matter

6786 Miles Per Gallon

First about the car that does 6786 miles per gallon (oh yeah !!). This record was set by the “Microjoule”, an ethanol-powered car for the 2006 Shell eco-marathon. The image of the car is shown below. If you are thinking “Oh yeah, it’s ethanol..gasoline will never give that much” then read on.

The record for a gasoline (petrol)-powered vehicle in the eco-marathon was not far behind at 6009 miles per gallon (my Nissan does 23 miles per gallon). There are some more extraordinary numbers from the eco-marathon on this website.

Now, look at the image below:

Hey, that looks like some toy car race,doesn’t it? ..Oh yeah, it’s just that some of these toys are doing 6000 miles per gallon :). That’s an image from the 2006 Shell eco-marathon race.

Other Awesome Vehicles

TIME magazine recently published the best inventions list in it’s November issue. The list spans categories like: transportation, home equipment, clothing, toys, medicine, etc. Here are some vehicles from the list. I would have liked to put in my own text, but TIME does an excellent job at describing these things and I will just stick to quoting them where appropriate.

1. H-racer, the hydrogen powered toy car

…Shanghai-based Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies decided to design and market the H-racer, a 6-in.-long toy car that does what Detroit still can’t. It runs on hydrogen extracted from plain tap water using the solar-powered Hydrogen Station, below, and can travel more than 300 ft. in a single fuel-up…

Horizon Fuel Cell is selling it under the title “H-racer and Hydrogen Station” for $115. My engineering insticts are almost compelling me to buy this toy. Scroll to the end to see how the hydrogen concept is being put into some practical use by Honda and Chevy.
2. Tesla Roadster, the all electric sports car

…What goes from zero to 60 in 4 sec., tops out at more than 130 m.p.h. and appears to be missing a gas tank? The Tesla Roadster 100. It’s pure California: a hot sports car that doubles as a statement against pollution and oil dependence…

This thing looks hot..almost like a Ferrari and is not a toy like the H-racer above. From the information on Tesla’s website, this car charges in about 3.5 hours on a home-based charging system. The website claims that they are out-of-stock for 2007 model year units, but puts the tag on the 2008 model at $92,000. Here is a another screenshot of what the website says about the Tesla Roadster:

3. The Compact Low Emission VEhicle for uRban transport (CLEVER)

…the low-emission Clever car runs on compressed natural gas stored in two cylinders behind the passenger’s seat and gets a dizzying 108 m.p.g. The three-wheeled, aluminum-framed Clever turns like a dream thanks to computer-controlled cornering and hydraulics. And even though its engine is good for the earth, this two-seater has plenty of pep; it can cruise at speeds up to 80 m.p.h.

CLEVER is a joint project between some French, British, and German engineering firms (including BMW) and universities. The aim of this project is to design an innovative urban transport vehicle to fit certain power, weight and fuel emissions specifications. It has an awesome tilting system (based on how motorcycles tilt while cornering) to keep it from rolling over on turns and corners. CLEVER is not yet for sale in the open market. Click here to read more about the CLEVER project.

4. The “Supermileage” Project Car

…A team of Canadian engineering students won the annual Supermileage race in Michigan with its 80-lb. carbon-fiber Mark V, which can travel 3,145 miles on a single gallon of gas. That’s thanks to details like a curved underbody, an ultra-fuel-efficient 54-cc engine and a driver who understands why the turtle beat the hare. The catch? You have to drive lying down, and the windows don’t open.

Here is an image of a driver dude in the “driving” position in this car.

The project is an initiative of The University of British Columbia Supermileage Team. Click here to learn more about the Supermileage project.

Below are a couple of cars that deserve a mention, though they are not on the TIME list. They are a reflection of what the automobile industry has in store for us in the next few years.
5. The Honda FCX Concept.

The FCX concept vehicle made it’s public debut during the 2006 LA auto show (which, by the way, is ending today - Dec 10th). The FCX is based on hydrogen fuel cell technology and though it’s still a “concept”, Honda is expected to roll out a fully functional fleet by 2008 for US. It is rumored that the production version will not differ much from the concept design. Sweet…I would like to drive something like that.
6. The Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell

Generally, Chevy doesn’t rhyme with “awesome cars”, but this stuff is cool. It’s the Fuel Cell Chevy Equinox based on the Chevy Sequel hydrogen fuel cell concept that recently generated a lot of interest. This Equinox is just around the corner..perhaps available to the general public in early 2008. Read more about it here.

Check if you are eligible for test driving a hydrogen powered Chevy Equinox. Chevy says this on it’s website:

If you live in metropolitan New York City; Washington, D.C.; or southern California, you may be eligible to test-drive an Equinox Fuel Cell vehicle in the fall of 2007. You must be 21 years of age, a U.S. citizen and have a valid driver’s license.

Here is an excerpt from a news article on msnbc.com:

The sheriff said the robbery victim had waited three days in line to buy two Playstation 3 units for $641 each at a Wal-Mart. He was unloading the units at his campus apartment when one man beat him to the ground while another took the PlayStations, Causey said.

How can someone wait for three days in a line, all eager to spend $1282, for some video game hardware? The longest Black Friday wait that I have heard around my town started from Wednesday night 10:00 pm for a laptop at Best Buy.

Ironically, the not-so-gentleman guy who beat the playstation-madness guy, didn’t have long to enjoy his newly-stolen doodad. This is what happened to him:

Peyton Strickland, 18, was killed Friday at a house he shared with three roommates, New Hanover County Sheriff Sid Causey said……..Roommate Mike Rhoton said Strickland was unarmed, but may have been holding a video game controller when he went to the door as it was bashed in by officers.

Wow, this thing is for sale on eBay. For a mere $24K you can get a russian SAM launcher in your backyard! Nice way to get rid of those pesky neighbors :). Here is a photograph of the monster:

The auction says “Its in full working order and ready to play, and extremely rare. There are lots of strange buttons inside and a few red ones with keys.” Dude…red buttons don’t sound very friendly !

Fortunately, the seller says this somewhere in his auction “Its fully deactivated and wouldn’t harm anyone..”

But hold on a minute, look at the “Questions from other members” section. Check out the second question there which asks: “Would I be able to reactivate it or do you offer activated missle’s separately?” and the reply which says “Yes you can, but they were experimental ones, I’ve translated the writing from Russian, and it spells ‘homing’.”

What the…?!!

A quick introduction. Allofmp3.com is Russian website which offers songs/albums at extremely low prices. Before you say this: “Woah dude…Russian?..that’s got to be illegal”, read below and decide for yourself.

Here are some examples of what the site offers (Iron Maiden, The Killers, Pink Floyd..):

Those are whole album prices displayed ! That is incredibly cheap and tempting.
Now back to the question, is it legal?
Well, the debate is still going on and nobody is sure about anything. The website is definitely legal in Russia and most European countries, but it’s legality in the US is not yet clear and there are many apparent loopholes. Here are some links to discussions regarding this matter:

www.musketseeker.com : Is Using Allofmp3.com legal?

Fatwallet forum discussion

I read through all of it and the end result was that I realized that no one really knows anything about it and everyone is just guessing. However, to my knowledge, nobody (in the United States, or outside) has been prosecuted for using this service (I am pretty sure there are thousands of people in the US using the website).

I don’t think people can use their credit cards directly at the site at present. musketseeker.com says ” Direct payments by credit card to Allofmp3 haven been blocked. The music industry have ‘persuaded’ Visa and MasterCard to stop processing payments to Allofmp3″ , but apparently there are other ways around this hurdle to get the music.

What is your take on this? Have you ever used Allofmp3.com for your downloads? Do you think it is legal?

“Get Xbox 360 for free” sounds ridiculous; well it is ridiculous. If you are not convinced, keep on reading I heard this ad on my car radio boasting about how you can get a free Xbox 360 with absolutely no payments of any kind. The advertisement mentioned a website, so I decided to check it out and see if I can really get it for “free” (well the Xbox 360 sells for $299 on Amazon, so this “free” thing sounded very attractive).

Here is what I found out after trying this stuff out using fake information:

The website mentioned in the advertisement “www.freexboxzone.com” turned out to be the mother of all “get Xbox free” advertisement websites. It doesn’t have any content of it’s own and simply links to other websites. That’s a first warning bell. But the fun part has not yet begun.

So how to get get the free Xbox?

Now let’s see what typically happens when you click on one of these “free Xbox” sites from the lists.

• Typically, most sites will say something like this: “You are chosen for the following selected offers. Click YES for offers you like”. By default most offers will be already chosen for you so you need to click on NO to get rid of this crap. Be prepared to keep clicking because there will be about 50 offers on display here :).

• After that you will reach another page which says “optional offers”. It gets worse here. There is one offer on each page and about 25 offers. Each time you click NO it will take you to the next offer.

• Then you will be asked to choose 5 “lucky” friends so that they get their Xbox free. Those 5 friends will be surely very happy to get this offer !!:) Btw, sometimes you will be unlucky enough and will be asked to choose more than 5 “lucky” friends.

• Next, you will be asked to “complete 1 offer from the list below”. Most offers are for credit cards and some are for some stupid subscriptions. (Interestingly, here are clicked on a Discover card offer and was instead taken to another “free” offer for a $100 Visa cash card! What the..?! If you are lucky, your ordeal should end here. However, some sites will take you to the next page of the offers where you will see “Complete 3 offers from the list below”. Congratulations - you got more credit card offers to complete.

If you get through all this and still love your free Xbox, you got to read the following fine print before you start rejoicing:

• http://xbox360s.freepay.com/

“..registration with a valid email address and password, shipping address and phone number, completion of one sponsor offer, and referring 8 friends who have to sign up and complete one sponsor offer.”

• http://xbox360.grabbitrabbit.com/

“Our sponsors cover the cost of the Xbox 360 including shipping and handling. To claim your Xbox simply complete 3 sponsor offers and refer 3 friends to do the same. Once you complete the gift requirements you will receive your Xbox 360.”

“..we may cease offering the Program and/or the Web Site at any time and for any reason, in Our sole discretion.”

• http://www.xboxfreezone.com/

“Accounts and credit are subject to changes for returns, cancellations, and other events. We can make these changes to accounts at Our sole discretion. If You disagree with the changes made, Your sole option is to cancel Your account.”

• http://www.onlinerewardcenter.com/

“For this promotion, XBox 360, you must complete a total of 10 offers as follows: Page 1 - complete any 2 offers; Page 2 - complete any 2 offers; Page 3 - complete any 6 offers to get your gift.”

And more stuff like this on other websites:”

Please allow seven business days for responses to customer service inquiries.”"TESTIMONIALS. Additionally, you will be contacted by a customer service representative and must submit a photograph and provide feedback regarding your experience with InternetOpinionGroup.com.”

In my opinion, this is just too much PITA for a free Xbox. You could simply make use of a good 0% APR balance transfer offer to earn enough interest to buy an Xbox. But, apparently these guys have loads of testimonials posted on their websites. Assuming all testimonials are true, there are a ton of people for whom the Xbox is worth all the PITA.

Bottom line: “There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch,” - Robert A Heinlein in “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”

If you object to my calling this stuff “ridiculous” please feel free to leave a comment and argue otherwise.

Answer: When you watch the movie “The Departed”

We spent $4.75 apiece (cheap tickets courtesy: graduate student status and a valid university ID card) for two movie tickets and $4 (rip-off) for popcorn.

The movie is directed by Martin Scorsese but can easily pass as a Quentin Tarantino product.

There were at least two distinct events in the movie that made the value of our $13.50 seemed much more than $13.50.

Recommendation: Watch it !

Click here for movie info on Yahoo! Movies.

First read the fine print below and then we can talk business.

Terms and conditions: The author takes no reponsibility for the content of this blog. The author also does not take any responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, adequacy or the sanity of this entry. The author of this blog cannot be held responsible if the reader goes insane trying to read this ultra-tiny piece of crap. In the event of any eye damage, the author of this blog will not be liable. In no event shall the author be held liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, unrealistic, realistic, accidental, consequential damages and losses or expenses caused as a result of reading this blog entry. The reader retains his right (1) to criticize this unduly complicated fine print only for the period of this promotion offer. The promotional offer will end by the time you finish reading this paragraph. By reading the above lines you have agreed to keep paying me $20 everyday for the next 50 years. Additional surcharges, state taxes, federal taxes, and other taxes as deemed necessary by me from time to time will apply. Also, by reading this blog entry the reader has agreed to be my slave for the rest of his/her life. Now your ass is mine. Nothing contained herein shall be construed as reducing my rights on your life or on your property. In the event of a conflict, just blame yourself for not reading the fine prints regularly.
(1) Other terms and conditions apply.
COPYRIGHT @ GOLBGURU 2006, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Yeah, you got the idea by now. Most people, including me at times, don’t go through the fine print that comes with a “great offer” and find themselves in trouble sometime or other. I often hear flimsy excuses for not reading like “It’s boring” or something like “It’s a lot of crap”; while that’s true on both counts, but it still does not justify not reading the fine print at all. Ironically, some of the most important facts may be hidden in the fine print. All we see is “Get upto $ 50,000 free” …or “Free t-shirt and pizza if you sign up for this promotion”and forget that there is more than meets the eye (literally).

Some examples fine print you may have ignored before:

ING Direct:
“Limits on Withdrawals/Transfers from Your OSA: Pursuant to Federal law, you’re only allowed to take money out of your OSA 6 times per monthly statement cycle (”Cycle”). If you repeatedly make more than 6 withdrawals during a Cycle, we may close your account. Under Federal law, we must reserve the right to require you to give us at least 7 days written notice before you take money out of your OSA. (This hardly ever happens but legally we have to say it!)”

HSBC Personal Internet Banking:
“The Bank may cancel your Personal Internet Banking access without prior notice if there has been no Personal Internet Banking activity for a period of 6 consecutive months or for any other reason. The Bank may suspend your Bill Payment service without prior notice if there has been no Bill Payment activity for a period of 3 consecutive months or for any other reason.”

Blue from American Express
“The terms of your account, including APRs, are subject to change. The APRs for this offer are not guaranteed; APRs may change to higher APRs, fixed APRs may change to variable APRs, or variable APRs may change to fixed APRs. We may change the terms (including APRs) at any time for any reason, in addition to APR increases for failure to comply with the terms of your account.”

Bottom line: Read the fine print !!

All three above are just examples, all banks/credit card companies have similar statements in their respective print. I should mention here that I have always found ING’s print to be very readable.

Useful reading:
1. Bankrate.com “Reading the credit card fine print”

(This is a modified repost from my earlier entry on June 15th; the previous entry has been removed to avoid duplication)

Cockroach is my #2 enemy (#1 is debt!). However, at times, it is worst than debt for the following reasons (not in any particular order):

1. It appears more frequently (and suddenly) than debt.
2. Makes me loose my sleep more often.
3. Freaks my wife out like there is no tomorrow.
4. They are outright filthy.

Obviously, I take all humanely possible measures to to get rid of roaches. Before I elaborate on this, let me assure you that cleanliness is not my problem :). Also, it particularly bothers me because I have lived in cockroache-free homes before.

OK, now back to the topic. Following is a list of items with their cost that I have purchased over a period of one year to kill cockroaches.
1. Raid (or Raid-like) sprays ($16, each $4)
2. Foggers ($8, each $4)
3. 99% Pure Boric Acid ($1, each $1)
4. 100% Pure Boric Acid ($2, each $1)
5. “Industrial” Strength Spray ($7.50, each $7.50)
6. Roach Baits ($28, each $7)
Total spent : $ 62.5 !!

And now, I am going to present a totally unscientific graph about the “effectiveness” of these items. Interpret this piece of information at your own risk. “Effectiveness” is defined as - the number of days till a live cockroach is seen after the first use of the product.

Apparently, the cheapest product worked the best for me.:)

So how much do you spend on killing roaches?

For those who did not read the previous post about this, I started the month of September with $10 cash with the hope that it would be sufficient to carry me through the month. I was pretty hopeful about the time I wrote the previous post. However, two things happened that took me way beyond the $10 cash limit.

1. My wife found a cockroach in one of our closets and sprayed a gallon of Raid insect spray on it. That resulted in most of our clothes smelling like Raid. So, laundry $4.50. (Unexpected)

2. I forgot that the barber shop that cuts my hair takes only cash; $10 + $2 in tip. (I should have forseen this)

Lessons for next month:

1. Do something about pest control (I will write more about this very soon).

2. Look for a barber shop that accepts credit cards.

I am determined to continue this $10-a-month experiment through the month of October, hopefully this time there will be no surprises.