Archive for May, 2006

So I Was Told

Friday, May 26th, 2006

Randy Webb told me himself that this simple mod would give me an extra 15 hp! How could resist?

SEV Center on

Looks great, doesn’t it? But 15 hp? Doubt it.

Randy’s comment reminded me of a technology I’ve seen advertised in Japan from a company called SEV. From what I gather, a so-called SEV effect takes place when these metal blocks are placed on various points in a car. My favorite example of the SEV effect is when you place the SEV Center On inside your car.

SEV Center On operates vis-a-vis the chassis of the car. SEV Center On just is put in place inside of car of car (on the chassis), to arrange the work balance of the chassis, it improves traveling efficiency rapidly.

Right. I’m just not convinced. Decide for yourself, a Goggle translated version of the SEV website is available here.

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AutoMeta for WordPress

Wednesday, May 24th, 2006

I like things to happen automatically. Blog production and maintenance shouldn’t be any different. The more I can simplify, the better. The goal: find a WordPress plugin that automatically adds meta and Technorati tags to my posts. The solution: a nice plug in called AutoMeta.

AutoMeta simply suggests tags based on the full text of your post and continues to refine the list until you make a manual change. When you do, AutoMeta stops adjusting the tag list and accepts what you’ve written. There’s even a general list of stop words that can be edited and expanded based on your unique needs. AutoMeta is really an elegant solution.

Out of the box however, AutoMeta (as configured by default on this blog) listed the Technorati tags as a center aligned bulleted list at the bottom of each post page. I wanted the list to appear in the sidebar formatted with my style sheet. A little AutoMeta preference tuning and tiny bit of K2 coding did the trick. In fact, AutoMeta even made it easy. By simply using this PHP code < ?php AutoMeta::includeTechnoratiTags();?> the list can appear anywhere.

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MOTD 2006 Video #1

Sunday, May 21st, 2006

[kml_flashembed movie="http://paulr.us/public/video/return_to_fontana_med.swf" height="225" width="320" /]

My DV camera decided to start eating tapes on this trip. At least I was able to play the tapes once and dump their contents into iMovie. That said, I present to you the first of two (maybe three) videos taken from inside my MINI at MOTD 2006. This one is about 10 minutes in it’s entirety.

As an added bonus, I have an m4v version of the video. It’s formatted with chapter tags and best viewed with QuickTime Player or with a video capable iPod. Download the video here.

Posted in MINI, Travel, Video | 1 Comment »

Last Chicago Pulley Party

Saturday, May 20th, 2006

Chicago Pulley PartyRandy Webb held his last Chicago Pulley Party at MotoringFile Garage this past week. Quite a few people were there, including everyone I caravanned with to MOTD 2006.

And while I didn’t have any thing done to my MINI, it was nice just to hang out and be a part of the event. I did make one purchase, one that Randy said will at least 15 HP to my MINI. More on that some other day. Besides several MINIs, we had plenty of food and drink. Gabe grilled up some five pounds of encased meats and a fridge full of cold beer was conveniently available at the back of the garage.

It’s sad to see these events motor off into the sunset, but I’m happy for Randy. Plus for me, this just means that I’ll need to make a trip out to Colorado for my 15% at some point in the future – and I’m perfectly happy to do that.

Thanks Randy!

(I have a few pictures on my Flickr)

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MINIs on the Dragon 2006

Saturday, May 13th, 2006

First of all, a big shout out to they guys I caravaned down with – incredibly fun, I had a great time! And to all the really nice folks I met while down there – it was nice meeting you! Unfortunately, I didn’t take many photos, but others did. Check out the MOTD 2006 group on Flickr.

The Tail of the Dragon, is a short 11 mile road consisting of 318 turns just on the outskirts of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. For anyone who enjoys a challenging drive, this stretch of US 129 is a road that must be experienced.

Posted in Friends, MINI, Travel | 1 Comment »