Mythbusting: Corvettes are big and heavy

It's not a "muscle car" and it's not heavy just because it is American.

Lotus Exige S                      2,077 lbs
Honda Civic Si                     2,886 lbs
Porsche Boxster S                  2,987 lbs
Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera  2,998 lbs**
Porsche 911 (997) GT2              3,175 lbs
Ferrari F430                       3,196 lbs
Corvette                           3,217 lbs
Nissan Z Nismo                     3,350 lbs
Subaru Impreza WRX STI             3,395 lbs
Dodge Viper SRT10                  3,445 lbs
Ford Mustang GT                    3,450 lbs*
Porsche 911 (997) Turbo            3,494 lbs
BMW M3 (E92)                       3,500 lbs*
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X      3,585 lbs*
Lamborghini Murcielago LP640       3,670 lbs**
Dodge Charger SE                   3,727 lbs
Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano            3,722 lbs
Nissan GT-R                        3,836 lbs*
BMW M5                             4,012 lbs**
Dodge Charger SRT8                 4,160 lbs

Note, all cars listed are model year 2007-2008 (the latter if possible).

* Curb weight not listed by manufacturer.
** Dry weight.

Dishola

How many times have you and your friends had a cool idea and only half implemented it until it fizzled out? How many times have you said to yourself, "Man, I should have stuck with that idea, it would have been really cool if it was done." Well my friend and ex-coworker, Lindsey Simon, did stick it out... and make a really cool website called Dishola.

It really is a cool website. The premise is simple: instead of reviewing entire restaurants, you review only dishes. So if you're in the mood for Pad Thai, you simply search for that and you'll find the highest reviewed Pad Thai dishes in your area.

Reviews by the dish? Bleh, you say... what makes this site special, if at all? It's all in the details. It's 100% integrated with Google Maps. When you search, you'll get a nifty Google Maps interface showing you where the hot dishes are... but even cooler than that is when you are reviewing a dish, it uses a Google API to ensure that you're not making a duplicate of a certain dish (in other words, we want two reviews of a single dish Pad Thai at Madam Mam's, not two reviews of two separate dishes both called Pad Thai at Madam Mam's).

The entire website is like that... very "Web 2.0" as some would say, but without all the super-flashy interface stuff that just gets in the way. It is very community oriented in nature. You have an identity and can find people with similar tastes and share opinions and what not (that's the real Web 2.0, ya know).

The whole operation is top notch. He didn't just make a website and shove it out on the internet to fester. Dishola is constantly keeping things fresh with celebrity dish reviews, video interviews from the nation's top chefs, charity and donation programs.

In short, he's taken an existing, somewhat stale idea and successfully breathed new life into it. Go check it out, I promise it's not like all those other tired food review sites.

Ok.. enough about how awesome the website is... this is my blog and should be about me! So here's my take on the whole thing. I'm massively jealous. He's living every programmer's dream!!! To crank out a cool product that people love using and spawning an active community around it! I want that! I mean seriously, the next best thing would be to create the world's most popular MMORPG single handedly or something.

Also, I have to get something off my chest... I'm a bad friend... I don't use Dishola as often as I should. I've put some thought into why this is and I've determined that it's the same reason why Adam and I needed a bet so our blogs would actually have some content. I hate putting up half assed reviews. See, Adam and I hardly ever posted blog articles because we would constantly revise them and never be happy. We needed a bet just to force ourselves to publish the articles, even if they aren't perfectly witty or deliciously insightful.

I was at Catfish Parlor the other day and I said to Aimee, "Remind me to get a picture of our lightly battered, deliciously fried catfish dinner with jalapeno tartar sauce so I can put it on Dishola." Low and behold, the check came and Aimee "reminded" me... :P

Also, I'm just not that good with words. "Get the Tom Kha soup at Madam Mams, it's really f-ing good." Sigh.

Kudos to a Car Dealership?!

I admit... I'm usually the first to lambaste car dealerships. They seem all too quick to screw you over with voided warranties, ridiculous repair bills, damaging your ride in the repair process and last but not least, joyriding in you precious auto. But I actually had a good experience at Henna Chevrolet of Austin recently.

I had fried my brakes at a recent track event, and was planning on eating the costs and buying $700 worth of brake upgrades, but Aimee, a buddy of mine, and some members of Corvette Forum suggested that I try to get them replaced under warranty by playing dumb to the whole "track event" thing. So I decided to heed that advice... here's how it went...

Day 1

"No no no, not at all... I just take it on some mildly spirited joyrides in hill country, sir. What is this 'track' that you speak of?"
"Well it is a wearable part, a tech is going to have to check it out and see if it's bad enough for warranty repair."

Day 2

"Is it done yet?"
"We need to have another tech look at it."

"Is it done yet?"
"We need to have the head tech look at it and make a decision."

"Is it done yet?"
"We need to have the service manager look at it and make a decision."

Day 3

"Mr. Bottaro... after examining the tire wear and brake wear, it is apparent that this car has been run very hard at a track. (long pause, me sweating bullets) ...but that's ok, it's ok to take this car to the track. The service manager, who is an avid track enthusiast, personally suggests that you upgrade to aftermarket brakes if you continue to track your car like this. That being said, we will repair your brakes under warranty twice before you're on your own."

Ok, first off, I feel like a complete douchebag for lying to the service writer's face about not tracking the car. Second, wow... very cool!

Ninja Gaiden Black

Easily 4 out of 4 stars.

Best action game ever made (until Ninja Gaiden 2 comes out)!!

Pros...

• Incredible fighting engine.
• Spectacular graphics (even today).
• Tons of polish.
• Hard as hell.

Cons...

• Hard as hell.
• It is "last gen" now.
• 3rd person camera control is backwards from most other games and you can't change it.

I first played Ninja Gaiden Black last xmas and beat it in two 12 hour sittings, and it has been my favorite game ever since.

The story is good albeit relatively straight forward: You're a ninja tasked with protecting an ancient sword, some bastard steals it and kills your entire village in the process, you seek vengeance. There are a few plot twists and the game does a decent job at keeping you anxious to find out what happens next.

The graphics are amazing for an Xbox game. Hell, I'd say they are even better than most Xbox 360 games out there. Still, the fact that it isn't "next gen" is a turn off for some people.

What makes this game such a gem is the gameplay. It is phenomenal. Everything is so crisp and precise and the fighting engine is surprisingly deep for an action/adventure game, which actually isn't all that surprising considering this game is brought to you by the makers of the fighting game series Dead or Alive.

The gameplay and fighting are actually a lot like playing a bonafide fighting game. A lot of the moves' and combos' key sequences are taken straight from DOA. Now combine that type of fighting depth with jumping off enemies heads, flipping around like a crazy ass ninja, running on/up walls, and ridiculous super moves. That's what playing the game is like... :)

So you're gunna buy the game and have a blast, kicking ass crazy ninja style like I described above, right? Wrong!! The game is hard as hell. Most of you who attempt to play it will probably have trouble making it to level 2, much less finishing all 16 levels or playing it as gracefully as The Master Ninjas.

Sooo, here's a gameplay video of what it would be like if you actually had the skills to it play it well...

Holy crap, after watching that tribute I was reminded how this game is the greatest game ever made.

Mass Effect

3.5* out of 4 stars. (rating system explained)

Despite it's many flaws, I was actually upset that it was over.

Pros...

• Story is engrossing and intriguing.
• Graphics are outstanding, especially when it comes to character faces.
• Action is as good or better than any other 3rd person shooter out there.
• Combines RPG elements (stats, equipment, level ups, special abilities) with a 3rd person shooter.
• A real sense that the choices you make actually matter.

Cons...

• Low framerate and invasive loading give an overall choppy feel to the game.
• Maybe too much "talking" for some people's tastes.
• Inventory system is horrible.
• Weapon upgrading interface is horrible.
• Side quests are short, repetitive and reuse maps/textures/models.
• Too short.

I had written a big, long review about this game when I discovered this review and realized that I'd just be repeating everything that reviewer said. The short of it is this: the game is riddled with flaws, but we love it anyways. Hell, I'm going to play through it twice even.

My biggest complaint are the side quests. There are two kinds of side quests:

1. The ones that take place in a city or major area of the game.
2. The ones that require you to land on a remote planet to investigate or kill something.

The first type are great, it's the latter that are super repetitive and boring. You'll be able to differentiate between the two pretty quickly. I suggest avoiding the second type and sticking to the first type which will arise naturally if you just follow the main plot of the game.

* I hate straying from my simple 4 discrete star system where a game can get one of only four ratings, but I honestly feel this game warrants an exception for being such a great game that unfortunately has so many flaws.

Merry Christmas to me!

Apparently my car's six track days has taken its toll, as seen by the picture (click for larger image). In case you don't know what you're looking at, there are two nicely cut grooves in my driver side front rotor. The same two grooves are starting on the passenger side, but aren't as deep yet.

What could have caused the brake pads to wear down so quickly (the car only has 5000 miles)? Well for starters, track time is very hard on brakes. Some people claim they can destroy pads in just a single track day! I'm too wet behind the ears for that. I suspect it had to do with my car participating in back to back to back sessions without any cooldown in between (me driving, instructor driving with me, Aimee driving, instructor driving with Aimee).

So now I have to get new pads and rotors, and as long as I'm replacing parts, I might as well "upgrade", right? :D

Here's the shopping list...

• DBA 4000 Series slotted rotors (front) - $349.90
• Hawk HPS brake pads (front) - $102.95
• Hawk HPS brake pads (rear) - $74.95
• StopTech braided stainless steel brake lines (front) - $72.00
• StopTech braided stainless steel brake lines (rear) - $68.00
• ATL Type 200 brake fluid (2L) - $21.98

Grand total... $689.78. Merry xmas to me... sigh... :(

Driving on the Edge

Aimee and I just got back from my second (her first) Driver's Edge event. I'll link to her experience as soon as she writes it.

If you didn't catch my first experience, you can read it here. Most of that post is spent on trying to relate how intense high performance driving on a road course can be. This time was different. I wasn't white knuckled or cringing while barreling into a corner at high speed. Instead I was calm, relaxed, even joking with my instructor while driving... but, the difference is that this time the driving was faster and more "out of control" than before.

I wasn't really out of control of course, I never went off the track or anything. I guess I mean it looks (or would feel) out of control to someone looking at it from the outside. I was comfortable pushing the car past it's limits on practically every corner, which generally means a light, correctable skid. I had gotten past the exhilaration of going fast on a track and was relaxed enough to start feeling the car. I could feel when it was at its limits and I could choose to push it into a slide or back off. Which leads me to my next topic...

I think I figured out my driving style. I don't want to say "reckless" because that implies irresponsibility. Safety is always number one, especially when other cars are nearby. But when I feel it is "safe", I will almost always choose to kick the rear end out and correct for it. I think it's fun. :)

I had 6 major corrections this weekend. By major I mean I was sliding sideways, tires smoking, and I was going off track if I didn't do some pretty big counter steering. The trick to counter steering (IMO) is knowing when to stop it and turn the wheel back to normal. If you hold the counter steer too long, the car will swing around the other way fast and hard. The window of opportunity to stop the counter steer seems to be very very small.

Minor corrections (small skids, aka power induced oversteer) are a normality now... :) The trick is not using the entire track when exiting a corner. Give yourself some margin for error. If you do it right, you'll end up using the entire track anyway.

I have to say I had to best instructor. His name is Mason and he is awesome. I seriously don't think I could have improved this much without him. I really felt like I could understand and execute his instructions... but more importantly, he gave me confidence, which is what I really needed to take it to the next level. He made me feel completely at ease and good about myself, which in turn allowed me to relax, which in turn allowed me to concentrate on "feeling" the car and experimenting. Also, he was really fun. He'd say "awesome!" when I'd almost lose control or "let's do it!" when I'd get my sights on someone.

** NOTE: Please excuse my inaccurate terminology, potentially bad/incorrect advice or complete misunderstanding of a concept. I'm still very much a beginner and am still trying to make sense of all this racing stuff. :)

P.S. I'm solo approved (drive without an instructor) for the blue group! And my instructor said I can be in the yellow group if on a familiar track!! Wow, exciting! I just never really expected to make it to solo driving or the yellow group for that matter!

4 Star Rating System

If you haven't noticed already, I'm quite an avid gamer. Not a fanboy or anything, but I do enjoy a good game on more than a casual level. I also read watch a lot of video game reviews on Gamespot, IGN and XPlay and often think about my personal spin on gaming.

Like I said before, I'm not a fanboy or hardcore game nerd. I have a girlfriend to tend to, a pup that's like a daughter to me, my Corvette to futz around with, a 9-to-8 (as opposed to 9-to-5) job, my personal blog and my software release blog (as in, I write software in my spare time). I'm somewhere between a casual gamer and an MMORPG addict. I'm looking to speak to gamers who fall into this demographic. I also believe this demographic will expand as gaming becomes more mainstream.

I guess this blog post is to announce that I'm going to officially start reviewing video games. I have done a couple of "reviews" already, but I'm going to try to standardize a format and rating system. I'll probably retroactively apply this system to the previous reviews.

I'm going to use a simple 4 star rating system...

1. Bad
2. Mediocre
3. Good
4. Awesome, outstanding, exceptional, go buy it right now.

The format will be a short list of pros and cons followed by in depth discussion of what stood out to me.

Software Released

I "released" my Kate/Pate plugin today via this blog post.