Cars are evil. However, I am and will probably continue to be unwilling to sacrifice the convenience of owning one. Now that I have out of the way, let’s talk about cars.

The form factor of the old Dodge Colt / Mitsubishi Expo 3-door (one sliding door) hatchback always made sense to me. According to some, they were not particularly reliable and parts were expensive and hard to find. It was a short (in length) and tall (in height) car. It was small on the outside and enormous inside. The driver and front passenger sit upright with a commanding view much like in a minivan. It may not have been a great car, but it was a great form factor.

Until recently, this form factor was only available in the 10-year old Dodge. It looks like some of the major auto companies are revisiting the form.

The following models are all new or about to be released (the Audi, which I have previously praised, is only available in Europe). Their various stylings are sure to appeal to some and offend others, but they are at least distinctive.

All feature four doors, a hatchback, loads of interior room, a relatively small exterior, versatile seating. They are all around 170″ long and between 57″ and 63″ tall (except for the Audi which is smaller). To put that in perspective, they are all small than a Neon. These (pictured below) are smart designs: Audi A2, Mazda Protegé5, Toyota Matrix, Chrysler PT Cruiser.

There are a many more cars of this form factor in the works for release in the next few years as well (see a few Chrysler concepts: Java, Pronto). Regardless, I still drive that big old sedan.

I’ve commented before on the quality writing at indy tech news site, The Register but it’s worth revisiting. Compared to News.com/Zdnet.com, who seem to automatically parse corporate press releases into front-page news, the writers at The Register shine. There is a tone of smart sarcasm (not whiny sarcasm, ala slashdot forums) that actually lends credibility to their content.

For example, one of today’s impressive headlines is representative of the usual quality:

Scumbag virus writers try to whip up ‘Anthrax outbreak’ – Fail due to super-lame coding

I do have two grievances with The Register though. First, their hosting is poor – their site is often slow or inaccessible. Second, their front-page is poorly laid out and it is difficult to tell which stories are newer than others.

In order to make this post, I have to reveal that I am a loser. Perhaps I’m fooling myself thinking that this may be news to some of you. Regardless, let it be known that I wrote A&E to complain about the cancellation of the reruns of Northern Exposure.

A&E,
Just a quick note to express my disappointment of your cancellation of the Norther Exposure re-runs you’ve been running. I understand that the show can’t run forever though, and I thank you for giving such a great show a second life and a whole new audience during the time you did run it.

thanks,
Steven Garrity
:: steven@actsofvolition.com
:: https://actsofvolition.com

Embarrassing, yes. But I had to admit it in order to post this impressive response. I don’t think it was written just for me – there must be at least a thousand freaks just like me. Nevertheless, I was very impressed that a human got my email. One tip for companies responding to customer email: don’t call me ‘viewer’ or ‘customer’ – take a second and type my damn name.

Dear Viewer,
Thank you for your comments regarding programming on A&E.

Because our licensing agreement has expired, the program mentioned in your email, NORTHERN EXPOSURE, has ended its run on A&E and will not be returning to the network. As the final cycle commenced in late July, we did not have enough time to repeat the entire 110 episodes; thus, we decided to telecast the most highly rated episodes.

We appreciate that this popular series has won many friends during its tenure on our network, and we know it’s difficult to say goodbye to Cicely. Keep checking fan clubs and various web sites such as www.retrotv.com/nexp.html and http//www.netspace.org/moose/moose.html for updates on the stories of Joel, Maggie, Maurice and all the gang.

A cable channel, Hallmark, is now telecasting NORTHERN EXPOSURE. As copied from their site (www.hallmarkchannel.com) we found:

Weeknights at 11:00 pm (ET/PT)
Return to Cicely, Alaska with the Emmy award winning hit series that captured the hearts of millions. Beginning Monday, Oct. 1, watch the adventures of Northern Exposure six nights a week.

A&E Home Video continues to sell single episodes of this popular series, while supplies last. For available episode titles, please visit “Shop A&E” at www.AandE.com using the search words “Northern Exposure”, or call to order at 1-888-708-1776.

You may also purchase merchandise, or obtain information on ‘Moose Fest’ by contacting the following:

Cicely’s Gift Shop
PO Box 595
112 W. Pennsylvania Ave.
Roslyn, WA 98941
509-649-3080
website http://www.cicelys.com

We hope that other programs telecast on our network make your decision to watch A&E worthwhile. Please be advised that your comments and suggestions help to evaluate our present and future schedules.

Thank you for your interest in A&E. We appreciate your support.

Cordially,
Viewer Relations

A&E Networks
235 East 45th Street
New York, New York 10017
www.AandE.com
www.HistoryChannel.com
www.Biography.com

Thank you A&E. And for the record, I do not look like Ed, although I do admire him. Here’s a cheesy midi file of the Northern Exposure theme song.

I was never a big Guns n’ Roses fan. While in high school it seemed I didn’t have the hockey skills or perfectly curved baseball cap peak to fit in with their followers. When the Smashing Pumpkins came along though, I was totally on board. The two bands seemed worlds apart until some time ago the following was suggested to me.

It’s just a hypothesis, but there may be evidence to the effect that The Smashing Pumpkins are the Guns n’ Roses of the 90s. Both were monster-rock bands and quintessential rock stars. The pumpkins didn’t seem to resound with the redneck audience like GnR seemed to. I think there are more parallels. What have I missed?

An intriguing photographic comparison of the surface of Mars before and after a massive dust storm caught my attention at Wired News. While our world goes all to hell, it looks like the next world over is inhospitable in its own unique way.

In a long-overdue admission of inadequacy on the part of science, a scientist from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, when asked about the Martian dust storm, stated that “We don’t understand the details.”

A quick search revealed impressive terrestrial dust storm imagery and showed that Earth has had some bad-ass dust storms of our own. How come no-one told me about this? (btw, that tiny thing in the bottom right corner is Africa!)

Semi-related: the amazing satellite photos at 300 Miles High are well worth linking to again.

The following is the refreshing Licensing Agreement from Winamp’s new developers beta of WinAmp 3:

This is beta software. Play with it as much as you like, but don’t blame us if it melts your computer into a pile of scrap metal or steals your girlfriend. Check out the readme.txt for some features to try out.

Is that not much more effective than ICQ’s Licensing Agreement? Both companies are owned by the same mega-corporation, btw.

Along the same lines, also check out another of Winamp’s download agreements.

Now that we live in the age of sincerity, I thought I would give it a shot. To be clear, however sincere this post may purport to be, it pales in comparison to Rob’s classic Easter post.

Due to a variety of recent life circumstances, I have found myself, on occasion, in the capable and caring hands of my family. Growing up in North America, family isn’t something a young man is overtly taught to value. Family, rather, is term homophobic politicians use to convey a baseless and dangerously vague set of values. Perhaps as a result of this, I have been surprised to find that I am genuinely grateful and appreciative of my family.

At a stage in life where freedom and independence are paramount, I am, perhaps in some part due to this very freedom, only now beginning to understand the value of family. For this, I am thankful.

What are you thankful for?

The good boys of radiohead are finally going to officially release a recording of their song True Love Waits. Apparently from the OK Computer era, the song is at least as strong as some of their best album tracks. Apparently they’ve yet to produce a studio recording to their satisfaction

The song will be included on the live I Might Be Wrong EP which will be released in November.

If you go fishing for versions of the song (and you should, the keyboard arpeggios will make you cry) you should also look for the many varied versions of the The Bends-era track, Killer Cars.

For those who haven’t picked up on his self-serving hints, let it be known to all that award winning poet* and aov genius Matthew Dorrell is now the Editor-in-Chief of The Cadre, the student newspaper at the University of Prince Edward Island.

I have criticized The Cadre in the past for reading as though it was written by five people with an intended audience of those same five people (I’m in trouble now – those five people are half of the aov readership). Matt’s first two issues have been interesting and point to an awareness of an audience beyond the dingy basement of Main Building where the paper is produced. The second issue also made tasteful use of a stock illustration. This is a remarkable feat in of itself (I’ll post a scan when I get the chance). I’m not surprised, but I am encouraged.

Congratulations Matt.

In semi-related news, watch UPEI’s Alumni Gym (and future site of their new Student Centre) burn to the ground.