Joe’s Blog

When I was in Germany, I took part in a driving-safety course at the ADAC Centre in Linthe

The course covered some useful issues such as emergency braking in the dry and the wet, the effect of ABS and ESP and braking on slippery surfaces going downhill and on bends.

This video shows one of the participants trying to avoid jets of water that pop up randomly. You can barely see how the wheels lock up and ABS kicks in to unlock them. Unfortunately for that car, it was on “summer” tyres and wasn’t half as good as cars on the softer winter tyres. Whatever about electronics, the right tyres can make a difference of 40 yards when braking even at a reasonable speed.

One rather unusual thing about the German license too - it never expires! They have a date of birth, a date for when the card was issued and a simple dash for 4b (expiry date).

It also fits nicely into a wallet

I’m a Mercedes SLK!

You appreciate the finer things in life. You have a split personality - wild or conservative, depending on your mood. Wherever you go, you like to travel first class. Luxury, style, and fun - who could ask for more?

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Via Paul at Segala who is a Ferrari 360 Modena

A Better Deal for Young Drivers - Young Fine Gael Campaign

Via Eamon - www.piss-screen.de (safe for work)

Blackle may not help according to the official Google blog

To the contrary, on flat-panel monitors (already estimated to be 75% of the market), displaying black may actually increase energy usage

Photoshop contest: worth1000.com

Whitehat SEO tips for bloggers

Big shout out to Denis in Paris; Ilona Mitrecey - Un Monde Parfait (A perfect world)

While looking for this I came across some good sites for finding past chart hits in Germany - www.charts-surfer.de and Schlager der Woche which shows that young Ilona was beaten by a German/US/British pop group made famous by RTL II called US5

Can you add to this video from Google? - Add your clip to this video

I was up in Dublin last weekend to see some of the family and going-away drinks for a good friend. I’m getting more used to driving in Dublin and decided to park in town to go out on Sat night.
I found basic info about on-street parkin neatly presented on the AA site: On Street Parking for: Dublin

• Maximum parking time is 3 hours
• Payment times:
• Check Pay & Display machines or street signage.
• Usually 7am - 7pm Monday to Saturday
• 2pm to 6pm Sunday (city centre only)

And the map on their page doesn’t seem to work but I found it
at the bottom of this page or try this link: