Gadgets of Desire
Kickbee: track fetal movements on Twitter
Dec 14th
Geek expectant father Corey Mensche came with a device that hooked on a pregnant woman, sends Twitter updates when the baby moves. Device is based on piezo sensors that react to small movements and sends some date via bluetooth to a laptop and from there update are posted to Twitter.
Crazy world but if you think twice the gimmick is quite useful because you can track and keep a history of in-womb baby movements – so monitor the health and well being of your future child, remotely 
Hawkeye – Hondamentalist convins ;)
Apr 24th
Postul de mai jos este de pe www.hondafan.ro imediat dupa ce ieri, am intrat in posesia bolidului.
Astazi trebuia sa primesc un telefon de la Asko sa vin sa ridic masina. Mi s-a spus ca va fi dupa-amiaza, asa ca nu m-am grabit, mi-am vazut de ale mele incercand sa ma gandesc cat mai putin la momentul T0, momentul de intalnire cu Hawkeye, caci asa il cheama pe Accordutz
La ora 10:30 primesc telefonul!
- “Ma scuzati ca va deranjez, de la ASKO sunt”
- “Nu ma deranjati absolut deloc (adrenaline rushing)”
- “He he. V-am sunat sa va spunem ca va asteapta o masinuta la noi si inca una foarte frumoasa”
- “Deja? E gata? Pot sa vin sa o iau?”
….
Am luat-o. Predarea a facut-o Mihai Dogaru – extrem de prietenos si cu o gramada de sfaturi utile. Am purces spre birou (zona Universitate) un pic “pishat pe mine” scuzati expresia. Ma simteam de parca de abia imi luasem carnetul. Mentionez ca e prima data cand conduc mai mult de 500m o masina cu transmisie automata.
Fumator inrait find, am decis ca in noua mea masina nu se fumeaza!
Prefer sa opresc pe dreapta decat sa vad scrum si sa miroasa urat in bestia cea noua. Prima oprire a fost la MOL unde au intrat 56,74 LNu prea mai am cuvinte. Nu am nimic sa ii reprosez. M-am infipt in “ambreaj” de vreo 2-3 ori in parcarea din service, dar am incercat sa ma conditionez sa nu folosesc deloc piciorul stang si pot sa spun cu mandrie ca pana la office nu m-am abatut. E super comfortabila transmisia automata. Picorul pe frana, bagi in drive, iei picioru de pe frana, pleaca super usor (ideal pt mersul bara la bara). Daca accelerezi e alta poveste. Din pacate nu prea am avut unde sa accelerez asa ca revin diseara tarziu dupa o tura pe A2.
Fiind prea captivat de interiorul masinii, de tinuta la drum si de eleganta pe care o degaja, nu am stat sa urmaresc reactiile din trafic. M-am surprins incercand sa observ oglindirea masinii in diferite vitrine sau in alte masini. Totodata am observat la rond la universitate, asteptand primul la semafor cum absolut fiecare dintre cei care aveau verde si treceau prin fata meau au intors macar 1 secunda capul sa admire boticul lui Hawkeye. Super proud!
M-am intalnit cu 2 hondisti (o doamna cu un civic si un domn cu un CR-V) dar nefiind familiarizat prea bine cu comenziile masinii am ratat flashul de salut si le-am facut doar cu mana si le-am zambit tamp.
si putin mai tarziu in noapte:
VTEC RULEZ indeed ! Dar stiati deja !
Am dat o tura pana la un prieten in Glina si apoi un pic pe A2 pana la politie si inapoi. Am facut 60km azi cu masina si am vazut ce inseamna si bara la bara dar si VTEC-ul nene. Am testat un pic cruise control-ul. Foarte faina senzatia sa accelerezi dintr-un control de pe volan.
Sincer, venind de pe o Fabie de 68CP tre sa recunosc ca nu am avut curaj sa calc la maxim acceleratia si vroiam si sa menajez un pic masina. Dar dupa ce si cei de la ASKO mi-au zis ca atata timp cat 2000km nu pun frane bruste si nu o tin mult pe rosu la turometru, totul e ok – am zis ca 4000-5000 rpm e numai bine.
Stateam linistit la 2000 rpm si aveam 100km/h. Am zis WTF, la 4000 sunt la 200 ? Clar o sa imi ia ceva timp sa ma acomodez cu herghelia si sa simt ca pot sa o stapanesc in siguranta. Am mers maxim cu 140 si vtec-ul a intrat in vreo 2-3 reprize cat sa ne excite la culme si pe mine dar si pe nevastamea.
Materializing a Dream
Apr 21st
As some of you may already know from my “uber” excitement over the last few days, my wife and I are getting a new car. And this pretty darn soon. Everything happened really fast and it all began with some simple inquiries to the Honda dealer in Bucharest.
Initially I just wanted a test-drive to better check out what the Accord can do, then I learned that 2008 is the 30th anniversary of Accord and with this occasion they’ve put together the Honda Accord Special Edition. What is so special about this Special Edition? – well everything – it’s almost a full options car priced fairly, as a regular, less endowed model.
The decision trigger was the fact that they had only 2 cars left in stock, with the engine and automatic transmission that I so much desired. I instantly booked it and decided that it’s worth the effort to at least think if we can afford it. It’s not a cheap car but it’s not a premium one either. I like to think that it’s a perfect balance between build quality, comfort, options and price.
So we got it! As simple as that. I don’t have it yet but good news is that I only have to wait 2, maximum 3 days until it gets delivered. I am not going to make a big case out of this, I just wanted to brag a little bit about Webmyc’s new incoming wheels and let you know that once I get I will probably post less often on my blog, as I will get busy testing this little baby!
It’s a 2.0 litter DOHC i-VTEC gas engine, with 155 HP and 190 Nm torque and as I had to choose between royal blue and Nighthawk black pearl, I obviously got the black one. I don’t like to get too attached to material things but considering the excitement that both my wife and I feel for this new acquisition, we decided that the car deserves at least a name – so ladies and gents, please let me introduce – Hawkeye – the Webmyc Mobile 
Unfortunately I don’t have pictures of Hawkeye yet obviously so what you can see in this post is the car I was handed for the test drive, a Dark Mocha one.
We are looking forward to get used to our new card and are pretty darn sure this will happen quite fast, because as somebody use to say, the Honda Accord is a car build around it’s driver and his passengers.
We are planning to get out of town next week and see more of Romania’s beauties like the old “burgs” from Transylvania and take our time to get acquainted with Hawkeye
Of course, it’s a huge step forward from our current Skoda Fabia, a car the served us for almost 7 years and drove us to wonderful places in Romania and Europe.
The Fabia has to go. We don’t need 2 cars and we cannot afford both anyway (gas, insurance, etc) so after I cool down a little bit I will put some time in improving the commercial aspect of our old but very nice car. It just needs a thorough inside clean and a paint polish but if you’re interested and are willing to do this on your own, just feel free to contact me. It’s a a metallic green 2001 1,4 MPI Skoda Fabia with less than 71.000km and I am willing to let it go for a really decent price.
As a closure I would like to give credit to my wife for a very smart reasoning: “If only you could put the same passion, drive and ambition that you’ve put in finding the means to get this car so fast, in everything you do, we would definitely get to live the life we dream about faster and less painfully”.
MacBook Pro factory refurbished
Mar 7th
I am considering buying a factory refurbished MacBook Pro from Apple store. The deals are pretty good and from what they advertise seems that you get a pretty close to new product – all defective spare parts are replaced, the product is cleansed both inside and outside and they ship it with the latest Mac-OS – Leopard and with all the cables, manuals, etc.
Considering the prices in Romania, a refurbished notebook with a slightly slower CPU and smaller HDD costs less than half the price! What do you think? Have you had any experience with any Apple factory refurbished products?
New dream car – Honda Accord Tourer 2008
Mar 5th
Although SAAB will always be my top preference, I came to the conclusion, that for the moment the SAAB 9-3 Sport Combi is a bit to expensive for my budget and it would not make sense to get it right now. Maybe in 2-3 years.
My 2nd option is Honda Accord but I was a bit disappointed to see the bad looks of the wagon version. This years Geneva Auto Show revealed the New Honda Accord Tourer which obviously looks so much better. I cannot explain why I am fan of wagon cars – probably because of “family-car” concept and also the comfort and extra space you have for long drives and holiday road trips.
However, getting back to budget consideration and to the fact that my 7 year old Skoda Fabia really needs to take a rest, I believe the best choice for me will be to get the current Honda Accord sedan(not the 2008 version). Why? Well 2 main reasons – 1. I don’t like the wagon version of the “old” model and 2.introducing the new Accord, Honda will have to drop prices to the older model. Considering that I am not a fan of changing cars to often and of investing extra on little repairs and improvements, I think it’s only natural to go for a new car instead of trying to bring a much cheaper used car from Germany.
What do you think? Should I get the new Accord, even if it’s more expensive and improvements are not overwhelming? Should I reconsider buying a new car and better get a used one?
Here are some pictures of the new Honda Accord Tourer 2008:
Upgrades for MacBook and MacBook Pro
Feb 27th
Apple released today the upgraded versions of MacBook and MacBook Pro. Besides the natural update to OS Leopard, there some hardware updates that definitely place the MacBook’s in the best performance notebook pool.
MacBook now comes with: Latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors up to 2.4GHz, 2GB of memory standard on 2.4GHz models, Larger hard drives across the entire line, up to 250GB; while MacBook Pro delivers: Latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors up to 2.6GHz, NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processing with up to 512MB of video memory and the expected Multi-Touch trackpad that you can already find on MacBook Air.
I did not see any modifications in the form factor/casis but this is quite normal as the MacBooks where already top of the line in build and aesthetics.
I am trying to get myself a refurbished MacBook Pro from the US. Do you have any experience getting those to Europe? The prices are unjustifiable much higher in EU, not to speak of Romanian prices.
Dream car – SAAB 9-3
Nov 8th
My dream car – the car that I will get in less than 1 year: SAAB 9-3 SPORT COMBI, LINEAR 1,9TID , 150CP , M6 – JET BLACK
