BBC America shows added to iTunes Store

I'm hoping this list gets bigger pretty quickly, and obviously I want Top Gear to get added immediately - that would rock.

BBC America shows added to iTunes Store - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

Man on the Street

Well, not really - Lindsay tries to get some women to talk to her..

New STi Ads

Finally, someone at Subaru remembered what the STi was all about. If only they had shown the guys who designed the new one this ad before they started (and the engineers who dialed in the understeer as well for that matter), and I might have gone out and bought another one.

Skiing on a Segway?

Well something has to be done to make it cool....

Just in case you were wondering

This is actually a chair. I think it's for girls, coz that looks nothing like my arse. And obviously, it's Italian.

The Watch Post

I'm not sure if I've just been susceptible to watch posts lately, or if there's some new craze on the gadget sites I follow, but I ended up with a lot of watches in my list of stuff to post. So, I thought I'd get most of them done in one go, and then you can just ignore this post if you don't like watches. How nice is that? (I'm sure your disinterest in cars also makes it to watches Lauren, and given you're one of my key demographics, I like to make sure I keep you happy ;-)


So, where to begin. How about the first one. This special little thing is probably way to expensive to wear, but given it's all decked out on carbon fiber, at least you know it'll handle a spill or two. Unfortunately it's currently just a concept, but hey, concepts get turned into (very expensive) reality every day of the week.


Next up is an Aston Martin special, from a company so expensive that I've never heard of them - Tourbillon. I imagine people who wear these probably eat at those restaurants I posted about the other day. It has lots of very special features, none of which are worth describing. Sometimes the marketing spin goes too far, especially when a picture speaks a thousand words and all that.



Now how about combining a watch with your most hated operating system, so it can follow you round all day and blue screen every time you use it? Or maybe you'll get lucky. Actually, my BlackJack is rocking my world in a non breaking way until v2.0 of the iPhone comes along to make me happy, so I wouldn't complain if the phone was actually using an up to date version of Windows Mobile or something. But CE? I thought that was out of date in 2003 or something?



Now for Opus 8, combining mechanical and digital on your wrist. I probably like this one just coz it's got Red and Silver together, which for me is kinda like the secret passcode to my (almost always) empty wallet. But, I actually read up on this, and it's a Harry Winston project, so add this to the way too expensive list no doubt.


And finally, coz this post is way too long already, the latest "concept" from Tag, which will no doubt make it into the shops sometime in the near(ish) future. For years I didn't really like Tag watches - they got kinda common at our high school (well, the fake ones did anyway, or the nicked ones - there wasn't many (any) people could afford these in our high school). I didn't even give them the once over when I was looking for a decent watch 8 or 9 years ago - just walked straight over to the Breitling counter in Heathrow. Anyway, they've started to look better in the last few years - the Carrera series always seems pretty good looking, and I'm kinda taken by this one. We'll have to see if it makes it to the shops though (and how much it costs when it finally gets there).

I really should post more stuff

The backlogs building up of stuff in my list to share (bet you can't wait, right), but a combination of laziness, travel and a humungous garage sale last weekend meant the computer got neglected, and my blog has been lonely. I will try and fix it this weekend....

World's 50 Best Restaurants

What worried me was that I don't think I've been to any of these places. We did go to the Alan Ducasse restaurant on Mauritius (his sister restaurant is at no.18 in this list) but that's as close as I've come. Our experience there deserves a whole other post though, so stay tuned - I might eventually get to it. And maybe I'll try a couple of these places - I have a feeling though that my infatuation with Big Mac's and KFC suggests a simpler approach to food is what satisfies me.

World's 50 Best Restaurants

E92 M3

E92 M3, originally uploaded by Aaron in Denver.

First time I've seen the coupe in real life. I'm sure they put it in the entrance way of the service area at the garage to force you to think about getting one when you're old one needs a service.

I still prefer the older shape, and having seen the 4 door the other day, I think it looks better than this as well. However, I'd still have one if they were willing to give me a straight swap, and I realize as soon as I hear one revving up, the V8 will force me to get the check book out. Luckily ear plugs have saved me so far, although the service tech thought I was a bit of a wanker when I couldn't hear a word he said. Better safe than sorry though.....

Dreaming

When I grow up, I want to be able to do this.....

Six Apart wrestles the social-media dragon

Looks like there's another app out there that I'm going to have to try. The quest for the easy and most fun way of keeping my web life up to date occasionally feels like the never ending battle.

Six Apart wrestles the social-media dragon | The Social - CNET News.com

Secrecy Over - Whereyougonnabe is Live

Having been a (not very) top secret Alpha tester (a first for me, apart from what I passed off as code in the old days when I could still do that sort of stuff), the secrecy has been eating away at me. Well, not really, but the apps cool, and having used it for a couple of months now, has helped me out, even though the user base was relatively limited.

Obviously, Pete has all the details in the post below, so I'm not going to recount what it does in detail, but basically it'll let me broadcast to the world (or just my friends) where I'm going to be in the coming hours/days/weeks/months so if you happen to be in the same place, or close by, we can hang out, or get drunk together, or have a very important business meeting at a random airport.

And the integration with Google Earth had the wow factor to make me smile.

So, join up, plug in your stuff, and see u in a random pub sometime

geothought: Our whereyougonnabe application is now open to the world!

Spring Time in Denver

A lot of times, various family members come across to Denver in either spring or autumn (fall) - the flights tend to be a lot cheaper than the middle of summer, and they can sometimes get in a first or last ski day, while not being snowbound for the rest of the time they're here. One of the questions I always get asked is "what clothes should I bring? Is it going to be hot and cold?" My standard response is always "well, you can probably sunbathe in your shorts/bikini one day, and we might get a foot of snow the next" to which (unless they've been here) they always laugh, tell me to stop messing around and ask me again what to pack.

So, for all the non-believers, here's a pretty typical example of spring weather in Denver. We're going to hit 80 today, and there's a decent chance of snow tomorrow (or maybe just rain if we're lucky), with more than a 30 degree difference in temperature. Like I said, this is pretty typical - on Sunday I remember it going from 78 to 38 in the space of 4 hours - that was an interesting experience.

The Other One

The other Aaron I know (apart from myself, although presuming that I know myself is probably a little presumptuous) went live today with an initial release 10 webisodes. I haven't had a chance to view any yet, but I'm highly recommending it anyway. Check it out here.

Audi RS 6 Teaser

This has to got to be one of the most impressive ads for a car I've seen in a long time. And it hardly has any cars in, but I guess it is just a teaser until the RS6 gets released later in the year (with over 500bhp by the way)

Testing

P1040607.JPG, originally uploaded by Aaron in Denver.

Just testing my new Flickr posting configuration with the most fantastic picture of Mr Stone that I have. He worked for hours to make sure his hair was perfect for JB and Susan's wedding, and you can tell.

Fynn's a Charver?

P1040870.JPG
Originally uploaded by Aaron in Denver.

Note to self - when your wife calls you from Vegas asking to measure certain parts of the dog, just say no ;-)

Frontier files for bankruptcy protection

Running an airline is a pretty brutal business, and unfortunately, my favorite domestic carrier just went in bankruptcy. Hopefully this is just one of those things when they use Chapter 11 to get re-organized and sort out their finances, coz this is pretty much the only airline I've flown for the last year or so. Plus they give me free drinks now that I hit their Summit level. Oh crap! I hope it wasn't the drinks tab on the recent Mexico trip that pushed them over the edge....

Frontier files for bankruptcy protection - CNN.com

How to get people to read your posts

CNET linked to this post, even when CNET was on the list. That's kinda cool if you ask me (and I still read the CNET news site on a regular basis, and it's the default place for my review viewing, so not sure how/when/if it became irrelevant).

The 10 things you may complain about (and five you may not) |

IM's Make Me Laugh

Well, my brothers IM's do - especially when he spots someone as famous as King Kev - I just wonder how many people can claim to have been laughed at by the Newcastle manager?

Daniel says:
seen king kev tonight!
.............
Aaron says:
so where did you see King Kev?
Daniel says:
just in traffic he must of been on his way home from the training ground!
Daniel says:
i was beeping and shouting lol
Daniel says:
he was just laughing!

Caterham R500 Superlight

Always one of the cars that will eventually end up in my garage when I'm a super-rich multicar type person, Caterham have released teaser shots for the latest R500 Superlight. Staying true to the original Lotus approach of speed and handling by keeping the weight down, this one promises to be a cracker.

And last post of the night - I need to eat...

My Favorite Ad

I know, I'm biased (not that I have this version of course). And one of the cool things about this is it's actually real video with camera slots cut into the side of the engine, along with the needed light holes as well. I've never seen the inside of an engine when it's running before - have you?

Tech Tattoos

I think I want one

Geeky Girlfriend Pressie

I don't think Tiffany's is selling these yet, but if you've got a girlfriend who's into all things gadgety (or your boyfriend likes jewelery I guess), the USB pendant may be the gift for you.

Actually, scrap that last sentence - I just checked out the actual site and the first thing listed is a set of solid silver usb cufflinks that are now on my wishlist. See, my branching out from the feed reader is paying dividends already ;-)

Shocking Big Wheels

Hmm.. I saw both of these today, and I just can't work out which one I hate more. The fact that people obviously spent a decent amount of time on putting these together could well be more worrying than the end result.

Magnetic Table

I guess this is for those people who live in NYC, or London and don't have access to the space saving gadgets available at Ikea.

Personally, apart from the fact that I'm way too clumsy to not pull up the chair and knock everything I'm not using to the floor with my knees, this kinda freaks me out a little. I'm not sure I'd ever feel like the room was tidy with stuff hanging below, and trust me, I'm not what you'd consider tidy.

Oh yeah - here's the link

Do RSS Readers Spoil the Web?

When I first changed my web reading habits to use Google Reader, it was a bit of epiphany - I could keep track of all my car and gadget websites without spending time going from site to site, I didn't miss a post, and I could star anything I fancied posting to this site for when I actually had time. I had previously looked at a desktop newsreader ages before that, but I freaked out after an hour as the thing dinged everytime I got a new post, so I got nothing done for that first hour, and uninstalled the app a few minutes later (and yes, I realize that I could have switched off notifications, or the app for that matter, but I was just too scared). Google Reader was kinda like the perfect combination - I needed to make an effort in the first place to open it, it didn't ding, and I could control my reading habits at least somewhat.

Then of course, I started to add feeds - I've got more car sites than I car to mention on there, work feeds (broken into GIS, hiring, VC's, general technology news, partner news feeds etc etc), actual news feeds, a whole section of randomness (think Dooce, Lifehacker and the like), friends.... and the list goes on - you've got the idea.

I think I could probably have a full time job just reading feeds without even adding any more to the list. They're all interesting to me at some level, but some get more care and attention than others (I only ever check the gossip section at the weekends, whereas the work ones normally get a look most days). So I don't read a lot of the information that's there. I did read somewhere (probably in one of the feeds) that one guy was simplifying his life, and cutting down on the number of feeds he keeps track of, and I've considered this, but the "mark all items as read" button keeps me sane most of the time. And what happened if I just missed something! That might be like, bad. I could miss a Steve Jobs announcement, or the latest Porsche spy shot and I'd feel like my life may not be complete anymore, and that would be bad (I like my complete life).

But this isn't really the issue. What bothers me most is that I read the feeds, and most feeds are of the full fat variety, and I don't read websites so much. One of the car sites I read went through a whole redesign, and I don't think I even noticed it for at least a month. I miss out on seeing the latest pretty colors, the widgets, the blogrolls, the (occasional) pictures of whoever is writing what I'm reading. I don't really read the comments on posts either. You kinda get used to reading feeds only, and suddenly the thought that the web might be boring crosses your mind. I know it's not, you just think it if you read feeds all the time.

So, I've started to make a bit of an effort to actually visit the websites that I "read" regularly. It's making me smile a little more, and it almost feels like visiting old friends that you haven't seen for a couple of months. It's given me a fresh perspective on the web, along with a strange desire to make another crack at redesigning this site (although that isn't on the immediate horizon).

And the other thing - find some cool sites on Tumblr, and get your dashboard set up to follow them - I don't know if it's the posts themselves, or the layout, or what, but it never looks boring over there.

Stormtrooper battle at High Court

Is the Dark Side going to win this one?

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Stormtrooper battle at High Court

Flickr Video Launches - A Unique Experience

My fave photo site launches video. What is really weird about this is that it happened on the exact day I signed up for Vimeo and their ohsopretty video site.. Oh well, life on the web these days is just a bit of a fragmented mess of competing stuff that improves at different rates over time - maybe I shouldn't mess around with so much different stuff, and stick to one site per service. Guess I'm just afraid I might miss out on something cool. Paranoia - the thought of champions....

Flickr Video Launches - A Unique Experience

Heidi's New Car

Heidi's New Car
Originally uploaded by Aaron in Denver.

It arrived last night - not much light to shoot the full set of pics, so for now you'll have to do with this quick camera photo.

The cars great - I managed to sneak in a quick drive - tonight will be spent deep in the manuals trying to work out what all the buttons do, and seeing how loud the stereo goes before your ears bleed.

Fav pic of the recent holiday

017
Originally uploaded by Neil Stone.

As Neil said, you can take the boy out of Newcastle, but you can't take Newcastle out of the boy.

Both Tonks and Neil finally got their photos uploaded, so check them out.

Heidi's Car for Sale

P1040849.JPG
Originally uploaded by Aaron in Denver.

I don't think I've ever tried to sell anything on this site, but just on the off chance you live in the Denver area, and are on the lookout for a pristine 2000 Honda Civic Coupe with less than 60k on the clock, I thought I'd give it a try ;-)

The wife has owned it since it was born, and has treated it with lots of tender loving care, including full main dealer service history (and all of the original receipts to prove it). It's actually in pretty much perfect condition and she's only selling it coz her new one arrives tomorrow.

GT-R - More US Videos

It looks like the GT-R is doing the rounds for magazine and website testing, so lots of new videos of some track time are shooting up over YouTube and the various sites. The more I read about this car, the more enticing it's becoming. Still wishing for a real gearbox though - I guess that these days that firmly puts me in the old school camp...



Oh, yeah, and as a complete aside, I've signed up for my second ever BMW High Performance Driving school thing down at Pueblo. And as luck (and immaculate organization) would have it, the Lijit team are going to be attending the same day. It's going to be another great day, and the excitement is building already.

JB and Susans Wedding

We were honored to get an invite to JB and Susan's wedding last weekend in Tulum, Mexico, so headed down there with a bunch of friends to celebrate on the beach with them. There were the usual shenanigans, a corking best man's speech, and loads of people from around the world to help get through Mexico's supply of tequila (we failed) and dance on the beach into the wee hours (we succeeded).

As you could see from the previous post on the trip, Al Brown made an appearance with his dancing shoes, although the prize for the most dancing of the night had to go to Lindsay who didn't appear to stop at all. Pete took a load of high quality pics as usual, and Nixta was the reddest I've seen him in a long time.

Other noticeable events - Neil managed to keep his hair decorations in the whole wedding night, and I managed to snap my favorite shots so far of Lauren and Ally.

And I danced. A lot. But survived.

Mr Flannery and Kelly couldn't make it due to the recent addition to the family (Hi Tessa) so I made a (pretty poor) attempt at the famous Flannery Fly By approach to wedding videos....

He's a Scary Dancer....

P1040695.JPG
Originally uploaded by Aaron in Denver.

Just in case there was any doubt about Al Brown's reputation as the scariest dancer in the world, take a look at the pic. Luckily, Lindsay survived another day, but others in the past haven't been quite so lucky.

Best Job in the World?

BBC NEWS | England | Hampshire | Man seeks drinking pal for father

Tulum, Mexico

P1040522.JPG
Originally uploaded by Aaron in Denver.

The reason there haven't been many posts lately is because I had the fortune of travelling down to Tulum, Mexico with the wife, to attend JB and Susan's wedding (that'll be another post when I get a chance).

I had never heard of this place, but it's about 2 hours south of Cancun, and difficult to describe. It's kinda like a big hippy commune without the hippies - everyone's very laid back, lots of fresh food, all the power is via solar or wind, so there's no sockets in your room to charge anything up etc etc. Anyway, we had a blast - the pic is a view from our rooms front door - right on the beach. The room itself was probably one of the smallest we've stayed in in a long while, but as Ash pointed out, it's all about location, location, location.