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The Tech on the new C-Class

So I thought my post on my test drive of the C-Class was lacking information on some of the cool tech we saw on this car, and seeing as I am a tech person I thought i should add some of my though.
First, the "new" command system which you can see in this picture

The screen that you see is the command systems screen, and its foldable so its hides itself very well, great so when its parked on the street its not screaming to be broken in too. To control the system, you use a dial in the center console much like the i-Drive... OK, dont start to sigh, this is not like the i-Drive at all. It only shares the dial with it, but this is much easier! First, right above the climate control are tradition buttons that are used to access main systems like Radio, Navigation and etc. You push these buttons to get to to the main screen for the function and from that point on you use the dial nob to make all the changes (sub menus, changing stations, entering in address) you need. Very simple, and light years ahead of the i-Drive system you will find on BMW's. The simple buttons for main function helps out a lot from getting confused, and I think by the waiting to see how the i-Drive went and then applied lesson learned to there own system. Behind this its power by a Hard Drive (not much detail given) which is not to shocking as the new S-Class is already shipping with a Hard Drive to hold the map information. Also it will have Bluetooth support and iPod, something you expect with all car. I did not test with the iPhone because, It did not just come to mind but I should have.

Now the real cool thing i love about this, during the presentation they mention that they have teamed up with Yahoo Local Maps and Google Maps to allow you to UPLOAD your destination address straight to your car! Now the catch is you need to be subscribed to Tele Aid (MB's version of On Star, works great as I have it on my S-Class) but this is a nice feature as many times I will look up places to go to on my computer before i leave (like Yelp! ) only to copy the address, go to the car and enter it all in (which is a PINTA on the old Command System). Another interesting thing, this is another case of Google and Yahoo teaming up with each other in recent months, The last major thing I could think off would be the iPhone which has Yahoo Push E-Mail and Yahoo Weather but then uses Google Maps. I just find this interesting and maybe showing the two teaming up, and may I start a rumor about a merge?

There is some other driving tech, which I would love to get in too more (like leveling suspension) but not much info was given at the party or in the information given but you can read my driving review for information.
Oh one thing I left out was about the tranny on the C-Class, but as it was something old for me (The S-Class shipped with 7-Speeds a while) and its just smooth and great. I just thought 1st gear was too tall but otherwise good under stress, but its no Sport transmission. With no flappy paddles and no true way to control the gear shifting. It will only allow you to set a max gear, so by pushing the side gear lever to say 3, it means you will have 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gear available. Its best just to put it in Sport mode. If you want a manual, you can order one with it, but they stated only 2% will be brought to the US with manual transmission.

Technorati Tags: Automotive, C Class, Mercedes Benz

Hands On: New 2008 C-Class at “The C Drive” Event

Seeing a lot of people acting like they write for mags got me in the mood so when Merc sent me the invite for the C Drive Event i had to say yes, and got a friend to come along. Link here for info on the C Drive event: http://www.themercedescdrive.com/

So first the review of the car, they had both C300 and C350 on hand to drive, with both Sport and in Luxury trim. I drove both C300 and C350 in Sport Trim with 7-Speeds Auto. The layout was not closed course in SF but on city streets and they had a lead driver while you drove the car yourself and pretty much free to do anything you wanted as long as you followed the lead car. So it was more “real world” less racing.

The first car i drove, the C300 Sport.
Actually I got in the car at first thinking it was the 350, assuming they all where 350's (actually i got in to the ONLY 300 in Sport they had out) and the specs on the car say its 228hp @ 6,000 rpm and 221ft-lb @ 2,700 but you could not feel it. Even with traction control off, just getting the rear tires to make a little noise was not going to happen. Low End/Off the Line it just felt slow and lumbering, while mid range power felt good for that burst of power to over take. And high end was Ok but could not test that much. Just not won over with it. And with the Estimated 7.3 sec to 60, you can see why. My GTI is faster with VW figures and if you listen to R&T, its way faster.

Handling was hard to test as we had a lot of stop and turns, and was the first drive so did not want to push the limit but the car steering felt very Merc and not very sport. Light, with a little weight and not much talking back. Also because its a Merc, so even with traction off its not.. Trying to mash the pedal in a corner and you will see the engine cut out and it trys to stop you. And the lack of power is not helping. On the 2nd drive my friend was in the C300 and was behind me and he was able to get the back end to go a little on a turn but he also said it was not very easy and for him.

2nd Car i drove was then the C350 Sport and things looked up. Here you can feel the real power on the car, and getting the tire smoking is no real hard job with even the nanny ESP that is always on. This is when compared to my GTI which is a I4 Turbo 2.0l developing only 200hp you get the same feeling which is not good. I think it has to do with the Auto Tranny the Mercs use as they dont read line in 1st gear and is a traditional tranny (vs a DSG used in the VW). Also the extra weight, the C300 weighs and extra 120lb over the GTI and the GTI is already a porky car. But getting on the freeway and i think maybe i would enjoy it more, as I was able to push over 60mph in a city block before braking. So it had grunt, and felt nice but for such a large motor you expect more.
Something also big is fuel consumption is CRAP. The specs they had on the board listed the 300 as having 18/26 which is pretty bad. Compared to the 328i which gets 20/29mpg and a GTI which is 23/32mpg.

Handling on the 350 was much of the same as the 300, but maybe a little more weighted. As it was my 2nd go i was pushing the limits a bit more, and the brakes where very good. Much better then the C280 i would drive as a loaner. But in both cases I think it still handles like a Merc but its good. As for the suspension they claim to be using some sort of leveling system during the pre drive talk and they might. On the pot holes and etc, it was much nicer then my GTI which is really stiff and in the turns it was level, so you where confident as you where entering in the turns. The steering was just a bit too light for me even as the lower speeds as you feel you might over steer the car. This is where both my friend and I agreed on, that the suspension setup was nice, but too light steering.

Exterior, this car looks stunning and i think a lot better over the the out going C-Class. My friend did not like it alot, sayin it looked a bit 3-ish to him but i thought it look nice. I would give it a 10/10 on this as i really hated the old C-Class and was the reason i did not think about them when i was shopping for my GTI.

Interior, again a big improvement over the old C-Class but not a 10. The new Command for this car rocks, but the control is too close to the arm rest and just a little touch will activate it (so like a stop lights as i would rest my hand it would change stations.. Very annoying) but it also has buttons for everything so if you get lost or confuse you can fall back to buttons which is very good. Its also coming with a HD and you can send directions to it from the internet which is very cool. Build quality is vastly improved for the old C Class which just felt cheap but its not breaking new ground or something. Also the seats where just very unsporting. See the photos, they just suck. I guess its just coming up to par with the 3 Series and Audi A4 which it never did before

The event itself was great, very professionally done by Merc of USA. They had free cookies and milk “shots”, Fiji water, Free Espresso Machine setup, booths in the lounge from other companies like offering samples of various things, including a kit for whitening your teeth so i guess they are saying the new C-Class is for people like Hammond. But i think he would hate it, because its not really that sporty. I think a 3-Series would more more, or even a GTI. Its still sticks to Mercs idea of Luxury first, Sport second which is something they tried to dispel during the intro briefing but its just not true. Anyways, I think its Merc first real stab at the 3 Series and that is good.
Time for photos (more here at http://www.flickr.com/photos/zuhaib/sets/72157601229533300/)

My Badge

Intro talk about the new C Class

The car they had for the test driving

A C Class in Luxury Trim.

A

Technorati Tags: Automotive, C Class, Mercedes Benz

Apple iPhone availability

Well if you a geek like me, you might actually look at the source code of websites, well i did.
And at the Apple iPhone site, http://www.apple.com/retail/iphone/ , there is some interesting tidbits. If you look at the code, you will see first they have hard coded if statements for every day up to Sunday for the availability which seems odd to me. But even more interesting is that you can see the links to the Tables with that information for availability for days in the future! Right now the only one that matters is the one for Sunday, and if your like me waiting it seems good.
If you look at the bit below, you will see that for every Apple store, they are listing that for Sunday there will be iPhone's available (“available”:true). Now this could be because maybe Apple is planing to stock the stores fully for the opening weekend and then trail off the supply after monday. Some might say it might be because of lack of demand, but, for them to predict supplies i would not think so at lest not with what i am seeing. Oh well, have fun!
Here is a copy and past of the code (Link: http://www.apple.com/retail/iphone/feeds/iphone_sun.json)

{“date”:“Sun, 1 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0700”,“states”:{“AL”:[{“name”:“The Summit”,“storeid”:“R225”,“city”:“Birmingham”,“url”:“\/retail\/thesummit\/”,“available”:true}],
“AZ”:[{“name”:“Chandler Fashion Center”,“storeid”:“R026”,“city”:“Chandler”,“url”:“\/retail\/chandler\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Biltmore”,“storeid”:“R031”,“city”:“Phoenix”,“url”:“\/retail\/biltmore\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“La Encantada”,“storeid”:“R086”,“city”:“Tucson”,“url”:“\/retail\/laencantada\/”,“available”:true}],
“CA”:[{“name”:“Glendale Galleria”,“storeid”:“R001”,“city”:“Glendale”,“url”:“\/retail\/glendale\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Palo Alto”,“storeid”:“R002”,“city”:“Palo Alto”,“url”:“\/retail\/paloalto\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“South Coast Plaza”,“storeid”:“R004”,“city”:“Costa Mesa”,“url”:“\/retail\/southcoastplaza\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Walnut Creek”,“storeid”:“R014”,“city”:“Walnut Creek”,“url”:“\/retail\/walnutcreek\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Fashion Island”,“storeid”:“R015”,“city”:“Newport Beach”,“url”:“\/retail\/fashionisland\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Northridge”,“storeid”:“R023”,“city”:“Northridge”,“url”:“\/retail\/northridge\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Burlingame”,“storeid”:“R029”,“city”:“Burlingame”,“url”:“\/retail\/burlingame\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Stonestown”,“storeid”:“R033”,“city”:“San Francisco”,“url”:“\/retail\/stonestown\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Pasadena”,“storeid”:“R034”,“city”:“Pasadena”,“url”:“\/retail\/pasadena\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Valley Fair”,“storeid”:“R039”,“city”:“Santa Clara”,“url”:“\/retail\/valleyfair\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Fashion Valley”,“storeid”:“R040”,“city”:“San Diego”,“url”:“\/retail\/fashionvalley\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Santa Rosa Plaza”,“storeid”:“R044”,“city”:“Santa Rosa”,“url”:“\/retail\/santarosaplaza\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“The Grove”,“storeid”:“R050”,“city”:“Los Angeles”,“url”:“\/retail\/thegrove\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Third Street Promenade”,“storeid”:“R051”,“city”:“Santa Monica”,“url”:“\/retail\/thirdstreetpromenade\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Bay Street”,“storeid”:“R057”,“city”:“Emeryville”,“url”:“\/retail\/baystreet\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Mission Viejo”,“storeid”:“R069”,“city”:“Mission Viejo”,“url”:“\/retail\/missionviejo\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Arden Fair”,“storeid”:“R070”,“city”:“Sacramento”,“url”:“\/retail\/ardenfair\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Corte Madera”,“storeid”:“R071”,“city”:“Corte Madera”,“url”:“\/retail\/cortemadera\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“San Francisco”,“storeid”:“R075”,“city”:“San Francisco”,“url”:“\/retail\/sanfrancisco\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“UTC”,“storeid”:“R082”,“city”:“San Diego”,“url”:“\/retail\/utc\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Victoria Gardens”,“storeid”:“R094”,“city”:“Rancho Cucamonga”,“url”:“\/retail\/victoriagardens\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Stanford Shopping Center”,“storeid”:“R099”,“city”:“Palo Alto”,“url”:“\/retail\/stanford\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Stoneridge Mall”,“storeid”:“R101”,“city”:“Pleasanton”,“url”:“\/retail\/stoneridgemall\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Oakridge”,“storeid”:“R105”,“city”:“San Jose”,“url”:“\/retail\/oakridge\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Century City”,“storeid”:“R108”,“city”:“Los Angeles”,“url”:“\/retail\/centurycity\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Manhattan Village”,“storeid”:“R122”,“city”:“Manhattan Beach”,“url”:“\/retail\/manhattanvillage\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Beverly Center”,“storeid”:“R124”,“city”:“Los Angeles”,“url”:“\/retail\/beverlycenter”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Irvine Spectrum Center”,“storeid”:“R146”,“city”:“Irvine”,“url”:“\/retail\/irvinespectrum\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Sherman Oaks”,“storeid”:“R148”,“city”:“Sherman Oaks”,“url”:“\/retail\/shermanoaks\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“The Oaks”,“storeid”:“R154”,“city”:“Thousand Oaks”,“url”:“\/retail\/theoaks\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Brea Mall”,“storeid”:“R156”,“city”:“Brea”,“url”:“\/retail\/breamall\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Simi Valley”,“storeid”:“R171”,“city”:“Simi Valley”,“url”:“\/retail\/simivalley\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Topanga”,“storeid”:“R189”,“city”:“Canoga Park”,“url”:“\/retail\/topanga\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Higuera Street”,“storeid”:“R199”,“city”:“San Luis Obispo”,“url”:“\/retail\/higuerastreet\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Otay Ranch”,“storeid”:“R213”,“city”:“Chula Vista”,“url”:“\/retail\/otayranch\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Fashion Fair”,“storeid”:“R236”,“city”:“Fresno”,“url”:“\/retail\/fashionfair\/”,“available”:true}],
“CO”:[{“name”:“Aspen Grove”,“storeid”:“R030”,“city”:“Littleton”,“url”:“\/retail\/aspengrove\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Cherry Creek”,“storeid”:“R047”,“city”:“Denver”,“url”:“\/retail\/cherrycreek\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Twenty Ninth Street”,“storeid”:“R172”,“city”:“Boulder”,“url”:“\/retail\/twentyninthstreet\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“FlatIron Crossing”,“storeid”:“R182”,“city”:“Broomfield”,“url”:“\/retail\/flatironcrossing\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Park Meadows”,“storeid”:“R228”,“city”:“Lone Tree”,“url”:“\/retail\/parkmeadows\/”,“available”:true}],
“CT”:[{“name”:“Westfarms”,“storeid”:“R025”,“city”:“Farmington”,“url”:“\/retail\/westfarms\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Danbury Fair Mall”,“storeid”:“R093”,“city”:“Danbury”,“url”:“\/retail\/danburyfairmall\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Stamford”,“storeid”:“R202”,“city”:“Stamford”,“url”:“\/retail\/stamford\/”,“available”:true}],
“DE”:[{“name”:“Christiana Mall”,“storeid”:“R102”,“city”:“Newark”,“url”:“\/retail\/christianamall\/”,“available”:true}],
“FL”:[{“name”:“The Falls”,“storeid”:“R012”,“city”:“Miami”,“url”:“\/retail\/thefalls\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“International Plaza”,“storeid”:“R019”,“city”:“Tampa”,“url”:“\/retail\/plaza\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Wellington Green”,“storeid”:“R024”,“city”:“Wellington”,“url”:“\/retail\/wellingtongreen\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Millenia”,“storeid”:“R053”,“city”:“Orlando”,“url”:“\/retail\/millenia\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Boca Raton”,“storeid”:“R074”,“city”:“Boca Raton”,“url”:“\/retail\/bocaraton\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Aventura”,“storeid”:“R087”,“city”:“Aventura”,“url”:“\/retail\/aventura\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“St. Johns Town Center”,“storeid”:“R111”,“city”:“Jacksonville”,“url”:“\/retail\/stjohnstowncenter\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Lincoln Road”,“storeid”:“R115”,“city”:“Miami Beach”,“url”:“\/retail\/lincolnroad\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“The Gardens Mall”,“storeid”:“R127”,“city”:“Palm Beach Gardens”,“url”:“\/retail\/thegardensmall\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Florida Mall”,“storeid”:“R143”,“city”:“Orlando”,“url”:“\/retail\/floridamall\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Waterside Shops”,“storeid”:“R169”,“city”:“Naples”,“url”:“\/retail\/watersideshops\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Coconut Point”,“storeid”:“R185”,“city”:“Estero”,“url”:“\/retail\/coconutpoint\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“The Galleria”,“storeid”:“R214”,“city”:“Fort Lauderdale”,“url”:“\/retail\/thegalleria\/”,“available”:true}],
“GA”:[{“name”:“Lenox Square”,“storeid”:“R006”,“city”:“Atlanta”,“url”:“\/retail\/lenoxsquare\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“North Point”,“storeid”:“R080”,“city”:“Alpharetta”,“url”:“\/retail\/northpoint\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Perimeter”,“storeid”:“R184”,“city”:“Atlanta”,“url”:“\/retail\/perimeter\/”,“available”:true}],
“HI”:[{“name”:“Ala Moana”,“storeid”:“R073”,“city”:“Honolulu”,“url”:“\/retail\/alamoana\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Kahala”,“storeid”:“R210”,“city”:“Honolulu”,“url”:“\/retail\/kahala\/”,“available”:true}],
“IA”:[{“name”:“Jordan Creek”,“storeid”:“R109”,“city”:“West Des Moines”,“url”:“\/retail\/jordancreek\/”,“available”:true}],
“IL”:[{“name”:“Woodfield”,“storeid”:“R018”,“city”:“Schaumburg”,“url”:“\/retail\/woodfield\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“North Michigan Avenue”,“storeid”:“R035”,“city”:“Chicago”,“url”:“\/retail\/northmichiganavenue\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Oakbrook”,“storeid”:“R056”,“city”:“Oak Brook”,“url”:“\/retail\/oakbrook\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Old Orchard”,“storeid”:“R089”,“city”:“Skokie”,“url”:“\/retail\/oldorchard\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Northbrook”,“storeid”:“R141”,“city”:“Northbrook”,“url”:“\/retail\/northbrook\/”,“available”:true}],
“IN”:[{“name”:“Keystone”,“storeid”:“R066”,“city”:“Indianapolis”,“url”:“\/retail\/keystone\/”,“available”:true}],
“MA”:[{“name”:“Northshore”,“storeid”:“R011”,“city”:“Peabody”,“url”:“\/retail\/northshore\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Cambridgeside”,“storeid”:“R021”,“city”:“Cambridge”,“url”:“\/retail\/cambridgeside\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Chestnut Hill”,“storeid”:“R076”,“city”:“Chestnut Hill”,“url”:“\/retail\/chestnuthill\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“South Shore”,“storeid”:“R110”,“city”:“Braintree”,“url”:“\/retail\/southshore\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Derby Street”,“storeid”:“R137”,“city”:“Hingham”,“url”:“\/retail\/derbystreet\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Burlington”,“storeid”:“R155”,“city”:“Burlington”,“url”:“\/retail\/burlington\/”,“available”:true}],
“MD”:[{“name”:“Towson Town Center”,“storeid”:“R063”,“city”:“Towson”,“url”:“\/retail\/towson\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Montgomery Mall”,“storeid”:“R084”,“city”:“Bethesda”,“url”:“\/retail\/montgomerymall\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Bethesda Row”,“storeid”:“R112”,“city”:“Bethesda”,“url”:“\/retail\/bethesdarow\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Annapolis”,“storeid”:“R142”,“city”:“Annapolis”,“url”:“\/retail\/annapolis\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Columbia”,“storeid”:“R168”,“city”:“Columbia”,“url”:“\/retail\/columbia\/”,“available”:true}],
“MI”:[{“name”:“Twelve Oaks”,“storeid”:“R041”,“city”:“Novi”,“url”:“\/retail\/twelveoaks\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Somerset”,“storeid”:“R055”,“city”:“Troy”,“url”:“\/retail\/somerset\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Woodland”,“storeid”:“R132”,“city”:“Grand Rapids”,“url”:“\/retail\/woodland\/”,“available”:true}],
“MN”:[{“name”:“Mall of America”,“storeid”:“R007”,“city”:“Bloomington”,“url”:“\/retail\/mallofamerica\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Rosedale Center”,“storeid”:“R022”,“city”:“Roseville”,“url”:“\/retail\/rosedalecenter\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Southdale”,“storeid”:“R054”,“city”:“Edina”,“url”:“\/retail\/southdale\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Ridgedale”,“storeid”:“R183”,“city”:“Minnetonka”,“url”:“\/retail\/ridgedale\/”,“available”:true}],
“MO”:[{“name”:“West County”,“storeid”:“R062”,“city”:“Des Peres”,“url”:“\/retail\/westcounty\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Country Club Plaza”,“storeid”:“R097”,“city”:“Kansas City”,“url”:“\/retail\/countryclubplaza\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Saint Louis Galleria”,“storeid”:“R114”,“city”:“Saint Louis”,“url”:“\/retail\/saintlouisgalleria\/”,“available”:true}],
“NC”:[{“name”:“Southpoint”,“storeid”:“R049”,“city”:“Durham”,“url”:“\/retail\/southpoint\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“SouthPark”,“storeid”:“R083”,“city”:“Charlotte”,“url”:“\/retail\/southpark\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Crabtree Valley Mall”,“storeid”:“R116”,“city”:“Raleigh”,“url”:“\/retail\/crabtreevalleymall\/”,“available”:true}],
“NE”:[{“name”:“Village Pointe”,“storeid”:“R190”,“city”:“Omaha”,“url”:“\/retail\/villagepointe\/”,“available”:true}],
“NH”:[{“name”:“Rockingham Park”,“storeid”:“R027”,“city”:“Salem”,“url”:“\/retail\/rockinghampark\/”,“available”:true}],
“NJ”:[{“name”:“Tice's Corner”,“storeid”:“R013”,“city”:“Woodcliff Lake”,“url”:“\/retail\/tices\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Short Hills”,“storeid”:“R043”,“city”:“Short Hills”,“url”:“\/retail\/shorthills\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Menlo Park”,“storeid”:“R067”,“city”:“Edison”,“url”:“\/retail\/menlopark\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Sagemore”,“storeid”:“R088”,“city”:“Marlton”,“url”:“\/retail\/sagemore\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Rockaway”,“storeid”:“R103”,“city”:“Rockaway”,“url”:“\/retail\/rockaway\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Bridgewater”,“storeid”:“R104”,“city”:“Bridgewater”,“url”:“\/retail\/bridgewater\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Garden State Plaza”,“storeid”:“R117”,“city”:“Paramus”,“url”:“\/retail\/gardenstateplaza\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Freehold Raceway Mall”,“storeid”:“R138”,“city”:“Freehold”,“url”:“\/retail\/freeholdracewaymall\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“The Pier”,“storeid”:“R173”,“city”:“Atlantic City”,“url”:“\/retail\/thepier\/”,“available”:true}],
“NM”:[{“name”:“ABQ Uptown”,“storeid”:“R177”,“city”:“Albuquerque”,“url”:“\/retail\/abquptown\/”,“available”:true}],
“NV”:[{“name”:“Fashion Show”,“storeid”:“R064”,“city”:“Las Vegas”,“url”:“\/retail\/fashionshow\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Summit Sierra”,“storeid”:“R186”,“city”:“Reno”,“url”:“\/retail\/summitsierra\/”,“available”:true}],
“NY”:[{“name”:“Walden Galleria”,“storeid”:“R016”,“city”:“Buffalo”,“url”:“\/retail\/walden\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Crossgates”,“storeid”:“R017”,“city”:“Albany”,“url”:“\/retail\/crossgates\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“SoHo”,“storeid”:“R032”,“city”:“New York City”,“url”:“\/retail\/soho\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Palisades”,“storeid”:“R046”,“city”:“West Nyack”,“url”:“\/retail\/palisades\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Roosevelt Field”,“storeid”:“R060”,“city”:“Garden City”,“url”:“\/retail\/rooseveltfield\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“The Westchester”,“storeid”:“R061”,“city”:“White Plains”,“url”:“\/retail\/thewestchester\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Walt Whitman”,“storeid”:“R068”,“city”:“Huntington Station”,“url”:“\/retail\/waltwhitman\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Fifth Avenue”,“storeid”:“R095”,“city”:“New York City”,“url”:“\/retail\/fifthavenue\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Carousel”,“storeid”:“R107”,“city”:“Syracuse”,“url”:“\/retail\/carousel\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Smith Haven”,“storeid”:“R139”,“city”:“Lake Grove”,“url”:“\/retail\/smithhaven\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Eastview”,“storeid”:“R140”,“city”:“Victor”,“url”:“\/retail\/eastview\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Staten Island”,“storeid”:“R152”,“city”:“Staten Island”,“url”:“\/retail\/statenisland\/”,“available”:true}],
“OH”:[{“name”:“Easton Town Center”,“storeid”:“R009”,“city”:“Columbus”,“url”:“\/retail\/easton\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Kenwood Towne Centre”,“storeid”:“R028”,“city”:“Cincinnati”,“url”:“\/retail\/kenwood\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Legacy Village”,“storeid”:“R081”,“city”:“Lyndhurst”,“url”:“\/retail\/legacyvillage\/”,“available”:true}],
“OK”:[{“name”:“Penn Square”,“storeid”:“R130”,“city”:“Oklahoma City”,“url”:“\/retail\/pennsquare\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Woodland Hills”,“storeid”:“R233”,“city”:“Tulsa”,“url”:“\/retail\/woodlandhills\/”,“available”:true}],
“OR”:[{“name”:“Pioneer Place”,“storeid”:“R077”,“city”:“Portland”,“url”:“\/retail\/pioneerplace\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Washington Square”,“storeid”:“R090”,“city”:“Tigard”,“url”:“\/retail\/washingtonsquare\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Bridgeport Village”,“storeid”:“R134”,“city”:“Tigard”,“url”:“\/retail\/bridgeportvillage\/”,“available”:true}],
“PA”:[{“name”:“King of Prussia”,“storeid”:“R065”,“city”:“King of Prussia”,“url”:“\/retail\/kingofprussia\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Shadyside”,“storeid”:“R096”,“city”:“Pittsburgh”,“url”:“\/retail\/shadyside\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“South Hills Village”,“storeid”:“R147”,“city”:“Pittsburgh”,“url”:“\/retail\/southhillsvillage\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Suburban Square”,“storeid”:“R166”,“city”:“Ardmore”,“url”:“\/retail\/suburbansquare\/”,“available”:true}],
“RI”:[{“name”:“Providence Place”,“storeid”:“R167”,“city”:“Providence”,“url”:“\/retail\/providenceplace\/”,“available”:true}],
“TN”:[{“name”:“Saddle Creek”,“storeid”:“R020”,“city”:“Germantown”,“url”:“\/retail\/saddlecreek\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Green Hills”,“storeid”:“R123”,“city”:“Nashville”,“url”:“\/retail\/greenhills\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“West Town Mall”,“storeid”:“R203”,“city”:“Knoxville”,“url”:“\/retail\/westtownmall\/”,“available”:true}],
“TX”:[{“name”:“Willow Bend”,“storeid”:“R008”,“city”:“Plano”,“url”:“\/retail\/willowbend\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Knox Street”,“storeid”:“R042”,“city”:“Highland Park”,“url”:“\/retail\/knoxstreet\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Houston Galleria”,“storeid”:“R058”,“city”:“Houston”,“url”:“\/retail\/houstongalleria\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Barton Creek”,“storeid”:“R085”,“city”:“Austin”,“url”:“\/retail\/bartoncreek\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“The Woodlands”,“storeid”:“R126”,“city”:“The Woodlands”,“url”:“\/retail\/thewoodlands\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“La Cantera”,“storeid”:“R131”,“city”:“San Antonio”,“url”:“\/retail\/lacantera\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“NorthPark Center”,“storeid”:“R144”,“city”:“Dallas”,“url”:“\/retail\/northparkcenter\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Southlake Town Square”,“storeid”:“R151”,“city”:“Southlake”,“url”:“\/retail\/southlaketownsquare\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Memorial City”,“storeid”:“R164”,“city”:“Houston”,“url”:“\/retail\/memorialcity\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Baybrook”,“storeid”:“R204”,“city”:“Friendswood”,“url”:“\/retail\/baybrook\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“First Colony Mall”,“storeid”:“R205”,“city”:“Sugar Land”,“url”:“\/retail\/firstcolonymall\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“The Domain”,“storeid”:“R216”,“city”:“Austin”,“url”:“\/retail\/thedomain\/”,“available”:true}],
“UT”:[{“name”:“The Gateway”,“storeid”:“R125”,“city”:“Salt Lake City”,“url”:“\/retail\/thegateway\/”,“available”:true}],
“VA”:[{“name”:“Tysons Corner”,“storeid”:“R010”,“city”:“McLean”,“url”:“\/retail\/tysons\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Clarendon”,“storeid”:“R036”,“city”:“Arlington”,“url”:“\/retail\/clarendon\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Short Pump Town Center”,“storeid”:“R078”,“city”:“Richmond”,“url”:“\/retail\/shortpump\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Pentagon City”,“storeid”:“R129”,“city”:“Arlington”,“url”:“\/retail\/pentagoncity\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“MacArthur Center”,“storeid”:“R211”,“city”:“Norfolk”,“url”:“\/retail\/macarthurcenter\/”,“available”:true}],
“WA”:[{“name”:“Bellevue Square”,“storeid”:“R003”,“city”:“Bellevue Square”,“url”:“\/retail\/bellevuesquare\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“University Village”,“storeid”:“R072”,“city”:“Seattle”,“url”:“\/retail\/universityvillage\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Alderwood Mall”,“storeid”:“R100”,“city”:“Lynnwood”,“url”:“\/retail\/alderwoodmall\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Southcenter”,“storeid”:“R106”,“city”:“Tukwila”,“url”:“\/retail\/southcenter\/”,“available”:true}],
“WI”:[{“name”:“Mayfair”,“storeid”:“R059”,“city”:“Wauwatosa”,“url”:“\/retail\/mayfair\/”,“available”:true},{“name”:“Bayshore”,“storeid”:“R257”,“city”:“Glendale”,“url”:“\/retail\/bayshore\/”,“available”:true}]}}

Technorati Tags: Apple, apple.com, hacks, iPhone, Tips

Jury duty, oh fun

So here i am at jury duty so i thought i should update the blog. 
Like here is a link to my Jaiku :Zuhaib's - Jaiku
Flickr: http://flickr.com/photos/zuhaib/

What else, well i am sitting here paying $6 for a day of WiFi.  You think with the city that is pushing free wifi, they would provide free wifi at the court house.  Oh well.
Off to find a cup of coffee

30 Days with PlayStation 3

[H] Does it again, this time with PS3 for 30 days.

read more | digg story

Orkut and Censoring (and myself!)

Well it seems my little comment to Boing Boing was worth something, as i got my little two cents on the front page, here http://www.boingboing.net/2007/03/13/india_googles_orkut_.html.
Thank got they cleaned it up, my Java skills are better then my English (which is not much, as i love C++ but am not much of a coder). But talking to people in my family, all just say this is just the Police trying to get some points with politicians and full the recent nationalism that is growing in India. Most of the people that forum are more then likely Pakistani living in Pakistan or the US, where they cant be touched.
But it could cause some problems for the people posting there who are not Indian, if it had real content that is. Say someone posting a picture of Bombay Police beating on some people, or taking a bribe they might want to retaliate, which is not good. But i mean 99% of Orkut posting are just mindless rants of teenagers. But how far will the police, or google allow this to go? What about blogger? What about gmail? This worries me, and should worry others.

Technorati Tags: Boing Boing, Censor, Google, India, Myself, News, Orkut

Commonwealth Bank Series 1st Final

Check out this video about ozzies taking a beating from England

read more | digg story

Why do jobs require Word Docs!!!!

Ugg, this is a major rant that pisses me off.
As i have been posting i am looking for a job on and off, applying at anything that catches my eye. Well things are looking good, but one thing that gets on my nerves is the fact that a lot of these stupid web resume interfaces that these jobs require to apply for (which is something i hate) do not accept pdf resumes! And not only that, but they require MS Word files!! Well as someone who has taken pride in making my resume in LaTeX, which looks very nice IMO is ruined when made in MS Word. Also, what gets me is MS Word has you locked down, while pdf is soon to be an open source standard and its not like these managers at big companies dont know how to open PDF's. While working at Lockheed, most of the files we used where in PDF and when we E-Mailed docs it was always considered good practice to make it a PDF so people dont get scared if you have a macro virus. Just think about that, all those poor Business major who take time writing there resumes only to have all there word doc e-mails kicked out of the servers because they have some macro virus.
Uggg.. All i ask for is to accept pdf files!! Also dont use stupid web resumes to ruin my format.

Technorati Tags: Job Search, LaTeX, Resume, TeX, Work

John C Dvorak : “iPhone Unlikely to be Big Success”

In this CNBC segment, John Dvorak gives us his take on the Apple iPhone. He thinks this device is unikely to be a “big success.”
This is an interesting little segment, Dvorak gets a lot fo flack from time to time for the things he says but i think with this he is right. Remember this is the same man that predicted that the intel switch will be a big boom for Apple, and it has. But this iPhone will sell a lot, but not take the market by storm, unlike the iPod the other cell phones have some pretty nice things, as he mentioned the keypad. This is the key reason i got a Palm Treo 750v over a Cingular 8525, which is pretty much a touch screen for calling as the keyboard is only used in typing, two hand mode. I want that feel of the key, the feedback of it so i know what keys i am hitting. It is important if your doing one handed calling where you cant see the keys, or even texting alot. While i love touch screens for other interface actions, which is why i love the Treo, i think the iPhone rocks there. But i think this phone will be a hit for the Sidekick people but not hurt the palm, bb and etc power users market.

read more | digg story

My Resume in Latex!

After reading a lot about LaTeX, and seeing its powerful use in making documents i decided a good way to learn a lot more about LaTeX is to make a Resume using it.

My Resume: zuhaib-cv.tex, zuhaib-cv.ps, zuhaib-cv.pdf

What is LaTeX? Well if your asking that question, you might want to check the link out. But if you have ever read a computer text book, or any document published from a scientific or computer science community there is a very good chance it was made using LaTeX as it provides you more power over simple WYSIWYG editors like Word, especial for texts involving math equations.

Now a few notes about my resume, first is that i used a lot of sites to help make my resume, looking at other peoples works and referring to The Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX. This is a good way to get started in anything new i feel, looking at examples and using texts as references as it can be pretty boring to just read.

Back to my resume for it to work you need to have res.cls but the one i used is an edited version of the one found on CTAN. The changes i made was to remove a badly place page break which would come out if you tried to use itemize for your position description which i wanted to use as i like the bullets. I am calling this version of rel.cls 2.09a and i will be e-mailing it to the original writer and see if i can get this incorporated in to the rel.cls on CTAN.

My Rel.cls: rel.cls

The main tex file was based off the one provided by Jason R. Blevins, with some edits you can see in my tex file like to allow for bullets and to add itemize to position and other changes i liked from other people resumes that i will list below.

My tex editor of choice was actually TextMate for OS X, i liked a lot when working in OS X and the fact it and handle a lot of different type of files from LaTeX to just about anything you can throw at it. If your not on OS X, or dont want to play for TextMate, look at Emacs as that is the granddaddy for LaTeX.

To make the PDF and etc files i used the Makefile again from Jason Blevins file, again edited only to fit my needs

My Makefile: Makefile

That is about it i have for my make file, for more i would tell you to read these sites that helped me a lot besides the one i mentioned early

Links

LaTeX Resume Tips
LaTeX CV Template
The Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX
How to Write a Killer Resume (for Software Engineers)

And something for you people that must use word:

Give your résumé a face lift

Technorati Tags: career, CV, Job Search, LaTeX, Resume, Template, TeX, Tips, Work