The Compressed Air Car

Cars are fast becoming a contentious issue with environmental campaigners. They are beginning to be attacked for their carbon emissions and whoever doesn’t own a Prius doesn’t care about the health of the planet, so on and so forth. So the search, a long and so far fruitless search, goes on for an alternative to gasoline and diesel powered cars. In this article we will be exploring one such alternative: using compressed air as a fuel source.

We all know that compressed air is used in tires for our cars but is it really a viable alternative to traditional petrol? It would certainly make refueling easier as this could potentially be done at home with a personal air compressor. It would also render many components to your car useless and the overall weight of your car will decrease meaning allowing you to travel further with less fuel. No hazardous materials are necessary and, perhaps most importantly, it is 100% emission free. So why aren’t we all converting to compressed air vehicles?

While the prospect of refueling your car at home is appealing the process could take up to four hours using the built in air compressor. Filling the air tank at a service center would however only two or three minutes. It would also be extremely susceptible to icing or freezing, meaning that it could require heavily maintenance and safeguarding in winter months. Perhaps the final nail in the coffin is the fact that considerable energy loss occurs when electrical energy is converted to compressed air as the electric energy to compressed gas ratio is very poor.

With pros of being extremely environmentally friendly, costing less money to operate, and eliminating the need for many service and mechanical components, there are considerable draw backs to the concept. Refueling could take hours on end meaning that journeys will have to be planned well in advance and you will need to supply a lot of electrical energy to produce worthwhile compressed gas. The search continues.

Zune HD: Microsoft’s Answer to the iPod?

It seems as though Microsoft are always playing catch up to Apple. While Bill Gates & Co have always seemed to lead the way when it came to personal computing, they are forever behind in the mobile technology industry, and the iPod consistently outsells the Zune. However is that about to change?

There has been much excitement surrounding the new Zune HD multimedia player. Essentially created to rival Apple’s iPod Touch, the Zune offers some features which the iPod does not:

•    HD Radio
•    HD Video playback
•    OLED display

As well as this the new Zune HD incorporates all of its old features as well. It also supports Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and there is talk of it supporting flash and video streaming through its Wi-Fi.

However one point of contention is its storage capacity. At 32 GB it is well equipped to deal with even the most serious music lovers; however when it comes to high definition things are a little different. If you plan to use the new Zune as a high definition device then don’t count on storing many movies on it as the average HD films is around 4-6 GB in size. As well as this there have been some negative reviews surrounding the size of its screen. At 3.3 inches many feel that it is too small to effectively warrant watching feature length high definition videos, unless you’re near a television and can utilize the video docking station and output it to an HDTV via the HDMI connection.

What do we make of the new Microsoft Zune HD? It is certainly a powerful device. We should have already mentioned that it packs Nvidia’s multicore Tegra processor. It also has a bit of an edge over the iPhone in terms of its ability to transmit HD radio and HD video playback. Also, if rumors are true and it is able to stream online video then this will be another blow to Apple in terms of features and functionality. It remains to be seen how the Zune will be priced, however don’t expect it to be any cheaper than the latest iPod touch.

Is Italy Surviving the Automobile Recession?

The automobile recession seems to be taking no prisoners as it slowly chips away at sales and profits all over the globe. However, last year there was one country that at first sight appeared to be surviving the credit crunch as it seemingly devoured all others. In 2008, the Italian automobile industry appeared to be riding out the storm; however 2009 has brought it back down to earth.

Amazingly, the Italian automobile industry contributes over 11% of the Italian GDP - and when Italy has never been the most economically affluent nation in Europe - a decrease in this percentage could spell disaster. Over 300,000 jobs are currently at risk as the recession finally bites on the Iberian Peninsula, and the GDP is expected to fall by a staggering 5.1% by the end of 2009. Industrially, this will be a nightmare for the Italians who rely heavily on this sector to keep their economy afloat.

Over the last few months, car giant FIAT has taken some drastic steps in their factories throughout Italy:

• In Torino, production was halted for nearly 3 weeks for over 1500 workers
• The Palermo factory has seen thousands working just 1 week per month
• In Potenza, FIAT have introduced 2 weeks on 2 weeks off
• And in Naples, over 2000 shop floor workers have been made redundant.

The benefits of Italy’s own ‘Cash for clunkers’ program, where the government offers incentives of up to 1,500 Euro’s towards buying a new car  (hybrid or natural gas vehicle), are not yet being felt. That is not to say that they will never reap any rewards from this program; they just aren’t evident yet.

It seems the international car industry has felt one of the worst effects of the global recession and Italy is now no exception to this. While it may have weathered the storm last year, the inevitable has set in. Car sales are projected to decrease by 20% by the end of 2009 and even though a stimulus package is in place, the future is looking a bit dim for the Italian car industry.

Tips for Buying a Used Car Online

So your old banger has finally decided to pack it in? Or maybe some girls laughed at you when you drove past them in the street and the bumper decided to make an escape and fall off? Whatever your reason, you’re looking for a new car. The Internet has truly revolutionized the way we purchase and trade goods and the automobile industry is no exception. Things can be bought much cheaper on the net as opposed to many ‘physical’ stores and cars are sometimes included in this assertion. However, proceed with caution: this article will hopefully enlighten you in the art of buying your car online.

First of all, research, research, research. And then research again. Use sites like autotrader.com and whatcar.com to get a realistic price range for the type of car or model that your want. Also if you are buying through eBay then search for similar models to the one you are interested in to see what price they were sold for to give you a better idea if you are being ripped off or not. Also research the seller. Are they reputable? Have they sold before? Do they have positive feedback or a good trading score? Take all this into consideration.

If the car is advertised locally, or somewhere you can visit, then go and see it first. An online seller may provide several photographs of the vehicle; however photographs can be easily manipulated. So it is best to check it out in person if at all possible to make sure that there are no unwanted dents or bits of rust lurking on the bodywork. Also, go to your local DMV or registry to run a lien check (HPI check in UK) on the car you are thinking of buying.

The car has a clean CarFax, I’m Good Right?

Many car ads online also include free vehicle history reports but don’t accept these at face value. Run your own vehicle history report using the VIN of the vehicle that you are looking at to see if there are any problems or red flags. Chances are the vehicle you are looking at includes a free carfax report, but for vehicles purchased in Canada these reports are often incomplete. Try running a report on CarProof. CarProof reports typically contain more up-to-date information than CarFax, especially for Canadian vehicles.

The internet can yield great results when looking for a new car; but caution is advised. If something is too good to be true then chances are it probably is. By following these brief guidelines and some common sense then you could really grab a bargain on the net. Bottom line, trust your gut. If you don’t feel comfortable just walk away.