Spam I am

Several days ago I received an automated e-mail from blogspot telling me that this site had characteristics of spam blogs, and as such could no longer be updated. Site would be deleted within x days unless blah blah blah. Anywhoo, my first reaction was that the e-mail was some sort of strange phishing attempt. It must have taken me at least 10 minutes to find an e-mail address for blogspot support. I sent off an e-mail regarding the veracity of this e-mail spam notice--afterwhich I realized the simplest way would be to try updating this site. Well, as you've probably guessed, I discovered the spam blog notice was legitimate as I couldn't create any new posts.

The problem is solved, now, but I wonder what made this site spam-like. Perhaps I have too many links to other websites? Are my posts too short? Oh well.

Jet powered VW

Check out this link: apparently someone has found a way to add 1350hp to a VW bug--and it's street legal, too! Looking at the pics, I can't help but grin in disbelief :p I have no idea whether this is legit, but I found this link via a scifi.com newsletter I subscribe to, if that means anything to you.

May the Force be with you

Wow! I'm so excited by this news I just had to share:

This September: Original Unaltered Trilogy on DVD
May 03, 2006

In response to overwhelming demand, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release attractively priced individual two-disc releases of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Each release includes the 2004 digitally remastered version of the movie and, as bonus material, the theatrical edition of the film. That means you'll be able to enjoy Star Wars as it first appeared in 1977, Empire in 1980, and Jedi in 1983.

This release will only be available for a limited time: from September 12th to December 31st. International release will follow on or about the same day. Each original theatrical version will feature Dolby 2.0 Surround sound, close-captioning, and subtitles in English, French and Spanish for their U.S. release. International sound and subtitling vary by territory.

"Over the years, a truly countless number of fans have told us that they would love to see and own the original version that they remember experiencing in theaters," said Jim Ward, President of LucasArts and Senior Vice President of Lucasfilm Ltd. "We returned to the Lucasfilm Archives to search exhaustively for source material that could be presented on DVD. This is something that we're very excited to be able to give to fans in response to their continuing enthusiasm for Star Wars."

Click this link for the original article.

I refused to buy the previous DVD releases because I couldn't accept the changes that had been made to Episodes IV, V, and VI... yuck (I don't think I'm ever going to buy I-III, btw). The only possible draw backs I can see here is that they're going to cost an astronomical amount of cash, and that they're being released right before the new DVD formats start coming out.

Update: Well, now that I've calmed downed a little bit, I re-read the article--it looks like they're sticking both versions of each movie on the DVDs. Oh well. Just because it's there doesn't mean I have to watch it.

More old news

I found another review of the 2004 R32, published in the Austin American-Statesman (June 2004). Here's a quote from the article:

The R32, to put it simply, is a midget rocket ship, capable of briskly jumping away from traffic lights and many of the cars on the road today.

The V-6 is a fast-acting monster — rumbly exhaust is standard — and the six-speed shifts smoothly. It's virtually miss-proof when using up the 236 pounds-feet of torque the quick-spinning V-6 develops at 2,800 rpm.

The test R32 was much more fun to drive than the Beetle or the Phaeton, and high-revved launches aren't necessary to enjoy it. Just poke at the pedals and watch the speedometer climb. It's tempting to leave it in third or fourth gear.

Site visitors in April 2006

Just as the title says, click here for a list of site visitors in April 2006, listed by country. The top five were:
1) USA
2) Australia
3) Great Britain
4) Canada
5) Sweden

Yahoo versus Google

Wow! I usually stick with google when I need a search engine, but I have to say that yahoo has now taken a great leap ahead. Why is that, you ask? I searched for "2004 golf r32"--with yahoo my site was listed at numbers 15 and 18 :o) On google I came up empty until at least page 7 when I finally gave up :o(

Just thought I'd share :P

New old news

I found a MkIV R32 review article that I hadn't read before. I was kind of surprised because lately all I've seen are articles on the MkV. Anywhoo, the article was published in Driving Sports Magazine, June 2004, and click here for a read. Here's a funny quote: "The R32 isn't just a fun car...it also makes a great snow-blower."

Fyi, I have a whole list of MkIV R32 reviews (U.S. spec).