Nexus One

If you haven’t heard yet, the google phone is now out. The Nexus One looks like a true iphone killer. It has a better screen, faster processor, more memory, and the most import of all, it runs on android.

I’ll be saving up for one, but in the mean time you can buy it now through t-mobile or on googles new phone store.

google.com/phone

Check it out and let me know if you buy one.

Upadate: Ok making it more difficult now, You must have me as a contact in at least 2 other sources. Twitter, Facebook, IM, RL(Real Life) etc..

Here’s the different color options available, and there is also a lot of accessories already made to further customize the MyTouch look.

The pre-order started at 12am Eastern on the 8th. We only had one issue that delayed our order, but customer service was helping us within 2 minutes of giving them a call. 5 years of service with t-mobile and we’ve had nothing but the best support.

photo credit: Berberich

When I started working for Digimedia we decided that a lot of our projects were going to be done in rails. I had never used ruby at that point and rails and frameworks in general were just starting to gain popularity. So I was a bit skeptical about the benifits of learning a new language all over again. At that point the majority of web coding was done in php or asp and I had many years of experience in both.

Well I’m glad that I did learn ruby and the rails framework. Things that would take a while coding in php and asp, I could knock out in minutes in rails. Not only that but I really do prefer the syntax of ruby now. I still use php for a lot of simple things, but if it will need a database, rails is where I look first.

I’ve even gotten as far as writing some of my own plugins, and forking some others to add more functionality. The open source environment with ruby is outstanding.

I’m in the process of moving everything over from site5 to slicehost.

I’ve had nothing but problems from site5 since I purchased a 2 year hosting account from them. So far slicehost seems great. With just a little bit of technical knowledge I was able to create a slice setup from scratch to host both php and rails applications.

I also purchased a new domain, loveatfirstim.com I’ve got some plans for it, but no telling if I will ever get around to doing anything with it.

Hi people,

As we begin the New Year, we wanted to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for your continued contribution in helping us make Venture Vehicles a reality! I’m not exaggerating when I say that the past 6 months has seen the greatest growth and momentum for us since Howard Levine and I began this effort back in 2005.

We have made huge strides this past year, both in terms of creating this incredible vehicle as well as continuing to build and grow our company. We’ve addend new members added to our team, as well as new strategic partners, and I am grateful for their talent, enthusiasm, and commitment to this effort.

We have received over 10,000 emails from passionate Vv fans from all over the world, and have close to 5,000 that have Pre-registered on flytheroad.com — all since March of this year. This trend shows no signs of slacking off in 2008.

While there hasn’t been a lot of new news to report since our last posting (was there a holiday in there somewhere?), we DID want to let you know where we are regarding vehicle design. We had a fantastic meeting on December 20th with our design partners, where we were presented with the full-scale Styrofoam models for both our Concept C and D — not to mention a full-scale seat buck and interior design directions. Our team was able to view the models inside the design studio as well as outside with the models positioned next to real vehicles — helping put the models into a real world context. Needless to say, we were very impressed with what we saw.

Our next step is giving the design team the final design direction — either “C” or “D” — which we will hand them within the next two weeks. This doesn’t mean the design is final, only the design direction — allowing them to further develop and enhance the design before we go to the clay sculpting process. Once we make the call on the exterior design direction, another team will begin the serious work on the interior design. This is at least as important as the exterior, since 99% of the time you spend interacting with your vehicle, you’re actually inside it. We’ll share more with you with you as this develops in the upcoming weeks.

We are looking at 2008 to be another exciting year for Vv as we get closer to making our vision a reality. All of us at Venture Vehicles wish you and your family a happy & healthy New Year, and look forward to having you aboard on our continuing journey in 2008 and beyond!

Thanks again for all of your help and your support. We simply couldn’t be where we are today without it!

Cheers,
– Ian

Oh, as long as I have you here… ;^) I mentioned that on December 20th, 2007, our design partners presented us with the full-sized models of the two final candidate designs for the VentureOne. Here are a few images from that event:

Design presentation:
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/3.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/19.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/25.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/27.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/30.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/31.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/46.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/66.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/71.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/88.jpg

Concept D was designed to be highly customizable. The Sports Package with the optional door glass inserts was the version created in full scale. However, the vehicle would also be available with a basic panel set, and we’ve retouched some of the images to show what that looks like:
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/Retouched_Concept_D.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/Retouched_Concept_C.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/Retouched_D_with_C.jpg

Also presented were some 3D renderings of both concepts:
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/Studio_1_Concept_C.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/Studio_2_Concept_C.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/Studio_3_Concept_C.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/Studio_1_Concept_D.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/Studio_2_Concept_D.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/Studio_3_Concept_D.jpg

… as well as some idea for the direction for the vehicle Interior. Don’t read too much into what you see here. Much more work is being done on this:
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/Interior_Concept_D.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/Interior_Concept_D_2.jpg

And finally, a very small sampling of the feature exploration sheets. Our design partners have created literally dozens and dozens of these — the originals measuring about 6 feet wide. Please note the trailer on C (also available for D), and the spoiler/rack concept specifically for D — I think they’re awesome:
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/Accessories_Concept_C.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/Luggage_Concept_C.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/Luggage_Concept_D.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/Personalization_Concept_D.jpg
http://www.flytheroad.com/1_4_07_post/Rear_Modules_Concept_D.jpg

Thanks again — you guys are the greatest.

Source

EEStor has claimed to produce a capacitor that will hold more charge than a battery of the same weight and do so with very little energy leakage. Not only that but they are building a facility right now to mass produce these capacitors designed for an electric vehicle that could reach 300 miles per charge. It would also be capable of recharging in about 5 minutes.

What they have accomplished is the holy grail of electric vehicle usability.

1. Enough stored energy to compete with gas powered vehicles.
2. Quick recharge times.
3. Not having to replace batteries during the lifetime of the vehicle.
4. High performance capabilities.

This has the possibility of turning the auto industry upside down. And if the technology can be scaled down to AA battery size it would also change the electronics industry as well. Laptops that last 12 hours on a charge, can be recharged in a matter of seconds, and less chance of a catastrophic battery failure.

So far they haven’t released any hard info, and at the moment these are all claims of what they can do. It could be just another grab for attention making claims that they can’t backup. But I for one hope they really have found the holy grail of energy storage.

You can read more info at Treehugger.com

Just looking at the photo and fuel economy makes this vehicle already look good. But seeing the vehicle in action that inspired this design (the Carver) and the price tag that Venture Vehicles claims will be the final price (under $20k) of this soon to be mass produced vehicle, you may just hold off on your next vehicle purchase to get one of these.