRentalGirl.com- All Around the LA Area

Central LA

Art Deco Apartments- For those looking for an architecturally significant rental in Central LA

Spaulding Avenue Apartments- Near the Grove

Southbay

Inland Pacific Management, LLC

JekinsBeachRentals

Pacific Listings

Marine View Management

SlingPlayer Mobile for Android Finally Here! (almost)

I waited so long for this that I have actually liquidated my Slingbox Pro on eBay a few months ago. This would have been the perfect opportunity to use the EVO 4's silly kickstand!

Two reasons why I use Android Voice Recognition for EVERYTHING

ONE: It flat out works! Sure there is the occasional fast <--> best snafu, but the time savings using voice recognition and then tidying up with the optical mouse and virtual keypad are not to be ignored. Voice rec seems to be available in all apps and it really is a time saver. If I had an office versus a cube, I would want to use this for all of my text input needs. Note: If I had an office with a door, I would probably leave the door open to annoy you.

TWO: I am lazy. I have always been looking for time saving ways of interacting with technology. I am a strong advocate of the Thinkpad TrackPoint and used Palm OS graffiti until the very end. I was bitter Android didn't give me Graffiti until I updated my Samsung Moment to 2.1. Not only did I find voice recognition nirvana, I also was able to install Gesture Search.

Google Gesture Search allows me to use my phone with one hand (like good ole Palm intended). I can launch apps, dial contacts or launch bookmarks with the swipe of a thumb or finger. Now, I just need a hard button shortcut to launch Gesture Search and I will be golden.

Things You Need to Know: GMail Tips- Viewing Unread Messages

How many times have you skipped over an email intending to get back to it in the future? If you are like me, you probably do this dozens of times a day. Well, today I decided it was time to read those unread messages and I was frustrated that GMail doesn't seem to have the ability to filter unread messages. This exercise proved to me that while Google typically offers a good user experience, they want you to work a little harder than services like Yahoo! (I like your style Google!)

A quick use of the-Google led me to the simple trick: Search for: is:unread or filter:unread

Enjoy!

Flash 10.1 will (finally) Bring Slingbox to Android & Palm Web OS

Slingplayer Mobile on my PalmOS Treo 700P was a huge feature that I wanted in my next smartphone.

I would use the player to watch shows in bed as I was drifting off to sleep, or watch breaking news events. I was driving home the day the bridge fell in Minneapolis and was able to see live video while stuck in LA traffic on my commute.

iPhone, Palm OS, Blackberry and Windows Mobile have supported SlingPlayer Mobile for some time. Each of these solutions is flawed in a serious way:

iPhone- WiFi only. Like so many other apps in the ATT / Apple walled garden, this is LAME.

Palm OS- This is a dying platform

Blackberry- I have no interest in this antiquated OS.

Windows Mobile- See Palm OS

Sling announced this week at CES it will support Adobe Flash 10.1. Devices with Flash 10 support will be able to view Sling Player content on their desktop or mobile devices. Word is this will only work with Slingbox® Pro-HD and Slingbox SOLO. I believe Sling tried restricting which devices would work with the iPhone when the app was released and eventually supported all Sling Devices.

I have sold my SlingPlayer Pro on eBay anticipating Sling wold never get around to supporting Android. I may be shopping for a new Sling in the near future when Android 2.1 comes to the Samsung Moment in the first half of 2010.

UPDATE:  3/20/10 Engadget has a demo here

Transition to Android: A PalmOS Addict's Story

I was a Palm Treo 700P user for several years. I made the jump to smart phones with trepidation because I didn't want to give up my huge screen and Graffiti text input method. I was using a Sony Clie TH55 prior to the Treo and didn't know how I could handle the switch. The Sony had WiFi, a full color touch screen and Palm's capable OS with a Sony overlay. (My PDA History)

The transition was not nearly as rough as I had expected. I had long been a fan of scroll wheels on the Clie PDA's and the thought of a 5D directional pad was a huge turn off. The transition was made easier because the TH55 was meant to be ambidextrous and placed the scroll wheel in the center of the back of the machine instead of the traditional right-hand side. Minutes after using the Treo 700P, I became a huge 5D pad fan, much like my affection for the Thinkpad's TrackPoint.

The Treo 700P was perfect for one-handed operation. The applications available in 2006 were amazing for their time (still are). It took me almost a full year to tease out the magic streaming podcast capabilities of Kinoma player. I paid $30 for the ability to watch YouTube and hadn't thought to explore more of the program's capability. I became addicted to NPR hourly news and TED Talks.

I also picked up a Slingbox and Slingplayer mobile. I have a DVR at home and the Slingplayer was great to catch live news on the go or the occasional South Park in bed.

Documents to Go was a solid app that allowed you to view and create Microsoft documents on the phone. I could not understand why people flocked to WinMo devices with their sub-par document handling capabilities. You would assume the maker of the native PC based software could make a better mobile experience, but you know what they say about people who make assumptions...

Easy Sync allowed me to sync my work email calendar with my phone. Hopefully, you are not saddled with the Lotus relic at your workplace, but if you are, Easy Sync would have made the early 2000's much easier on you.

I was also able to continue using Graffiti with Graffiti Anywhere. Although not nearly the seamless experience it was on the PDA's, it was serviceable enough on the Treo that I used it about 50% of the time vs. the hard keyboard.

My Search

When Palm announced the Pre with WebOS at CES last year, I thought my ship had come in. Here was the company I had been devoted to since the late '90's and they finally got off their ass and made a new OS. I was at Best Buy the day the Pre was released. I wasn't put off by the iPhone superfan negative reviews that preceded launch day. I played with the phone for about 20 minutes and found it to be very visually appealing, but also very slow and limited. I kept the faith for a couple months before I started to seriously pursue the Android platform.

Streaming

I needed something that could wire-less-ly access podcasts with one program like Android. This alone eliminated the iPhone from my consideration list. Sure there were NPR and other ad hoc streaming apps, but I wanted a clearing house for all my podcast needs. Android seemed to be lacking this capability and Google stepped up and wrote a no-frills app, Google Listen, to fill the void.

Keyboards

Although the Treo had a physical keyboard, I do not find myself married to the idea of that keyboard. I decided the Blackberry Storm may be the device for me. Blackberry seemed to be putting some amount of muscle behind its application library and didn't seem to be as anal as Apple was about letting users use the full capability of their phones.

I was at Verizon the day the Storm was released. I was intrigued by the click screen, but after 5 or so minutes of using the garbage OS, I went away disgusted.

Directional Pads

Few phones on the market today seem to have a 5D pad. One-handed operation has been sacrificed to ensure a sexy form factor. Palm never made any claim to having an attractive phone. The Treo line screamed, I am a nerd who really likes technology.

True, the HTC Hero and Google Nexus One both have trackballs, but the Hero's is useless and I assume the Nexus One to be similar as it is also made by HTC. I spent another 20 minutes with the HTC Hero on the day Sprint released it. I was in love with the Android 1.5 OS and Sense UI. Unfortunately, the virtual keyboard was garbage and ruined the experience for me. I needed a physical keyboard, even though I loved the idea of the iPhone's lack of a keyboard since day 1. It was just like my old TH55 with a cell phone.

Cutting to the Chase- Samsung Moment

I waited as long as humanly possible to update my beloved Treo 700P. When I read the announcement that Sprint would also carry the Samsung Moment, I knew it would be my next phone. It seemed perfect for me, Android OS, physical keyboard, and optical mouse, the next best thing to a 5D pad. I read the mixed reviews of the device and headed for the Sprint store. They were completely sold out, but there was a customer upgrading from his bricked Treo to the Samsung that let me take a look. I spent no more than a minute checking it out before I headed home to order it off the web through my Employee Discount website. Check your employer for discounts on cell plans. My company has discounts with all providers, ATT, Sprint, Verizon and T Mobile.

Diving In

I exported my contact data from the Palm and uploaded it to my Gmail account. (This is my only hesitation about the phone. Google has such a lock on my personal information at this point. Hell, I am blogging this on a Blogger account.) The contacts merged fairly easily with my email and the phone was connected to my Google calendar as well.

Google Listen

This was the first app I downloaded. It is free and does a good job of hunting for podcasts and managing your favorites as subscriptions. I have mild complaints about how it seems to lag finding the latest podcast and it sometimes starts into the cast and starts over after a short period. I just downloaded an update tonight that I hope will improve these issues. Even so, it is a livable, free, replacement for Kinoma Player. I had no complaints about Kinoma, but technology is always improving...

Slingbox UPDATE 1.10.1

Sling seems to have no interest in Android OS. I have sold my Slingbox. I would love to have this with my phone, but by the time Sling gets on the Android train, Hulu and others may have made cable TV irrelevant. Tell Sling that you want an Android app now!

Documents to Go

This was the first and so far only pay app I have downloaded. I love it. Very similar experience to Palm OS, but no sync with your computer. We live in the cloud now :(

Evernote

I got this after Docs to Go and it may be a viable free alternative with some additional juicy features. I LOVE how the app will OCR text on photos and make it searchable. I use it to snap pics of wines I like.

Companion Link

I am demoing this pay app for two weeks. It has worked fine for me, although I have seen some nasty reviews. If you aren't saddled to Lotus Notes, there must be many, cleaner solutions to sync your work and Google calendars.

Astro

This task manager / backup utility is great, and free!

Locale

This is an amazing app. Can't believe they don't charge for it. Allows you to set phone settings for different locations, times, WiFi networks, etc. Change your wallpaper at work to your company logo to let your boss know you are a team player!

Super High Output a No-SHO: Ford and the Dumbing Down of America

Apparently, Ford has little regard for its potential customers and their intellect. It feels either their memories are too short or their brains are too full to understand S.H.O. versus "SHO."

In 1989, Ford set the automotive world afire with with the 3.0L, 220hp, V6, Taurus Super High Output, or S.H.O.

Back in the day, we were impressed with 220 hp from a naturally aspirated V6.

Today, Ford has revived the S.H.O. moniker for a 3.5L 365hp, twin-turbo charged V6. To be honest, 365 hp from a 3.5L, force inducted engine can hardly be considered "Super High Output", but come on! "SHO?" Have you no shame?

Interestingly, this is not the first occasion Ford has taken to spoon feed a naming convention to its customers. Take for instance the 1993-1998 Lincoln Mk VIII. If you were interested in one of babies, you would go to your local dealership and inquire about the "Lincoln Mark Eight". Today, after skipping the Mk IX, we have the MKX. Ford apparently felt customers had so much difficulty with Roman Numerals that they couldn't be troubled with the name "Mark Ten" so they have thrown in the towel and refer to the vehicle as the "MKX".

Aside from being a complete departure from decades of "Mark" names, this adds to the confusion in the alphabet soup names of the Luxury market.

Order Of Operations

We all remember FOIL from Algebra I.

First

Outer

Inner

Last

Following these steps was the key to unlocking binomials. While almost everybody is able to maneuver through basic Algebra, why do I see the order of operations violated so many times during everyday life?

How many people do you see fill their paper cup with piping hot coffee before putting on a cup sleeve?

Isn't it much easier, quicker and safer to put the sleeve on before filling it with a potentially law-suit inducing, hot, beverage?

I can't wait for Android 2.0! My Treo 700P's days are numbered

I am so excited about the coming barrage of Android phones. I have been a sideline fan of the iPhone since it was released, only to quickly realize, it was still an Apple product :(

I quickly got on the Palm Pre bandwangon, only to discover it was simply an iPhone-lite. By lite, I don't mean to imply that it is less capable than the iPhone, but rather it was developed in the same walled garden vein as the iPhone, by ex-Apple employees.

• No Expansion Card
• No Video @ Launch
• Sacrifice usability for style- ie. Useless center button in lieu of a time / motion saving directional pad
• <100>
• Limited memory allotted to Apps in System Memory

I wish Palm had adopted the Android platform and customized it to the extend they appear to have made WinMo usable on their earlier WinMo phones.

Today, I get a lot out of my 750P. More than the iPhone has to offer regarding streaming podcasts with Kinoma. I can stream my TV to my phone via Slingplayer Mobile and am not tied to WiFi networks.

It seems SlingMedia has such a bad taste in its mouth from creating a marginalized Slingplayer Mobile for the iPhone that only works on a WiFi network, that they are not anxious to develop an app for the Android or Palm community. Let them know what you think here. UPDATE 1.10.10

I checked out the HTC Hero on Sprint's launch day. Loved the phone and Sense UI interface, Despised the virtual keyboard. NOTE: I have since heard there is an extensive calibration process that I did not try. Hopefully that will make the keyboard at least as good as the iPhone, which I can barely tolerate.

Next up, Samsung Moment. I have never been much of a physical keyboard fan, but no longer have Palm's Graffiti to rely on. The Moment should be miles ahead of the Hero with its keyboard. The improved processor and flash is also attractive as well, but it is without Sense UI.

The DROID on Verizon seems to incorporate a much improved Android 2.0 interface with a physical keyboard and fast processor.

If Verizon hadn't lied to me on multiple occasions, I would be lining up for the new DROID. Motorola's questionable user interfaces of the RAZR also make me wary of the end-all-be-all, iPhone killer that Droid is made out to be.

Hopefully I will make the jump soon!

Thankfully, They Don't Build 'Em Like They Used To!

Unbelievable!

Google Listen - Android's Answer to Kinoma Player?

It looks like the PalmOS legacy may be one step closer to being overtaken by the iPhone, WebOS and Android tri-fecta. With the October 11th release of the HTC Hero, it seems like I will finally make the jump into the modern era of smartphones. I really, really wanted to like the Palm Pre, but there is too much Apple influence and it is growing too slowly for my tastes at the moment, I may check back with Palm WebOS in a year or so, but the HTC Hero with the Sense UI have me really intrigued right now. What did Palm do in anticipation of the Hero launch? They served up the Pixi with a fantastic form factor, but dumbed it down by omitting WiFi and an external memory slot.

I have been a hold-out Treo 700P user for over 3 years. I wanted to like the iPhone when it was introduced. I went to the Apple store the day after it was launched and played with the stunning GUI for over 30 minutes before admitting it was definitely not for me. Simple? Yes. Easy to use? Check. Useful? Not Quite.

I am so accustomed to:

Kinoma Player- I listen to podcasts literally every day. NPR hourly news multiple times, TED talks on occasion, Adam Carolla, This Week in Google. I don't have a set listening schedule and I can't be bothered with subscribing to podcasts in iTunes and downloading them to my phone. I want to find and listen to casts instantaneously. Kinoma player allows me to do this on my Treo 700P. The user interface is tired, yet functional after all these years.

-----> Google Listen and DoggCatcher both seem to offer the functionality of Kinoma on a modern platform. I am VERY enouraged by this.

Documents to Go- Creating and editing real MS Office documents and syncing them with my laptop. Rarely does a day go by that I don't jot a business idea or blog post into a word file. I could use a "cloud" version of google docs, but I do find myself on planes enough that I am much more comfortable with native files. For all you sneering about my comments regarding audio streaming above, calm down. When I am preparing for a trip, I may stream & download a few podcasts to the phone in the airport lounge prior to boarding. I like to keep my options open all the time.

----->Available for $29.99 in the Android Market! I paid $30 for Kinoma player and a similar amount for Docs 2 Go several Palm OS devices ago.

SlingPlayer- This is the tricky one. iPhone has a useless version of this that restricts use to WiFi networks only. If I have access to a WiFi network, there is a good chance that:
A. I am at Home and can watch my own TV
B. I am in a public location that does not lend itself to uninterrupted TV viewing.

Sling seems unwilling to develop an app for Android. Orb seems like it may be a convoluted option.

Google Android Slingbox Update 9-11-09

Sling has officially "declined" the feedback started in the ROCK THE VOTE post.

Click here and you may still leave comments and vote for this idea.

UPDATE 1-10-10 - Good News! Flash 10.1 will (finally) Bring Slingbox to Android & Palm Web OS

Oxymoron: "Graffiti Artist"

Villaragosa. Urban decay. Los Angeles.

Words that depress rather than inspire.

It would probably be a challenge to reach back into the depths of Los Angeles' storied history to a point that the city actually inspired the imagination of the country. I am sure there were days when the lure of Hollywood cast its glow on the image of Los Angeles, but those days are long gone.

Today the city is an ill managed symbol of class segregation. West LA and the Rest of LA. Disney-like idyllic living (albeit at a huge monetary cost) west of the 405 and gang-land east of the 405.

It kills me when middle class Gen Xers hop on the "urban" bandw

agon and glorify the efforts of mediocre vandals.

Tagging is everywhere in LA. For those of you that like to think the

tagging is somehow artistic, I challenge you to travel to Paris, where the tagging is actually much more pleasant to look at, but still very annoying.

It shocked and depressed me to find the following stories helping a bedridden tagger use technology to tag again (thankfully in a less permanent manner).

Eyewriter & LAist

I wouldn't be surprised if these clowns offered to do the tagger a favor and trace his virtual tags with actual paint.

TemptOne or TempTone is the name of this clown and he has a much more well traveled website than this blog. He also has sponsors that I plan on avoiding.

Thinkpad, It's the little things

Since Lenovo's purchase of the ThinkPad brand of business oriented laptops from IBM, they have made subtle changes to the product without really diluting the features that made the IBM's so great.

In my opinion, there have been two, minute changes that annoyed me in the Lenovo era.

1. The Power, Volume and Access IBM keys- The design of these keys changed on from the T40 series to the T60 series. The keys looked cheap. I have no data to prove that the design was driven by cost savings concerns, but they sure appeared to be that way.

2. The Blue and Red highlights on the TrackPoint were removed. It seems hard to argue that this was not a cost savings effort. Although I never look at the keyboard or TrackPoint when I type, I have to say I missed the color contrast with the stark black (which I loved).

David Hill, ThinkPad Designer, has given us a breif peak at the a new ThinkPad. The video below shows small improvements to the proven keyboard. Simply increasing the size of the ESC and Delete keys seems like a no-brainer, now that they took that step...

Items 1 & 2 have also been addressed:

New Volume & Power Buttons

Touchpad Color

The keys in the video have the color accents and I beleive the newer X300's also have this feature.

David, keep up the good work!

Keep Learning- Small Tips; Firefox, Excel Keyboard Shortcuts

Keep learning. Strive to be more efficient. Ask questions, but make sure you answer them. Especially those things that bother you everyday.

Today I finally learned how to tab between TABS in Firefox and Google Chrome (probably works in IE too, but I care so little about IE, I won't even take the time to open it and check while I write this post)

Here it is ladies and gentlemen:

Cntrl+Page Up/Cntrl+Page Down

Simple, Easy and Elusive.

Just so happens this same shortcut works with Excel to toggle between TABS.

Enjoy it and keep answering your own questions.

Kinoma Player, Slingbox, Pandora & Documents to Go, PALM PRE is Ready to ROLL!

The Palm Pre release is rapidly approaching and I am excited to put my Treo 700P behind me. I have resisted temptation to migrate to the iPhone's walled garden and it seems I will be rewarded for the wait.

The 700P is closing in on three years old and was essetially the last innovation Palm offered up before going dark (aside from the lower priced Centro line). The once vaunted Palm OS was left for dead years before it even hit the 700P. Developers kludged together great applications for the Palm platform before users had been exposed to Apple's "App" marketing speak.

Today I can watch my home TV with SlingPlayer, STREAM podcasts with Kinoma Player and create MS Office documents with DataViz Documents to Go. The iPhone can't really do any of the above. You can stream select podcasts if there is an App associated with them and Pandora is a great way to stream music, but that's it. No SlingPlayer and no native MS Office Docs. I forgot to mention I can take videos on the 700P as well.

Enter The Pre




Kinoma was the must-have for me to move to the Pre. I literally use this to stream several podcasts everyday. UPDATE 6.17.09- Motion Apps does not support sound at this time. From the Motion Apps Blog: "Classic v1.0 does not support sound but Classic v1.1 will provide a level of support for streaming audio. Classic v1.1 will be released very soon after the initial launch of v1.0 and will be available as a free upgrade to all existing users of Classic v1.0"





Not sure how sync will work.








Note Graphics are hyperlinked.


What is the Pre Missing?
Graffiti 1 Input was the most satisfying method of input for PDAs/Phones. Xerox sued over its use and forced the similar, but crappy, Graffiti 2 on future Palm users. Graffiti 2 and Americans unwillingness to learn new things sealed Graffiti's fate. You could use it with all Palm OS systems with the touch screen, but my understanding is the iPhone and the Pre screens are not capable of stylus input. A true shame and I hope Graffiti will make a comeback. Chinese character input practically dictates the use of a stylus and Asian demand may bring back Graffiti in some form in the future.


VIDEO- I have literally taken less than 20 videos over the 3 years with my 700P, but it seems like a step back giving up this functionality. Rumors claim video will be available at, or shortly after launch.

SD Card- Teal Backup was a lifesaver on my 700P. Say I am in a foreign country without cell access and I am using my Treo as a PDA with trip information. If the phone crashes and wipes all my data, I simply have to go to the backup and restore EVERYTHING (aside from a few custom settings). This scenario happened to me in China, and somewhere else. It is not uncommon and the SD card is the perfect solution, not the CLOUD!

WolframAlpha.com, Hello, Internet, We've been waiting for you...

Wolframalpha.com stormed onto the scene May 15th offer a plethora of data accessible by simple query. Were Google searches the web for information, Wolframalpha searches databases to provide you with succinct information on a variety of tops ranging from historical weather to calculus. It will even help with crossword puzzles!


WRA, I have taken the liberty to apply the obligatory acronym, comes in a day and age when the new-ness of the internet has worn off. People have stopped exploring, stopped "Surfing" and have likely become comfortable with a handful of sites they use every day. Google for search, Google News for current events, Gmail for email and Facebook or Twitter for social networking.

Getting back to basics and realizing there is an un-manageable amount of data out there in cyberspace that has to be tracked down discretely where its content owner/provider has posted it has really taken the fun out of exploring. The time it takes to peruse Wikipedia and scan an article for a few bits of pertinent information may not seem like a lot, but it is all essentially wasted time.

Yahoo Pipes has allowed the common user to build pipes with little knowledge of the workings of the internet to distill live information into RSS Feeds. These feeds are read by readers such as Google Reader. This gets streams of information in one area, but the user is still tasked with distilling the information down to data.

WRA is the tool, the brute force, that is the next step of the internet. Forget about Web 2.0 where stoners were supposed to revolutionize the net by commenting on the taco stand down the street. WFA is a useful, shift in the way we interact with the web and begin to treat it like a gigantic lookup table of all digitally indexed information.

Is WRA a threat to Google? Those who claim it is are missing the point. Using a point to access and calculate reams of data does not compete with the ability to search stories and context. WRA has created a niche and hopefully will start the ball rolling on the next iteration of the web.

At this point, I have only played with WRA a couple hours and watched their 13 minute "quick" introduction. I am anxious to learn their method of accessing data, do they host it or point to existing databases? What db standards are they using and how easily can they point to new data sources? What vetting process goes into testing the data before it goes into production?

Beyond VLOOKUP: Using Names & INDIRECT Function

Using named ranges has several benefits:

• Formulas are easier to follow if they use logical names instead of cell references.

• If your ranges change size, grow in length or some other dimension, you can easily change the definition of the range to accommodate the change. If you do not use names, you would have to change the cell references in all of your formulas.

• You can use the INDIRECT function to refer to ranges

Naming Cells/Ranges:
Highlight the cell or range of cells and then type the name in the cell reference box.














INDIRECT FUNCTION
This function is so powerful, so useful and so underutilized, I am afraid I might not be able to do it complete justice.

1. Indirect will allow you to reference individual cells by building a reference within a formula: Want to retrieve the value in Cell A1? Use this formula: =INDIRECT("A1")
   
2. The true power of INDIRECT comes from its ability to build a name. Put the name of an variable or range in one cell and then add a number to it: Example Cell B9 contains RANGE and you want to reference RANGE2 =INDIRECT(B1,"2")
3. Building names is very handy when using functions like VLOOKUP that refer to ranges or arrays of data. See example below with two ranges of data: RANGE1 = B3:C7 & RANGE2 = E3:F7

I have lost faith in the entire ANTM Franchise

Aminat Ayinde was eliminated as the 2nd runner-up for cycle 12 of America's Next Top Model. The foundations of reality TV have been rocked. I don't know if I can dedicate any more time to the ANTM Franchise. Justice has not been served.

I would have accepted Teyona winning with Aminat runner-up, but Crazy Eyes getting 2nd place? The chick that was jealous of people who have bloody noses?? Not cool.

KERS-less Toyota, an Oxymoron?

The company who brought you the Prius, the most successful name in hybrid technology, can't be bothered to show up to the 2009 F1 grid with a KERS system? What gives?

Toyota's engine chief, Luca Marmorini, feels the system is "primitive" compared to what Toyota already has used in a hybrid Supra racer as well as the street going Prius. Both the Supra HV and the Prius recover energy from all four wheels and the current FIA regulations only allow use of the rear wheels.

While the system may not be the most sophisticated system, doesn't it send the wrong image by selling hybrid technology on the road and critizing it on the track?

Williams, a team powered by Toyota, is bucking convention and developing a flywheel based KERS system. All other teams have chosen to use batteries to store the kinetic energy or forgoe the system entirely.

The image shows what can happen with a battery based KERS system. BMW's crew member was shocked when he touched the steering wheel and sidepod after a test session. Lets hope KERS does not turn into a disaster on par with refueling mishaps we have seen in the past.