Thursday, August 30, 2012
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Planning to travel this fall? Take your pet!
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84% of pet owners say they travel with their pet in automobiles.
If you're planning to take your pet with you on trips in the car, start early when the pet is young to get used to the routine. Short jaunts across town and back or easy day trips will get your pet used to the ride. A carsick pet can make the trip miserable for everyone.
A seat upholstery protector, such as a pet hammock or waterproof seat cover will make clean-ups easier in case your pet does get sick or has an accident.
Be sure to bring along cleaning supplies to avoid having to search out a place to purchase them at the last minute.
Make your pet travel experience fun and enjoyable by following these simple, common sense pet travel tips:
- Safely secure your pet while traveling. An unrestrained pet can become a deadly projectile in the event of a sudden stop or crash, causing serious injury (even death) to passengers. For example, an unsecured, 25-pound dog in a 40 mph crash becomes a 1,000-pound mass (half a ton) flying uncontrollably inside the vehicle.
- Dogs should be restrained with either a seatbelt or harness designed for pet travel. Smaller dogs can be secured in pet car seats, which allow them to also see out, while being properly restrained.
- Never attach a restraining device to the pet's collar. Always use a harness to prevent injury.
- Cats should be contained in a crate, cage or pet car seat that is secured with a seat belt. Never allow a cat to roam freely in the vehicle, as it could get tangled around the driver's feet or get in the driver's sight of the road.
- Do not allow your pet to ride with its head outside of the window. An obstacle close to the vehicle could potentially strike your pet's head, causing injury or death, or dirt particles could get into your pet's ears, nose, eyes, or throat, causing health problems.
- It's a good idea to stop every couple of hours for your pet and you to stretch and walk around. Be sure to have your pet's leash handy to have control and so your pet doesn't run away in unfamiliar surroundings.
- Have your own supply of cold water, as fresh water is not always handy or convenient when you need to stop.
- Have your pet consume small amounts of food and water, but don't allow to overeat or drink if you still have more traveling to do. Reserve your pet's main meal for the end of the day.
- Leaving a pet in a parked car is never a good idea. Temperatures in confined spaces in the summer time can heat up fast, causing heatstroke — even death — to a pet. Extremely cold temperatures in the winter can be just as threatening, so be sure not to leave a pet in the car if the temperature is near the freezing mark.
- A pet first-aid kit is an essential item to pack when venturing out and should contain things such as antiseptic cream, assorted bandages, tweezers, eye drops, gauge, tape, and the like. Phone numbers for your pet's vet, the National Animal Poison Control Center hotline (888-426-4435), and emergency pet hospitals in the areas where you plan to travel should be taken along.
- A travel tag on a pet's collar will help someone locate you should you and your pet become separated. The travel tag should contain information about where you are staying locally (while away from home), including addresses and phone numbers. A cell phone number is also a good idea since most people have one with them, especially when they travel.
Bus or Train
- State and local restrictions usually prohibit pets from riding on buses or trains unless they are assisting visually impaired or physically challenged persons. Always check in advance with these transportation providers to find out what regulations they may impose.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Ford Escape - Most important all-new 2013 models
Ford Escape -- MSPR: $22,000-$32,000
The compact SUV segment is increasingly important for volume brands, and within that segment the 2013 Ford Escape features several important developments. The top-line, 2.0 liter EcoBoost version, with 240 horsepower, is fast with confident handling. High-tech features further elevate this small crossover.
Courtesy of TotalCarScore
Monday, August 27, 2012
Neil Armstrong: 1930-2012
Armstrong in the lunar module Eagle on the surface of the moon. July 20, 1969. Credit: NASA
Armstrong's words "That is one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind," spoken on July 20, 1969, as he became the first person ever to step onto another planetary body, instantly became a part of history.
Those few words from the Sea of Tranquillity were the climactic fulfillment of the efforts and hopes of millions of people and the expenditure of billions of dollars. A plaque on one of the lander's legs that concluded "We came in peace for all mankind," further emphasized that Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin were there as representatives of all humans.
In a 2001 oral history interview, Armstrong credited those behind the scenes for the mission's success: "when you have hundreds of thousands of people all doing their job a little better than they have to, you get an improvement in performance. And that's the only reason we could have pulled this whole thing off."
Armstrong is survived by his wife, two sons, a stepson, a stepdaughter, 10 grandchildren, and a brother and sister.
"Neil Armstrong was a hero not just of his time, but of all time," President Barack Obama said via Twitter. "Thank you, Neil, for showing us the power of one small step."
Armstrong's family released the following statement on Saturday:
"Neil Armstrong was also a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job. He served his Nation proudly, as a navy fighter pilot, test pilot, and astronaut. He also found success back home in his native Ohio in business and academia, and became a community leader in Cincinnati.
While we mourn the loss of a very good man, we also celebrate his remarkable life and hope that it serves as an example to young people around the world to work hard to make their dreams come true, to be willing to explore and push the limits, and to selflessly serve a cause greater than themselves.
"As long as there are history books, Neil Armstrong will be included in them, remembered for taking humankind's first small step on a world beyond our own," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.
“Besides being one of America’s greatest explorers," Bolden added, "Neil carried himself with a grace and humility that was an example to us all."
Apollo 11 lunar module pilot and fellow moonwalker Buzz Aldrin on Armstrong's passing: “I am very saddened to learn of the passing of Neil Armstrong today. Neil and I trained together as technical partners but were also good friends who will always be connected through our participation in the Apollo 11 mission. Whenever I look at the moon it reminds me of the moment over four decades ago when I realized that even though we were farther away from earth than two humans had ever been, we were not alone."
Apollo 11 command module pilot Michael Collins said simply, “He was the best, and I will miss him terribly.”
As news of Armstrong's death became widely known, many NASA officials offered their thoughts on the agency's best-known representative:
"The passing of Neil Armstrong has shocked all of us at the Johnson Space Center," said Center Director Michael Coats. The whole world knew Neil as the first man to step foot on the Moon, but to us he was a co-worker, a friend, and an outstanding spokesman for the Human Space Program. His quiet confidence and ability to perform under pressure set an example for all subsequent astronauts. Our role model will be missed."
“Neil Armstrong was a very personal inspiration to all of us within the astronaut office," said Bob Behnken, Chief of NASA's Astronaut Office. "His historic step onto the Moon’s surface was the foundation for many of our personal dreams to become astronauts. The only thing that outshone his accomplishments was his humility about those accomplishments. We will miss him as a friend, mentor, explorer and ambassador for the American spirit of ingenuity."
| He was the best, and I will miss him terribly." -- Michael Collins, Apollo 11 command module pilot. |
Armstrong's single sentence, though it was focused above the national divisions and quarrels of Earth, still signified unquestionably the U.S. victory in the desperate space race with the Soviet Union.
Neil A. Armstrong was born Aug. 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio. He earned an aeronautical engineering degree from Purdue University and a master's in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California.
He was a naval aviator from 1949 to 1952. During the Korean War he flew 78 combat missions.
In 1955 he joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), NASA's predecessor, as a research pilot at Lewis Laboratory in Cleveland.
Watch Apollo 11 highlights, including restored
footage of Armstrong's first steps
Armstrong later transferred to NACA's High Speed Flight Research Station at Edwards AFB, Calif. As project pilot, he was in the forefront of the development of many high-speed aircraft, including the X-15, which flew at 4,000 mph.
He flew more than 200 aircraft models. They included jet and rocket-powered planes, helicopters and gliders.
Armstrong was selected as an astronaut in 1962.
His first space flight was Gemini 8, which he commanded. He was the first civilian to fly a U.S. spacecraft. With fellow astronaut David R. Scott, Armstrong performed the first docking in space, with an Agena target satellite.
Less than an hour later their spacecraft began an unplanned rolling motion. After undocking, it increased to one revolution per second. One of the Gemini's 16 thrusters had stuck open because of an electrical short circuit.
Armstrong used re-entry thrusters to control the capsule, and after a 30-minute struggle, it was stabilized. Flight rules required a return to Earth after use of the re-entry thrusters, so the crewmembers fired retrorockets that sent Gemini 8 to a contingency landing zone in the Western Pacific.
One of the few photos that show Armstrong during the Apollo 11 moonwalk.
Before becoming an astronaut, Armstrong flew the rocket-powered X-15 as a test pilot.
Armstrong, right, joined astronaut Dave Scott on the Gemini VIII mission in March of 1966.
Apollo 11 lifted off on July 16, 1969, with Armstrong, Aldrin and Mike Collins aboard. Collins remained in lunar orbit in the command module while Armstrong and Aldrin descended in the lunar module they had named Eagle to their historic landing on the moon's surface.
"Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed," Armstrong said, telling a tense and waiting Earth that men had finally reached the lunar surface.
He and Aldrin spent about two hours exploring, gathering more than 50 pounds of moon rocks and setting up three scientific experiments. The next day, after 21 hours and 37 minutes on the moon, they fired Eagle's engine to begin the return to Collins and the command module.
The crew returned to Earth, landing near the USS Hornet in the Pacific after a mission of just over eight days. President Richard M. Nixon was on the aircraft carrier's deck to welcome them.
"This is the greatest week in the history of the world since the creation," Nixon told the three.
After 16 days in quarantine to protect Earth from any returned moon germs, the crew went on U.S. and international tours. Millions greeted them as heroes.
Armstrong later served as deputy associate administrator for aeronautics in the Office of Advanced Research and technology at NASA Headquarters. He resigned from the space agency in 1971. As a professor at the University of Cincinnati from 1971 to 1979, he was involved in both teaching and research.
He later went into the business world. Among other positions, he served for 10 years as chairman of Computing Technologies for Aviation Inc. of Charlottesville, Va. and later as chairman of AIL Systems Inc., an electronic systems company based in Deer Park, N.Y.
Armstrong was a fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and the Royal Aeronautical Society, and an honorary fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the International Astronautical Federation.
He was a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He served as a member of the National Commission on Space in 1985 and 1986, and was vice chairman of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident. He also was chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Peace Corps from 1971 to 1973.
Seventeen countries decorated Armstrong. He received many special honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal (see NASA feature on ceremony), the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, NASA's Ambassador of Exploration Award, the Explorers Club Medal, the Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the Harmon International Aviation Trophy, the Royal Geographic Society's Gold Medal, the Federation Aeronautique Internationale's Gold Space Medal, the American Astronautical Society Flight Achievement Award, the Robert J. Collier Trophy, the AIAA Astronautics Award, the Octave Chanute Award, and the John J. Montgomery Award.
Courtesy of NASA
Friday, August 24, 2012
A Rovers Self Portrait... from Mars.
Curiosity's first photos of Mars are already captivating scientists as well as the public. The scenery is alien and familiar at the same time -- Gale crater, where the rover landed, bears a clear resemblance to Death Valley.
But the images that can make this surreal fact -- that we managed to land 1 ton of roving scientific equipment on Mars -- seem more real are the ones that include glimpses of Curiosity.
Some of these photos are intentional self-portraits that give the rover's Earth-bound caretakers a look at how some of its instruments, equipment and moving parts held up through the eight-month journey through space and crazy landing on the planet's surface. Others are scenes of Curiosity's surroundings that happened to catch a bit of the rover, like your thumb in the corner of a vacation snapshot.
Somehow these images change a faraway mission into a real, tangible experience. Here are some of our favorite self-portraits that will make you feel like you're standing next to Curiosity, awaiting the signal to start the trek to Mt. Sharp.
Courtesy of Wired Science
Thursday, August 23, 2012
2013 Ford Flex Featured in Video Series Defining Suburban Driving
What do the terms Flex Factor, Trunk Tetris and Bizzaro Husband have in common? They are all part of the newly penned Suburban Dictionary, featuring the 2013 Ford Flex.
The Suburban Dictionary, authored by bestselling author Christian Lander (Stuff White People Like), is the definitive source for terms that describe the moments and things that only seem to become part of your life after you hit the other side of 30 and ditch the city for suburban life.
Lander, working with Ford, has also produced a series of videos to show you the daily troubles of the average suburban driver. For more information about how the features in a Ford Flex can help you survive life in the suburbs, click here.
“At the heart of the project is gentle poking fun of a generation that never expected to get older,” said Lander. “But while we all lament our bodies not bouncing back from a night out or a carb-laden dinner, we're also finding out that the aging process isn't all bad. When I was twenty two, I used to lay on my futon thinking that nothing would be worse than having to live in the suburbs. Now that I'm thirty three, I can't think of anything worse than having to sleep on a futon.”
In the Suburban Dictionary video series, Lander utilizes the vehicle to battle through the daily tasks of the average suburbanite: going out to dinner on a weekend, packing your car to the brim and more. The one thing that he has up on the competition, however, is the Flex.
The 2013 Ford Flex represents the perfect suburban family vehicle in the video series. It is a seven-passenger kid-hauling machine. It has the style and attitude that parents and drivers who need a large utility but want to make a statement desire. Stacked with available features like active-park assist, MyFord Touch®, navigation and an in-car refrigerator, the Flex fills the needs of every member of the household.
Courtesy of Ford
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Lincoln working on new crossover model
Lincoln may be working on a new small crossover built on the same platform as the Ford Escape. Our spy photographers recently spotted this early development vehicle out on public streets around Detroit. Slightly larger than its non-luxury sire, the model may bow with a new interpretation of the Ecoboost four-cylinder. It doesn't take a keen eye to spot the larger intercooler stuck low in the hacked front fascia of the Escape. Word has it the vehicle could make use of a new 2.7-liter turbocharged, direct-injection four-cylinder engine, though power figures are still absent at the moment.
What will Lincoln call its newest addition? Chances are the company will stick with the confusing MK-based naming structure it currently uses, and early reports hint the CUV may fly under the MKD banner. Why D? Your guess is as good as ours. The luxury CUV segment is a volume powerhouse at the moment, and Lincoln would be wise to offer buyers a product in that segment. Whether the MKD can manage to be more than a gussied-up Ford remains to be seen, however.Courtesy of AutoBlog
Keep up the great work team! Thanks for the excellent review!
jfecht
Morgantown, West Virginia
Aug 20, 2012
Morgantown, West Virginia
Aug 20, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
A look back at every generation of the original pony car.
Generation I: Introduction through Model Year 1973
- 22,000 orders taken on the first day of sale, April 17, 1964.
- 417,000 orders in first 12 months, one million by March 1966.
- Design themes are established—blunt nose, long hood, short rear deck, scalloped sides.
- Offered in notchback, fastback, and convertible body styles.
- Iconic Mustang nameplates are born: Shelby GT350, Shelby GT500, Boss 302, Boss 351, Cobra Jet, Mach 1, and KR. Steve McQueen’s Bullitt deifies the ’68 Mustang GT390 fastback.
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Generation II: Model Years 1974–78
- Mustang II: The Pinto-based Mustang that we, and probably even Ford, would like to forget.
- The second-gen Mustang is nearly 500 pounds lighter, a response to the 1973 oil crisis and the overgrown final first-gen models.
- Iconic Mustang design themes prove ill-suited to smaller dimensions.
- Convertible is abandoned, and T-top is available on fastback model.
- Engines downsized to include— gasp! —a four-cylinder. No V-8 is offered for 1974 at all .
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Generation III: Model Years 1979–93
- Mustang adopts new “Fox” platform from Ford Fairmont sedan in 1979, grows several inches in key areas but is still a wimp under the hood.
- Boxy styling is improved over that of Mustang II but remains far from elegant and evokes little of the original’s design themes.
- Convertible returns in 1983. T-tops quietly get lost in the Ford garage, never to return.
- New SVO version appears in 1984 with turbocharged four-cylinder engine.
- 1987 brings sexier styling. LX model with 225-hp V-8 becomes a certifiable performance bargain. Wire wheels and whitewall tires remain available until 1992.
- New SVT team builds SVT Cobra and Cobra R models that set new standards for Mustang performance in 1993.
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Generation IV: Model Years 1994–2004
- New “Fox-4” platform is massively updated for stiffness. Hatchback body disappears for good.
- Styling intends to evoke the original’s, although the result looks much like a Gen III Mustang that melted in the sun.
- Ford experiments with hideous colors, like grass green, school bus yellow/orange, and—worst of all—the Mystic purple/green/gold metallic available on SVT Cobras.
- Fresh DOHC 4.6-liter V-8 appears in GT and SVT Cobra (remains to this day). Output levels quickly rise to 300-plus hp.
- SVT team gets its legs, producing SVT Cobra with an independent rear suspension in 1999; IRS technology proves short-lived on the Mustang. Throwback Bullitt model is born in 2001.
- Chevy Camaro and Pontiac Firebird, Ford’s last pony-car competitors, are discontinued for 2003, but Mustang forges on.
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Generation V: Model Years 2005–Present
- All-new body really evokes original. Buyers go bonkers.
- Mustang production moves from ancient Dearborn factory but stays in Michigan, moving to Flat Rock.
- Ford plays with colors again, this time inside the car, with 125 goofy color choices for dash lights.
- New-for-2009 glass roof option is next best thing to T-top.
- Base V-6 makes 210 hp, and GT’s V-8 makes an even 300. Reborn GT500 model produces monstrous 500 hp, thanks to supercharging, and limited-edition GT500KR model offers 540 hp.
________________________________________________________________________________________
2010 Mustang
- Body receives major nip and tuck to look even more like the first gen, and it works.
- Suspension updates effectively tame the archaic live-axle rear end, especially with optional Track Pack.
- Newfound technology includes navigation system and Sync infotainment. Sixties-style sequential turn signals appear, and 19-inch wheels are offered for the first time.
- GT V-8 output rises to 315 hp. GT500 gets KR’s 540-hp state of tune.
- In many ways, 2010 Mustang is as appealing as original. In many others, it is even better.
Courtesy of Car and Driver
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