Internet Safety

So in class a few weeks ago my group gave a presentation on what kids can do to keep themselves safe from online predators. Some of the main points were avoiding giving out personal information and never ever meet someone you met online in person. While this is good information for teens it does not always apply to adults. Before I get into this I want to warn: don’t be stupid! If something feels wrong it probably is.

On the flip side of that is my personal experience. I’m active on a message board called the HAMB (Hokey Ass Message Board) that focuses on traditional hot rods and kustoms. It is a huge worldwide group of people who dig the same type of cars I do. Every year my auto program puts on a car show and every year I advertise it on the HAMB.
The first year I did that I got a PM (private message) from a guy asking if beer was allowed at the show because it was on school grounds. I informed him that unfortunately it was not, but he said he was planning on coming anyway but he could only stay for an hour or so. The day of the show I met him and his girlfriend, who were on their first real date at my car show, and he seemed like a nice guy. The next year he came back with his girlfriend, and I found out his name was Destin and at the end of the show the driver’s side window came off the track in his ’52 Chevy. I helped him pull his door panel off and we put the window back in place and decided we should hang out sometime.
Long story short; Destin is now one of my best buds and I’m in his wedding, to the same girl he took to the first car show, this July. So… maybe we should not be so freaked out about who is on the other end of the computer.

Chrysler Transmissions and Toyota’s Legacy

After years of making heavy duty transmissions (727, anyone) Chrysler dropped the ball in the 1990’s. Their truck transmissions were not up to par and often let go while the truck still had very low miles. Then there was the front wheel drive transmission debacle. For a few years Chrysler vans were equipped with a horrific transmission that, upon failure, would grenade. It would literally break the case of the transmission and occasionally cause the crankshaft to instantly split in two! That’s right; diverge, fork, bifurcate for crying out loud!

What does this have to do with Toyota? Easy, since roughly 2002 Chrysler has had fine transmissions but ask just about anyone who works on, or teaches, cars for a living and they will tell you Chryslers have weak transmissions. The impression that Chrysler trannies cannot be trusted persists almost ten years on, despite the opposite being true. The problems Toyota has had in past few years will continue to tarnish the company for decades to come.

People will consider a car even though it may have transmission problems. The general public will not even consider a car if they think IT WILL KILL THEM! This might be the best thing to happen to Chrysler since Lee Iacocca!

Throwing Virtual Tea?

I was just reading an article on Read Write Web about a virtual protest in Turkey. The article discusses a movement in Turkey against political censorship on the internet. I sympathize with the Turkish people and like the idea but I'm afraid it has a few flaws.

First the Good:
An online protest is a neat way for people all around the world to show solidarity with the Turkish people and the quest to end oppression in their country. It is oppression that thee Turks are struggling against. The people of Turkey are fighting against for their rights; not the right to watch a little person kick himself in the head but the right to voice political dissent and know that others feel the same. Just imagine what enterprising young Turks could do with unlimited access to the internet and some good ole journalistic spirit.
In the last year we have seen the importance of an alternative media in this country. A few years ago a blog that no one had heard of came out of nowhere and ended Dan Rather's 24 year tenure behind the CBS Evening News desk. Perhaps the most vivid example (Graphic Content) of the power of social media is the events after the "election" in Iran.

The Not So Good:
The thing that made the Iranian video so powerful is the same thing that makes the Turkish protest um, well, not so powerful. In Iran people were in the streets fighting for what they though was right, in Turkey people are on their moms couch whining about not seeing the head-kick video. Iran: people literally dying in the street, Turkey: men with no pants on weighing the possibilities of internet dating while "protesting."

OK, maybe I'm exaggerating the Turks' position a bit but you get the idea. There is no substitute for crowds marching on the capital, people in the streets. The use of the internet to organize a real march is a great idea. The use of an internet to stage a virtual protest not so much.

The Doldrums, blah.

Well, here we are. The middle of winter in Michigan. Cold, wet, and, in general, miserable. The thaw this week has put a damper on outdoor winter activities without being warm enough to provide for other, more summerlike, hobbies.

(On a side note I saw a guy on a motorcycle on Friday, hardcore!)

My kids are struggling, and I’m not feeling too ambitious myself. It is that time of the year where you are past Christmas vacation and Spring Break seems years away. Every day is the same gray, chilly routine.

What do you do to keep yourself and your kids motivated during the winter doldrums?

Wii The People

The first game console ever owned was a Nintendo Entertainment System and was awesome. Well at the time it was awesome. We had Duck Hunt, Super Mario, and a bunch of the classics. From then on my family was a Nintendo family, no Intellivision, no Sega Genesis, no Dreamcast. We had a NES, a Super Nintendo, two Game boys, and a Nintendo 64. Then I got to high school, discovered girls, and forgot about video games. In college I got a PS2 for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 05 and the Grand Theft Auto series.
Now I’m back with Nintendo in a big way. My wife and I just bought a Wii with the Wii Sports game. One of the things that impressed me the most was the accuracy of the controls. We’ve all pulled the orange trigger of a Nintendo pistol thinking we hit the ducks just to have that condescending little mutt pop up and mock us. I have yet to have a moment like that with the Wii. Nintendo has obviously spent a lot of time and money to nail the motion sensing controls and it paid off big time. My wife and went to three stores before we found the Wii in stock at a Meijer; there was one still on the shelf when we left. The Wii fit is sold out; even at online retailers it is back ordered! I looked it up and found out that Nintendo has sold over 50 million Wii consoles!
Video games have always been the antithesis of exercise. The Wii changes that; it is fun and gets you off the couch, a good thing for just about anyone. The Wii fit even has a personal trainer! If technology can make video games healthy it can just about do anything. So what will technology change next?