This past weekend marked not only Memorial Day, but also 1.5 years of FIT ownership for David.

It is a less frequent occurrence today than a year ago that David is stopped on the street by random passerby, inquiring as to the enjoyment rating and fuel economy of Mr. Fit. However, such random encounters have occurred as recently as May 9, 2009 (location: Marshall, MN AmericInn). Due to the increasing sales of the Fit and its presence on the roads, it may now be less of a curious sight in the "big city."

Nonetheless, I thought I'd take a moment to respond to the most common question and help explain why I'm still THRILLED with this car purchase. You'll note from my chart that since the purchase of ScanGauge II, I've slowly but steadily increased average fuel efficiency, from low 30's to a now frequent 38 or 39 mpg. Last weekend Mr. Fit had a single-tank PR of 42.3MPG. I have resisted modifications to the car for efficiency sake, but slowed down my driving and become more aware of wasted acceleration.

For those who might be wondering if this car is still worth it, the math is simple. Taking average mileage, and Insight Hybrid and Fit price tags from the Honda website, it will take only about 29 years until the Insight Hybrid pays for itself. If you drive more than average, perhaps a little sooner. For those with a Prius, the payoff takes at least as long because they are markedly more expensive than the Insight or HCH.

Given this data, and setting aside the arguments against Hybrid batteries and the environmental harm they may leave behind, how do we justify government incentives to buy hybrid vehicles when high-efficiency gas vehicles are becoming increasingly available? The fuel savings of the hybrid is important to the earth, and to our energy freedom, but it's not enough. We need to get to where these cars use very little or no gasoline AND don't come with a massive cost premium to the buyer.

Samsung released its first Android phone on Monday. The i7500 is out on O2 Germany. It's the 1st of its kind since the HTC Dream/T-mobile G1 launched in October, 2008. It should be interesting to see how that sells. Normally I think Samsung phones are pretty cheap, but maybe that's just U.S. specs. It's also hard to tell since most Samsung rants are attacking Sprint, not the manufacturer. Regardless, this is exciting news for those of us following Android development with wild and crazy dreams of seeing the iPhone domination come to an end. The open-source framework makes for more powerful, more fully-featured, and more exciting technology that can enjoy much wider adoption. Isn't this why Mac's got their butt kicked in the PC war despite having a better product early on? Didn't they learn anything? Ten great minds can't compete with 10,000 great minds when it comes to innovation.

http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2009/04/29/confirmed-samsung-i7500-android-smartphone-on-o2/



On the other end of the quality spectrum, HTC Magic is set to launch in a week with Vodaphone. This will be on sale to customers in the UK, France, Germany and Italy. The phone then will roll out on China Mobile in June. The first link below confirms that two years ago China Mobile had already surpassed US population in number of subscribers. This is important because of its impact on adoption but mainly I think what analysts will view as a gauge of success and leadership is not purely the number of handsets sold, but the percent of global mobile web traffic coming from each smartphone browser (Android vs. iPhone vs. Windows Mobile vs. Palm)

http://www.cellular-news.com/story/23029.php
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/mobile-phones/5242852/Vodafones-HTC-Magic-Google-phone-launch-date-brought-forward.html



Recently I was told I've taken my geek factor to an all new level. This was mostly a result of me installing an HTC Magic ported ROM onto my G1 to enjoy the benefits of new features like the on screen soft-keyboard, advanced contact search, and updated UI. I am sure T-Mo plans to give their customers the latest software improvements in another month or two, but they are always going to push it out well after the code is available to a developer community, to make sure it has been pounded out and tested ad nauseum by at least a few thousand people, and that there are no remaining glitches.

Ever the psychologist, I thought it might be prudent and worthwhile to look at this latest foray into the depths of a new world from a scientific perspective and see what I come away with.

1. Android developers are insanely passionate. They work on coding through the night to release their best work, in some cases multiple times per day.

2. Developers hate to agree on a standard and unify. There are -at least- 3 different "brand name" ROMs available to users. They go by the names Haykuro, The Dude of Life, and Jesus Freke. The benefit of course is that people who like one component of one build, for example the look of the keyboard or dialer-pad, or color scheme of the text messaging application, can pull those pieces together and make it their own.

3. There are significant differences in versions. This haykuro guy has apparently 8 different builds out there. At first this confused me. Why not simplify? Well, the Chinese audience wants the HTC with Chinese letters in their dialer. They want a Chinese touch-pad. They want an Exchange Sync mail program. The English audience wants a more googlified version. One that has Gmail, synchs with Google calendar, Gmail contacts, etc.

4. You can make everyone happy. How? Well, if you don't want to get into this crap you stick with what your carrier gives you. If you want too test the water, you can read 1000's of pages of instructions on the bulletin boards and then try one. And then try a different one. Figure out what you like best.

5. Technologies converge. On twitter, you can follow "breaking" (why is everything "Breaking" news?), Android updates from Haykuro or Androidguys.com, Minnesota Twins play-by-play, "breaking" news from your five favorite media outlets, your best buddy's lunch plans, exercise habits, and a running A Capella commentary from a guy named Chad Bergeron. What more could anyone possibly want out of life?

 
  ()            o               |
  /\   _   ,_       _  _    __, |
 /  \|/ \_/  |  |  / |/ |  /  | |
/(__/|__/    |_/|_/  |  |_/\_/|/o
    /|                       /|  
    \|                       \|  

Three cheers to these companies for doing something positive, raising thousands of dollars for the American Cancer Society during the annual Daffodil Days event...3M, Medtronic, Cargill, UnitedHealth, etc. Their volunteers do make a difference.

While Daffodil Days' skyway tables are now my first reminder that Spring is about to arrive, the nearly 60-degree mark on the thermometer last week didn't hurt either. Spring landed at about 6:45 this morning, while David was still slumbering soundly. But it's here to stay, and I for one am SO GLAD there is no turning back time.

So even though it may be a cloudy, gloomy day in the skies near Lake David, we're excited too that the warm weather season is upon us. Open the windows to smell the rainstorms, let's bump up the May flowers and June vegetable gardens and July concerts on warm, sunny, buggy evenings at Lake Harriet Bandshell, walks around Grass Lake, neighborhood jaunts to Liberty Frozen Custard, and, what the heck, maybe even movies in the park.

Here's a little sunshine for your weekend. Cheers!

The Ides of March have now come and gone, with merriment and a special dinner outing to celebrate a Birthday. The first weekend of March, before time rolled forward by 60 minutes, we visited the annual Bluegrass Festival. We are pleased to share with you three notable bluegrass announcements:

1. May is Officially Bluegrass month. Isn't every month bluegrass month?

2. You can now join a MBOTMA Fan page on Facebook.

3. Mark Kreitzer is no longer with the Middle Spunk Creek Boys. We had a brief scare that MSCB had been disbanded, but alas it is still intact and performing. They will be at the April annual or semi-annual MBOTMA fundraiser at Dulonos. Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18 2009. Click here for further details on the Spring Fling and send our pal P. Nussbaum your signup!

Mark Kreitzer and the Mark Kreitzer show can be found online via their new website, everything you ever wanted to know about the greatest and funniest bluegrass musician on earth.

February Bunkers outing to see Billy Johnson's Roadshow. David with two terrific ladies.

March 11-13, David and Christine visited Lake City, MN, Kellogg, MN, Wabasha, MN, Winona, MN, Stockholm, WI, Pepin, WI, Nelson, WI, and Alma, WI. During the getaway they stopped for their first visit to the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN (whose other large claim to fame is/was the filming of "Grumpy Old Men"). They had a highly educational and exciting time watching the 1 hour + informational session on bald eagles, with live demonstration of how to eat a pale of fish, bones and all. Scary!

And we leave you with a shot of Mr. Fit, now once again equipped with Summer wheels and tires, excited for the rapid snow melt which is currently underway in the Land of Lakedavid.


This brings us to our Reader Poll of the Week (RPW). If Mr. Fit and Eagle got in a tangle, who comes out on top? Mr. Fit has the weight advantage at 2500lbs vs 11 lbs, but Eagle can see for miles with perfect vision, and unleash 1600 pounds of force per square inch through its dangerous talons. Would these pierce Mr Fit's body armor like a mouse through swiss cheese, or would Eagle be caught off guard by the sport grille and quick agility of Mr Fit?

"Also in the works from Hamblin's company: touchscreen menus for restaurants, Android-based medical devices, and a 15-in. kitchen computer where family members can leave messages for one another." Source: Business Week

I love it! Ordering food from an android menu. Can I also push a button to blog what I'm eating or send it to a diary that will track my caloric and nutritional intake? I'm picturing the scene in Back to the Future where MJF orders a Pepsi Lite from a hovering robo-waiter.

This is precisely why open-source rules. Collaboration. Teamwork. Creativity. All things stifled by the Microsoft and Apple approach. Do they make boatloads of money? Sure. But just for themselves. The open platform makes money for a disperse group of people, and offers consumers a better product. Things we never even thought of, but will definitely enjoy.

Starting today, Google is rolling out the 3rd round of software updates to the G1. This is rumored to include the just-announced Latitude GPS tracking module, integrated into Google Maps (already one of the very best apps on the G1 phone), a voice command Google web search, and auto-checking for updates to market apps you've already installed.

Expect 40 G1 phones to hit the stores this year. Sound crazy? Phandroid reports 6-8 phones in Germany on the O2 system alone. By July, they claim Android might top the iPhone in number of users. While I personally am skeptical about that forecast, I do think it will happen by next year. Motorola has been in the news for diving headfirst into The Sea of Android, to save itself in the land of all things mobile. Here's a prediction for you: Moto will come out with something as fantastico as the StarTAC. And it will happen by Summer, 2009. Secondary call: it will be sold by Verizon. Sprint strategic leadership is moronic, so they'll probably be the last U.S. player to buy into Android, after they get spanked again and later come to terms with the fact that their junk phones and junk service won't compete without it.

Since the October release, you've been dying to buy this phone for your Grandma. But, Grandma only uses gadgets that come with a user guide. Yes, you argued with the Senior T-Mobile authorized customer sales associate representative for 97 minutes, asking how in the world they could sell a phone with no instruction manual. After the STMACSA explained that HTC would have never done such a thing, but Google owns the world, and they don't like instructions, you opted to wait. Good news! Your wait is now over. Enter Chris Zeigler of Engadget with this brilliant text: T-Mobile G1 For Dummies [Amazon]

Since Android is going to take over the Earth, I feel they ought to embrace a new slogan. Here's my entry for the slogan contest:

Android. More Vital To Life Than Your Adenoids.