TMoney

I brought my 2005 VW Passat in for a servicing yesterday only to find out its going to be basically as much $ to fix its issues as the blue book value on the car. Great.... So, now in the market for a new car. This will be the first car I buy entirely myself without any parental assistance, so I am both excited and nervous (as well as pissed off at my old VW). Can anyone point to a good online primer or primers on car buying? I have a pretty good idea of my budget, and I think I'm set on getting something new as opposed to used, as I want a car that will last me the next ten years or so. I've heard picking up a copy of the Car issue of Consumer Reports is a good idea. Some of the things I'm not so sure about include buying vs. leasing, how much of a down payment one makes on a car when buying/leasing, and test driving etiquette. I'm also unsure if I want to deal with the dealers or use a 3rd party service like Cartelligent to negotiate prices for me. Needless to say, I'm sure there is a lot more I'm going to have questions about as I go about doing my homework. I hope to have a list of 4-5 cars down by Friday so I can do some test drives this weekend.

Finally fully recovered after spending Saturday night drinking with Frank (Falkon) and friends. We tasted every single one of these and more... I ended up getting a little sick, but hey, I'm not going to let that detract from an otherwise awesome night.

I think a split option is the answer. I would be surprised if Apple didn't include it in a future update.

Fits just fine in my pockets. My only real annoyance with the 6+ so far? The Apple Keyboard in landscape mode. It is just awful. I have no idea why they felt the need to add all those extra keys. Ric, been using normal mode. It's nice to be able to fit a whole lot more on the home screen.

Wow. When I first opened the 6+ I thought I had made a mistake. After a few hours I couldn't even imagine giving it up. The size feels so right. The 5-regular feels like a toy after using it.

^ Is the voice call quality over wifi noticeably different? I've also been running the iOS 8 GM since the keynote and it seems pretty nice. The biggest improvements I've noticed so far are to Safari. The rest of the updates seem fairly minor, though the new keyboard and autocorrect options are a welcome addition. I'm on AT&T so no wifi calling for me yet.

Happy BDay!

Postjack, if you have any further interest in the subject I can't recommend the book enough. It is flat out excellent. In other news, I saw that Bill Gates and Warren Buffet claimed this book to be their favorite business book of all time so I started it. Not bad so far.

Saw Floyd Mayweather take down another chump. Seriously, he may be an awful human being but Floyd has to be the most talented fighter I've ever seen.

Went 6+ also, in gold. Thanks to this guy. Really wish they would have had their shit together at midnight, it took more than an hour of refreshing the browser and iPad app before I finally was able to check out on an iPad. I hear the website didn't even come up until well after 2AM PST.

So yeah, just finished it. Not bad. I liked it quite a bit better than their last two albums. I think longtime fans will be pleasantly surprised. It is solid. I usually like stuff that Danger Mouse is attached to, this one is no different. I had to go hunt around the "purchased" section of iTunes to get it to download.

Thx, Apple. Was going to buy it anyways.

Color me amazed that they were able to keep the design of this a secret all the way until the keynote.

Gotta hand it to them with the "crown" on the watch. Basically just obsoleted every single Google Gear watch right there. If it is under 300 count me in.

Nope. Even when it did come in it was being dubbed in Chinese. Put me down for the 6+ though! Should be a nice upgrade from the 5.

Yeah, his review is damn impressive and pretty spot on. Spamming this link and your "choose the best one you can afford" advice seems like a good default HC response to these types of inane posts.

Just finished Salt, Sugar, Fat by Michael Moss. Scary as hell. The best food book I've ever read while also being one of the best business books I've read. I've loved Mr. Moss' writing over at the NYT and that lead me to picking this up. Man, the food industry is a scary place. Like the tobacco companies, the food industry operates in a very morally grey area where they sell products designed to be used in moderation that they know people are hopelessly addicted to. This book probes the science, business tactics and history of the processed food business. Chapters on sugary cereals, lunchables and capri-sun drinks struck especially close to home as I had plenty of each of them growing up. Number one takeaway from the book? READ THE NUTRITION LABELS!!!

Went out last night to celebrate Frank's (Falkon's) bachelor party last night. Much good bourbon was had. Seemed appropriate given that we are in Lexington, Kentucky. I don't really remember what we had but hopefully Frank will chime in in the next few days and let us know. Needless to say, it was wonderful. Being relatively new to whiskey, I had mine on the rocks, much to Frank's dismay. He, of course, drank neat with a glass of room temperature water by his side. Guess I have a lot to learn. EDIT: It was Elijah Craig 12 and Angel's Envy. Of the two, I liked the Elijah.

That was one gorgeous looking Siamese, Ric. Sorry to hear the news.

So apparently in addition to buying a PONO you can now invest in the company in $5k blocks. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/you-can-now-invest-in-neil-youngs-ponomusic-20140813 What I am wondering is where do I go to short the PONO company? Not that I don't like what they are doing, I do. What I don't see is how they become a stable, profit-generating business over the long-term. $400 just seems like a ludicrous amount to pay for a portable player when most of their target demographic are going to already own high end smart-phones. I wish them the best, but take Neil Young's name off the project and what do you have?

Wow. Just heard about this one. Such a funny guy, but he had his issues. Still. He lives in my hometown and went to the same high school I did. I think he even still has a school record in track and field. What a bummer.

Happy Birthday, Frankie-D. See you in a few weeks at your wedding.

Whenever you get the LS50 rig up and running, let me know. I'd love to come hear them.

Installed the 10.10 beta this morning on my rMBP at work. Damn 10.10 looks absolutely stunning on the retina screen. Bravo, Apple! Brilliant work! I would have installed 10.10 for the black menu bars alone.