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How to Save the US Automotive Industry in 10 Not-So-Simple Steps

11/17/2008 8:05:34 AM

With the Big 3 U.S. Automakers circling the drain, we figured we would throw our hat in the ring and offer up some suggestions.

And no…none of them involve sticking your head between your legs and kissing your @$$ goodbye.

1. File chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Suck it up and file bankruptcy. During the restructure, fire some people, adjust some salaries, and trim the fat. Take the $25 billion dollars of taxpayer money and ensure that your workers get the retirement and health care benefits that you have promised them.

And honestly, I don't care how hard your CEO works or how stressful the job is, an $8 million dollar salary is ridiculous when you are asking the federal government for a handout. He already gets free cars, maintenance, and repairs (which are normally 15-20% of a household budget). You could take $7 million of that and start saving your company.

2. Get rid of the United Auto Workers Union.

Workforce unionization is so 1935. Historically, labor unions fought to establish safer working conditions and better wages/benefits for it's members. Having met those goals several decades ago, they have unfortunately become self-serving money funnels that drive up the cost of doing business. Union contracts don't allow companies the flexibility they need when times are tough. And times ARE tough, if you haven't noticed. You can imagine how having to pay someone $30/hour plus benefits and retirement to install tires significantly increases the cost of making cars. Other industries have layoffs, reduce benefits, nix bonuses, don't give raises, etc. This is the reality of doing business in a global economy.

Following the bankruptcy, make your salaries competitive, but don't hire any one that is union. If people need the job badly enough, they will drop their union memberships and take what you are offering.

3. Stop making shite.

Reputations always hold a modicum of truth and US automakers have a reputation for building cheap, unreliable cars. From 1990-1996, Chevy even had the balls (or sheer lack of imagination) to make both a minivan and a car named "Lumina" – that both sucked. If you asked anybody, I mean ANYBODY, to name a reliable car, Honda and Toyota will be the first words out of their mouth.

Fixing a bad reputation is a monumental task and the Big 3 need a crash course on reputation management. Step 1 involves recognizing your shortcomings (quality, innovation, foresight, leadership, dealerships, etc.) and doing everything in your power to rectify those issues. If those shortcomings consistently involve bad management decisions, then maybe the stockholders need to take the reins and clean house.

4. Combine brands and focus your efforts.

A Tahoe is a Yukon. An Explorer is a Mountaineer, a B-Series is a Ranger. An Aspen is a Durango. On and on ad nauseum.

How much money is being wasted on simply marketing the same car with 2 different names?

You could take all of the best people working on those "other" cars – the designers, engineers, dealers, marketing teams – and redirect their efforts into improving your flagship cars. By trying to have a vehicle for every single niche market, you are simply diluting the kool-aid. Dodge makes RAM trucks and minivans. Ford makes F-150s, Mustangs, and cop cars. Chevy makes full-size SUVs and Corvettes. Chrysler makes the 300C. Keep doing that.

Older generations of Americans might care about the fact that they can still drive a Lincoln or Mercury like they did in the 50's, but they will be dead soon they still think Cadillac is the epitome of luxury. Younger generations could give a rip about brand loyalty.

5. Design a hybrid that doesn't look like a Peep.

A. If anyone could design a hybrid that didn't look a piece of sugar coated marshmallow fluff and cost less than $20k, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Yes, I'm talking to you too Lexus. I'm so tired of the maximizing aerodynamics argument. I'll take a 5mpg hit and a $10k price increase if you make it look like a Porsche. Please explain to me how Porsches aren't aerodynamic.

B. Make a REAL hybrid truck that doesn't cost $55k. Despite the current state of gas prices, Americans like big vehicles. They exude a certain level of socioeconomic status. They make us feel safe. They can carry all of our kids and all of our crap. And with a 66%  overweight/obesity rate, we obviously need the space. Have you ever seen two fat people stuffed in a Ford Fiesta?  Sad.  But I'm not paying an extra $15k for 3-5mpg just to have the "hybrid" logo on my truck and the piece of mind that I'm doing my part to "save the environment".

6. Make a great car for $15k.

Buying a car in 2008 is all about functionality, affordability, and reliability.

There are a ton of people that can't afford $40k cars, but they still need to get their kids to school, get to work, run around town, and go see Grandma every know and then. KIA and Hyundai have done well because they consistently design inexpensive, reliable cars with outstanding warranties.

7. Stop redesigning cars every 1-2 years.

Your shiny new annual redesign does not make me want to go and buy a new car.

It actually pisses me off because I'm still paying for the one I have. To make things worse, I'm up-side-down on the loan because the car depreciated $10k when I drove it off the lot. Please let me revel in the fact that I have the latest model for just a few years. Because, unless I'm leasing, I can't afford to get a new car every 2 years.

How many millions does it take to simply redesign/redistribute all of the advertising materials for every new model? Every year you change the curve of the bumper, the hood lines, a little bit of the interior – I've lost track of it all. How much money does it cost to keep every version of every part in inventory to keep these things on the road for the next 10 years?

8. Let go of the nostalgia and make new Iconic cars.

You Baby Boomers making management decisions are f*ing everything up. Stop remaking everything that was cool in the 60s.

Why on earth would Chevy redesign the Camaro – to compete with the Mustang? There was a reason that the Camaro line was discontinued a few years back. They weren't selling even when gas was less than $2/gallon! WHY WOULD YOU SPEND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS REDESIGNING A FAILURE WHEN GAS IS $4/GALLON!?!

Now I'll give it to you, a 1964 Impala is killer. A solid steel rocket sled – all long and chromed out. But the thought of driving a 2004 Impala makes me want to slit my wrists. And if this was a lame attempt to tap into the youth and urban markets, then I'm sure you guys will do a lot better with the Trax, the Beat, the Groove – wink, wink. I'm envisioning old white men, decked in 1980's track suits and gold chains, hippity-hopping in the board room. Yo Yo Yo.

No one wants to drive a lame remake. The Impala, the Malibu, the Monte Carlo – leave them be. And I swear to God if you guys resurrect the Geos, there will be hell to pay.

9. Design for both American and European markets.

Chevrolet, Ford, and Chrysler are massive global corporations. The current automotive crisis, as well as the current financial situation, is not a localized phenomenon. If GM tanks, it takes Opel and Vauxhall down with it. Designing cars that meet both U.S. and European safety/emission standards is easier said than done, but couldn't we hold hands and sing kumbaya just this once?

Check out these numbers: from Houston Smith (to PBN.com)

Chrysler

U.S. – 4 vehicles rated 25mpg or greater.
EU – 7 vehicle configurations rated 32 to 40 mpg.

Ford

U.S. – 5 vehicles rated 25mpg or greater.
EU – 22 vehicle configurations rated 42 to 58 mpg.

GM

U.S. – 24 vehicles rated 25mpg or greater.
EU – 50 vehicle configurations rated 42 to 53 mpg.

You wanna reduce our dependence on foreign oil? Then let us get our hands on some Euro models and we'll finish off that pesky ozone layer.

10. At least go Web 2.0.

Hello and welcome to the future. Please notice the series of tubes that we call the interwebs.

Take note from the recent successes of the Obama campaign – getting the general public excited, connected, and involved really works. Simply having a corporate website with wiz-bang pictures and the ability to build/price cars just doesn't cut it any It's imperative that you get a feel for your customers' needs and concerns. How can you do that if you never actually talk to them? Seriously, the only correspondence I've every had with Chevy or Ford (and I own one of each) involved a recall. I've gotten more emails and surveys from a BMW dealer that I visited very late one Friday night – and I didn't even buy a car from them.

If I thought for one second that any of the Big 3 actually cared what I thought about their new designs or current direction, I would be SOOOOOOO on board for buying another American car.

For that matter…why not post new design ideas on Digg and let people vote for their faves?

Team USA, fff

Post from: FastandLoud.com

How to Save the US Automotive Industry in 10 Not-So-Simple Steps

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Free Music: How to Find it and Download it, Part 2

9/14/2008 11:44:45 PM

Please don't download our songs. We need the money.

God kills a kitten every time you download a Metallica song.

Welcome back. If you're looking for even more ways to find free music downloads on the web, then keep reading.

If you missed Part 1, we covered: Direct downloading, Google / MSN search strings, Peer to Peer (P2P) downloading, downloading from Newsgroups, and downloading from IRC. Feel free to hop over there and check it out.

In Part 2 of Free Music: How to Find it and Download it, we'll cover: Ripping directly from Media Players, free downloads from Independent and Major record labels, free Public Domain works, and Converting your music into a usable format.

Everybody put their thinking caps on.

#6 Rip from Media Players (record the radio)

Method 1 – Stand alone Stream Ripping

1. Download, run, & setup Ripcast, Streamripper, Screamer Radio, or Cast-Ripper.
2. Goto you favorite audio streaming/internet radio site like Live 365, Shoutcast, Deezer, di.fm, Icecast, Sideload, ,and Epitonic.
3. Mp3s of everything you listen to will be created in the directory you set during installation.

Method 2 – Winamp plugins

1. Download, run, & setup Winamp.
2. Download, run, & setup Ripcast or Streamripper (here's a tutorial).
3. Goto you favorite audio streaming/internet radio site like Live365, Shoutcast, di.fm, Icecast, and Epitonic.
4. Mp3s of everything you listen to in Winamp will created in the directory you set during installation.

Method 3 – Pandora Radio / the last.fm

1.Goto Pandora Radio and/or last.fm & setup an account(s).
2.. Download, setup, and run, Firefox, the latest version of Java, and Pandora's Jar.
(here's the official guide to Pandora's Jar)
3. Extract Pandora's Jar to c:\\pandora.
4. Goto c:\\pandora and run Pandora.bat.
5. Use Pandora as you normally would & mp3s will be created in c:\\pandora\\mp3.

Method 4 – Direct recording

1. Download, run, & setup MuvAudio2 or Audacity.
(here's the long way from Tech-recipes.com using Windows Sound Recorder if you're bored and got some free time on your hands)
2. Goto you favorite audio streaming/internet radio site like Live365,Shoutcast, blogmusik, di.fm, Icecast, Webjay, Sideload, Epitonic, Pandora, and last.fm.
3. Hit record on your program of choice & hit play on the streaming file.
4. Hit stop when you're finished & save the file in your medium of choice.

#7 Go Independent

There are a ton of great bands putting out the kind of music you love. Yeah, you gotta wade through a lot of crap to find the good stuff, but it's always satisfying to find some jewel in the rough.

1. Goto Magnatune, Dmusic, Jamendo, GarageBand, MP34U, betterPropaganda, Altsounds, Artistopia, Unsigned Band Web,WM Recording, Comfort Stand, Hazard Records, Zymogen, Quiet Lounge, Thinner,Out of Obscure, Camomille Music, Webbed Hand Records, Nishi, Soundclick, Bebo, Redfizz, NetLabels, CCHits, AudioStreet, FreeAlbumsGalore, Stage.FM, SectionZ Electronic Music Community, Sutemos, Alpinechic, Ubuweb, Kill Rock Stars, Fat Possum Records, Matador Records, Alternative Tentacles, Go-Kart Records, Saddle Creek Records, Jade Tree, Labrador, Barsuk Records, The Elephant 6 Recording Company, Epitaph Records, Kufala Radio, Moon Ska, Loca Records, and Blue Note.
2. Search
3. Download & enjoy.
4. Don't forget about #6 above.

Majors acting Indy

1. Checkout these artists – 808 State, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Butthole Surfers, Cocteau Twins, Laura Cantrell, Harvey Danger, Roger McGuinn, Neutral Milk Hotel, Sonic Youth, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Richard Thompson, and John Vanderslice.
2. Download & enjoy.
3. Don't forget about #6 above.

#8 Public Domain or Plain ol' Free

1. For classical music, goto Classic Cat, Wikipedia – Public Domain, MusikEthos, and On Classical.
2. For kids' music, goto Free Kids Music.

3. Also, checkout Fingertips, NPR All Songs Considered archives, Internet Archive, Public Domain 4U, Oddio Overplay, and Dovesong Foundation.

#9 Sorta Free (from the majors)

Several major players offer free downloads. Of course they are trying to tempt you to join a subscription service or buy some songs , but you're smarter than that. Read the details at each site very carefully.

1. eMusic, YourMusic.com, Rhapsody, AOL, Yahoo Music, MTV, Ruckus, MP3.com, Napster, ArtistDirect, PureVolume, and Download.com Music
2. Goto Amazon, (download Firefox, Greasemonkey, & the greasemonkey script – Amazon Music Helper.)
3. Don't forget about #6 above.

Coming soon…SpiralFrog (looks pretty promising).

#10 Free Your Music

Yeah, not really that exciting, but you paid for it. So, let's put it to good use.

1. Download, run, and setup Tunebite or MusicStacker.
2. Convert your music to something useable.
3. Burn a disc, transfer them to another device, go nuts, and enjoy.

All right guys/gals, that's all we know about. So if we missed anything, miscategorized, or if we've got some stupid links; please enlighten us.
Peace in the Middle East…seriously. I'm running out of gas money, fff

Post from: FastandLoud.com

Free Music: How to Find it and Download it, Part 2

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Free Music: How to Find it and Download it, Part 1

9/14/2008 7:40:22 AM

Metallica Drummer Napster

iTunes cuts me checks!

If you are looking for ways to find and download free music from web, then you're in the right place. Searching for free songs on the internet can be a daunting task. There are so many different devices: Apple iPod, Microsoft Zune, Creative Zen, Archos, Sandisk Sansa, iriver; and so many different audio formats: mp3, aiff, au, atrac, flac, wma, wav, aac, ogg vorbis, etc. that's it's hard to keep up.

Don't despair. Most of the songs that you like are available on the web for free with only one caveat – you gotta know where to look.

We are going to show you the 10 best ways to find and download the music you like. Some of them are pretty simple, some are not. Keep in mind, however, that the tough ones are usually the most fruitful in the long run. In Part 1 of Free Music: How to Find it and Download it, we plan to cover Direct downloading, Google / MSN search strings, Peer to Peer (P2P) downloading, downloading from Newsgroups, and downloading from IRC. In Part 2, we'll cover: Ripping directly from Media Players, free downloads from Independent and Major record labels, free Public Domain works, and Converting your music into a usable format.

So let's get started, shall we?

DISCLAIMER: (In an authoritative tone) – Ahem.

We are musicians here at FastandLoud. We don't officially condone anyone stealing (or borrowing and not giving back) music. However, we don't condone Sony punking us with bad DRM either. If you find some tunes that you like, buy them. Period. By purchasing physical CDs or downloadable songs, you'll be putting food on a lot of people's tables including: recording studios, disc manufacturers, live sound companies, web site developers, printers, truck drivers, middle men, probably Apple somehow, & a few pennies to the actual artist too! Happy hunting.

#1 Web Searches with straight downloads

1. Goto mp3.nl, mp3raid, AudioValley, Mybloop, Kohit, DiggDrop, or goto this FTP search.
2. Search.
3. Download & enjoy.

#2 Google

Method 1 – searchbar strings

1. Goto google.
2. Use the following qualifiers in the searchbar to find what you're looking for:
-inurl:htm -inurl:html intitle:"index of" "Last modified"
3. Tack on a media type (ex. mp3, avi, wma, ogg): -inurl:htm -inurl:html intitle:"index of" "Last modified" mp3
or multiply media types -inurl:htm -inurl:html intitle:"index of" "Last modified" +(wmv|mpg|avi)
4. Tack on a band name: -inurl:htm -inurl:html intitle:"index of" mp3 "jonas brothers"
5. Tack on "site:edu" to just search all education sites: -inurl:htm -inurl:html intitle:"index of" "Last modified" mp3 site:edu
6. Tack on your specific educational facility address: -inurl:htm -inurl:html intitle:"index of" "Last modified" mp3 site:lsu.edu

Method 2 – searchbar strings for media storage sites

a. Rapidshare

1. Goto Google.com.
2. Use the following searchbar qualifiers:

+inurl:(insert media type) site:(insert site address) (insert specific title – optional) -deleted (optional to remove inactive files)

ex. +inurl:wma|mp3|ogg site:rapidshare.com

ex. with artist name +inurl:wma|mp3|ogg site:rapidshare.com Rihanna

b. MegaUpload

1. Goto google.
2. Use the following searchbar qualifiers: (media type) site: (site address) artist name
ex. mp3|ogg|wma site:megaupload.com

ex. with name mp3|ogg|wma site:megaupload.com hannah montana

Method 3 – sorta…MSN search

1. Goto MSN search.
2. Use the following search bar qualifiers: intitle:"index of" -inurl:.htm -inurl:.html contains:(mp3 wma ogg) "last modified" artist name
ex. intitle:"index of" -inurl:.htm -inurl:.html contains:(mp3 wma ogg) "last modified"
ex with name intitle:"index of" -inurl:.htm -inurl:.html contains:(mp3 wma ogg) "last modified" Cold Play

#3 Peer to Peer

These are some of the oldest in the book and definitely not the safest, but I cease to be amazed at how many people are sharing the Fatboys – Protect Yourself / My Nuts (rock!).

Method 1

1. Download, run, & setup Limewire, Kazaa, aMule, eMule, Filescope, iMesh, KCeasy, kiwiAlpha, mlDonkey, Shareaza, or Zultrax.
2. Search.
3. Download & enjoy.

Method 2 – Torrents

1. Download, run, & setup Vuze – formerly Azureus, BitComet, BitLord, or uTorrent
(here's a Torrent tutorial & another Torrent tutorial.)
2. Find some torrents on the web via BTjunkie, Bushtorrents, Spynova, Torrentz.com, Seedpeer, Fenopy, Thepiratebay.org, Torrent Locomotive, Torrent Portal, Torrent Valley, Torrentreactor, wTorrent, Mininova.org, eTree, orIsohunt.
3. Download & enjoy.

#4 Newsgroups

I'll be honest…this way takes a little effort and sometimes the results are questionable. But once you get the technique down, it's a lot like grocery shopping (tons of choices – you just pick what you want). MP3 files in newsgroups are usually posted in several parts. For example "10/25 Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire" means this is part 10 of 25 parts total. For a useable file, you'll need all 25 parts. 24 parts & you've got nothing. Also, you may notice PAR/PAR2 files. They are used to reconstruct parts that are corrupt or missing, so you'll need a good PAR program like QuickPAR. And you'll need either winRAR or 7-zip program to decompress them.

1. Download, run, & setup Forte Agent, Grabit, Newsbin, NewsLeecher, or NewsShark.
(here's a pretty solid Newsgroup tutorial.)
2. Find some mp3's: Quickly – use BinSearch.
3. Download, put all of Humpty Dumpty's pieces back, and enjoy.

This list should get you started with some music-related newsgroups.

alt.binaries.country.mp3
alt.binaries.gdead
alt.binaries.gdead.highspeed
alt.binaries.indian.mp3a
alt.binaries.mp3
alt.binaries.mp3.audiobooks
alt.binaries.mp3.bootlegs
alt.binaries.mp3.zappa
alt.binaries.music
alt.binaries.music.ape.bootleg
alt.binaries.music.alanis-morissette
alt.binaries.music.b-witched
alt.binaries.music.classical
alt.binaries.music.garbage
alt.binaries.music.greek
alt.binaries.music.heavy-metal
alt.binaries.music.jungle
alt.binaries.music.manics
alt.binaries.music.mike-keneally
alt.binaries.music.mp3
alt.binaries.music.nin
alt.binaries.music.oasis
alt.binaries.music.radiohead
alt.binaries.music.rebirth
alt.binaries.music.santangelo
alt.binaries.music.shn
alt.binaries.music.shn.dmb
alt.binaries.music.shn.dylan
alt.binaries.music.shn.repost
alt.binaries.music.springsteen
alt.binaries.music.steve-vai
alt.binaries.music.the-doors
alt.binaries.music.the-doors.d
alt.binaries.phish
alt.binaries.pictures.pink-floyd
alt.binaries.punk
alt.binaries.remixes.mp3
alt.binaries.rock-n-roll
alt.binaries.smash-pumpkins
alt.binaries.sound.radio.oldtime
alt.binaries.sounds
alt.binaries.sounds.78rpm-era
alt.binaries.sounds.anime
alt.binaries.sounds.jpop
alt.binaries.sounds.korean
alt.binaries.sounds.led-zeppelin
alt.binaries.sounds.lossless
alt.binaries.sounds.misc
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1940s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1950s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1960s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1970s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1980s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1990s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.2000s
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.americana
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.avant-garde
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.beach-boys
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.beatles
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.black-gospel
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.bluegrass
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.blues
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.bob-dylan
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.books
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.bootleg
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.bootlegs
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.brazilian
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.celtic
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.chinese
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.christian
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.christmas
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.classic-rock
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.classical
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.comedy
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.complete_cd
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.country
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.dance
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.dancehall
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.disco
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.dr_demento
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.electronic
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.elvispresley
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.folk
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.french
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.french.d
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.full_albums
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.garage-rock
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.german
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.german.charts
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.german.music
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.goa-trance
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.heavy-metal
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.holland
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.hymns
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indian.movies
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indian.pop
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indian.remixes
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indian.requests
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indie
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.jazz
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.kcuf
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.latin
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.live-jazz
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.lounge
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.m
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.musicals
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.new-age
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.newcleus
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.ninja.music
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.nospam
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.pop
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.prog
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.punk
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.rap-hiphop
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.reggae
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.remix
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.repost
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.requests
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.rock
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.rock.full-album
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.russian
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.secular
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.sound-effects
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.soundtracks
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.southern
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.southern-gospel
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.speeches
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.spoken-word
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.spoken-word.d
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.taral-hicks
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.themes
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.video-games
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.world-music
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.zappa
alt.binaries.sounds.mpc
alt.binaries.sounds.music
alt.binaries.sounds.music.classical
alt.binaries.sounds.music.rock.metal
alt.binaries.music.shn
alt.binaries.sounds.ogg
alt.binaries.sounds.samples.music
alt.binaries.sounds.tv-themes
alt.binaries.tori-amos
alt.binaries.warez.uk.mp3
alt.binaries.zappafiles

And here's a little Newsgroup program that lets you play mp3s straight from newsgroups.

#5 IRC

Yup, I said it…IRC. That elusive vixen we've all heard about, but never have been able to really grasp.

1. Download and run XDCC Browser v4.40. (or if you like it the hard way try mIRC & you'll need this mIRC tutorial.)
2. Goto Packetnews.
3. Search.
4. Download & enjoy.

Now that wasn't so hard, was it?

Don't forget to check out – Part 2 of Free Music: How to Find it and Download it.

Thanks for stopping by, fff

Post from: FastandLoud.com

Free Music: How to Find it and Download it, Part 1

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  2. Kid Rock's PSA on Stealing – Music, iPods, Clothes, Cars, Laptops I found th



fastandloud.com puts on its big girl panties and tries out the MassiveLoud theme!

9/1/2008 2:38:51 PM

"On matters of style, swim with the current, on matters of principle, stand like a rock.”  – Thomas Jefferson

If you haven't noticed already, we're using a cleaner, sexier new layout. But don't be fooled by the new dress, we're gonna bring it to you Faster and Louder than EVAH!

We wanna give you the grand tour, but we need a moment to reflect on where we've been.

fast&loud original recipe

fastandloud.com - first web design

1. Original recipe was Day one – ground zero. Fast&Loud.com and fff are born.
2. 1942 Report font with headphone, bomb, skull, text balloon, and dollar sign are the beginnings of what remains the fast&loud logo.
3. Icons that F*ing GLOWED! on mouse-over for the page navigation.
4. Pictures to replace the text for categories via Photoshop slices = JOY Migraine.
5. Introduced the Fast&Loud Store with CafePress integration.
6. CancerIsNuts in memory of John B and God Save New Orleans money to America's Second Harvest.
7.Totally bastardized the Wordpress Default theme.

fast&loud v1 and v2

fastandloud.com - second web design

1. v1 rings in a whole new attitude on blogging and a new slogan.

2. Like Davak always says "content is king".

3. Same font for logo and lightning bolts from actual pictures of fff's left arm tat.

4. Waaaaay cleaner code hack on the Wordpress Default theme.

5. IE and Firefox still fighting over that one damn pixel that centers the header and footer (if you've ever coded – you know what I mean).

6. v2 added RSS and search in the header and a "Social" website submission bar (before there was a Sociable plugin).

fast&loud Tweaker

fastandloud.com - third web design

1. Tweaker was based on the lofty idea that fast&loud.com should be more like an CMS or aggregator for various authors and topics (kinda like Harmony Central or GearWire) – but those guys already had so much, content, money, and time that poor little fff and crew couldn't keep up.

2. Same font for logo and we brought back the headphone, bomb, skull, balloon, dollar pics.

3. A friend of mine always says: "Your just putting lipstick on a pig." And as it pertains to coding, fairly often it's true. We decided (with great sorrow I might add) to move away from the Wordpress Default theme. We upped our game and started hacking on the 3-column Cleaker theme from Adam Walker Cleveland.

4. Unfortunately, it moved us away from the original intent of the site and the motivation to keep it updated.

And so here we are…mid-2008 trying hard to return fast&loud.com to it's roots. We are a blog and proud of it. Our goal is to simplify things as much as possible. We've removed a lot of the redundancy and clutter. We've kept the Store, CancerisNuts, and God Save New Orleans. Check them out if you get a chance. Expect to see a few more changes over the coming weeks as we are still lifting up the rugs to see what might scurry out.

And without further ado…I give to you:

fast&loud MassiveLoud

fastandloud.com - fourth web design

1. Faster and cleaner code including: smaller CSS, smaller JS, smaller HTML

2. SEO analysis and implementation. Thank God for Joost De Valk!

3. 1942 Report font and ghosted headphone, bomb, skull, balloon, dollar sign for the logo.

4. Thumbnails per post and simple navigation.

5. Easier subscription methods via RSS, Email, or Twitter.

6. Better interaction with readers. Expect to see way more comments from fff.

Check out the site and let us know what you think – good or bad. We hope you dig it.

fff

Post from: FastandLoud.com

fastandloud.com puts on its big girl panties and tries out the MassiveLoud theme!

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Do Hybrids or EVs really need Fake Exhaust sounds for the Blind?

8/11/2008 12:14:56 PM

Lotus Elise

Lotus Gas-Sipper

Lotus Cars seems to be the latest car manufacturer to be jumping on the Hybrid / EV bandwagon. It took them long enough, seeing that a Tesla Roadster IS a Lotus Elise. Yes, they modified it to damn-near a nth of its life, but they still start as an Elise. You would think that Tesla would creating an EV Elise and make a little competition for Tesla, right?  Wrong. That would be WAAAAAAAAY too obvious. Lotus is actually stuffing waterproof speaker systems into a Prius(es?) to play fake exhaust sounds at low speeds and red lights.

So, it seems that one of the biggest problems car manufacturers and our government are facing is not: the 15-30% overall drop in car sales, or the effect of the dramatic increase in gas prices, or the instability and war in the Middle East, or global economic recession; it's Political Correctness.

Tesla Roadster

It's spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to figure out how to make fake exhaust sounds emanate from an electric car so that blind people won't get run over – despite the fact that research shows that only "an average of five legally blind pedestrians per year were killed in motor vehicle accidents in the US." and "No deaths of legally blind pedestrians involved a Prius."

OK, so granted we red-blooded, meat-eating Americans love our exhaust systems. We spend thousands of dollars on them every year. There are even rumors of how Pontiac painstakingly (and at a fair expense) modeled the exhaust note for the redesigned 2004 GTO after the mid-1960's GTOs. It kinda goes like this:

More horsies – check.

More torque – check.

More air flow – check.

More fast – check.

More loud – check.

Replacing a factory exhaust is a given and usually one of the first things modders do to bump up the fun. But if I spend $109k on a Tesla Roadster, I want to hear that electric motor whine like nobody's business.  I want every ricer and every knuckle-dragger to hear that Remote Control car sound as I leave them at the light. All torque – All the time.

Bark, yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, bark, yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

That's a two speed Tesla trans for you straight-liners out there.

Just for fun, we put together a few of our favorite exhaust sounds. Maybe Lotus will let us load different sounds for our various moods.
Mustang GT Exhaust






Corvette Z06 Exhaust







Apache Helicopter






Lawnmower






Dewalt Drill






Electric Knife






Enjoy, fff

Post from: FastandLoud.com

Do Hybrids or EVs really need Fake Exhaust sounds for the Blind?

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