Oh and its not me who has too much time on my hands its Attorney General/NYS Gubernatorial  Candidate Andrew Cuomo who does.  Why?  Well he should be filing a consumer advocacy claim against the State of New York who has been operating budgetless for what seems like forever.  Instead he is trying to distract not just the citizens of NY, but the American people, with something he clearly knows nothing about.

Facebook privacy.  lol wat?

If you have an account on facebook, welcome to the facebook phone book!  You no longer have to worry about fb giving out your personal details or changing your privacy levels.  Mostly because all of the facebook information on everyone has been compiled and set free.

Christ, what an asshole.

So far just a few thousand people have downloaded the information.  The Facebook Directory contains the information from over 100,000,000 profiles.  I’ll make a wager that the number of downloads reaches the hundred thousands easily.  Once I get back home I plan on checking it out myself.

Even if you wanted to delete your facebook account, they make it such a complex ordeal that the only way to get results is to set your profile picture to dongs.

Are you an ubergeek?  You are if you have any idea what the two words in the subject of this article are.

The titans of gadget blogs, Engadget and Gizmodo.  So which is best? (there has to be a best doesn’t there?)

Engadget, part of AOL the once king of the internet, now a collection of blogs. (seems like they knew Yahoo pretty well).  Engadget, being part of a semi-respectable media source (NOT the Time Warner part of AOL) reports real information about geek topics.  They have even expanded in recent times to add an Alt section to discuss the things many geeks like (asians, sushi & cartoons?) that aren’t related to technology (or war droids).

Gizmodo, part of Gawker media, is on the rise to become The tabloid of the internet.  (they have a long way to go to catch TMZ).  They report on things (moments after Engadget, kidding) in a tone that takes the sarcasm of Engadget to the next level (like this blog?).  They are fun and quirky, but their semi-censored comment section sounds more like an AOL move than the fun loving guys that write there.

I personally read them both heavily.  I am a big fan of the Engadget app for webOS and hope the Giz follows up with their own.

In each of their blog families Engadget and Gizmodo have car related blogs (Autoblog and Jalopnik respectively) and I enjoy them both as well, writing in similar style to their respective geek buddies.

It is amazing to see how the blog has taken over new media and how new media is transforming old media.

I know one day you too will be reading my rants on the nook 2.0 right along side the Wall Street Journal and New York Times articles I make fun of! (or more correctly the Engadget and Gizmodo article I’m mocking!)

It seems that the Motorized Art Deco Movement really is taking off and making it’s comeback!

Check out this cool futuristic motorcycle from the past.

There are many great pictures of this stylish machine at Knucklebuster.

Its Economics 101.  Put large factory in town, all those employees need a place to eat, shop, live, etc.  Big economic impact on that town.

Ok, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, you name it, they all have large assembly factories in American towns, those employees have to do all of the above.

Economics 201, executives of Ford, GM and Chrysler and the foundations of those companies give to orchestras, zoos, schools, etc, with the profits of these companies that stay in the United State.

Now most people know those both, but what people don’t know much about is what I am going to call Economics 301.  Its really more like 501 (grad level) and its “How its made”.

You see cars are one of the most expensive and complicated things the average American will buy.  The only thing more expensive is the house, but due to the “stick built” nature of most houses, that kind of has to be made in America.  (See also the future of manufactured homes being outsourced)

With a car, assembly is nice, it takes a bunch of workers, etc.  Me and my brother used to spend hours upon hours assembling LEGO blocks, that doesn’t make the blocks made in the US.

How manufacturing really works.  There are a ton of companies (OEMs) who make all the components that go into a branded product.  With electronics many people know Foxcomm makes Apple’s products.  With cars, Ford, and all the rest really do make their cars.  They assemble them, make the engines, frames, body panels, etc.  But they can’t make every last component.

Step into your car, what’s the first thing you do? (after starting it) Put on your seat belt of course (Don’t be a dummy!).  Right after that, you press the radio button.  And even if that radio is a Motorcraft or Mopar, instead of the higher end Bose in your Caddy, chances are that little black plastic button was made by another OEM.

Sure the OEM on a Chevy could be in Japan and the OEM on a Nissan could be in the US, but if you look at the origin of materials that comes on each new car, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that American cars tend to have more American components (see also shipping costs, unions, and being American).

Take the Mazda CX-7, its a Ford Edge (or Lincoln MKX).  Look at the manufacturer cert, that darn thing is otherwise nothing like its American cousin!  Why?  Simple economics (401?)  It is far less expensive to manufacture a radio button, switch, widget, wingnut or sprocket close to Japan (ie China, Taiwan, etc) than it is in the US.  So yes, Mazda has an identical(ish) factory making CX-7′s and 9′s to where Ford makes the Edge and MKX (its actually in Ontario and I will drive by it between writing and publishing this article).  Just as they do have a separate body panel manufacturing facility (that one is right in my own backyard here in Buffalo, hence picking the Edge/CX-7 as the example!)

So the next time you’re in the market for a car, think back to economics.  Don’t buy the BS you get sold (Consumer Reports, CNN?) and buy American.  Your neighbor who makes black radio buttons will thank you, as will his butcher, his baker, his candlestick maker and his banker… Oh wait one of those is you!