ZEDRAY

A website selling a slightly brighter view on Peek Oil and some practical predictions. click

Be sure to checkout the videos, including Crude Awakening: Peak Oil & The End of Cheap Energy

What I want:

• GPS navigation with up to date European map coverage (UK, Germany, France, Denmark and Poland)
• MP3 Player (picture viewer a plus) that can integrate with car stereo (tape adapter or FM) to displace an existing CD player.
• Bluetooth phone integration (for voice but SMS display or to speech a plus) to displace a hands free kit.
• SD card reader and/or hard drive space (1GB SD cards currently retailing for €20) for maps and music.
• Easy to carry with a minimum setup (i.e. cables, handset pairing and route programming) as devices can’t be left in the car overnight due to possible theft and damage to unit from moisture and cold temperatures.

A summary 3 of the best looking devices based around what differentiates them:

Garmin Nüvi 660 (€510-€580 online) US Spec, Review
+ Lightest and flattest device (useful when carrying outside of car)
- FM transmitter sold as deactivated in Europe (can I buy from abroad?)
- NAVTEQ Maps don’t have Poland coverage (extra €150 euros? Hey, Poland’s in the EU now or didn’t anyone tell the Americans?)

Garmin StreetPilot C550 (€370-€400 online) US Spec, DE Spec, Review
- No Picture viewer (an odd shortcoming?)
- NAVTEQ Maps don’t have Poland coverage (Again, Poland’s in the EU now or didn’t anyone tell the Americans?)

TomTom Go 910 (€510-€520 online) UK Spec, DE Spec, Review
+ Best text to speech
- No integral RDS-TMC. This feature requires an external RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver (€ 99.95 for an FM antenna??) which is listed as out of stock. Unlike that integral power/antenna used by Garmin (is this patented?) this amounts to more cable clutter. Also, cannot be used in conjunction with an iPod?
- No SD card reader in high end model (odd shortcoming as this model has a good picture viewer?) so I need a computer to get pictures off a camera onto the device.

EDIT 26/11/2006: Apparently FM Transmitters are in the process of being legalised across Europe. “iPod FM transmitters will be legal in UK from 8 December” click, the only reason its taking so long it to ratify and implement the required standards in all the member states. Maybe I could import the Nüvi from the UK?

EDIT 28/11/2006:
Me to Garmin…

The Nüvi 660 FM Transmitter feature is listed as only being available in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. However, as the ban on FM transmitters has been lifted in Germany and will be shortly in the UK (source):
Will the Nüvi 660 including FM transmitter be sold in UK/Europe?
Will it be CE marked?
Will it be available in time for Christmas?

Garmin reply…

Dear Mark
Thank you for contacting Garmin Europe
As the FM transmitter is illegal to use in some countries in Europe, the nuvi 660s that are sold in Europe do not have the FM transmitter hardware installed inside, because of this there is nothing that can be activated by a software update (as there is no FM transmitter inside the unit).
We are aware that the law has recently changed in the UK, however it is still illegal to use FM transmitters in some countries in Europe. We will not be including the FM transmitter in future Nüvi 610 or 660’s as these units (European models) were designed to not have them. We may however include them in future released products.
Regards,
**** ********
Product Support Garmin (Europe) Ltd

You know it’s illegal to drive over 25mph in Liechtenstein (something to do with horse and cart), so maybe BMW shouldn’t sell cars in Europe capable of driving over this limit just to comply with this rule?

Conclusion
At the moment the Garmin StreetPilot C550 because its the only one that does what is says on the tin.  The others require extras to reach their full functionality.  However, I will probably wait to see if any new models are comming out in the new year which solves these issues.

EDIT 03/02/2007:
Keeping an eye on the Nuvi 670
http://www.garmin.com/products/nuvi670/

EDIT 17/07/2007:
Finally, Go 520 & 720 - With FM transmitter
http://www.yournav.com/content/n/341/GO_520_+_720_loaded_with_new_options.html

301 redirect is the most efficient and Search Engine Friendly method for webpage redirection. It’s not that hard to implement and it should preserve your search engine rankings for that particular page. If you have to change file names or move pages around, it’s the safest option. The code “301″ is interpreted as “moved permanently”. click

HTTP Status Codes and fields explained click

How to install a Coax cable connector…
http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/plugs.htm
http://www.hometech.com/learn/coaxterm.html

…the relentless rise in house prices in the past few years has had an appalling effect on our national character. click

The world has moved on since our last visit to my parent’s holiday house in Spain. Google maps now cover the area with quite detailed mapping, although it seems it was a bit cloudy that day. The apartment is one of the white roofed buildings close to the motorway. Just about everything you see is a new development that has sprung up in the past 5 years, talk about an unsustainable housing boom.

Ryanair will be flying to Murcia airport from Bremen from May 2007. Murcia airport turns out to be Santiago de la Ribera Airport (about 44km out guys), but seems to be a bit closer for us. Just looking at the map I make it about 20-30km away from the house. I can’t use Goggles except root planning feature as this super new Spanish development doesn’t include street names, maybe this is a Spanish thing? I will be sure to pre-program the GPS device with the correct coordinates for the house before I fly.

Maybe if we brought some road signs with us, we could name the roads ourselves? Hmm… go left of Zedray Street, turn right at the Chinese’s restaurant and its number 14 Mark-is-the-greatest lane.

Lets say I am a fund manager I have borrowed $6 billion in Yen from Japan at cost of 1.2% I use this money to buy sterling on the FX markets.

I then use this sterling to buy a $6 Billion mortgage backed security. It contains 13,000 mortgages. It yields 5.84% or $350 million. Lets say I bought it from HBOS in 2003 for example.

Every year I take the $350 million in sterling from the security and convert it to Yen on the FX markets to repay my Yen denominated debt servicing of $72 million. Pocketing an annual difference of $278 million.

Now if the interest rates in Japan rise this will eat into my profits. If people begin to default this will eat into my profits. If the pound gets weaker this will eat into my profits. If Yen gets stronger this will eat into my profits.

Lets say I constantly run complex models to try and evaluate the risk of each of these events.

I may be able to sell my security for more or less than the $6 Billion I paid for it. Depending on world markets and how they affect my profit margin.

Bearing in mind that mortgages are sold in high street banks almost purely so they can be formalised into securities and sold on to the likes of fund managers.

I can sell it whenever I like, for whatever I want, to whoever I can. It is just a contract to hold a liability in exchange for a yield.

If I decide I don’t want to hold mortgage back securities and other fund managers agree, the market value of such securities would fall, demand would wane and high street banks would have less incentive to grant such large numbers of mortgages. Because the sale of mortgage backed securities would be less lucrative.

Who has more power over the property market?

A fund manager or a BBC journalist with 3 BTL’s?

Now Citigroup has assets worth about $1.2 trillion they probably have 50 - 150 similar sized funds. Does Gordon Brown have more power than their CEO?

That’s just 1 bank.

Why do people insist the government can save the market from a crash? It’s because they don’t know s**t.

source

Nice video Richard, but how much? click

An American view on central banks, income tax (IRS) and the big scam. click

The Queen technically own all land in the UK, even if you’re sitting on a ‘freehold’ it is simply a “fee simple” version of perpetual leasehold from the Crown. A compulsory purchase order is simply a legal way of dissolving your lease hold with the Crown.

Kevin did a RSA lecture on this, in Ireland there was significant land reform and land was allocated to the people provided they could prove they were a good enough plastic paddy Note there is also no council tax or water rates in Ireland, nor any restrictions on building in the countryside. click