Fascinating stuff
Surely the membership of this nasty little group should be open to view by request from the relevant authorities - so why on earth wasn't the list being periodically checked by the Police anyway?
360 publicly visible posts • joined 13 Apr 2007
It's quite a tidy bit of work from the style house/ engineering consultancy that is Pininfarina, if nowhere near as forward thinking as some of their work from years gone by. Maybe the fact that it won't be wearing a prancing horse, trident or leaping cat has had the stylists less enthused.
It doesn't sit quite right around the front three-quarters and some of the touches are hardly original. But if it makes other firms think a bit harder then it's a good thing. Maybe then we'll start to see some really exciting stuff.
The idea of just installing a different drive system may sound obvious but it's rather more involved than you state. The petrol or diesel unit does a lot more than power the wheels; it provides assistance for air conditioning, steering, braking and (via the charging curcuit) keeps the vehicles various electronic systems for safety and comofort going. So the idea is not the no-brainer that you believe.
Additionally, your idea actually wastes the opportunity for engineers, designers and stylists to really turn the concept of private transport into something relevant and useful for people. With electric power a lot of kit in a vehicle becomes effectively redundant and can be thrown away -so packaging can be thought about from the ground up. Ironically the one reason the Peapod concept is not popular is , I believe, down to it not being anywhere near radical enough. The likening of it to being a golf cart isn't too far from the truth I think.
There has also been some comments about why so much glass seems to be used in these concepts(it's more likely to be a polycarbonate but we'll stick to the glass point for the moment). The use of glass adds weight in comparision to steel, alloy or composite; we should be having lighter vehicles, not porky ones. Create a good clear glasshouse with slim pillars and be done with it.
I run a fairly minor forum. Nothing special but some okay people post stuff there. One day a pretty detailed comment was put up concerning a German company. It wasn't nice but as far as I was concerned it was factual so it stayed up. Soon after someone claiming to be based in London and their legal representative wrote to me and in rather nasty tones demanded the comments be removed or I will be in court. I replied saying I looked forward to it.
That was in March. Still waiting for papers to be served, but my guess is they gambled thet threat would be enough and in this case got it wrong so left it. Rectum fiddlers.
While the styling doesn't do a fat lot for me - no real consideration for practical usage apart from size and the eco roof concept is pathetically contrived - it's encouraging to see a revisit of the best method to provide power. The existing fuel stations obviously could provide rented packs, and if manufacturers could agree on standard sizing and connectivity then drivers would be able to have recharged packs as quickly as filling up with fuel at present - if not faster with automation.
I sighed when I read the quote from the deputy head:
"I dread to think what they may find searching online for him.”
Probably an awful lot of news stories about his arrest, reports about his manipulation of young girls and advice on how to avoid similar folk, thereby informing and helping to educate children of the evils of such people. A case of the web being a good thing then, as I would hope this ignorant fool will soon realise.
It's a pity this person wasn't named. I wouldn't want any child of mine going to a school administered by such a cretinous fool.
Just give it some decent straight-cut gear whine so it sounds like a competition transmission inside the motor. Pedestrians will hear that - and if they don't, well if they can't look before crossing a road then the muppetts deserve what's coming.
They could also restyle it to make it so drop-jawingly outstandingly beautiful it will stop traffic and pedestrians in the first place. It's been over well over 30 years since the Countach broke cover and we're overdue something on a similar richter scale in the automotive world.
Not really surprised about CC doing this. They just want to make a few extra pennies interest on the cash coming in before it goes out and screw their channel. Why on earth people buy from them is beyond me and has puzzled me for over 15 years now. In fact if CC and Dell went bump I'd be quite happy actually.
Half-cut
Can't talk English
Lazy at his job
Gone on a freebie to leer at females
Talks too much and none of it even remotely useful
Yep, he's a Brummie, albeit a rare example as he possesses something close to a brain.
Good luck Adam, and hope you love the US and do well there squire. Respect.
I thought I saw the words respect, human rights and chinese communist party in a paragraph. I'm sure I was dreaming.
I'm not confusing these friendly, smiling cuddly rulers with the same people who believe most ferevently in capital punishment am I? The same administration who imposed such draconian control and ethnic displacement of Tibet ? The same folk who have ignored vast swathes of their own people to let them slide into terrible hardship? The one party state which has profited in the shameful treatment of workers and holds a horrific track record in human rights? The same rulers who were not averse to indulging in a spot of 'management' of the Olympic Games for those of short memories. And as we all know, a country where the citizen is denied access to information as to do so would give them the two things their rulers fear the most; Knowledge and Power.
How dare I even think such things. I'd be called racist, moronic and ignorant by the clever people on here. Oh.....
It's wild stab in the dark this one. On one level it does try to present an alternative to traditional big thirsty IC power but then the ego lands and the Big Chief decides he can do really good design too. Someone really needs to tell him that he is not Sir William Lyons. Not even a fraction of the talent. Maybe then he'll invest in good design instead of commissioning photocalls with him standing in front of his little toy like an utter cock. But he won't as his ego is rampant and then he'll lose the plot, the firm goes titsup, alternative power loses yet more credibility and people lose their jobs.
And that's the really annoying part.
Clarkson coming back on the screens after Ross and Brand getting into trouble was almost guaranteeing complaints would come in. Face it, some - no, a lot - of the complainants have an agenda. They don't like the licence fee, they have a political axe to grind (too left wing! Not left wing enough!) or they have a personal dislike of the presenter/actor/singer etc. Or they read the Daily Mail of course, in which case they want the whole world spun back to 1936 as it was so much nicer back then chaps. The media-led protestations have rudely shoved aside Mr Sachs (the victim in this little caper, shame on you for forgetting) and now they have another chance to give the BBC a shoeing from a remark made by Clarkson. A comment that at any other time would not have got column space. No it wouldn't, don't argue.
Besides, what is this Iceni Project? "A charity which had helped some of the murdered prostitutes in Ipswich". Didn't help them much seeing as the poor souls are dead.
Adam, go over there as an representative of a Japanese company, and see how you are 'managed' by part officials pretending to be suppliers, offered bribes, lied to over production and comprehensively messed around when you ask some very relevant and uncomfortable questions. Oh ,and to make it incredibly easy for you to realise that the comment didn't apply to the entire nation - please, do try harder than that sixth-form riposte - he was referring to the people he met. Which was quite a few in number and over a number of years.
Of course, you'e been there a lot too as a representative of a Japanese company over some years and can speak from a vantage point of a lot of experience. oh........
Thanks for the second rate sarcasm Dave the 80's joke. You must have read my mind when you made that comment about Africa as he spent a year in Uganda doing charideeee work after leaving college. You're right that he can be a bit of a moron sometimes but hey, at least he got off his backside at some point unlike armchair sneerers such as you (or indeed me too really), eh?
My brother used to work very extensively in China. I won't begin to repeat his pointed description of them here but let's say the words intelligent, honest and considerate would be somewhere near the bottom. Although I think the reason why he spent so much time out there was down to him being far more devious!
Frankly, if it wasn't for the Internet then he would have most probably got celan away with this disgusting behaviour. Never, ever underestimate the power of the ruling party - and certainly don't believe the smiles and glad-handing at the Olympics either.
Hang on, they found it in Cannock of all places? Intact?
We should rejoice. Normally anything remotely advanced - for example the wheel - is regarded by the locals as black magic and summarily hung drawn and quartered.
Cannock is several dozen square miles of population but only four different surnames. A place where signs above the boundary markers say 'There Be Witches'. A place where burning crucifixes appear at night, the girls start shaving long before the boys, and where Sunny Delight is considered a health drink.
Believe me, this so-called device was safe and sound in cannock. No chance of it being hacked or broken into without a hammer being involved there.
Interesting stuff Lewis, but I think there's some other points around this that would be good to explore as well. If the hydro station can be recommissioned relatively easily, quickly and at a moderate cost, why not look at generating power for small communities in this way across the country? These could hook into the existing grid but alo offer some degree of energy creation for more isolated areas. The ability to generate sufficient power is from what I can see here, to be a pretty fundamental issue though; twenty homes is a bit miserable really.
It's a debate worth having, and if nothing else some form of competition in energy creation, however minor it may be, can't be a bad thing for users.
Disgusting! How dare a middle-aged celeb be surrounded by two scantily-clad young ladies and clearly enjoy it as well!
It's nowhere near as laughable as Ronnie Wood's predicament but personally, I think there will be some overt politics of envy going on here if people start whinging about how awful it is. I'd happily swap places but I can't sing, sadly. Couldn't hold a note in a bucket using both hands if I tried. So, the young ladies are safe from me obviously. Ho Hum.
As for Bono, serves him right for writing all those 6th-Form standard lyrics we've had to suffer since the early 80's. Oh, and being such a hyprocrit over third world poverty and the need for us prols to put our hands in our pockets while his stay firmyl zipped up.
When driving any vehicle an image of some leaves is not going to make someone think about their acceleration and braking. The traffic, the weather and the circumstances of their journey will all take a big, big precedence over what some image is glowing back at them.
I'm very disappointed in Ford falling for - and proferring on customers - such nonsensical guff.
"I find it amusing that Microsoft still, after the failures of Vista start marketing their products before they've actually made them."
Go back to the utter lies we were fed that became Exchange then. Frankly, they should have been kicked a lot harder by the press for that debacle.
Personally I like MSO2007 but I wouldn't be insterested in some web-app version with probably half the features I use culled and a price model that I would bet will cost me more long term anyway.
I choose Paris. Both are back alleys I wouldn't go down.
Or remember her appearance on Have I Got New For You? as part of her book launch publicity. She had claimed the book took her six days to write and Ian Hislop asked he if she had suffered from Writers Block. Classic stuff.
Paula Yates: [to Ian Hislop] Don't even look at me, you sperm of the devil.
Ian Hislop: Sperm of the devil. Even your insults emanate from the genitals.
Peaches reminds me heavily of her mother.
IIRC Planty is busy at the mo with this collaboration thing with the Krauss woman, so can't they wait a couple of months? It's not as if we're all going to not bother with "the biggest reunion tour of all time... ever!" if it's a bit later in 2009.
When the rumours first kicked off I did mention to a friend - and fellow Led Zep lover - friend of mine that we'd have to go to the US for a show, just to say that we saw them in California or Philly or whatever. But now I've got to say I may not bother if Plant isn't fronting it - just won't be the same. Mind you, ideally I would see them at the Molineux, which would make it the most perfect show ever in my eyes. Led Zepp playing at the Planty's fave footie club. Now that would be a bit special!
By my reckoning £10Million divided by 100 is £100,000, which I think will handsomely cover a Tesla Roadster. Looks like some of these family trials will have some extremely small children then!
Joking apart, while I can understand the budget needing to have spare cash for maintenance and support of these 100 vehicles, but since when did it mean the majority of the budget when they are supposed to be cheaper to run? I smell something distinctly of the Grimsby origin here - and it's not a Fisherman's Friend.
If it's to part-fund the development of the vehicles then that's bang out of order. Why on earth should UK tax be going to predominantly foreign companies to pay for something they have already spent some years tossing around with and getting nowhere? Obviously these firms will pay the money back when sales take off. Not.
The infrastructure has always been the second most problematic hurdle faced by alernative power vehicles so to a certain extent it is good to see it finally being addressed. Ive never been comfortable with the poor reasoning behind the likes of Better Place to be honest; just like a fuel station this should be a service open for all. To operate restrictions is to screw yourself through lower usage, and using the mobile phone argument doesn't work as the connection and payment can be done in different ways.
Can anyone tell me the difference between an artist wanting to exert some control over their brand and the likes of Easy, Orange, BMW, Coke, Pepsi, Cadbury's, Tesco and any other money-making machine? He's only protecting his ability to make money. Or this this, a bit like his music admittedly, now a crime?
I'm also having a Roger Moore moment at why you think it surprising these fansites are being so eager to comply. It's a bit obvious really - they think they're talking to their demi-God so if he - or she, or it, whatever - says "can you get shot of those pirate links please as they're robbing me", of course they're going to do it. They'd probably jump in dog poo if he sent them a mail asking so. Such is the power of a global rrrrrrrrrock idol phenomena. And to a rather lesser extent Bryan Adams too.
Mind you, having just read this back I do realise that calling Bryan Adams an artist is perhaps stretching things here......
Sarah Connor!
Anyway, the robots are already among us as proven by B3ta yonks ago. Just look if you don't believe me at the original version of the California Tourist Board advert. The end bit gives them away.....
http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/California/
Fnarrrrrrrrr!!!!!
Anyway, wood in cars? Morgan is nothing, try Marcos and their plywood monocoque from 40-odd years back. Now that was clever stuff, light, strong and robust.
As for the Tesla it didn't make me think of the uber-ugly Beemer but I'll be interested to see how it looks when the covers are pulled in due course. And nice to see FIAT make a fun sort of motor. Even if they chose a very silly place to site a roll-bar - about as much as wellies in molten lava - but it's still quite cutesy.
The simple fact that they chose to plagiarise Jaguar's iconic Grace, Space, Pace strapline show what a grasping bunch of garlic stinking tosspots this lot are.
Design? Shite.
Range? Shite
Styling? Shite.
Effort? Don't be stupid, this is French for fuck's sake. The country that continually bleats about having the best clothes, food, wine and cars when it's emphatically second in all of these to the Italians. Lazy, plodding shite.
Long- term outlook? Complete failure which will probably get propped up/bailed out by the state as per sodding usual.
Shite
I used to deep-clean a Virgin Atlantic stewardess.........she was a very dirty girl though! Woof!
Anyway, I thought it was pretty much common knowledge that Virgin ain't the carin' sharin' fun-lovin' firm it tries to project out to the population. Never liked that Branson fellow, far too beardy for my liking. Reminds me of one of those Danish fellows, all flares and the whiff of the lavendar about them, and their roles in those special interest films you could get from the video shop. Before the Internet made it all too accessible and a lot less fun to get yer hands on.
Sorry, what was the question again?
I was watching it last week - what on earth is all this fuss about Fiona Bruce anyway? - and they had some horologist chappie on with the old speaking clock which he claimed stopped on the day Pat Simmons died. Completely irrlevant I know but still almost interesting.
Anyway, Disney eh? Tsk, So let me get this straight. We have a cartoon fairy that we have to pay to listen to, and they expect us to believe every word they are saying.
Reminds me of Peter Mandelson.
So the figures aren't consistent, correct, empirical or open to discussion? Why would that surprise anyone anymore?
I don't think I'm alone in saying that if I was nicked by a copper with a speed gun then I would at least feel justice is being served in the right way - by a person representing the law and policing road safety in a designated area, to whom I can at least discuss the issue if required - and I have always respected that. But unmanned, static cameras that merely make a rigid, blind and uncaring view, placed in positions of questionable benefit, give me a feeling of being treated less as a citizen and more as an already guilty party who's turn to be 'processed' will come one day.
The stupid thing is, if all the static cameras were placed outside schools with a mandatory 20MPH limit imposed outside, no-one could reasonably argue against that.
It occured to me that this continual proposal of building these uber databases is a little like the construction of all those monuments by various Socialist Governments throughout the previous century. As the citizens go about their permitted activities each day they are continually reminded how wise and protective their Governors are.
We watch you. We watch out for you. We watch for you.
Really makes you want to go and poke one of these Ministers in the eye in a futile effort to make them see some fucking sense, doesn't it?
Got to agree with Dickie Lovey here. I had a teen student holiday job on a building site in a City where a JCB went stright through a whole truckload of telecomms and power cables which looked as though they had been just thrown in . The plans we had got from the council showed them to be about 30 yards down the road.
Every cloud has a silver lining though - we cut the power to the nearby Police station. All the woodentops were forced to come outside and do some work seeing as their kettles weren't working!
"SPEED KILLS, people. The evidence is irrefutable, you are a brain dead moron if you think anything else."
What evidence is that then?
What you will find when you come down from your keyboard-jockey trance is that accidents/injuries/deaths occur where the victim or the perpetrator make an error of judgement of some kind. The speed itself is irrelevant. Speed doesn't kill. Do try to open your eyes.
I remember one Government report inot the positive impact of speed cameras (cracking read, robbed of the Booker Prize y'know) which stated that speed cameras also save money as they mean the Police, Ambulance and Fire are called out to accidents less, and actually factored in their 'saved' wages into the published cost saving to prove the point. Which therefore follows that these Police officers, Paramedics and Fire crews have all been dismised because there is less work for them to do. So great news people, seed cameras save lives AND money according to Mr Brown!
Er........
"Technical details of the TX4 E are few and far between."
Bit odd that. MBH aren't exactly overrun with competition in the Hackney Carriage market. The odd FIAT MPV maybe but that's about it seeing as the Metro Cammell Weymann went West a few years back. So, why on earth are they hiding the details?
Being a teensy-weensy bit cynical I just assumed that Geely's contribution from their stake was use of their PR firm. In other words, it's a load of old bollocks which is pretty consistent with it involving a Chinese automotive partner (and the media a shameful record in printing without question by the way).
But then I saw the launch date of 'early 2009'. That's a minimum of just 9 weeks away. So they have really told a whopping big fib here or they do have something good to go. A pity no techie details are forthcoming but seeing as it is yet another re-hash of an existing design then there's really nothing special about this. Sad but true.
As for power lines in the road, 'twas done years ago albeit for trolley buses. Good idea too apart from when they iced up.
"Let the karma of greed, profit at the expense of the people, misuse of power, and controlling and manipulating the resources of this planet to the benefit of large multi-national corporations, and the bankers, not to the benefit of the people, be upon the multi-national corporations, bankers and their stooges in government and the mass media."
I can put this a tad more succinctly.....
"Oh, it's the meek! Blessed are the meek! Oh, that's nice, isn't it? I'm glad they're getting something, 'cause they have a hell of a time."
....credit to Monty Python of course.
Besides, if you want to bring God into all this then don't waste your time discussing cars with Him as he rides a Triumph. It says so in the Bible y'know.
For some reason I had this strange idea that BMW might make a serious stab at producing an electric car. Then I remembered their laughable hydrogen blind-alley 750hL. The idea evaporated very quickly at that point.
The MINI is a great little steerer unfairly saddled by its lineage. It can't hold a candle to its predecessor, that much is obvious, but on its own merits it's a cracking motor. Rover - and later on, Ricardo - deserve a heck of a lot of credit for what they dished up. It continues to be a darned good car, apart from the Clubman, the inevitable runt of the litter. But there again you couldn't have hoped for anything better really; the MINI's DNA is utterly beyond the comprehension of anyone working at Munich or California.
This is a as feeble an attempt at producing an electric car as you can probably get. BMW have only demonstrated that they have no imagination in this field. In fact it merely reinforces their belief that fossil fuel is oberst. No attempt at cutting weight, re-thinking the packaging, trying new materials. But throw in some re-named energy capturing with a nod to their F1 aspirations - while quietly forgetting the idea's got very grey hair now - and it's suddenly credible.
Of course, the reason why it's going to California definitely isn't down to Toyota's American PR bunnies cornering the market for celeb endorsements with their Prius thing. Nah, course not.
"Ok, so it's too big to suit you since you only ride around by yerself since you got no friends. Get over it."
And your car is always full with four friends? I'll take bets on it not - nor ever has been in fact. You miss the point about why people buy cars full stop, so try opening up 'yer' brain and have a good long hard think about it. You may suddenly realise why I made the comment.
"People got to try different things and this is just another one of 'em. If they build it too small it really will be the casket that AC mentioned above...'bout the time the first lorry hits it, it will be lights out."
Please enlighten me as to why building something that is packaged better suddenly means it's no longer safe? You may struggle here but please, take yer time.
"You're not going to be getting anyone normal buying into this any more than normal people are buying Priuses. They're too friggin expensive for what you're getting and no better than a nice small diesel."
Let's try again shall we? The point is to make some sort of attempt to get people to think differently about how they travel and what resources they use in the process. Once you start on that track you may get a bit brave and stop being so defeatist. And yes, a Prius is a con. That people fall for it just demonstrates how many thick folk there are in the world.
Overall, a lovely negative load of old tosh from someone who won't even give a a name. Thank God you weren't around a few thousand years ago or we'd still be in caves.
I rather hoped the French may have a slight glimmer of imagination. Seems I was wrong as this just displays yet another tired and old set of ideas from the Schoolboy Book of Comedy Car Design 1957.
This is the result of some ignorant cretins having a spak-o-rama about how they can save the Earth without bothering to get off their arses and looking at the built and spacial environment in which we live. Yet again it’s too big. When will these idiots actually look at the real space required and design round that instead of being lazy tossers and assuming a Kangoo van is about right? Yet again it forgets that simple ideas are the best. What the hell is wrong with door mirrors? Do they need power? No. And they don't cause huge amounts of drag either - especially when you're sitting in traffic.
Jesus, this is so sodding simple yet we never see the obvious solutions, just trendy beardies having a collective hand-shandy over their latest wet dream. I could cobble something together that would make these efforts look pathetic, without spending gazillions and without trying to pull the wool over people’s eyes. It’s not difficult, it really isn’t.
Thing is, these condescending insults to our intelligence - or concepts as they are called - ironically stick up two fingers to the very thing they are supposed to be saving. The planet. Maybe one day someone involved in the industry will realise this. Until then just ignore their pre-pubescent offerings for what they are. Utter, utter shite. Or in this case merde.