On Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 51

I usually post OITS on Fridays, but since tomorrow is an issue for me, it is a day early.

On Athletes Orally Committing
National Letter of Intent signing period for college football started yesterday. Of course, it is preceded by high school players giving nonbinding oral commitments. Being one believing that being true to your word carries some importance, I generally have an issue with players backing out on their word. For instance, a high school player in the Cincinnati area orally committed to three different schools the last 6 months. Sorry, that’s not the type of character I would want on my team.

On Public Stadium Financing
Too many professional sports teams have placed community’s feet to the fire with their build me a new stadium or we will leave approach. Although I’m a big sports fan, I was against Cincinnati’s stadium issues all not that long ago. Now, for a variety of reasons, the county’s stadium fund is having financial troubles. Hey hey … here comes the Bengals organization to save the day by offering millions! But for what in exchange? How about shortening the lease by 10 years or so?!!! Again, I stand by my original point.

On This Week
We record This Week (ABC’s Sunday morning show) because we like the format and the general respectful nature of discussions. Who made the bonehead decision to have FOX News President Roger Ailes and Arianna Huffington together on the round table?

On School Buses
There’s no question that school buses foul up traffic. There’s no question that I dislike school buses. Nonetheless, I just cannot convince myself to agree with a student boarding a bus at 6:15 am.

On Toyota
I will give Toyota credit – now that is one PR disaster! In their race to beat GM, they seemed to morph into the Detroit giant. Meanwhile, I feel for the sales staff whose salary is probably based on commission.

On 747 Tidbit
Although I haven’t been in one, the Boeing 747 is a big plane. Boeing originally designed it as a military transport aircraft in the 1960s. They did not win the contract (Lockhead did), so Boeing converted the design into a commercial airliner. I think they did ok on that investment.

On a New Link
I welcome Confessions of a Lazy Scribe to WordPress. Previously known as the Coach Potato at another location, I encourage readers to visit Brad’s new site.

To kickoff Super Bowl weekend, here’s a great Jay Leno JayWalk segment for another lively city (Las Vegas).

[Via http://afrankangle.wordpress.com]

Toyota Prius brakes under investigation by Japanese and US Gov

The pain just keeps on coming for Toyota. First came complaints of cars running away without the driver pressing the accelerator. Now the Japanese government has ordered Toyota to investigate the braking system on the 2010 Prius. The U.S. government is also looking into the matter after receiving over 100 complaints about the brakes on the third-generation hybrid. Like most other hybrids, the Prius uses an electro-hydraulic brake system that blends the regenerative and friction braking functions. There have apparently been dozens of complaints in Japan and North America of a momentary loss of braking power at low speeds on slick or bumpy road surfaces.

We can’t say for sure what is or is not happening on the Prius, but we can offer some possible insight. On hybrids vehicles, the brake system monitors the state of charge of the battery, the available amount of regenerative braking and the driver’s brake demand (as measured by the brake pedal apply). As the vehicle comes to a stop, the amount of regenerative braking is ramped down to zero since you can only capture kinetic energy when the wheels are rolling. Doing this smoothly requires an accurate software model of the friction braking behavior. If the friction brakes are generating less torque than the model says it should be, the brake system will apply less pressure to the brakes. The result would be a momentary loss of deceleration during the hand-off from regen to friction braking.

Because the behavior of friction brakes varies over time depending on temperature, moisture, wear and other factors, it is very difficult to calibrate these models. The other part of this equation is the fact that this is happening at low speeds. The wheel speed sensors become less accurate at low speeds as the time period between sensor pulses is extended. Rough or slippery surfaces exacerbate the problem, which could make the brake system think there is slip that might not be there, resulting in lower brake pressure. The result is a perceived loss of deceleration.

If these are the problems that the Prius is experiencing, they could be corrected with an update to the control software. However, that will take time for Toyota to calibrate and validate.

[Via http://yayativairale.wordpress.com]

BREAKING: Toyota: Can't stop 'em, can't stop 'em

News reports indicate that Toyota may have ongoing problems with its brake systems, as well as with its accelerators, which have recently forced a massive recall.

“The bottom line is,” said an upbeat Toyota spokesman, “You just can’t stop a Toyota!”

Brakes on the brand’s premier marque, the Prius, have been shown to fail, causing serious accidents and death.

[Via http://mytabloids.wordpress.com]

Toyota Recall: The Fix Is In

It hasn’t been a good month for Toyota. The embattled auto manufacturer had to recall more than 2-million of its most popular vehicles because of problems with the gas pedal sticking in the Go! position. However, Toyota says it now has a fix for the sticky accelerators, and parts should be hitting the dealerships this week.

The issue of sticky accelerators gained national attention back on August 28, 2009 when a San Diego resident, a veteran of the California Highway Patrol, lost control of his Lexus ES350 and crashed, killing the patrolman and 3 of his family members. The initial investigation linked the uncontrollable acceleration to an improperly installed floor mat jamming the pedal, and Toyota recalled nearly 3.8-million cars in September, 2009 to fix the floor mat issue.

Unfortunately, the problem of uncontrollable acceleration went beyond floor mats. On January 21, 2010, Toyota recalled more than 2-million more cars for issues linked to sticking accelerator pedals. They even stopped production of the affected vehicles, an unprecedented move.

The good news for Toyota owners, though, is that the fix is in. Toyota announced on February 1, 2010 that corrective parts should be arriving at dealerships this week.

Here is a list of the recalled vehicles. If you own one, be sure to contact your dealership immediately:

• 2009-2010 Toyota RAV4
• 2009-2010 Toyota Corolla
• 2009-2010 Toyota Matrix
• 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon
• 2007-2010 Toyota Camry
• 2010 Toyota Highlander
• 2008-2010 Toyota Sequoia
• 2007-2010 Toyota Tundra
• 2009-2010 Pontiac Vibe (the Vibe shares the same platform as the Matrix)

Sources: Washington Post, LA Times, Huffington Post

[Via http://autoanything.wordpress.com]

Toyota's crisis

Before us, in the colluseum of the auto industry, we have a crisis. The gladiator Toyota has fallen, gravely wounded by his own actions. While he lays broken and bleeding billions of dollars a day, the lions watch. Still licking thier own wounds of deception and indulgence, Ford, Chrysler and General Motors smell blood. They have waited for this moment of weakness. The glint is in their eye but their reputation is still far to weak to attack.

I sit as a neophyte practioner in the crowd watching the game. This is the stuff of textbooks. I look forward to the discussions of scholars, flacks and pundits over Tweets and glasses of wine.

[Via http://turnerangel.wordpress.com]

Sports book Agent – A Promise for a Lucrative Career

The state of the art facilities in betting online or over phone through price per head where the bookmaking business is outsourced to an offshore sports book has brought about a new outlook and dimension to betting activities. This feature has taken the game to the next higher level and allows the agents to keep the complete control over the players’ betting through a complete and detailed reporting, which can be, accessed 24/7.

The role of a betting sports book agent is extremely simple. All he does is to point the clients to a website or phone number at which they wager on the various sports or play the virtual casino with the help of a password provided either by the sport book or chosen by the agent. At the end of the week, the report from the Internet is retrieved and he pays or collects the sum that has been won or lost by his client. This is an extremely rewarding and promising career because no loss is incurred for any of the parties involved in it.

Sports book Industry is constantly expanding its horizons and hence the local bookmakers onshore could not compete with the prowess of the ever-widening offshore bookmaking. Offshore bookmaking allows the bookmaking agents to bring in the concept of globalization into their business. Without spending on the overhead costs and other confusions of maintaining a call center that operates 24/7, these sports book agents are able to own an offshore sports book operation. The sports book agent is keenly focused in improving his offshore business by providing optimum bookmaking service whereas all other issues related to offshore bookmaking such as handling accounts, attending phone calls and the like are managed by professionals.

The earning potential increases by geometric proportion as a sports book agent. The only best way to reach the pinnacle of financial success as a bookie is through a Price per Head provider who accepts and grades the wagers of your player irrespective of the size of the size of the operation. Further the onshore bookmaker is allowed to offer his client with an anonymous wagering solution. This enables the local betting agent to compete on par with offshore sports book agents. The players are assigned personal pin and password for which the agents are made to pay a meager sum as fee for the service every week.

Several offshore sports book agents are competing with one another to provide the best service to their clientele and maintain a strong hold in the industry. The small fee that is paid by the agent every week renders exceptional professional service that includes the up to-the-minute reporting system, high-end software and personnel with expertise. Thus the sports book agents help in redesigning the life style of their clients so that they spend more than enough time with their family or business. The software developed by various leading companies offer the ultimate sports book solution at affordable price tag in the shortest possible time. This turns the profession of a sport book agent into a lucrative career.

The top rated price per head is said to the ideal option to maximize the profits as a sports book agent and the intricacies are vividly explained in our website. Further the best sports betting software solutions are offered by providing exceptional sports betting software and sports book software.

[Via http://priceperheads.wordpress.com]

Bob Riley and Troy King: The Saga Continues

It’s well known that Alabama Governor Bob Riley and Attorney General, both Republicans, have been at odds with each other over issues of state governance most notably concerning the operation of bingo games, which state law allows, although its electronic form continues causing much consternation among them and Alabama jurists.

Troy King has recently come under fire for requesting judges in five counties to dismiss lawsuits cases the several District’s Attorneys have filed against the pharmacies of several “big box” pharmacy retailers for wrongfully filling prescriptions by substituting with generic medications instead when they were not specifically ordered. He may likely find himself answering to the Alabama Supreme Court – and possibly the State Bar Association – for his actions. He calls the DAs’ lawsuits against CVS Caremark Corporation, Rite Aid Corporation, Wal-Mart Stores and Walgreen Company for deceptive trade practice as “frivolous.”

Just to set the record straight, if you were specifically ordered to purchase a Ford, and you went to buy a Ford, had a piece of paper upon which were the instructions “Buy A Ford,” and were instead given a Toyota, which was represented as a Ford, would you believe that you were wronged?

[Via http://warmsouthernbreeze.wordpress.com]