Stueys Blog

German car manufacturer Porsche have recenty introduced PDK (Porsche Doppelkuppungsgetribe) or Double clutch gearbox in their facelift 911. It’s a development of a system used some 20 years ago in their 24 Hours Le Mans cars so its taken a while to filter through!

The gearleaver or steering wheel paddles can be used to change the ratios. With a 60 percent increase in shift speeds, compared to the old tiptronic system, this looks to be a realistic contender as a favourite choice.

This times in nicely with the launch of the revised facelift 998 bodyshape which you can see below.

Exact Business Moves Review

I thought I’d write a review about Exact Business Moves based in Romford in Essex.

We had Exact Business Moves quote on a fairly comprehensive business move early on in January 2007 and I’d like to say how happy I was with their service. I also used a romford minibus service from Charlie and it was great. I’d recommend him too.

They gave good instructions, the staff were very friendly and apart from one missing item (a usb wireless receiver for a logitech G7 mouse)

I have no reason to complain. They do have an asset protection policy but for £70 I’m not sure if it’s worth bothering with!

Exact moves were involved in moving 5 staff and associated filing cabinets along with some domestic household items that are to be kept in storage (and at the time of writing still are).

I’d strongly recommend them, their details are;

Exact Moves
Charles House
49-51 Brentwood Road
Romford
Essex
RM1 2EU
Tel: 01708 771 290
Fax: 01708 735 858
email: info@exactmoves.co.uk

IT was ’screen tested’ by James Bond - and now here it is going through its paces before hitting the showrooms. In an old issue of Auto Express it was revealed the Aston Martin DB9 that will star in the 007 movie Casino Royale - now these photos show how the stunning this roadgoing version will look.

Yummy.

The car has been spied, putting in some fast laps at the Nurburgring in Germany, this menacing black car gets the same styling tweaks as the Bond version. It has aggressive air intakes, wider wheelarches, bigger alloys, lowered side skirts and a lip spoiler at the back.

It will be luxurious inside, with sports seats and a new engine starter button. The model gets a different name, too - the DBRS9. Aston Martin hasn’t confirmed technical details, but the car will have revised suspension and brakes, plus a 500bhp 6.0-litre V12. That should mean a 0-60mph time of 4.5 seconds and a 200mph top speed. Only 300 examples of the £130,000 model will be produced.

I can’t wait to check it out at my local Aston Martin dealership

Does anyone else have any further info on this beast?

Holiday makers and booze cruise drivers will need to dip their hand in their pockets. People renting vehicles with 9 seats or more will, next spring (2007), have to get a £38 driver card to log the drivers time on the road. The card, which looks similar to the UK photographic driving licence needs to be purchased in advance from the DVLA (visit site here). Using this new card will involve slotting it into a new style of tachograph and will restrict journeys to 4 and a half hours continuous driving followed by a 45 min break.

My comment is that the obvious way to get round this is to get two people to buy cards and then swap over their cards every 4.5 hours? No?

Mercedes Benz are shortly about to launch a 400 bhp version of their already successful SLK 55 AMG. The normal car has 360bhp and the new one, that features a carbon roof and various body panel additions is speculated to have 400 bhp. I have looked on the www.mercedesbenz.com website but cannot find clarification of this however there are a few websites that are posting images.

The acceleration of this beast has been dropped from 4.9s to 62.5mph to 4.5s and the car is reputed to have 620Nm of torque. This may spell disaster for the 3.2S Boxster as the handling of the SLK has been impoved also. C’mon Porsche, improve the performance of the Boxster. At only 285bhp the Boxster is definitely lacking with many other ‘competitor’ cars being well over the 300bhp+ range.

Porsche has unveiled their base Cayman model and it is over £7,000 less expensive than the S version. Rather than using the 3.4l engine, as fitted in the S, the base model is to be powered by the Boxsters’ 2.7l flat-six. The unit develops 245bhp compared with the 3.4’s 295bhp and accelerates the Cayman from 0-60 mph in 5.9 seconds. The model is set to arrive in the Porsche Showrooms on 29th July 2006. It has different double-spoke alloys, and black brake calipers.

Mmmmmm. I’d love one of those!

Visit Porsche here

Women who drive high-powered cars are 10 times more likely to crash than those in more sedate machines, claims a new survey. Diamond insurance, which specializes in cover for female motorists, reckons customers with a Honda S2000, BMW M3 or Subaru Impreza are most at risk!

Unlicenced clampers may have to hang up their denver boots of a new code of practice is backed by the Government. The British Parking Association hopes its rules will stop unlicenced firms which charge as much as they like for release. Tricks such as leaving dummy vehicles to fool motorists into thinking parking is allowed, will also be outlawed.

It was early March and I decided to upgrade my trusty Microsoft Optical mouse that I had been using for 2 years and replace it with something a little more up to date ….

I looked on the web and checked out reviews on mice and then start reading about the combination of mice and mousepads (albeit probably 3 years later than everyone else ……) and how critical the combination could be.

Now that I’m a little older and the “buy cheap, buy twice” policy makes so much sense, I came to the conclusion that I wanted the best mouse and the best mouse mat.

This brought me to two items

1) Logitech G5 Laser Mouse - Logitech G5
2) SteelPads 4S (Rigid metal mouse pad with chemical etched matt black surface) Steel Series Steelpad 4S

I nearly bit the hand off the delivery guy on the morning they were delivered, frantically unwrapping them like it was my 10th Birthday – looking good, opened the Steelpad 4S Steel first and saw the matt black, almost stealth looking mousepad. Great. Then opened the Logitech box and had a look at the G5 Laser mouse. Very impressed.

I plugged the mouse in and loaded the software ……

First impressions of the G5

1) It looked good. Felt great.
2) I didn’t like the wheel (it provided a lot more resistance than the Microsoft Optical mouse – it wasn’t as free wheeling)

I messed around with the weights and decided that it wasn’t for me so I put the Logitech G5 Laser mouse back in its packaging and contacted the supplier for a RMA number. Very disappointed indeed!

NOTE: READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW AND SEE HOW MY MIND CHANGED

Next for the Steelpad 4S Steel

Now this looked good, felt good and best of all, it performed. Using my Microsoft optical mouse on it worked great - however it seemed to have quite a bit of noise and friction. I fitted some pad surfers (a strip of self-adhesive low friction material that is supplied with the steel pad) cut them to size and stuck them to the feet of the mouse. Much better.

A week passed and I’d not had a chance to send the G5 back - for some reason I thought I’d give it another try. I don’t know why I did this, however I’d kept on reading great reviews and thought I must be doing something wrong here.

I got it setup as before and initially it felt better on the 4S Steel surface than the optical. After an hour of me saying that the scroll wheel was too hard to move I started to get used to it. I also changed the buttons so that the ‘+’ button was (Ctrl+Enter), as I use Opera browser - this is useful for opera wand commands and the ‘-‘ button to switched between the current and last page open in Opera (Ctrl+Tab). Which, if you’re comparing two web pages, can be really useful.

I used the left and right on the scroll wheel to act as middle button so that it would open up the selected link in the background. Again a very useful tool.

It was starting to grow on me. The final straw was that I had an identical MS Optical mouse on another pc in another room in the house and once I used it – it felt so cheap and the scroll wheel actually felt like it didn’t have enough resistance!

A week or so passed and I started to get irritated with the scraping noise of the G5 Laser Mouse on the Steelpad 4S Steel so I ordered some, specially designed, G5 pad-surfers from Steelpad. This seemed to do the trick and I carefully removed the original ones from the G5. Much quieter – or at least it seemed. A week later I was getting frustrated with the noise again and the scraping feeling (cue the fingernails on chalkboard noise) – I’d had enough.

As I really liked Steelpad’s presentation and performance, but not the noise – I went back and ordered the Steelpads 5L cloth and plastic mouse mat. Wow, instant noise reduction, nice padded feeling (not too soft – just right) and it was a little bigger.

I now have the best combination of all now. The best mouse and it’s tied in with the best mouse-pad (well, in my opinion anyhow).

If you want a great combination don’t bother with the 4S get the 5L and the Logitech G5 laser – there’s no beating it!

One on 10 motorists admit that they have fallen asleep at the wheel according to a new report. Nodding off kills 300 people a year in the UK, says Green Flag who recently carried out the survey.

Researchers also found out that nearly 60% of the 1000 road users questioned, confessed to taking the wheel when “very tired”.

Men were the worst culprits, with two thirds owning up to driving with fatigue hanging over them.

Over a period of time. the flexing of the floor or expansion and contraction of the timber may loosen the floorboard nails. It is the resulting movement of the wood against the nails or against the neighbouring boards that produces the typical irritating squeak.

The simplest cure is to drive the floorboard nails in deeper with a nail punch, which allows the tapered edges of the nails to grip the wood more securely. However, this may not be a lasting solution. If the problem persists, use either a larger or ring-shank nails. The latter are designed to give a better grip however they need to have clearance holes drilled through the boards. Fill any redundant holes with a matching wood filler.

If the boards can’t be renailed satisfactorily (for example, because of twisting or bowing), use countersunk stainless-steel woodscrews. Bury the heads of the screws deep enough to cover them with filler or with matching wooden plugs. Dampening the wood thoroughly before fixing will help it to ‘give’ as the boards are screwed down.

Another tip…..

I find it so relaxing watching the snooker after spending hours on the PC. The BBC Snooker offer fantastic coverage.

The first 3D maps of what’s under our roads are to be created in a multi-million pound project to cut traffic jams caused by roadworks. The four-year survey will plot every pipe, cable, drain and sewer in the UK, and make the information available for contractors on hand held computers. Four million holes are dug in the roads every year, but many are unnecessary as there are no reliable plans showing utilities buried since Victorian days. The annual digging bill of £1billion rises to £5bn when the cost of congestion is included. Now, researchers from Nottingham and Leeds Universities are to use computer programs to combine data from thousands of separate plans into maps with pinpoint accuracy.

“Reducing roadworks would bring enormous economic and environmental benefits,” said Professor Tony Cohn of Leeds. The project includes a scheme to tag pipes as they’re laid so they can be found with a radio scanner.

Smoking behind the wheel could soon be stubbed out, if changes to the Highway Code go ahead. A revised drivers’ bible, due out next spring, will warn motorists that sparking up on the road is a serious distraction. It could pave the way for an all-out ban in cars; Scottish van and lorry drivers are already preparing for new laws outlawing lighting up from May. The fresh code is part of a raft of Government changes concerning motoring habits. The Driver Standards Agency has now banned electronic parking brakes from learner test centres and says it’s looking to outlaw other driver-assistance gadgets.

Courtesy of BBC & AutoExpress

There was a question about redirects over at Webmaster Forums last week. Take a look at Sams request. It does pose the question that if you have two domains with the same content - are you best to use a 301 or a 302 redirect? See post here

It won’t be long. That’s the view of a leading stereo manufacturer, which has axed its range of vehicle digital radios in favour of analogue. Experts believe the move by Kenwood sounds the death knell for digital stereo technology, unless reliability improves quickly. Users have reported inteference and lost signals, problems which obviously deter potential buyers. Kenwood’s Mike Edwards said the brand has no plans to reintroduce digital products. Fellow in-car entertainment (ICE) specialists Clarion and Blaupunkt admit that in-car DAB has been ’slow to catch on’ . Article courtesy of Auto Express

Only 4 people in the world are allowed to do this.

1. The reigning British Monarch
2. The President of the USA
3. The Pope
4. The Prime Minister of Malta

This info was courtesy of Auto Express magazine.

Water shortage? You can spray that again!

Well, actually, you can’t, according to Britain’s water companies. The firms are bringing in hosepipe bans across the country, signalling a potential end to the traditional car wash.

Drivers in the South-East of England will be the first to be affected by the ban - introduced because of a lack of rainfall over the winter months - but it could spread nationwide. Now, leading car care produce manufacturer Comma has tapped into the problem and issued a new list of recommendations for saving valuable water while still giving your motor a clean.

An estimated 6 million drivers wash their vehicle every weekend and 57 percent of those have admitted that they do it by hosing down first, according to Comma’s research. Ignoring a hosepipe ban introduced by your local water authority could mean a fine of up to £1,000 and a criminal record, so the firm’s advice should be taken by the bucket load. “With so many people in this country grabbing a hosepipe, a change of habit is required,” explained company spokesman Mike Brewsey. “You only need one pail of water to clean the car, and another to wash it down.”

Comma claims a staggering 84 million gallons of water could be saved each weekend if more drivers converted to buckets instead of hoses.

Figures released by supplier Three Valleys Water show that a hose pipes use 20 gallons per wash - which compares with only 3 gallons for each bucket.

Top Water Saving Tips When Washing Your Car

1. Clean your car from the roof down to the wheels
2. Always wash in the shade to avoid drying marks and repeat cleaning
3. Wring your sponge or chamois out over your bucket
4. Use a sponge to wash down with one hand, and a chamois in the other to dry off immediately
5. Wash your car after a rain shower - it will already be wet, so you won’t need a hose to rinse it first

I’m looking to find more information on the VK range of mobile phones.

I used to have a Nokia 6100 and it was a really thin and small phone that was reliable and had a good battery life. The only problem is that this phone is quite out of date and I find the responsiveness of it a little slow compared to todays standards.

I’m currently looking for an upgrade or replacement - ideally a Nokia 6100 shell but with 6230i insides. I know that this isn’t possible but even different brands interest me hence me mentioning the VK Mobile range. If anyone has any suggestions I’d be interested to hear.

vk 2010

vk 2020

My wishlist:-

Battery life over 5 days
Max Height - 110mm
Max Width - 60mm
Max Thickness - 10mm
Weight - not bothered
Screen - Need to view images
Ringtones - MP3
USB Chargeable - USB lead to charge

Like I said, the VK2000 looked good but there are others on the horizon and I’d be prepared to hang-on for a couple of months to see their latest offerings.

Having tried out some ISP’s recently for webhosting I was attracted to bpweb.net due to their good reviews and the fact that they did a 30 day money-back-guarantee.

I setup some accounts OK and wanted to add POP3 accounts which I added. I then decided to change the POP3 accounts and did that however they didn’t work. It transpired that they only update your requests such as changes to web forwarding, pop3 accounts, etc. etc. on a daily basis at 11pm. So if you were to request changes at 11.30pm, or you made a mistake you would have to wait until the following evening at 11pm for your changes to be executed. This is not good in todays age!

I then contacted support for a couple of questions via their support console - no response, sent another - no response and then telephoned Nick/Andy in support and he helped. I asked why my requests hadn’t been answered - he said that they hadn’t seen them. Anyhow, after this and the 11pm updates I said that I would like to cancel my account (this is 2/3 days after opening it - which I must add, took them 1 hour!) … No reply. I tried this 10 times and send forms from their “secure support area” … No reply. I then called and was told I would have to e-mail them. Which I did.

I then left it and thought. Oh well they’ve got £30 out of me.

3 weeks later I got a second bill from their service on my card. I had to eventually go to the payment collected and manually cancel the service. Not through BPweb but the service provider.

BPwebseem to use an antiquated, slow system for updating changes. They didn’t reply to my support requests and failed to assist me in cancelling their service.

Since this experience I have used Clook clook.co.uk and they are great. The cPanel system is instant, their prices seem to be cheaper (bonus) and the support response is as I would expect, if not better. Usually an e-mail response within 5mins to 30 mins. Not that I’ve had to use it much, apart from a flurry of panic e-mails at the start ;-P

Moral of story. Check out that they have a cancellation procedure or find your exit before comitting.