Hey Everyone! You might have noticed that on my social media channels I have a have started a new website with few of my auto writing buddies, CarNewsCafe. Admittedly the site is not much now but we have a lot in the works which should make it into a premiere destination on the web for car news, vehicle news, and basically anything to do with cars.
I am planning on working on some cool audio content that will be going live on the site soon. We will be podcasting these and posting all audio content on CarNewsCafe for everyone’s listening pleasure. (At least I hope you will like listening to my voice, because I always thought I could be on the radio or be an announcer.) The podcasts should be pretty rad as it is a lot easier in my opinion to do audio than video content. I am investing in some premium equipment as well to make these car news podcasts top notch.
There will also be some video content but I am not sure if it will be anything that is truly worth mentioning. They most likely will be weekly car chats in a “cafe style” with other auto journalists. Hence the name of our site, CarNewsCafe!
All this content will be available for free but we will be using different forms of monetization. We love writing about car news and reporting the latest and greatest in the auto world but… we need to get paid too! So no complaints about we have ads or whatever on the site.
Please “Like” the CarNewsCafe Facebook page and “Follow” our Twitter feed. I would really appreciate it and it would really help us out.
If you have suggestions for the site please let us know. I am open to constructive criticism and suggestions.
I recently had some new vertical business cards designed. I think the design came out nicely and it is clean, simple, and fun. Check out the design!
I noticed a lot of business card nowadays are double-side so I thought it would be fine to get on with the trends. Checkout the design I got for the back:
The car silhouette design came out really nice and I like the WAPA (Washington Automotive Press Association) and IMPA logos. The main reason I am part of these auto organizations is so I look legit. Now when I give out my cards I assume they will check since I mostly give these out to people that work in the automotive industry.
Wondering where I got these business cards designed? Fiverr!
If you haven’t of the Fiverr, the tagline makes it easy to understand, “The world’s largest marketplace for small services, starting at $5.”
That is essentially the best way to describe Fiverr, a huge marketplace for small jobs (ome jobs are quite intricate or large for what you get.) The idea of Fiverr is really simple. A seller can offer services and jobs that are $5 or factors of five depending on your seller status. Fiverr will hold your money until the job is completed and your are satisfied with the work, when finished the Fiverr seller gets $4. Fiverr takes a 20% commission ($1) on each sale.
I found a designer who offers specializes in Fiverr gigs specifically for graphic design work. This seller does logos, ebook covers, and of course business card designs all for $5. They had good reviews and ratings and the samples I saw I liked, so I felt comfortable using them. Each vertical business card design cost me $5 so I paid $10 for the entire design, which is still a good deal for getting a business card in my opinion. The Fiverr seller gave me several options and when I asked for changes they were made promptly and to the way I had specified I wanted them done.
If you need a business card designed I would recommend using Fiverr. There are lots of similar microgig sites out there now such as Tenrr, which does not take commissions and Fourerr, which only cost $4 per gig. I like Tenrr since they have a nice “Request Job” feature.
Some of you might remember that list time I ordered business card I got them from Office Depot online, which is technically VistaPrint. I would not recommend ordering from VistaPrint as the quality was not what I expected for what I paid and the paper was pretty thin. This time I ordered from 123Print which is a Frederick, Maryland based company. (There printing and processing facilities are located in Minnesota and Pennsylvania.) I thought it would be nice to support a local company and get a small test run of the cards (I ordered 100) to see how I like the design in real-life. I will let people know what my experience is with 123Print.
Let me know if you like or dislike my new vertical business cards. Anything you want to suggest I do differently in the future for my vertical business cards?
In case anyone wants to know all the locations of Speed Cameras in Howard County, I thought I would post this list.
4500 blk. Doncaster Drive
4600 blk. Roundhill Road
5000 blk. Ilchester Road
6500 blk. Freetown Road
6600 blk. Seneca Drive
6700 blk. Old Waterloo Road
7200 blk. Oakland Mills Road
8400 blk. Savage Guilford Road
9300 blk. Mellonbrook Road
10100 blk. Donleigh Drive
10200 blk. Old Frederick Road
12500 blk. Frederick Road
16800 blk. Old Frederick Road
Centennial Lane
Old Stockbridge Road
Vollmerhausen Road
3000 blk. St. Johns Lane
3100 blk. North Chatham Road
4000 blk. Crescent Road
5700 blk. Cedar Lane
6000 blk. Stevens Forest Road
6700 blk. Old Waterloo Road
9100 blk. Northfield Road
9500 blk. Kilimanjaro Road
9600 BLK. Whiteacre Road
10300 blk. Quarterstaff Road
10400 blk. Green Mountain Circle
12100 blk. Wood ford Drive
14000 blk. Carrs Mill Road
Centennial Lane
Rogers Ave
Even though I don’t live in Howard County I think it is important for people to be aware of of Speed Cameras and their locations around the Baltimore-Washington metro area. Citations and tickets issued through the speed camera program are only a $40 fine and there are no points added to your driving record. Still, that $40 can add up quickly if you are not careful.
I found this list on the Howard County Government website and so it is the most accurate it can be as of this writing.
Leave a comment below and let me know what you think about Speed Cameras in Maryland. Are they good or bad?
Some of you might know John Moschetto, aka Gypsy Jack, who I have mentioned a few times on this blog. I am sad to announce that John Moschetto passed away a few weeks ago on the morning of Saturday October 27th while riding on the way to one his favorite local car events, Hunt Valley Cars and Coffee. I am not sure of the all the details but it seems Jack got into a collision with a Toyota 4Runner at the intersection of Shawan Road and Beaver Dam Road.
The Baltimore County police crash team is still investigating the accident, although early reports suggest that Moschetto lost control of his motorcycle and crossed the center line, heading into oncoming traffic. Moschetto was declared dead at the scene, according to police.
Reported the online newspaper, the Hunt Valley Patch. You can also read the original Patch story (with a quite a lot of comments) here.
What’s surprising to me is that Jack was always a careful rider and had never been in a motorcycle accident in the 40+ years he was riding. (He was however struck on the back of the head while riding his bicycle.) He was very enthusiastic and passionate about safe riding techniques. He would never ride in bad weather or unsafe conditions and avoided them most of the time. In my opinion he gave sportbike riders a good name. I would have liked to learn to ride from Jack and he was going to help me get my Yamaha Virago running and rideable. Now, very regrettable, I won’t have the chance or opportunity to learn to ride from him.
Jack was someone who was very enthusiastic and passionate about anything to do with wheels and it really showed. He could talk your ear off about the latest MotoGP race and was an avid fan. As most know he loved customizing his beautiful motorcycles to perfection and riding. Jack was a great photographer too and allowed me to use some of his Hunt Valley Cars and Coffee photos for this blog. He also had quite a toy collection and used to compete with RC cars.
You can still visit Jack’s website, Gypsy Jack Racing, and visit his Examiner page to read some of the motorcycle articles he wrote there. He never liked writing for Examiner much but he clearly was passionate about writing. I encouraged him to start his own blog so he could showcase his motorcycle and toy projects. I wrote a short post about him awhile ago on this blog and shared a few pictures He wanted me to write other posts about him and his motorcycles and I sadly won’t be able to.
Life is short and when accidents like this occur it is just reminder we should be happy of the time we have on earth. If you were a friend, neighbor, or family member of Jack, please a leave a comment below and share an experience or memory you have of him.
Do you want a chance to actually see and ride aboard the famous Titanic which sunk over 100 years ago? Clive Palmer, an Australian billionaire, is betting you do as he just announced he will be building the “Titanic II.”
Only a few weeks after the 100th anniversary of the original Titanic sinking, Fox News has reported that Mr. Palmer has commissioned and signed an agreement with the Chinese company, CSC Jinlin Shipyard, to help him reconstruct and build a new Titanic, which is being dubbed “Titanic II.”
It is important to note the new Titanic won’t be a miniature replica or something stupid ridiculous. It will be a real recreation of the White Star Line’s ship that was supposed to be “unsinkable.”
The plan is for a historical research team to help recreate the new Titanic to same dimensions as the original Titanic, and it will feature the same stunning 9 decks and 840 rooms
Construction of the ship is set to start sometime in 2013 and should be completed in 3 years. The plan is for the Titanic II to take the same route, without sinking obviously, from England to New York.
“It will be every bit as luxurious as the original Titanic, but … will have state-of-the-art 21st-century technology and the latest navigation and safety systems,” said an excited Palmer in a statement. He thinks the Titanic II will be “a tribute to the spirit of the men and women who worked on the original Titanic.”
It won’t be an exact replica, as there will be differences in how the boat is powered. Instead of using coal to chug across the ocean it will have a large diesel engine. The bow will be more bulbous for great fuel efficiency and the rudder and bow thruster will be larger so it can maneuver better.
It will have four smoke-stacks, like the original Titanic which was powered by coal, but those will be just be decorative and for fun.
Mr. Palmer was asked if the Titanic II would sink, his reply, “Of course it will sink if you put a hole in it!” however he added, “It is going to be designed so it won’t sink. It will be designed as a modern ship with all the technology to ensure that doesn’t happen.”
We all hope this is true. I also hope Mr. Palmer puts enough lifeboats on the ship this time. Let’s not make the same mistake twice!
Titanic II is the first of four luxury cruise ships Mr. Palmer has commissioned the Chinese company CSC Jinling Shipyard to build for him under his new company, Blue Star Line Pty. Ltd.
The cost of building the Titanic II has not yet been revealed. Hopefully Mr Palmer doesn’t need to spend too much of his coal mining money to build it.
There have been other attempts to rebuild and recreate the Titanic, but most failed due to lack of financing. I doubt Mr. Palmer will have that problem as his estimated net worth is more than $5 billion dollars
When the original Titanic sunk 100 years ago, more than 1,500 people died. The vessel struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York City on April 14th, 1912. The Titanic sunk less than three hours later.
At the time the Titanic was a symbol of the Industrial capabilities and was the world’s largest and most luxurious ocean liner ever created.
Of course the Titanic is now most famous and iconic for being the subject and title of the 1997 James Cameron movie “Titanic.” This vaulted Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet into super stardom. (It also vaulted Leonardo DiCaprio into the hearts of girls and women everywhere.) The movie “Titanic” was recently released in 3D and is playing in theaters currently.
The real question most people are asking right now is, “Would you buy a ticket on the Titanic II?”
