blogity blog blog?

[Tai]

What do those of you who have blogs use for software?

[Paladin]

I use Wordpress (http://www.wordpress.org). You can see it in action at Paladin's Playroom (http://paladin.gamingasylum.net). The site is pretty heavily modified from the Wordpress 1.2 default. It's up to version 1.5 now, and I'm slowly working offline to change the files I need to in order to update mine to 1.5. Admining it is very easy. All you need is a server with php and a mysql server.

[Tai]

Thanks! :) Cool site too. :thumbup:

[Paladin]

Thanks. Nice to have someone besides me read it! :)

[Medic]

Hey Pal, have you decided on a new car yet? I have a few suggestions just because they are the cars I'd like to be driving in a few years;

Nissan 350z
$28,000 to $36,000, from the basic Coupe to the Roadster
3.5 liter 24 valve V6, 287-300 hp.
20-26 mpg

Sexy-o-meter - 7 of 10


Audi TT Coupe
$34,000 to $44,000
3.2 liter V6, Turbocharged, 180 to 250 hp
20 - 28 mpg

Sexy-o-meter - 8.5 of 10


Lotus Elise
$39,995 to $56,000
1.8 liter 24 valve 4 cylinder, 190 hp
23 to 27 mpg

Sexy-o-meter - !!!



Just a few suggestions.

[Paladin]

Um, thanks Medic. The budget, however is $25,000 max, and lower is better. That means for some of them, like the RX-8 or WRX, I'd have to buy used. The Audi is way out of my price range, as is the Elise (although, if I could get my hands on a 1990-ish Esprit S4S for $25,000, I'd probably do it...0-60 in 3.7 AND 28mpg). The 350z isn't on my radar, but maybe it should be. I'd probably still have to look for a used one though.

[Tai]

The elise is awesome and comes in green... :) You should also look here:

http://www.carsearch.com/search/lotus.htm

[Dg3Nr8]

Pal, check out used Audi A4 Quattros. Very nice and can be had at a reasonable price for what youre getting.

Or you could just buy a Wrangler. :D

[Harka]

Hey, nothing wrong with a wrangler. In fact I suggest thats what you get.

[Creole Ned]

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/08/05/train.derailment/story.train.wreck.jpg

[Tai]

We have a wrangler, it's great, but uses almost as much gas as my cobra. I paid 18.5k for my cobra, but it had about 13k miles on it at the time...

I have a coworker with the A4. He likes it, but is currently thinking about something else. I *think* he's wanting some more oompf even though it is chipped.

PS. The person who invents the automatic jeep roof retractor will make a billion dollars.

[Harka]

So True Tai so True.

Although we have had a great couple of weeks here to have the top down the whole time.

[Medic]

OK, under $25k.....


Toyota Spyder MR2
$22,000 to $25,000
1.8 liter, 4-cylinder, Twin-cam, 16 valve
Horsepower: 138@6400 (bhp@rpm)
Miles Per Gallon: 25/30 (city/highway, est)

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/189/42780e003zp.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Should come with its own theme song. Like 'Sexy M'fer'.
And its in Martian Green!! :thumbup:

Or....

[Medic]

Dodge SRT-4
$19,000 to $21,000
2.4 liter DOHC 4 cylinder, 230 hp
22-30 mpg
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/4346/srt410xg.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Yea, its a Dodge, but Jesus, it does 0-60 in like 5 seconds!!!

[armerius]

actually i believe the SRT-4 is clocked at 0-60 in 4.8 seconds.

and have you considered a 2005 Nissan Altima? I got one in march and gotta say i feel like it's about the best in it's price class... and since it's not a honda or toyota, you can really deal down the price. got mine for a good bit below invoice.

[FoeKilla]

blogity blog blog

[Dg3Nr8]

Hey, nothing wrong with a wrangler. In fact I suggest thats what you get.

I love them and theres a good chance one will be my next vehicle. Ive had two CJ-7s in the past and miss it. :(

[armerius]

weren't the CJ's highly prone to flipping?

[Paladin]

I'd love to have a Wrangler, but my overriding concern has to be fuel economy on this one. Not that it has to be the most fuel-efficient vehicle out there, I still want some power and performance and good looks, but it does have to be a good bit better than I'm getting now.

Arm, I like the looks of the Altima, but I am trying to get something a little sportier. But I'll probably look at it too.

[Dg3Nr8]

weren't the CJ's highly prone to flipping?

Not as much as the Suzuki Samurais. But like any vehicle, it depends on the driver. Its not like youll be driving down the road and the wind is going to flip your over. If you try and drive any short, narrow wheel based vehicle with a higher center of gravity like a sports car, youre upping your chances of bad things happening. Its just like all the rumblings about SUVs nowdays. I bet 9/10 SUVs rolling over are from people driving like morons.

That being said, the newer Wranglers have a longer and wider wheelbase than the old CJs and are less prone to this type stuff. :D

[samuelk]

I have a blog (http://www.sam-k.net). I also use Wordpress.

[Tai]

Well that's two recomendations from highly regarded martians, so I'll just have to go with it :)

I love that MR2, can you get away with a two seater? That's not alot of hp, but it's a light car. The SRT's are fun, a guy I know uses one as his daily driver when he's not driving his blown mustang - it's bloody quick (although he chose that yucky orange color).

[Creole Ned]

I also have WordPress installed but my blog is sad and neglected. I get all the attention and ego-stroking I need by spamming this forum.

As for cars, my last one was a 1974 Astre wagon, "the gutless wonder" as I called it. I sold it when I moved to Vancouver - 19 years ago. My recommendation on a vehicle is to wait a few more years when we'll all be using fuel-efficient hybrid hovercars. Or horses, depending on that whole oil thing.

[Medic]

I dunno, with Middle Western hay sheiks pushing the price to over $5.50 a bail, we may all be switching to hybrid equine vehicles. The new alfalpha/hydrogen models have surprising pickup.

[Andri]

Toyota Echo I say. Cheap to buy, cheap to insure, cheap to operate. And they are cute too. If it were a little smaller, I would take mine to bed at night in lieu of a Teddybear. (And believe me, you are capable of accumulating a lot of speeding tickets with that thing. I know it can do 100 mph, and my right foot was not hitting the floor yet. Damn these American speed limits!!!)

[Circuit]

And as we all know, guys want to own cute cars. :o

I still have my 96' Mazda pickup with 170,000 miles on it and I'm afraid it's going to last forever. I've had no problems with it that I couldn't fix myself and it's fairly fuel efficient. I'd love to get rid of it, though. The problem is that I have bad credit and no money. I'd love to get one of those Volkswagen Golf TDI's. They're sharp-looking and they get 49 mpg or something insane. That would mean I'd only have to spend $40grabillion on gas each month instead of the current $50grabillion.

[Tai]

I dunno, with Middle Western hay sheiks pushing the price to over $5.50 a bail, we may all be switching to hybrid equine vehicles. The new alfalpha/hydrogen models have surprising pickup.

What are they thinking? Here in the East I'm charging $100 a bale!

[Medic]

Big Round or 50# square?












I'm sorta ashamed that I have worked with both. And sorta proud too...

[Circuit]

I grew up in the country and my step dad would often take my brothers and I out to hay fields owned by someone he knew who would let us have a certain amount of hay for free provided we gather up the bales on the entire field for them to be stacked in a barn. As a kid, that was all kinds of shitty since I didn't care a single bit about "free" hay. Plus, I had just the right amount of allergies to make stacking the bales in a barn an absolutely miserable experience. At least dealing with all the dust and hay out in the middle of an open field allowed for some breathing of normal air. Being up inside a barn on top of a giant stack of hay while people threw 50 lb bales up to you was a wholly different matter. The only thing you had to breathe were large particles of hay and dust and the sweat pouring off your face and arms was only good for burning your eyes and making sure all the dust you didn't inhale got caked onto your skin. All in all it was a good experience...for me to poop on!

[Tai]

Big Round or 50# square?


Big round, it's $3.5 to $4 for the arkanoid blocks. :)

[Medic]

Alright, I now have to officially appologize for derailing this thread. :)

[Tai]

not really - it's a blog thread :bg:

[jackrabbit]

With multiple derails.

I've been looking at the Mazda3 as a third vehicle. Our trucks just drink too much gas, but my wife and I are both too vain to get an ugly car. The Mazda3 is sporty, fast, gets great mileage, and has some of the best reviews of cars in its class. Also, it's cheap.

[Andri]

And as we all know, guys want to own cute cars. :o

Alright, manly-man, I should have said cool instead of cute. My husband definitely loves driving my car and gets a kick out of people in fatass SUVs looking down on him with pity when he stands next to them at a traffic light. Of course he will then outaccelerate them and graciously lend them a hand when they get stuck in snow and can't find the 4WD button, find themselves incapable of driving their cars in stick shift mode, or can't get their oh so mean and manly cars into the tight parking spots in our street. I sincerely hope that gas prices stay at $3.50 just to get some of them off the road.

In case anyone got the impression now that I hate SUVs... you are damn right. :bg: Hummers in shiny yellow and with leather seats must be the most ridiciulous invention of the U.S. car industry. If I had a garage and less speeding tickets, I'd get myself a Toyota Spider -- in bright red (although martian green is very attractive too). Now THAT would be a really cute one! Oooops! Here I did it again! :p

But hey, it was already established that I am European and as such gifted with strange tastes. And so is my husband. We grew up in a country with tight parking spots and the Autobahn. For us it's maneuverability, gas mileage and speeeeeeeed that counts, not size. Alas, speed is outlawed here, so what's left is the gas mileage.

Damn, now you got me started! American driving habits are one of my favorite rantings. I rarely agree with Germans on anything these days, but when it comes to driving, I am always glad when our European colleagues come to visit and start ranting about traffic in the U.S. Then I know I am still sane. It really doesn't matter much to me what car a guy is driving. What makes him sexy is that he knows how to drive in the first place. I am mostly a peaceful person, but I do wish for a shotgun when people keep 3 car distances of space between themselves and the car in front of them at traffic lights, don't move back into the right lane after passing, and when they expect me to get out of their way so that they can enter the highway at the ridiculous speed of 25 mph. Arg! :mad:

[Circuit]

Hummers, more specifically the newer H2's, are pretty dumb. You have these rich guys that buy them to feel manly, even though they're buying a utility vehicle that's not doing anything it was designed for. If you buy a Hummer to take hunting or camping or driving off-road in any manner, that's fine. But if you're just a wealthy, middle-aged businessman using it to commute to work, you're an idiot. There's a guy who lives in the building next to mine that I see often having to make several attempts to park his gigantic H2. So not only do I think he's ridiculous for owning one in the city, but also because he apparently can't handle driving something that large. Plus, he's usually listening to foofy music on those teenie pop radio stations when I see him. It's actually pretty funny. :)

As for the "cute" description for a vehicle, I just don't know any guys that search for cars that could be described that way. :)

[Medic]

There is no more useless car, short of that one that doubles as a boat, than the H2. Don't get me wrong; the original Hummer (when I say 'original', I mean the millitary version) is just kick ass. Sure it gets bad gas milage, but it drives nearly underwater, and when it gets to the beach, it climbs trees. THAT is a bad M'fer. The new H2 is all of the worst parts of the Humvee (hard to park, bad mpg, no turning radius) and none of the good. The only thing its good for is to show you have so much money, you can afford to buy it.



And Andris' right; Americans suck as drivers. Especially in Mpls.

[Paladin]

If I really wanted a manly, overpriced, gas-guzzling SUV, I'd track down a used Lamborgini...

http://moses.cal.com/1/ferrari/Lamborghini/CC_Lambo_LM002_02.jpg

[Paladin]

Back on track... I updated my web site to version 1.52 of Wordpress tonight. Aside from copying the files over to my website, the entire update consisted of opening a web page and clicking the "Click Here" button. It reconfigured the mySQL database to support the static pages that were one of the new features. Fortunately it used my old index.php page, so I haven't had to mess with remaking my site to use the new themes feature, but I'll probably make that adjustment someday.

Anyway, my site is updated so check it out. http://paladin.gamingasylum.net

[Kermit]

I own an SUV... OK, not a real one. It's a Nissan Pathfinder. It's the utility I need, not the sport. I drive into fields several times a month, but it's the cargo capacity that I need. It also helps that I can fit 2 baby seats in the back and as a light SUV it still gets 17-20mpg which is not horrendous.

As far a civilians (especially city dwellers) own Hummers? The idea is ridiculous. I've driven the original through some pretty rough conditions while in the reserves and I can say with confidence that it is exactly the type of vehicle the military needs. I think you have to ask yourself one question, "Am I afraid to use my SUV because it might get dirty or scratched?" If the answer is yes, you don't need one.

[Circuit]

Well, I think the fact that so many H2's on the road are all 'blinged out' answers that question.

[Tai]

I take my gas guzzler off road. :bg: Witness:

http://daydream.ath.cx/images/OffRoadCobraSmall.jpg