Friday, September 3, 2010

The Otto Club

The Otto Club

The world is a busy place, and sometimes folks just don't have time to research their next car purchase — especially when their cars are like this. The Otto Club ($13500 - $35000) is a Boston-based club that offers members the chance to drive some of the world's greatest rides. Pricing is based on a points system, with the Red level offering 15,000 points — about 20-30 days of driving for $13,500. The Black level, $19,500 per year, offers 30,000 points, or around 40-60 days of driving. Cars available include the Lamborghini Murcielago, the Ferrari 430 Coupe, and Bentley Continental GT. Unfortunately, the service is currently only available in the Boston area (they have a clubhouse opening soon in downtown), but we spoke with the company's president and he assured us that the company does plan to expand in the future. Right now though, if you're in Boston and have both the means and a love of cars, check it out.

The Otto Club

The Otto Club

The world is a busy place, and sometimes folks just don't have time to research their next car purchase — especially when their cars are like this. The Otto Club ($13500 - $35000) is a Boston-based club that offers members the chance to drive some of the world's greatest rides. Pricing is based on a points system, with the Red level offering 15,000 points — about 20-30 days of driving for $13,500. The Black level, $19,500 per year, offers 30,000 points, or around 40-60 days of driving. Cars available include the Lamborghini Murcielago, the Ferrari 430 Coupe, and Bentley Continental GT. Unfortunately, the service is currently only available in the Boston area (they have a clubhouse opening soon in downtown), but we spoke with the company's president and he assured us that the company does plan to expand in the future. Right now though, if you're in Boston and have both the means and a love of cars, check it out.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Evil Twins?


Jaws from James Bond

2011 Dodge Durango


Tacit knowledge

At the ECSA conference there was a lot of talk about tacit knowledge and the importance of tacit knowledge when architecting systems.
I completely agree that one thing that differs an experienced (and productive) architect from a fresh graduate is is the amount of tacit knowledge the former possess. However I thought that in the discussions at the conference there was some confusion of what is exactly meant by tacit knowledge.
On one hand there was the view that tacit knowledge was simply the architectural knowledge that was not documented, i.e. stuff that only resided in the peoples' heads. To improve the management of this is mostly a question of capturing it in the right form and with the best tools.
On the other hand one sees tacit knowledge is such knowledge which is difficult to express using language, which is the tradition I'm used to.
In order to capture the latter type of tacit knowledge it is not just a question of having the time to do so or the right tools. The difficult part is for the person having this knowledge to be able to formulate in in such a manner that he can express it.

Buick Cars

Buick Car Side View
Buick Car Side View
Buick Car Front View
Buick Car Photo

Buick Car Picture

2010 Jaguar Sports Cars XKR 75

The 2010 Jaguar Sport Car XKR 75 will provide owners with exclusivity, excitement and a hint of Jaguar’s great heritage its debut at the 2010 Goodwood Festival of Speed on July 2. Jaguar Land Rover CEO, Dr Ralf Speth, initiated the challenge to the Jaguar engineering team to construct an XKR to celebrate Jaguar's 75th anniversary, which would deliver a combination of enhanced performance, superb chassis and steering control and grip levels to inspire the driving enthusiast to explore the true potential of the XKR's capabilities.
2010 Jaguar Sports Cars XKR 75
“The Jaguar Sport Car XKR 75 will provide owners with an exclusive, fun and a bit of the Jaguar heritage. This is a way to celebrate the power of the XK sports trademark name Jaguars 75 years,” said Mike O'Driscoll, managing director, Jaguar Cars.
Jaguar engineers increased the power and torque of the acclaimed 5.0-litre supercharged engine to 530PS and 655Nm respectively for the Jaguar Sport Car XKR 75, to deliver truly outstanding performance. While the limited edition model’s top speed is electronically limited to 174mph (280km/h), the Jaguar Sport Car XKR 75's 0-60mph (100km/h) acceleration time is reduced from 4.6 to 4.4 seconds compared to the standard 510 PS XKR. "We conceived the XR 75 as a sports car with a duality of character that makes it perfectly suited to driving across Europe to the Nurburgring, completing some very fast laps, and then driving home again, added Mike Cross, Chief Engineer Vehicle Integrity.
The Jaguar Sport Car XKR 75 features revised suspension and handling for increased precision and agility in addition to the performance enhancements. To ensure the XKR 75 remains stable at high speeds, a revised aerodynamic body pack with a front splitter, side sills extensions, a rear diffuser and larger rear spoiler provide increased balance and a reduction in lift. The XKR's computerised Active Differential Control also adjusts to reduce steering sensitivity at very high speeds, further improving stability and driver control.
Production of the Jaguar sports car XKR 75 is limited to just 75 vehicles, which will be available to order from July 2010 in the UK priced from £85,500 OTR. Customer deliveries will commence during October 2010.

2010 Jaguar Sports Cars XKR 75

The 2010 Jaguar Sport Car XKR 75 will provide owners with exclusivity, excitement and a hint of Jaguar’s great heritage its debut at the 2010 Goodwood Festival of Speed on July 2. Jaguar Land Rover CEO, Dr Ralf Speth, initiated the challenge to the Jaguar engineering team to construct an XKR to celebrate Jaguar's 75th anniversary, which would deliver a combination of enhanced performance, superb chassis and steering control and grip levels to inspire the driving enthusiast to explore the true potential of the XKR's capabilities.
2010 Jaguar Sports Cars XKR 75
“The Jaguar Sport Car XKR 75 will provide owners with an exclusive, fun and a bit of the Jaguar heritage. This is a way to celebrate the power of the XK sports trademark name Jaguars 75 years,” said Mike O'Driscoll, managing director, Jaguar Cars.
Jaguar engineers increased the power and torque of the acclaimed 5.0-litre supercharged engine to 530PS and 655Nm respectively for the Jaguar Sport Car XKR 75, to deliver truly outstanding performance. While the limited edition model’s top speed is electronically limited to 174mph (280km/h), the Jaguar Sport Car XKR 75's 0-60mph (100km/h) acceleration time is reduced from 4.6 to 4.4 seconds compared to the standard 510 PS XKR. "We conceived the XR 75 as a sports car with a duality of character that makes it perfectly suited to driving across Europe to the Nurburgring, completing some very fast laps, and then driving home again, added Mike Cross, Chief Engineer Vehicle Integrity.
The Jaguar Sport Car XKR 75 features revised suspension and handling for increased precision and agility in addition to the performance enhancements. To ensure the XKR 75 remains stable at high speeds, a revised aerodynamic body pack with a front splitter, side sills extensions, a rear diffuser and larger rear spoiler provide increased balance and a reduction in lift. The XKR's computerised Active Differential Control also adjusts to reduce steering sensitivity at very high speeds, further improving stability and driver control.
Production of the Jaguar sports car XKR 75 is limited to just 75 vehicles, which will be available to order from July 2010 in the UK priced from £85,500 OTR. Customer deliveries will commence during October 2010.