I have been working on a Google maps application for a while, and am finally releasing my first “public” beta of the map. The project’s goal was attempt to tackle the traveling salesman problem (shortest path between all points) with a real pratical application. View my Google Maps Fun page to view more details on the application.
Please, if you use it and like it, let me know! Any bugs/requests can be directed in the comments as well.
Tomorrow is the release date of the official version of Firefox 3, and to boot it off they are having a download campaign. If you have an older version of Firefox, download it. If you don’t have Firefox *shudder*, download it.
I have been using the beta/release candidates for over a month, and the features and speed has been greatly improved over previous iterations of Firefox, so you really are doing yourself a disservice if you do not download Firefox 3 tomorrow.
So I have been considering getting a motorcycle/scooter for quite a while now, even back into last summer. I just had not had the means to actually really consider it until recently. Some might think I’m crazy, considering my success rate currently with vehicles on two wheels, but I hope that the odds are in my favor now that I’ve already been hit once.
I’m leaning more towards a motorcycle than a scooter at this point, considering I would have to deal with some hilly terrain here in Birmingham, so anything below a 100cc engine would not cut it. Not to mention that anything over 100cc is going to be close to the cost of a cheap motorcycle.
I was trying to run some of the data to compare exactly how much cost savings there would be compared to my current vehicle, a 2001 Honda CR-V. My CR-V tends to be about 23 city MPG and 28 highway mpg, so I figured I would average it approx. 25mpg. I would hope to find a bike that would at least reach 70mpg, so that’s my minimum determining factor. All my data is also assuming an average cost of of fuel at $3.75/gal.
As you can see from the above chart, assuming I spend $1500 initially, I wouldn’t begin saving money over the CR-V until approx. 15,000 miles. Of course, $1500 is probably an unlikely amount and would likely be closer to $2000~ which would put the intersection at around 20,000 miles.
I’ve been mainly looking at the Honda Rebel, since it’s a lightweight bike and gets close to my target fuel efficiency. A 2000 model tends to be in the $2000 range, so I’m hoping I can get lucky and find a used bike for a little bit less than that.