Geek Habitat

I collect frogs. Not real ones, mind you, but stuffed animal frogs, frog art, frog photos, frog “stuff”. I didn’t start out with an intent to collect frogs, but having a frog calendar in my cube brought about an 18-inch neon orange frog, which brought about various frogs gifted to me over the course of my employ. By the time I left, I had something like a dozen different frogs to bring home… and if you remember your high school biology, frogs reproduce just about as readily as rabbits, so, well… I have an even larger frog collection now.

Here’s one for the “I’m really glad that wasn’t my car” archives –

Joaquin Phoenix tipped/rolled his Ford Escape Hybrid — photos here. OUCH, yes? Apparently, “his brakes failed“? Joaquin and his passenger were not injured (his side curtain airbags deployed, as seen in the photos,) but the FEH sure was. Whatever the cause, I say again, OUCH!

This is really only notable because I didn’t realize Joaquin Phoenix drove a hybrid, much less a Ford Escape Hybrid. Yes, some of us hybrid drivers quirk an eyebrow, Spock-like, when we learn of a new addition to the ranks of celebrities who own hybrids; it’s really the same fascination that makes licensed general aviation pilots keep a mental tally of celebrities and what types of aircraft they fly (Angelina Jolie = Cirrus SR22; Michael Dorn = fighter jets; see?)

With something like seven onboard computers, my Ford Escape Hybrid is smarter than my desktop computer.

Don’t believe me? Read through the various systems and sub-systems involved in making my vehicle “Go” and “Stop”:
FEH principles of operation

In case that posting ever disappers, here’s an excerpt from the “Regenerative Braking” section that I absolutely love. Why? ‘Cuz it’s so absolutely geeky, and it’s almost embarassing how much I enjoy the fact that my vehicle is utterly a geek beneath its glossy exterior.

I meant to post these the other day. These were all taken during our weekend roadtrip to Dallas to visit Jason, Karen and our niece, Jillian.

All photos are Copyright © Justin W. Moore.

Congratulations are in order for V, a very talented former co-worker of mine; she’ll soon be joining Google’s exciting and vibrant employee community as a user interface designer. WOOT!

The GooglePlex just got a little cooler!

No, I haven’t turned into a rabid anti-environmentalist… I’m just suffering for horrendous allergies. Pollen.com says there’s a ton of OAK, hackberry and mulberry in the air. I could have told them that just from looking at our red Ford Escape Hybrid sitting in Jason and Karen’s driveway in Dallas, Texas, this morning. It looked like the oak trees in the neighborhood had all joined forces to tag every square inch of our vehicle in dusty yellow oak pollen. And what kind of trees do we have in our yard here in San Antonio? Why, live oaks, of course!