As I promised earlier, I would write a review about TOMTOM. I have had the device now a couple of months, although I find the device the easiest to use currently available in the industry, I have some real complaints, actually I only have two. On the hardware side the battery life, which is really shameful! I know I can charge the device with my cigarette lighter but thats not really the point of a portable device. With modern Lithium-Ion batteries nowadays you can expect battery life of 5 hours or more. While it charges quickly, after less than two hours on the road the little battery indicator at the lower right would start to flash yellow… bugger. My second complaint is about the software, I would rather see TOMTOM write a native Cocoa application, JAVA technology is okay, but one way or an other, JAVA programmers seem only to be able to program buggy and crappy programs, that’s at least my experience. I have tried multiple times using the TOMTOM Home software, it can brick your TOMTOM (the famous blinking red cross)! Luckily I had backed-up my device so it wasn’t a problem. I can reproduce it every time. The software really sucks balls big time! SO should you buy a TOMTOM? I would say yes, it’s always right in finding my locations, traffic information, is really easy to use and when I buy a new car I don’t have to migrate or redo all my data or settings.

I came by this amazing concept car from Chevrolet called the Chevy Volt, with its revolutionary E-Flex Propulsion System which will be different than any previous electric vehicle because it will use a lithium-ion battery with a variety of range-extending onboard power sources, including gas and, in some vehicles, E85 ethanol to recharge the battery while driving.

When it comes to plugging in, the Volt will be designed to use a common 240-110 Volt household plug. For someone who drives less than 64 km (40 miles) a day, Chevy Volt will use zero gasoline and produce zero emissions. For longer trips, Chevy Volt’s range-extending power source kicks in to recharge the lithium-ion battery pack as required.

Researchers at the Human Media Laboratory, Queen’s University in Canada are developing prototypes of new “non-planar” devices, which are virtually computers that have a flexible shape. Computers are nifty, but often too bulky to be carried around. Even a laptop is too big to put in your pocket, but imagine if your computer looked and worked like a magazine or a piece of paper to be tucked away into your pockets. Not only will they take on flexible forms we’ve never imagined like pop cans with browsers displaying RSS feeds and movie trailers computers of the future will respond to our direct touch and even change their own shape to better accommodate data.
The concept behind these next-generation computers is “organic user interface”. Everyday computers live in only two dimensions and as a result, have become narrow-minded. You are essentially looking at a tiny tunnel into a flat, on-line world, and that causes people to think in a two-dimensional way. ”Flatland” interfaces are incredibly limited compared to natural 3D ones”. This is in my opinion a revolution in human-computer interaction. So Apple if you’re reading this…

Our days have been a bit hectic lately, not because of our new born son, but because of all the nice people who: visited, send cards, send e-mails, flowers and presents. Thank you all so much we have been overwhelmed by all the attention and my sincere apologies for those who had to bail-out at my request. I had to manage the number of people who called and tried to visit us. Tristan and Marijke need their rest. Tristan is now 16 days old, he weights 4.4 kg (9,7 pounds) and is about 57 cm (22,5 inch). This morning I grabbed my trusty SLR (Canon EOS 350D) and took some pictures of him laying on our bed.

I am happy to say that I’ve become a father. Our boy (Tristan) is called after a medieval romance Tristan and Iseult. I’m going to bed now because I am exhausted.

With the baby coming we had to buy a car. I am not a caroholic like some people, but I had a wish list: station wagon, 5 doors, reliable, climate control. Not only did I got my wish list but even more: cruise control, electric windows, rooftop and mirrors, automatic transmission and the list goes on and on, I’ve made a good deal, my brother-in-law went along he’s wiki-car-pedia. I let him test-drive the car and even told me how to negotiate. I’ve bought a car stereo a Pioneer DEH-P7000UB and as a travel companion I’ve got TomTom XL 31 Europe Widescreen from my wife. The TomTom Home software really sucks balls big time, I’ll later write a review about it. The car we’ve bought is a Volkswagen Golf Variant 1.6 Comfortline, a real nice family-car, lots of room for all the baby gadgets. But as of today I am going to introduce a new term: dadgets, these are baby gadgets which dad also likes. Pacifiers are not one of those, though they will help with your relaxation process