Important Tips for Packing Boxes and Storage Services

How the providing of your things are done at the time of moving, makes sure what will be the result of the switch. You need certain type of top-quality providing content which covers all your things in the appropriate way and guarantees appropriate protection for them. So as to reduce your problem the Chicago movers provide you moving boxes at reasonable costs and at quality. Different kinds of moving boxes are required for different kinds of objects and goods. Chicago mover provides you with the right kind of moving boxes for your favorite things and they do the providing themselves and seal it subsequently using proper packing tapes.

Storage Facility should be needed

Are you shifting just for moment and might come back to the same place after some time? Well, in this situation you require just certain most essential things to be taken with you and need some products to be placed in your old house only. The Chicago moving companies remember your advantage has presented the service of storage space for your various storage space specifications. The Chicago movers moving companies provide you the benefit of saving your things for daily permanently. Also, they offer you with 24/7 security for your elements and services such as environment handled storage space for your advantage.

Fighting Comment Spam

Ugh, I am being inundated with comment spam.

I am tightening the policy for comments, from now on, only users with an OpenID or other form that Blogger accepts can comment.

Fisker Suspension

Edmunds has a very nice photo review of the Fisker Karma suspension.

My takeaway: heavy car, expensive chassis, very complex.   But also very impressive, considering the complexity of the machine.   Tesla, for its Roadster, let Lotus take care of the chassis and suspension design and had to focus mostly on the powertrain.

I will be amazed if Fisker makes enough money to stay in business with this model.  

Professional Chicago Movers are more reliable than Contract Laborers

When researching moving companies, it is necessary to do your homework and inquire about out those that only deal with professional movers. Companies with professional movers are probable to be licensed and insured, have a trustworthy status in the community and pack and load your prized belongings with interest and knowledge. Even if there are contract laborers that will also act efficiently, you are motionless running a risk by hiring a moving company without knowledgeable staff. For instance, a contract laborer is moving your coffee table, when the glass top falls and shatters on his hand. Is that contract laborer insured? Will he sue you for damages? What if the contract manual worker is untrustworthy and steals your beloved items? Also, who would you feels more contented with handling your priceless family heirlooms: professional movers, or contract laborers who do different jobs every week?


We USA Moving and Storage, Inc., a Chicago Movers in Illinois, only do business with professional movers. Our policy is to not work with bond laborers so we can promise our clients that their property will be handled with the utmost care and expertise. Our movers are a quantity of the greatest paid in the industry and we have kept them so happy some have even stay with us for more than a decade. Our professional Chicago mover will do as much or as little as you wish. Be it to enfold, pack and cargo all of your items or just securely cover and pack your most valuable belongings; our Chicago movers are trained to do it all.

Contact us for a free estimate (800)626-4474, and our Chicago movers will be happy to help you have a successful, hassle-free moving experience.

Cadillac 4 Cylinder

This is what the world has come to.   GM is putting a four-banger in a Cadillac.  

But this isn't the I4 of old, this is a modern, direct injected turbo with variable cam timing.  The GM 2.0L Ecotech makes 270HP and 260lb-ft of torque.  It is a similar engine to the Ford 2.0L Ecoboost which is now the fuel economy option for the Explorer. 

By comparison, the FWD versions of the famed Northstar engine family (LD8) made 275HP and 300ft-lbs, out of a whopping 4.6L of displacement.

More at GM's web site.

 

2013 Mercedes-Benz SL Picture Leaked

What's the only thing better than a 700-horsepower super-coupe? Why, a 700-horsepower supercar roadster, of course! Since the last two V12 supercars from Lamborghini – the Diablo and Murcielago – both spawned open-top derivatives, we knew it would only be a matter of time before the Aventador would follow suit.

Now the word on the street is that Lamborghini has got the Aventador Roadster all but completely ready to go, and that it is likely to present the roofless despot at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

We're hearing that the Murcielago Roadster's notoriously useless umbrella roof contraption has been replaced by something more functional, which we can only hope for. One way or another, we'll be finding out soon enough, as the Swiss auto expo is only a few months away.

Source: Teamspeed.com

iDrive Prank Box

I was sent this prank gift box, which is hilarious.

It is designed to look like a believable (but crazy) product, the iDrive, which is a suction cup and claw mount to mount iPads and other devices on your steering wheel or other unsafe places.  Photos on the back show it being used in cars, on a factory runabout and also on a jet ski. I wonder, though, how the box maker gets away with using "iDrive", which is a real trademark for a number of different types of products, including data storage and surgical staplers.

 

The actual product is the prank box itself, one of many that are sold by Prank Pack.

I am going to use it on a friend, who is both a car nut and a Apple cultist.

Old People Cars

According to the Detroit News, this is the list of most popular vehicles for senior citizens.  I have added additional information: which models are discontinued.

1. Lincoln Town Car, 90%

2. Buick Lucerne, 87%

3. Cadillac DTS, 85%

4. Cadillac CTS, 74%

5. Cadillac STS, 71%

6. Hyundai Azera, 25%

7. Chevrolet Impala, 51%

8. Buick LaCrosse, 59%

9. Lincoln MKZ, 54%

10. Toyota Avalon, 54%

The interesting question to me is, what will the old folks buy now that the softly spring boats have mostly gone extinct?

2012 Volkswagen Beetle Turbo First Spy Shots

Volkswagen began building buzz for the 2012 Beetle. The company's executives were throwing phrases like "fun to drive," "masculine" and "Porsche-derived styling" toward the would-be Beetle successor as far back as the 2010 Paris Motor Show. In this business, you either learn to read through hyperbole or choke to death on it, so it goes without saying that our hackles were quivering with skepticism at the time. Volkswagen could hardly blame us.

Source: autoblog.com

Remember Pearl Harbor!

A momentous day in U.S. history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor

World’s Top 10 Expensive Car Crashes

It’s always a sad situation when someone wrecks a car and the situation would be much worse if its an expensive car. The insurance and repair costs will be much higher for these cars. This adds fuel to the fire and the repair costs might make you weep at times. The wrecks which we have shown involve unique and rare cars which billionaires can only afford.









































Source: worlds top 10 expensive car crashes

Ferrari launches limited edition 599 GTB 60F1

Ferrari has been successful in winning the formula 1 races for 60 years till now and to celebrate it, the company has introduced a special edition version of the 599. Its the Ferrari 599 GTB 60F1. The Ferrari 599 GTB 60F1 will only be available in three liveries.

The 375 F1 livery pays tribute to Froilan Gonzalez's first victory for Ferrari at the 1951 British Grand Prix, while the Ferrari 150 Italia scheme is a tip of the hat to Fernando Alonso's win at Silverstone, the same track that Gonzalez conquered for the automaker's first gold. Alonso took the honor of the company's 60th time at the top of the podium. Ferrari also plans to sell the Ferrari 599 GTB 60F1 in a third variant that plays off of the 150 Italia livery.

Source: autoblog.com

Volt Battery Fires NBD

The blogosphere and news media have become somewhat excited about the Chevy Volt battery fires, and GM has been very defensive, going so far as to offer to buy back Volts from any skittish customers.

I don't see what the big deal is.

There zero cases of Volts having battery thermal issues after getting in an accident in the real world.  There have been a couple of cases of garage fires, however the causes are not yet known and it is quite possible that the fault lies in poorly done 240V wiring, and not with the Volt.  

There are four cases of Volt batteries having thermal reactions after being first disconnected from their liquid coolant supply, then damaged, and then overturned by NHTSA.  This is like sideswiping a pole at high speed, at exactly the point where the battery extends out towards the sides of the car, then rolling over, and then letting the battery sit damaged for several days without being discharged.  

Here's an experiment: smash a gasoline car in such a way as to rupture the gas tank. Then turn the car over and let the fuel run where it will.

Also, consider the number of gasoline vehicle fires that occur every year.  In 1999, there were 288,000 highway vehicle fires, due to all causes (accident and otherwise), according to the NFPA.  According to a 1990 study by NHTSA, motor vehicle fires due to accidents occurred at a rate of 2.86/1000 vehicles. 

So if Volts had the same rate of accident caused fires as gasoline vehicles, we would expect to see about 14 Volt fires this year.  But we haven't, even though Volts do carry gasoline on-board.

Aptera Dead!

I have been watching with morbid fascination the death spiral of Aptera, the designer of the electric trike that looks like a big spermatozoan, which didn't do well in the Progressive Automotive X-prize competition.  To stave off death, Aptera was working on a traditional 4-wheel vehicle concept which they hoped would attract new investors and help them qualify for a DOE AVTM loan.  Aptera stated that they needed $150 million in new money to start work on the new vehicle, but investors did not come to the table.

And that was a wise decision.  Despite an interesting and aerodynamic design, the Aptera 3-wheel concept was not practical for any large market, and would have been very expensive to produce in small volumes.   Like the other X-prize finalists running 3-wheel designs, Aptera was more of a design study than a marketable product.   

To date, there are still no production-ready enclosed 3-wheelers for sale in the U.S. and I doubt there will ever be.  The inherent safety and comfort trade-offs are too great for more than a few novelty-loving customers.

The question in my mind is, who is next to fold?  Up-start auto companies funded by venture capital don't have a shining history (DeLorean, Bricklin...).  Will Tesla and Fisker make it, financially, or will they burn through their cash before catching on?

How To Reset Your Garmin

I needed to reset my Garmin 1390 GPS unit, before giving it to a friend, to erase all of my personal data.  I found out there is a nice factory reset function which will clear all user data.

To factory reset your Garmin:

• Power off the unit
• Press and hold the lower right corner of the screen
• Power on the unit.

I also found that if you do the same thing but press and hold the upper left of the touch screen, it will re-calibrate the touchscreen.

NHTSA: Volt Battery Pack Post Crash Risks

NHTSA posted a press release on its web site which explains its recent test results with Chevy Volt batteries.

In an effort to recreate the May test, NHTSA conducted three tests last week on the Volt's lithium-ion battery packs that intentionally damaged the battery compartment and ruptured the vehicle's coolant line. Following a test on November 16 that did not result in a fire, a temporary increase in temperature was recorded in a test on November 17. During the test conducted on November 18 using similar protocols, the battery pack was rotated within hours after it was impacted and began to smoke and emit sparks shortly after rotation to 180 degrees. NHTSA's forensic analysis of the November 18 fire incident is continuing this week. Yesterday, the battery pack that was tested on November 17 and that had been continually monitored since the test caught fire at the testing facility. The agency is currently working with DOE, DOD, and GM to assess the cause and implications of yesterday's fire. In each of the battery tests conducted in the past two weeks, the Volt's battery was impacted and rotated to simulate a real-world, side-impact collision into a narrow object such as a tree or a pole followed by a rollover.

So in short, NHTSA is crashing Volts with  very specific protocol--a narrow pole, which will cause severe deformation/penetration of the body structure, followed by a rotation to simulate a rollover.

The batteries aren't catching on fire right away, rather they seem to take some time to build up heat.  

I don't think there is anything to worry about, yet.  First, this is a very specific and severe type of crash, and second, it takes hours or days before the battery self-heats to the point of fire.  As NHTSA and GM both point out, no on-the-road accidents are known to have caused battery fires.

However, GM apparently was late to the game, by not developing beforehand a procedure to discharge (and render safer) the Volt battery.  They are now rolling this procedure out to first responders, who need to know how to neutralize a charged lithium ion battery after a severe accident.

Finding the Best Piano Moving Company

Piano is one of the wonderful instruments to keep in your home. This instrument cannot be simply picked up and moved. Since it can incur severe damage, much care has to be taken while moving a piano. Even a slight damage can be too costly in having the piano fixed. In some cases, severe damage might lead to replacement of the piano. The only solution for this would be by hiring a professional piano mover who knows the difficulties in moving a piano. Lets have a look at the various things which are to be considered while moving a piano.

How to choose a professional piano mover?

Lot of people might have the doubt of why to choose a professional piano mover for moving a piano when lot of home movers are available. The main reason is that most of the home movers wouldn't have sufficient knowledge and experience in moving a piano properly. Piano's are available in different sizes and their value depends mainly on their model, make, condition and age. Most of the times, the piano need to be moved through a small space and in few other cases, it has to be disassembled and moved. Its always better to choose a mover near your location to minimize the charges you incur. Hence for moving your belongings in Chicago, its always good to hire a Chicago Mover to reduce your costs.


How should pianos be moved?

When hiring a professional Chicago mover, you can expect atleast 2-3 people arriving at your home with all the necessary equipments in order to move your prized piano safely. Special techniques has to be employed to move your instrument and once the piano is moved to the truck, it will be fastened inside to avoid damage during its transit. When you choose someone who is not a professional piano mover, the necessary safety guards might not be applied. Preferring a professional piano mover might not completely stop your piano from getting damaged but it will reduce the chance of getting damaged.

Just remember to choose the best piano mover and ensure that they have all the information to offer 100% satisfaction .

Review: Davis CarChip Pro

This is a review of the Davis Industires CarChip Pro . 

The CarChip is a small device which plugs into your vehicle's OBD-II port, and acts as a datalogger.  It can record vehicle speed every second, and up to 4 other items at a slower rate of one sample every 5 seconds. Retail prices are around $80.

The device is simple to configure.  Once you install the software (which worked fine on Windows 7), and plug the CarChip in with a mini-USB cable (included), a step-by-step configuration walks you through the initial setup.

For example, you can choose to record 4 parameters at every 5s, from a choice of several standard OBD-II parameters, including engine speed, throttle position, engine coolant temp, engine load, air flow rate, spark timing, air/fuel ratio, battery voltage, and oxygen sensor voltage.  You can also set audible alarms, to have the device beep at you if you exceed a top speed, or a max accel/decel rate.

For my testing, I plugged it into my 2007 (which would be using CAN OBD-II), and drove a few trips.  I also induced two powertrain diagnostic faults: I loosened my fuel cap, and for a short time, disconnected my intake air temp sensor (IAT).

After removing the device and downloading the data to my PC, I was able to use the software to plot the recorded channels, and the device properly logged two DTCs, one for evaporative emissions (P0456) and one for the IAT circuit test failure (P0113).  By clicking on a menu choice, you can tell the CarChip to clear the codes next time you plug it into your vehicle.

Overall, I liked the CarChip, and I would recommended for several use cases.  A hobbyist or fleet owner who wants a low-cost way to log mileage, driving style, fuel economy, etc. would do well with a CarChip if they don't mind plugging into it every so often to download the data.  It could also be useful to someone who wanted to program it as a "trainer", to teach themselves (or their kids) not to accelerate too hard or brake too abruptly, to teach a high fuel economy driving style.

However, I wouldn't necessarily recommend this as a primary diagnosis tool, for example to debug DTCs or do performance tuning, because of its offline nature.  Someone who wanted to quickly determine why they have a Check Engine lamp, and perhaps check some of their engine control sensor values as part of the debug would be better off with an interactive scan tool.  Also, the relatively slow 5s sampling rate may cause users to miss some aspects of the engine performance, such as sudden lean fuel excursions or speed fluctuations.

My advice to Davis, to improve this product, would be to add a "live mode" which pulls the OBD data in real-time via the USB, and to add some sort of wireless interface so that the data can be monitored and downloaded via bluetooth without having to plug into the unit directly.

Pros:

• Simple to use software, easy setup
• Ability to set speed/accel/decel alarms
• Fault code logging and clearing
• Small, unobtrusive
• Data can be easily exported

Cons:

• Slow sampling rate (5s) on user-configured data channels
• No apparent "live mode" to look at data interactively, while connected
• No wireless transfer mode (bluetooth or wifi).

* Davis provided me with a sample unit, however I recieved no compensation for this review.

You Walk

Saw this hilarious billboard on the outskirts of Pontiac the other day.  Rough neighborhood, I guess.

3 Important Moving Tips to Consider

Professional movers are often not considered because they are expensive. You should be smart enough while choosing a moving company. You can still receive professional help and lower your costs by concentrating on three important tips.

Price quotes

When you are considering to move, you need to contact several companies and get an estimate for the moving process and the distance that you are moving. It is always better to know the amount of material that you are moving. Example, a two bedroom flat with appliances will cost more than a single bed room flat with appliances.

Packing

Packing on your own helps you reduce the costs. If you choose a professional moving company, then the cost might be much higher. It may also be time consuming to properly pack your items.

Some might wish to purchase boxes from the moving companies. However you can rent boxes for cheaper prices. You can even try for companies that rent trucks. These companies might rent items that you need to pack.

Storage

Some might also look to store your things. In that case, you can save a lot of money if you do it yourself. Most of the professional moving companies offer storage services while moving your things. Once its moved they will store the things in a secured place. However you need to pay an extra charge for the storage.

If you need to store things, you can choose a rental truck however if you don't have more things, you can choose a truck for moving alone. Check the charge for storage but it would be much cheaper if you do it yourself. It's always a good idea to compare costs. If the costs are not too higher, you can hire the work from a professional piano movers rather than doing yourself.

For more information about our services, visit Chicago Movers.

Coda: Does Anyone Care?

The Coda is an all electric sedan built on a Chinese copy of a Mitsubishi compact sedan chassis, stuffed with batteries and electric motors.  It looks cheap.  But it will cost $40,000 like the Focus BEV, Chevrolet Volt, and Nissan Leaf high trim model.  

Does anyone really want one at this price?

New Fiat 500 Abarth Commercial

Awesome.

Translation from a YouTube viewer:

What are you looking at? Uh!?

What are you looking at?! (slap)

Are you undressing me with your eyes?

Poor guy…you can't help it?

Is your heart beating? Is your head spinning?

Do you feel lost thinking that I could be yours forever?

(by the way has a slightly non-italian accent)

Smelly Anarchists Begone!

NYC has finally had enough of the Occupy Wall Street crowd in Zuccotti park.  A judge has denied a lawsuit for a restraining order against NYPD, on the grounds that

To the extent that  City law prohibits the erection of  structures,  the use of  gas or  other  
combustible materials, and the accumulation of  garbage and human waste in public places, 
enforcement of the law and the owner's rules appears reasonable to permit the owner to maintain its 
space in a hygienic, safe, and lawful condition, and to prevent it from being liable by the City or  others 
for  violations of  law, or  in tort.  It  also permits public access by those who live and work in the area 
who are the intended beneficiaries of  this zoning bonus.  

 

The movants have not  demonst rated that  they have a First  Amendment  right  to remain in 
Zuccotti Park, along with their tents, structures, generators, and other installations to the exclusion 
of the owner's reasonable rights and duties to maintain Zuccotti Park, or to the rights to public access 
of  others who might  wish to use the space safely. Neither have the applicants shown a right to a 
temporary restraining order that would restrict the City's enforcement of  law so as to promote public 
health and safety.

Presumably, now the NYPD will begin moving the squatters out of Zuccotti park, so that the damage can be repaired. 

Opera.2 Crossover Coupe Unveiled by Vygor

It's now time for the Opera.2 which is launched by the Tuscany-based operation. This is not a replacement for the Opera.1 but it offers a different design from the hideous cartoon-bunny front end in the Opera.1. Now, it looks like a Chinese Concept Car.

The mechanical details has been borrowed from the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. Its reported that the turbo four is available with 300, 350 or 420 horsepower, propelling this 3,500-lb mess to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.9 seconds and on to a 155 mph top end.

The pricing starts at $192,000. You'll also be thrilled to know that a third design is apparently in the works with a broader range of style choices.

EVs Should Be Loud

Today, while crossing a busy grocery store parking lot, I was really startled by a silent Prius driving accross my path.  Since I didn't hear a noise, I didn't expect to see it moving near me.

I'm coming down on the side of noise pollution here.  EVs (BEVs or HEVs in electric mode) should make some sort of noise, loud enough for a pedestrian to hear within about 15 feet or so.  Silent cars are not as safe.

The End of Saab (Again)?

This might be the be the end for Saab.  GM is stating that it does not support the sale of Saab to two Chinese auto companies.  Without financing, Saab is likely to be liquidated by the Swedish courts, a process that was suspended when Saab made a deal to sell itself.  

I have friends who own Saabs, and I wonder what will happen to them as far as vehicle service and replacement parts go.  Perhaps someone will step up and buy the parts inventory, if there is money to be made in service.  Some Saab models are really re-badged GM or Subaru vehicles, so those likely can be serviced at those dealerships.  

Prius Smugness Run Amok

Smug Prius owner goes apesh*t because a guy is idling his diesel pickup in an adjacent parking spot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CVdMySWfAIQ#!

BMW's M3 Competition Edition for U.S.

BMW launches a special M3 Competition Edition to celebrate its 40 years. Only 40 Coupes will be shipped to U.S. This edition will feature with a Frozen Silver exterior paint, black M3 GTS 19-inch wheels, dark chrome exterior trim and dark exhaust tips with its interior complemented with Black Novillo leather upholstery with Palladium Silver accents, an Alcantara M steering wheel and M logos.

It's also more expensive than the standard M3. The Competition Edition M3 cost $81,060 with destination and handling, or a hefty $20,000 more than the base car. Since BMW is has dubbed this M3 the "Competition Edition," the automaker is also encouraging its U.S. dealer body to compete for the chance to sell one of them.

Lotus, Renault and Virgin F1 teams change names for 2012

The battle, as you may recall, involves two outfits - neither of them directly owned by Lotus. One is based in Malaysia and licensed the name from Lotus' parent company, Proton, before subsequently "acquiring" the name from a third party that laid claim to it. The issue was further complicated when Lotus itself teamed with the Renault F1 team, resulting in two squads called Lotus-Renault.

The two operations have now reached a compromise. The green-and-yellow Malaysian outfit known until now as Team Lotus be named Caterham in 2012, while the Renault team will be cleared to use the Lotus name.

Source: http://www.autoblog.com/

EVs Are Expensive!

Ford today announced the pricing for the electric Focus, $40,000.  Facebook and blogs are howling at the price.

Truth is, the price is not unfair.  Li-Ion batteries are running around $600/kWh these days.  If the Focus matches the Leaf's 24kWh battery, then it is carrying about $14,000 in batteries.  A nicely equipped Focus goes for around $23,000, which gets us to $37,000.  

I suspect that Nissan is losing money on the Leaf, and calling it a marketing expense.  At a price of $32,000, the Leaf only allows for a base vehicle price of $18,000.

The 53%

i am also proud to be part of the 53%.  This is great.

Opt for a proficient piano mover to move your piano!!!

Piano is one of the most popular, admired and expensive instrument in the world. Relocating or moving a piano to another place needs a lot of expertise, which an experienced professional who is in this field for quite some time will only possess. A piano is a work of art; it ought to be treated like ancient furniture with utmost care. So, when you’re planning to move a piano, make sure your piano is moved by professional piano movers and not by anybody else or you. Because, if in case the piano is damaged, it is really very difficult to fix it, even if you fix it, you won’t get the original finish physically and the fine tuning of it can never be restored once it is damaged, at the same time it is too expensive and time consuming as well. In spite of all this, if you are still planning to move the piano on your own, believe me, it will be an extremely tough and tiresome task altogether. You are not a professional to move it with expertise, so how much ever cautious you are, you won’t be able to move it without any damage, it is quite obvious, because you won’t know the knack of doing it, which the professionals possess. So to avoid all this, you can jolly well hire professional Chicago movers, to get your job done. Get smart! Hire a piano mover right away!!

Review: Drop Stop Car Wedge

Drop Stop Car Wedge is a simple product that does one thing very well. It blocks the gap between your car seat and the center console, so that you can't drop stuff down into that hard to reach spot. 

I have been using one, and It works great. I do notice that I can feel the right side of my seat is button cushion is a little bit firmer due to compression, but it doesn't bother me.

The wedge is a tube made of black neoprene, with a pass-through for the seatbelt latch.  It is stuffed with filler.  To install it, you slip it over your seatbelt latch and then stuff it down, working it forward and back smooth it out. 

At $20/pair plus shipping, it isn't cheap, but isn't outrageously expensive either.  It should outlast your vehicle.

Pros:

• Simple, effective
• Unobtrusive
• Seems durable

Cons:

• Unknown country of origin (not on packaging)
• $20+shipping is a little steep for what is basically a stuffed fabric tube
• Limited distribution (Can't buy it on Amazon, etc.)
• Adds firmness to right seat cushion side

*Note: DropStop did not provide any payment for this review, other than sending me a test unit.

2013 Audi A4 and S4 revealed

Audi A4 has been the best-selling model for the German Automaker. The automaker has sold over 10 million cars for the past 39 years. For 2013 Audi A4 model, Audi has revised it with sheetmetal and powertrains.

Be smart! Hire a moving company to move your goods!

Are you planning to move to another place in Chicago? Good!!But there is lot of points that you have to bear in mind before you move from one place to another. First, how are you planning to pack all your stuff, what are your options? How have you planned to reach all your belongings to the new destination safely? Are you planning to hire a moving company to move your goods?? If yes, what is your budget?? How to find the best moving company, which is of your choice and your budget?

Once you find an answer for all these questions, go ahead and start working on it. Plan first and then execute it accordingly. If you have planned and decided to hire a moving company for yourself, check out for the best Chicago mover in town and assign them to move your stuff. Make sure you select one of the best Chicago movers, at the same time fulfilling all your needs, so that you can trust their work and be relaxed. There are several things that you have to find out before you finalize on one moving company, enquire about the services they provide, the facilities they give, offers, discounts, their tariff, how much they charge for each and every service and so on. It is important to enquire about these entire well in advance because there are lots of moving companies which cheat in these kinds of issues. So beware, and select the right company and get a safe and comfortable move.

Sonic Drop Breaks Down?

Chevy is doing a stunt to promote the new Sonic b-car.  They are dropping it off of a huge tower attached to a bungee cord, and using web clicks to move it towards the edge of the leap.

Looks like it broke, though.  

I hope those guys are careful.

Minor Fact Check: Volt Charging Handle

According to Mike Davis at The Detroit Bureau, the Chevy Volt charging cord has a safety feature similar to a certain .45ACP pistol that I know and love.

"To my surprise, I found the In cord had a squeeze-handle like the safety grip on a Model 1911 A1 .45 pistol"

Sorry Mike, this isn't right.  The 1911 has a grip safety on the backstrap of the gun, where the web of your thumb rests.  The Chevy Volt has a safety lever located under the trigger finger.

Electric Delorean?

Jalopnik's Kevin McCauley was invited to test drive a Delorean DMCEV, an electric conversion applied to a Delorean chassis by the new Delorean Motor Company.  DMC hopes to build these for sale in 2013.

It will be a really cool looking car, but remember that this thing is built on a 1980's design.  It wouldn't pass modern handling or crash standards.  And chances are, it will be really expensive--because to avoid meeting the modern standards, each one of these will have to be a conversion of an existing Delorean chassis with an existing VIN.  In other words, take a rare car, and then apply expensive electronics and batteries.

I have to say, though, the Delorean is still a great looking car.

Electric DeTomaso, Pantera, anyone?

Birmingham Ferrari

Spotted in downtown Birmingham on Sunday.

Blackwood Sighting

The Lincoln Blackwood was a white elephant for Lincoln. A car that
did well as a concept but flopped bad in production. I saw this one
the other night.

Ford Quietly Kills Off Hybrid Escape?

Ford has announced that the next Escape, based on the European Kuga, will come with 3 flavors of I4 engines, 1.6L Ecoboost (GTDI), 2.0L Ecboost, and 2.5L NA.  No mention was made of the hybrid powertrain currently available, giving Ford bragging rights to "most fuel efficient SUV".  So it looks like Ford is quietly killing off the hybrid Escape in favor of the C-Max hybrid and plug-in hybrid.  

If I have this wrong, Ford PR is invited to comment.

SUVs Less Dangerous To Others*

A new study by the IIHS shows that SUVs which strike cars of a similar weight are now not more dangerous than other types of vehicles.  This is great news, as it shows that automakers have been taking the interface issue seriously.   By adjusting the heights of crash structures, moving towards unibody designs, and improving crumple on light SUVs, automakers have been able to meet or even exceed sedan crash performance.  

However.

The study looks at crashes where vehicles collide which are within 500lbs in weight of each other.  It does not say much about crashes where the vehicles are farther apart, for example a 5000lb SUV striking a 3500lb car.  In cases like those, injuries and deaths are still going to be lopsided, with the occupants of the lighter vehicle suffering more damage.  

This chart from IIHS is telling, it shows how heavier vehicles tend to have higher partner death rates than lighter ones.  

At the end of the day, a larger, heavier vehicle is still safer, for the people riding in it.  But not necessarily for the others on the road.

Chicago Movers and its Efficient Packing Facilities

The Chicago movers can do all sort of moving service from local move to piano move in a most well-organized way and the local movers utilize tissue papers while packing your fragile items and create your own packing list. They do not pack delicate items with weighty items and hold all your valuables in the moving truck. Along with packing service the local movers make available the order boxes as per your condition. Order boxes are required because segregation of things is necessary while packing and you cannot pack delicate items with additional items so separate boxes are required for each and every thing. The Chicago mover make available of different moving boxes like book box, linen box, china box, picture box and wardrobe box for our packing convenience.

Order for a most excellent order boxes and packing service beside with packing paper and packing tape and forever have a preference the local movers who do the moving service in a specialized way. There are several skilled Chicago mover who provide the professional moving service in a reasonably priced with customer satisfaction. Whatever the moving types, constantly the customer’s convenience is Chicago movers because the moving companies act as a local movers as well as long distance movers, etc and does all types of moving service with self moving services.

My Sad HP Tale

I decided to replace my stuttering old Dell Optiplex desktop (Core 2 circa 2008) with a new desktop.  I saw a very good deal on Woot!--an HP Pavilion with a quad core AMD CPU and 1TB HDD for all of $300.  It was, of course, refurbished.

That was a mistake.

The HP came loaded down with crapware (trials, useless media players, etc.).  The Pavilion case was made of very thin metal, and thing made a lof of an and drive noise compared to my old machine.  But the worse part was that it came broken.  Despite having 4 RAM slots, the motherboard would not boot if I put more than 2 sticks of memory in it.  HP agreed this was an issue, but informed me my machine was out of warranty.  After several long phone calls with customer service (in India) I finally got them to extend my warranty to the proper 90 days, and accept the machine for repair.

It came back with a new motherboard, and would accept more memory.  But this one would run for a seemingly random amount of time, and then freeze solid. It wouldn't even write the errors into the Windows system log, so I had no way of knowing what was wrong.

The machine went back to Woot for a refund, and I bought a factory refurbished Dell Optiplex 780, with Intel Core 2 Quad CPU.  

The Dell Optiplex came with no crapware, other than a a free trial for a virus scanner, which was easily removed.  The machine is quiet, and fast, and with a free web coupon, it was cheap too.  And, unlike the HP, the Dell came with a 3 year warranty, and an actual restore DVD.

Honda Releases Details on Honda Fit Electric Concept

Honda didn't stole the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, but Honda used the stage to present some of its greener prototypes, its EV Concept.

The Honda EV Concept is designed to meet the daily driving needs of the average commuter and utilizes the same five-passenger layout found in the popular Honda Jazz Fit.

When the production version of the Honda EV Concept hits the streets in 2012, it will be powered by a lithium-ion battery and coaxial electric motor. The motor, derived from the unit found in the FCX Clarity fuel cell car, is efficient and powerful while remaining quiet at highway speeds according to Honda.

Source: http://www.autoblog.com