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All About Laser Games

Facts and general information about aser tag and other laser games and where to find laser games resources on the Internet. See also Airsoft, about Paintball other Action Sports and Pictures of Sports
Laser Games

Where to Play Laser Games
Information about laser games and laser tag facilities in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States

Wikipedia Introduction to Laser Tag
Article with information about the hisory of the sport, the mechanics of the game, specialty games, indoor and outdoor equipment, competitions, ad local clubs.

Laser Games Organizations

Laser Tag Operators Association
Organization formed in February of 2013 after the former International Laser Tag Association shut down after serving the community of laser tag centers, operators, developers and vendors for more then 15 years.

Former Organization:
International Laser Tag Association
This trade organization for laser tag facility operators shut down in 2013. Their web site included guidelines for starting your own laser tag arena, a directory of arenas around the world, and a forum for laser tag players. Their Web site at lasertag.org is no longer online.

Laser Games Suppliers

Laser Quest
Official Web site for the laser tag game known as "Laser Quest". Site includes an introduction to the gameand a directory of Laser Quest centers around the world.

Zone Empire
Official Web site for "Zone Lazer Games",manufacturer of Darkzone, Megazone, Ultrazone, and Zone 3 laser tag games.

Creative Works
Designer and builder of laser tag parks around the world.

Open Directory of Laser Games Manufacturers

More Laser Games Resources

Laser Tag Museum
Opened to the public on October 15, 2005. Located inside the LaserBlaze facility at 4121 Shelbyville Road in Saint Matthews Kentucky, a community east of Louisville.

Laser Tag Dot Com Web Site

Directories of Laser Games Web Sites
- Open Directory on Laser Games
- Yahoo directory of Laser Games Web Sites

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Answered By: Jenny Comley
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From the page 'Forgot your PIN?', enter your student/staff ID or barcode number and submit. An email with instructions on resetting your PIN will be sent to your default email address recorded on the system (allow 15 to 20 minutes for the email to arrive).

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Saturday, April 12, 2008

Question: Is it true that Qualcast used to work for Earache and his real name is Pete?

Answer: Lawnmower Deth seem to getting a bit of attention again lately- UK's Metal Hammer mag even asked for a track on last months cover-mount Thrash CD- we gave em Urban surfer 125.Lawnmower Deth were a much-loved Nottingham area UK thrash band circa 1990-96, mostly specialising in humerous, frantic songs with loads of crowd participation at their gigs ( witnessing 800 people doing the dying fly at rock city was a sight to behold).The members actual identities were shrouded in secrecy- going under stupid pseudonyms- but i can reveal that the singer Qualcast Mutilator did indeed work at Earache records during that time.Pete Lee was our press officer, and a ruddy fine one- Pete co-ordinated the press and promotion of Earache's legendary bands during the early 90's explosion.

Since the band split, sightings of the ex-members have been thin on the ground.. guitarist Paddy can still be often seen at death metal gigs in Rock city.Kev (Baron Von stench Chisel marbles) moved into tech-ing and became tour manager for Bullet for my valentine,he's one of the best in the business, so is constantly on the road to this day.Pete Lee moved into normal jobs, he sells interactive whiteboards to schools. I have a gut feeling a one off re-union gig will not be too far away.
But for now, heres a glimpse into their most famous moment!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

we are being told by the band that a one off reunion Lawnmower Deth show is planned for november in London at - i swear- ALEXANDRA PALACE. You heard it here first folks.


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Ask LLPBack to homepage

Over the past three decades, ASK LLP has become one of the nation's leading law firms for (i) the recovery and defense of avoidance actions, (ii) large portfolio commercial collections, (iii) enforcement of individual unsecured creditors' rights, and (iv) providing general bankruptcy advice customized to particular creditors, purchasers and debtors. Clients count on ASK to not only address their current legal needs, but to think "outside the box" and help them reach their goals in a quick and cost-efficient manner.


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Friday, August 4, 2017

Reduce Your Application's Footprint

The enormous increase in the use of resource constrained IoT devices, presents an ever increasing challenge to developers to keep the size of their application code within very tight memory limitations. The OSS Time Optimized Encoder/Decoder (TOED) can meet these challenging requirements. It’s not only a high performance encoder/decoder, but when used with specific options, it yields a very small footprint, e.g. 60 kilobytes for a LTE RRC UPER encoder/decoder.

In the latest release (summer 2017) of the OSS ASN.1 Tools, a new feature has been added to reduce the footprint even further. With the new versions of the OSS ASN.1 C (10.5) and ASN.1/C++ (6.5) Tools , you can further reduce the size of your application by controlling the inclusion of error strings in your application. When using the -toed option of the ASN.1/C or ASN.1/C++ compiler, you can define the C manifest constant OSS_REDUCED_ERROR_MSGS when compiling the code generated by the ASN.1 compiler to reduce the runtime error messages to only the error prefix for each error message instead of the complete message. In addition, by defining OSS_DEBUG=0, you can remove the error messages completely.  Since error details will no longer be provided, these options are best be used after you have completed debugging your application.

The elimination of the array of error strings from your application can significantly reduce the application code size on resource-constrained platforms.  For example, a full error message such as the following:

D0081S: End of input reached before message was fully decoded; check field 'b' (type: INTEGER) of PDU #3 'C'.

would be reduced to the following:

when OSS_REDUCED_ERROR_MSGS is defined. No error message text would be generated at all when OSS_DEBUG=0 is defined.

To give you an example of how much additional footprint reduction you can achieve, our testing of the new feature revealed that the footprint of the application was reduced by 18 kilobytes on  Linux x86 when we C compiled the code generated by the ASN.1 compiler with -DOSS_REDUCED_ERROR_MSGS. Using -DOSSDEBUG=0 further reduced the application footprint by an additional 3-4 kilobytes on the same platform.  Please note that you may achieve different results on your platform, depending on the operating system, processor, and C compiler you use.

While this new feature could be useful to anyone working on embedded devices where memory is precious, we expect that  developers working with 3GPP LTE-M and NB-IoT technologies will find it extremely valuable when developing solutions for Cat-0, Cat-1, Cat-M1, and Cat-NB1 devices.

For more information about the OSS ASN.1/C, OSS ASN.1/C++ Tools, or about this new feature, please click here, or contact

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Ingredient: honey

Sheet Pan Pesto Chicken

This Easy Healthy Sheet Pan Pesto Chicken recipe is a great family weeknight dinner. Just chop, shake, pour on a pan and bake. and Sheet pan dinners make clean up so simple.

Sheet pan Pesto ChickenFall is my favorite time of year, but it is also so crazy busy trying to keep up with all of our schedules can be daunting. This easy sheet pan pesto chicken recipe make suppers a snap even on a crazy Tuesday. (more…)

Chicken and Roasted Red Pepper Pizza

This Chicken & Roasted Red Pepper Pizza is a delicious option for pizza night!
A flavorful garlic base and topped with melty cheesy greatness.

chicken and roaster red pepper pizza

This pizza is so crazy good with the bubbly garlic-y mozzarella, tangy goat cheese, sweet roasted peppers and sticky balsamic reduction gives this pizza a delicious Mediterranean flare to it. (more…)

The Best Healthy Chili

This is the Best Healthy Chili recipe. It is so thick and rich with plenty of flavor. This healthy chili is packed with veggies and lean protein. Perfect recipe addition to your weekly meal prep.
Best Healthy Chili

This is my go to Best Healthy Chili Recipe. I love making big batches of this healthy chili and having it for many healthy lunches and freezer dinners for weeks at a time. This recipe is completely customize-able. You can make it with anything you want. (more…)

Healthy Banana Bread

Quick and Easy Healthy Banana Bread, No sugar, no oil and made in one bowl for easy clean up.

Banana Bread

This is it people! This is my most delicious Healthy Banana Bread recipe. Regular banana bread recipes are packed with lots of butter, oil, sugar, and white flour making them delicious, but not the healthiest option. Well it is pretty easy to make a few small changes and enjoy a delicious and much healthier banana bread. (more…)

Simple Healthy Teriyaki Chicken

This Simple Healthy Teriyaki Chicken dinner made in less than 30 min. The homemade teriyaki sauce is way better than any store brand! Add some steamed rice and veggies for a perfect meal, better and faster than take out.

teriyaki chicken bowls

Quick and easy dinners are my favorite to share with you, especially if they taste like restaurant meals. This simple healthy teriyaki chicken that can be made in our own kitchens with very little prep and cook time. The easy teriyaki sauce is made from a few simple ingredients that are probably already in your kitchen. This Asian chicken dinner better than takeout and made in less than 30 minutes. Sweet, garlicky chicken served with rice and steamed broccoli comes together as a great alternative to take out that you can feel good about. (more…)

Skinny Chicken Tacos

These Skinny Chicken Tacos with Sweet and Spicy Sauce are delicious served with a salad or rice for a fresh tasting family dinner. This healthy version of a family favorite only takes about 20 minutes to make!

Chicken Tacos

Mexican style food always has a special place in my heart. This recipe for skinny chicken tacos is a delicious, healthy meal perfect for busy weeknights. I used the shredded chicken from my Easy Chicken Fajitas recipe without the onions and peppers (more…)

Summer Cucumber and Carrot Salad

Indulge in this amazing Summer Cucumber and Carrot Salad. Refreshing cucumber, fresh carrots tossed in sweet and spicy dressing. Summer has never tasted so good.

Summer Cucumber and Carrot Salad

I am a huge fan of eating veggies just as they are, but let’s face it, they get boring pretty quick. sometimes you just need to reinvent they way you eat vegetables to enjoy them again. Fun, fresh summer salads as a side for a BBQ supper, as an afternoon snack on a sizzling hot day, or enter this summer cucumber and carrot salad that I enjoyed for supper last night and Breakfast this morning. yep I couldn’t resist, this salad is So. Damn. Good. (more…)


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On Process and Goals

Hi Jay,

For a while I’ve been focusing on making Time Bandit more presentable for various submissions to festivals and funding opportunities, and while the extrinsic motivation and deadlines certainly helped me in being productive, I’ve realized this hasn’t been a good thing in other ways. It never really seemed to affect my process on a conscious level—I would never let it impinge on the grand design of the game, and I still found myself spending a lot of time designing larger systems that no one would encounter without playing the game for a while, as well as mechanics and areas that wouldn’t be encountered until much later. But still, when designing for an audience that you don’t expect to play your game for more than a few minutes, you can’t help but try to stuff everything into those few minutes, which is entirely contrary to the slow pace at which everything is supposed to unfold in the real, final experience of the game.

This is particularly a problem for Time Bandit since many changes that are made to make the game more what it needs to be in the end make it proportionately *less* playable for submitting it or showing it. Of course, computer programming is versatile enough that I can set up a switch that gets toggled for demo presentations, but honestly there are so many things that would need this switch as to make such a thing eventually untenable (or, at least, still a huge time investment that I’m not sure I want to make).

So forget it. It’s time I focused on balancing the fundamental things like time and money (uhh…in the game). This has already led me to making some big changes, like extending the amount of time you need to sleep to fully regain your energy from 2 hours to 8 hours, and changing shift times from being a daily constant 4-hour period of time chosen by the player to a random weekly work schedule assigning an 8-hour period of time to each day at the start of each week. You’ll note that these are not only more realistic and hence more comprehensible to the player but also occur over much longer time scales.

Both these changes occurred to me suddenly, not having previously existed on any of my numerous and quite unbelievably large to-do lists. If I can tie them back to anything, I think it was the feeling, after beginning to really think again about real-time pacing, that players should be pushed to play only once per day, or if more than once per day, then at widely separated periods of time, like once in the morning and once at night. I realized I had always been imagining it being played this way, but the idea was buried under more immediate, less important concerns.

So this speaks to the importance of those shifts in process that don’t ever materialize in your to-do lists, no matter how myriad. Everything that you put into a work of art in the order that you put it there has a cascading effect on how the whole thing will turn out in the end, and lists seem like a way of staving off the aspects of that process that you don’t have full control over. It can be maddening to think too much about it rather than just allow it to happen. And maybe allowing it to happen is precisely the thing that you do have control over.

Having been rejected from all the submissions anyway (the game is just too weird), it was a waste of time and, in some cases (*cough* BostonFIG *cough*), money (*coughing fit continues* despite accepting the game last year when it was in a deplorable state, somehow this year they just took my $60 without even playing the game or giving me feedback as promised). So I’m ready to be a pure artist on this project, not just in the way that I thought I already was, but fully at the level of process – giving the ideas the freedom to breathe and assert themselves whenever they will. I’m not against seeking feedback, and in fact the best time I’ve had with any indie game community has been since I recently started attending Playtest Thursdays at the NYU Game Center consistently. That’s because I actually allow myself to feel like it’s just a local community sharing their art. All the rest puts too many pressures on you that orient you toward iteration and superficial presentation, which is the territory of products, not art. It’d be nice for game development to be financially sustainable, but it’s not going to happen with this project. Or, at least, I don’t want to put any more effort into trying to make it happen until, like, launch.

Game Unfeel

Hi Jay,

Here is a bit of a strange thing I realized as I was working on implementing crawling and also had the sudden idea that an item allowing the player to pilot a drone would be appropriate: very little of the programming I have done before now has involved physics. This is the first time I’ve found myself tweaking numbers to adjust the feel the player gets for moving stuff through the world, whereas most everything else in the puzzles that I’ve worked on moves objects an explicit distance through space and time that gets calculated beforehand. Attempting to move a box, for example, instantly initiates some collision and raycasting tests just to see if anything is in the way; if there’s a wall or something, it tells you no, sorry, and if not, it goes ahead and takes a half hour to move it to its precise destination. In addition, the non-puzzle systems pretty much consist purely of numbers that wait patiently until such time as they can dole out a punishing consequence to the player. I think this probably says something about how coldly numerical and deterministic the universe I’ve created so far is, and I maybe wouldn’t mind calling this “realism” on my more pretentious days. (It would be nice to make a game someday where I could just focus on creating pleasurable interactions for the player, though.)

I think what I’m trying to get at is that games concerned with larger systems and games whose primary interactions are physics-based are equally material and deterministic, but the latter might shift the focus onto the graphical (which is, at bottom, just numbers) enough to cover up this reality with fantasy. Framed this way, it’s unsurprising that most of these games are about the player eventually overcoming challenges and winning, usually by smashing objects into each other one way or another. A more “realist” game, I think, would confront the deterministic formal qualities of games made with computers head on.

Closing the loops

Hi Jay,

I am almost at the point where all the main loops of the game’s systems are in place and where you can interact with those systems in real time over the course of many days with the time and money consequences set at their intended levels. Case in point: the hospital, where you go to heal, is now fully equipped to lock you out of the game for a certain amount of time. Next up is giving the player a daily wage (I’m not that evil) and, of course, putting them in jail (OK, maybe I am). All this work just to make everything noninteractive. Hope it goes well appreciated by the players.

Rewriting the cutscene code

Hi Jay,

I’m afraid this will be the post that undoes me, shows me for the sham that I am when it comes to anything technical, which will end with me sticking to posts concerning game design only in the future.

I’ve been rewriting the code that handles how unique story/tutorial events are triggered. There’s absolutely nothing new to see on the game’s surface, but at least now I can add new text to the game with no new code (how it should have always been) or, in cases where a simple check for whether a previous condition has been fulfilled is needed, minimal new code. Or, to be more precise, most of the new “code” gets embedded directly into the story text as my own secret language to handle a range of common scenarios:I have no idea if this is the proper way of doing things, but it works well with my process, with the sacrifice of some legibility. As a self-taught programmer, I have a hard time telling whether anything, like getting text into a game and figuring out when to trigger it, actually just takes that much or if I’m doing it the wrong way. The script is getting ugly—certainly the chosen symbols could use some work—I was running out of those that are readily available on the keyboard. It seems like that ugliness would have to happen somewhere, though, and by having it happen here, at least it’s all in one place and manageable if anything goes awry. (The code that interprets all of the symbols is, naturally, in the worst mess of all, but as long as it works, I can sequester it away and never touch it again, until of course I need to touch it again—OK, my next step should be to rewrite the interpreter.) It seems definitely wrong or at least unpleasant to write or copy/paste directly into Unity,  so the external file is a must, and because events are triggered once the player reaches certain lines of text, it follows that functions should be called directly from here as well.

Doing all of this has helped me think about a few different ways I want text/story to be presented in the game (to be discussed in a future post), and setting that up will probably entail rewriting all of the code I just rewrote again. Ah, if only I had the foresight to know exactly what I wanted in the game, and if only I also knew all of the programming techniques I now know, and will know in the future, so that I could have written everything perfectly the first time and not currently be building upon such shaky foundations.

Grids are hell

Hi Jay,

Below you will find the current state of the puzzles in the game’s first level (except for the central mines puzzle, which … takes place in too large of a space to capture in a screenshot). If you’re worried that they look too hard, they probably are. But then, they’ll be too easy for some people. So rather than worry too much about what can’t possibly be balanced for everyone, I’ve decided to focus on integrating an optional hint system similar to the codec in MGS, which is IMO one of the best hint systems, because it disguises the fact that it even is a hint system by also being the main place for the player to go for exposition. Because you can pretend you’re just interested in hearing about the flora and fauna of Alaska or whatever, it doesn’t make you feel bad for using it, like you might if you went to GameFAQs, a defeated coward.

I’m trying to remind myself that the content of these puzzles is on some level arbitrary. They’re essential as things for the player to do that take time and that focus their attention in particular ways, but them learning how to do *these* particular things – pushing and pulling boxes, compacting or burning trash, using a crane, and as of today, crawling through wires and turning on and off electrified floors – is only important to the extent that it will serve my larger goals in the type of experience I want them to have. Maybe then I should focus on making the game as accessible as possible so more people can have that experience; maybe I should set aside my attempts to try out all the nearly infinite configurations of box placement to find the most perfectly interesting situations. Because this type of “interesting” isn’t what I’m aiming for anyway.

Double, double, fire and poison

Hi Jay,
Today I added fire and poison, which may sound like the components of a very videogame-y videogame, but I assure you that you don’t need to worry about that. I said many months ago that the first level was “essentially mechanically complete,” but that was a total lie, because there were all these “small” things I wasn’t counting. Now as I implement them I’m starting to see dynamics that I didn’t even expect at the same time as many difficulties arise in tying all of them together into one working system. I’m trying to accept that there will have to be compromises somewhere, even as I now go back to revise some of the game’s first puzzles, which I first made 2 years ago. One day all these choices will be set in stone, and it will be as satisfying as if I had burned the whole thing down.

Time Bandit: Adventures in Search of Lost Time

Hi Jay,

Sorry I haven’t responded to your letters in a long time (almost two years?). I’d like to say I’ve been busy working on a game all that time, and that wouldn’t be entirely true, but I was working on it part of the time. I’m excited to announce Time Bandit: Adventures in Search of Lost Time. It’s a real-time game that takes a very long time to play. Here’s a website with a whole bunch of GIFs: http://timebanditadventures.com. I hope to write you more often in the future.

an other dimension

hi joel,
i startled and found my head perceiving something unexplainably unreal in something i can only call ”’some other dimension.”’ i met and befriended the beings there. they were all two happy too receive me, and adopted me into their family despite the discrepancies in our physical sizes. i tell you (listen), i lived out my entire life…—… i lived, and died, and when i awoke our website had loaded.

nothing playable yet but hopefully soon. i’ve been getting obsessive about writing super organized code, to the point where i’m kind of just treading water, but i’m enjoying myself so i guess it’s ok?? i can kind of justify all the rewrites by saying that once i have the foundation down it’ll be quick to expand. we’ll see. more than likely i’ll just start over a/several dozen more times

hi joel,

all adders and healthy bushy greens churned this up. or well, at least there were several interesting fuckups along the way which i’ll show 1 of first

in my highmind i was thinking WOW!need to make this the freaking game!! but then the prospect of wrestling with something i don’t understand for ++months/years put me in my conservative place

so i finally got to this place

which felt like such an accomplishment at the time but then i realized it had to be a tube so rewrote it and finally ended up with what i think i’m going to build off of

i’m thinking you’ll be playing all along that green helix while the ai sits&develops in the white helix. you’ll maybe interact w (or, eh er, launch bombs at) the ai through screens but actually being able to visit the white helix will i think be a ‘big reveal’

cube collection

hi joel,

what i decided was that it needed hills so i added hills. it’s actually surprisingly easy (and nerdyfun) to do things like this thanks to perlin noise. the next step is to mold it into a giant helix that illuminates in a fog of war style reminiscent of routezero (if i can pull that off even).

i think there will be a rising tide mechanic that forces nomadic gameplay [but i hope to communicate that the perpetual movement is taking place only through time rather than at all through space– but if ppl are confused, or it’s not obvious, then oh well]. i want players to feel compelled to dive into the tide and destroy old structures they built in pursuit of resources.


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Thursday, August 14, 2008

Comet 2007W1 Boattini Roundup

With all the rain and other stuff going on, Comet C/2007 W1 Boattini dropped of the radar after I had a few quick early morning observations. Boattini has faded to where on[y people with serious scopes can see it, but I'd like to post links to some mice images people have made over the past month or so.

This image from John Drummond's Possum Observatory is exquisite, a nice image from Michael Mattizi, another nice one showing interesting coma structure from Mile Holloway. Giovanni Sostero has some nice analysis of his image, and here is an unusual image from Burkhard Leitner of Boattini in the clouds. Gustavo Muler has a nice image of the coma (here as well and dust tail development here), and Martin Gembec imaged the comet at twilight. Another nice image from Burkhard Leitner, as well as this one from Raffa Ferrando and an animation as well. Finally, this image from a few nights ago.

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Monday, June 28, 2010

Two Words

Dial up.

Need I say more?

Country livin' is fine until you want to actually communicate with the rest of the world. Sigh.

Being ferried between family members is good when new babies and BBQ dinners are involved.

To life!

Grumpy, M.D. said...

You enjoy. The internet can wait.

Josiah O. Morris said...


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Armenian Travel Bureau

Inbound travel to the Republic of Armenia

Armenia Culture Manuscripts

Armenian manuscripts

Armenia has a great heritage of manuscripts. Manuscript art is one of the most unique examples of Armenias medieval culture. Manuscript art which was portable enough to be smuggled out of harms way, has left the world a legacy of some 30,000 known Armenian manuscripts.

Most of the history of the Armenian people is concentrated in the Matenadaran - the Institute of Ancient Manuscripts. Matenadaran boasts of having the worlds largest collection of ancient manuscripts. More than 16 thousand manuscripts about the centuries-old history of the Armenian nation, art, literature and natural sciences are stored and studied in the Matenadaran. These are the works of more than 80 Armenian chroniclers of the 10th and 18th centuries and their contemporaries, as well as translations of the works of outstanding scientists and great thinkers of antiquity and middle ages. Some unique and ancient copies of manuscripts, the originals of which have irrevocably been lost, are also stored here and today people have the possibility to see them only in the Armenian translations.

The Matenadaran is of special value also as an art museum, where a unique collection of miniatures and other kinds of arts and crafts connected with manuscripts is kept: samples of fabrics, stamping on leather and jewelry. Special repositories of manuscripts, restoration shops and laboratories are on the ground floor of the Matenadaran, while the exhibition halls, the research laboratories, the reading hall and the catalogs are located on the upper floors.

At the Matenadaran are preserved manuscripts of the 5-18 centuries which are unique collection of incunabula and Armenian books printed in the 16-18 centuries, works of ancient and medieval historians, writers, philosophers, mathematicians, geographers, doctors, translations of scientific work of ancient Greek, Syrian, Arabic and Latin academics including series of works lost in their original languages. At the Matenadaran exhibits the best samples of ancient Armenian written language and miniatures.

Information Support

Armenian Travel Bureau Information Support


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Earth Day events planned all week in Athens

Environmental writer John Lane, a professor of English and environmental studies at Wofford College, will speak at the Georgia Review Earth Day event on Wednesday. Courtesy John Lane

Earth Day is coming this weekend, but celebratory events are planned all week.

On Wednesday, The Georgia Review will host its ninth Earth Day event at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia at 7 p.m.

There will be a talk by environmental writer John Lane, a professor of English and environmental studies at Wofford College. Lane directs the Goodall Environmental Studies Center at the college and has written books and collections of poetry.

His talk will be followed by a performance from the band Hawk Proof Rooster and a reception.

On Thursday there is an event for kids at the Athens-Clarke County Library.

In the spirit of Earth Day, teens ages 11-18 can use recycled plastic bottles to make planters.

The event runs from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. and all needed supplies will be provided.

On Saturday, several things are happening around town.

The local version of a national March for Science starts at 11 a.m. downtown at the courthouse on Hancock Avenue. Supporters of science are rallying on Earth Day to show support for research and science.

The event will not be a march, and at the meeting point, kids can participate in activities such as the “Picture Yourself a Scientist” photo station.

If you’re in the mood to be active on Earth Day, explore the State Botanical Garden of Georgia on a run at the Ta-ran-tula 5K.The race happens at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday and is hosted by the University of Georgia Insect Zoo.

After the race, tarantulas will be on display for visitors to interact with.

Register for the race at http://tarantula5k.wixsite.com/ugainsectzoo.

Parents can learn more about cloth diapers on Earth Day at an event hosted by The Natural Baby on Prince Avenue. The reusable diapers are a way of reducing waste. The event starts at 10 a.m.

Also on Saturday, Sandy Creek Nature Center will host a scavenger hunt.

The Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia is putting on the program, including kids’ activities and an animal encounter.

The event lasts from 1 to 3 p.m.at the Sandy Creek Nature Center on Old Commerce Road.

Follow reporter Hilary Butschek on Twitter @hilarylbutschek or at https://www.facebook.com/hbutschek.


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Apple is the world's foremost manufacturer of goods. At one time, this statement had to be caged and qualified with modifiers such as "consumer goods" or "electronic goods," but last quarter, Apple shipped a Boeing 787's weight worth of iPhones every 24 hours. When we add the rest of the product line to the mix, it becomes clear that Apple's supply chain is one of the largest scale production organizations in the world.

While Boeing is happy to provide tours of their Everett, WA facility, Apple continues to operate with Willy Wonka levels of secrecy. In the manufacturing world, we hear rumors of entire German CNC mill factories being built to supply Apple exclusively, or even occasionally hear that one of our supplier's process experts has been "disappeared" to move to Cupertino or Shenzhen. While we all are massively impressed with the scale of Apple's operations, there is constant intrigue as to exactly how they pull it all off with the level of fit, finish and precision obvious to anyone who has examined their hardware.

This walkthrough is a detailed narration of what we see in Apple's Watch Craftsmanship videos. Of course, we only get to see a mere fraction of the process; I've tried to provide plausible explanations for the likely steps taking place between the processes shown on film, but these are assumptions and are included only to provide a more satisfying and complete narration.

Gold has always been the wrong metal to make a watch out of; its low yield strength and softness is incompatible with the tremendous amount of abuse an object worn on the wrist receives on a day-to-day basis.  Driven by a history of desire going back millennia, alchemists and metallurgists have alloyed pure gold with nearly every combination of metals on the periodic table in order to overcome these limitations. The standards for 18 karat gold allow for a tremendous amount of leeway in producing innovative alloys (which may be comprised of anything, as long as the final product contains 75%-79.99% of pure gold by weight), and major producers of gold goods have used that flexibility to each create proprietary formulations in an attempt to gain competitive advantage. Rolex built an in-house foundry at their Plan-les-Ouates complex in Geneva to produce all of their precious metals. Hublot has trumpeted their composite ceramic "Magic Gold" as being significantly more durable than anything else available. Recently, Apple patents were uncovered detailing a Metal Matrix Composite process to produce 18kt standard compliance gold with a significant weight reduction and durability increase.

For the Watch Edition however, Apple appears to have eschewed any revolutionary alchemy and instead, applied an innovative work hardening process to create gold that is (claimed to be) significantly harder than the typical 18kt used by other watchmakers. The first portion of the Gold video is carried by the beautiful alloying process and Ive's meditative voice; at the 1m15s mark however, things begin to get interesting.

Work hardening is one of those counterintuitive industrial processes where we take an undesirable aspect of a material and Judo it into a significant improvement. As the gold is cast into ingots, the crystalline lattice structure of the alloy is nearly perfectly aligned. What Apple is about to do is introduce - in a highly controlled and precise manner - defects in that lattice (known in the art as "dislocations"). The effect is to harden the material by giving future impact events or stresses  a limited number of spots on the lattice to start (technical term: nucleate), and if they do start, very little room to propagate.

You can experiment with this yourself using a metal paperclip- start bending the paperclip back and forth and you'll notice it gets ever so slightly more difficult to bend as you repeat the process. Eventually, you will create so many dislocations in the metal that the part will fracture into two pieces, but for a short period, you will have work hardened that section to a point where some potentially desirable material changes would have taken place. Add a tremendous amount of precision, equipment capable of applying thousands of tonnes of force and replace the paperclip with a US$50k ingot of gold alloy and you're working at Apple.

The process Apple shows begins with the raw cast ingots getting machined with an index cutter face mill to a very precise thickness. Casting is a process that doesn't offer the level of precision Apple needs for the next step and this machining allows them to control the dimensions of the ingot to within 0.01mm.  This level of precision is necessary because any variations in the surface of the ingot would create variations in the hardness across the final part.

The actual squeeze work hardening process likely takes a number of passes through the roller press die Apple shows in the single shot above. It's also sort of boring as it's just a chunk of dull golden metal passing back and forth between two rollers, flattening a few microns with each pass. When the process is complete however, Apple is left with a flattened ingot of gold alloy that has a controlled level of hardness and a precise thickness.

The video skips what are most likely a few steps to show us the flattened ingots having been processed into blanks that are just now starting to look like Apple Watch cases. We get a few shots of the case blanks and -interestingly- we see freshly machined surfaces that change. In the first shot of the blanks, the flats and sides have tool marks and sharp edges, but as we move the the ultrasonic density scanner, those edges have been very precisely chamfered off into bevels. This strikes me as odd; why remove the blank from a CNC mill to do the bulk of machining only to put it into another mill to chamfer the edges? In my mind, it's more likely Apple made a slight process change at the factory while the film crews were shooting.

In the above shot, blanks are placed in an immersion ultrasonic tester. What Apple is looking for is the presence of voids or density variances within the structure of the blank that, under stress, could lead to part failure or surface defects as material is removed in further machining processes. This level of inspection is, to put it mildly, fastidious beyond where most other companies would go (save Rolex). Immersion ultrasonic inspection is typically reserved for highly stressed medical implants and rotating components inside of aircraft engines; not only does this step take time, it also is typically performed by custom built machines of tremendous expense.

With very precise blanks in hand, we move to a CNC mill. In the above shot, we see the Watch held via the center hole while a custom shaped end mill creates the signature full-radius edges. Given that this operation is taking place on a high column work holding fixture, I suspect this is a 5 axis mill and further steps in this operation will cut the outside pockets for the button, digital crown and speaker/microphone port on the side of the case.

Apple dispenses with further machining shots of the case to bring us a detail shot of the Digital Crown having the precise, grippy serrations cut. It's hard to tell given the shot, but the crown appears to have already gone through the polishing process; polishing the crown after the serrations are cut would bork up the precise edges and Apple is relying on the sharpness of that edge to make the Digital Crown useable with the tip of one finger. The cutter itself appears to be a custom profile key-set cutter with a meaty center around the arbor to increase rigidity and tool-life.

Apple chooses not to show us the manufacturing of the clasp components, processes that I think would be  more interesting than how the watch case is made in some ways. Given the complex surfaces of the Modern buckle, this might be the first example of Apple using surface profiling tool path in order to machine a component — part of Apple's secret to attaining scale and maintaining amazing quality is that they keep the actual machining operations restricted to relatively simple 2.5D tool path with complex curves produced by extrusion or stampings. If the Modern buckle is fully machined, this requires far more sophisticated and time consuming 3D milling.

The manufacturing portion of the Gold video ends with the case being polished by hand. As is shown in other Apple manufacturing videos, the company is expert in using automated polishing techniques across their entire product range, so it's difficult to say if the Edition models are polished fully by hand or if the hand work is simply a final buffing more valuable for letting skilled eyes very closely inspect the final product.

Stainless Steel

Stainless steel is the material used to produce the vast majority of quality watches in the world. Much like with the 18kt gold alloy, Apple is playing it safe and not using some highly proprietary alloy or cutting edge process (such as their tie-up with Liquidmetal). Instead, Apple is working within the confines of the ASM 316L standard - a material more commonly (and incorrectly) known as "Surgical Grade Stainless." Buzzwords aside, 316L stainless is often used in the production of medical instruments and implants, as well as food processing equipment. The reason is simple; 316L does a good job of resisting the seepage of metal particles from the finished component. This makes it the most common stainless alloy used in the watch industry for a similar reason; nickel allergies. Watch manufacturers have decades of experience working with stainless steel to narrow its effects on those with nickel allergy and companies such as Rolex and Omega have tuned their alloys and processes to the point where only the most acute sufferers would notice even mild effects. I suspect a large focus of Apple's metallurgy and process design was on the nickel allergy issue.

Like the Gold video, Stainless opens up with numerous beauty shots directly from the foundry floor as the molten 316L is processed into what foundries call "sticks." The molten metal passes out of the bottom of a crucible (typically located on the top floor of a multi-story foundry) through a valve and into a series of shaping steps that form each stick as the metal's viscosity rises in the transformation back into a solid. This process is very precisely controlled in order to properly form the final stick's grain structure and hardness. Apple is producing the watches in enough volume that they can easily specify the exact alloy composition of the entire crucible of material, as well as define the precise temper, hardness and stick dimensions.

 Approximate Render of Watch Forging Billet

Approximate Render of Watch Forging Billet

Apple chooses to not show what is likely the most unique and important step in the production of the Watch; cold forging. In production forging, a blank of metal is placed between two extraordinarily hard steel dies that have the bottom and top halves formed into open faced molds. The hammer - a piece of capital equipment roughly the size of a house laid on it's end - slams the dies closed with force measured in tens of thousands of tonnes. Under such pressure, the metal reaches a state called "plastic deformation" and literally bends, compresses and flows into the shaped cavities of the die. For complex, or high-precision forging, multiple dies with successively deeper cavities are used to gradually tease the material into the desired shape.

 C*Blade.com Cast v. Machined v. Forging comparison.

C*Blade.com Cast v. Machined v. Forging comparison.

Forging produces what's called a "net shape" part; the process is unable to create precision holes, pockets, threads and other features that will require a trip to the CNC mills. What forging does do is create parts of exceptional strength. In the textbook graphic above, we see an illustration of the grain structure for a cast, machined and forged component. We can see the forged variant has an intact grain lattice that is flowing and curving to meet the final shape of the part, leading to tremendous strength. This graphic succinctly illustrates why cold forging is the de-facto standard for creating the strongest metal components possible.

Though we skip the cold forging process (it likely contains a few very proprietary tricks), we start the machining process with 3 raw forgings on custom 5 axis fixtures. Forging is not an extremely high precision process, so one of the challenges in working with a forging is that you're left with limited datum surfaces - something on the part with an accurate surface you can use as a reference for all the precision processes to follow. We can see the part on the right has had some excess forging material machined into a square feature on top of the watch, leading me to think the part will get turned over and held in a fixture by that lip.

We see a few shots of the case in a 5 Axis milling setup with custom work holding, milling out the internal features at odd angles. In this shot, our part is flipped yet again and is being presented to the tool so the pocket for the Digital Crown and button can be milled. Machinists should note that Apple isn't cutting the side button slot with a full-width cutter - the smaller end mill is slower, but produces a far better surface finish by avoiding chip thinning fluctuations.

The machining shots are finished up with one of Apple's favorite processes to show - Coordinate Measuring Machine probing. A CMM is sort of similar to a CNC mill in respects to how it moves (X, Y, Z), but are typically built on a granite frame and with air bearings. The "tool" is a ruby tipped touch probe that is programmed to take hyper accurate data point samples across the part and compare them to the original CAD model. They automatically spit out a report that can pass/fail the part, track dimensional changes over a production run and (in the most sophisticated shops) actually feed information back to the milling machines and lathes to compensate for variances.

Second to the CMM probing, Apple's video team also has a serious thing for Apple's automated polishing processes; understandable given that Apple has invested a significant amount of time and money climbing the polishing learning curve. One of the challenges of polishing is that Apple wants to keep crisp edges crisp, and buffing wheels tend to reach into sharp edges. Not only does this munge up and soften the edge in an undesirable way, it also rips the soft buffing wheel to shreds. Looking at this shot, we see Apple has custom molded gray polymer plugs for the lug channels, the strap release button slots and (unseen) the digital crown and side button. This allows the polishing process to have complete access to the case surfaces, without interrupting the desirable crisp edges.

Our case now finished, our video takes a dark turn to quickly show the black variants and mention the "brilliant, diamond like carbon layer." Running with the knowledge that Apple tends to be very precise with their language, the implication is that the process they are using is a Tungsten DLC coating produced in a vapor deposition process. This is a very tough, very thin layer of tungsten that is bonded to the surface of the part in a vacuum chamber, and is the standard blackening process for the vast majority of high-end watches, knives and some mill cutting tools. TDLC has a reputation for being extraordinarily durable, though it has been somewhat surpassed by other, more involved, treatments at this stage.

Finally, we get some quick shots of parts for the Link bracelet and a Milanese band being made. The quick shot of the Milanese getting woven was one of the more interesting as this is a process I've never even begun to explore. I'm very curious as to know if the wire is getting twisted as it enters the weaving tool, or if the wire is pre-twisted and the tool is simply guiding it into position. Given the final polish on the Milanese band, Apple must be using an electropolishing step to clean up the raw wire.

It would be hard to argue that Apple isn't the world's foremost expert on the volume production of high-precision, high-finish aluminum components.  It is with no surprise that Apple is using the basic iPhone production blueprint, with some new tricks we haven't seen before, to create the high-volume Sport variant of the Watch.

From the original unibody MacBooks, Apple has been using aluminum in enough volume to dictate alloys of their own specification and held to their exacting tolerances. My belief is that they aren't really attempting to create a "better" aluminum alloy — the commercial industry has spent decades creating standard alloys that are optimized for common desirable properties - Apple likely optimizes for their specific manufacturing process. With the Watch, Apple has upgraded from 6000 series alloy compositions (using magnesium and silicon) to a custom 7000 series alloy that relies on zinc. The closest commercial equivalents would be the 6061 aluminum alloy (the world's most common manufacturing material) and 7075 aluminum - the comparison between the two tracks very precisely with Jony Ive's language about having "custom designed a new alloy that it 60% stronger, but just as light."

Let us take a moment to revel in what must be the most stunning video of the smelting process ever committed to film. We see a forklift drive past the crucible furnace, and molten aluminum pouring beautifully into an open, multi cavity mold to produce cylindrical ingots. From there, Ive uses some marketing speak to outline the process of tempering - a heating and cooling control process that aligns the molecular structure of the metal in the proper orientation.

Apple has always leveraged the extrusion process to create machined components of staggering complexity, and they have always done their best work on the small parts that often go unappreciated (see: the Apple TV remote and Magic Trackpad). The Sport Watch is no different - we see two sticks of aluminum being squeezed out of the extruder with the long radius edges of the case already formed, but (and this is impressive) a nearly impeccable surface finish. Cut from the extruded stick, we see a Sport Watch blank take a quick trip back under the remorseless, ruby tipped probe of a CMM and it's off to CNC milling.

Besides slightly modified work holding (to hold the extruded blank vice the forged blank) and slightly different cutting tools, the machining process for all 3 materials of the Watch are roughly the same. In this shot, we see an extended tool holder reaching past another Watch case - methods and tooling common to 5 Axis machining.  We do get to see one process that isn't common to any other production process and should have any manufacturing nerd a bit hot-n-bothered:

Another process Apple leads the world at is laser machining. We'll see it twice in the Aluminum video, but the above picture is extraordinarily impressive. Machining tends to leave a little lip on the edge of metal, known as a burr. Often just 0.05mm thick, burrs are razor sharp and are the bane of a machinists existence. They can be milled off in the machine using very tiny tools, or removed by hand, or knocked down in tumbling, sanding or other processes - all of which present tradeoffs.

Apple is doing something utterly unique in this 5 seconds of video - they are using a laser to clean up any burrs or finishing defects from machining. You can see the laser quickly outline the lip of an inside pocket, and come in for a more intense second pass on the floor of that pocket. I would consider this (quite long) blog post a success if the engineer or designer who thought that trick up reads this and knows that this is an astonishingly brilliant trick they cooked up. Bravo!

Though I design aluminum parts, I long ago gave up even attempting to craft them to Apple's finishing standards. No company in the world is finishing and anodizing to Apple's level and part of their secret is every perfectly bead blasted Apple surface starts off as a perfectly polished surface. To compete with Apple, one either needs to invest in equipment with prices equivalent to a CNC machine (6 axis robotic arms with custom end actuators - i.e. hands - to hold your parts), or pay staggering sums of money to have an expert hand polish your parts and accept the fact that the best you will ever get is a reject rate of 10%.

Here we see the Sport Watch fixed in a polishing assembly in a similar way to the Stainless Watch from earlier. Both the lugs have custom plugs to protect the edges, but unlike the Stainless, we can see the side button and digital crown features are unprotected. The reason is simple- the radius on this edge of the Sport are never machined as they get produced perfectly in the extrusion process, again speaking very high volumes of Apple's core ability to extrude aluminum to the world's highest standards.

Now, Apple literally blasts their perfectly polished surface in an automated glass bead blast line. The rotating, multi-aperture nozzle heads are designed to hit every surface of the case from every possible angle, leaving a perfectly even texture across each watch.

Formed, machined, laser deburred, polished and bead blasted, the Sport Watches are placed in custom racks for the anodizing process. If you will recall from earlier, some industrial processes are counterintuitive insofar as they take an undesirable issue with a material and flip it into a positive. Anodizing is another one of these processes. Just as steel parts can react with air to oxidize (creating rust), aluminum also oxidizes to form an uneven, chalky white film. The anodizing process uses electricity and chemistry to create a thick, precise layer of this aluminum oxide on the surface of the part.

While rust on steel is a terrible and corrosive thing, oxidized aluminum actually brings tremendous benefits to the table as it is essentially a very hard ceramic. A controlled, even layer of this oxide actually makes a finished aluminum part very durable and resistant to scratches. Furthermore, that layer builds up in a convenient honeycomb structure that (for a short period of time) can be coaxed into holding colored dyes in nearly any shade imaginable.

Again, Apple is likely anodizing more metal than any other organization on the planet, and we get a glimpse of a highly optimized set of racks with Sport cases in it. Most anodizing racks are general purpose affairs with clips or hooks that both hold the part and make the positive electrical contact. Apple is using custom formed and plastic dipped racks that very (very) densely hold parts. It's yet another detail that anyone in manufacturing is likely to look at and think "Wow, I wish we had the volume/budget to pull that trick off."

Before leaving the factory floor to go back to flying Watch land (it's right off of Jony's white room), Apple gives us a peek at one final bit of manufacturing trickery. Where the Steel and Gold Digital Crowns receive their serrations on milling lathes, the Sport's serrations are laser machined. One notes that the crown appears to be bead blasted, though it's hard to say if it has been anodized yet or if that is the final step. An index chuck spins the crown so each cut is perfectly tangent to the axis of the laser. I suspect both the gold and stainless crowns are machined because the reflectivity of the polished surface wouldn't be compatible with the laser.

Some Final Notes

One of the more interesting things one notes in the videos is that the internal structure of the gold Edition models seems to include a pocket feature not present on the Watch or Sport. It is hard to say if this exists to stiffen the Edition or if Apple is removing a bit of the dense gold alloy in order to reduce the weight of these models.

There have also been rumors of a 6 pin port hidden under the top strap lug channel, used for burn in and diagnostics. It remains to be seen if this port will exist on the shipping Watches, or if Apple will delete these ports on production units. In the Aluminum video, we see finished Sport watches laid out with the ports clearly shown, but it is just as likely that these videos were shot months ago during production line setup with prototype watches.

I do have a theory that the port may remain on the Sport models because I suspect the "movement" on the Sport is installed in the case permanently with adhesive. As such, it stands to reason Apple might maintain a diagnostics capability to troubleshoot issues at the Apple Store before simply trashing the defective unit and handing the customer a new one. With the Watch and Edition lines, it would make more sense to simply pull the movement out and replace it (something that can be quite easily performed with most mechanical watches; it's taking the movement itself apart that requires the skill of a watchmaker).

Jony Ive often speaks of care. It is an odd word to use as it doesn't imply the traditional notion of "craftsmanship" in the classic, handmade sense. Nor does it imply quality or precision in the way a Japanese car manufacturer or German machine tool maker would. "Care" implies a respect for the raw materials and end result, with little concern about what it takes to link those two ends of the production chain together, and we see that highlighted with the Watch. Apple could very easily have forgone forging to create stainless steel cases, just like everyone else. Hardening gold alloy with cold working could have been eliminated, putting them on par with the rest of the industry. Nobody will see or feel the inside pocket for the microphone on the Sport, yet it has been laser finished to perfection.

I see these videos and I see a process that could only have been created by a team looking to execute on a level far beyond what was necessary or what will be noticed. This isn't a supply chain, it is a ritual Apple is performing to bring themselves up to the standards necessary to compete against companies with centuries of experience.

AuthorGreg Koenig


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Undertone Sound Library – New – Metal and Glass Doors

A place to sell your old gear or new library releases.
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Undertone Sound Library – New – Metal and Glass Doors

Post by undertone » August 7th, 2017, 1:32 pm

You’ve heard our wood, now hear our metal and glass! A varied collection of all kinds of metal and glass door sounds including garage and storm doors, plus several sliding doors. This library also includes tons of locks, knocks and rattles.

Some of the recordings are from the exterior so you’ll hear some traffic and outdoor ambience, but we’ve been able to cut them in successfully to our projects so we feel they are useful.

It’s a small but hard-working library that stands on its own or makes a great companion piece with the other door libraries.

All files are optimized for Soundminer integration, with comprehensive metadata embedded.

Recorder used: Sound Devices 702
Format: 24/96kHz (Stereo)
Mics used:
• Schoeps CMC6|MK4

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Saturday, January 30, 2010

Is Internet Explorer Safe? - - We all must browse the web. Unfortunately, the Lynx browser is no longer cutting it. If you don't remember it, then you are not old like I am. PC PitStop community member James asks if Internet Explorer is safe yet. He's been waiting to use the newest version, because he's heard that it has a lot of problems. What are your thoughts on this? Is IE solid, and safe? - -
Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4)

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Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Wild hair ties

i was trying to style my hair for the next day and came up with these wild ties simply by holding my hair in two sections at a time and tying them together.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Curly pony

The curly ponytail or the ponytail after wearing a braid out for a week.


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Aural Sculptors - The Stranglers Live 1976 to the Present

Welcome to Aural Sculptors, a blog aimed at bringing the music of The Stranglers to as wide an audience as possible. Whilst all of the various members of the band that have passed through the ranks since 1974 are accomplished studio musicians, it is on stage where the band have for me had their biggest impact.

As a collector of their live recordings for many years I want to share some of the better quality material with other fans. By selecting the higher quality recordings I hope to present The Stranglers in the best possible light for the benefit of those less familiar with their material than the hardcore fan.

Needless to say, this site will steer well clear of any officially released material. As well as live gigs, I will post demos, radio interviews and anything else that I feel may be of interest.

In addition, occasionally I will post material by other bands, related or otherwise, that mean a lot to me.

Your comments and/or contributions are most welcome. Please email me at

Tuesday, 24 December 2013

Elastica Christmas John Peel Session 17th December 1994

Here's one that can only be posted at this time of year!

A special Christmas themed Peel session from Elastica.

01. All For Gloria
02. I Want To Be A King Of Orient R
03. Father Christmas
04. Blue

Track 3 sounds awfully familiar, can't put my finger on it though......

1 comment:

  1. Track 3 sounds awfully familiar, the clue is in the sleeve artwork...... It's Adam & the Ants - You're So Physical.... many thanks for this and the echobelly zap club


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30 Jul. 2006

'PM's car pelted, mobbed by angry anti-war protesters', The Sun-Herald, Sydney

Ha ha! It's a good job none of them had screwdrivers (at least that we know of – no doubt ASIO and Channel 7 have people working through the night analysing footage, looking for the telltale flash of yellow plastic in a protestor's hand). Still, scant explanation in the article of quite why Lebanese-flag-waving citizenry might engage in the most concerted physical attack on the PM since the 2004 incicent in which he was hexed by an Aboriginal woman, apparently to no avail (yet). The article does point out that Howard had said he 'understood' why Israel is scourging Lebanon. Well, I understand too – they state of Israel is psychopathic. So too, indeed, is Australia. The article fails to mention the very real support given by the Australian state to the Israeli state, or the very real network of paranoia and imperialism in which Australia supports Israel. I obviously don't expect them to say that, but they might have dug up something to say about Howard's support for Zionism rather than paraphrase some apparently ambiguous recent statement.


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Auto 2014
Auto 2014

Volkswagen Pickup Concept Revealed

Volkswagen Amarok, Company’s First Pick-up Truck

2010 Chevrolet Volt Price Depend on Gas Price

Volt price will depend on gas price, GM says.

Although the conference call was supposed to be all about the progress on designing batteries for the Chevrolet Volt, the issue of the car's price loomed large in observer's minds.

With a potential asking price that's risen from an estimated $30,000 (U.S.) to a loftier $40,000 for the compact four-seater, Bob Kruse, executive director of the program, gave no specifics on its estimated MSRP, but said the price will depend in part on the cost of gas.

"We're not wishing for higher petroleum costs, but the economic viability of what we're doing only gets greater with higher fuel prices," he said. The plan to launch the car in November, 2010, is on schedule. "$1.50 gallon gas is not helping our business case."

The average price of regular gas in the United States was actually $1.96 a gallon earlier this week, according to American government figures.

GM is not sure what the price of the Volt will be, Kruse said, nor has the company established whether it will lease the battery separately from the vehicle itself, as Nissan plans to do with its all-electric vehicle, which is to go on limited sale next year.

"Part of the price will be dependent on fuel costs at the time, which will impact the value equation the Volt provides."

The focus of the update was on the progress of the lithium-ion battery design — as GM has said, once the battery is ready, the Volt will be ready.

It is the advanced battery technology that allows the Volt to promise up to 64 km (40 miles) of electric-only driving; the small internal combustion engine works only to recharge the batteries, instead of stranding the driver, as would have occurred with GM's ill-fated EV1 all-electric vehicle at the end of its range.

"As we've seen with computers, the technology has progressed to the point where they have morphed from large desktop models, down to the size of your Blackberry," said Denise Gray, director of battery systems engineering, while confirming that design work on generations two and three of the Voltec system is happening alongside the production Volt.

"We're looking for the same types of advancements (and cost reductions) in our electronics."

In a Q&A session afterwards with various media, one astute questioner asked at what temperature those promised 64 kilometres of electric-only driving were verified. Turns out, it was the figure achieved in the normal city cycle testing, said Kruse, which is done at 20 degrees Celsius.

So if your winter commute involves regular sub-zero starts and highway driving, the question isn't whether its electric range will decrease, but by how much?

GM was obviously very sensitive about the fact that the battery cells for the first-generation Volt will come from South Korea, courtesy of LG Chem, especially when it is receiving extra money from both state and federal U.S. governments to produce environmentally advanced vehicles in and around Detroit, on top of the federal bailout money it has and will receive to keep it afloat.

The first batch of pre-production prototypes will be produced later this summer, about 80 of them, soon after the world's largest auto battery facility will open near Detroit, said GM.

Overhyped Nano on sale in India

In yet another media-frenzy-generating launch event, Tata Motor officials confirmed that orders will begin being taken in April in India for the Nano, whose super-low starting price of around $2,900 has media outlets around the world breathlessly reporting on the debut of the "world's cheapest car."

Except it's not the world's cheapest car, it's the world's cheapest new car.

Option it up with various luxuries like a right-side rear view mirror, heating and air conditioning, and a cup holder, and that price moves to 172,360 Indian rupees, according to figures available at, or the equivalent of $4,152.

Still, offering any new vehicle at such a low price is a remarkable achievement, even if the lack of airbags and emissions controls would not allow the Nano as is to be sold in most developed markets, and certainly not in regulation-heavy North America.

"The Nano represents the spirit of breaking conventional barriers," said Tata Motors chairman Ratan Tata. "It will provide safe, affordable, four-wheel transportation to families who till now have not been able to own a car." Or at least a new car.

The Nano offers a 35-hp. two-cylinder engine, coupled to a four-speed manual transmission, with a top speed of 105 km/h, for a published estimate of 33 seconds for the small four-seat hatchback to reach 100 km/h.

Plans are in the works to sell an upgraded version of this car to parts of Europe by 2011, the company said; it would a larger 90-hp, three-cylinder engine, available five-speed automatic, dual airbags, ABS and stability control, with a target starting price still under $5,000 (U.S.).

"Driven mainly by the change in demand that we see elsewhere in the world, we suddenly felt we had a product that could be of considerable interest as a low-cost product in western Europe, eastern Europe, the U.K. and even the U.S.," Tata told Reuters at this week's event.

Women's Car of the Year award launched

Female automotive journalists are a relative rarity in this business, but a group of 10 women auto writers from around the world will launch the first Women's Car of the Year award.

The initial group includes two journalists from Canada, as well as India, South Africa, the U.K., Australia and Europe.

"Most awards are chosen by a huge majority of men who tend to view cars differently to women," said Sandy Myhre, the New Zealand-based journalist who initiated the award.

"This award reflects changing times when you consider that today women make the final decision in as much as 85 per cent of all cars sold," according to Myhre.

After noticing that the 2007 World Car of the Year award's 43-member jury of international auto journalists did not contain one woman, Myhre helped organize a Women's COTY program in New Zealand last year, an award which went to the Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion (diesel) wagon.

"Newton-metres [or lb-ft] of torque weren't even considered, but we did look at drivability and sexiness," for those awards, as well as its carbon footprint, family friendliness, value, and, "of course," the range of colours, said Myhre.
Infiniti M to become brand's first hybrid

Playing some serious catch-up to arch-rival Lexus, Infiniti plans to start selling its own hybrid designs in North America next year, starting with its mid-size M sedans, Japan's Nikkei business daily reports.

While the Altima now offers a hybrid option, the hybrid uses leased Toyota hybrid technology, while Nissan, Japan's third-largest auto maker, struggles to come out with its own hybrid designs to rival those of Toyota and Honda.

Other luxury players are starting to jump into the hybrid market as well, with BMW and Mercedes-Benz both planning hybrid SUVs for North America and Europe this year, as well as the Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHybrid that will compete with Lexus' top-line LS600hl.

Toyota Yaris sedan Pictures

Toyota Yaris sedan
Toyota Yaris sedan
Toyota Yaris sedan
Toyota Yaris sedan photos
Toyota Yaris sedan
Toyota Yaris sedan Pictures

Renault Bajaj ULC

Bajaj ULC is still under development by Bajaj Auto, Nissan and Renault. The idea is to turn it into a world project, more remarkable by its fuel consumption (about 35 km/l) than by its price. We just hope development to be quicker.

2010 Audi R8 5.2 V10 FSI Quattro Road Test

A bigger stick for the soft-spoken supercar, and a price to match.

By making available an R8 with a monster 525-hp V-10 engine—complementing the 420-hp V-8 model that was introduced two years ago—Audi has elevated its exotic-looking two-seater from “almost-a-supercar” status to a true competitor in the high-performance realm above mere sports cars.

The 105-hp increase comes from a 5.2-liter, direct-injection V-10 that is virtually identical to the engine found in the Lambor ghini Gallardo LP560-4.

Unique engine programming and intake and exhaust systems are the chief differences in the Audi engine over the Italian job, although both engines are made in the same plant in Hungary.

We’re told that the V-10 weighs just 68 pounds more than the V-8, and that fuel economy with the bigger engine will worsen by only 1 mpg.

Output is listed by Audi at 525 horsepower and 391 pound-feet of torque, 27 horses and seven pound-feet fewer than in the Lambo, but we suspect some of that difference is simply marketing.

With the help of launch control, a first for the R8’s manual transmission, we managed the 0-to-60 dash in 3.7 seconds and a quarter-mile in 11.8 seconds at 121 mph.

That’s a full second quicker in the quarter-mile than we recorded in a manual-transmission V-8 R8 and dead even with a Porsche 911 GT2. This was measured in a down-and-dirty test run during a preview drive in Spain.

Lamborghini owners need not fret that this R8 will steal the Gallardo’s thunder, as the V-10 R8’s numbers are quite a few ticks behind those of the automated-manual LP560-4 we tested in February.

A more formal test with the paddle-shifted transmission should improve our times, but still, we don’t see a lot of cross-shopping between these corporate cousins.

The Lamborghini is a car for extroverts—loud, brash, in your face. The Audi is more of a speak-softly-and-carry-a-big-stick car. The exhaust—quiet during relaxed driving and escalating in volume above 4000 rpm—never fully intrudes on the serenity in the cockpit until you approach the 8700-rpm redline (700 more than the V-8’s and 200 higher than the Lambo’s).

The extra oomph is obvious as soon as the R8 5.2 starts moving, but the power increase hasn’t upset the R8’s user-friendliness and neutral handling. Easy driving is still the name of the game; both models have graceful manners even when driven hard around a track.

Visual differences between V-8 and V-10 R8s are slight. The V-10 model has wider intakes behind the doors, which sit atop wider body sills. In front and back, the black accents are glossy instead of flat, and there are two crossbraces to the air intake rather than three.

The V-10 R8’s exhaust tips are larger and oval-shaped, and this model also sports standard LED lighting, previously an option. The seats, a carry-over from the V-8 model, had us at times wishing for more lateral support.

We’re pleased the R8’s optional ceramic brakes might make it to North America. They’re strong, completely free of fade, and—unlike the on-off brakes in the Gallardo—can actually be modulated for smooth driving.

Audi won’t pinpoint when the V-10 R8 will go on sale or what it will cost. We’ll bet on late this year at the earliest, with a premium of maybe $45,000 over the V-8 R8’s $117,500 base price.

2010 Pontiac G8 Sport Truck: It’s Sexy!

So let’s have a chat about the latest and greatest 2010 Pontiac G8 Sport Truck. This truck is by far one of the sexiest tucks in the world. Not only is it a sport truck, but it is a vehicle that blends a sports car feel with the ability to cargo things like a truck. The 2010 Pontiac G8 Sport Truck is based on the Pontiac G8 performance sedan and it is actually the newest member of the G8 family, incase you didn’t know.

The design of this particular truck is all around incredible. It has 18-inch wheels, which gives it a very wide and extremely confident stand. The roofline is going to be coupe-like and it actually looks sort of like a car, until you take a peek into the back.

This sport truck has an incredible V8 engine and puts out 361 HP of power. So if you are looking for a new truck, you should absolutely check out the sexy 2010 Pontiac G8 Sport Truck!

Feature: Best of 2009 Shanghai Auto Show

Detroit may be in the doldrums, but Shanghai is swinging: the Chinese motor industry is growing rapidly, investing in design expertise and preparing to have a significant global impact in coming years.

And besides the domestic manufacturers, who are producing ever-more interesting concepts, the established European and Western car-makers are finding that they can't afford to ignore China, where new-car sales are rising exponentially. Here's the low-down on the most important cars of this year's Shanghai Auto Show.

Bertone Mantide

Based on the 620bhp Corvette ZR1, the insectile Mantide (Italian for 'praying mantis') is a one-off, road-legal creation from the Stile Bertone studio for a private client.

Designer Jason Castriota - the man behind the one-off Pininfarina P4/5 - says it's inspired by jet-fighter aircraft, and its fuselage-type body, butterfly-opening doors and canopy certainly make it look ready to fly away.

Though the underpinnings are Corvette, the extra-aerodynamic Mantide is some 100kg lighter, thanks to its carbon fibre bodyshell and interior - which help it to 217mph and 0-60mph in less than 3.5 seconds. Downforce is 30% better than that of the Corvette, thankfully.

Buick Business Concept

Chinese buyers love GM's Buick brand - they see it as the epitome of American luxury - and the Business Concept MPV is suitably kitted out with armchair-type seats, plush burgundy and cream suede upholstery and carpets, and high-tech LED displays.

The work of the GM-SAIC Pan-Asia joint research and development facility, it incorporates traditional Chinese patterns in its trim, and evokes Chinese crystal sculptures in its headlight design. It shares its hardware with the Chevrolet Orlando and thus also the upcoming new Vauxhall Zafira, and also previews a next-generation GM hybrid powertrain.

2010 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG Sports Sedan Debut

AMG is kicking-off the 2009 driving season with a new superstar: shortly after the launch of the new E-Class, the AMG high-performance brand of Mercedes-Benz Cars presents the new 2010 E63 AMG.

This dynamic sports sedan impresses with outstanding performance, thrilling handling characteristics and advanced technology transferred from its sibling, the SL63 AMG high-performance Roadster. The E63 AMG makes its U.S. sales debut in November 2009.

The new E63 AMG distinguishes itself from the standard Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedans with a newly developed AMG RIDE CONTROL sports suspension with electronically controlled damping, revised front suspension and unique exterior and interior design.

At the same time, Mercedes-AMG has achieved a significant reduction in fuel consumption of almost twelve percent for the new E63 AMG, thanks to the precise application of several fuel efficiency improvements. With its unique combination of pioneering driver assistance systems, the E63 AMG further consolidates the brand's leading position in the field of automotive safety.

The AMG 6.3-liter V8-engine in the new E63 AMG develops an output of 518 hp and a 465 lb-ft of torque, matching the outstanding figures for the SL63 AMG. The high-performance Roadster has also transferred its AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT 7-speed sports transmission to the new model. This transmission replaces the conventional torque converter through the use of a multi-disc wet start-up clutch. In conjunction with the four individual driving modes, rev-matched shifts and RACE START function, the resulting, direct connection to the powertrain delivers an extremely emotional and high-performance driving experience.

The AMG MCT drive unit is unique in this segment, and provides dramatic performance figures: the E63 AMG accelerates from standstill to 60 mph in just 4.4 seconds, with a top speed of 155 mph (electronically limited). The fast-revving, naturally aspirated engine with a displacement of 6208 cc impresses with its agile responsiveness, muscular power delivery and high redline. The AMG V8 sound is a thrilling partner for mile after mile, while the smooth-running engine guarantees renowned Mercedes long-distance comfort. A newly designed water cooling system ensures maximum endurance even under the enormous dynamic stresses of the racetrack.

Fuel consumption cut by almost twelve percent
Despite 11 hp of additional output versus the preceding model, the E63 AMG showcases several advancements designed to improve fuel efficiency, including on-demand delivery of fuel and alternator management with recuperation of engine power during overrun. In-engine friction is also reduced by the AMG-exclusive twin-wire arc spray coating process used to coat cylinder walls.

The AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT 7-speed sports transmission also makes a decisive contribution to fuel economy: a multi-disc wet clutch running in an oil bath replaces the previous torque converter. This unit responds extremely rapidly, directly and without the losses typical of a torque converter transmission thanks to its low rotational inertia.

The transmission is equipped with four driving modes: "C" (Controlled Efficiency), "S" (Sport), "S+" (Sport plus) and "M" (Manual), which can be selected using a rotary electronic switch in the AMG DRIVE UNIT. Partial suppression of individual cylinders by interrupting ignition and injection during gearshifts under full load contributes to considerably faster shift times. In M mode the AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT 7-speed sports transmission allows gearshifts to be performed in 100 milliseconds.

In the even more fuel-efficient driving mode Controlled Efficiency, the transmission shifts the gears with deliberate smoothness, and the transmission control unit is programmed to perform early upshifts to keep engine speeds as low as possible.

At the same time, the AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT 7-speed sports transmission met the most demanding requirements where driving dynamics are concerned: fast and precise multiple downshifts ensure first-class agility in conjunction with the automatic rev-matching and RACE START function: this enables the E63 AMG driver to call on the maximum acceleration potential automatically.

Electronically controlled damping system and a new front axle
Sporty or more comfort-oriented? The driver of the new Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG is not obliged to accept any compromises in this respect. The AMG RIDE CONTROL sports suspension copes equally well with the dynamic cornering of the racetrack and more comfortable, sedate driving. High performance and typical Mercedes long-distance comfort go together as an extraordinary synthesis in the E63 AMG.

This is made possible by the newly developed AMG RIDE CONTROL sports suspension. While new steel spring struts are used on the front axle, the rear suspension features AMG-specific air springs. The advantage of this solution, which is exclusive to AMG, is that the front spring struts ensure more sensitive responses while the rear air struts with their automatic level control system keep the vehicle at a constant height, irrespective of the load.

A new, electronically controlled damping system automatically varies the damping characteristics according to the driving situation, reducing the roll angle of the body. The result is instant adjustment to provide the best possible ride comfort together with the greatest possible agility. In addition, the driver is able to choose between the three suspension modes of Comfort, Sport and Sport plus at the touch of a button.

The E63 AMG is also equipped with a newly developed, unique front axle with a 2.2 inch (56 millimeter) wider track, a tubular stabilizer bar, new control arms, new wheel bearings, newly-designed bushing geometry and kinematics and new wheel location for more negative camber – thereby providing more grip when taking turns at speed.

The AMG-specific kinematics also ensures significantly more precision. This is a highly sophisticated axle design whose principle has already proved its worth in the C63 AMG. The rear axle likewise has more negative camber, optimized elastokinematics and a new subframe mounting for greater stability at the physical limits.

Newly developed power steering and individual 3-stage ESP®

For more direct responsiveness, the speed-sensitive rack-and-pinion steering is also a new development. The steering ratio of 14 : 1 is 22 percent more direct (quicker) than in the standard production models, while a more rigid steering column plus the reconfigured characteristic mapping of the speed-sensitive servo assistance ensure better steering precision and improved road contact.

The 3-stage ESP® familiar from the SL63 AMG and C63 AMG enables individual settings to be selected – with clear benefits in terms of driving pleasure combined with the same high level of handling safety. The ESP® key in the AMG DRIVE UNIT allows the driver to choose between "ESP ON", "ESP SPORT" and "ESP OFF" – with the currently active mode shown in the central display of the AMG instrument cluster.

Perfect deceleration even during performance driving is ensured by the AMG high-performance braking system with 14.2 inch, internally ventilated and perforated brake discs all-round. Particularly resistant, motorsports-tested compound (two-piece) construction technology is used at the front axle. Outstanding grip is ensured by the 18-inch AMG light-alloy wheels with a width of 9 and 9.5 inches and mixed tire sizes of 255/40 R 18 at the front and 285/35 R 18 at the rear.

Decidedly dynamic interior and exterior
The purposefully dynamic design of the E63 AMG is fully in keeping with the vehicle's impressive technology. The front aspect is characterized by 17-millimeter wider fenders bearing "6.3 AMG" lettering, the new AMG front apron with large intake air apertures and the AMG-specific daytime driving lights in LED technology. In conjunction with the optional Bi-Xenon Headlamps with Active Curve Illumination, the E63 AMG is equipped with tinted main headlamps.

The striking visual presence is further enhanced by the AMG side skirts and AMG rear apron with a black diffuser insert. As a hallmark of the brand, the AMG sports exhaust system has two newly designed, chrome-plated twin tailpipes.

The new interior of the E63 AMG is an exciting blend of high-grade materials and functional sportiness. Exclusive features include electrically adjustable AMG sports seats with improved lateral support and the AMG sports steering wheel in a four-spoke design with AMG shift paddles.

As a completely new feature exclusive to the E63 AMG, the AMG selector lever has one-touch logic. Directly adjacent to it in the center console is the AMG DRIVE UNIT, which provides adjustments for the MCT sports transmission, the ESP functions, the suspension setup and the AMG driving modes. Standard equipment also includes high-grade leather upholstery in three different colors, the AMG instrument cluster with an AMG main menu, door entry sills with AMG lettering and a sports pedal cluster – both in brushed stainless steel.

Even more individuality with tailor-made AMG extras
Customers can select the optional AMG Performance Package, which includes the following:
• Lightweight, forged 19-inch AMG light-alloy wheels with size 255/35 R 19 tires at the front and 285/30 R 19 at the rear
• AMG Performance suspension with stiffer spring rates
• AMG rear axle locking differential with 40 percent locking action
• AMG Performance steering wheel in a three-spoke design
• Top speed raised to 186 mph

Active and passive safety at a new level
The E63 AMG traditionally meets the very highest expectations with respect to active and passive safety. Standard features include the new drowsiness detection system ATTENTION ASSIST, the unique preventive occupant protection system PRE-SAFE®, Brake Assist PLUS, eleven airbags and crash-responsive NECK-PRO head restraints. Optional safety features can bring the vehicle to a level unprecedented in this class with Lane Keeping Assist and Blind Spot Assist systems, the PRE-SAFE® Brake with an automatic emergency braking function, Adaptive High Beam Assist and Night View Assist PLUS.

Porsche Carrera GT Paris, France

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