Any new car I purchase must fulfill one of the following goals:

1. Practical: Must be diesel or hybrid estate/hatchback/wagon. OR,
2. Fun: Sport or GT car, 210 kW engine minimum, coupe or 3-door hot hatch preferred, sedan acceptable, rear or all wheel drive, manual transmission, not a convertible.

So with those goals in mind, and a maximum price range of $60,000, I started with the most beleaguered of the domestic auto makers, General Motors.

GM is the domestic behemoth, divided up into eight brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Hummer, Pontiac, Saab, and Saturn. Regarding goal 1, GM has no hybrid hatchbacks/estate models, offering hybrids only on the Saturn Auru & Chevy Malibu. The best they have in terms of hatches/wagons are the Pontiac Vibe & Saturn Astra, both of which are standard unleaded vehicles that get worse fuel economy than my Mini Cooper. So, goal 1, failure. Onward to goal 2. C’mon GM, thrill me!

Trying to find a good sports car across this lineup is unfortunately difficult. Buick, GMC, and Hummer are right out. Cadillac has some interesting offerings in this regard, but the models I like, namely the XLR, are pushing $100,000. Too expensive. Pontiac has the G8-GT, but automatic transmission only. Boooring! Saturn has the Sky, Pontiac has the Solstice, both are underpowered and covertibles. The Sky Red Line is actually pretty nice, but again, I don’t want a soft top. Shame, the power to weight ratio isn’t bad, though it doesn’t technically fit my requirements. Pontiac’s GTO is discontinued as well, so that line is out. That leaves just Saab and Chevy.

Chevy’s offering should be obvious, the Corvette. Though I adore these on the track (the C6 Z06 is particularly awe-inspiring on a road course), I’m not a fan of the styling or the interior. The performance is incredible, but I think it’s a bit gaudy in appearance, particularly with the body-colored headlight surrounds and chrome wheels. The options are right though, RWD, great performance, in my price range, manual gearbox, hard-top. Under consideration, but doesn’t thrill me outwardly.

So, that leaves Saab. This is arguably the best contender for a domestic that suites me. The TurboX SportCombi estate is a limited edition, black-only wagon that has All Wheel Drive, a turbocharged 2.8L V6, a 6-speed manual, and all-wheel drive. I love the styling, and the interior isn’t bad either. The pricetag is in the right spot…so what’s the catch? The curb weight. The TurboX weighs in at a massive 1725 kg, over 200 kg more than even my bloated 2004 R32. It results in a nearly identical power-to-weight ratio as the VW, and offers nothing in way of an upgrade to what I already have. Damn it all.

So, out of GM’s entire lineup, my lone option is a Corvette. It’s a great option, but I don’t think it’s for me.

Moving on to Chrysler, the only car that’s even close to what I’m looking for is a Crossfire, a soon-to-be-discontinued 2-seater based on the Mercedes CLK platform. Unfortunately, it’s 1450 kg, has only a 160 kW engine, gets terrible fuel economy despite the underpowered engine, handles like a shopping cart, and looks like a dog taking a poop.

Next up, Ford. Ford consists of five brands, Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, and Volvo. Let’s start with the eponymous brand, Ford. The only hybrid is an Escape, so no dice there. They offer a diesel version of the Focus, except they don’t sell it in this country. Way to go, Ford. Could have had a sale there, but no such luck. The only car that fulfills option 2 from Ford is the Mustang, and with all due respect, I haven’t liked a single Mustang made after 1973. Certainly the GT500 has the right power, but I find the exterior hideously bulky, and the interior cheap. The last time I was in one, it rattled like a snake as well. If I wanted a high-horsepower car that rattled, I’d buy a modified 2002 GTI.

Neither Lincoln nor Mercury have anything to offer, which leaves the two Foreign Ford brands, Mazda & Volvo.

Mazda has no hybrid/diesel models in this country, unsurprisingly. If the MazdaSpeed3 were a bit more powerful, it would be a serious contender. Mazda, you’re on the right track, how about pushing the boost up just a little bit? The Mazda6 only offers an automatic gearbox, no good. I adore the styling of the RX8, and maybe if I were shopping for a track car, I’d consider it for the balance & smooth engine, but for what I’m looking for, it’s underwhelming, even if it does handle like its on rails. I love the suicide rear doors, it’s surprisingly practical in terms of interior space, but just not enough oomph. Unfortunately, it’s not a Lotus and still weighs in at 1400 kg, which makes it a nice handling, fun car (it would run rings around a Mustang on track), but just not what I’m looking for.

Last hope, Volvo. No diesels in this country again, damn. I love the looks of the C30, but not fast enough. In fact, none of them are, the highest kW engine in a Volvo right now is 175, which is an utter shame, given how good looking most of the cars are from this company.

So that’s it. 3 massive car companies, and my only option is the Corvette.

Compare this to German & Japanese makers, and I have options like:

• BMW 135i & 335i
• Audi S4 & S5 (sadly, the S3 isn’t arriving here)
• Nissan Z
• Infiniti G37 Coupe
• Lexus IS-F
• Toyota Prius
• VW Diesel Jetta Wagon

And that’s a highly truncated version of what’s available to me from non-domestic automakers. Nothing made here fits the bill, sadly. It’s as though the domestic car makers simply don’t want to make performance cars, and when they do, they are wrapped in an absurdly flashy package. Note cars like the 135i and IS-F are still fairly practical in appearance, with subtle hints that they offer performance. No racing stripes, no chrome wheels, but they’ll thrill you nonetheless.

Sigh. Maybe we just don’t get it.

And I don’t see why conservatives ought to defend a system that permits securitizing mortgages (or car loans) in a way that seems to make the lenders almost unaccountable for the risk while spreading it, toxically, everywhere else. I don’t see why a commitment to free markets requires permitting banks or bank-like institutions to leverage their assets at 30 to 1. There’s nothing conservative about letting free markets degenerate into something close to Karl Marx’s vision of an atomizing, irresponsible and self-devouring capitalism.

When someone like Bill Kristol says something along those lines, it means that deregulation has lost. We’re quite possibly looking at the beginning of the “Europeization” of America.

This is an historic event. I literally have tears in my eyes. I have never been so proud of this country in my entire life. I hope that President-Elect Obama governs as well as we all hope he will.

Thank you to everyone who participated today, regardless of for whom you voted. Smile and hold your head up high, America. You did good.

If you have Google Earth, you can find that location at Latitude 39°56′16.06″N, Longitude 75°10′2.98″W.

Hope you enjoyed your stay, Andrew!

I have to admit, I was a bit worried, because their delivery notice via email & paper reads:

“At its option Shure will repair or replace the defective product and promptly return it to you. If Shure elects to replace the defective product, then Shure reserves the right to replace the defective product with another product of the same model or a model of at least comparable quality and features in Shure’s sole determination.”

Right there in black & white, Shure can give you a different model than the one you send in. Now, ostensibly that language exists for discontinued products and things of that nature, but it does put you in a spot that if Shure decides one day that the new SE3xx line is “of at least comparable quality and features”, then they can send you that model instead, and you can’t do squat about it. Fortunately, that clause was not used in this case.

What’s particularly impressive about Shure is that they don’t just replace the item that’s broken. I sent them just the upper portion of the headphones, I did not send back to the box, carrying case, ear pieces, line attenuator, or any of the other accessories. But they sent me a brand new set, complete with all of those items. And this is now the second time they’ve done it. Which means I have 3 Shure 90 cm extension cords, 3 line attenuators, 3 carrying cases, 3 sets of earpiece adapters, 3 earwax cleaners, 3 airline adapters…you get the idea.

So, once again, a sincere “Thank You” to Shure for their impressive turn-around time, no-charge warranty coverage, getting the headphones here despite my travels, and for providing me with a third pretty little box of headphones.

“Well, somebody’s putting something in his Metamucil. [...] Don’t suspend your campaign, you let your campaign go on, shouldered by your vice-presidential nominee! [...] What happened there? What’s the problem? Where is she?!”

She’s off sounding like an imbecile interviewing with Katie Couric:

COURIC: But he’s been in Congress for 26 years. He’s been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.

PALIN: He’s also known as the maverick, though. Taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he’s been talking about — the need to reform government.

COURIC: I’m just going to ask you one more time, not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation?

PALIN: I’ll try to find you some, and I’ll bring them to you.

Oof.

“Your application duplicates the functionality of the built-in iPhone application Mail without providing sufficient differentiation or added functionality, which will lead to user confusion.”

Now, it seems that an awaited iPhone developer book is not going to be published, because of the iPhone SDK NDA. (Try saying that five times fast…)

“Normally, pre-release NDA’s such as this one are lifted when the product finally ships. We expected that this NDA would be lifted when the iPhone 2.0 software shipped, but it wasn’t. The September announcement came and went, and still the NDA remains in place.

It now appears that Apple does not intend to lift the NDA any time soon. Regrettably, this means we are pulling our iPhone book out of production.”

And now, it only looks like that NDA is getting more restrictive, as Apple has decided to make the rejection notices NDAed.

“Every time a user now gets a rejection, the message: THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS MESSAGE IS UNDER NON-DISCLOSURE is displayed clearly in the letter.”

This is just bizarre. Apple goes out of their way to create an incredible product, and then makes developers jump through flaming, constricting hoops if they want to create anything other than games & to-do lists for it. No applications that extend iTunes functionality, no service-specific email clients, and now, in a move that is blissfully ignorant of the Streisand Effect, you’re not allowed to post your rejection notices either.

All of these restrictions would be bad enough on their own, but they’re even more singular when viewed in comparison to Google’s Android.

It seems that Apple here is effectively pulling a Microsoft:

“Based on raw market share alone, the iPhone seems likely to remain the smartphone developer’s platform of choice — especially when ISVs can translate that market share into application sales.

Sound familiar? In this race, Apple is taking a page from Microsoft’s book, while Google looks suspiciously like Linux.”

When faced with the competition of an open-source platform (Android, Linux, etc.), proprietary companies need to be more open, not less. The HTC dream might not be as slick looking as an iPhone, but it’s going to be a damn sight easier to develop for. No Objective-C, open APIs that anyone can download, no membership requirements, no obtuse rules for what can & can’t be developed, and no rejections from the sole distribution channel at the last minute.

Apple is acting overly-confident in their platform, and it could wind up biting them in the rear down the road.

“The time necessary for the investigation and repairs precludes a restart before CERN’s obligatory winter maintenance period, bringing the date for restart of the accelerator complex to early spring 2009. LHC beams will then follow.”

Sad that it was only up and running for all of 48 hours.

The attendants single-handedly turned a very annoyed group of fliers into a very relaxed, chatty, jovial group, which is something not easily accomplished.  I was impressed, and it actually made me (briefly) forget about the demeaning way in which we all had to line up by number to board the plane, as though we were in kindergarten.

Today: TDI racing, Flying Saucer, and general relaxation.

J. Crew plain-text email copy

No capitalization on the first letter, time spelled as “tiem”, and don’t forget free HIPPING. I’m not sure what that is, but it sounds kind of painful. At least it’s free though, right? Right.