Vehicle Security

There is little doubt that in the modern world man ( or woman’s) most treasured possession is often their car.

Car’s, you see, are many things. Primarily they are a mode of transport, but to think of a car on that way would be to see only a fraction of what a car means to a person. A car represents an image, an image gleaned from the racy adverts we see so often on the television, it engenders a feeling of self worth upon its driver. The driver is commanding thousands of pounds worth of high technology equipment. The feeling of power conferred upon the car owner whilst driving could easily be explained as sexual. The car is also a room outside the home, it can be a place for introspection and privacy as well as a place of family fun, meals and films.

Cars are, aside from property, the biggest investment a person will make, it is the most expensive item which they own and, modern cars really are incredibly technologically advanced.

Now, it should surprise no one that there are people out there who wish to steal these beautiful possessions. Modern cars are fitted with highly sophisticated security systems and immobilisers, but the criminal fraternity will always look for a weak spot to strike at.

A spokesman from Crime Prevention Products, a UK based retailer of Personal Alarms, Home Security Products and a range of personal security devices says

“Vehicle Crime is rising at an alarming rate and more and more people are coming to us to ask for the best ways to protect their cars, we offer a range of products which can help improve vehicle security. The knock on affect of these security measures when applied to your car are many, … the application of sensible measures give you peace of mind, reduce the risk of you becoming a victim of crime and can even reduce your insurance premiums.”

It is therefore recommended that the sensible person considers some of the following measures :

• Wheel Clamps – for personal use
• Parking Posts – secure your driveway
• Steering Wheel Locks – prevents car crime
• Telescopic Ground Anchor – secures your vehicle

Your car ( not mine though ) being both a valuable investment and an important personal possession must be looked after.

Car Insurance

New Police initiatives recently published have announced that motorists run the risk of having their cars crushed – by that I mean completely mashed up – if they are discovered being driven without valid insurance.

I think that this type of police statement is meant as a terrifying deterrent, it evokes nasty imagery which is even more painful to consider than a fine, imagine having your lovely car crushed up….I shudder to think of my car being fed into the crusher like that..I, of course, am insured.

The price of car insurance in general and indeed Over 50s Car Insurance should make it not economically viable to dodge the matter of car insurance, it is cheap, necessary and reassuring.

Indeed there are strong ethical and moral implications to consider also as driving without insurance could lead to ruining other peoples’ lives.

Portable DVD Players

The kids, as they do, had been doing my head in on long journeys. In my youth I sat patiently for hours upon end, taking in the scenery and chatting with my parents. This generation is lost without electrical input, it appears; they are like irritating gadgets, always needing a charge, and I can’t be arsed, it is true, to talk for the entire journey (maybe it is evidence of the change in my generation as much as theirs). So I gave in, I bought a portable DVD player, and now have to listen to the soundtrack of Shrek 3 for the whole trip….

Google Race

I had a blinding idea the other day and was assured ( by myself ) that would get great interest on web, I was thinking of like a mash between Drivey ( http://drivey.com/) and Google earth/ maps so that you could like choose start and endpoint and then race like mad over a simple but correctly undulating course, say from Brighton to Bognor or so. Of course there could be tables, championships, even 2 player online races….. naturally I don’t have either skills or financial backing so I wont do anything…. And of course when I search for my idea, it is gone already… done very basically, but done all the same at http://www.thomasscott.net/realworldracer/ , next I am thinking of making a small machine upon which you can store music and carry around with you.METALLICA lyrics

In Car with Nokia N95, which Navigation Software?

You see I still haven’t got it cracked, I use the GPS Sat Nav on my Nokia N95 all the time in the car. I set the route using the landmarks feature and calculate route. Then I show on map and start tracking. Generally, if I have decent satellite signals the GPS functions fine.

It is only a pity that you can’t use it in widescreen mode as the GPS receiver is located in the base of the N95′s handset. I have been thinking of trying to find a small LCD screen with video in ports so that I can use the TV Out of the Nokia to have larger screened in car navigation available.

Driving along I either glance down at the mobile on my dashboard ( I still have not got a decent in car cradle for my N95 but am looking ) or I hand the handset to my daughter who confirms yes, we are still on the blue line.

I am nearing the stage when these steps must be overcome; I need a cradle, a new screen, and above all, I need a screen with a better size, for glancing and I will need some Navigational Software so that I have voice prompts to tell me where I am wand when I need to turn and all of that stuff.

Looking online for Navigational Software ( I am loathe to click accept on the Nokia’s internal menu as this must be the most expensive option ) I find some interesting alternatives;

• CoPilot Live 6 : – from www.alk.com/copilot/pocketpc.asp at around £50 looks ok and is fully featured, but it appears not to use the same maps ( from smart2go ) as I am used to. I also worry about hidden data charges.
• Wayfinder :- from www.wayfinder.com has be recommended many times on the Symbian forums
• Route 66 from 66.com is also a frontrunner and the fully featured product Mobile 7 S60 looks by far the best I have found online

I will be trying to find online trials of demos of each of these different S60 Navigation Software for my Nokia N95 and will report once whey have been assessed.

Navigation for Nokia N95

Ongoing fun with the Nokia N95 and its beatiful integrated GPS Satellite Navigation ( Sat Nav ). You have to hand it t o the americans for uploading all those satellites.

Luke writes :“ I have just set up the routemaster gps on my phone and if you haven’t done it already you’ll love it – go to: www.wisepilot.com where they are offering a free 5 day trial of their Navigation Software for the Nokia N95 and other mobiles.„

I go to check it out, but am held back by earlier experiences of data charges whilst driving.

The Nokia N95 is so fully featured that one is sure that it has been created by Nokia’s most generous and benevolent development team who saw it as a chance to stake their claim as maket leaders in mobile telephones. They should revive, what I suspect was a slightly flagging brand-loyal customer base and may have made the iPhone redundant in the UK before it is even released.

I am on the road to nowhere, but at least I know where I am.

Cool Parking Site

ParkatmyHouse.com is a new and innovative website that enables local residents with empty driveways and garages, and businesses or venues with unused car parks, to rent them out to drivers needing somewhere to park.

Motorists on their way to a hospital, sports stadium or train station for example, can make an arrangement with a homeowner to use his or her driveway on a one-off or regular, short-term or long-term basis.

ParkatmyHouse.com is being welcomed as a green solution to parking.By reducing on-street parking, the service will help ease traffic congestion and make the roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists. It will also preserve land which would otherwise be used for the construction of new parking facilities and cut down the amount of carbon emitted by vehicles circumnavigating areas in search of a parking space.

ParkatmyHouse.com was founded by 23 year-old Anthony Eskinazi whilst on holiday in San Francisco. Since its launch, the website has featured on BBC radio stations and in nearly all the national newspapers including The Times, The Daily Express and The Observer as well as in an array of international media.

Nokia N95 Free Sat Nav Maps

Wow, armed with my new NSeries N95 I was off on a trip last week so I carefully set the mobile on the dashboard and plugged in the destination address. ( I was delivering an ebay sale for a friend- a 100 mile round trip).

What followed was the most dangerous driving of my life as I struggled to zoom and recenter the screen as I drove.
Anyway, it worked and I enjoyed the exercise but was horribly dissapointed to discover that I had spend £7 in data charges – I should read manuals.

Anyway to cut to short I have now loaded maps ( free) from all over Europe onto my phone’s 2gig memory card from smart2go. It is superb, having the maps on your mobile rather than accessing ( and paying ) for each page reload.

You have to enable your phone for disc use rather than Nokia PC Suite for the application to work and the download was nightmarishly slow. But now I can turn on my sat Nav to my hearts content.

I just better not look at it too much.

The Nokia N95 Sat Nav ( satellite Navigation software with integrated GPS) is a wonder

motor insurance quote

Now I have had my share of car problems of late, I have had blowouts, flat batteries and break ins and my poor wee ford fiesta is still struggling along.

My current insurance company have looked after me quite well but I have been increasingly aware that I should look online for a new motor insurance quote.

The thing is that CIS Insurance appear to better the offers that my existing car insurance provider are offering me. They can come up with both no claim and introductory discounts, all great money saving enticements, especially with the 10% online discount

The internet really is creating an environment where the savvy web user can easily find the best deals, rock on the www.

TomTom Go

Always looking to justify that next purchase I have been looking into getting a good bit of Sat Nav installed in me Fiesta – probably doubling the value of the car.

Looking at the beautifully designed TomTom website I see that they are producing a lovely XL version with a high quality widescreen touchscreen.

These little beauties will help you find your way in almost any country in on the planet.

Now, as I have considered here previoulsy a portable global positioning system can’t really be said to be necessary for my sedentary lifestyle.

It is either that or for my TomTom Sat Nav GPS needs I shall have to look into hooking up my Sony Ericsson M600i to a bluetooth gps transmitter.

But consider that they can house a 20Gig mp³ collection, they’ll do me in car handsfree, they will talk to me when I am alone in the car… I need one, I want to flick its switch and turn the baby on……