I got it.

Posted Friday, October 14th 2005

Quick post, as I’m writing this from the computers at my university.

I just got my diploma.

Partay!

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How to write a decent e-mail.

Posted Thursday, October 13th 2005

I bet most of you, if not all of you, have received and e-mail which is so incoherent and so hard to read, that you wanted to delete it altogether, then find the person who sent it to you, and strangle him/her. I get e-mails like that on a regular basis, and a while ago, I wrote a list of guidelines for writing a readable and coherent email. Unfortunately, I never wrote it in English, and I never fully completed it.
Just to get it out of the way - this is not a guide that will show you how to write a formal e-mail, but it’ll get you close. In order to write a formal e-mail, you need to have some common sense, and these guidelines will probably help you too. I’m not writing this to put anyone down. I’m simply writing it so I can point people to this guide when I get an e-mail that leaves me scratching my head.

1. Paragraphs
It’s very important that you separate your thoughts in paragraphs. When I receive an e-mail which is two pages long, and consists of one single paragraph, I feel like crying. E-mails that consist of one paragraph are extremely hard to read, especially if you use a very tiny text size (more on that later. Separating your e-mail in paragraphs not only makes it easier for the recipient to read it, but it’s also easier to reply.

2. Punctuation
Hey man what’s up I saw your car on the street the other day looks good yellow too I had chicken for lunch yesterday it was good and then I had a lot of beer and then passed out.
See what I mean? Stuff like that is hard to read. Dots, comas, exclamation points and question marks - they all exist for a reason. Use them, and try to use them in their correct place. This however, does not allow you to overdo it. For most things, one or in extreme cases, two question marks will do. Same goes for exclamation points.

3. Capitalization
Similar to punctuation, using a capital letter on the beginning of EVERY sentence is crucial. Please do it.

4. CAPS LOCK
HEY THIS IS AWESOME.
No. No it’s not. Please don’t do it. It’s one of the most annoying things ever. It also shows that you’re probably mentally underdeveloped and that you have some sort of weird fetish regarding the Caps Lock key.

5. Text Size
Choosing a good text size when writing your emails might seem trivial, but it’s also very important. You don’t want text that is too small, or too big. Too small makes it hard to read, while too big makes it inefficient and annoying. If you’re using Arial, Tahoma or Verdana when you’re sending e-mails (which I recommend, as they’re all good looking fonts), try to use some decent size.

6. Text Color
Text color might seem trivial to you, and you might think that having your text in 14 different colors is fun and pretty, but believe me, it’s not. It’s annoying, distracting and a bit stupid. Keep it simple, black on white, and everyone will be happy. If you have to use some color in your e-mail, to specify something or to add importance to some part, use color rationally and don’t overdo it.

7. Coherence
Before you sit down to write an e-mail, as short as it might be, think of most things you want to say in the e-mail, and try to structure them in your head. Hopping from one thing to another, then back is distracting and makes your e-mails look erratic.

8. Forwarding
Although I really really hate chain e-mails (and pretty much everyone I know does too), if you have to forward me something that you think is cool, at least clean it up before you do. I really don’t want to know who got the e-mail before I do, nor do I want to see the thousands of ‘>>’ characters added by default when forwarding e-mails. Take a few minutes to clean up whatever you’re about to forward. The person that gets it will appreciate it.

That’s it, basically. Feel free to pass this on to all your friends and relatives that you feel need some help when writing an e-mail. Any comments and suggestions are welcome, and I’d be glad to add those suggestions in the list.

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My Top 10 Cars

Posted Tuesday, October 11th 2005

I consider myself to be an automotive afficionado. I spend a substantial amount of my time reading about cars, watching videos, learning new things, and generally (day)dreaming about owning some sort of exotic. I’m a huge fan of the classics, and my taste in cars varies - I like many things - ranging from old sports cars and supercars, to new coupes, even everyday cars.
Cars for me have never been just a simple mode of transportation - they’ve always been so much more. Cars for me are an epitome of freedom, power, passion..
Anyway, I’ve tried to make a list of my Top 10 favorite cars of all time. This list is not based on design, performance or any other ‘benchmark’ out there. It’s based solely on my love for cars.
Although I tried sorting these cars in some sort of order, I couldn’t decide the exact order. So, here are my Top 10 Cars, in no specific order:

• Citroen DS - Known as the Goddess in many parts of the world, this car brought on very significant inovations. It introduced turning headlights, which are a feature on many high-end cars nowadays, and it was the first car to have disc brakes. However, the most important technological feat this car brought the world was the hydropneumatic suspension, that in one way or another, lives on to this day in many Citroen models. Plus, I think that it’s a gorgeous car.
• Nissan Skyline GT-R - The Skyline was described as a 50.000 GBP Playstation on wheels. I guess that’s a very appropriate description, considering the amount of technology cramped into this car. Four wheel drive? You got it. Four wheel steering? Check. And there’s oh so much more.
• Aston Martin V12 Vanquish - James Bond drove one. That should be enough of a reason. However, there’s more. It was the Vanquish that announced and spearheaded the revival of Aston Martin. I think it is probably the best looking Aston ever (although the DB9 is very very close), and it just oozes style and presence. A gorgeous, powerfull car, that indeed, has it’s faults, but in the end, it’s just perfect. Plus, it has the advantage of not being a Ferrari.
• Koenigsegg CC-R - What happens when a bald Swede decides to make a supercar to rival all supercars? The Koenigsegg CC-R ofcourse. Based around a Ford V8, which is then supercharged (and then some) to produce an astounding 806 horsepower, and (arguably) at the moment, the world’s fastest in-production car. Well, except the Bugatti Veyron, but that’s just insane. The CC-R’s appeal comes from the fact that it has always been the underdog, and despite that, it has made it’s mark in the world of supercars. From the country that gave us Volvos, we get this? Amazing.
• Ford Mustang - The fastest selling car in history. It mobilized a whole generation and kept its reputation and fame throughout the years, despite the fact that it got slower and fatter as automotive legislation forced designers to water it down. Still, one of the most important cars ever. It was never the best or the fastest from the muscle car crew, but, at least for me, it always had the most appeal. And the 1969 Mustang Mach 1 just looks amazingly mean.
• Lamborghini Miura - Sure, there was a chance of the car lifting off as you got low on fuel, and the car could spontaneously burst in flames due to some bad engineering choices, but this is the car that defined supercars. Designed by a 22 (or so) year old, it still looks fresh and sexy today. Drop dead gorgeous. It’s as simple as that.
• Jaguar E Type - The Jaguar E Type, in all honesty, never brought any significant technical innovations. Its reliability was questionable, and in many ways, it was a car that was very hard to live with. But just look at it. It’s gorgeous.
• Porsche 911 (996) - Why the 996? I don’t really know. I think it’s the best looking 911 ever. However, the 996 itself, is not as important as the history of the 911, or better yet, the history of Porsche. Dr. Porsche built the original 356 on the basis of the VW Beetle. The 911 has shown constant incremental improvement over the decades it’s been available, and it’s truly an iconic car in the eyes of many driving enthusiasts. It might be more common then a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, but it has a certain appeal that very few manufacturers have managed to retain.
• Alfa Romeo 156 GTA - Yes yes.. The 156 is a very flawed car, as is pretty much any Alfa Romeo (bar the ones made in the past 4-5 years). It has topped most European automotive unreliability lists ever since it started production, to the very end of it, but it’s one of the best looking cars in its segment. I even know of a 156 whose dashboard caught fire for no apparent reason. Alfas might be somewhat hard to live with, but they’re inviting to drive, and on the right day, on the right road, they are some of the most satisfying cars to drive. And there’s no room for question when it comes to styling. Simply amazing.
• Mitsubishi Lancer EVO - I have huge respect for any generation EVO. They’re all very capable machines - focused performance cars, but with the added practicality. I mean, how can the combination of a well built car and a banzai engine go wrong? If there is one car on the whole list that I’d like to have, as a car to live with, this would be it. This car simply ticks all the right boxes.

I guess that’s it. I know a lot of people will not agree with my list, and there are a lot more cars that I would consider adding to the list - starting from the Range Rover Sport (I really dislike off-roaders, but if I had to get one, this would be it), Noble M12 and M400, Ford GT, to the Citroen 2CV, and even the Yugo.
Any comments are welcome. :)
Just remmembered - the Citroen DS turns 50 this year!

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Missed a concert..

Posted Monday, October 10th 2005

Sometimes I hate the fact that I’m stuck here waiting for my residence permit. One of my all time favourite bands - Prodigy - were playing in my home town, and I couldn’t go. Bah. They’re definately on my list of bands that I have to see live some day, and I really hope I will. As far as I’ve heard, the gig was amazing - great sound, atmosphere and all.
Anyway, my brother and his wife were here for the weekend - it was great to see them. My classes start in a few hours, and I’ve got an assignment to finish and submit. Though, it’s an in-class submission, so it’s okay. Very simple assignment too.

I was internet-less most of saturday and all of sunday, till this morning. Something was out of whack at the phone company, and my adsl modem couldn’t synchronize. Ah well. At least all is well now. I also got a DVD-RW now, thanks T.

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Wordpress Powah!

Posted Friday, October 7th 2005

Yay. This is now automated, and I don’t have to do updates by hand. Hopefully, this means that I’ll write more. Also, people can now comment and so on and so forth. :)

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