BREAKING NEWS - SAAB TO TAKE A DIRT NAP
Sale to Spyker falls through


Although this should come as a surprise to nobody, it was officially announced today that General Motors' sale of Saab to the Spyker company was not going to consumate. The company will immediately begin winding down operations. At least to start, there will be no bankruptcy involved. Autonews.com has some interesting statistics on Saab that tell the story.

Saab's U.S. sales fell 61 percent in the United States through November, to 7,812 units, meaning this year will be the lowest total under 20 years of GM ownership.

GM's peak for Saab was 47,914 in 2003. The company's U.S. high was 48,181 in 1986.

Nationally, Saab had 2,100 vehicles in U.S. inventory as of Dec. 1 -- a 130-day supply. The brand sold just 371 units in November.

The article said that Saab had about 3000 employees. At current sales levels, that's more than 1 employee for every two Saab cars sold. If you figure dealership employees, the ratio is probably greater than 1:1. It's no wonder nobody came through with a package to buy Saab. I always kind of liked Saabs, but never well enough to actually buy one. Apparently I was in good company.

Youtube Video of the Day



"Hey Bob, what have you been doing for the past few months?"
"I've been making a movie."
"Cool."

NewsFlash: Arcade Claw Games are Rigged

We've always known that claw games were rigged, but we couldn't prove it. Asylum.com that explains just how the games are rigged. They came up with a pdf of a manual for the ACC-1 Arcade Crane Controller. According to the manual, you can set the machine to a winning/losing percentage. In a "winner" round, the pinchers of the crane grasp with maximum force locking in anything it grabs, and the machine can be set so that in a "winner" round, if no prize is dropped in the slot, the player can keep playing until the prize drops. In a predestined "loser" round, the pinchers are set to grab but bleed off pressure until there is just enough pressure to close the jaws without a load. In other words, there's no skill involved. Winning is either a matter of luck or a pure impossibility depending upon how the game is set.

Here's a youtube.com video of a claw game that picks up live lobsters - maybe, sometimes.

Look Who's Going to Save Saab - Maybe

This from TTAC.com, a weeka fter SAIC, a Chinese automaker, sealed a deal to buy the tooling for the Saab 9-3 and 9-5 models, Sweedish sportscar maker Stryker is the only bidder to take over Saab as a going concern. As TTAC points out, Stryker Stryker lost more money in the first half of this year than they recorded in revenue for all of 2008. Also according to TTAC, Stryker has extensive ties to the Russian mob. All in all, you know that this story is going to have a happy ending.

Surprise Kitty

A natural progression

Cool Auto Gadget
GARMIN EPS OBD-II Module



Earlier this year, I finally broke down and Garmin GPS for my car. Like my tie, my Garmin 265WT is a clip-on. Wow, I thought, this has a computer, a touchscreen, a GPS sensor, Bluetooth, why doesn't it have any of the cool programs available for the iPhone? Here's something cool that's coming next year.

Garmin's EPS module is a small box that attaches to your car's OBD-II computer in your car's engine bay. You know all that data that they read off your car when you take it into the shop, EPS should be able to convey all that information to your Garmin Nuvi GPS device. The EPS sends the signal to the GPS display unit via wireless Bluetooth signal. In addition to checking and clearing fault codes, you can monitor instantaneous fuel flow and even set up your own customized set of engine gauges. Think of it as a glass cockpit for $200.00. (I'm just guessing the price. No actual prices have been announced.) For those who can't wait until next year, a system with similar capabilities is advertised online by Zeitronics for $749.00. Oh, yes, there are OBD-II reader programs available for the iPhone, but it doesn't look like there's a standard and inexpensive way to get the signal from the automobile's computer to the iPhone. Besides, I don't have an iPhone, and I'm not going to get one soon. I don't a phone it would kill me to lose, and I don't want to be an indentured servant to AT&T for three years.

More info on the Garmin EPS at the Crave.com site is here.

Happy Hanukkah

Super BOWL XLIV (Halftime) Preview

We're now three fourths of the way through the regular season, we still have two unbeatent teams, the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts, but there are still lots of teams that could line up on the field in Miami

The Super Bowl halftime entertainment has been announced and the featured entertainment are The Who. Judging from some recent pictures from page2live.com and the Palm Beach Post of 65 year-old Who frontman Roger Daltrey on the beach being tended to by a whitehaired gentleman named Gordon, we could soon be pining for the days when we only saw part of 40 year-old Janet Jackson's chest. Roger looks better than average for a man his age, but if he takes off his shirt, I'm writing to the F.C.C.




As I understand it, The Who have changed some of their old tunes to match changing demographics. Some of the new ones:

I Can See For Miles, but I can't see up close without my glasses
The Kids are Alright, if they're not on my lawn
Magic Bus, that takes us to the casino
Talking 'Bout what's left of My Generation
Who Are You? (no change)

Youtube Video of the Day
Introducing the FORD EXPIRED

The Discovery Channel Show Mythbusters decided it would be cool to crush an old Ford Aspire with a rocket sled zooming near the speed of sound. Yep. It's cool.